Foundation Establishment Pills too hard to get? Then let's make a fortune first!

"You only need to reach that secret place and pick a Spirit Medicine for me."

Speaking of this, Qing Tan paused, her voice cold and clear.

"When you return, the Pill Formula for the foundation establishment pill and the auxiliary medicines, I will present to you with both hands."

A flash of sharp light flickered in Lin Yuan's turbid, aged eyes.

He was now at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining. According to his current, inconceivable speed of cultivation, he would likely reach the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining in less than two months. At that time, Foundation Establishment would be the greatest chasm standing before him.

He could directly add points to ascend to Foundation Establishment, but there was a thorn in Lin Yuan's heart.

Foundation Establishment is divided into three grades: Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, and Human Dao.

These three levels represent three completely different paths and determine the length of one's future Immortal journey.

Lin Yuan feared that if he added points directly, and the System defaulted to the lowest grade of Human Dao Foundation Establishment, his Foundation would be completely ruined.

One must know that for ordinary Cultivators who use Spirit Stones to purchase or exchange Sect contributions to luckily obtain a few Medicinal Pills to break through their Bottleneck, such Foundation Establishment is at most Human Dao Foundation Establishment.

The Foundation is the shallowest, and the Dantian and Qi Sea are only at an ordinary level.

Once this path is taken, it means being completely cut off from the Golden Core path for this life.

Therefore, Lin Yuan must seek Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment! And Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment requires massive amounts of foundation establishment pills to wash over his body and temper his Foundation, so he must obtain the Pill Formula and refine it himself!

Of course, this is just advance planning; the specific decision will have to wait until he reaches the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

"This matter... is of great importance. Allow me to consider it," Lin Yuan said in a hoarse voice.

Qing Tan seemed to know that this decision was not easy to make. She counted the Spirit Medicine Lin Yuan needed one by one and neatly placed them on the counter.

"No rush."

"There is still more than a month before the Demon Falling Valley opens again."

"You just need to give me your answer before it opens."

Lin Yuan gathered all the Spirit Medicine into his Storage Pouch, cupped his hands at Qing Tan, then turned around with a hunched back and slowly left the Pill Treasure Pavilion.

He did not return directly to his Immortal Cave. Instead, he changed his direction and arrived in front of a more ancient and magnificent pavilion not far from the Pill Treasure Pavilion. The Scripture Pavilion.

Familiar with the path, he spent a few Sect contributions and walked into the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

Unlike the upper floors where various Cultivation Techniques and Secret Techniques were stored, the collection here mostly consisted of miscellaneous talks, anecdotes, geography, customs, and ancient legends of the Cultivation World.

Lin Yuan walked between rows of tall Jade Slip shelves, his Divine Sense sweeping over each ancient Jade Slip like spilled mercury.

In the end, his gaze landed on a Jade Slip with a dull color and slightly damaged edges.

He probed into it with his Divine Sense. A surge of complex information flooded into his mind.

The records inside the Jade Slip were almost completely consistent with what Qing Tan had said.

The five main ingredients needed to refine the foundation establishment pill—dragon blood vine, netherworld grass, and purple firmament ape heart flower—these three ingredients had long been nearly extinct in the current six nations of the Eastern Region.

The only path was the notorious Demon Falling Valley.

Lin Yuan returned the Jade Slip to its place and found a dossier specifically recording information about the Demon Falling Valley on another bookshelf.

Most of the content was similar to what he had heard: spatial rifts, poisonous miasma, and the energy tide that opens every thirty years.

But one line of small vermilion characters made his pupils shrink.

"The core of the Demon Falling Valley, the resting place of the Heavenly Demon's remnant soul; if a Foundation Establishment Cultivator enters, there is ten deaths and no life."

"It seems that if I want to obtain a large number of foundation establishment pills, I must go to the Demon Falling Valley."

"However... everything must wait until I reach the Perfection of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining and try adding points for Foundation Establishment!"

"If adding points only results in Human Dao Foundation Establishment, then I will scrap my cultivation and start over. I will pile up Medicinal Pills, even if it means piling my way to a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!"

His aged face was full of sorrow and helplessness. Sighing, he headed towards the marketplace at the foot of the mountain.

Behind him, by the window on the second floor of the Pill Treasure Pavilion, Qing Tan's cold gaze was fixed unblinkingly on his departing back.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, a look of contemplation appearing on her face.

"What exactly is going on with this old ghost Lin Yuan lately?"

"If I hadn't used my Secret Technique to probe just now, I wouldn't have discovered that his aura had already reached the vigorous level of the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining!"

"Moreover, that faint scent of Medicinal Pill on him is more intense and pure than ever before. Clearly, he has refined a large number of Medicinal Pills, and... the quality is not low."

"This old fox hides so deep! Could it be that he is already a Seventh-Grade Alchemist?"

"If he... if he can really break through the Demon Falling Valley, perhaps, once he enters Foundation Establishment, that matter... may not be entirely impossible!"

A complex, dark light flashed in Qing Tan's eyes.

...

Lin Yuan arrived at the foot of the mountain. His previously aged and hunched body became upright again, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out rapidly. In an instant, he transformed into a lean man in his fifties with an ordinary face but eyes that revealed a bit of shrewdness.

He walked to a corner of the marketplace, took out a piece of black cloth from his Storage Pouch and spread it on the ground, then placed porcelain bottles with labels on them.

Next to it stood a wooden sign with a few large, crooked characters written on it.

"Selling qi gathering pills, high quality."

Soon, a Cultivator was attracted.

"Fellow Daoist, how do you sell the qi gathering pills?" The one asking was a youth who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, but there was a rich scent of blood on him, and a coldness flashed in his eyes from time to time.

Lin Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids, responding in a hoarse voice.

"Low Grade qi gathering pill, four Spirit Stones each."

"Mid-grade, twenty Spirit Stones."

"High Grade, forty Spirit Stones."

"Limited quantity, first come, first served."

When hearing the words "High Grade", the youth's eyes instantly burst with alarming brightness.

"high-grade qi gathering pill?!"

"Really? Give me two!"

Lin Yuan casually picked up a Jade Bottle, pulled out the stopper, and poured out two round, plump Medicinal Pills overflowing with fragrance.

That rich medicinal fragrance was like an invisible hand, instantly grabbing all the Cultivators who were strolling nearby!

"It really is a high-grade qi gathering pill!"

"This pill has flowing light and the medicinal fragrance is so rich; it can't be wrong!"

In just a moment, Lin Yuan's stall was crowded with people, all staring at the porcelain bottles in front of him with hot gazes.

For a time, Lin Yuan's stall was actually surrounded so tightly that not even water could trickle through.

It was truly because Mid-grade, and especially high-grade qi gathering pills, were too rare.

The cold youth didn't say a word, directly slapped down eighty Spirit Stones, grabbed the Medicinal Pills, and squeezed out of the crowd without looking back, leaving quickly.

With these two high-grade qi gathering pills, relying on their powerful medicinal strength, many difficult Bottlenecks in the Qi Refinement Stage could be easily broken through.

"This Senior Brother, give me two High Grade ones! And five Mid-grade ones! Here are the Spirit Stones!"

"I want five mid-grade qi gathering pills..."

Seeing the scene getting a bit out of control, with some people even starting to push forward, it seemed there was a posture of looting.

Lin Yuan snorted coldly, waved his hand, and directly collected all the medicine bottles on the stall.

"high-grade qi gathering pills, the quantity is not much."

"The highest bidder gets them."

His cold voice made the noisy crowd go quiet.

"I offer fifty Spirit Stones each! Sell me two!" A sturdy male Cultivator at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining shouted loudly.

Once this price was offered, it immediately made many people's hearts jump, and looks of pain appeared on their faces.

"Fifty Spirit Stones, if it can help me break through the Bottleneck, it's absolutely worth it! I also want two!" Someone immediately followed up from behind.

After all, things like high-grade qi gathering pills were rare items that often couldn't be bought even with money.

Soon, after a round of bidding, of the thirty-eight high-grade qi gathering pills in Lin Yuan's hands, only the last two remained.

Only five mid-grade qi gathering pills remained, and only over forty Low Grade ones were left.

Lin Yuan counted his Storage Pouch and directly pocketed over two thousand nine hundred Spirit Stones.

Since he began cultivating, this was the first time he held such a huge sum.

"The last two High Grade ones, does anyone else want them?" Lin Yuan scanned the crowd, his voice indifferent.