Chapter 71: with translation of chapter title

Horned python.

On its head sat a jet-black horn about an inch long, faintly flashing with lightning; its front abdomen bore two bulges, giving it a larger body and greater strength than serpentine demon beasts.

The horned python is a demon beast possessing jiao dragon bloodline; it is said that some exceptionally talented giant pythons, when transforming from first‑stage to second‑stage demon beasts, may turn from snake into horned python.

Among horned pythons, those of outstanding aptitude, upon breaking through to third stage, may further transform from horned python into jiao!

This horned python originally lived in a secluded ravine, being the tyrant of that area.

The White Ape King and other demon beasts, following Yunhe's orders to search for traces of second‑stage demon beasts, inadvertently intruded into the horned python's territory.

At that time the White Ape King had not yet realized it; merely spotting a mature spirit‑fruit tree beside the ravine, it gleefully wanted to pluck it and bring it back to Yunhe to claim credit.

But it never expected to suffer an attack from the horned python lurking at the ravine's bottom, nearly losing its life.

Had it not been for the swift reaction of the Qingying Swallow, using its aerial advantage and its special ability 'Qingying', plus the time needed for the horned python to emerge from the depths, it might not have even managed to escape back.

Originally it thought that after escaping, everything would be fine.

But it never imagined that this creature would refuse to let the White Ape King go, pursuing it all the way to Huanhu Dao!

Truly, relying on its strength, it runs rampant without fear.

Bang!!!

A dull, heavy boom like muffled thunder.

【Damn it】

Yunhe, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood, took advantage of his staggering limbs to clamber up from the ground.

The condensed golden‑yuan light swirling around his body, after a slight tremor, turned into specks of halo and dissipated.

Seeing the Black Scorpion Shield shattered into pieces on the ground, Yunhe's heart bled.

This shield had protected him several times, and the high‑grade magical artifact shield that had earned him glorious merit in the plan to hunt second‑stage demon beasts finally broke.

Besides that, he also consumed four Second Stage lower‑grade talismans, the 'Golden Yuan Body‑Guard Talismans'.

These were not made by himself; he bought them from the market.

Since he devoted his main energy to the elixir path, Yunhe inevitably relaxed his efforts in the talisman path.

Consequently, over the past few years his talisman skill remained stuck at first‑stage high‑grade talisman master; the originally planned Second Stage lower‑grade 'Golden Yuan Body‑Guard Talisman' could not be self‑produced.

Having no choice, he spent a considerable number of spirit stones to buy some 'Golden Yuan Body‑Guard Talismans' from the market as backups.

He had previously used only one, but he never imagined that when facing this horned python he would expend four at once.

Besides talismans, the consumption of elixirs was likewise not small.

Staggering over to the fallen horned python that had already lost its vitality, unable to control his emotions he cursed and kicked it twice.

【Good thing I didn't let it smash the formation as well.】

An image flashed in his mind of the horned python just charging onto Huanhu Dao.

Yunhe was very grateful that he had the foresight to lay the 'Earth‑Stone Bastion Formation' on Huanhu Dao.

Because he clearly knew what he had been doing during this period.

Not only had he hunted second‑stage demon beasts, he had also transplanted many spirit plants originally guarded by those beasts onto Huanhu Dao.

At this point Huanhu Dao was not exactly abundant.

But it was comparable to a plot of medicine fields in the Qingzong Sect; he felt it was roughly the same.

With so many medicine fields, plus the bloody scent from hunting second‑stage demon beasts, each time he returned he immediately laid the 'Earth‑Stone Bastion Formation' on the island, just in case.

Although troublesome, it prevailed in safety.

Doing so was still worthwhile.

So, he originally thought that relying on the 'Earth‑Stone Bastion Formation' he would not be too afraid of this horned python.

Who would have known, this creature, worthy of its jiao‑dragon bloodline, not only possessed enormous strength, but could also spew lightning from its horn, nearly shattering the formation outright.

Left with no choice.

Yunhe could only personally take up the shield and go into battle himself.

Relying on his sturdy body, being a turtle‑type with some defensive capability, plus topping the shield with Second Stage talismans, it should have been fine.

Yet he still nearly got beaten to near death.

Even the 'Three Yang Heavy Water', which usually works unfailingly against other demon beasts, acted very slowly due to the horned python's mighty demonic body.

Gurgle——

The 'Three Yang Heavy Water' flowed from the horned python's mouth, bringing out a round bead speckled with golden light, like a spirit stone.

【Inner core!】

Yunhe was overjoyed.

His earlier losses were temporarily cast from his mind.

As long as he could obtain the inner core, he could refine it into a Foundation Establishment Pill, thereby achieving successful foundation establishment; then everything else could be abandoned, whether magical artifacts, elixirs, talismans, or even spiritual artifacts and talisman treasures.

All those preparations were made for a single purpose: foundation establishment!

Everything, for foundation establishment!

When Yunhe obtained his first inner core, he made an attempt.

Between cultivator body and demon beast body, could the inner core of a second‑stage demon beast be 'transferred'?

After all, the premise of all his plans was that the demon beast body would obtain the inner core and then be able to pass it to the cultivator body; if transfer were impossible, he would have no choice but to risk venturing into the Tianling Mountain Range.

Fortunately, although transferring the inner core left him dizzy, bloated, and with a splitting headache, it indeed landed in the cultivator body's hand.

As for why the inner core can be transferred while a spiritual artifact cannot—

In fact, when Yunhe initially designed the Red‑Sheath Fan, he did so precisely to avoid the problem of an entire spiritual artifact being untransferable, so he never even attempted to transfer a whole spiritual artifact.

One would think it should also be possible.

After all, his current divine sense can match that of half an early‑stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Gazing at the demon beast's inner core before him, Yunhe gulped with difficulty.

After hesitating for a moment, he then took a deep breath.

Carefully, he placed the inner core into a special container, then stored it in his storage bag.

Each acquisition of a demon beast inner core stirred in Yunhe's subconscious an urge to swallow it whole.

The allure of demon beast inner cores to demon beasts is beyond doubt.

Today's inner core from the horned viper exerts an unusually strong attraction on him.

He looked at the corpse on the ground.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

That inexplicably familiar heartbeat sound suddenly rang in his ears.

"'Just beast blood should be fine.'"

That was the thought.

He released his restraint on his instincts.

He bit into the horned viper's vital spot, and the still-warm blood flooded his mouth.

""Glug glug glug" at that moment."

""Origin Refining Method" activated."

At the same time, the strand of unknown essence blood within Yunhe's body that had not yet been fully refined became unusually active within the wrapping of the Three Yang Heavy Water, as if endowed with spirituality, it leapt about.

Meanwhile.

The protrusion on Yunhe's forehead glowed faintly.

The dark scales on his lower jaw made a 'shasha' sound.

It seemed as if something were changing, yet also as if nothing had happened.

Another year passed.

Qingzong Sect.

Yunhe rented a cave dwelling from the sect's affairs hall where the spiritual energy reached the Second Stage, the highest-grade cave any disciple could obtain.

After entering the cave dwelling, he did nothing—no alchemy, no talisman crafting, no cultivation—just sat in meditation.

That sitting lasted seven days.

When he opened his eyes again, his essence, energy, and spirit were all fully replenished.

He immediately hesitated no longer, slapped his storage bag, and waved his hand to set up the sound- and aura-isolating formation he had bought in the city market.

He then laid down a flame-controlling formation to improve fire quality, infused it with spiritual power, and placed the alchemical furnace atop it.

A wisp of seemingly transparent true flame then ignited.

Feeling the flame gradually stabilize and become controllable, Yunhe expressionlessly took out various spiritual herbs one by one from his storage bag.

Meanwhile, the method and details of refining the Foundation Establishment Pill kept flashing through his mind.

All of these were preparations he had made over the past year; although the Foundation Establishment Pill is hard to buy, its formula can still be purchased if one is willing to spend spirit stones.

Having obtained this formula, he began to familiarize himself with it, and now he has pondered it over a thousand times, the details known by heart.

As for the refining process itself, he should encounter no problems.

He took out the final and most important material for the Foundation Establishment Pill from his storage bag—the demon beast inner core!

Twelve of them!

Heaven knows how much thought, cost, and preparation he expended to obtain these twelve Second-Tier Beast inner cores.

Just the mid-way replacements of high-grade defensive magical artifacts numbered seven, not to mention countless elixirs and talismans.

In other words, by slaying Second-Tier Beasts and selling their carcasses he had earned a fair amount of spirit stones; otherwise he could not sustain such enormous expenditures.

"'My alchemy skill has pretty much reached its limit; to improve further I must either spend vast amounts of time grinding slowly, or possess a higher cultivation base and stronger divine sense.'"

Hum—

His divine sense left his body, completely enveloping the furnace.

Every minute change occurring inside the furnace at this moment could not escape his perception, greatly increasing the odds of successful pill formation.

"'Let's begin.'"

Following the formula, he began refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

For the first batch, he himself had not held great expectations; he simply practiced with a learning mindset, examining what he had done wrong and noting points not mentioned in the formula that could only be understood through actual refinement.

Perhaps because his mindset was relaxed and pressure-free, or perhaps because he had practiced enough with the Second-Stage 'Nurturing Pill,' Yunhe's first batch proceeded without a single mistake straight through to completion.

Rich medicinal fragrance filled the entire cave dwelling; had he not set up formations beforehand, the scent might have attracted considerable attention.

However, during the final pill-extraction step, because he had already anticipated success, his mind became overly excited, causing the extraction to fail; all the pills and materials turned to ash.

This failure left Yunhe feeling miserable for most of the day.

Fortunately, he soon readjusted his mindset, entered meditation and nurtured his spirit for three days, both to ensure his condition was perfect and to repeatedly review and recall the refinement process in his mind.

"'Don't rush; according to my success rate in refining the Nurturing Pill, the refinement will certainly be fine. Moreover, I still have eleven demon beast inner cores left, giving me far more trial-and-error opportunities than others.'"

"'If worse comes to worst, I can simply go hunt more demon beast bodies; I refuse to believe that with my five-hundred-year lifespan and the vast demon beast realm, there isn't enough for me to refine Foundation Establishment Pills!'"

With this line of thought, Yunhe was completely free of worries.

With a steady supply of materials and a long lifespan, he knew that even if he failed completely this time, he still had ample time and opportunities for trial and error.

Free of worry, and adding his previous near-successful refinement experiences, he completely let go.

Second batch.

Perhaps that slight opportunity arrived, or perhaps it was because he had let go of his reservations, but he actually succeeded in refining a Foundation Establishment Pill!

"'Is this the Foundation Establishment Pill that all Qi-refining cultivators dream of?'"

Gazing at the round, smooth pill in his palm exuding a rich medicinal fragrance, Yunhe could no longer contain his joy, overjoyed beyond himself.

After all, the difference between him and those true Second Stage alchemists is merely experience.

After this alchemy session, Yunhe rested for seven days straight.

Only after seven days did he finally return to complete tranquility.

The comfort he had given himself turned into reality.

After this, he truly had no more worries.

Third furnace, failed pill.

Fourth furnace, failed pill.

Fifth furnace, successful pill.

As the alchemy continued, Yunhe became increasingly doubtful.

Refining Foundation Establishment Elixir doesn't seem as hard as imagined.

Actually, Foundation Establishment Elixir is merely a Second Stage elixir.

The reason it seems so precious is first because the demand from the cultivation world is extremely high, while supply falls far short of demand.

Second, because the ingredients are hard to find, most alchemists may never refine a Foundation Establishment Elixir in their lifetime, and even if they have, the number of times is likely low.

But the nature of a Second Stage elixir does not change.

And the reason he finds it simple is because he has continuously refined Foundation Establishment Elixir twelve times in a row without interruption.

Even those renowned alchemy masters, being able to refine one or two batches a year is already considered a very high frequency, and moreover they still need to refine other elixirs.

How could anyone like him focus solely on Foundation Establishment Elixir and refine it continuously?

Even the Qingzong Sect cannot do that.

Moreover, each time, whether successful or not, he immediately sums up experience, and after a brief rest he immediately continues refining, which maximizes his gains and growth in the alchemy process, naturally making his experience increase extremely quickly.

If other alchemists were given as many materials as he has, they could probably refine quite a few as well.

The growth of experience and skilled operation naturally lead to a higher success rate.

Not just the success rate.

Even later, Yunhe began to produce two successful pills per furnace.

The market value of Foundation Establishment Elixir ranges from 3,500 to 6,000 Spirit Stones, while the main and auxiliary materials alone for refining it are roughly equivalent to that many Spirit Stones, so why doesn't its price rise?

Because in the hands of true alchemy masters, one furnace could yield two, three, or even more pills!

After all, a monster beast's inner core is essentially the concentrated essence of its entire cultivation, while Foundation Establishment Elixir is merely the "knocking brick" for Qi Refining cultivators to open their bottleneck.

Really refining the entire essence of a whole inner core into a single pill?

Can a Qi Refining cultivator swallow a Second Stage monster beast whole?

No one even knows how they died.

Finally.

Twelfth furnace, successful pill!

Moreover, it was a pair of successful pills and one defective pill!

Today 1.2w words, please vote for monthly tickets, thanks fellow Daoists~~

(End of chapter)