chsdbacks Chapter 349 - 281: 20 Years Later (Part 2)
Chapter 349 - 281: 20 Years Later (Part 2)
As for when the Foundation Establishment Pills would be available for exchange, that was all up to Elder Fang Yun.
Wu Ruiyang knew that Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pills would be available for purchase at the Dan Cloud Pavilion eventually, but he never expected "eventually" to arrive so soon.
He had thought it would be at least another thirty or forty years before the sect would make Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pills available for disciples like him.
"If you don’t have enough Spirit Stone Contribution Points on you right now, you can come back and exchange for it once you’ve saved up. You disciples have it easy. The exchange price for a Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pill is only double that of a Lower Grade one."
The steward was incredibly envious of the current disciples of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
If Elder Fang had been born just fifty years earlier, perhaps he wouldn’t be a mere steward of the sect today, but one of its Elders.
Outside the sect, the price of a Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pill was at least three times that of a Lower Grade one.
"Thank you for the explanation, Steward!"
After thanking him, Wu Ruiyang immediately left the Dan Cloud Pavilion.
He was absolutely buzzing with excitement!
For someone with Three Spirit Roots like him, the chances of reaching Foundation Establishment with a Lower Grade Foundation Establishment Pill were low. A Middle Grade pill, however, was a different story.
A typical cultivator with Three Spirit Roots had a sixty percent chance of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment with a Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
Those were very high odds.
Wu Ruiyang felt it would be well worth it to spend the next ten years or so accumulating resources before attempting Foundation Establishment with a Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
The moment he left Dan Cloud Peak, he rushed to the Task Hall.
Having already reached the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, there was little room for improvement in his cultivation. He could now devote more time to completing tasks and earning more Spirit Stone Contribution Points.
’Ten years or so is too long. I have to get my hands on a Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pill within a decade.’
The sooner he attempted Foundation Establishment with a Middle Grade Foundation Establishment Pill, the better. Even if he failed, it wouldn’t damage his core foundation. After recuperating for a few years, he would still have another chance.
The thought had barely formed before Wu Ruiyang shook his head.
He shouldn’t be thinking about failing Foundation Establishment even after getting the pill.
’Wu Ruiyang, Wu Ruiyang... isn’t a sixty percent chance enough for you?’
...
Time flew by. Twenty years had passed since Fang Yun became the elder leading the four-sect trial.
The previous trial had been held as scheduled, but this one was to be postponed.
Previously, the problem had been with their Celestial Cloud Sect; now, it was the Wind Ling Sect’s turn.
「Artifact Casting Peak.」
Inside the Cultivation Room of Fang Yun’s cave residence.
At that moment, Fang Yun had just finished refining and absorbing an Upper-grade Spirit Ascension Pill.
’In three years, at most, I’ll be able to cultivate to the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.’
Song Qiaoqiao’s great-grandfather had set a condition: Fang Yun had to break through to Late-stage Foundation Establishment. Only then could he and Song Qiaoqiao become Tao Companions.
He was now very close to meeting that condition.
Song Qiaoqiao, on the other hand, needed to break through to the Core Formation Stage. She had already reached Late-stage Foundation Establishment eighteen years ago, but was still some distance from the Peak of Foundation Establishment.
As for the Core Formation Stage, that was still a long way off.
Fang Yun rose, left the Cultivation Room, and exited his cave residence.
He was on his way to Dan Cloud Peak to find Bai Heyan.
He planned to ask that the Spirit Ascension Pill refining tasks not be assigned to him so frequently anymore.
The Upper-grade Spirit Ascension Pills he now possessed were more than enough for him to cultivate to the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
Next, he needed to start accumulating Primordial Spirit Pills—especially Upper-grade ones—to prepare for his cultivation through the Late-stage and Peak of Foundation Establishment.
He arrived at Dan Cloud Peak, standing before the stone entrance to Bai Heyan’s cave residence.
He knocked, and not long after, he was let inside.
"Fang Yun, what a rare sight! Come in, have a seat." The moment Bai Heyan saw him, he immediately stood to welcome him.
For the past twenty years or so, it had always been him going to see Fang Yun; it was rare for Fang Yun to take the initiative to visit him.
Before Fang Yun, who had just sat down, could even speak, Bai Heyan spoke up.
"Whatever it is, just say the word. If it’s something I can handle, I’ll definitely sort it out for you."
Since Fang Yun had come to him, he figured he must have run into some trouble. Otherwise, why would he take the initiative to visit?
Then again, with Fang Yun’s current standing in the sect, Bai Heyan couldn’t imagine what kind of problem could have stumped him.
After all, the Elders who had successfully reached Foundation Establishment in recent years were all incredibly respectful of Fang Yun, which only further elevated his status within the sect.
Today’s young Foundation Establishment Elders were tomorrow’s senior Elders. One could only imagine what Fang Yun’s future standing in the sect would be.
Even if Fang Yun failed to achieve Core Formation, his status in the sect might one day rival that of the Sect Leader himself.
"It’s nothing major," Fang Yun said. "I was just hoping that, in the future, all the refining tasks for Primordial Spirit Pills could be assigned to me. And for any subsequent Spirit Ascension Pill tasks, the reward can be the same as what the other Elders of Alchemy receive."
"Oh, so it’s about that. A minor issue."
Bai Heyan assured Fang Yun he would take care of it all.
He couldn’t imagine Fang Yun coming to him with any major problems anyway.
On second thought, if something was difficult enough to stump the current Fang Yun, he probably wouldn’t be able to help with it regardless.
"From now on, I’ll arrange for all the Primordial Spirit Pill refining tasks to be given to you. In addition, you’ll still be taking on a good number of Spirit Ascension Pill tasks."
The number of refining tasks for Primordial Spirit Pills is far lower than for Spirit Ascension Pills.
Even if all the Primordial Spirit Pill refining tasks were given to Fang Yun, he would still have the capacity to take on tasks for refining other pills.
"Now that the number of sect Elders has increased, we can’t do without you for the Spirit Ascension Pill refining tasks," Bai Heyan added, by way of explanation.
Fang Yun nodded, indicating that he understood.
The increase in the number of sect Elders raised the sect’s overall strength, but it also placed a greater demand on its resources.
Fortunately, his own contribution ensured the sect’s resource conversion rate was sufficiently high.
If he weren’t refining Spirit Ascension Pills, and the sect ended up with a large number of Lower and Middle-grade pills instead, the supply in the Dan Cloud Pavilion would likely be unable to meet demand.
’Even if I reduce the number of batches of Spirit Ascension Pills I refine, and my reward is the same as the other Elders, there shouldn’t be any problems on the Spirit Ascension Pill front for now.’
Fang Yun did a quick mental calculation. Overall, the total value of Spirit Ascension Pills being placed in the Dan Cloud Pavilion had actually increased.
To purchase all these Spirit Ascension Pills, disciples would need even more Spirit Stones and Contribution Points.
"Elder Bai, I recall the Spirit Field Institute recently added two new Elders. The quality of the Spirit Medicines they grow should be even more guaranteed in the future, right?" As the conversation touched upon Spirit Ascension Pills, Fang Yun’s thoughts turned to the cultivation side of things, and he couldn’t help but bring up the Spirit Field Institute.
"The quality should be about the same, but the quantity will be much greater," Bai Heyan replied.
As the Management Elder of Dan Cloud Peak, Bai Heyan interfaced the most with Elder Mi Zikun of the Spirit Field Institute, so he was very familiar with their situation.
Growing Spirit Medicines and refining pills were two very closely linked fields.
Fang Yun only ever concerned himself with refining pills; he rarely paid attention to the administrative affairs of Dan Cloud Peak.
When he chatted with Song Qiaoqiao, she never brought up the administrative affairs of Dan Cloud Peak either. If their conversations touched on alchemy, it was always about the refining process itself.
"Oh?" Fang Yun was a little surprised. "The sect can still create new Second-Tier Spirit Fields?"
"That’s right." Bai Heyan nodded. "The development of the sect’s Spirit Fields hasn’t reached its saturation point yet."
Generally speaking, it was still a matter of not having enough Elders in the Spirit Field Institute.
The number of Elders in the Spirit Field Institute directly affected the creation of the sect’s Second and Third-Tier Spirit Fields.
Once Spirit Fields were created and Spirit Medicines were planted, they needed cultivators to tend to them. Since every cultivator’s energy was limited, the long-standing principle of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Spirit Field Institute was to only create as many Spirit Fields as they had the capacity to manage.
"In the future, once the Spirit Vein is upgraded, we’ll be able to get much closer to that saturation point."
Hearing this, Fang Yun subconsciously asked, "The sect’s Spirit Vein is going to be upgraded?"
He knew the sect possessed a Tier Three Middle-Grade Spirit Vein.
If that Tier Three Middle-Grade Spirit Vein were upgraded, it would become Tier Three Top-Grade.
Once the Spirit Vein was successfully upgraded, there would be more Spiritual Qi available, and more Spirit Fields could be created.
"That’s right. It should be upgraded sometime within the next fifty to one hundred years," Bai Heyan said, giving a rough estimate before continuing, "If you want a more specific timeline, I can ask Elder Yu for you."
The Elder Yu whom Bai Heyan mentioned was named Yu Chuanze.
He was a student of the path of Earth Veins, one of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.
He was also the only Spirit Vein Master among the sect’s Elders.
He was called a Spirit Vein Master rather than an Earth Vein Master because, for cultivators, Spirit Veins were the most important of all Earth Veins.