Peak Foundation Establishment

Translator: Cinder Translations

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Half a day later.

Fang Pengyi opened the furnace to refine the Golden Pill, and Song Wen, Rong Jingyun, and Huo Ding went to observe.

The process of refining the Golden Pill was extremely complex, involving more than a hundred kinds of spiritual herbs.

Refining the first furnace took Fang Pengyi a full half month before he successfully produced the first batch.

He obtained two Golden Pills.

After meditating and recuperating for a few days, Fang Pengyi opened the furnace again.

The second furnace of the Golden Pill was also successfully refined, yielding three pills.

By witnessing the refining process of the Golden Pill firsthand, Song Wen gained a deeper and more intuitive understanding of the refinement techniques.

Song Wen noticed that unlike him, a second-tier alchemist, Fang Pengyi was using the residual heat from the Earth Core Refining Flame to carry out the alchemical process.

Fang Pengyi directly drew upon the Earth Core Refining Flame sealed deep underground.

The blue flames surged through the deep cave in the alchemy room, bursting forth from the ground, and under Fang Pengyi's precise control, the flames alternated between being vigorous and dim.

This greatly shortened Fang Pengyi's refining time and increased the success rate of the alchemical process.

Song Wen realized that different spiritual flames had unique and exceptional uses.

Perhaps the Earth Core Refining Flame was not particularly powerful in combat, but in alchemical refinement, it had an unparalleled advantage.

This was something the jade-hued flame and the Cold Fire of the Underworld Corpse in Song Wen's possession could not compare to.

During this half day, he was also secretly gathering the spiritual materials needed for the Golden Pill.

Aside from two extremely rare spiritual herbs, he had collected all the other required ingredients.

The two herbs he lacked were the Star Soul Flower and the Heart Calming Herb.

The former was a second-tier spiritual herb, while the latter was a unique product of the Mixed Yuan Temple, making it very difficult to find outside.

Every few months, the Beastmaster Sect would purchase a batch from the Mixed Yuan Temple.

These Star Soul Flowers eventually ended up in the hands of Golden Pill stage cultivators within the sect, making it challenging for a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator like Song Wen to access them.

Heart Calming Herb was a third-tier spiritual herb that could not be cultivated artificially; it was a symbiotic spiritual herb that grew near the nests of the poisonous insect called the 'Shadow Blood Ant.'

Due to its rarity, its price was extremely high, and it was often sold without a set price.

The Shadow Blood Ants were scattered in a haphazard manner; they could appear in abundant spiritual energy-rich locations or in barren areas lacking in spiritual energy.

Finding Heart Calming Herb depended entirely on luck.

In the various marketplaces, occasional rogue cultivators would sell Heart Calming Herb, but these were generally quickly snatched up by large powers.

As for the Star Soul Flower, there was no way to obtain it for now. Song Wen planned to think of a way to get it from Fang Pengyi after some time.

He could try his luck at the East Huafang Market and the Mountain Stream Ghost Market for Heart Calming Herb.

However, Song Wen was uncertain whether Lan Chen from the He Huan Sect was still lingering in the East Huafang Market; he did not dare to venture into the marketplace lightly.

He was even reluctant to go to the Mountain Stream Ghost Market himself.

Previously, outside the He Huan Heavenly Spring Courtyard, Song Wen had a feeling that Lan Chen had recognized him.

If he were to venture out alone and encounter Lan Chen, it would be akin to a sheep entering a tiger's den, and he could very well end up as her alchemical furnace material, never to return.

"I need to find someone to go to the Mountain Stream Ghost Market for me. Moreover, this person must not easily disclose that I am trying to purchase Heart Calming Herb."

As a second-tier alchemist at the Foundation Establishment stage, Song Wen was exhausting himself trying to procure a third-tier spiritual herb. If this got out, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

After pondering for a moment, Song Wen got up and went to the entrance of Zhou Siyi's cave.

"Senior Sister Zhou, I am Wu Sheng, and I have something I'd like to ask for your assistance."

Zhou Siyi opened the cave's restrictions and came out, a smile she could not hide on her face.

"Junior Brother Wu, this is your first time visiting my cave; please come in."

Zhou Siyi's cave, while not luxurious, was meticulously arranged.

She used stone walls to divide the cave into several areas, including a bedroom, a hall, an alchemy room, and even a kitchen.

After the two settled down in the hall, Zhou Siyi asked, "Junior Brother Wu, what brings you to my cave today?"

Song Wen replied, "I came today with a request."

Zhou Siyi said, "Please, speak. As long as it's something I can do, I won't refuse."

"I'd like to ask Senior Sister to help me search for Heart Calming Herb in the Mountain Stream Ghost Market and the East Huafang Market."

Zhou Siyi looked puzzled and asked, "Heart Calming Herb! That's a third-tier spiritual herb. As far as I know, it's rarely used in the refinement of second-tier pills. Junior Brother, why do you need to find Heart Calming Herb?"

Song Wen said, "I have my own reasons; please don't ask further. Due to certain circumstances, I'm not able to go to the Mountain Stream Ghost Market and the East Huafang Market myself, so I ask you to assist in the purchase."

Zhou Siyi replied, "Alright, I won't pry. I'll certainly help you find Heart Calming Herb. However, I haven't been to the Mountain Stream Ghost Market before, and I don't even know the specific location of the ghost market. As for the East Huafang Market, to be honest, the chances of finding Heart Calming Herb there are quite low."

Song Wen explained everything he knew about the Mountain Stream Ghost Market.

Then, he handed Zhou Siyi a storage bag.

Inside the storage bag were ten thousand spirit stones and an iron mask.

This mask originally belonged to Wang Ming; it could shield the spiritual sense perception of Foundation Establishment cultivators, preventing others from detecting one's true cultivation level and appearance.

A month ago, Song Wen had asked an elder from the Alchemy Peak to reforge this mask, changing its shape.

This made it impossible for anyone to tell that the mask had come from Wang Ming.

"Senior Sister Zhou, the ghost market is full of dangers, so please remember to be discreet and careful. Also, when purchasing the Heart Calming Herb, please do not share this matter with anyone else."

Zhou Siyi put away the storage bag, her face showing a hint of joy. It seemed that being trusted by Song Wen was a source of great happiness for her.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother. This matter will be between the two of us, and no one else will know."

After bidding farewell, Song Wen turned and left.

One month later.

Zhou Siyi appeared at Song Wen's cave.

"Junior Brother Wu, I've been waiting at the East Huafang Market for many days, and in my capacity as a serving elder, I've inquired at various shops in the market. I can confirm that the chances of finding Heart Calming Herb in the market are exceedingly slim."

"I also went to the Mountain Stream Ghost Market and the small trading fair next to it, but I didn't find any Heart Calming Herb there either."

"With no other options, I could only follow your instructions and pay two thousand spirit stones to the owner of 'Immortal Herb Pavilion' in the ghost market. They will help procure Heart Calming Herb for me and will notify me as soon as they find any."

Song Wen had already anticipated the difficulty of acquiring Heart Calming Herb.

Reaching a pre-purchase agreement with Immortal Herb Pavilion was also part of his plan.

"Thank you for your efforts, Senior Sister. I am deeply grateful," said Song Wen.

"It's just a small matter. I'm very happy to be able to help you," Zhou Siyi replied.

The difficulty of procuring Heart Calming Herb far exceeded Song Wen's expectations.

It wasn't until two years later that Zhou Siyi brought back the first Heart Calming Herb from the ghost market.

TLN: Damn bro, the author casually skipping two years...

One Heart Calming Herb was obviously insufficient to meet Song Wen's needs.

Three years later, he finally acquired the second Heart Calming Herb.

Then, after another four years, he managed to buy the third Heart Calming Herb.

At this point, with the substantial assistance of numerous Blood Spirit Pills, Song Wen's cultivation had already broken through to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

If he could not form a core, Song Wen's cultivation could not progress any further.

If he wanted to enhance his strength, he could only cultivate the "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique." However, being within the Beastmaster Sect, it was clearly unsuitable for him to practice this technique.

(End of the Chapter)

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