Foundation Establishment Failure (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Mm... His technique was practiced, and he'd cultivated the Water Control Art quite well. He'd actually crushed the Qi Refining Flower in an instant... He's completely mastered this Second-Order Spirit Spring."

Beside him, Elder Han watched Fang Qing make his move, his pill-refining technique incomparably fluid, and couldn't help nodding to himself.

Several days later, Fang Qing formed hand seals with both hands, and a batch of Qi Refining Powder emerged directly from the pool.

"Not bad, not bad..."

Elder Han accepted it and gave it a slight sniff. "The various primary ingredients have fused remarkably well. It's unquestionably Prime Quality..."

"Thank you for your assessment, Elder."

After regulating his breath for a while, Fang Qing began refining the "Qi-Replenishing Pill" again.

He had also studied this pill formula and had even tried his hand at it several times, so he was quite confident.

Even so, while deliberately keeping his Spiritual Sense hidden and unused, his first pool still failed.

"I possessed Spiritual Sense during the Qi Refinement stage, a mark of genius, but the tallest tree catches the strongest wind... I don't have any real backing, so it's better to keep something in reserve."

"Before a Foundation Establishment Elder, as long as I don't use Spiritual Sense, he won't take the initiative to force his own Spiritual Sense into my Consciousness Sea and discover this secret..."

"Precisely because of that, I can also conceal some of my pill-refining skill, changing it from exceptional to merely passable..."

Fang Qing neither grew arrogant nor impatient. He drained away the pool of waste liquid and continued adding the primary ingredients.

"Hm?"

Yet when Elder Han saw this, a trace of appreciation for talent arose in his heart.

He had seen plenty of pill-refining geniuses. When things went smoothly, perhaps everything would be plain sailing, but how they performed in adversity was another matter.

This disciple named Fang Qing remained unhurried even after ruining an entire pool. His steady temperament alone was comparable to that of a First-Order High Grade pill refiner.

Fang Qing had no idea Elder Han had so many thoughts. He successfully refined the Qi-Replenishing Pill.

Afterward, he began refining the "Origin-Restoring Pill." This was a First-Order High Grade healing pill. Though it lacked the effect of the Second-Order "Flesh-Regenerating Bone-Replenishing Pill," which could revive the dead and regrow white bones, a severely injured Qi Refinement cultivator who swallowed one would likewise have their injuries greatly alleviated.

However, this pill was clearly much more difficult to refine.

Fang Qing barely managed it only after wasting two pools of spirit ingredients. Forming hand seals with both hands, he caused a crimson pill to fly out of the Spirit Pool.

"Not bad, not bad... You're called Fang Qing, aren't you? At your age, your Water Control Art can already be called outstanding."

Elder Han accepted the pill and appraised it. "It's just a pity... Many of your pill-refining techniques are clearly learned from books, and you don't know how to apply them flexibly... Sometimes, a single word of guidance from a teacher or elder can save a disciple who knows how much bitter labor."

After praising him for so long, he waited for Fang Qing to ask to become his disciple.

Who would have thought Fang Qing seemed not to understand either his hint or even his plain implication at all? He merely listened respectfully.

"So be it... In the end, we lack the fate of master and disciple."

Elder Han sighed and waved a hand to open the formation. "Go to the Pill Hall. Now that you've advanced to a First-Order High Grade pill refiner, you can be considered a core disciple of the sect... You may consult some Second-Order pill formulas and pill scriptures, and even rent a Second-Order Spirit Pool..."

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder."

Fang Qing showed a grateful expression and followed Elder Han to the Pill Hall to update his disciple token.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother... on advancing to a First-Order High Grade pill refiner."

Hua Lingsu congratulated him with a radiant smile. "With Junior Brother's talent, I imagine you'll soon be able to refine a Second-Order spirit pill, advance to a Quasi-Second-Order pill refiner, and then become a true Second-Order pill refiner."

To become a Second-Order pill refiner, one needed to refine at least three different kinds of Second-Order spirit pills!

If one could only refine one or two kinds, one could only be called "Quasi-Second-Order" within the sect!

Of course, among outside Rogue Cultivators, that would make one a bona fide Second-Order pill-refining master!

Elder Han, standing nearby, curled his lip slightly when he heard this.

For a First-Order pill refiner, as long as one was willing to pour in resources, it was easy to rise to High Grade.

But breaking through to the Second-Order? Without the aid of Spiritual Sense, how difficult would that be? He knew very well.

If Fang Qing were his disciple, he would certainly drill it into him day after day, telling him not to develop an arrogant, conceited heart.

But now? Better forget it...

"It's finally settled. I can first inspect the pill formulas, then gather the ingredients. While I'm at it, I'll rent a Second-Order Spirit Pool..."

"I just need to spend a little longer, making people think I've saved up for a long time and only barely scraped together one set of ingredients for a gamble... In reality, I'll prepare seven or eight, then break through to Second-Order pill refiner in one stroke!"

Fang Qing accepted his identity token, a surge of heroic spirit rising in his heart.

But the next instant, an unusual fluctuation of spiritual power spread over.

"Hm?"

Elder Han sensed it first. He transformed into a streak of light and flew out of the Pill Hall.

Together with Hua Lingsu, Fang Qing saw that above a cave abode on Pill Island, spiritual qi suddenly gathered like clouds, forming an enormous vortex.

The vortex resembled a funnel, madly devouring the surrounding spiritual qi as it poured into the cave abode.

What followed was a fluctuation of mana far beyond the Qi Refinement stage!

"Foundation Establishment!"

"Is a disciple of this island attempting to break through to Foundation Establishment?"

Elder Han was knowledgeable and experienced. Stroking his beard, he smiled. "It appears the Essence Origin Pass and Qi Origin Pass have both been crossed, allowing such a heavenly phenomenon to form... Next, as long as Spiritual Sense is born and the Spirit Origin Pass is crossed, our island will gain another fellow Daoist."

"Judging from the location of that cave abode, it belongs to Senior Brother Five Dragons Child."

After observing for a while, Hua Lingsu suddenly spoke. The look she gave Fang Qing was somewhat strange.

Fang Qing didn't think much of it. He had never seen a cultivator attempt Foundation Establishment before, so he watched with great interest.

"Mm, the breakthrough of the Qi Refinement Way isn't small in scale... but it doesn't seem to possess the profundity of the Breath-Nourishing Dao..."

After all, he had witnessed the Sea-Mixing Flood Serpent undergo its tribulation. Its spectacle had certainly been immense.

But for it to affect an entire prefecture, manifest phenomena, or obstruct the breakthroughs of other fire-attributed cultivators' techniques... that was entirely impossible!

It seemed that Core Formation cultivators of the Qi Refinement Way would likely be inferior to Purple Mansion cultivators of the Breath-Nourishing Dao!

At this time, quite a few disciples had already gathered outside Five Dragons Child's cave abode, all of them pointing and discussing.

"I heard that Martial Uncle Cui Zhe had long since successfully established his foundation and emerged from seclusion. He even received orders to go forth and returned after slaying Hua Tianfeng, the Hua Family's Foundation Establishment Ancestor, with his sword. He's an unparalleled genius of the sword path..."

"Compared to him, it seems the other Senior Brother Ruan failed his breakthrough?"

"Now, it all depends on Five Dragons Child..."

Cultivators had excellent patience, and everyone waited for an entire day and night.

Suddenly!

The spiritual qi vortex trembled, and a long sigh rang out from within the cave abode.

The spiritual qi vortex in midair abruptly collapsed, scattering into countless dazzling motes of multicolored light that flew into the surrounding void and vanished...

"Five Dragons Child... failed to establish his foundation?"

"Well, a Prime Quality Foundation Establishment Pill only has a thirty percent chance of success..."

The observing disciples were either regretful or secretly delighted by his misfortune.

Fang Qing, however, looked solemn. He saw several Foundation Establishment Elders send out communication talismans, then the cave abode opened, and Five Dragons Child emerged with a deathly pale face and bloodstained robes to receive treatment.

"Very good... It seems the Foundation Establishment Pill can ensure one won't die from a failed Foundation Establishment attempt. Its effect is rather good."

"Five Dragons Child had already completed most of Foundation Establishment, yet he actually fell at the Spiritual Sense Pass?"

At that thought, Fang Qing understood just how extraordinary his Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art and Spirit-Concentrating Powder were.

Late at night.

Many disciples' cave abodes on Pill Island were still abuzz over Five Dragons Child's failed Foundation Establishment.

Compared to that, Fang Qing's advancement to First-Order High Grade pill refiner seemed completely unimportant.

After all, Five Dragons Child had long since been a High Grade pill refiner.

Inside the cave abode.

Fang Qing was copying out pill scriptures.

"The Hua Family truly deserves to be a Foundation Establishment family. They've collected quite a few pill formulas; they even have the Second-Order Flesh-Regenerating Bone-Replenishing Pill... That saves me a batch of Contribution Points at the Heavenly Books Pavilion for copying this formula."

Although advancing to a First-Order High Grade pill refiner gave him permission to consult pill scriptures and copy pill formulas... all of that required Contribution Points.

Fortunately, Fang Qing had previously killed Hua Family cultivators and seized quite a few Hua Family books.

"This Flesh-Regenerating Bone-Replenishing Pill uses Flesh-Regenerating Flowers and Bone-Replenishing Grass as its primary ingredients... Each is worth around a hundred spirit stones. With the other supplementary ingredients, one set costs several hundred spirit stones... If I ruin a few more batches, losing over a thousand spirit stones, even Foundation Establishment cultivators would surely feel the pain, wouldn't they?"

Fang Qing clicked his tongue to himself.

After copying the pill formula, he took out a bottle of fruit wine, laid out several plates of fine dishes, and began satisfying his appetite.

As he ate and drank, he also flipped through the miscellaneous books obtained from the Hua Family.

"After Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment come Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation... At Spirit Transformation Completion, one can ascend to the Immortal Realm?"

In a cultivator's notes, Fang Qing saw the major realms of the Qi Refinement Way, and his heart couldn't help yearning for them. "What kind of power do Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation possess? Ascension? Could one perhaps truly go to the Immortal Realm?"

"Still, this record states it with certainty: around ten thousand years ago, the Eastern Sea Cultivation Realm indeed had a great Spirit Transformation expert ascend..."

He continued to read the next travel journal and discovered it was the log of some Hua Family ancestor.

"What respectable person... writes a diary?"

Fang Qing casually scanned a few lines, but his interest was piqued.

After all, it involved the various powers and local customs of the Lesser Vast Sea.

Suddenly, his wine cup paused as he saw a sentence: "...I heard that in the hands of the Azure Sea Sect's ancestor, Azure Sea True Person, lies a supreme treasure known as the 'Tide-Birth Pearl,' which can allow a Foundation Establishment cultivator to immediately gain Core Formation mana... It was later lost. How fortunate!"

The strokes of the writing brimmed with gloating delight!

"Tide-Birth Pearl!"

Fang Qing's expression darkened as he recalled the clue gained from his previous divination. "Outer Core Method... Tide-Birth Pearl? So that's how it is. I understand now!"

"The so-called Tide-Birth Pearl requires a Third-Order Demon Pill and is refined through the Outer Core Method?"

"It seems this Hua Family ancestor only knew of the existence of this supreme treasure and didn't know its origin or the primary ingredients needed to refine it... Otherwise, how could the Zhong Family and the Heavenly Heart Chain Islands possibly remain so calm now?"

He remembered clearly that the Sea-Mixing Flood Serpent from before had absolutely condensed a Third-Order Demon Pill. Otherwise, it could never have drawn down the Heavenly Tribulation!

And that serpent was water-attributed, perfectly suited to the Azure Sea Sect's Azure Sea Method!

"Core Formation cultivators can use magic treasures. In terms of the subtlety of combat, they may even surpass Third-Order demonic beasts by a step... Before long, the sect will possess two great Core Formation battle forces. As long as they find an opportunity to ambush the Zhong Family ancestor or Rogue Cultivator Yuyao, the overall situation of the Lesser Vast Sea will immediately be decided!"

Fang Qing secretly grasped the trajectory of the Azure Sea Sect's rise to greatness. What pleased him even more was that his cultivation of Plum Blossom Divination had advanced another step.

"To interpret the hexagrams in greater detail, I need more clues..."

"However, could the Tide-Birth Pearl refined from the Third-Order peak Demon Pill in Azure Sea Ancestor's hands possibly have the same effect as a Tide-Birth Pearl refined from a Demon Pill that has only just entered the Third-Order?"