Novel Full Chapter 64: Easing Loneliness
Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Easing Loneliness
Returning to Villa No. 7 at the foot of the mountain, Li Jizhou hung up the sign saying “Closed for Quiet Retreat, Do Not Disturb,” took a bath, burned incense, and prayed to the Dan Emperor.
He reviewed all the memories of alchemy from his previous life once again.
Three days later, he officially began his first alchemy session in this life.
The pill recipe was a superior one from his past life memories, with differences in selection and ratios, placing more emphasis on quality compared to market formulas.
However, this set of ingredients was slightly more expensive than those for a regular Qi Condensing Pill, averaging ten Spirit Stones per set.
The proportions, order of adding, and timing were all very familiar, seeming to have formed muscle memory.
Everything was ready,
After the intense, continuous consumption of the Divine Soul, he precisely sensed the changes in the ingredients inside the Pill Furnace, constantly adjusting the Pill Fire’s intensity.
Three hours later, there was a soft sound.
“Bang~”
Announcing the completion of the first alchemy session of this life!
Opening the Pill Furnace, seeing five pills of varying quality at the bottom, a trace of joy finally appeared on Li Jizhou’s face.
The pill formation rate was lower than expected, with only five pills.
Among them, an inferior gray-colored Qi Condensing Pill was particularly noticeable.
Two Lower-Grade pills, one Middle-Grade, and one Top-Grade.
“To produce a Top-Grade pill on the first attempt in this life!”
If other Alchemy Masters knew about this, they’d probably grind their teeth to pieces!
“Lost five Spirit Stones and eighty taels of Spiritual Sand!”
Li Jizhou was quite satisfied with this outcome,
For a regular Pill Master, just stepping into alchemy, even after having formed Pill Fire, would still need five to eight years of learning under a master.
Moreover, in the initial years, they could only make the simplest primary pills like Grain Avoidance Pill, Spirit-Introducing Pill, and Qi Transformation Pill, which require less Pill Fire control and Divine Soul consumption.
Qi Condensing Pill, which condenses internal Spiritual Qi to accelerate practice, isn’t something an average primary Alchemy Master can make.
A typical Pill Master would need at least hundreds of Spirit Stones as tuition to succeed.
“Croak~”
Suddenly, Gua Gua hopped over, staring intently at the pill in Li Jizhou’s hand with its big eyes.
“Such a sharp nose?” Li Jizhou was slightly stunned. Before alchemy, he had pasted a few Restriction Talismans around the pill room, never expecting Gua Gua could still smell it.
Demon Beasts have a strong craving for human pills, possibly because of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Medicine within the pills.
Li Jizhou casually tossed the inferior pill to Gua Gua.
“Gua Gua~” Gua Gua’s tongue quickly rolled it up, happily croaking twice.
“I can’t give you the others, or we won’t be able to pay the rent!” Li Jizhou glanced at it, storing the remaining pills by grade into jade bottles.
After sending off Gua Gua, Li Jizhou calmed his mind, simultaneously recovering his Divine Soul and reviewing.
“No issues with the Divine Soul and proficiency, except there was a slight error in Pill Fire control.”
In his past life, controlling Pill Fire for alchemy was at worst with Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation Pill Fire, and indeed he hadn’t controlled such a weak Pill Fire before.
But it’s not a big problem, with a few more familiarizations, he’ll be able to control it accurately.
In the days that followed,
Sticking to a disciplined routine, dedicating three hours each day to practicing the main cultivation technique Evergreen Skill, then drawing Talismans to solidify the Spiritual Qi in the Dantian, spending another hour using Melted Spirit Sand for Body Refining, followed by an hour studying Medical Poison and introductory array explanations, and using all other time to cultivate “Flame Phosphorus Skill.”
Every three days, he’d spare three hours for alchemy once more.
Thus, nine months flew by in an instant.
It was time to pay rent again.
Half a year ago, after three months of continuous practice, Li Jizhou restored past proficiency in Pill Fire control, finally concocting a superior Qi Condensing Pill, achieving anticipated profits, roughly fifty pills per month.
And, the previous month already saw no losses.
In half a year, through alchemy and selling pills, making and selling talismans, he accumulated nearly four hundred Spirit Stones.
After paying rent today, he’d still have some left for living expenses and alchemy materials.
Moreover, in the past half year, he had sold pills worth over nine hundred Spirit Stones at Miaodan Tower, successfully upgrading to a Level Four Supplier Pill Master, which would lead to increased profits.
Additionally, the best news of all was the improvement in the primary Evergreen Skill.
Three months ago, Evergreen Skill smoothly advanced to Qi Cultivation Fourth Level with no obstacles, officially making him a Middle Stage Qi Cultivation practitioner, finally overcoming the toughest early cultivation period.
A whole nine years!
This is normal progress for a Middle-Grade talent in this cultivation world, without consuming any pills.
And since there were no bottlenecks in minor levels, he progressed three years faster than other Middle-Grade talents.
In this realm’s cultivation, if the Foundation Establishment Stage is the basis for proving one’s path, then the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation is the foundation of cultivation.
The first time mortal bodies experience Spiritual Qi infusion, washing bones, refining the Dantian, for cultivators, it’s the first step of washing away impurities and transforming nature, thus this entry-level stage takes more time.
Once the foundation in the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation is established, progressing to the Middle Stage and Late Stage will be smoother, apart from realm bottlenecks, and quicker than the initial stage.
Of course, this excludes those with Earth Spirit Root, Celestial Spirit Root, or even innate Treasure Bodies.
Those are prodigies; they can’t be compared by the usual standards.
“Entering the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation at twenty-five, six years earlier than my past life!
No problem establishing the Foundation before forty in this life!”
Additionally, the auxiliary cultivation of “Flame Phosphorus Skill” has also noticeably progressed since the main skill broke through to the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation these recent three months.
Initially, Li Jizhou planned to stop auxiliary cultivation once he forged sufficient Pill Fire, like most cultivators.
For skills or other purposes, they would supplement with cultivation techniques of other attributes, but to not delay main cultivation progress, they’d generally abandon it once the goal was met.
However, Li Jizhou no longer thinks so, as he has plenty of time.
Main cultivation of Evergreen Skill only requires three hours daily for perfection, so he simply continues to cultivate the Flame Phosphorus Skill, since forging superior Pill Fire benefits alchemy.
Summarizing his gains, Li Jizhou felt immensely satisfied.
He cherished his current peaceful life immensely.
After heading out to pay the second year’s rent, he also went to Celestial Secret Tower.
Three years ago at Inverted Mountain, for the last payment, he was required to pay for all three years at once, and now it’s due.
However, this time, he decided to upgrade to a third-tier quarterly report, and also shifted the focal point from the original Inverted Mountain to the Spirit Pearl Mountain Market.
The third-tier quarterly report covers thirty thousand miles.
This includes Inverted Mountain, the Wang family of Maple Forest, as well as the five second-class families and thirteen small cultivator families of the Union Market, and also covers portions of the Purple Vine Mountain Range.
Currently, the most unstable factor in the Qi Kingdom cultivation world is Inverted Mountain. He must remain vigilant toward its dynamics; should anything threaten this area, he’d leave immediately, avoiding repeating the mistakes of waiting until things worsen as he did in Inverted Mountain.
However, unless absolutely necessary, he prefers not to leave, for with his current income of seventy to eighty Spirit Stones per month, he couldn’t afford the highest-level solo courtyard dojo at a large market or Immortal City.
Then, he immediately returned to his villa, continuing this simple, leisurely life full of hope.
Just then, a Sound Transmission Talisman from Qi Yuan, given to him six months ago, vibrated.
Six months ago, Shopkeeper Qi of the Ten Thousand Talisman Pavilion suddenly began to show much concern for Li Jizhou, often asking if his life was stressful and offering help.
She even introduced him twice to part-time jobs for extra income.
This awakened many memories of his previous life before crossing over.
“Is it possible she doesn’t want me to strive anymore?”
Though, given Qi Yuan’s appearance and charm, her slightly plump allure, and the fact that she was caring, plus his current life at twenty-five without yin-yang balance, a little companionship in loneliness didn’t seem unappealing.
However, her strength at the Foundation Establishment Stage…
Li Jizhou shook off those chaotic thoughts and turned toward Ten Thousand Talisman Pavilion.