Building a long-lasting family lineage starting with genealogy

Chapter 117 The Theory of Bloodlines, Ancient Remnant Formula (Seeking Complete Subscription)

"The Wang family," Xu Chuan murmured softly.

"How come you know?" Master Yunding looked at Xu Chuan.

"Among the prominent families that have sought cooperation with me, the first one is the Wang family."

"So that's how it is." Master Yunding stroked his beard and nodded, then said, "The Wang family has produced a genius with a true spiritual root. I've heard that he has an ice-attribute bloodline, and the technique he cultivates is not his family's secret method, but an ice-attribute cultivation method that he obtained at a great cost."

Now that he has acquired this superior-grade magic weapon, the Ice Edge Sword, his strength is likely to reach even greater heights.

"Ice attribute bloodline?"

"Marriages between aristocratic families are merely accidental occurrences. Once one cultivates to the Foundation Establishment stage and specializes in a cultivation technique with the elemental energy attribute, their bloodlines will naturally become somewhat different."

However, not everyone from aristocratic families can be born into such a family. If one is, their cultivation speed using the corresponding attribute techniques will naturally be 30-40% faster than ordinary techniques.

Xu Chuan nodded slightly, recalling Xu Dezhao's pseudo-fire virtue bloodline. If he were to cultivate fire attribute techniques in the future, it would provide him with one to two-tenths of the assistance.

If it is a complete Fire Virtue bloodline, it might not be much different from the bloodline of a Foundation Establishment family.

Could it be that the Yang family had a Foundation Establishment cultivator in their ancestors, but it was only a branch that survived to this day and lost its lineage?

Xu Chuan pondered for a moment, then stopped thinking about the Yang family and asked curiously, "What is that true spiritual root genius's current cultivation level?"

"Eighteen years old, peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining."

"That's definitely a genius."

"Just a pile of resources." A hint of disdain seemed to flash across Yunding Zhenren's eyes.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Yunding, are you perhaps jealous?" Xu Chuan said with a faint smile, "The accumulation of a noble family is not something that can be achieved overnight. As the saying goes, one generation plants the trees and another enjoys the shade. If you have descendants, you will certainly be a person who enjoys good fortune."

"I am still more comfortable living alone. Unless I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the future and can establish a clan to carry on the legacy, I will give up."

"May I ask, fellow Daoist, are there many late-stage Qi Refining cultivators who are only eighteen years old within the imperial city?"

“There are very few.” Master Yunding shook his head and chuckled. “Only in the imperial city can there be such geniuses. Fellow Daoist, have you heard of any such geniuses during your travels through the various prefectures?”

"No, not at all," Xu Chuan replied.

"They have all reached the late stage of Qi Refining before the age of twenty. They are all geniuses in cultivation and are also the foundation-building seeds reserved by various families. It seems that the Wang family wants to break into the second-rank family by acquiring such a genius."

"There are three first-rank families in the imperial city, how many are second-rank families?"

"There are only five."

"So few?" Xu Chuan asked in surprise.

"What do you think, fellow Daoist?" Master Yunding asked with a faint smile.

Xu Chuan looked at him and immediately smiled, revealing a knowing expression.

The more profound the foundation of a powerful family, the less resources the three great families and the royal family will possess.

Therefore, they were naturally unhappy to see the number of second-rank families increase daily, and even more first-rank families emerge.

"Yun Nu has the destiny talent of 'swallowing mountains and rivers,' so he can naturally be considered a genius in cultivation. However, his spiritual root aptitude is slightly inferior. Although he makes up for it with the 'Innate Five Elements Creation Technique,' he still cannot compare with these so-called geniuses of the imperial city."

Only Ling'er possesses true spiritual root aptitude and is born with spiritual eyes. She began cultivating immortality at a young age, and she practices the "Heavenly Flame Technique" rather than ordinary techniques like the "Blazing Fire Technique." She too has the potential to reach the late stage of Qi Refining by the age of seventeen or eighteen.

Xu Chuan had high hopes for him.

I just feel that there is no suitable destiny or talent for her yet.

As for the [Golden Koi], Xu Chuan was extremely cautious and dared not bestow it lightly.

Prepare for critical moments and give to those who need it most.

It can also maximize the family's interests.

"Next is an ancient scroll of alchemical texts, which records many spiritual materials from ancient times, as well as some alchemy techniques and theories, and is most suitable for alchemists."

The starting bid for this ancient scroll is 15 spirit stones, and each bid must be at least 1 spirit stone higher.

Fellow Daoists, please begin the bidding.

Upon hearing this, both Xu Chuan and Master Yunding's eyes lit up.

"Fellow Daoist Yunding, it seems you are also interested in this. Why don't we join forces to bid for it and view it together?"

“Very good. I will only need to make a copy.”

The two hit it off.

Since Master Yunding was more familiar with the process, he was allowed to bid.

Seeing that it was the three alchemists from the Dan Hall bidding, some aristocratic families gave them face and stopped bidding, leaving only a few alchemists to bid in the end.

"Congratulations to Master Yunding for winning this ancient scroll with a bid of thirty-two spirit stones."

Then, someone carried the ancient scroll up to the second floor.

Xu Chuan had already taken out sixteen spirit stones and handed them to him.

"Master Yunding, this is the ancient scroll of alchemical text that you purchased, which costs a total of thirty-two spirit stones."

With a flick of his sleeve, Master Yunding produced thirty-two spirit stones that flew out of his storage bag.

The visitor scanned the scroll with his divine sense, confirmed its authenticity, and then presented the ancient alchemical text and put away the spirit stones.

Then, we left the private room.

At this point, the next item for auction had already begun.

“Fellow Daoist San Shu, please keep this ancient scroll for now. You can give me the copy after you have finished copying it.”

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Yunding."

Master Yunding stroked his beard and smiled faintly, but then continued, "Since there are ancient scrolls of alchemy, then the secret collections of ancient families must contain alchemical formulas. I just don't know if the three great families will put them up for auction."

"I think it's unlikely that a formula can also serve as a foundation. As for this ancient scroll, it must have been taken out by someone who felt it was of little use, but I suppose they also left a copy."

"Perhaps, but if it's not the original ancient scroll, it would probably cost at most seven or eight spirit stones."

"That's very expensive. Ordinary books like this would only cost four or five spirit stones in the market, and most of the time no one would even bother with them."

"That's only a third of the reward for one Pill Hall mission, fellow Daoist," Master Yunding said with a sneer.

"But I'm saving up spirit stones to get a high-grade pill furnace. If I don't save up, I don't know when I'll be able to get one."

"It would be difficult to replace it within a year on your own, but if you choose to cooperate with a family, I believe they would be very happy to offer you a high-grade alchemy furnace."

"Then let's forget about it." Xu Chuan waved his hand and laughed, "Come on, let's continue drinking. I must say, this Jade True Brew is indeed a fine spirit wine. I have never found it anywhere else."

Hey~
After a while.

Another incomplete prescription appeared among the auction items.

"An incomplete prescription?"

"Fellow Daoist San Shu is interested?" True Man Yunding looked over.

"There is some effect, but the auctioneer did not mention its efficacy. Even if it is missing only a few medicinal materials, it is probably useless to buy it."

"None of the three great families can tell the difference because their alchemy skills are insufficient. But you can give it a try, fellow Daoist. If you don't want it, I'll just take it. It's only five spirit stones anyway."

"Fellow Daoist, please take the bid, but I believe you will definitely want to learn from me."

“Fellow Daoist San Shu, you really don’t suffer any loss at all.”

Master Yunding shook his head helplessly, but he still bid on the incomplete pill formula. However, the final price was not five yuan, but nine yuan.

After that, nothing that the two of them were interested in appeared at the auction.

After drinking the Jade True Wine, they returned to the Pill Palace one after another.

Xu Chuan copied ancient alchemical texts, while Master Yunding studied the incomplete alchemical formula he had just acquired.

The ancient scroll contained a considerable amount of information, and it took Xu Chuan nearly half a day to transcribe it all, which he then presented to True Person Yunding. "Fellow Daoist, is there any progress on that incomplete pill formula?"

"No, but your handwritten copy of the ancient alchemical text is very timely. It contains the ancient names of many medicinal herbs, some of which may have changed their names or have already become extinct."

"Let me study it for a few more days. If there is no progress, I will give this elixir to you for further study."

Xu Chuan nodded slightly, not particularly concerned.

He would take a high-grade Qi Gathering Pill at night to cultivate.

The next day.

After refining several batches, he began studying ancient alchemical texts with great interest.

I am quite curious about some of the ancient alchemy techniques recorded in the ancient scrolls, such as the water alchemy method, the water and fire alchemy method, and the five elements alchemy method.

Unfortunately, it only records the name and effects, but not the actual method of alchemy.

As for those theories, such as the Perfect Pill and the method of obtaining the inner core of demonic beasts, even Xu Chuan felt that they were somewhat exaggerated.

In summary, only the names, shapes, medicinal properties, and habits of those medicinal herbs are useful, allowing people to better understand the appearance and characteristics of ancient medicinal materials.

Thus, we can compare the past and present.

a few days later.

Xu Chuan completed another "performance task" at the Pill Hall and received thirty-eight spirit stones. He also secretly saved up several bottles of mid-grade and high-grade pills.

Its value far exceeds that of the reward spirit stones by several times.

Xu Chuan adhered to two principles in alchemy: never give away too much, and give away only a small amount of high-grade alchemy.

Even those who set up the task in the Pill Hall never expected that Xu Chuan's pill production rate and the rate of producing high-grade pills would be so high.

He is not much worse than the chief of Yunzhongzi.

Not long after, Master Yunding arrived at the alchemy room in high spirits.

"Fellow Daoist San Shu, do you know what the effects of the elixir recorded in this incomplete prescription are?"

Seeing his expression, Xu Chuan asked in surprise, "Could it be that Fellow Daoist Yunding has made progress in his research? Is it a pill formula with rare effects?"

“Fellow Daoist San Shu understands me. If the pill formula is truly completed, it may increase the chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage by 10% to 20%.”

Xu Chuan's eyes immediately flashed with a sharp light, "Really?!"

"This is a momentous event that will shake the entire capital!"

Master Yunding stroked his beard, a smile spreading across his face, and calmly said, "The effect of this pill should be to enhance divine sense. If it is a high-grade pill, there is a chance that divine sense may be transformed into divine consciousness."

"Expanding one's spiritual consciousness ahead of time naturally increases the chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

Xu Chuan nodded slightly in agreement.

Master Yunding then added, "However, this pill should be similar to the pill for breaking through bottlenecks, with a limit on the amount that can be taken, usually three to five pills. We will only know the specifics after the complete formula is completed and the pill is actually refined."

"Unfortunately"

Upon hearing this, Xu Chuan was overjoyed. He never expected that there would actually be a pill in the world that could allow divine thoughts to transform into divine consciousness ahead of time, which could be described as seizing the power of creation of heaven and earth.

"What's a pity?"

"Unfortunately, this pill has two main ingredients, both of which are rare second-tier spiritual herbs. The pill hall has a limited stock of them, and only the chief disciple is qualified to use them directly."

To complete this elixir, we would need to try many different kinds of spiritual herbs. Even if we secretly tried to refine it, we feared that even spending all our savings wouldn't be enough to gather enough.

Xu Chuan frowned slightly. "Is it really that exaggerated?"

"Do you think second-tier spiritual herbs that are three or four hundred years old are so cheap? Just to gather all the spiritual herbs that are listed in a pill formula, it would cost more than a hundred spirit stones."

If it were truly refined, even a top-grade pill worth thousands of spirit stones would be fiercely contested by countless powerful families.

In the Pill Hall, the number of second-tier alchemy tasks has decreased sharply, primarily because the number of second-tier spiritual herbs is far less than that of first-tier spiritual herbs.

“That’s true.” Xu Chuan’s eyes burned with desire. “To allow divine sense to transform into divine consciousness ahead of time and increase the chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage is worth it, no matter how high the price. However, it seems that it is impossible to refine it in large quantities.”

Upon hearing this, Master Yunding smiled wryly and said, "Fellow Daoist Sanshu, what are you thinking? At most, we can only produce twenty or thirty of these kinds of pills a year."

As for top-grade, even the chief craftsman would probably need to try a dozen or twenty times to have a chance of refining it.

Xu Chuan smiled without saying a word, then said, "What's next? Shall we go find Chief Yun Zhongzi and work together to deduce this pill formula?"

"That's all it can do."

The two immediately went to the third floor of the Pill Hall and told him about the incomplete prescription.

Yun Zhongzi smiled faintly after hearing this, "You two are quite lucky. If the person auctioning the incomplete prescription knew its purpose, they probably wouldn't have sold it so cheaply."

"Nine spirit stones isn't cheap," Master Yunding muttered to himself.

"I will accept the pill formula on behalf of the Pill Hall. If the formula can be completed and the pill is successfully refined, the Pill Hall will reward you with one hundred spirit stones," Yun Zhongzi said.

Upon hearing this, Master Yunding's eyebrows lit up with joy.

"Chief, is the pill formula to be made public in the Pill Hall?" Xu Chuan looked up at Yun Zhongzi.

Yun Zhongzi shook his head. "It will not be made public for the time being. Completing the pill formula is not about having a lot of people, but about having high attainments in alchemy. In addition, the Pill Hall does not have many spiritual herbs in reserve. But I will send someone to handle this matter. You do not need to worry about it."

This incomplete formula will be researched and completed by the three of us, plus two other disciples, Fellow Daoist Xu Zhen. Whoever completes it will be rewarded by the Pill Hall, and may even receive a share of the pill's profits.

"Tomorrow, the two of you can begin studying the remaining formula."

"Yes, Chief." Xu Chuan and Master Yunding bowed and left.

"I have almost never had any dealings with Fellow Daoist Xu Zhen."

On the way back to the alchemy room, Xu Chuan suddenly asked.

"He's somewhat arrogant and greedy, and has done business with many powerful families in the alchemy trade. But his alchemy skills are truly impressive, even slightly better than mine, second only to the chief."

Master Yunding glanced at Xu Chuan and smiled faintly, "Now that you, Fellow Daoist Sanshu, have arrived, things may be different."

"Fellow Daoist Yunding, don't overestimate me. Fellow Daoist Xu Zhen's alchemy skills are even higher than yours. How could someone like me, who has just entered the Pill Hall, compare to him?"

Xu Chuan remained as low-key as ever.

Master Yunding stroked his beard and silently looked at Xu Chuan. After a moment, he said, "I have not misjudged you. Even if you are not as good as me now, you will definitely surpass me in the future."

"Perhaps this incomplete pill can be repaired in your hands. The chief can claim a share of the profits from this pill. Even if it's only 10%, it's estimated to be several hundred spirit stones a year. Fellow Daoist San Shu, aren't you tempted?"

It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.

But Xu Chuan wouldn't show any sign of being certain of victory.

"Completing a missing piece is not so simple. Let nature take its course. Gains and losses are all in my fate."

Xu Chuan had completed the incomplete formula for the Breakthrough Pill and knew its difficulty; this pill was several times more difficult to make than the Breakthrough Pill.

Master Yunding shook his head and laughed upon seeing this.

The next day.

The two then began to study the incomplete formula. Xu Zhen was surprised to learn about the efficacy of the incomplete formula from Yun Zhongzi, and he was determined to get a share of the profits from the pill.

Having obtained the incomplete formula, he immediately returned to his alchemy room to study it, and during this period he instructed that no outside visitors be received and that no one be allowed to disturb him.

He has a deep passion for alchemy; otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to achieve what he has today.

The Dan Hall has three floors.

"I wonder who will be able to complete this incomplete prescription!"

Upon realizing this, Yun Zhongzi smiled slightly, stroked his long beard, and then focused his mind to begin deducing the remaining formula.

(End of this chapter)