Mortal Alchemy

Chen Ping returned to his cultivation ground, and the Gold-seeking Sable rushed out of his sleeve impatiently, chirping a few times in dissatisfaction.

Then, it began to enjoy the delicious spiritual food.

Chen Ping smiled and began his daily routine of cultivation, alchemy, and body refinement.

His spiritual vortex compressed step by step, and his spiritual power was further purified.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed.

Chen Ping entered his eighteenth year of cultivation.

On the prayer mat.

Chen Ping sat cross-legged, his brow furrowed, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He was attempting to break through to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining for the second time. At the crucial moment, he felt his spiritual power was insufficient, and he hurriedly stuffed a few Yuan Qi Pills into his mouth.

While maintaining the breakthrough state, he refined the Yuan Qi Pills. As a large amount of spiritual power entered his body, his spiritual consciousness was also rapidly consumed.

He didn't know how long it took until all the spiritual power in Chen Ping's body transformed from a gaseous state to a misty state, filling every meridian and spiritual network.

"Boom!!!"

The vast and immense spiritual power washed over the bottleneck of the thirteenth level of Qi Refining. The spiritual power surged forward wave after wave, until the bottleneck was completely shattered, unlike when Chen Ping broke through to the eighth and twelfth levels of Qi Refining, where the bottleneck was not completely destroyed.

An extremely powerful wave of energy spread out from Chen Ping's body, leaving traces in the air, and all the furniture and decorations in the house were shattered by the wave.

Even the prayer mat under Chen Ping was completely reduced to dust, bearing the brunt of the impact.

However, Chen Ping's figure did not directly fall to the ground, but faintly floated off the ground, showing a hint of the signs of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is liquid, and now that Chen Ping has entered the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, the spiritual power vortex in his body is completely in a misty state.

Strictly speaking, he can now be called a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Finally, the thirteenth level of Qi Refining..." Chen Ping opened his eyes, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his eyes showed a lingering fear.

If he had been any slower in refining the Yuan Qi Pills, this breakthrough would have failed again.

The abundant and immense misty spiritual power in his body made Chen Ping feel stronger than ever before.

"This re-cultivation of spiritual power, entering the misty state is so difficult, yet it only increases the probability of Foundation Establishment by 10%. It's really hard..."

The vast misty spiritual power was also washing over Chen Ping's body, forcing it to become stronger so that his body could withstand and adapt to the misty spiritual power.

"I still need to re-cultivate my spiritual consciousness and body. The path of immortality is long..."

Immediately afterward, Chen Ping began to feel the combat power of the thirteenth level of Qi Refining: "This amount of spiritual energy is several times that of when I first entered the twelfth level of Qi Refining."

"If I were to attack now, I could kill my previous self with just one move."

"I am now at the initial stage of the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, and the amount of spiritual energy I can accommodate still needs to be increased. I have to reach the limit of this misty spiritual power before I can try to break through to the fourteenth level of Qi Refining."

"And in the meantime, I have to strengthen my supplementary cultivation of spiritual consciousness."

"This will probably take another two or three years."

He is now twenty-seven years old. By the time he cultivates to the fourteenth level of Qi Refining, he will be about twenty-nine or thirty years old.

Relatively speaking, there is plenty of time before the forty-year-old Foundation Establishment deadline for the fifteenth level.

And the Eastern Xuan Sect only recruits Foundation Establishment cultivators under the age of thirty-five. If he establishes his foundation after the age of thirty-five, then he will not be able to enter the Eastern Xuan Sect and will have to leave the Mu family to become a rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator.

He carefully felt that after entering the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, his control over spiritual power had further improved.

This made him guess one point: "With my current control over spiritual power at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, and with the Turtle Breathing Technique, can I hide from Foundation Establishment cultivators?"

"Find a chance to try it."

"It just so happens that Fellow Daoist Zhou has repaired my White Jade Flying Boat."

Chen Ping sat cross-legged and continued to retreat to consolidate his cultivation, taking out a Yuan Qi Pill and refining it.

Soon he was pleasantly surprised to find that the speed of refining a Yuan Qi Pill had changed from half a day to three hours. This was a good thing, but it also meant that the resources he needed would have to be doubled.

"I can only refine more Body Tempering Pills to earn money. Later, I have to check the efficiency of alchemy to see if I can now collect that second-order spiritual fire..."

Powerful and abundant spiritual power gave Chen Ping confidence, but also anticipation and apprehension.

Second-order spiritual fire, even the weakest one, is also a second-order power. His misty spiritual power can be called a half-step second-order Foundation Establishment, but it is not a true second-order Foundation Establishment.

Half a month later, Chen Ping emerged from seclusion.

As Chen Ping walked out of the house, he saw a graceful and alluring figure sitting under the eaves, emanating a familiar fragrant scent.

Chen Ping said with a smile, "Senior Sister Luo Fei, since you've come, why didn't you come into the house and say hello to me?"

Mu Luo Fei, as if she were the hostess, made spiritual tea for Chen Ping, smiled gently, and her voice was pleasant to hear:

"I knew you were in seclusion, so how could I disturb you? If I ruined your cultivation, I wouldn't be able to compensate you enough."

The senior sister who was once outgoing and tactful has been tempered in the Deacon Hall for many years, and her personality has become tactful on the outside and upright on the inside, as charming as jade.

"Junior Brother Chen, have you gained anything from this seclusion?" Her slender jade hand pushed a cup of tea towards Chen Ping.

Chen Ping smiled and sat down, picking up the cup of tea:

"I've gained a little, and I have a deeper understanding of the path to Foundation Establishment."

Mu Luo Fei's beautiful eyes carefully sized him up: "Haven't you broken through to the twelfth level of Qi Refining yet?"

Chen Ping scratched his head:

"Soon, it's just a little bit away. There are too few resources available in the Mu family. If I want to break through, I have to leave this place and seek opportunities outside."

Mu Luo Fei nodded slightly:

"Then Junior Brother must hurry up. At the latest, in a year and a half, I will need Junior Brother to accompany me on a trip."

Chen Ping's heart fluttered. This meant that there were clues about the Hundred-Year Spiritual Milk, but he didn't need to expose it.

Chen Ping calculated the time:

"I will leave in the next few days. A year and a half should be enough time for me to return."

This time he left for the second-order spiritual fire. This thing has a specific address, not a vague existence that he has to search everywhere for.

Chen Ping will return after obtaining the second-order spiritual fire.

The second-order Cold Ice Nether Fire is located in the Cloud Ice Mountain, five thousand miles away from the Guo family. This place is six thousand miles away from the Guo family, which means that Cloud Ice Mountain is eleven thousand miles away from Chen Ping.

What she said was that Chen Ping owed Mu Luo Fei a favor, but Mu Luo Fei wanted to find the Hundred-Year Spiritual Milk, but brought Chen Ping along. This was not letting Chen Ping repay the favor, but clearly making Chen Ping owe her even more.

But Foundation Establishment spiritual objects are such good things that Chen Ping has no way to inquire about them. Chen Ping admits that he owes Mu Luo Fei another favor, and even wishes that there were a few more people around him who would let him owe such favors.

Mu Luo Fei put down her teacup, and her graceful body stood up:

"Then I wish Junior Brother a smooth journey and an early return."

"I won't disturb Junior Brother's time. It's the end of the month today, and I have to go to Senior Brother Xu to see if they have any pills available."

There were problems with the medicinal materials in the Pill Hall, and her business was also greatly affected.

"Junior Brother, I look forward to seeing you next time."

Mu Luo Fei left Chen Ping's cultivation ground with elegant and nimble steps, leaving only a few traces of her fragrance under the eaves.

Chen Ping watched her back until it disappeared before summoning the flying gourd and heading to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to pick up his White Jade Flying Boat.