Improved Foundation Building Spirit Liquid in Hand

[Year Eleven: You began training alongside Cao Ying. With memories of your previous life and the discipline of an adult, you trained with exceptional focus and progressed quickly, reaching the level of a five-star Dou Zhe within a year.]

[At the same time, you began formally learning alchemy under Cao Ying's guidance. Though she rarely followed conventional methods in her own work, she was unexpectedly patient and meticulous when teaching you. From controlling flames and purifying ingredients to combining them and forming pills, she built your foundation step by step.]

[Fortunately, your growth did not disappoint the Cao Family. Born with the Soul Force of a Second-Rank Alchemist, and having spent nearly a decade developing it, you progressed rapidly in alchemy.]

[On your first day, you refined a usable first-rank pill. Just three months later, you successfully refined your first second-rank pill, earning Cao Ying's praise.]

[The day before your twelfth birthday, after a year of steady practice, you began attempting third-rank pills. You failed at the final stage of forming the pill because you lacked sufficient Dou Qi, but everyone could see that cultivation was the only thing standing between you and becoming a Third-Rank Alchemist.]

[Your talent prompted the Cao Family to invest even more in your development. Among its members, only Cao Ying received more resources.]

[Year Twelve: Your Dou Qi rose steadily to the nine-star Dou Zhe level. After refining the third-rank Beast Flame granted by the Cao Family, your alchemy improved by leaps and bounds. With the aid of several pills that restored Dou Qi, you barely managed to refine an entry-level third-rank pill, the Qi Recovery Pill.]

[Cao Ying was quite pleased with your progress. She occasionally took you to the markets outside Pill Tower to see different medicinal ingredients and pills, sharing bits of alchemical insight along the way. You learned a great deal.]

[Year Thirteen: You broke through to Dou Shi, and your alchemy firmly reached the third rank. Cao Ying began having you attempt easier fourth-rank pills. Though you never succeeded, the ample ingredients she supplied helped you improve quickly.]

[That year, Cao Ying was invited to a small gathering of Pill Tower's younger alchemists and brought you along. There, you witnessed the talents of many young alchemists and gained a sense of the exceptional standing and respect Cao Ying enjoyed among them.]

[That same year, Xuan Kongzi, one of Pill Tower's leading figures, accepted Cao Ying as his final disciple. She wanted him to take you on as well, but you failed his test. His assessment was that you worked exceptionally hard but lacked innate flair, so your future achievements would be limited.]

[Cao Ying refused to accept this and insisted you were a genius. You knew, however, that Xuan Kongzi's assessment was sound. In the end, unable to withstand his beloved disciple's persistence, he sighed and agreed to take you on as an unofficial disciple. He also gave you a damaged ancient scroll.]

[To your delight, studying it revealed an incomplete introductory Soul Technique. You could not cultivate it directly, but its ideas on nurturing and controlling Soul Force inspired you greatly.]

[Year Fourteen: You continued training and advanced to a six-star Dou Shi. Your alchemy remained stuck at the peak of the third rank, but studying the Soul Technique fragment strengthened your Soul Force considerably. You could occasionally refine a few of the easiest entry-level fourth-rank pills.]

[After you refined a fourth-rank pill for the first time, Cao Ying, now a Fifth-Rank Alchemist, excitedly dragged you to see Xuan Kongzi. While sharing the good news, she dropped hints that he ought to reward you.]

[Xuan Kongzi helplessly asked what you wanted. You replied that you wanted a pill recipe that could speed up cultivation during the Dou Qi stage, leaving everyone present puzzled.]

[Under their questioning gazes, you said that you came from a family of Trading Firm servants. Your parents had little aptitude for cultivation, and even in middle age, they remained at a low level of Dou Qi. You wanted the recipe to honor them. If it helped them live a few more years, that would be enough.]

[Everyone fell silent. Their gazes softened, but Xuan Kongzi had no particularly good recipe for such a medicine. Fortunately, he was not the only leading figure present.]

[After hearing your reason, Xuan Yi, another leading figure of Pill Tower who had come to chat with Xuan Kongzi, pointed through the air and sent information into your mind with her Soul Force. She said it was a recipe created by Venerable Yao, the continent's foremost Alchemist, called Foundation Building Spirit Liquid. She had acquired it by chance and made a few casual improvements. It happened to meet your needs.]

[Once you absorbed the information, you discovered that Xuan Yi's recipe truly differed from Yao Lao's Foundation Building Spirit Liquid. It retained the original formula as its basis, but its rank had risen from second to third, and the liquid was considerably more effective.]

[Yao Lao's Foundation Building Spirit Liquid had little effect on anyone above the eighth stage of Dou Qi. Xuan Yi's improved version, however, could be used throughout the entire Dou Qi stage. It also protected the user's meridians while they formed their Dou Qi vortex, with an effect roughly equivalent to taking a little less than half a portion of Qi Gathering Powder.]

[You immediately thanked Xuan Yi, but you did not believe a word of her claim that she had acquired it by chance and casually improved it. You remained convinced she had deliberately sought out the recipe and studied it with care while thinking of someone dear to her.]

[Faced with your formal thanks, Xuan Yi said it was merely a gift from an elder to a junior. Xuan Kongzi laughed and pointed out that he had yet to give you the reward he had promised. If you wanted anything, you could simply come to him.]

[You thanked Xuan Kongzi as well, then left with Cao Ying. Back at your residence, you began refining Foundation Building Spirit Liquid.]

[At Pill Tower, you had no need to worry about finding ingredients for a third-rank medicine. With your alchemy at the peak of the third rank, refining the improved Foundation Building Spirit Liquid posed no difficulty.]

[In just one week, you refined nearly a hundred batches of the improved Foundation Building Spirit Liquid. Ever crafty, you packed each two-year supply into a single large bottle. After sending two bottles to your parents, you kept the rest to test whether you could exploit a loophole in the simulator's reward count.]

[Year Fifteen: You continued training. After taking a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill Cao Ying gave you, you successfully advanced to a two-star Da Dou Shi. Your alchemy finally broke through and stabilized at the fourth rank.]

[Becoming a Da Dou Shi and a Fourth-Rank Alchemist at fifteen earned you a measure of fame in Pill Tower. Yet you could clearly feel that improving your cultivation and Soul Force was growing harder and harder.]

[Year Sixteen: You trained diligently, but your cultivation rose by only three stars, and that was only because Cao Ying refined two Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pills for you. You knew your talent had reached its limit, but you refused to settle for that. So you made a decision...]