What Do You Do When the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid Runs Out?

"Seven days, and you still haven't tracked down this Chu Zhou?"

Someone raised the question at a high-level meeting in Huaguo.

People in their position knew very well how terrifying the state apparatus could be once it truly got moving.

Yet this time, even after the highest-level investigation order had been issued, they had turned up nothing useful.

"The files on everyone in the country named Chu Zhou have been sent to the Extraordinary Bureau. Our personnel have conducted multiple rounds of cross-checking, and we sent people to make contact, investigate, and probe them. All of them have been ruled out."

"All of them? Are you telling me this Chu Zhou appeared out of thin air?"

"The experts suspect that Chu Zhou is using an alias."

"Even if it's an alias, he must have used the name Chu Zhou for some period of time. Expand the investigation and add missing and deceased persons to the screening list."

"He's received rewards from the Firmament Ledger twice in a row. This man will become a destabilizing factor."

"Foreign agents and spies have been especially active lately. They're all looking for Chu Zhou too. What do you think we should do?"

"Isn't it obvious? Take them down the moment they show themselves."

"..."

Meanwhile.

In America, Russia, India, Korea, Japan, and other countries.

Their top leaders were furious and dissatisfied, berating the people handling the matter until they were utterly humiliated.

Seven days without a single lead, while they could only watch him receive his second reward. It was a blatant slap in the face.

They had all made grand boasts about taking a commanding lead in the new era and keeping Huaguo beneath them.

Chu Zhou knew nothing about any of this, and even if he had, he would not have cared.

After discovering that he could keep himself fed and clothed on the Dou Qi Continent, he had lost interest in going back out. As someone who had transmigrated from a parallel world, he had no ties holding him to Blue Star.

Even if Blue Star drowned in a deluge, it had nothing to do with him. Nor did he worry about being targeted after drawing attention to himself.

What occupied his thoughts now was how to obtain a second bottle of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.

There's really no need to overthink it. Ya Fei and Gu Ni are shrewd enough not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. I can work with them.

After dinner, Chu Zhou left his courtyard to find Ya Fei and discuss a partnership.

He would provide the formula and detailed refining method.

Ya Fei would supply the medicinal ingredients and magic cores.

Gu Ni, a Second-Rank Alchemist, would handle the actual refining.

That way, he would have more Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid than he could ever use.

As a Chosen One, he had ten lives on the Dou Qi Continent. With fairly good odds of success, taking a risk to secure better treatment was perfectly acceptable.

Of course, that was also because everything he possessed would remain with him after he died and revived.

Otherwise, for the sake of his myriad medicine clarity body, he would not have taken any risks at all.

"Has Sister Ya Fei gone to bed?" Chu Zhou asked the maid guarding the entrance when he arrived at Ya Fei's private courtyard.

"Greetings, Young Master Chu Zhou. I'll go in and ask for you," Cui Yu said with a smile and a bow before opening the courtyard gate and stepping inside.

Before long, Cui Yu returned and opened the gate. "The young lady hasn't gone to bed yet. Please come in, young master."

Chu Zhou followed the maid Cui Yu to the study. The moment he entered, he saw Ya Fei sitting languidly at her desk, pouring wine from a jug.

Her lovely hair hung loose, and she wore a silk nightdress that covered her well. Her features were exquisite, with a distinct charm even without makeup.

One of her beautiful bare legs was raised at the knee, her fair, lustrous foot as lovely as a work of art.

Clearly, Ya Fei had only recently finished bathing.

"Little brother Chu Zhou, you've come at just the right time." Ya Fei flexed her foot, her pretty pink lips curving slightly. "I have some fine wine that just arrived from the imperial capital. Uncle Gu Ni wanted some, but I hid it away rather than give him any. You've stumbled upon it instead. Care to join me for a few drinks?"

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Drinking together was an excellent way to break down barriers, and Chu Zhou certainly would not pass up such an opportunity. He sat directly across from Ya Fei, picked up a wine cup with easy familiarity, and held it out to her.

"You're making yourself more and more at home." Ya Fei gracefully lifted the jug and poured, releasing wafts of fruity fragrance.

"Why would I stand on ceremony with you, Sister Ya Fei?" Chu Zhou smiled, his tone familiar. "I'm your man, after all."

Ya Fei immediately burst into a light laugh.

Hearing a handsome young man say something like that was rather amusing.

More importantly, Chu Zhou spoke pleasantly without overstepping in his behavior, so she did not find him annoying.

After several rounds of wine and some idle conversation, Ya Fei got to the point. "What brings you to see me so late?"

With Chu Zhou's sense of propriety, he would not have come to see her at night unless he had something to discuss.

"Sister Ya Fei, I've broken through." Those words instantly cleared away Ya Fei's slight tipsiness.

"You've broken through?"

"Yes, I've reached fourth-stage dou qi." Chu Zhou held out his hand, indicating that Ya Fei could check.

As a young lady of the Mittel Family's direct line, Ya Fei belonged to the relatively well-provided-for cultivators within the Jia Ma Empire. At twenty-three, she was only a Seven-Star Dou Zhe, making her cultivation talent rather ordinary, though she was still much stronger than Chu Zhou was now.

"You really have." Ya Fei took Chu Zhou's hand and sent a trace of dou qi into him. Somewhat surprised, she said, "You went from third-stage dou qi to the fourth stage in just seven days. Perhaps you were already close to a breakthrough."

"I also have to thank you for the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid you gave me, Sister Ya Fei. I can't possibly repay you." Chu Zhou's eyes smiled along with his lips, his words sweet.

"Your own hard work played a part too." Appreciation shone in Ya Fei's eyes.

She knew exactly how diligently Chu Zhou cultivated.

"Hard work matters, but resources matter too." Chu Zhou's gaze grew firm. "Sister Ya Fei, I'd like more Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid."

Ya Fei: ?

So this was what the brat had been leading up to.

"You've already used up the bottle I gave you?" Ya Fei was a little surprised.

According to Gu Ni's assessment, a bottle of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid should last a month when added to Water Attribute in drops.

"Maybe my talent is decent and I absorb it particularly well. I've already used it all." Chu Zhou nodded.

"Having talent and cultivating diligently means your cultivation can improve faster. That's a good thing." Ya Fei's opinion of Chu Zhou actually rose considerably, but she sighed helplessly. "If I had more Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, I certainly wouldn't be stingy. I'd let you use it."

"But that Alchemist hasn't come back to sell any more."

"Then can't we refine it ourselves?" Chu Zhou asked.

"That's even less possible." Ya Fei swirled the wine cup in her hand. "I'm not an alchemist, but I do know quite a bit about alchemy."

"The Dou Qi Continent is vast, and its medicinal ingredients are beyond counting. Making a medicine like this requires selecting ingredients from all those countless materials. If magic crystals are involved, you also have to find a way to neutralize the violent energy within them."

“Even with the Pill Recipe, the proportions of the ingredients, how thoroughly they fuse, the timing, the intensity of the flame, and so on all require countless experiments and soul perception to get right. That's why every Alchemist needs a teacher to guide them step by step.”

"If you just throw things together, ruining the furnace and the medicine is the least of your worries. If you suffer a backlash, well..."

At her words, Chu Zhou nodded emphatically, then asked, "What if I know the Pill Formula, along with all those key details you mentioned, Sister Ya Fei?"

Ya Fei: ???