True Disciple (Seeking Recommendations)

"Second-Order Demon Core, Azure Dragon Ginseng, Century-Old Stone Milk..."

Fang Qing listened with rapt attention to the Foundation Establishment Pill formula, calculating inwardly. Other than the Second-Order Demon Core, the supplementary ingredients aren't particularly rare. At most, they have stricter age requirements. There's still hope of gathering them all.

His aptitude was merely متوسط, and a single Foundation Establishment Pill might not be enough for him to achieve Foundation Establishment. He had to prepare for every eventuality.

"Foundation Establishment has three passes—essence, qi, and spirit. The Foundation Establishment Pill targets the three treasures of the human body, making up for Heaven's deficiencies... Among the supplementary ingredients, the most important is the Three Talents Flower. It can transform the three treasures and compensate for a cultivator's shortcomings, aiding Foundation Establishment..."

As Elder Tianding explained in detail, Fang Qing's heart stirred greatly.

"This Foundation Establishment Pill is specifically aimed at the process of Foundation Establishment. Therefore, its refinement also involves some of the secrets of Foundation Establishment..."

"Essence, qi, and spirit? My qi has two cultivation methods behind it. If I cultivate both to the limit, there shouldn't be a problem... Then that leaves essence and spirit?"

"Essence refers to the body's strength and vital blood, while spirit refers to mental power, even Spiritual Sense..."

"I can look for Body Refinement techniques, as well as Spiritual Sense techniques..."

Fang Qing immersed himself in it, listening as though bewitched.

In truth, only Water-Method Alchemy offered such a benefit.

That was because alchemists like them could assist Elder Tianding in preprocessing certain materials.

Elder Tianding needed their help, so he had provided the Foundation Establishment Pill formula and refining methods in advance.

If it had been Fire-Method Alchemy, the more participants there were, the easier it would be for mistakes to arise. Usually, a single alchemist would handle everything from beginning to end. There would be no such good fortune.

"Today's lecture is over. In half a month, Cold Spring Peak will open its furnace."

Several hours later, Elder Tianding flicked his sleeve and transformed into a streak of light, vanishing away. He left behind only a groundful of alchemists still wanting more.

"So refining a Foundation Establishment Pill involves so many requirements and hidden intricacies. It truly is difficult..."

Fang Qing felt rather emotional.

According to the Qi Refinement Way's classification, the Foundation Establishment Pill was a Second-Order pill. In theory, only a Second-Order alchemist with Foundation Establishment cultivation could attempt it.

Yet there were always extraordinary geniuses beyond imagination in the world, such as alchemists capable of refining Second-Order pills while still in the Qi Refinement Realm!

If I fail to achieve Foundation Establishment in the future, I may have to take this path...

"Wait, Ancient Shu might still offer some hope... But for some reason, I feel that advancing from the Breath-Nourishing Dao to a Dao Foundation may be even harder than successfully achieving Foundation Establishment."

Fang Qing was now an old hand at trading between the two worlds. He had a clear understanding of the differences between Ancient Shu and Jade Island.

Ancient Shu's Daoist arts were mysterious and profound, but its cultivation resources were not abundant. Perhaps metal-attribute and fire-attribute materials were somewhat more plentiful?

As for Jade Island, its cultivation methods remained unclear, but its cultivation resources were immensely abundant.

"There are still Foundation Establishment Pills to hope for here. Over there, they might not even have pills that assist breakthroughs to Dao Foundation. How could the word 'miserable' possibly describe it? Wait... There does seem to be one material that is relatively plentiful."

Fang Qing thought of the cultivator bandit Blood Pills he had seized last time, then of the chaotic soldiers in Ba Commandery massacring entire cities. He could not help falling silent...

Half a month later.

Cold Spring Peak had been completely sealed off. All disciples who had not become ranked alchemists had disappeared without a trace.

Fang Qing stood at the foot of the mountain, his expression solemn as he looked at the ranked alchemists around him.

Those near him were all alchemists who had only recently entered the ranks. Further up were First-Order Mid Grade and high-grade alchemists.

At the spring on the mountainside stood several Foundation Establishment cultivators. They were clearly Second-Order alchemists, and Clouddrift Adept was among them—a middle-aged man with a strong scholarly air.

At the summit, naturally, was Elder Tianding, commanding everything.

"Foundation Establishment Pill refinement... begin!"

Accompanied by a deep Spiritual Sense transmission, the great work of alchemy began in an orderly fashion.

"Everyone... assist me in first refining the Profound Frost Water!"

Fang Qing looked toward his own group leader, who happened to be Xu Wusu.

At this moment, Xu Wusu wore a grave expression as both hands formed seals.

Streams of Spirit Spring water continuously gathered and were refined...

"Hah!"

He formed seals with both hands as well and began controlling the water.

The Profound Frost Water their group was tasked with refining was one of the three spirit waters used to process Azure Dragon Ginseng.

Because the medicinal potency of Azure Dragon Ginseng was too strong, ordinary First-Order spirit water could not dissolve it away. Specially prepared spirit water was necessary.

According to the Foundation Establishment Pill formula, three different spirit waters had to be refined in order to perfectly separate and extract its medicinal potency.

These Qi Refinement disciples had to work for nearly half a month just to refine roughly one dou of Profound Frost Water. It then had to be appraised by the Second-Order alchemists on the mountainside. Only after its quality was confirmed flawless could it be combined into Second-Order spirit water and used to begin extracting the Azure Dragon Ginseng. That, too, was the work of the Second-Order alchemists on the mountainside.

By dividing the work layer upon layer like this, Elder Tianding only needed to handle the most troublesome Second-Order Demon Cores and the final fusion of the various medicinal properties, greatly reducing his workload.

Moreover, several Demon Cores could be refined at once!

Splash, splash!

Fang Qing watched streams of Spirit Spring water rise, twisting through nine bends and eighteen turns. Rich medicinal fragrance spilled forth, as though a medicinal spring were soaking all of Cold Spring Peak.

They worked together in division of labor, like an ancient assembly line, while he had turned into someone tightening screws in a factory...

Several days later.

"At first, I thought it was interesting. Now it's just boring."

Having finished processing another batch of Profound Frost Water, Fang Qing looked toward Xu Wusu beside him.

This alchemist was sitting cross-legged, having just recovered his Dharma power. When he saw Fang Qing looking over, he revealed a friendly smile. "Junior Brother, your water-control method is truly exquisite. It almost lets this senior brother glimpse the bearing of a Second-Order alchemist. Your future prospects are boundless."

"Not at all, not at all..."

Before the Second-Order alchemists, Fang Qing had naturally long since converted all his Dharma power into Black Water Dharma Power.

In terms of controlling spring water, it was far inferior to when he still possessed Ji Water Dharma Power.

Of course, because he had previously immersed himself in the work, his water-control incantations had indeed improved greatly. Such gains in personal experience would not vanish just because he had changed Dharma power.

"By the way..."

Fang Qing asked the question that concerned him most. "For this alchemy session, how many pills do you think will be produced?"

The matter of Foundation Establishment Pills was always a hot topic among these Qi Refinement disciples.

Although Water-Method Alchemy took a long time, they could occasionally rest during the process.

Several nearby disciples gathered around. Though they were all low-ranking disciples, each had their own connections. By piecing together bits of information, they had guessed most of the truth.

"I have an older female cousin from my clan serving at the Dragon Transformation Pool. I heard that more than ten Second-Order Horned Serpents were successfully transformed within the sect this time! Unfortunately, several of them had no Demon Cores... In the end, only eight were taken out."

A Pill Island disciple spoke.

"Eight Second-Order Demon Cores..."

Xu Wusu nodded. "The Foundation Establishment Pill is a Second-Order pill. When an ordinary Second-Order alchemist takes action, being able to reliably produce one Prime Quality Foundation Establishment Pill from one Second-Order Demon Core already counts as competent. A slightly better alchemist can produce one Inferior Quality pill in addition to the Prime Quality one... Those rare few who can produce two Prime Quality Foundation Establishment Pills are Second-Order grandmasters!"

"Elder Tianding of our sect possesses extraordinary skill. From one Demon Core, he can reliably produce two Prime Quality pills, with an occasional additional Inferior Quality pill... Sometimes, when he is in especially good form, he can even produce three Prime Quality pills!"

The other disciples all nodded. A female disciple smiled. "True Disciples are proud and arrogant; they certainly won't accept Inferior Quality pills. I only hope Elder Tianding can reliably produce two prime and one inferior. That way, there will be eight Inferior Quality Foundation Establishment Pills for people like us to fight over..."

"Although Inferior Quality Foundation Establishment Pills can also protect one from dying after a failed Foundation Establishment attempt, their success rate is lower. We should still strive to become True Disciples."

Xu Wusu shook his head, clearly not optimistic about that possibility.

"So this time, there will be between sixteen and twenty-four Prime Quality pills? And at most eight Inferior Quality ones?"

Fang Qing's heart stirred. "How many True Disciples does our sect have?"

"Twenty-five. Our sect's True Disciples enter one at a time and leave one at a time, with only twenty-five positions retained."

Xu Wusu knew this very well. "Among these twenty-five True Disciples, at the Combat Tournament held once every ten years, the top ten disciples can become True Disciples. Another ten positions go to disciples with astonishing cultivation arts. The final five positions are recommended by the Council of Elders..."

"Those who seize the crown through combat and become True Disciples leave us with nothing to say. As for True Disciples of the Hundred Arts of Immortality, one must cultivate a cultivation art to at least Quasi-Second-Order, or even Second-Order, to pass... Only those final five positions recommended by the Council of Elders, ah..."

A female disciple sighed.

Clearly, she had little hope in any of the three paths.

After hearing this, Fang Qing became thoughtful.

"For a sect to develop, powerful combat cultivators are important. At the same time, it also needs productive talent... Giving ten Foundation Establishment opportunities to each is only natural."

"The final five positions recommended by the Council of Elders may look like blatantly opening a back door, but in reality, they are meant to win over the majority..."

In this cultivation world, Qi Refinement disciples were never the majority!

The Foundation Establishment cultivators and above, who held the upper-level power, were the true majority!

People inevitably had selfish desires! Opening this gap instead allowed them to unite most Foundation Establishment elders.

Moreover, if someone selected through such recommendation could successfully achieve Foundation Establishment, he would even be qualified as a candidate for Azure Sea Sect Leader. Naturally, he would have trusted aides and advisors to help govern. Simply being able to unite most Foundation Establishment elders and secure their votes meant that governing the sect would not pose much of a problem.

"Within this Council of Elders, a single Core Formation ancestor can probably outweigh quite a few Foundation Establishment votes, right?"

After considering it, Fang Qing felt that this True Disciple system was quite reasonable.

Of course, it was extremely disadvantageous to him.

At the very least, there was no need to even think about the Council of Elders' five voting positions.

"Combat and alchemy?"

He quietly pondered how strong he could be if he did not use the Breath-Nourishing Dao's methods.

"Mm, if both my Breath-Nourishing Realm and Qi Refinement Realm reach the ninth layer, perhaps winning the Combat Tournament and becoming True Disciple would not be impossible?"

"Besides that, diligently studying alchemy also offers hope."

"And... True Disciples aim for Foundation Establishment, so those over sixty years old, or those who have taken a Foundation Establishment Pill and failed, are generally not allowed to join the competition," Xu Wusu added.

"Then wouldn't at least twenty-five Prime Quality Foundation Establishment Pills be needed?"

One disciple calculated. "Even if Elder Tianding performs perfectly, he would still be short by one..."

"Indeed... Therefore, after this round of alchemy, the sect will most likely launch the Great Hunt..."

Several Pill Island disciples laughed in schadenfreude. "Luckily, assisting with the refinement of Foundation Establishment Pills counts as a compulsory sect assignment. Otherwise, this time would truly have been hard to get through..."