Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 103

On the fourth day, in the afternoon, Senior Uncle Wang and another unfamiliar official came to see Han Li. They indeed only had one Foundation Establishment Pill, and what they said matched what Old Man Ma had told him.

However, this Fourth Ancestor’s plundering of spirit herbs was presented as the respect a disciple should naturally show to their master.

Han Li inwardly scoffed at their words, but outwardly, he silently accepted them, showing no disagreement. The officials, who had expected to have to explain for a long time, were relieved by his reaction and hurriedly left the Hundred Herb Garden.

He watched them leave, a faint smirk playing on one corner of his lips. Now that he had received the Foundation Establishment Pill, it was not yet time to rashly consume it. Instead, he needed to spend time making more pills. Only after consuming enough Foundation Establishment Pills as soon as possible would he feel at ease.

Thus, days passed, and three years went by. He had now somewhat completed preparations to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill. In those not-so-short years, several events had occurred.

Senior Sister Jin had consumed the Foundation Establishment Pill she received as a reward from the Blood Gold Trial and, after a year of arduous training, had successfully established her foundation two years ago.

However, her brother was not so lucky. He failed to break through the realm even after consuming his second Foundation Establishment Pill.

It was said that this eldest son of the Jin family had completely given up on the path of cultivation, left the sect, and returned to his family to manage their affairs and learn the family business.

In Han Li’s case, he suddenly became known within the Yellow Maple Valley, gaining fame. As soon as he returned from the forbidden area, the news that he had coincidentally obtained a huge amount of spirit herbs and become a nominal disciple of the Fourth Ancestor had spread far and wide.

For a year after his return, rumors were rampant, making many low-level disciples jealous. However, by the second year, the commotion had gradually subsided.

And Elder Ye, who had not given him most of the items he had promised, suddenly sent someone to repay the debt he had been delaying. He even gave him a little more than promised. The status of being a nominal disciple of the Fourth Ancestor was useful in name alone. However, when he thought of this newly acquired master, he had nothing to say.

After sending a nominal disciple like himself a copy of the [Ewha Garden manual] that he had personally transcribed, he had not heard from him for three years. It seemed he had completely forgotten about him.

Putting aside the fact that he did not keep his word, from the situation alone, Han Li was quite pleased.

In fact, he wanted to focus solely on refining the Foundation Establishment Pill right now, so he would have to stop anyone who bothered him.

The end of his almost reclusive life was finally coming to an end today. Three days ago, he had finished preparing the auxiliary medicinal ingredients, completing all preparations. After making various adjustments, Han Li took all the medicinal ingredients and headed to the Evil Rock Hall.

The Evil Rock Hall was no different from a few years ago, but the cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage guarding the teleportation array there had been replaced. Still, following similar procedures and being guided by the same indifferent expressions, he was able to smoothly enter the Evil Rock Hall.

He immediately chose the unmarked passage and walked along it, discovering the ugly man who had mocked him last time passed out in the stone chamber.

He frowned, then took out a bell-shaped magic tool from his sleeve and rang it near the ugly man’s ear.

To Han Li, it was a small bell sound, but the ugly man jumped up from his chair as if his buttocks were on fire, shouting with a still-dazed face.

“Wha, what’s going on! Huh? Who are you and why are you here?”

The ugly man was still not fully awake, so he was not as rude to Han Li. Han Li unhesitatingly mentioned his new master.

“I am a disciple under the Fourth Ancestor of the Ewha Garden. I have come to use the Earth Fire, so please open the door.”

“The Fourth Ancestor’s?”

The ugly man was surprised by the mention of the Fourth Ancestor’s name and immediately lowered his voice, then walked towards the stone door.

But after taking a few steps, he turned his head as if thinking of something and looked at Han Li with suspicious eyes.

Seeing this, Han Li, who naturally understood what the other was thinking, hesitated and took out the [Ewha Garden manual] that Ewha Garden had sent and placed it in front of the man.

The cover of the book clearly had the name Ewha Garden, written by the Fourth Ancestor himself.

Unexpectedly, the ugly man not only knew the Fourth Ancestor’s name but also recognized his handwriting. He did not look at the book for long and immediately showed a polite smile to Han Li.

“I don’t know if you are trying to refine a magic tool or refine pills. Just tell me, and I will prepare it for you, junior brother.”

Han Li, who had already been trying to get help by borrowing the Fourth Ancestor’s name, had a much softer expression when the other party took the initiative.

“I am trying to refine some pills. I would like a room where the fire power and temperature can be maintained consistently.”

He had heard the general situation from Old Man Ma before coming here, so he knew that those who used the Earth Fire had to be assigned their own rooms.

“That’s no problem. I will prepare it well for you, junior brother. But there is a cost for the preparation…”

The ugly man answered readily but trailed off as if he was in a bit of a predicament. Han Li smiled and, unexpectedly, took out a mid-grade spirit stone and handed it to the ugly man.

“Of course, I should pay the set price for the spirit stones. However, it seems that the refining will take some time, so I will use this mid-grade spirit stone as a deposit, and I will pay the rest later.”

“Hehe! Let’s do that. I will arrange a suitable room for you right away, junior brother!”

The ugly man was delighted when Han Li unexpectedly offered a mid-grade spirit stone. Although a hundred low-grade spirit stones were similar in value to a mid-grade spirit stone, there were hardly any cases in the cultivation world where people tried to exchange mid-grade spirit stones for low-grade spirit stones.

Everyone knew that mid-grade spirit stones helped replenish spiritual energy much faster. So, everyone wanted to have mid-grade spirit stones, and they avoided large quantities of low-grade spirit stones.

Naturally, high-grade spirit stones and mid-grade spirit stones were also difficult to exchange for the same reason. So, it was natural that the ugly man was beaming and carefully put away the fire-attributed mid-grade spirit stone, and his attitude towards Han Li became more attentive. He immediately led Han Li to a five-colored stone door and took out a purple spirit token from his pocket.

A purple light flashed and flowed into the door, and at the same time, the five-colored stone door slid upwards, revealing a hidden dark passage.

“This is the Wushi Road, where there are rooms for using the Earth Fire. Please go in.”

“Yes.”

The ugly man said with a smile, and Han Li nodded and took a step forward.

“Although Wushi [a type of rare stone] is not a precious material, it is not common in the mortal world either, is it? The fact that such a large amount of Wushi was found and used to build these passages and stone chambers is thanks to the hard work of the previous ancestors. Because these rooms are made of Wushi, they can withstand high temperatures and the Earth Fire, so there has never been a major accident since this place was built.”

The man explained briefly about the place as he guided the way. Han Li, who had become interested in the story, reached out and touched the wall of the passage. Wushi was not only shiny and smooth but also had a cold property.

“Where does Wushi come from? It’s amazing that it can withstand the Earth Fire, which is said to be hotter than True Fire.”

“I heard that it is a rare stone in the Yue Kingdom, so the stones used here were obtained by the ancestors who went to other countries in the west.”

While chatting about this and that, following behind the man, they passed three stone doors that looked exactly like the first one they had seen, and finally, they passed through the Wushi passage and arrived at a large hall.

The hall was also made of Wushi, with a diameter of forty or fifty yards and a height of over ten yards, so its enormous size was astonishing.

Throughout the hall, white stone doors of various sizes were scattered. There were at least thirty of them.

There was no one in the hall, and only the ugly man and Han Li were walking. The ugly man smiled at Han Li’s curious look.

“The place below this hall is where the Earth Fire is most actively gathered. There are thirty-six Earth Fire rooms in this hall. Among them, the most suitable places for refining pills are rooms 18 and 19. Room 18 is already being used by a senior, so you will have to use room 19, junior brother. It is slightly inferior to room 18, but it is a room with good fire stability.”

The man led Han Li towards a room with the number nineteen (十九) written in gold paint. Han Li simply nodded silently, agreeing to the man’s suggestion.

The man this time took out a white jade token and brought it to the stone door. Immediately, the door opened, and the man and Han Li entered the room.

The room was rectangular and about the size of a normal room. In the center, there was a round vessel about a yard wide, and on the four walls, there were fist-sized gourds, and in one corner, there was a jade-colored cushion.

The round vessel was also made of Wushi and was extremely flat, only about half a foot deep.

Around the vessel, there were eight red dragon heads, each one so intricately crafted that they seemed to be alive. The dragons were all raising their heads and opening their mouths towards the very center of the vessel.

Before Han Li, who was a little flustered by the unfamiliar furnishings, could ask a question, the man approached the vessel and began to explain.

“Junior brother, this is the Earth Fire entrance of this room. The Earth Fire needed for refining comes out of these eight dragon heads. You can adjust the intensity and temperature of the flames as needed. For detailed instructions on how to use it, please refer to the engravings on the outer surface of the vessel.”

The ugly man pointed to the outer surface of the round vessel.

“Inside these gourds, there is sand that boosts the Earth Fire. If you feel that the temperature of the Earth Fire is insufficient, you can use it to temporarily increase its power. Finally, you should keep this jade token with you. Once the door is closed, it is completely isolated from the outside, and it cannot be forcibly opened unless several Foundation Establishment stage cultivators work together, so you can refine pills with peace of mind!”

His last words pleased Han Li. This was exactly the kind of place he wanted, a space completely isolated from the outside.

After the explanation, the ugly man also left. Han Li confirmed that the man had left the room and then used the jade token to completely close the stone door.

After that, with an excited heart, he looked around the room in detail and then turned his gaze back to the vessel with the dragon heads.

Over the past few years, he had put a lot of effort into learning the art of pill refining in order to make the Foundation Establishment Pill. Whether the refining succeeded or not depended on the fire control and the appropriate time to open the refining furnace and take out the pills.

The combination of ingredients had already been clearly recorded in the medical texts as a result of countless experiments by predecessors, so there was no need to worry about that.

However, the amount of spirit herbs could be adjusted, so if the ratio of each ingredient was the same, smaller pills could be made using a smaller quantity. However, it was easier said than done.

Proper fire control and the timing of opening the furnace were major tasks that even so-called masters of pill refining had to carry with them for their entire lives.

Even renowned masters of pill refining had only about a 50% chance of success when they tried, and even lower-level pill refiners had an even lower chance of success.

Han Li, having made up his mind, recited the method to activate the dragon heads. Then, he formed hand seals and chanted a spell, and a red light came out of his hand and was absorbed into the dragon heads.

After that, a purple flame the thickness of a chopstick was emitted from the opened mouths, and at the same time, the temperature inside the room rapidly increased.

He carefully controlled the thickness of the flame and the subtle direction of the flame emitted from the dragon heads, enduring until he could control everything as he pleased, and then he turned off the Earth Fire. After finishing his work, he naturally sat down on the cushion to replenish his magic power.

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