"Going out adventuring and exploring is just too much trouble and way too dangerous. Honestly, it's far more reliable to stay home, tend my fields, and refine a few batches of pills!"
Li Ye chuckled to himself and casually opened his status panel.
[Name: Li Ye]
[Spirit Root: Low-grade Earth-Wood Dual Root]
[Age: 26]
[Lifespan: 82 years]
[Skills:]
Planting – Tier 2 Low (211/7000)
Alchemy – Tier 1 High (927/8000)
Artifact Crafting – Beginner (125/2000)
Talismans – Tier 2 Low (277/8000)
Gu Technique – Tier 1 Mid (312/4000)
Formations – Tier 1 Mid (427/8000)
[Herbal Spirit Essence:]
Blood Grain Rice Essence ×600
Sunfire Essence ×5
Evergreen Essence ×60
[Essence Traits: ]
Vitality – Level 1
Absorption – Level 1
[Experience Points: 4245]
If it weren't for the presence of the Void Realm Tree, Li Ye might have hesitated to continue leveling up his formation skills.
But with the tree acting as the core of his array, the Greenvine Verdantwood Array had become incredibly stable almost at the level of a Tier 2 formation. That alone had saved him a great deal of effort.
His primary goal now was to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, and for that, he needed to advance his alchemy skill to Tier 2. Since that was the focus, there was no need to conserve experience points he could invest freely.
Glints of light flickered across his consciousness, bringing with them fresh insights and a noticeable improvement in his technique.
After a short period of quiet focus, Li Ye looked at the panel showing his alchemy proficiency, now raised to 5172, and nodded in satisfaction.
"At this pace, I should be able to break through to Tier 2 Alchemy before the year's out…"
Blood Grain Rice could be harvested twice a year, but Evergreen Flowers required at least a full year to reach maturity.
So going forward, the timing of his experience gain and spirit essence feedback wouldn't align quite so neatly.
As for the Tier 2 spirit fields, they had even longer growth cycles and hadn't been cultivated on a large scale yet a long-term investment and not something to worry about for now.
"Still, sixty units of Evergreen Essence isn't a lot… Refining a single batch of Wood Origin Pills typically consumes about ten Evergreen Flowers. For now, I'll try using five units of essence as supplemental support and adjust from there…"
After all, unless he was willing to burn essence in place of the primary ingredients like he did for Blood Qi Pills it wasn't a case of "the more, the better."
Even though essence could enhance medicinal fusion, too much of it could destabilize the formula, disrupting the balance of ingredients and causing greater losses.
The recent improvement in his alchemy skill wasn't a full breakthrough, but it was still a solid step forward. With the insights he'd gained, he now had a much deeper understanding of past experiences refining Wood Origin Pills.
He felt confident in his plan.
Li Ye headed straight for the mid-mountain fire cave. As soon as he lifted the barrier, a wave of scorching heat surged outward.
Rather than flinch, he smiled.
"The earth fire here really is stable and much hotter than any flame produced by Spiritwood. No wonder it's said to rival the true fire of a Foundation Establishment cultivator… A perfect place for alchemy!"
"Even the only flaw the initially flawed formation for channeling the earthfire has now been corrected by me. This setup should last me to Foundation Establishment."
Naturally, he was thoroughly familiar with the improved restrictions he'd laid out himself.
Sealing off the cave, he moved effortlessly into its depths. He arrived at a fire pit where a gentle stream of earthfire pulsed faintly beneath the surface. Pulling out a crimson pill furnace, he tossed it directly into the flames.
With his alchemy skill rising, the temperatures he needed for refining had also gone up. The old low-grade pill furnace he'd bought from Hundred Treasures Pavilion long ago couldn't withstand such heat anymore he'd already replaced it.
This pill furnace had been a chance purchase during Li Ye's journey through the Chidi Mountains, found at a marketplace along the way. It was a high-grade furnace, fully capable of withstanding the intense heat of earthfire, and offered much better control over the flame.
With a flick of his hand, Li Ye activated the formation, causing the fire pit's earth fire to surge and pour into the pill furnace. In just moments, the furnace had heated to the required temperature.
Although the Evergreen Flowers in his fields had only just been planted, that didn't stop Li Ye from using the medicinal ingredients he had previously prepared and set aside.
One by one, the carefully processed spirit herbs were tossed in to be refined, their essences extracted and gradually fused under the high heat.
By the time he was finished with these steps, more than half a day had passed.
Still full of energy, Li Ye released five streams of Evergreen Essence, each carrying a long-lasting, refreshing fragrance.
The moment they merged with the medicine, the liquid inside the furnace became noticeably more harmonious. Fusion progressed rapidly, and a subtle, floral-woody scent began to waft out from the furnace.
"As expected! Evergreen Essence, which complements the medicinal properties, works far better than Bud Essence or Spirit Mulberry Essence…"
"The medicinal fusion has already reached such a pure state… and it's not even finished yet, but there's barely any impurity left!"
This was a completely different level compared to Blood Qi Pills or Violet Haze Powder, which primarily relied on quantity where success was likely so long as no major mistakes were made.
Wood Origin Pills, on the other hand, were much harder to refine. In the past, even with high-tier beginner-level alchemy and some essence to help, Li Ye's success rate was modest at best.
But now it seemed the problem had simply been using the wrong essence!
If Wood Origin Pills could reach this level of quality, then using suitable essence as the main ingredient for refining Foundation Establishment Pills would surely yield results no less impressive.
"No… the earthfire must also be a factor here its purifying power is helping to reduce impurities further…"
A flash of fervor lit up in Li Ye's eyes at the pleasant surprise. He had to quickly recite the secret technique of the Thousand Thoughts Divine Refinement Technique to calm his mind and maintain control.
"Open!"
As the pill fragrance intensified, then gradually mellowed out again, the medicinal power in the furnace had been fully refined. The moment had arrived. Li Ye gave a final push to the flames.
With a loud hiss, the furnace opened. A wave of heat burst out, and twelve spirit pills shot out in a line, landing neatly in a jade tray.
Of the twelve, only one was dull in color.
Six were pale green, three bore a single vein pattern, two had double veins… and one... one of them had three veins!
"Not a single failed pill… and I even produced two extra! Half of them came out with spirit veins… Is this what they mean by a twelve-fold pill success rate?"
Li Ye stared at the results in disbelief.
The combination of all those factors had created an outcome beyond anything he'd expected even for a high-tier Tier 1 pill.
The value from just this one batch far exceeded his imagination!
"Seems five streams of Evergreen Essence is the optimal balance…"
He murmured to himself, "At this rate, these sixty units of essence should be enough to carry me to Qi Condensation Layer Eight and last me until the next harvest…"
"And with all these extra pills… Blackwood Daoist can periodically sell some off at other markets to stockpile spirit stones for more Foundation Establishment ingredients…"
At that thought, Li Ye shook his head with a chuckle.
"See? Staying put and farming is still better than running off to explore and risk your neck. Those so-called ancient cultivator ruins probably won't yield as much profit as this one furnace of pills."
With that, he leisurely got to his feet and made his way beneath the Void Realm Tree. Sitting down cross-legged, he took out a Wood Origin Pill marked with a single spirit vein and swallowed it, then entered a calm state of cultivation.
The Void Realm Tree swayed gently, and silently, the spiritual energy in the area stirred gathering slowly toward Li Ye.
Unseen but certain, his cultivation efficiency rose ever so slightly.
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