Chapter 22: Foundation Establishment Blood Pill, Life Soul Flower
To advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, orthodox cultivators nearly always require a Foundation Establishment Pill, with only a rare few gifted enough to liquefy Spiritual Qi independently and ascend without one. However, these pills are exceedingly difficult to procure.
The primary ingredient for the pill is a Foundation Establishment stage spiritual medicine known as the "Dao Caltrop Flower," which alone costs ten medium spiritual stones.
Depending on the specific pill recipe of each sect, an additional seven to twelve Qi Refining stage spiritual medicines are also required. Even with these ingredients, a successful pill concoction is not guaranteed.
Generally, a skilled alchemist achieving success in four out of ten attempts is considered quite adept.
Demonic cultivators, however, have forged a different path by substituting the Dao Caltrop Flower with the Life Soul Flower, a peculiar bloom that emerges from the vital soul of powerful beings. They also replace the rare Qi Refining stage spiritual medicines with more readily available alternatives, significantly reducing the cost of crafting Foundation Pills. These altered pills are known by demon cultivators as Foundation Establishment Blood Pills.
Lacking the resources to gather the traditional ingredients, Chu Xuan had long been prepared to concoct the Foundation Establishment Blood Pill.
"Continue cultivating!" Chu Xuan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and resumed refining the large blood beads.Th.ê most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m
Time flew swiftly, a month had passed in a blink.
Sitting on the rooftop of the Haotai Hotel, Chu Xuan could not yet avoid food, so he had to pause after absorbing each large blood bead to eat. He had nearly depleted the food reserves stored in the Spirit Hounds's warehouse.
With a constant supply of large blood beads fueling his cultivation over the month, Chu Xuan's realm had improved dramatically, now peaking at the eighth level of Qi Refining.
He was just a thin barrier away from the ninth level, but despite having only one large blood bead left, there had been no signs of breaking through this final barrier.
"Break for me!" Chu Xuan began absorbing the last large blood bead. Vital energy surged into his body. He roared, veins bulging on his forehead.
A cultivator's personal will can significantly propel their practice. Perhaps it was Chu Xuan's intense determination, or perhaps the potent destiny surrounding him, but the bottleneck between the eighth and ninth levels of Qi Refining shattered at that moment.
The intelligence of those giant wolves, evident from their understanding of ambush tactics, was clearly not low. It was likely that the Psionic energy had accelerated their development. This was not good news for the human survivors of East Lake City.
However, for Chu Xuan, it was an extraordinary opportunity. The wolves were intelligent and strong. Perhaps they could serve as a nurturing ground for the Life Soul Flowers.
"Before returning to the Mystic Azure Realm, prepare the nurturing ground for the Life Soul Flowers. By the time I return from the Realm, the Life Soul Flowers should be mature." Chu Xuan thought.
"Where is the territory of those giant wolves?" he asked.
Hu roared a few times, pointing towards a small hill to the north. Chu Xuan nodded, "Long, Hu, and the other six, follow me; Bao stays to guard the home."
The three zombie beasts roared. Only Bao seemed a bit aggrieved.
"Let Daho and Erho stay as well, to keep Bao company," Chu Xuan gestured dismissively. Bao immediately cheered up, much like a child finding a playmate of the same age.
Chu Xuan collected Long, Hu, and the other corpse puppets into the corpse nurturing tower and then sped towards the north on his flying sword.
...
At the Black Blade Security Company, Wang Gangjian was not playing games today but sat in the manager's office, frowning in distress.
Wang Yong was also sitting on the sofa in front of him, similarly troubled. "I called you here to think of solutions, not to frown along with me!"
Wang Gangjian scolded. Wang Yong gave an awkward smile, "It's difficult. A monster that a six-person squad from the Linjiang army couldn't handle, and our Black Blade only has four Superhumans, all at level one..."
Wang Gangjian became even angrier upon hearing this, "I told you to crush the Psionic core and eat it, but you wouldn't. With your talent, if you were a level two Superhuman, would Black Blade be so devoid of solutions?!"
Wang Yong's smile grew more strained. Eating a Psionic core directly—success, failure, or no effect—each had about a one-third chance of occurring, depending largely on one's physical constitution. If one's body was strong enough, consuming a Psionic core directly was feasible. But he truly dared not.