Chapter 214

"Hehe! Good, good! I'll arrange it for you right away!" The ugly man's face lit up when he saw Han Li had given him a mid-grade spirit stone.

Although it was universally accepted in the cultivation world that one mid-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for one hundred low-grade spirit stones, very few were willing to trade mid-grade for low-grade.

Everyone knew that under the same conditions, a mid-grade spirit stone absorbed spiritual energy far faster than a low-grade one. Just this single advantage made everyone want to keep their mid-grade stones, and they naturally looked down on low-grade ones.

The same applied to the exchange rate between high-grade and mid-grade spirit stones.

After joyfully taking the fire-attribute spirit stone, the ugly man became even more attentive. He immediately led Han Li to the massive five-colored stone door and pulled a purple, arrow-shaped token from his robe, waving it toward the door.

A flash of red light shot from the purple token, striking the door and causing the five-colored luminescence to swirl rapidly. With a series of loud creaks, the stone door slowly rose, revealing a black passage behind it. The passage stood about a zhang tall and was square in shape.

"Brother, beyond this Wu Shi corridor lies the room with the earth fire. Let's go!" The ugly man forced a few smiles and said eagerly to Han Li.

"Mm." Han Li nodded noncommittally and stepped ahead into the passage.

"Although Wu Shi isn't rare, it's not an ordinary material of the mortal world. To gather so much of it and use it as bricks to build corridors and rooms—this was a monumental achievement accomplished by our ancient ancestors through great effort. Thanks solely to Wu Shi's peculiar resistance to extreme heat and its immunity to earth fire melting, no major accidents have ever occurred in this earth fire chamber since its opening!" The ugly man, leading the way, spoke with a hint of boastfulness.

Han Li found this highly interesting and reached out to touch the black stone wall beside him—his fingers met a slick, icy chill.

"Where does this Wu Shi come from? To resist earth fire, which is even fiercer than true flame—it's truly peculiar," Han Li remarked, speaking unusually, and asked casually.

"Ah, well—I heard it's not exceedingly rare, but our Yue Kingdom doesn't produce it at all. Our ancestral masters obtained it from distant lands far to the west. It was quite troublesome!" The ugly man explained.

Thus, following behind the ugly man, Han Li soon passed two more towering stone doors and finally emerged from the Wu Shi corridor into a vast circular hall.

The hall, also built of Wu Shi, had a diameter of forty to fifty zhang and a height of over ten zhang—truly staggering in scale. Around its perimeter, thirty-odd identical white stone doors were evenly spaced.

At this moment, the hall was empty—only the ugly man and Han Li stood inside.

After curiously surveying the hall, Han Li heard the ugly man say with a grin:

"Beneath this hall lies the most intense concentration of earth fire. Our sect has therefore carved out thirty-six chambers here for alchemy and artifact forging. The best alchemy chambers are No. 18 and No. 19."

"But No. 18 is already occupied by a senior brother. So, Brother, you'll use No. 19. Though slightly inferior to No. 18, its flame intensity and stability are still excellent." As he spoke, the ugly man led Han Li to a door painted with two golden characters: "Nineteen," and grinned.

Han Li said nothing, merely nodded silently in agreement.

Seeing this, the ugly man immediately pulled out a white jade tablet and pressed it against the door. The white stone door automatically opened. Then, both he and Han Li stepped inside.

The room was square, modest in size—only seven or eight zhang across. At its center stood a round, flat platform about a zhang wide. On each of the four walls hung a small, fist-sized gourd. In a corner nearby lay a emerald-green meditation cushion.

The platform was also made of Wu Shi, extremely flat—only half a foot high. Along its outer rim were inlaid eight miniature, fire-red dragon heads, lifelike and vivid. Each dragon's mouth was slightly raised, precisely aimed at the center above the platform, as if ready to spew flame—utterly realistic.

After observing the room's interior, Han Li felt a flicker of surprise—but before he could speak, the ugly man had already walked near the platform and began explaining voluntarily.

"Brother, this is the earth fire outlet. The fire needed for alchemy spouts from these eight dragon heads. You can adjust the flame's intensity and height as needed. The exact method is engraved on the platform's outer wall." The ugly man pointed to the platform.

Then he gestured toward the four gourds on the wall.

"These gourds contain starfire sand, which can temporarily enhance the earth fire's power. If you find the heat insufficient, you can use them to boost it—but the effect won't last long. Also, keep this jade tablet with you. Once the door closes, it severs all contact with the outside. Unless several Core Formation cultivators combine their strength, no one can enter from outside. So rest assured—no one will disturb you!"

Hearing this, Han Li secretly rejoiced. Such complete isolation was precisely what he needed; a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.

Seeing his explanation complete, the ugly man tactfully took his leave.

Han Li watched the ugly man exit, then immediately activated the jade tablet to seal the stone door once more. Eagerly, he walked to the platform, circled it several times, and carefully examined the eight dragon heads spewing flame.

Over the past few years, Han Li had devoted immense time to studying alchemy in preparation for this attempt to forge a Foundation Establishment Pill. Thus, he was far from unfamiliar with the art. He knew the success of a pill depended entirely on precise flame control and the exact timing of opening the furnace to retrieve the finished product.

As for the ingredients and their quantities, countless generations of predecessors had already perfected the formulas—no further consideration was needed. Of course, adjusting the number of pills per batch was acceptable, as long as all ingredients were increased or decreased proportionally.

Yet, simple as this sounded, it was extraordinarily difficult in practice.

Controlling the furnace's flame and timing the opening precisely—these two challenges had defeated countless so-called alchemy masters.

Even the most renowned alchemy masters of the age admitted that even when they personally attempted it, their success rate rarely exceeded half—even for their most familiar pills. How much less likely was it for ordinary alchemists?

Thus, whether a pill succeeded depended entirely on the alchemist's experience. The more alchemy attempts one had made, the higher the chance of success. Hence, alchemists stood shoulder to shoulder with talisman makers as the two most expensive—and most coveted—professions in the cultivation world.

Han Li had thoroughly researched these facts. He knew that as a novice, expecting to instantly forge a Foundation Establishment Pill was pure fantasy. He had planned from the start: to forge the pills one by one.

This way, even if he failed many times, he wouldn't grieve over the lost herbs. The quantity of herbs he had prepared was enough for over a hundred attempts—surely sufficient to accumulate the experience he needed.

Having made his decision, Han Li memorized the method to activate the dragon heads. He then formed a hand seal and sent eight streaks of red light toward the dragon heads. The heads immediately absorbed the light, their mouths slightly opening to spew forth slender threads of purple flame. Instantly, the room filled with scorching heat, causing Han Li to inwardly gasp.

Next, Han Li experimented with adjusting the flame's thickness and the height of the dragon heads' spouts, refining his control until he could manipulate them effortlessly. Only then did he extinguish the dragon heads' fire. He walked to the cushion, sat cross-legged, and began restoring his energy.

Han Li sat for nearly half a day. When he felt his spirit and physical strength at peak condition, he opened his eyes and rose, ready to begin alchemy. Fortunately, his cultivation had reached the tenth level, allowing him to enter Grain Grain Grain Grain Grain Grain Bigu—he needed no food.

Now, Han Li withdrew the silver-threaded cauldron he had purchased that day from his storage pouch. He cast a levitation spell upon it, causing it to hover motionless directly above the platform. This spell, too, he had specifically cultivated for this occasion, spending considerable time mastering it.

Han Li sent another burst of red light toward the dragon heads, activating the purple earth fire within.

Since the cauldron contained no ingredients yet, Han Li reduced the flame to a mere thread-thin stream. Then, under the preheating of the eight flame threads, the silver-threaded cauldron began to slowly rotate in midair.

After a quarter-hour, the cauldron had grown scorching hot, radiating astonishing heat.

Seeing this, Han Li pointed at the small cauldron. Instantly, its lid flew open, revealing the opening. In his right hand, a white jade vial appeared, filled with precisely measured herbal powder.

Controlling the vial, Han Li poured all its contents into the cauldron, then immediately tossed it aside. From his storage pouch, he retrieved another vial and repeated the same motion.

Thus, Han Li poured all dozens of required herbal powders into the silver-threaded cauldron, then sealed the lid once more. The first step was complete—seemingly flawless, with no errors.

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