Late Qi Refining Period

[The healing and lifesaving pills you refined were all low-grade or mid-grade pills.]

[The largest group of cultivators entering the Cloudsea Secret Realm consisted of those in the Early Qi Refining Period and the middle period.]

[Demand for low-grade and mid-grade healing and lifesaving pills was also the greatest.]

[As for high-grade pills? You had not prepared many.]

[You understood perfectly well that you should earn spirit stones appropriate to your level.]

[At present, you were only in the middle Qi Refining period and were a Mid-Grade Alchemist. If you sold too many high-grade pills in a short time...]

[You would inevitably attract unwanted attention. Pill Master Yun was certainly willing to protect you, but you would have to explain yourself to him.]

[You would also have to call in a favor from Pill Master Yun. You valued his favors greatly and hoped to save them for a critical moment.]

[For instance, when you attempted Foundation Establishment in the future?]

[In the first simulation, Ye Feng had cultivated to the peak of the Qi Refining Stage and had also hoped to draw on Pill Master Yun's connections to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill.]

[Unfortunately, his arrogance had kept him from succeeding.]

[Had you been in Ye Feng's place, your relationship with Pill Master Yun would likely have secured not only success, but even more benefits and assistance.]

[You would rather earn fewer spirit stones than damage your relationship with Pill Master Yun.]

[In the twenty-first year, you were thirty-six. By continually selling healing and lifesaving pills throughout the year, you earned nearly six thousand spirit stones after deducting costs.]

[You knew perfectly well that large numbers of cultivators would enter the Cloudsea Secret Realm over the next three years, sustaining demand for healing and lifesaving pills.]

[Meanwhile, the Mountain Sea Ring's artifact spirit awakened once more.]

["Boy, your mana looks unstable, and your body is frail. In this condition, even if you reach the ninth layer of Qi Refining, any attempt at Foundation Establishment is certain to fail."]

[After examining you carefully, the Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit spoke with a frown.]

["Certain to fail?"]

[You froze for a moment, never expecting such an assessment.]

["There are three trials between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment: the Qi-Blood Trial, the Mana Trial, and the Divine Sense Trial. Your divine sense barely passes muster, but your physical vitality and the quality of your mana are far too poor."]

[The Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit put a finger right on the sore spot.]

[You had spent years refining pills, constantly exercising your divine sense, so you were reasonably capable in that regard.]

["Here, I'll give you a cultivation method called the Mountain Sea Art. The mana it produces is incomparably dense and substantial, giving you a much greater chance of reaching Foundation Establishment than other methods of the same level."]

["Also, I'll give you a body-refining technique. Remember to practice that as well."]

[The Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit offered a few more instructions before falling asleep again.]

[Emotion showed on your face. This was the advantage of having an elder to guide you.]

[An ordinary rogue cultivator, even one fortunate enough to reach the ninth layer of Qi Refining, would have a hundred-percent chance of failing at Foundation Establishment.]

[Those rogue cultivators would probably go to their graves believing bad luck had caused their failure, never realizing that their defeat had been decided the moment they set foot on the path of cultivation.]

[Amid your reflections, you noticed that the faint threads of red on the Mountain Sea Ring had grown slightly more numerous.]

[Overall, however, the Mountain Sea Ring remained sky blue, with red making up only a negligible portion.]

[In the twenty-second year, you were thirty-seven. You successfully converted all your mana into mountain sea mana.]

[Mountain sea mana was incomparably dense and substantial. After the conversion, your mana, which had approached the peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining, was reduced to the level of someone who had only just entered that layer.]

[Of course, cultivating the Mountain Sea Art consumed far more resources than before, but you did not mind. Your constant sales of healing and lifesaving pills meant you no longer lacked spirit stones. This year's income was likewise no less than six thousand spirit stones.]

[That evening, a beautiful female cultivator visited you.]

["These are the spirit stones earned from selling that batch of pills."]

[This beautiful female cultivator was You Rou, the deputy leader of the Pill Alliance in the Black Mountain Market. The pills Zhou Qing sold went through this Fairy You.]

["Thank you, Alliance Leader You."]

[You took the bag of spirit stones and gave its contents a quick count, a smile appearing on your face.]

[You naturally did not need to appear personally to sell spirit stones to the cultivators entering the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm, nor did you have so much time to spend waiting outside it.]

[This was also the basis of your partnership with You Rou. You handed her the pills, and she handled their sale, with the lion's share of the proceeds naturally going to you.]

["You flatter me, Pill Master Wang. The pills you give me these days are in great demand. They often fetch several times their usual price and still sell out quickly..."]

[You Rou carried herself elegantly, her eyes clear as spring water. "I wonder if you could supply a little more, Pill Master Wang?"]

["I'm afraid not."]

[You shook your head. "Refining these pills takes time, too."]

[In truth, you still had a large stock of these pills on hand, but you could not possibly bring them all out at once.]

["I see."]

[You Rou nodded lightly and did not ask where the pills you supplied had come from.]

[They were merely low-grade and mid-grade pills, not worth investigating for someone in her position as deputy leader of the Pill Alliance.]

[High-grade pills would have been a different matter. There were only so many High-Grade Alchemists in the entire Black Mountain Market and its surrounding area, and every one of them enjoyed considerable renown.]

[In the twenty-third year, you were thirty-eight. Pill Master Yun also returned from Azure Moon Immortal City.]

[Pill Master Yun had not entered the Foundation Establishment Stage. Clearly, his breakthrough had failed.]

[At Pill Master Yun's age, a failed breakthrough meant that Foundation Establishment was now beyond his reach. In a few more years, he would turn seventy, entering his twilight years as his vitality declined.]

[You did not disturb Pill Master Yun, knowing he must be in a foul mood.]

[The same had happened in the first simulation. After returning, Pill Master Yun had seen no one for a full six months.]

[You sighed inwardly. Although Pill Master Yun had become a High-Grade Alchemist earlier in this simulation, giving him more time and energy to devote to cultivation, his outcome had not changed at all.]

[Or perhaps the bottleneck between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment was simply a heavenly chasm, almost impossible to cross.]

[In the twenty-fourth year, you were thirty-nine. You earned another seven thousand spirit stones by selling healing and lifesaving pills.]

[In the three years since the Cloudsea Secret Realm had appeared, your earnings had reached nineteen thousand spirit stones. Most cultivators would never see so many spirit stones in their entire lives.]

[With ample spirit stones, you began purchasing higher-quality cultivation resources. Your cultivation of the Mountain Sea Art also proceeded steadily and methodically.]

[In the twenty-fifth year, you were forty. You earned another seven thousand spirit stones.]

[You also understood clearly,]

[After four years of exploration, the Cloudsea Secret Realm had essentially been picked clean. Fewer and fewer cultivators would explore it from then on, and demand for lifesaving and healing pills would return to normal levels.]

[In the twenty-sixth year, you were forty-one. You finally reached the halfway point in your cultivation of the Mountain Sea Art.]

[The Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit regarded you with quite a headache. Your cultivation speed was clearly slower than the artifact spirit had anticipated.]

[In the twenty-seventh year, you were forty-two. The Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit gave you several more pill formulas, all for pills that accelerated cultivation at the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]

[After several months of attempts, you finally succeeded in refining them, further increasing your cultivation speed.]

[In the twenty-eighth year, you were forty-three. You approached the peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]

[In the twenty-ninth year, you were forty-four. You finally cultivated to the peak of the sixth layer of Qi Refining.]

[At this point, the Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit stopped urging you on, instead telling you to bring yourself into the right condition and not attempt a breakthrough rashly.]

[In the thirtieth year, you were forty-five. While bringing yourself into the right condition, you began preparing all the resources needed for your breakthrough.]

[Advancing from the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining to the seventh layer meant breaking through from the middle period to the late period. Without sufficient resources to support you, failure was all too easy.]

[In the thirty-first year, you were forty-six. Through Pill Master Yun's contacts, you purchased a realm-breaking pill for the late Qi Refining period.]

[You began preparing for your breakthrough.]

[Half a month later, you entered the seventh layer of Qi Refining.]

[You joined the ranks of the great Qi Refining cultivators.]