I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

Chapter 46 Review! Starting to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill!

The cave was completely quiet, with only Zhou Yuan's own breathing echoing softly.

He walked to the center of the quiet room and sat down cross-legged, but did not start cultivating immediately. Instead, he focused his mind on his storage bag and began to carefully take stock of all the gains from this trip to the Crimson Forbidden Land.

The first thing that catches the eye is that ancient and mysterious bronze treasure chest—obtained from the underground world, guarded by a black dragon, with restrictions flowing over it, making it impossible for those with Qi cultivation to open.

"It has the greatest value, but it's also the most useless thing for me right now," Zhou Yuan sighed inwardly.

Not to mention that the treasure chest itself is difficult to open, even if it were opened, it would take a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to explore that secret place.

Late Nascent Soul stage!

I'm still worried about not having established my foundation!

That's a long way off.

He shook his head, putting the matter of the treasure chest aside for the time being.

Next came a mountain of magical artifacts and talismans.

Zhou Yuan began to patiently organize the materials.

He categorized and packed the mediocre, potentially problematic, or distinctively styled "junk" magical artifacts and low-grade talismans into two special storage bags.

"I'll pack these up and sell them at the market sometime to get spirit stones."

He carefully put away the fine items: a yellow silk umbrella, cloud-stepping boots, a Qingning mirror (though temporarily unusable), a talisman dagger, and several intermediate-level talismans.

There are also rare materials such as the horn, claws, tail fin, and scales peeled from the black dragon —

"With the materials from the Ink Dragon, we can go to the Yuanwu Kingdom to find a skilled weapon refiner and have several top-tier magic weapons custom-made."

Among these miscellaneous items, Zhou Yuan also discovered a page that shimmered with silver light, neither gold nor silk.

"The Silver Page—is related to the Azure Origin Sword Technique!"

He felt a chill and immediately took it out separately and stored it carefully.

This is a clue about a top-tier martial arts technique; it must be kept safe.

Finally, and most importantly, is the elixir we obtained this time.

Thirty-one spiritual herbs lay quietly in the four equipment slots—

The three main ingredients of the Foundation Building Pill are: ten Purple Monkey Flower plants, ten Jade Marrow Ganoderma plants, and ten Heavenly Spirit Fruit plants.

There was also an unexpectedly acquired thousand-year-old blood ginseng.

These are his greatest assets in achieving foundation building!

"Two Foundation Establishment Pills might not be enough." Zhou Yuan's eyes flashed. "Practicing foundation establishment with a pseudo-spiritual root is as difficult as ascending to heaven. In history, there are quite a few people who have failed even after consuming four or five Foundation Establishment Pills."

He remembered the rewards that the sect was about to distribute.

According to the rules, contributing around ten spiritual herbs would earn one Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward. He submitted thirty-two herbs, so theoretically he should have received three.

However, there is an unwritten rule in Huangfeng Valley: for those with a clear master-disciple relationship, the master has the right to take half of the offerings submitted by the disciple to the sect as a "thank-you gift".

Li Huayuan probably had this intention when he took them as his disciples.

"It's already a stroke of luck to have gotten two."

Zhou Yuan didn't mind. Compared to becoming a disciple of a Core Formation cultivator and gaining long-term protection, the gain or loss of a few spiritual herbs was insignificant.

Three days later.

The sect's rewards were indeed distributed.

A middle-aged deacon in the early stages of Foundation Establishment personally came to Xuankun Mountain and handed Zhou Yuan two jade bottles containing Foundation Establishment Pills.

"Junior Brother Zhou, according to the rules, you contributed thirty-two spiritual herbs, so you should have received three Foundation Establishment Pills. However—" The middle-aged deacon hesitated, as if he was carefully considering his words.

"Senior Brother Wang, there's no need to explain. I understand." Zhou Yuan smiled as he accepted the jade bottle, his expression calm. "Those were gifts for my master; it's my duty as a disciple, how could I dare to complain?"

Seeing Zhou Yuan's "sensible" attitude, the deacon surnamed Wang breathed a sigh of relief, and his smile became more sincere: "It's good that Junior Brother understands! I wish you success in Foundation Establishment and a bright future on your path to the Great Dao!"

"Thank you for your kind words, senior brother."

After seeing off Steward Wang, Zhou Yuan returned to his quiet room and opened the jade bottle.

Two pills, each the size of a longan and with pale golden cloud patterns flowing across their surface, lay quietly at the bottom of the bottle, emitting a refreshing and unique fragrance.

Foundation Building Pill!

Zhou Yuan didn't hesitate at all; a thought crossed his mind.

"equipment!"

The two newly acquired Foundation Establishment Pills, together with the two previously obtained from Senior Brother Lu, Feng Yue, and others, bring the total to four Foundation Establishment Pills.

Everything is equipped now!

A pale blue light screen appeared in my mind:

[Equipment: Foundation Establishment Pill x4 (Second Tier 2, Mid-Grade)]

[Effect 1: Improved Alchemy Talent.]

[Effect 2: Increased probability of Foundation Establishment.]

[Effect 3: Increased success rate in refining Foundation Establishment Pills!]

[Note: This Breakthrough Pill, made primarily from several rare and precious medicinal herbs using a complex process, can significantly increase a cultivator's success rate in Foundation Establishment. The pill has excellent appearance and abundant medicinal power.]

"The combined effect of four Foundation Establishment Pills should be even stronger," Zhou Yuan pondered. "But how much will it increase the probability of Foundation Establishment? Fifty percent? Sixty percent? Or—"

He shook his head.

Probability, after all, is inherently uncertain.

"No gambling."

Zhou Yuan's gaze was firm. "I have so many main ingredients, why don't I start my own furnace to refine pills?"

With his current alchemy skills, coupled with the terrifying bonuses from his equipment slots, the success rate of refining Foundation Establishment Pills will definitely not be low.

If you can refine a dozen or so Foundation Establishment Pills, you can take them one by one and eventually reach the Foundation Establishment stage!

With that thought in mind, Zhou Yuan no longer hesitated and got up to leave the cave.

He was going to the market in Huangfeng Valley to purchase the auxiliary spiritual medicines needed to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Of course, to avoid suspicion, he would also collect other medicinal herbs to prevent people from suspecting that he was preparing to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.

One day later, in Huangfeng Valley Market.

Zhou Yuan headed straight for the Miaodan Pavilion.

As soon as I stepped into the shop, the familiar shopkeeper, Mr. Wang, greeted me with a beaming smile, his attitude even more respectful and attentive than ever before.

"Master Zhou has arrived! I am so sorry for not greeting you sooner!"

It seems that Lin Xu has already told them about his apprenticeship with Li Huayuan.

These stewards of the Lin family no longer dared to be negligent in front of him.

"Manager Wang, I need a batch of medicinal herbs." Zhou Yuan handed over a list.

The list contained dozens of medicinal herbs, half of which were common spiritual herbs used to deceive people, while the other half were a mixture of several auxiliary herbs needed to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.

-

Unless one is extremely knowledgeable about the Foundation Establishment Pill formula, it is extremely difficult to discern the clues.

Manager Wang took the list, glanced at it briefly, and immediately nodded: "Don't worry, Master Zhou, I'll have someone prepare it right away and get it ready for you as soon as possible!"

He didn't even dare to ask another question.

They dared not mention again the matter of asking Zhou Yuan to refine pills for Miaodan Pavilion for free.

Zhou Yuan nodded, left the deposit, and then turned and left Miaodan Pavilion.

He was going to another place—Wanbaoge.

He was preparing to sell a batch of ritual implements, which were of course the "common goods" with clean origins, inconspicuous features, and relatively ordinary quality.

As for the fine items, or the "stolen goods" that might cause trouble, he planned to sell them in batches on his next trip to Yuanwu Kingdom.

Walking along the streets of the market, Zhou Yuan felt the surging magical power and abundant divine sense within him, and his heart was at peace.

The numerous life-or-death battles in the Bloodstained Forbidden Land completely transformed him.

Now, with the foundation in sight, although the road ahead is still fraught with difficulties, he has enough strength and confidence to face all challenges.

"Only after the foundation is established can the true path of cultivation begin."