Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 148 Foundation Building
Shen He sat alone in the alchemy room.

Before me stood a cauldron, its entire body a golden and jade-like color, with eight trigrams at its base. Within the eight trigrams were two black and white fish, converging to form a Tai Chi symbol.

Shen He unleashed a burst of magical power, and the Tai Chi symbol instantly spun open, from which tangible earth vein spiritual energy surged forth. This energy was then ignited by the magical power, transforming into earth vein spiritual fire to burn the furnace.

Tai Chi and Bagua: symbols of the Great Dao!
Although Shen He was far from qualified to come into contact with the "Great Dao," this did not prevent him from following suit and purchasing the refining method of the "Eight Trigrams Furnace" from the real-world network.

This Bagua Furnace is a common furnace used by cultivators in the real world. At lower levels, it doesn't have any special abilities. The function of the Tai Chi Bagua is simply to adjust the heat at different levels.

But that's enough, because whether it's alchemy or weapon forging, the control of the heat is of paramount importance. It needs to be strong when it needs to be strong, weak when it needs to be weak, and balanced and stable without any mistakes. This is the basic condition for the furnace, and also the most important condition.

However, such basic conditions are extremely demanding in this world.

Previously, Shen He had acquired several furnace cauldrons in the Red Maple Valley market, but he found that it was difficult to accurately and stably control the heat, whether it was a high-grade or low-grade furnace cauldron.

This is normal. After all, the cultivation level in the inland world is limited, so it is reasonable that the furnaces and cauldrons they refine are not satisfactory.

But just because it's reasonable doesn't mean Shen He has to accept it. After returning to Fish Dragon Island, he decisively relied on his own efforts, collected materials, and refined this Eight Trigrams Furnace. Although it didn't have anything special about it, its stability in controlling the heat alone made it far superior to the previous furnaces.

Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen; Xun, Li, Kun, Dui!
With eight trigrams and eight directions, and eight levels, there are eight levels that can be adjusted. You can even combine the eight trigrams and eight levels to adjust the heat to your liking, making it easy to refine any kind of elixir.

Even if a native cultivator of this world possessed this Eight Trigrams Furnace, he would still have to gradually explore the art of alchemy if he wanted to refine pills, because the control of fire is a subjective and mysterious thing, and the alchemist traditions of this world are not so transparent, with many quantifiers being vague.

For example, terms like "appropriate amount," "a little," "certainly," "high heat," and "low heat" are all vague quantifiers, except for medicinal herbs which have clear measurement standards. They don't specify how much "a little" or "a lot."

It's not that the alchemists of this world intentionally want to make things difficult for future generations, but rather that due to limitations in spiritual fire, furnaces, and the alchemists' own skills, there's no way to set standards for these measurements. Alchemists can only explore on their own and eventually become proficient through practice.

Therefore, the initial investment in alchemy is staggering. Just controlling the various heat levels requires sacrificing a large amount of materials. Without sufficient wealth, one simply cannot train an alchemist.

Not only alchemy, but also talismanic arts, artifacts, formations, and all kinds of arts and techniques are the same.

However, this problem has been partially solved in the real world by the immortal cultivation system that human empires have been developing for hundreds of thousands of years.

"Foundation Building Pill, refined with the Fire of Heaven and Earth!"

"First, use eight parts of dry fire to refine the essence blood medicine!"

"Then use seven parts Kun Fire to refine the material of the divine soul!"

"Finally, the universe is divided in half, and the heat is controlled to refine the primordial spirit!"

"By refining the essence of these three materials, the fire of heaven and earth can be increased to eighteen parts, and supplemented by three parts of the fire of the six auxiliary elements of Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, and Dui, for a total of thirty-six parts of fire power to melt the three elements. Then the three elements can be combined, the three elements can be connected, and the three essences can be condensed—the Foundation Building Pill!"

The Foundation Establishment Elixir formula he had obtained from the real world came to mind.

The dosage of medicinal materials, the heat level, and the refining time are all specified in detail.

This is the scientific method of alchemy based on data!

With a precise and stable Bagua Furnace, all procedures of alchemy can be digitized, standardized, clearly measured, and clearly defined, instead of relying on intuition and trial and error as in traditional alchemy methods.

Although this method can only be used for low- to mid-level pills, and cannot be used for high-level pills due to various uncontrollable conditions, its value cannot be denied.

It established a pill production system for the human empire, stabilized the price of low- and mid-grade pills, and met the market demand for low- and mid-grade pills in various star regions and planets under the empire's rule. It can be said that it made a great contribution.

Data-driven, standardized, and systematic!
Although this makes the cultivation of immortality less interesting, what does it matter if a low- to mid-level cultivator like you is concerned with the taste? That's the kind of enjoyment that high-level cultivators and even immortals have. How could a low-level cultivator like you have the right to pursue that?

Just stick to alchemy.

Shen He was very clear about his current position, so he did not resist this scientific alchemy method based on standardized data at all; in fact, he liked it very much and found it very useful.

"boom!"

"Eight parts dry fire!"

Shen He made a hand seal and activated his magic power, instantly igniting the earth's vein fire, which rushed into the Qian Heaven position of the Eight Trigrams Furnace and was adjusted to eight-tenths of its power.

Then, Shen He tossed out a golden embroidered storage bag in the air, from which he spat out various spiritual items, all of which were medicinal herbs that could strengthen the essence and blood, ranging from first to third rank. Finally, he spat out a fourth-rank Foundation Establishment spiritual herb.

The Foundation Building Pill requires the medicine of the Three Powers, corresponding to the power of the three essences: essence, qi, and spirit.

Shen He first used the dry fire to refine the essence blood medicine. The first to fourth stages, the monarch, minister, assistant and envoy, were all refined into essence. Soon, a crimson spiritual light was seen flashing in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, like a red dragon soaring and turning, full of magnificent essence.

Shen He separated the furnace fire and placed it aside. He then took out a storage bag and put in various spiritual items that could enhance the soul. He used seven parts of Kun fire to quench the fire, and in a short while, a pure blue spiritual light appeared, like a blue dragon swimming, containing surging divine brilliance.

Finally, the universe was united, and yin and yang were refined together, reaching the level of twelve fire powers.

Shen He also opened the last storage bag and put in various spiritual items containing pure spiritual energy. In this Qiankun Furnace, under the Yin-Yang Fire, they were tempered into a shimmering white light.

One red dragon, one green dragon, and one white dragon.

Three dragons and three talents, three talents and three splendors!
"drink!!!"

With the final moment approaching, Shen He became even more decisive, unleashing a series of incantations and pouring in his vital energy to intensify the fire of the Eight Trigrams Furnace using the Five Elements method.

"boom!!!"

With the added power of magic, the furnace fire roared to life, the power of heaven and earth rose to eighteen parts, and three parts of auxiliary fire also ignited in the six directions of Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, and Dui, for a total of thirty-six parts of fire power condensed in the furnace.

Under the influence of this firepower, the three spiritual lights gradually merged, and the power of essence, energy, and spirit interacted and permeated each other, creating a mysterious and transformative process.

Shen He sat outside the furnace, his eyes reflecting the firelight, intently watching the merging power of the three Hua.

There are three thousand avenues, different paths lead to the same destination.

The refining principle of this Foundation Building Pill is similar to that of a cultivator's foundation building process; both are methods of combining the three elements into one, creating a mysterious and wondrous process.

Therefore, refining this Foundation Establishment Pill can also help cultivators establish their foundation and can be used as an experience accumulation, so Shen He naturally wouldn't let it go.

After an unknown period of time, a strange fragrance suddenly wafted from the furnace, greatly invigorating Shen He, who was sitting outside the furnace.

"It's done!"

Shen He's eyes narrowed, and he immediately cast a spell to extinguish the fire in the Bagua Furnace, closing the Yin-Yang Taiji, leaving only a furnace standing in front of him.

Shen He activated his magic power and opened the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Instantly, the fragrance of elixirs wafted out, and golden light shimmered within, as if the sun were placed inside the furnace.

"what!"

Shen He smiled, activated his magic, and drew the golden light out of the cauldron, where it gently landed in his palm.

As soon as the golden light entered his hand, it receded inward, transforming into nine pills, each golden in color and bearing three pill patterns that resembled coiled dragons and snakes, emitting a faint, exotic fragrance.

"A fourth-grade spirit pill, and a high-grade one at that!"

"Wonderful, wonderful!"

Looking at the nine golden pills in his hand, Shen He's smile became even brighter.

Although elixirs are classified into grades, such as magic weapons, spiritual weapons, magic treasures, and spiritual treasures in the art of crafting, because these are too cumbersome to pronounce, people are still used to calling them by their ranks, and then further subdividing them into grades.

For example, the Foundation Establishment Pill should be formally called a low-grade spiritual pill. The low-grade pill can be further divided into low-grade high-grade spiritual pills, or low-grade low-grade spiritual pills.

This is too cumbersome, so we changed to using grades, thus dividing the pills into four grades of high-grade spirit pills and four grades of low-grade spirit pills.

The Foundation Establishment Pill that Shen He has refined is now of superior quality. Because the power of the Three Elements is perfectly integrated, its quality is improved. After taking it, it can not only protect the body and prevent damage from failure in Foundation Establishment, but also help the power of the Three Elements and improve the effect of Foundation Establishment.

This superior-grade pill is far superior to ordinary pills; one pill is equivalent to three. If a wealthy person in need finds it, it can be equivalent to five or six pills without any problem.

Shen He was very satisfied with this. Although he had invested heavily in this alchemy, using all the fourth-order spiritual creatures that Fish Dragon Island had cultivated over the years, it was worth it. The value of these nine high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills would be at least several dozen times greater than it would have been.

This demonstrates the benefits of Daoist alchemy!

The investment is high and the training is difficult, but once the training is successful, the return will be a thousand times or even a hundred times.

Not only alchemy, but all the arts of cultivation are like this.

"Somebody come!"

Shen He put away one golden pill, and divided the remaining eight into jade bottles, then opened the door to the pill room.

"Master!"

Several disciples entered and bowed in greeting. Shen He smiled and asked, "How many days did it take to refine the pills this time?"

A disciple replied, "Reporting to Master, this alchemy process has lasted for nine days!"

"The ninth day?"

Shen He murmured to himself, then tossed out a storage bag: "I have refined eight Foundation Establishment Pills this time. Take them to the treasury and inform everyone that they can exchange them for merit points if needed."

"Foundation Pill!?"

"Yes!!!"

The disciple's eyes sharpened, and he accepted the storage bag with both hands before bowing and leaving the alchemy room.

"You and the others should go too!"

"Yes!"

After everyone left, the alchemy room was empty once again.

Shen He sat alone, silently circulating his inner energy to restore his magical power.

Although many Foundation Establishment cultivators have emerged on Fish-Dragon Island over the years, the vast majority of them are his contracted spirit beasts, human cultivators, and aquatic spirits, with only a handful being individuals.

There's no way around it; building a foundation without elixir is far too dangerous.

His contracted spirit beast has a powerful bloodline, so its advancement is guaranteed.

However, human cultivators and aquatic spirits do not have this advantage, and many have died or been injured in the process of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage in recent years.

This made Shen He feel very distressed. After all, his disciples and followers were all talented individuals with a destiny to immortality. They were either exceptionally gifted or possessed extraordinary treasures. It was simply not worth it for them to take such a risk and charge forward.

Therefore, in recent years, he has focused his research on Foundation Building Pills, and now he has successfully refined them.

Of the nine Foundation Establishment Pills, he kept one for himself and put the other eight into the treasury, allowing his disciples to exchange them for merits.

Although this seems to reverse priorities, giving the impression that the boss is making money for the employees, Shen He doesn't care.

One should take a long-term view and not just focus on short-term gains. The Foundation Building Pills he is giving away now may seem valuable, but they are insignificant compared to the future returns. The investment at this time is for a future harvest, and not just one harvest.

This is also why major sects emphasize training disciples. The world is bustling with people who are driven by profit, and the path of immortality is a path that values ​​self-interest. If there were no benefits, do you think major sects would waste resources to train disciples?
……

Let's leave the matter of elixirs aside for now.

Shen He sat in the room, activating the earth's spiritual energy to recover from the losses incurred during alchemy.

The Foundation Establishment Pill has been refined, so we should strike while the iron is hot and complete the Foundation Establishment process.

After several days, Shen He, having fully recovered his magical power and returned to his peak condition, left the alchemy room and came to the Fish Dragon Lake in the center of Fish Dragon Island.

This lake is the central hub of the Spirit Island, where the Fish-Dragon Seal and the Earth Vein Spirit Array are located.

Shen He did not build a cave dwelling here, but only constructed a small pond and paddy field to cultivate various high-level spiritual creatures. Most of the high-level spiritual herbs used for alchemy previously came from here.

Shenhe's arrival here is also for the final step.

Build the foundation!

Shen He activated the formation, transforming the spirit-gathering formation into a protective formation. The earth's spiritual energy materialized into smoke and clouds, concealing his figure.

Shen He sat cross-legged, embracing the Five Hearts Converging to the Origin, and then took out the Foundation Establishment Pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

The elixir enters the body, and the three elements unite!
Shen He sat cross-legged, focusing his mind, controlling his spirit, and uniting his essence with his vital energy.

The Three Elements are the Three Essences: the physical body is essence, magical power is energy, and the soul is spirit.

When the three elements unite and the three essences converge at the top of the head, the essence, energy, and spirit become one!
Shen He now cultivates martial arts, spirit control, and immortality simultaneously.

These three actually have something in common, and even perfectly align with the concept of foundation building in the immortal path.

Martial arts are the essence, forging the physical body!
Master spirits to become gods, and forge your divine soul!
Immortals cultivate their vital energy, which is then refined to create magical power!
When the three methods are combined, the three essences converge at the top of the head, achieving a perfect integration of essence, energy, and spirit.

There is no conflict; on the contrary, they complement each other and help him build the foundation for the Great Dao.

Shen He sat cross-legged, swallowed the elixir, and immediately the power of creation transformed into three torrents, which acted on his physical body, magical power, and soul respectively.

The three forces originally shared a common origin, but after separating, they attracted each other, thus promoting their unity. This is precisely the effect of a superior elixir for foundation building.

In addition to the effects of the elixir, Shen He himself was also exerting his power.

Martial arts, spirit control, immortality!

Xingyi Gong, Yuling Jing, Wuxing Jue.

The three paths and the three methods are now integrated and become the foundation for cultivators.

And so it went, for an unknown period of time...

Finally, Shen He opened his eyes.

A glint of light flashed in his eyes, then quickly returned to calm.

On the contrary, his aura continued to rise, and he soon broke through the Qi Refining stage.

Three flowers converge at the top, a single aperture leads to the entrance!
The three elements unite, and the inner and outer become one!
The foundation for immortality is thus established!

Smooth, incredibly smooth, without any difficulties, obstacles, or challenges.

So easy?

That's how it should be.

With decades of accumulation and refinement, coupled with divine skills and professional expertise, breakthroughs are a natural outcome.

In fact, even without taking this superior Foundation Establishment Pill, Shen He's success rate in establishing his foundation on his own was as high as 90%.

He was simply trying to play it safe by nature, and since this matter concerned his life, he did his best to do it perfectly.

Upon successfully establishing his foundation, a spiritual consciousness arose, instantly entering a state of oneness with nature, enveloping the entire Fish-Dragon Island and even extending to the surrounding Dongting Lake. Everything on Fish-Dragon Island and everything in Dongting Lake were clearly revealed before his eyes.

An incredibly wonderful experience.

It is the spiritual consciousness of a cultivator!
This is a unique ability of immortal cultivators after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage. It is a spiritual consciousness formed by the condensation of essence, energy, and spirit. It can not only search the heavens and the earth, but also achieve oneness with the heavens and man, and mobilize the power of the primordial spirit of heaven and earth.

This is the biggest difference between the early stages of Immortal Path and Martial Path. In the early stages of Martial Path, one mainly relies on one's own strength. One must reach the sixth-order Gangsha realm to use the Martial Golden Core and Gangsha Divine Power to mobilize the power of heaven and earth.

Immortals, even at the fourth level, can unite with the heavens and earth through their spiritual power, mobilizing the power of heaven and earth to enhance their own abilities, thus greatly increasing the effectiveness of their spells and the power of their supernatural powers, giving them a clear advantage over martial artists.

Therefore, the strength of one's spiritual awareness has become an important standard for judging a cultivator's combat power.

There are many factors that influence the strength of spiritual awareness, including cultivation methods, aptitude, and the effectiveness of foundation building.

Shen He's spiritual sense is now extremely terrifying, not only covering Yulong Island, but also extending to Dongting Lake, with a maximum range of up to a hundred miles.

A hundred miles of spiritual awareness!

Let alone those who have just completed the Foundation Establishment stage, even those who have reached the peak of Foundation Establishment and are close to Core Formation would find it difficult to possess such a powerful spiritual sense.

However, this makes perfect sense for Shen He, since he cultivates three methods simultaneously: martial arts, spirit control, and immortality. The power of these three methods complements each other, and he also possesses high-dimensional martial arts and immortal techniques such as Xingyi Quan and the Five Elements Technique. His foundation is solid, far surpassing that of the natives of this world, which is only natural.

"With this foundation, I am invincible below the Core Formation stage."

"Even those who have reached the Core Formation stage have very few who can rival me."

"After more than eighty years of silence, it's time to go out and see the world!"

With the foundation laid, stillness gave way to movement. Shen He laughed loudly and then strode away.

He's back in the cultivation world!

(End of this chapter)