Mortal Alchemy

Outside Chen Ping's camp, the Treasure-Seeking Golden Sable vigilantly kept watch.

Chen Ping was currently inside the camp, striving to break through to the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining, and had ordered it to stand guard, promising it a hundred pounds of spirit beast meat afterward.

Inside the camp.

Chen Ping sat cross-legged in a medicinal bath.

His skin was flushed and scalding, like a cooked shrimp, his body emitting thick white steam.

Chen Ping's brow was furrowed, and beads of sweat as large as beans slid down his forehead.

Vast spiritual power and a powerful spiritual sense were impacting the bottleneck of the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining.

The medicinal power within the bath was being rapidly absorbed by his body.

This breakthrough had already lasted two days and one night; if Chen Ping hadn't laid a solid foundation beforehand, he would have already failed.

Powerful mist-like spiritual energy and his extreme spiritual sense allowed Chen Ping to continue impacting the barrier.

As time slowly passed.

“Boom—”

A powerful explosion of energy erupted from Chen Ping's body.

With great difficulty, he had finally stepped into the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining.

Chen Ping kept his eyes closed, hastily grabbing a handful of Yuan Qi Pills, Spiritual Sense Pills, Body Tempering Pills, and Qi Replenishing Pills, consuming them in sequence.

Three more days passed before Chen Ping's condition stabilized.

Then, he began to carefully comprehend the state of the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining:

“Mist-like spiritual power has reached its limit; the next step is the liquid spiritual power of Foundation Establishment.

My total spiritual power is now more than three times greater than it was in the fourteenth layer of Qi Refining; having reached this point, I can call myself a half-step Foundation Establishment.”

“And my spiritual sense has also expanded to its limit; the next step is divine sense.”

“Moreover, the reshaping of the physical body at the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining begins to nourish spiritual power and spiritual sense…”

“And the final nourishment goes to the divine soul.”

Spiritual power, spiritual sense, and physical body complement each other, ultimately nourishing the divine soul; only when the divine soul undergoes a transformation can one step into the Foundation Establishment realm.

And at that time, the divine soul will begin to drive the transformation of spiritual power, spiritual sense, and physical body, turning them into liquid spiritual power, divine sense, and a Foundation Establishment body.

“Calculating all these details, there is theoretically only a sixty percent probability of successfully establishing a foundation.”

Chen Ping guessed that the remaining forty percent probability lay in the divine soul, and the five ingredients of the Foundation Establishment Pill included the physical body, spiritual power, spiritual sense, divine soul, and transformation…

The cultivation technique for the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining might not be the most top-notch in this world; perhaps the eighteenth layer is.

Of course, this was Chen Ping's speculation.

“To guide the transformation of the divine soul and smoothly step into Foundation Establishment, it is best to have the physical body step into the second-order body cultivator, which would increase the success probability by another ten percent.”

“With that, and in combination with a Foundation Establishment Pill, there would be a one hundred percent probability of successfully establishing a foundation.”

Having cultivated to the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining, Chen Ping's understanding of the Qi Refining stage had reached an extremely profound level.

Thus, it seemed that his initial decision to cultivate a body cultivation technique was the most correct choice.

Because with a strong physical body, it would be easier and smoother for the divine soul to undergo transformation.

“The reason why my Azure Lotus Sword Essence didn't kill the snake demon with one strike back then was because my physical body wasn't strong enough, and the sword wasn't strong enough.”

Chen Ping took a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes:

“Because I have the cultivation of a peak first-order body cultivator, I can cultivate the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining very quickly, and I can reach the peak of the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining within a year.”

Chen Ping now had several choices.

First, wait until the peak of the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining, then break through to Foundation Establishment, which he had a sixty percent probability of succeeding.

Second, after reaching the peak of the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining, break through to the second-order body cultivator, which would give him a seventy percent probability, and then consume a Foundation Establishment spiritual medicine to increase the probability by another ten percent.

Third, satisfy both of these conditions, and then refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, which would give him a one hundred percent probability!

The divine soul was truly too mysterious; he relied on the divine soul to cast spells.

Currently, many people he knew had tried to establish a foundation, and almost all of them had failed.

Even someone as strong as Mu Xingling had tried to establish a foundation at the age of eighteen, and now, more than a decade later, she was still at the peak of the twelfth layer of Qi Refining? Or perhaps the thirteenth or fourteenth layer.

The direct descendants and their cultivation techniques were different. He had also never seen Mu Xingling take action.

If Chen Ping remembered correctly, Mu Xingling wanted that Purple Monkey Flower back then to replenish the power of the divine soul.

The confident and elegant Mu Luofei suffered from physical body, spiritual power, and pill poison backlash.

Chen Ping didn't dare to gamble; he had been planning for the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill for quite some time, and since there was a one hundred percent option, why take the risk?

His aptitude was too poor; what if he failed to establish a foundation by choosing other options? Then he wouldn't have a one hundred percent chance to establish a foundation.

Chen Ping exhaled a breath of turbid air: “Firmly choose to collect materials, and then refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.”

Moreover, he had come here to prepare to collect Heavenly Spirit Fruits.

A voice in his heart told him that his probability of establishing a foundation was already not low, and he could try to establish a foundation, establish a foundation as soon as possible, obtain the Immortal Sect Token, and join the Eastern Xuan Sect, which would be the best choice.

But Chen Ping ignored this voice deep in his heart.

After the fifteenth layer of Qi Refining, Chen Ping still had room for improvement in spiritual power and spiritual sense, which meant that his combat power would be even stronger.

“Huff~” Chen Ping breathed a sigh of relief, pinched his fingers into a seal, deactivated the camp's restrictions, and walked out of the camp.

When Fang Xing and the others saw Chen Ping come out, they continued to practice the defensive formation.

Luo Chongzhi opened his mouth and said: “Senior Brother Chen, how was your little seclusion this time? What did you gain?”

Chen Ping said with a smile:

“Not bad, I mastered a sword technique.”

Of course, he still kept his aura controlled at the twelfth layer of Qi Refining, so that no one would notice his secrets.

Fang Xing's face looked a little unpleasant, and he said: “The restrictions are about to wear out; I'm afraid that after entering the cave, we will have to tear our faces with the people from the other two immortal clans.”

Han Tongbao said:

“Before the war starts, should we go to the Star Luo Market to sell some things and replenish our resources to increase our foundation?”

The friction between the three major immortal clans was becoming increasingly serious, which exceeded the expectations of cannon fodder like them.

Once the restrictions were worn out, they would be the first to face the unknown threats within the cave, as well as the threat of manpower from the other two immortal clans.

To gamble on this Foundation Establishment opportunity, the difficulty and risk were greater than they had imagined.

As soon as this was said, it drew nods of approval from the others.

Fang Xing said: “Okay, time is of the essence; let's go to the Palace Lord to apply for going out now to replenish supplies at the Star Luo Market.”

The four of them had been rogue cultivators for a long time, and they acted swiftly and decisively, doing what they said they would do.

Chen Ping had explored outside alone several times and had more experience and means than them.

Chen Ping also happened to want to purchase some pills, talismans, as well as spirit beast meat and spirit rice.

Because entering this cave didn't know how long it would take, maybe a few days, maybe a few months, and at worst a few years.

Food was also a necessary part of the preparation.

The five of them came to find the Battle Division Palace Lord, Mu Wenyuan, who looked at them with a playful look:

“Go ahead.”

These people still had some brains, and he had nothing to stop them.

The few people quickly went to the Star Luo Market to sell items and replenish supplies, among which the four all chose a large number of pills and talismans, which was a relatively conventional method.

Five more days passed.

In the middle of the night, the sound of golden drums suddenly rang out, and after a while, there was an explosion from the direction of the cave.

Everyone knew that this was because a gap had been worn out of the restrictions.