More than three hundred Spiritual Herbs remained, and with the addition of Spirit Bee Royal Jelly, the Pill Success Rate increased. Out of the three hundred Spiritual Herbs, over seven hundred pills were successfully produced.
Combining this with the two hundred Elixirs previously crafted, a total of nearly nine hundred Nourishing Essence Pills were obtained.
Calculating solely in Spirit Stones, Wang Hong incurred a loss of two to three hundred thousand Spirit Stones in this round of Alchemy.
However, this couldn't be measured in Spirit Stones alone. For other cultivators, merely gathering a few hundred Spiritual Herb materials would require a significant amount of time and effort.
Wang Hong currently had no more Spiritual Herbs for Nourishing Essence Pills, as he needed to wait for the next batch to grow.
Despite the relatively low Pill Success Rate, he could now barely be considered a second-tier Alchemist.
It's worth noting that Qingxu Sect specialized in Alchemy, with thousands of Foundation Building cultivators. However, there were only a little over a hundred second-tier Alchemists among them.
As for Qi Cultivation Disciples, before Wang Hong, none had reached the level of a second-tier Alchemist. This was because investing resources to train a Qi Cultivation Disciple into a second-tier Pill Master was not cost-effective. The lifespan of a Qi Cultivation cultivator was only around a hundred years. Spending a considerable amount of resources to train one might not even cover the costs before the Alchemist's lifespan expired.
With his current 20% Pill Success Rate, attempting to refine Foundation Establishment Pills was risky. The difficulty of refining Foundation Establishment Pills was higher than that of Nourishing Essence Pills, and Wang Hong had never attempted it before.
After much consideration, he decided to become more familiar with it. He chose to go to the marketplace to see if he could purchase some Medicinal Herbs for Nourishing Essence Pills.
Returning to the marketplace, he entered the Myriad Treasures Tower, a place he was now quite familiar with.
"I would like to purchase some Medicinal Herbs for Nourishing Essence Pills. Do you have them here?" Wang Hong asked a maid who welcomed him.
"Senior, Nourishing Essence Pill's Medicinal Herbs are second-tier materials. Our first floor doesn't have them. I can check on the second floor for you. Please wait a moment," the maid replied respectfully.
Wang Hong hadn't even finished half a cup of tea when the maid returned.
"Senior, although we have around a dozen Medicinal Herbs for Nourishing Essence Pills, they have all been pre-booked. However, if Senior needs them, you can also make a reservation in advance. With the strength of our Myriad Treasures Tower, it's still easy to obtain these Medicinal Herbs."
As she spoke, a hint of pride appeared on the maid's face.
"So, if I make a reservation, how long will it take to get the Spiritual Herbs?" Wang Hong inquired.
"We cannot guarantee the exact time because there are dozens of people ahead of you, but it should take about three months to receive the Spiritual Herbs. Additionally, each person can only reserve up to three portions at a time."
Hearing this, Wang Hong gave up. At this rate, it would take him forever to gather a hundred materials.
Leaving the Myriad Treasures Tower, he reluctantly visited several other shops, but they only had a few portions, and those were also pre-booked.
It seemed he had to find another way. He still had some other second-tier Spiritual Herbs in his Space, but each type was not in large quantities. Moreover, he lacked the corresponding pill recipes. He decided to go to the Scripture Tower to find some suitable pill recipes, which would be more cost-effective than reserving Spiritual Herbs here.
The books related to Alchemy were on the second floor of the Scripture Tower. Wang Hong spent three days and nights inside and finally found several usable pill recipes.
One of them was the Breakthrough Realm Pill, with Scarlet Blood Ginseng as the main ingredient. It was divided into small Breakthrough Realm Pills and large Breakthrough Realm Pills.
The small Breakthrough Realm Pill required Scarlet Blood Ginseng of at least two hundred and fifty years as the main ingredient, with the effectiveness increasing with the age of the ginseng.
The large Breakthrough Realm Pill, on the other hand, used Scarlet Blood Ginseng of at least eight hundred years. This Elixir was between second-tier and third-tier, suitable for breaking through bottlenecks in the later stages of Foundation Building and the early stages of Golden Core.
Continuing, there were also several auxiliary cultivation pill recipes that he could complete with his existing Spiritual Herbs.
Wang Hong selected these pill recipes and went down to the first floor to make copies.
Surprisingly, these pill recipes cost him nearly a thousand contribution points. However, considering these were the crystallization of countless predecessors' experiences, the cost was worthwhile. At least within the sect, he could obtain them by spending contribution points.
Back at his residence, Wang Hong made preparations, drank a cup of Spatial Produce's Spirit Tea, and began his alchemical endeavors.
The tea's effects were indeed remarkable, but it grew too slowly. Despite the time passing over eighty times faster in his Space, he still couldn't drink it frequently enough. The newly bred acre of Spirit Tea trees were still in their early stages, and it would take a while before he could enjoy their leaves.
Scarlet Blood Ginseng, due to its long planting time, was relatively expensive. Wang Hong had planted two acres of it, employing limited sales. He had accumulated many harvested Scarlet Blood Ginseng in his Space, which he had pulled when the plants grew too close to each other. Now, they were proving useful.
After organizing, he had about three hundred portions with a Scarlet Blood Ginseng age surpassing two hundred and fifty years, which should be enough for his practice.
Over the next month, Wang Hong finally refined the three hundred small Breakthrough Realm Pills. By the end of the process, his Pill Success Rate had stabilized at thirty percent.
The other alchemical recipes he copied from the Scripture Tower also yielded dozens per recipe. Each recipe, except for the first one or two furnaces that failed, reached a similar thirty percent Pill Success Rate.
At this point, he could finally prepare to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.
One day, he brewed a pot of tea, sat under the Spirit Jujube Tree at his doorstep, and observed the mature Spirit Jujubes. He had already picked the ripe ones some time ago, leaving the Spirit Bees buzzing around.
The three acres of Three Yang Melon Seeds he planted in front of the door had already bloomed. Each plant bore a large flower disk, always facing the sun and following its movement.
Wang Hong had been curious beforehow did the flower disk manage to turn back during the night? After observing all night, he discovered that it naturally drooped in the evening and lifted its head towards the sun in the morning.
"Junior Brother Wang! Enjoying your leisure time, I see!"
Wang Hong was lost in thought under the tree when a voice suddenly rang out. Turning around, he saw Elder Brother approaching from a distance.
"Ah, it's Elder Brother. What a rare visitor! Please, come in!"
Wang Hong quickly welcomed Elder Brother into the courtyard, and the two sat at the stone table.
"Senior, would you like tea or wine?"
"Wine. I'm a simple person, not accustomed to drinking tea. I've been craving your good wine lately."
Wang Hong took out a bottle of Spirit Wine, two glasses, filled them to the brim, and arranged a plate of spirit fruits.
"Excellent wine! Junior Brother's wine makes you want another sip after just one. It's irresistible!"
Elder Brother downed a cup, and Wang Hong promptly refilled it.
"If Senior likes it, feel free to visit often. Drinking alone is not enjoyable."
"Junior Brother Wang, I didn't come for the wine this time. I have another matter at hand."
Wang Hong inquired with a curious look. Elder Brother didn't speak immediately but glanced around.
Wang Hong performed a few techniques, and the surroundings emitted green, red, yellow, white, and black lights. The entire courtyard was covered in these colors, isolating it from the outside with a large formation.
"An impressive formation!"
Elder Brother exclaimed and then spoke with a somewhat solemn tone, "Yue Hao and Zhang Zhuo have both gone missing."
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