Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

Chapter 90 Three Main Materials

After completing the transaction with the red-haired man, Qu Ye did not linger at Wanling Tower. He waited for a while, and seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he took back his deposit of twenty spirit stones and left through the side door.

Lanterns adorned with glowing stones hang along the street, casting a dim yellow glow on the bluestone pavement.

Qu Ye wrapped his black robe tighter around himself, scanned his surroundings with his divine sense, and after finding nothing amiss, walked straight towards his residence.

Back at Junzhu Residence, Qu Ye released the worker bees as usual, and only after confirming there were no hidden dangers did he return the giant silt to the shallow well.

After sitting down in the cultivation room, Qu Ye did not rush to cultivate. Instead, he patted his storage bag, took out the white jade slip containing the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill, and stuck it to his forehead.

The contents of the jade slip immediately appeared in Qu Ye's mind.

It begins with an introduction.

As mentioned above, the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill has undergone numerous revisions and adjustments to adapt to the changes in spiritual objects in the cultivation world.

The current pill formula was modified nearly ten thousand years ago by a fourth-level alchemist of exceptional talent, Senior Dan Yunzi.

He not only changed the main ingredient of the Foundation Establishment Pill to a more easily found spiritual plant, but also reduced the required thirteen auxiliary ingredients to—

Eleven types.

In addition, the success rate of breakthroughs brought by the new version of the Foundation Building Pill has also increased slightly, truly reaching 25%.

The introduction concludes by stating that all cultivators who have successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage over the past ten thousand years with the help of the new version of the Foundation Establishment Pill should be grateful to Senior Dan Yunzi and remember him in their hearts.

"Fourth-tier alchemist—"

Qu Ye shook his head. Such a being was far too distant from him to need any further thought.

He continued reading, and after a long while, he finally put the jade slip down.

According to the recipe recorded on the jade slip, the Foundation Building Pill, as a second-tier low-grade pill, requires three main ingredients and eleven auxiliary ingredients.

The three main ingredients are Dragon Transformation Ginseng, Nine-Bend Lingzhi, and Purifying Dew.

These correspond to the three stages of Foundation Building: the physical body stage, the magical power stage, and the soul stage.

As for the auxiliary materials, including jade branches, red maple leaves, and star flowers, they are all precious spiritual items that are hard to come by.

To Qu Ye's surprise, one of the auxiliary materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill, a rare spiritual item called Earth Blue Stone Milk, was marked as being able to be replaced by a large amount of Bee Spirit Jelly!

"this--"

Qu Ye's heart tightened.

Fortunately, I did not let my guard down at the time. I sold the spirit essence by disguising myself and using different methods. In addition, I used the bee spirit jelly myself and never sold it.

"We need to be more careful from now on."

Qu Ye silently warned himself.

After thinking it over, he continued to consider the other materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Of these eleven auxiliary materials, we don't need to consider the relatively rare lapis lazuli, so that leaves ten."

"Although these ten are quite precious, with some effort and searching from various sources, we should be able to collect them all."

2

"The most important things are these three main ingredients."

In fact, these three kinds of spiritual creatures were quite common ten thousand years ago.

However, after so many years of harvesting and collecting, they have become extremely rare.

Within the Yun Kingdom, apart from the four major immortal sects that can reliably produce one type, or some long-established immortal cultivation families that can occasionally cultivate one of them.

They can only be found deep in the Hengduan Mountains or in some extremely remote corners.

"If we really want to collect them all, I don't know when that will be possible."

Qu Ye sighed softly.

Although the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe is not very useful to him now, he does not regret it.

The Azure Flame Transformation Technique didn't suit his attributes, and its sophistication couldn't compare to the Ancient Wood Spirit Technique.

Instead of letting them gather dust in your storage bag, you might as well use them to exchange for some items.

At least Qu Ye now has a clear target to search for, so he won't be completely clueless when he encounters news about Foundation Establishment Pill materials in the future.

Besides, who says that once you change it, you can't change it a second time?

After figuring this out, Qu Ye put away the jade slip, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

He will have to try again tomorrow to see if he can find a way to refine the Marrow Cleansing Pill.

dong dong dong.

The next day, Qu Ye went to the courtyard next to Junzhu Residence and knocked on the gate.

A moment later, a sound came from inside the courtyard.

-

Who is it?

The courtyard gate creaked open, and a slender young man poked his head out.

His face was ordinary, but his brows carried a calm air that one could only get from years of dealing with medicinal herbs.

After seeing who was outside the door, the young man smiled.

"So it's Senior Zhang."

This person is named Xu Qing, a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, and is an apprentice in the Daoist alchemy school "Huichunzhai" in the southern district of the market.

In the few years since Qu Ye moved to Junzhu Residence, she occasionally bumped into him when she came and went. Although they were not close friends, they had become somewhat familiar with each other.

Qu Ye cupped his hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoist Xu, I apologize for disturbing you."

Xu Qing quickly waved his hand: "It's alright, it's alright, we're all neighbors. If you don't mind the simplicity of my humble abode, please come in and talk."

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

After saying that, Qu Ye walked into the courtyard.

The courtyard was even more compact than Qu Ye's, with several winnowing baskets in the corner, containing some semi-dried herbs.

After the two were seated, Xu Qing poured Qu Ye a glass of water and said with a smile, "Senior, you must have come to see me today for something, right?"

Qu Ye didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "There is indeed something I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Xu to help me make a connection."

Xu Qing's expression shifted slightly: "A matchmaker?"

Qu Ye nodded: "I recently obtained a spiritual fruit and want to refine it into a pill."

"However, I am not knowledgeable in alchemy and do not know any alchemists in the market. After thinking it over, I thought of Fellow Daoist Xu."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing's brows relaxed slightly, then furrowed again.

"I see. But I hope you will know that although I work at Huichunzhai, I am just a menial apprentice."

"We are responsible for sorting medicinal herbs and tending the fire and furnace on a daily basis. When it comes to actually opening the furnace and refining pills, it's never the juniors' turn."

He gave a wry smile and added, "If it were just an ordinary pill, that would be fine, but since you've come all this way to inquire, it's probably not an ordinary spiritual item. If I were to ask for it rashly, I'm afraid it might not work out."

Qu Ye glanced at him, took out three low-grade spirit stones from his sleeve, and gently placed them on the stone table.

The spirit stones collided with each other, producing a crisp sound.

Xu Qing's gaze unconsciously fell on the three spirit stones, and her breath hitched slightly.

Qu Ye said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Xu, please don't misunderstand. I just wanted to ask you to help me inquire about these three spirit stones as a token of my appreciation."

"If things can be accomplished, that would be best. If they really can't be accomplished, I, Zhang, will not make things difficult for you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing hesitated.

He worked as an apprentice at Huichunzhai, where he earned very little each month and still had to pay rent for the courtyard.

Three spirit stones were no small sum for him.

Moreover, Qu Ye spoke very tactfully, only asking him to ask for help, not forcing him to make any guarantees.

After a moment of silence, Xu Qing finally let out a soft breath and put away the three spirit stones: "Since you've said so, it would be unreasonable for me to refuse."

"How about this, senior? After I go to the shop today, I'll ask Old Han of Huichunzhai for you."

Qu Ye's eyes brightened slightly: "Oh? I didn't know who Elder Han was—"

Xu Qing lowered his voice: "Han Songling, Old Han."

"He is a first-grade high-level alchemist and has a certain reputation in the market. Most of the pills that Huichunzhai can offer are personally refined by him."

"However, Old Master Han has a rather eccentric temper. He usually hates it when people bother him with trivial matters. If the spiritual object doesn't meet his standards, or the pill isn't of high value, he might not be willing to make a move."