Chapter 34 Alchemy Advancement, Qingyang(Location) Letter

After obtaining the alchemy manual, Eldrin was too impatient to delay improving his alchemy skills any longer. Unwilling to stay another day in Yuyang Market, he departed at the break of dawn the very next morning.

After returning to Spirit Isle Lake (Location), he spent 2 months thoroughly studying this alchemy manual several times before beginning to practice pill refinement.

Endowed with innate talent, he already had some confidence in concocting Qi-Restoring Pills. Now, having obtained the Eldrin's Alchemy Manual, his assurance grew severalfold.

This refinement of the Qi-Returning Elixir lasted 3 full days. The first 2 days of simmering the medicinal liquid proceeded remarkably smoothly. Using a gentle flame to refine the herbs, he successfully produced a full 6 portions of elixir liquid.

By the third day, Eldrin, seated before the alchemical cauldron, wore a grave expression. Having refined the essence of the medicinal liquid, he had now reached the critical moment of condensing the liquid into pills.

"Success or failure hinges on this very moment."

Eldrin murmured an incantation, channeling his alchemical technique to condense the elixir. As the cauldron trembled, 3 of the 6 clusters of medicinal liquid dissipated into mist.

He could no longer afford to dwell on his distress, focusing entirely on condensing the liquid into pills. In the end, 3 pills were successfully refined.

Eldrin swiftly channeled his vital energy, lifting the cauldron lid, only to witness 3 crystalline pills soaring out.

"It's done!"

He snatched up the 3 pills, his face blooming with unrestrained joy.

Eldrin had not anticipated that his very first attempt at refining a first-grade superior pill would yield 3 fully-formed elixirs.

For ordinary individuals attempting their first alchemy refinement of a top-grade Tier-1 pill, the success rate typically hovers around 10 to 20 percent. He had initially considered producing 2 pills to be an unexpected triumph, yet to his astonishment, this single batch yielded 3.

"3 pills refined in a single batch—while luck played some part, this truly signifies the depth of my accumulated foundation."

"With my alchemy skills, refining a few more batches of high-grade pills should allow me to far surpass Uncle Qing Meng."

Eldrin murmured softly to himself. Having read Chen Qingmeng's notes, he could roughly gauge her level of cultivation—it seemed nearly on par with his own.

After refining the Returning Qi Pills, his cultivation resumed its tranquil pace.

In the days that followed, after absorbing the Primordial Purple Qi each morning, he would simultaneously refine his meridians while advancing his alchemy skills.

In her spare time, she would occasionally play the qin, feed the spirit fish and Purple Swans, and tend to spirit flowers and spiritual herbs. Her days were spent in tranquility and peace.

2 months later, as Eldrin was feeding the newly hatched second brood of Purple-Striped Wild Goose fledglings, a dark eagle descended from the sky.

Messenger Hawk.

When the messenger eagle landed before him, he swiftly retrieved the letter from its talons. After a single glance, his expression turned grave as he stored it away.

"Has something happened over at Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location)?"

Chen Changyan scooped a handful of spiritual rice to feed the eagle, but noticing the unusual expression on its face, he couldn't resist asking.

Eldrin nodded, gently stroking the little Purple-Striped Wild Goose before him as he spoke.

"Word from the Azure Sun Sect."

"Uncle Qingyuan sent a letter. The family has summoned me back for discussions."

"Qing Yuan." Chen Changyan's expression shifted slightly, a trace of delight flashing in his eyes. "Could it be that he has obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object)?"

"The letter didn't specify the details. We'll have to return to Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location) to find out."

Eldrin clapped his hands lightly, sensing this matter was far from simple—otherwise, the Third Elder wouldn’t have summoned him back for discussion.

"It seems I must return to Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location) after all. I'll have to trouble you to watch over Spirit Isle Lake (Location) for me during this period."

The Elder Uncle nodded. "With me here, you can rest assured about this place."

“…”

When Eldrin returned to Verdant Chariot Mountain, he found all the upper echelons of the clan had already assembled—except for the Grand Elder who was stationed in Pingyang Town.

In the Clan Affairs Hall, all 5 Qi Refining ninth-level elders were present: Second Elder Chen Qinghe, Third Elder Lior (Person Name), Fourth Elder Chen Qingyuan, Fifth Elder Chen Qingwan, along with Eldrin (Person Name).

The Third Elder saw Eldrin and gave a slight nod with a smile before saying.

"Since everyone is here, I shall begin."

Not long ago, Qing Yuan sent word back from the Qingyang Sect, reporting that the sect had successfully refined 3 batches of Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object).

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with joy.

The Verdant Sun Sect would refine a batch of Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object) every decade, typically producing 3 to 5 cauldrons each time. This represented the greatest opportunity for the sect’s Qi Refinement cultivators.

Elder Chen Qinghe stroked his long beard and laughed heartily, "Among our Qing-generation disciples, Qingyuan's immortal destiny remains the most exceptional."

Eldrin listened quietly. As an elder of the clan, he understood perfectly well the reason for everyone's elation.

Because the great Qingyang Sect of the Chu Kingdom owed the Chen family a Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object).

This matter traces back 60 years. Over 6 decades ago, when the Beast Tide Rebellion erupted, the great sect of Qingyang Sect from the Chu Kingdom conscripted cultivators from 3 provinces within its borders to join the war.

At that time, to unite human cultivators in setting aside their differences and jointly combat the demonic beasts, the Qingyang Sect established a covenant with the major immortal clans and rogue cultivators at Mount Qingyang.

According to the contract, all spoils from this battle, including demon beast materials and inner cores, shall be distributed uniformly by the Qingyang Sect.

After the battle concluded, Green Sun Sect would refine these materials into magical artifacts and Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object), distributing them to the participating cultivators according to their military merits.

In this allocation process, the Qingyang Sect naturally bore the heaviest combat losses, having secured the lion's share of the benefits.

Therefore, the contract contained a special stipulation: if any Foundation Establishment cultivators perished at the jaws of demonic beasts during battle, the Qingyang Sect must compensate their respective clans with 1 Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object).

This regulation was also instituted to prevent Foundation Establishment cultivators from fearing death to the point of shirking their duties without putting in real effort.

And this single sheet of contract would later be known in the Chu Kingdom cultivation world as the Qingyang Pact.

At its core, the Qingyang Pact was founded on noble principles, yet when faced with tangible gains, some would inevitably entertain selfish schemes.

In that fateful battle, the elite forces of the Chen Immortal Clan (Organization) were decimated overnight. Not only did both Foundation Establishment cultivators perish, but even the Ziyang Jade (Magical Artifact) vanished without a trace.

Such a massive loss was simply unacceptable, yet the Azure Sun Sect used the excuse that no 1 had personally witnessed their disciples being killed by demonic beasts to evade the terms of the Azure Sun Pact, refusing to pay them the Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object).

At that time, including the Chen Immortal Clan (Organization), 7 or 8 immortal clans suffered devastating losses from this, never to recover their former glory.

This matter caused quite a stir back in the day. A dozen or so Foundation Establishment clans, fearing that they'd be next if their neighbor met disaster, collectively voiced their opposition.

Later, it was only after Elder Jiang of Celestial Ruins Mountain intervened that the Qingyang Sect relented, expressing willingness to compensate for half the losses.

It is worth mentioning that from then on, Matriarch Jiang's status in the Chu Kingdom (Location) soared dramatically, with many immortal clans and rogue cultivators revering her more than the Qingyang Sect.

Getting back to the main point, the Qingyang Sect agreed to compensate the Chen Clan with 1 Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object), but imposed the condition that whoever used the Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object) must have joined the Qingyang Sect since childhood.

To obtain this Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object), the family had no choice but to reluctantly arrange for Chen Qingyuan—the most gifted among the Qing-generation disciples—to be inducted into the Qingyang Sect from childhood.

Chen Qingyuan possessed dual spiritual roots of fire and earth, a cultivation speed second only to the Heavenly Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) and anomalous spiritual roots. Endowed with extraordinary talent, he had already broken through to the 9th level of Qi Refining at the age of 20-9.