After Han Li found a thatched hut and settled in, Lin Yun did not return to his own hut to rest. Instead, he lay down on a bamboo chair beside the Medicine Field and began studying the Foundation Establishment Pill he had just obtained.
In Lin Yun's eyes, the methods used to refine this Foundation Establishment Pill were decidedly second-rate. Not only had the heat been poorly controlled, but the techniques were crude as well, allowing much of its medicinal potency to escape and wasting the spirit herb essence.
After silently criticizing the skill of Yellow Maple Valley's alchemists, Lin Yun focused on what truly interested him: the medicinal properties of the three spirit herbs used to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.
The spirit herbs of the mortal world were all formed directly from the primordial qi of heaven and earth, making them quite extraordinary. Lin Yun was deeply interested in how this primordial qi created the medicinal properties of spirit herbs.
His own alchemy already involved extracting the medicinal essence directly from ingredients and using it to form pills.
If he could glean even a little of the principles by which primordial qi created medicinal essence from these spirit herbs, he might be able to dispense with spirit herbs altogether and form pills directly from the primordial qi of heaven and earth.
When that happened, not only would his alchemy dao reach an inconceivably wondrous realm, but his understanding and use of primordial qi would also advance by leaps and bounds.
Unlike the pills Lin Yun refined, which kept their medicinal potency contained without leaking even a trace of pill qi, the Foundation Establishment Pill gave off a faint, pungent medicinal scent.
Lin Yun gently sniffed the medicinal fragrance wafting from the Foundation Establishment Pill, distinguishing its medicinal properties. From time to time, he drew a wisp of medicinal essence from the Medicine Field to compare with the pill in his hand.
Lin Yun had already seen the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill in Yuelu Hall. All thirty-one supplementary ingredients it required could be found in the Herb Garden; only the three main spirit herb ingredients were missing.
Lin Yun was trying to analyze the medicinal essence of those three spirit herbs by comparing the properties of the supplementary ingredients with the medicinal properties and pill qi of the Foundation Establishment Pill.
When Han Li finished tidying his room and came out, he happened to see Lin Yun deep in thought, holding a brilliant blue pill between his fingers.
Acting on the instincts of a seasoned pill consumer, Han Li immediately stepped closer, hoping to get a clear look at the pill in Lin Yun's hand.
Although Lin Yun was pondering and analyzing the medicinal properties of the spirit herbs, he remained alert at all times. He had noticed Han Li the moment he left his hut, but had made no response. In fact, he was quite pleased when Han Li took those two steps toward him.
Only by catching Han Li's attention would he have a chance to get some rare medicinal ingredients from him.
"Finished settling in, Junior Brother Han? Is there anything you need help with?" Lin Yun asked casually.
Han Li stole a glance at the Foundation Establishment Pill in Lin Yun's hand, then cupped his hands toward him. "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Lin. I've finished settling in."
Then, as though merely asking in passing, he added, "What pill is that, Senior Brother Lin? Why does it look rather different from the pills I've seen? It seems quite extraordinary."
"Extraordinary?" Lin Yun could not help laughing.
If this lousy pill didn't contain those three spirit herbs, with refining techniques like these? Even if someone tossed it at my feet, I wouldn't spare it a glance!
"This is a Foundation Establishment Pill. Don't you have one, Junior Brother Han? You entered the valley with an Ascension Token too." Lin Yun looked at Han Li in surprise, as though he knew nothing about the matter.
A trace of surprise appeared on Han Li's face. He glanced again at the Foundation Establishment Pill in Lin Yun's hand, then gave a bitter laugh and told him about his deal with Elder Ye.
Lin Yun consoled him. "There's nothing wrong with exchanging a Foundation Establishment Pill for cultivation supplies you urgently need. You may well have another chance to obtain one in the future. Besides, if you have the ingredients, refining a Foundation Establishment Pill yourself isn't difficult. Don't lose heart, Junior Brother Han."
Han Li had already been considering refining Foundation Establishment Pills himself. These words stirred something in him, and his eyes shifted as he thought, Since the conversation has reached this point, why not ask Senior Brother Lin how to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill?
With that thought, Han Li adopted an offhand air and spoke in a deeply distressed tone. "You must be joking, Senior Brother Lin. Refining a Foundation Establishment Pill must be terribly difficult, surely? Otherwise, why aren't any circulating outside? I haven't even heard of its recipe being available."
Seeing Han Li looking as though he had already given up hope, Lin Yun laughed. "Haha... refining a Foundation Establishment Pill really isn't all that difficult. Even our bunch of second-rate alchemists in Yellow Maple Valley can make them. How hard do you think it could be?"
As he spoke, Lin Yun once again expressed his contempt for Yellow Maple Valley's alchemists.
Han Li was somewhat surprised. Yellow Maple Valley was one of the Seven Sects of Yue, after all. Why did its alchemists sound so incompetent? Was there some reason behind this?
He immediately pressed further. "Senior Brother Lin, are you saying Yellow Maple Valley's alchemists aren't very skilled?"
Lin Yun could not keep the scorn from his face. "Our alchemists in Yellow Maple Valley aren't just unskilled. They also treasure their worn-out brooms as though they were priceless, forever afraid someone will steal their pill recipes."
"Yellow Maple Valley barely has any decent pill recipes left now. The few usable ones are controlled by the major clans. Ordinary disciples who want to study alchemy can't even find a usable recipe. There are only two recipes available in Yuelu Hall now: one for the Foundation Establishment Pill and one for the Youth-Preserving Pill. Both are chicken ribs-hardly worth eating, yet a pity to throw away."
After a pause, Lin Yun sighed again and continued with a deeply worried expression. "Still, Yellow Maple Valley isn't the only place like this in the cultivation world. The other immortal sects are the same. Sigh... with things like this, how can the cultivation world's alchemy dao ever progress?"
Han Li's heart sank at this, and he could not help asking, "Yellow Maple Valley only has two pill recipes? None for increasing cultivation? How is that possible?"
How could a sect as large as Yellow Maple Valley have only two pill recipes? The Yellow Dragon Pills and Golden Marrow Pills he was taking were already becoming far less effective. If he could not find new pills, how was he supposed to improve his cultivation?
Seeing Han Li's anxious expression, Lin Yun was inwardly amused. Aside from reaching Foundation Establishment, what that old devil wants most right now must be recipes for pills that increase cultivation.
Suppressing his amusement, Lin Yun said, "That's right, just those two. Most of the other recipes are held by Yellow Maple Valley's various major clans or its Core Formation patriarchs. Of course, Ancestor Linghu certainly has even more recipes."
Seeing Han Li standing there stunned, Lin Yun smiled and resumed studying the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand.
After a while, Han Li seemed to work something out. He stopped dwelling on the matter of pill recipes and continued asking Lin Yun about refining Foundation Establishment Pills instead.
Han Li no longer beat around the bush, asking directly, "Senior Brother Lin, how exactly do you refine a Foundation Establishment Pill? Are there any difficulties?"
Pondering the medicinal properties of the spirit herbs, Lin Yun replied casually, "With medicinal ingredients, of course. What else would you use? As for the difficulty, that would be obtaining its three main ingredients: jade marrow zhi, purple monkey flower, and heavenly spirit fruit. The other thirty-one supplementary ingredients can all be found in this Herb Garden."
By this point, Lin Yun had also made some headway in studying the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand, and his brow relaxed a little.
Although he still could not figure
out how the primordial qi of heaven and earth created spirit herbs, he had at least worked out their basic medicinal properties.
And so, he could not help expressing his contempt for Yellow Maple Valley's alchemists once again.
"Those alchemists of ours in Yellow Maple Valley... tsk! What a waste! They used thirty-one medicinal ingredients a hundred years old and three spirit herbs several hundred years old, only to produce a pill that merely remakes the body, cleanses the meridians, and transforms the marrow. How much medicinal potency must they have wasted? And as if that weren't enough, they even let the pill qi and medicinal power leak away after the pill was formed. What a pity!"
Having said that, Lin Yun could no longer restrain himself. He raised his hand, conjured a flame in his palm, and began calcining the Foundation Establishment Pill right there.
Under the heat, a wisp of gray vapor soon seeped out of the Foundation Establishment Pill. Under Lin Yun's control, it then became a pill membrane that wrapped around the pill.
After he withdrew the flame, the Foundation Establishment Pill dropped into Lin Yun's palm, no longer leaking even the slightest trace of pill qi.
Han Li stared at Lin Yun's actions, dumbstruck. He had no idea what Lin Yun was doing, nor did he realize just how outrageous Lin Yun's Pill-Sealing Technique was.
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