Chapter 132: Stage Two Alchemy Master

The bloodline ranks of beast beasts, from low to high, are:

Common, Low, Medium, High, Earth, Heaven.

Qin Ming stepped forward and picked up the rare gray beast egg.

But the next moment.

His expression froze instantly.

Because he could clearly sense the life force within the egg rapidly fading.

Qin Ming quickly activated the Ancient Wood Longevity Technique to heal it; as a continuous stream of life energy flowed in, the egg's condition began to improve.

But this merely slowed the rate of its life force depletion.

To fully heal this giant crocodile egg,

Clearly required considerable time.

Qin Ming stored the egg in his spirit beast pouch, planning to make arrangements after returning.

He also collected part of the giant serpent's flesh—he could not carry more.

Afterwards,

Qin Ming called the three men outside the cave entrance inside.

When Wu Jiang and the others entered and saw the scene on the ground, they were stunned.

Qin Ming told them to gather the remaining serpent flesh—it would serve as their reward.

Wu Jiang and the others were ecstatic; they had never expected such a windfall—meat from a late-stage Stage One beast was a valuable commodity.

It could fetch many spirit stones at the Tianhe Marketplace.

With matters settled,

Qin Ming parted ways with Wu Jiang and returned to Wangyue Island.

He continued instructing Wu Jiang to gather other spirit materials.

Qin Ming placed the beast egg inside his cave dwelling, periodically using his cultivation to heal it.

As time passed,

Two months later,

The gray beast egg had fully regained its vitality; the life signs within had gradually stabilized.

But to truly hatch it still seemed to require more time.

In the days that followed,

Qin Ming immersed himself in the mountains and waters.

Each day he either tended his spirit fields, fished in the lake, or devoted himself to rigorous cultivation.

With the environment of a Medium-grade Stage Two spirit vein,

His life tree, the Longsheng Vine, grew slowly; an invisible flow of plant essence continuously enhanced his spiritual body's cultivation progress.

All aspects of his cultivation advanced steadily and methodically.

…

Time in the cultivation world always passed quickly.

Years slipped away.

Two years vanished in the blink of an eye.

During this time,

Through Gu Qingzhao and Wu Jiang's efforts to gather materials, the collection progress for Foundation Establishment Elixir ingredients had reached over ninety percent.

Only Jade Marrow Fungus and two final rare auxiliary ingredients remained.

Of course, some of the collected herbs were insufficient in age, and some were already dead.

But these were no problem for Qin Ming.

Over these two years, unless he absolutely had to leave the island, Qin Ming refused to step outside.

Daily trivial matters were all handled by Wu Jiang, who, of course, gained many benefits from him.

Working under Qin Ming was far better than struggling outside.

Wu Jiang's stagnant cultivation had broken through to Qi Refining Stage Seven.

A significant leap forward.

Qin Ming heard Wu Jiang say his family planned to groom him as the next patriarch.

And Wu Jiang, being sharp-eyed, noticed Qin Ming's island still had many High-grade Stage One spirit fields.

Wu Jiang made a major decision—he wished to become Qin Ming's disciple.

He also wanted to rent those spirit fields to learn spirit plant cultivation techniques from him.

When Qin Ming heard this, he was flustered and immediately waved his hand to refuse.

"Wu Daofriend, becoming my disciple is unnecessary."

"But if you wish to rent spirit fields for farming, I can agree."

Wu Jiang looked slightly disappointed.

To Qin Ming's surprise,

Wu Jiang actually rented all the spirit fields beneath Wangyue Island.

And paid Qin Ming spirit stones.

The very next day, he brought a group of craftsmen to build several simple houses by the lake.

He himself toiled away, swinging his spirit hoe to till the fields.

Qin Ming watched silently below, shaking his head slightly.

He hadn't expected this man to be so decisive—but he wondered how long his enthusiasm would last.

After turning the soil,

Wu Jiang climbed to the main peak, scratched his head, and asked awkwardly, "Qin Daofriend, what spirit plant do you think I should grow?"

"You have no prior experience cultivating spirit herbs—start with Golden Spirit Rice," Qin Ming smiled easily and offered advice.

Wu Jiang's face lit up; he nodded immediately. "Alright, do you have Golden Spirit Rice seeds for sale?"

Hearing this, Qin Ming simply sold Wu Jiang the Golden Spirit Rice seeds and the Spirit Rain Technique.

Wu Jiang happily took the seeds and began sowing.

Watching his eager demeanor, Qin Ming felt he saw his own past self.

After all,

Farming was still hard work.

During this time, Wu Jiang's consort, Mu Ruyin, often came to visit him.

She carried a large belly—she was clearly pregnant.

It seemed Wu Jiang worked hard in the fields by day and in bed by night.

A diligent man indeed.

Qin Ming himself was also trying to track down the last three ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Elixir.

But he found no leads on Foundation Establishment materials.

Yet during the process,

He had gathered all the materials needed for the Youth-Preserving Elixir.

Because the most crucial main ingredient, royal jelly, he already possessed.

The Youth-Preserving Elixir is a Stage Two elixir; not only are its required materials extremely hard to find, its refinement difficulty rivals that of the Foundation Establishment Elixir.

This elixir, like the Longevity Elixir, has a dedicated following among cultivators.

Few Stage Two Alchemists can refine the Youth-Preserving Elixir.

Considering all factors, the price of the Youth-Preserving Elixir is extraordinarily high.

This time, Qin Ming prepared eight sets of Youth-Preserving Elixir materials.

Inside his cave dwelling,

Qin Ming calmed his mind, cleared his thoughts.

He would use two-grade Youth-Preserving Elixir to challenge the rank of two-grade Master Alchemist—only eight chances, or else he'd have to spend a long time gathering spirit materials again.

He would use the Youth-Preserving Elixir to challenge Stage Two Alchemy Master! Only eight chances—he could not afford to spend more time gathering materials again.

Qin Ming took out his purple alchemy furnace and placed it before him.

He laid all the materials on the table beside him.

Then, with a thought, a pale blue spiritual flame appeared in his palm.

It took the form of a blue firebird, dancing gracefully.

He flicked his fingers; the Soul-Devouring Poison Flame slipped beneath the furnace, beginning to exhale blue flames.

Following the Youth-Preserving Elixir's refinement steps, he activated the incantation, breaking down the materials, refining the herbal paste, and preparing the medicinal solution.

All procedures proceeded smoothly.

Finally, he reached the stage of merging the solutions and forming the pills.

As usual,

Qin Ming activated the Fusion Technique to separate and restructure the pills.

Puff!

A dull, muffled sound echoed.

A wisp of black smoke rose from the alchemy furnace before him.

The first attempt failed, as expected.

Qin Ming's expression remained as calm as still water as he cleared the dregs from the furnace and prepared for the next batch.

The sounds of failed alchemy echoed continuously from the cave dwelling.

Until the final furnace was being prepared.

Qin Ming gazed at the last remaining set of spirit materials.

His face could no longer remain composed.

He had not anticipated that the difficulty of refining the Youth-Preserving Elixir far exceeded his expectations.

But he had no time to hesitate.

He immediately adopted his usual composure and began refining the final set of spirit materials.

Two incense sticks later.

Ding! A sharp chime erupted from the furnace.

Inside, a misty, luminous vapor swirled, saturated with spiritual energy.

A rich, soothing elixir aroma flooded into his nostrils.

"A second-rank spirit elixir—success!"

Qin Ming's face lit up with joy, and he immediately raised his hand.

Six pure white, jade-like elixirs landed in his palm, radiating a gentle spiritual resonance.

These were the fabled Youth-Preserving Elixirs.

At the same time,

it meant Qin Ming had now entered the ranks of second-rank Alchemy Master.

A second-rank Alchemy Master, even in a major cultivator city like Canghai Xiancheng,

was an exceedingly rare few.

One could count them on one hand.

Their esteemed status was obvious.

If he could now refine the Youth-Preserving Elixir, then the Foundation Establishment Elixir would naturally be within reach.

Qin Ming took out one Youth-Preserving Elixir, pondered for a moment, then swallowed it like a candy.

He felt an extremely gentle warmth spread throughout his body.

Qin Ming chewed his lips, pulled out a bronze mirror, and muttered, "Feels like nothing special!"

Having become a second-rank Alchemy Master,

Qin Ming began to consider his next steps.

"My strength is no longer what it once was."

"It is time to go to Canghai Xiancheng and plan for my final Foundation Establishment."

"And also repay Gu Qingzhao's favor."

(End of Chapter)