Opening the Furnace

"One thousand and twenty-one people!"

Fang Yu murmured to himself, sensing the true spirits newly present in his sea of consciousness.

These true spirits were very different from the fortune he had gathered before. What he had previously separated from the Fire of Ten Thousand Households was only a trace of fortune connected to each corresponding mortal. Now, he had used that connection to draw over their true spirits after death.

That meant that, if he wished, he could send these thousand-odd people through reincarnation, effectively allowing them to be reborn.

At the same time, these true spirits could also be used directly to refine the Three Altar Troops and Horses. If he sold them to disciples of Mount Longhu, they should fetch an excellent price.

However, how to use the true spirits of these followers after their deaths was not the most pressing matter at the moment. What mattered was why these mortal followers had formed true spirits instead of simply dispersing between heaven and earth.

The Starfire Heart-Burning Instruction certainly possessed no such wondrous power.

That left only the Yuanchen Pearl as the possible source of this wondrous effect. Fortune purified by the Yuanchen Pearl could influence whether a corresponding person's true spirit dispersed after death. It was as though those followers had registered with him, allowing him to draw their true spirits over after they died.

He had only gathered three flames of the Fire of Ten Thousand Households so far, affecting roughly a million people. Once he gathered more of them and reached the Qi Ingestion Seventh Layer, or even advanced to the Dao Foundation, the number of people affected would likely exceed ten million.

He would be able to reclaim the true spirits of all those ten million mortals after their deaths. Setting aside their life experiences, he needed only to absorb their experience in a particular skill to become all-knowing and all-powerful, gaining a profound understanding of everything in the mortal world.

Dao of Qi Refining.

Mosquito Immortal City. Cave abode.

Fang Yu had cleared a small vegetable patch in an open space in the courtyard and planted some common vegetables, putting into practice the vegetable-growing experience he had obtained from the true spirit of an old farmer.

By now, every one of the vegetables was growing splendidly. Although the rich Spiritual Qi here played a part, more importantly, the vegetable-growing experience he had obtained was genuinely useful.

"Good, good!"

After tending the vegetable patch, Fang Yu nodded in satisfaction and returned to sit at the tea table in the courtyard.

It had been a long time since he returned from the Dao of Qi Ingestion, and Fang Yu had more or less finished absorbing the abilities of the true spirits. But he had found that most of these mortals' abilities were of little use to him and did not help much in increasing his combat strength.

After all, most of Great Peace Village's followers came from poor families. The abilities they possessed were essentially practical skills such as farming, fishing, raising livestock, making clothes, and smithing. Even among those who knew a little martial arts, their experience was not much help to him.

However, these people's life experiences were quite helpful to his Spiritual Pivot Resonance Chapter.

The accuracy of resonance and calculations came from understanding the things of heaven and earth. The more he knew, the more accurate and sensitive his resonance became, and the better he could seek fortune, avoid calamity, and steer clear of many unknown dangers. In that respect, it could be said to have greatly increased his Dao Attainment in calculation.

It will be some years before I can gather the Fire of Ten Thousand Households again. In the meantime, I might as well achieve Foundation Establishment first.

Fang Yu took a sip of tea, then extended a hand and counted on his fingers, calculating the outcome of refining Foundation Establishment Pills himself.

[Auspicious]

"Very good!"

Fang Yu immediately took out his Pill Furnace and prepared to begin refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

Over the years, he had refined a great many second-tier pills and had more or less assimilated the pill-refining inheritance he had purchased at a high price. His pill-refining ability had also reached the second tier.

Although this was his first time refining Foundation Establishment Pills, given his previous experience and the result of his calculation, he should be able to succeed.

The portions of materials he had prepared long ago flew out of his Storage Bag. The essential core ingredient among them was naturally the late second-tier Night Sha demonic core.

"Rise..."

Fang Yu called out, and flames appeared beneath the Pill Furnace, rapidly heating the surrounding air.

Fang Yu beckoned, and a supplementary spirit herb fell into the Pill Furnace, where it underwent preliminary processing under his divine sense.

As time passed, the various supplementary ingredients were processed one by one. Fang Yu then focused every ounce of his attention on processing the demonic core.

He currently had only this one demonic core. If he made a mistake in processing it, he would certainly fail to refine the Foundation Establishment Pills.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The demonic core melted like a candle into a liquid, which dripped into the Pill Furnace drop by drop. During this time, Fang Yu continuously added other supplementary ingredients according to the Pill Formula, harmonizing their medicinal properties and controlling the heat.

The entire process continued for several days, followed by a long period of slow simmering over a low flame to fuse all the medicinal properties completely together.

Three months later.

"Open!"

The Pill Furnace opened, and a rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire courtyard. Three Foundation Establishment Pills, each the size of a longan, emerged from the furnace.

Fang Yu gazed at the three Foundation Establishment Pills, all flawless in appearance, and a proud smile appeared on his lips.

On his first attempt, he had successfully refined three genuine Foundation Establishment Pills.

His practice over the preceding years had indeed not been in vain, and his calculation before starting the furnace had not been wrong either. The outcome of this pill refinement was: [Auspicious].

One genuine Foundation Establishment Pill can increase the chance of successful Foundation Establishment by thirty percent. Even if it fails, it can still preserve the cultivator's life and cultivation. Now that I have three Foundation Establishment Pills, I will surely succeed in achieving Foundation Establishment.

Next, I'll go to the inner city and rent a cave abode for the breakthrough!

Putting away the Foundation Establishment Pills, Fang Yu left the courtyard and headed for the inner city.

The outer city of Mosquito Immortal City was inhabited mostly by Qi Refining Realm cultivators, while the inner city was inhabited mostly by Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. As far as Fang Yu knew, a little over fifty Foundation Establishment cultivators lived permanently in Mosquito Immortal City. Compared with the more than two hundred thousand Qi Refining Realm cultivators in the outer city, that proportion was extremely small.

The main reason was naturally that Foundation Establishment Pills were hard to come by. Without one, a cultivator could only gamble with their life. Success meant becoming a Foundation Establishment Ancestor and immediately turning their fortunes around; failure meant death and the end of their Dao.

Fang Yu made his way to the cave abode rental office in the inner city and looked at a deacon at Qi Refining Late Stage Great Perfection:

"I would like to rent a cave abode with abundant Spiritual Qi to attempt a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

Deacon Xu looked Fang Yu up and down. "Fellow Daoist, do you have a Foundation Establishment Pill or a Foundation Establishment spirit item?"

"No!" Fang Yu gave a bitter smile and said, "How could Rogue Cultivators like us hope for such spirit items? This old man is already eighty this year and truly cannot wait any longer. I only wish to risk my life and make one attempt."

Hearing this, Deacon Xu immediately cupped his fists. "Fellow Daoist, to think you would still risk your life for an attempt at your age! You truly are an example to our generation. Cave abode Jia Three happens to be vacant, and its Spiritual Qi is exceptionally abundant. It should increase your chance of success somewhat!"

"Good!" Fang Yu nodded at once. "I'll rent it for three years!"

Deacon Xu collected the Spirit Stones, quickly completed the formalities, and handed Fang Yu a cave abode token.

"Many thanks!" Fang Yu accepted the token and headed toward the cave abode.

Watching Fang Yu's departing figure, Deacon Xu could not help shaking his head and sighing. "He still wants to achieve Foundation Establishment at eighty, without a Foundation Establishment Pill or other spirit item to help him. His chance of success is almost zero."

Over the years, he had seen far too many Rogue Cultivators like this, nearing the end of their lifespans and hoping to make one last attempt before death. Only a precious few succeeded; ninety-nine percent died right in their cave abodes. When that happened, he could make a small fortune.

Why a small fortune? Because these people would certainly have settled their affairs before entering secluded cultivation, so they naturally had nothing valuable left on them. Still, even if all he got was a Storage Bag, that was not bad.