Chapter 96: Alchemy and Forging!
A blessed land is formed by the convergence of the five elemental laws—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—ultimately creating a domain of power. Now that Shen Yan has mastered the law of water, he has only the laws of metal, wood, fire, and earth left to grasp. As this information flooded into Shen Yan’s mind, he gained a clear understanding of the advantages he possessed in condensing these laws.
The Azure Lotus Sword Song of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect can refine the law of metal, while the Primordial Geomagnetic Profound Art can refine the law of earth. As for the laws of wood and fire, he would need corresponding cultivation methods. To cultivate these arts to the point where they could condense their respective laws, he would need to reach at least the perfected Foundation Establishment, also known as the False Pill stage.
Just like the Qi Refining stage, the Foundation Establishment stage is divided into four phases.
The first phase is Early Foundation Establishment, where a cultivator’s main goal is to perfect their true essence. The second phase is Condensing Evil, which involves seeking a strand of evil energy from nature to merge with one’s true essence, thus imbuing the essence with the properties of this energy. The third phase is Refining Gang Energy, where cultivators collect gang energy from the world and fuse it with their true essence, now already infused with evil energy.
The Gang Energy Technique Shen Yan acquired from the Luo family is a method specifically for refining gang energy. Although the gang energy produced by this technique is considered low-tier in the world of cultivation, it is still a coveted treasure for many mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The fourth phase of Foundation Establishment is known as Foundation Perfection, or the False Pill stage. Cultivators at this stage aim to fuse their true essence, evil energy, and gang energy completely into one, then polish this fusion until it becomes a single, rounded mass of pill energy, preparing for the formation of a Golden Core.
Compared to ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, Shen Yan must fully master five elemental arts during the False Pill stage. Then, when forming his Golden Core, he will unite the five elements, thus creating a domain of power.
In this way, once Shen Yan enters the Core Formation stage, he will possess an additional domain compared to his peers. Within his domain, he would truly be invincible among cultivators of the same rank!
To achieve this goal, Shen Yan began his cultivation.
However, before he could proceed, he found that half of his spirit stones had already been depleted. This was a common problem among powerful cultivators like him—they consumed far more resources than others of the same rank.
After careful consideration, Shen Yan decided to cultivate while simultaneously learning the arts of refining tools and alchemy, so as to accumulate resources for his cultivation.
After all, one cannot always rely on windfalls or unearned riches. The world of cultivation is full of hidden talents, and who knows when a small matter might provoke a Core Formation or even Nascent Soul cultivator.
……
Half a year later, Shen Yan sat cross-legged in the artifact refining chamber. Before him was a supreme artifact cauldron known as the Upper Square Cauldron, which he had acquired from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to diligently practice the crafts of refinement and alchemy.
At this moment, Shen Yan exhaled the Southern Bright Departure Fire Pearl. A surge of fierce Southern Bright Departure Fire poured true essence into the cauldron.
As the temperature within the cauldron rose, Shen Yan tossed in spirit materials one after another, then continuously cast incantations, beginning to refine the now liquefied materials inside.
After a long while, a mid-grade magical artifact, sparkling with spiritual light, appeared in Shen Yan’s hand. Shen Yan let out a breath of turbid air, slowly opened his eyes, and a hint of joy appeared on his face:
“I never expected the Imperial Seal of Heaven to have special effects in artifact refinement and alchemy. Although it can’t directly elevate my skills to the highest level, the innate purple energy it draws in can increase my success rate. With enough innate purple energy, I can produce a vast quantity of magical tools and pills to earn spirit stones. This cycle ensures I’ll never need to worry about cultivation resources again.”
Initially, Shen Yan had no idea the Imperial Seal of Heaven could enhance his refining and alchemical abilities.
One day, he wondered if the seal’s ability to heal his own injuries could also repair damaged artifacts, pills, or talismans.
The results of his experiments were not as he hoped, but the improvement in his refining and alchemical success was a delightful surprise.
Over the past half year, Shen Yan had established his own shop, specializing in pills and magical artifacts.
At first, he could only produce low-tier first grade pills and low-grade artifacts. Though their quality was not high, their prices were remarkably cheap, and before long, Shen Yan’s shop gained a reputation in the Immortal City, bringing in a steady stream of orders.
With the Imperial Seal of Heaven in hand, Shen Yan’s success rate and yield in refining and alchemy far surpassed other cultivators. Soon, he recouped the vast number of spirit stones spent to repair the seal.
At this point, his spirit stone reserves had recovered to three hundred thousand.
After storing the latest batch of refined artifacts in his pouch, Shen Yan fastened two storage bags to his waist, closed his shop, and headed toward the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
Usually, some itinerant cultivators in Immortal City would seek pills and artifacts at Shen Yan’s shop, but his largest client was the Hundred Treasures Tower.
From the start, Qian Muqing had high hopes for Shen Yan’s artifacts and pills, especially since Shen Yan had gifted him five Qi-nourishing Pills in their first meeting.
Shen Yan never disappointed. Although the initial batches of pills and artifacts he supplied to the pavilion were not of the highest quality, their quantity and low prices ensured Qian Muqing made a handsome profit.
As time passed and Shen Yan was able to produce mid-grade artifacts and first-tier mid-grade pills, Qian Muqing began to value him even more.
Though Qian Muqing had confirmed that the five Qi-nourishing Pills were not crafted by Shen Yan, Shen Yan’s own abilities were more than enough for the city’s three great families to attempt to win him over.
Especially since Shen Yan was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, albeit in the early stage, but that status allowed him to walk fearlessly throughout Immortal City.
After all, the strongest cultivators from the city’s three great families were only at the late Foundation Establishment stage.
Upon seeing Shen Yan arrive, Qian Muqing was already waiting to greet him:
“Please come in, Senior Shen! I’ve been waiting for you day and night.”
Shen Yan looked at Qian Muqing in surprise, curious:
“What’s happened today? You’re never usually this courteous.”
Qian Muqing gave a bitter smile, spread his hands, and shook his head repeatedly:
“Senior, you may not know, but the artifacts and pills you’ve been producing are in such demand throughout Immortal City that even other cities, marketplaces, and cultivation families are sending people to purchase and place orders. If you don’t come soon, my pavilion’s inventory will be completely depleted.”