Dao Chapter 24: Foundation Establishment Pills

Seeing his patron came, Wang Erma immediately felt courageous. He at once narrated what had happened exaggeratedly and pleaded aggrievedly, “Brother Duan, please do justice to me, otherwise who will obey my orders in the future?”

Duan Huangming immediately changed into a stern look, glanced at Wang Bing sullenly and ordered coldly, “So absent-minded when working. If you damage any of these spirit herbs, even killing you cannot compensate the loss. From this day, you are expelled from Elixir Valley. Now pack all your things and get out of here.”

“Brother Duan, I was on good terms with Wang Bing in the past. And today we just had a few small talks. Do you really have to wring his neck for so little a thing?” Shiao Chen looked gloomy and argued slowly.

“Ah, brother Shiao, it is not that I want to let you lose face, but it is my duty. Before his closed-door cultivation, our master asked me to manage all affairs in Luoyun Valley. If there is any mishap or accident, it is all my fault. Therefore, this is final. Say no more, brother.”

Duan Huaming thought he had gained the upper hand and couldn’t help but felt pleased.

“What if I disagree with you?” Shiao Chen said expressionlessly.

Duan Huaming squinted his eyes and said with a cold face, “I’m afraid you do not have the qualification to disagree, brother.”

With the two giving tit for tat, the atmosphere gradually became depressed.

But all of a sudden, Shiao Chen smiled slightly, turned around and said to Wang Bing, “You just go to the Outer Sect and focus on your cultivation. Trust me, you will be back soon.”

Wang Bing nodded gratefully. Although he didn’t think he had any chance to come back, it was quite generous of Shiao Chen to argue for him. Wang Bing left, and so did those outer disciples around. At last, only Shiao Chen, Duan Huaming and Ji Yuewu were there.

Thinking that he was a notch above Shiao Chen and also showed his capability in front of Ji Yuewu, Duan Huaming couldn’t help but feel complacent to some extent. He smiled slightly and said, “Brother Shiao, why do you come back to Elixir Valley instead of cultivating in the herbal garden?”

Shiao Chen just gave Duan Huaming a glance. If not that he couldn’t expose his real power now, he would have already killed Duan Huaming. But now he could only answer plainly, “I just come back to borrow a Foundation Establishment Pill from Elixir Chamber. Since Brother Duan is here, it does spare me the trouble of reporting this. Brother, please accompany me to get that elixir.”

There was an Elixir Chamber in Luoyun Valley. And Alchemy Taoist stored lots of elixirs there for his disciples to use for reference when necessary. This was the purpose of Shiao Chen journey.

“A Foundation Establishment Pill?” Astonishment flashed through Duan Huaming’s eyes.

The Foundation Establishment Pill was second grade elixir, which was the hardest to refine for it needed as much as 13 types of spirit herbs. Although these herbs were not precious but they had low rate of forming elixirs. Even if Alchemy Taoist refined it in person, he also only stood a 50-50 chance of making it.

As the first disciple of Elixir Valley, Duan Huaming had already reached the second stage of Alchemy and could refine some elixirs for cultivators at Foundation Establishment, but he just couldn’t succeed in refining the Foundation Establishment Pill. Until recently after he broke through the eighth level of Qi Refining, he wanted to try again. So, he came to Elixir Chamber today to get a Foundation Establishment Pill to use as reference.

But he didn’t expect to run across Ji Yuewu here. She was well-recognized by the sect as a rare genius in hundreds of years, who not only progressed fast in cultivation but also had great talent in Alchemy. She reached the second stage of Alchemy in a short time over half a year and was planning to refine Foundation Establishment Pills now.

The two of them were the aces among the younger generations of Luoyun Valley. It was no surprise for them to try to refine Foundation Establishment Pills now, but Shiao Chen was just an ordinary person without spiritual root and what he owned was just a deserted herbal garden. It was hard to say if he had stepped over the threshold of Alchemy. How dare he thinking about refining Foundation Establishment Pills?

With this thought, Duan Huaming showed some taunt on his face and even Ji Yuewu, who was standing aside, looked shocked, but just for a sec.

“Brother Shiao, you are surely extraordinary. Even if you do not have spiritual root, you are endowed with great talent in Alchemy. Since you have confident in refining Foundation Establishment Pills now, I’m sure you will make a great coup and rank top at the alchemy assessment of our sect several months later. But unfortunately, our master only stored three Foundation Establishment Pills in Elixir Chamber for us. Some time ago, Brother Hei Shi took one and the rest were borrowed away by me and sister Yuewu today. So, it looks that you have to wait for some time.” Duan Huaming complimented, but the mocking in his tone was very obvious.

Shiao Chen frowned slightly. Without a Foundation Establishment Pill to use as reference, there was no doubt that his plan would be disturbed completely.

“If so, please pardon me for leaving now.” Shiao Chen said this without any hesitation. Since he couldn’t get a Foundation Establishment Pill here, he had to figure out other means to get one.

“Wait a minute. Brother Shiao, if you are really in an urgent need of a Foundation Establishment Pill, I can lend mine to you and let you use it first.” Ji Yuewu made the offer suddenly. Ignoring the sullen face of Duan Huaming, she took out an elixir out of her storage bag straight away and threw it to Shiao Chen.

Shiao Chen caught it with his hands, scanned it with his divine sense and then looked kind of excited. Hesitating for a while, he said with his hands folded in front of him, “Sister, thanks for your generosity. I will surely return it back to you in three months.”

After that, Shiao Chen turned around and strode out of there.

“Sister Yuewu, why did you lend your Foundation Establishment Pill to him? Shiao Chen is nothing but an ordinary person without spiritual root. How could he have the ability of refining Foundation Establishment Pills?”

“Brother Duan, I have some other things to do and gotta go now. Besides, please address me as Sister Ji.” Ji Yuewu interrupted Duan Huaming and said this indifferently. She then left directly neglecting his sullen face.

Duan Huaming looked stiff and got completely pissed off after Ji Yuewu had walked far away. At last, he snorted and left with a scowl.

In the herbal garden on the hillside, Shiao Chen held the Foundation Establishment Pill in hands and infused all of his divine sense in it to analyze how the efficacy of spirit herbs was combined. 13 types of spirit herbs were needed in order to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill. The complexity of their combination was over ten times as complicated as that of pills for Qi Refining like Spirit-gathering Pills and Spirit-refining Pills. Not until Shiao Chen started to feel a dull pain in head did he finally manage to get the hang of how efficacy of those herbs was combined.

After swallowing several elixirs, Shiao Chen kept recalling the combination while absorbing the effects of those elixirs. Until he was sure that nothing was left out, he finally devoted himself fully into meditation. After two hours, Shiao Chen opened his eyes with his energy and spirit power all back at their peak. Shiao Chen nodded satisfactorily and laid all ingredients prepared before in front of the alchemy furnace.

Shiao Chen waved his hand to send some spirit power into the alchemy furnace and solemnly put one spirit herb after another into it. He then infused all this divine sense into it to prudently track the changes in the efficacy of those herbs.

With the passing of time, the aroma of herbs was so strong that it was about to transform into elixirs. But right at this time, a thud came from the furnace without warning, indicating the refining this time was a failure.

Chapter end