Chapter 147: Refining
Fang Hao flew for over a thousand miles in one breath and plunged deep into the Luoxing Mountain Range.
This place was indeed remote enough; the mountains were high and the forests dense, a desolate place where even birds wouldn’t lay eggs, and the Spiritual Qi was pitifully thin. Not even a ghost’s shadow could be seen.
After wandering around for the better part of a day, he finally found a natural cave in the middle of a steep cliff, completely hidden by vines.
Crawling inside, he saw it was quite dry and spacious, making it a good place for seclusion.
"This is the place!" Fang Hao let out a sigh of relief.
He immediately got to work, first blocking most of the cave entrance with a huge rock, leaving only a ventilation hole, and then carefully camouflaging it with vines.
Next, he rummaged through the "inheritance" left by True Person Chiyang and Black Water Rogue Cultivator, pulling out several sets of Formation Flags and Formation Plates, and set up several layers of defensive Formations, concealment Formations, and warning Formations at the cave entrance and inside.
Things like the "Small Five Elements Maze Formation," "Thick Earth Vajra Formation," and "Mysterious Water Breath-Concealing Formation" were all used at once, making the cave as secure as an iron bucket.
After finishing all this, he sat down on the ground, feeling as if all his bones had turned to jelly.
Running for his life all the way, his mind had been tightly strung, and he was truly exhausted.
He first had a good sleep, not waking up until the sun was high in the sky the next day.
His spirit had recovered quite a bit, and he began to plan his next steps.
Calculating the time, there was only a month and a half left until the Tianyan Secret Realm opened. Time was tight, and the task was heavy!
The top priority was to refine the forming golden core and charge towards the Golden Core Stage!
But the forming golden core was a Grade 4 Peak Medicinal Pill; the difficulty of refining it was extremely high, and the failure rate was terrifying.
He had only refined Grade 3 Medicinal Pills at most before; starting directly with the Grade 4 Peak forming golden core? That wasn’t Alchemy, that was wasting Spirit Medicine!
Especially the sun flower, a main ingredient that was rare and hard to find; wasting even one stalk would make his heart ache to death.
"I must practice first to familiarize myself with the heat control and techniques for Grade 4 Medicinal Pills," Fang Hao pondered.
He took out the thick "Chiyang Pill Formula Collection" and turned to the section on Grade 4 Medicinal Pills.
It recorded seven or eight types of Grade 4 Pill Formulas, including the healing "Life-Giving Creation Pill," the "Heaven-Returning Pill" for restoring Spiritual Qi, and the "Golden Yuan Pill" for advancing cultivation in the Golden Core Stage, and so on.
"This is it!" Fang Hao set his sights on the "Golden Yuan Pill."
This Medicinal Pill was used by Early Stage Golden Core Cultivators to consolidate their foundation and nourish their origin; its refining difficulty was considered medium among Grade 4 pills, making it perfect for practice.
Moreover, in True Person Chiyang’s inventory, the supplementary ingredients for refining the Golden Yuan Pill were very complete, and there were several main ingredients, the "golden sap fruit," enough for him to squander a few times.
He had the Pill Formula and the Materials; all that remained was to practice. However, refining Grade 4 Medicinal Pills was complex and time-consuming, often taking ten days or half a month, and a month and a half wouldn’t be enough for him to mess around with many attempts.
"Fortunately, there is still this treasure!" Fang Hao touched the simple and unadorned qiankun ring on his finger.
He had obtained this ring early on; inside, there was a small area where the flow of time was ten times slower than the outside world! Spending ten days inside was only one day outside! This was his greatest confidence for daring to attempt refining Grade 4 Medicinal Pills!
Do it! Fang Hao adjusted his state, moved his mind, and his Divine Sense sank into that gray, hazy space within the qiankun ring.
The space was not large, only the size of a quiet room, and in the center floated the phantom of the chaos pill cauldron, exuding an aura of Chaos.
He first took out the Spirit Medicine needed to refine the Golden Yuan Pill and placed them in categories. Then, he took a deep breath, sat cross-legged in front of the cauldron, and adjusted his state to the best.
"Start!"
He pinched a spell gesture, and a stream of pure Spiritual Qi was sent into the cauldron. Hum! The cauldron trembled slightly, and a Chaos-colored flame rose inside.
This Chaos fire was countless times stronger than ordinary earthly fire, and controlling the fire was the key of keys.
Fang Hao was fully focused, following the steps of the Pill Formula, first putting the several supplementary ingredients into the cauldron one by one. His Divine Sense was like the most precise tentacle, closely monitoring every change of the Spirit Medicine in the flames, carefully controlling the heat.
"The temperature is too high! The Dew Condensing Grass is about to burn!"
"No! The Cold Marrow Juice was added too quickly; the firepower couldn’t keep up, it’s about to solidify!"
"The medicinal properties are conflicting! Quickly use Wood Spiritual Qi to harmonize them!"
The first attempt was chaotic. Although he was very careful, when fusing the main ingredient "golden sap fruit," a slight fluctuation in heat caused the medicinal properties to conflict. With a soft "bang," a wisp of black smoke rose from the cauldron, and all the Spirit Medicine turned to ashes.
"Failed..." Fang Hao sighed, but he was not discouraged.
If a Grade 4 Medicinal Pill could be refined on the first try, that would be hellish. He cleaned the cauldron, sat down to recover his Spiritual Qi, and carefully recalled every detail of the failure just now.
After resting enough, he began the second attempt. This time it was smoother, and he successfully fused the main ingredient, but in the final "pill condensing" stage, his Divine Sense consumption was too great, and due to a moment of negligence, the pressure inside the cauldron became unbalanced, and the prototype of the Medicinal Pill shattered instantly.
Third time, fourth time... He failed five times in a row! Five portions of Materials were wasted! Fang Hao’s heart ached so much he twitched; if this were outside, how many Spirit Stones would that be!
But he did not give up. Every time he failed, he seriously summarized the lessons, adjusted his techniques, and his control over the Chaos fire became more and more proficient. The Clear Spring Spirit Eyes helped a lot in observing the changes in medicinal properties.
Finally, on the seventh opening of the furnace, when a clear humming sound came from inside the cauldron, the lid opened, and three Medicinal Pills the size of dragon eyes, glittering with golden light and with faint cloud patterns on their surfaces, flew out and fell into the jade bottle in his hand!
The Medicinal Pills were round and plump, and the medicinal fragrance was pungent! Although it was only Low Grade, it was indeed a Grade 4 Spirit Pill—the Golden Yuan Pill!
"Success! I have refined a Grade 4 Medicinal Pill!" Fang Hao held the jade bottle, his hands trembling with excitement! This meant he had officially stepped into the threshold of a Grade 4 Alchemist! Although it was only the lowest level, it was of great significance!
With the experience of this success, his confidence greatly increased. In one go, he continued to refine several more furnaces of Golden Yuan Pill, and the success rate and quality steadily improved, finally even refining a furnace of Medium Grade Golden Yuan Pill!
"That’s about it; I should be able to try the forming golden core!" Fang Hao exited the qiankun ring. Only four or five days had passed outside, while he had been in seclusion and practicing hard inside the ring for nearly two months! This time difference was simply cheating!
However, he did not immediately start refining the forming golden core. To charge towards the Golden Core Stage, besides the Medicinal Pill, there was another major difficulty—the Heavenly Tribulation! Advancing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core would attract the Triple Minor Heavenly Tribulation, mainly the Lightning Tribulation. With his current Physical Body strength, resisting the Heavenly Tribulation head-on would probably be tough.
"I must start practicing the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art!" Fang Hao took out the jade slip recording the Body Refining Cultivation Technique. This Cultivation Technique was extremely difficult to enter; it required inducing various extreme energies for Body Tempering, which was incomparably painful. But he couldn’t care about that now.
Following the records of the Cultivation Technique, he started with the simplest "Qi Induction and Marrow Cleansing." This meant guiding his own Spiritual Qi, turning it into fine needles, and repeatedly washing and pounding his Meridians, bones, and internal organs throughout his body. This process was like thousands of steel needles stabbing wildly inside his body, hurting him so much he bared his teeth and grimaced, breaking out in cold sweat all over, and nearly fainting several times.
But he gritted his teeth and held on, relying on his strong willpower to operate the Cultivation Technique over and over again. After a few days, although the progress was slow, he could feel that his Physical Body had indeed become a bit more solid, and his Meridians had also widened a little.
"It works!" Fang Hao saw hope and practiced even more vigorously. During the day, he focused on Body Refining, and at night, he meditated to recover, or studied the forming golden core Pill Formula, memorizing every detail by heart.
Time passed day by day in this boring yet fulfilling hard cultivation. The opening of the Tianyan Secret Realm was getting closer and closer. Fang Hao’s state was also adjusted to the Peak. His Spiritual Qi was full, his Divine Sense was refined, and his Physical Body strength had also significantly improved.
Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing!
On this day, Fang Hao adjusted his state to the best, with the seven main ingredients and dozens of supplementary ingredients needed to refine the forming golden core placed in front of him. His gaze was firm, and he took a deep breath.
"It’s time! Open the furnace, start Alchemy!"
With a thought, he entered the time-dilation space of the qiankun ring again. This time, what he had to challenge was the forming golden core that would determine his Dao path! Only success is allowed, no failure!
