Chapter 40: Alchemist and Foundation-Building Pill

“Achoo!”

Ye Ping’an sat up, glancing around with a puzzled look.

He had just made up his mind to head toward the place where the protagonist would one day find her great fortune. He was about to sleep on it, when suddenly—he sneezed.

That one sneeze made him overthink.

Could it be that, somewhere in the ether, the protagonist had sensed someone else was about to borrow her destined opportunity?

The thought made Ye Ping’an waver again. He’d already decided on this path, but now… doubt crept in.

Then again, the other places were far too dangerous.

Sigh. Well, there were still a few months left. He could take his time and decide later.

***

A few days later, Ye Lingtian finally returned from his trip, where he’d been negotiating with other sects about the future of the “Endstream” factions.

Unfortunately, the news he brought back wasn’t encouraging—just a mere possibility.

Now, with the two major sects locked in a critical standoff, even going the long way around might not be enough to secure a single Foundation Pill.

After all, such pills—which could rapidly boost combat strength—were precious and in short supply. Why would anyone give one away?

Their only choice was to turn to other downstream sects and try to buy one.

But that posed a huge problem—it would throw off the delicate balance among the Endstream sects, all of which also relied heavily on Foundation Pills.

The issue wasn’t just local. Across the entire Tianxuan Sacred Land, not a single Endstream sect had a pillmaster capable of producing Foundation Pills.

And if one ever surfaced, they were swiftly poached by more powerful sects.

That’s because crafting a Foundation Pill meant the alchemist had to be at least Third Grade.

Pillmasters were ranked by the stage of cultivation their pills could serve:

First Grade: could craft pills for the Qi Refining stage.

Second Grade: for the Foundation Establishment stage.

Third Grade and above: capable of producing high-success Foundation Pills.

Although technically a Second-Grade pill, the Foundation Pill involved a breakthrough-critical process, making its success rate abysmally low for most Second-Grade pillmasters.

Only Third-Grade and above could reasonably hope to succeed—and even they often failed.

Worse, the required herbs were incredibly rare.

That’s why most Endstream sects only had First-Grade, or at best, the occasional Second-Grade pillmaster.

Many didn’t even have that, underscoring just how precious pillmasters truly were.

And if they tried to purchase pills from elsewhere? Prices would skyrocket.

Still, there was no alternative. A person’s life span only lasted so long. No one knew when this war between the two great sects would start or end.

If they waited until Lianhua Sect’s war was over, some cultivators might already be in the ground before they saw a single pill.

Without planning ahead, a generational gap could emerge in the sect—young disciples left without advancement.

Originally, Ye Lingtian had planned to wait. Sure, some people were nearing the age to establish their foundation, but they could afford a few years’ delay.

But then he heard something that changed everything: Little Mengyao had reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.

To Ye Lingtian, that was a game-changer.

In his eyes, someone that young with the potential to reach Foundation Establishment was a prodigy. Helping her break through early could lead to even greater achievements in the future.

If Xuanyuan Star Sect could produce even a single Nascent Soul cultivator… it would be like a blessing from the heavens.

And so, he decided to travel with an old friend to a neighboring downstream sect to see if they could obtain a Foundation Pill.

The first stop? Naturally, the Feng Clan, right next door to the Lianhua Sect.

Of course, if they hoped to trade for such a valuable item, they’d need something of equal worth to offer.

Thus, a plan was made: in six months’ time, all the downstream sects under Lianhua would gather near Bailian Sect, the closest to the Feng Clan, to negotiate. Meanwhile, they would observe the war.

If it turned out the conflict was small and resolved quickly, they could skip the trade altogether.

But if it escalated—if the sects were mobilizing en masse—then there’d be no choice but to go.

In the meantime, everyone would begin preparing items for the exchange.

Ye Ping’an learned of this Foundation Pill mission a few days after his father returned—because, well, buying one took a lot of spirit stones.

When a huge chunk of their stash suddenly vanished, it didn’t take a genius to figure something was up.

Luckily, Shen Mengting stepped in to explain that all the stones were spent on Little Mengyao, who had now reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.

That was enough to make Ye Lingtian drop the wooden stick he was about to beat his son with.

So, Ye Ping’an took the punishment in silence and walked away with a sore backside and a mystery he couldn’t quite solve.

But here’s the twist: Ye Lingtian never told him the real reason.

So Ye Ping’an had no idea that his father’s decision was entirely motivated by his future daughter-in-law’s breakthrough.

If he had known, he would’ve done everything in his power to stop it.

After all, his junior sister didn’t even need a Foundation Pill to establish her foundation!

In Ye Ping’an’s mind, Mengyao was still young. She could afford to wait a few more years—it would even be good for her, helping her consolidate her foundation and deepen her cultivation.

What Ye Ping’an failed to grasp was the reality of Endstream and downstream cultivation.

With limited spiritual energy and low innate talent, cultivators down here didn’t chase “depth.”

They chased longevity.

Becoming an immortal? That was a distant dream. Even among the elites ruling the upper sects of Tianxuan Sacred Land, how many had truly ascended?

You could count them on one hand.

If they hadn’t done it, what chance did the small fish at the bottom of the pond have?

That’s why most cultivators didn’t bother refining their realm’s depth. It was better to break through to a higher level—even if you lost to someone at the same stage, at least your life span increased.

And truth be told, lifespans didn’t differ much between someone who trained deeply at Foundation stage and someone who rushed to the next level. So why bother?

In the end, Ye Ping’an knew about the Foundation Pill search—but not the deeper reasons, or the destination.

His heart was entirely focused on his junior sister. Naturally, he didn’t care what his father was plotting.

Later, he took Little Mengyao to the secret cave two more times.

Four months passed. She finally reached the peak of Qi Refining, twelfth level.

Refusing to give up, she even tried breaking through on her own. Unsurprisingly, she failed. It was impossible to cross that barrier through normal cultivation alone.

The setback hit her hard—it was her first real bottleneck. She began to doubt her own talent.

Thankfully, with Ye Ping’an’s gentle encouragement and a feast from Sister Ningyue, her spirits slowly returned.