Chapter 107 Promotion to the Second Rank
Li Yu exchanged two hundred kilograms of purple gold for two foundation-building pills from the sect. Together with the two given to him by Jiang Li and the one given to him by Patriarch Xuan Zhen, Li Yu now had five foundation-building pills, one for each of his five spiritual veins.
However, the Foundation Building Pill is not like the Tongmai Pill. After taking it, it does not completely build the foundation. Five Foundation Building Pills may not be enough.
Therefore, the business with Xu Yi and Tian Qi has to continue.
Even if Li Yu has established his foundation, there is still Zhou Zixuan, and Ling'er will be added later, so the more foundation-building pills the better.
Although he had stored up five foundation-building pills, Li Yu was not in a hurry to take them. His magic power had not yet been compressed to the limit. If someone helped him collect purple gold, he could practice with peace of mind.
Just when Li Yu was practicing wholeheartedly, tens of thousands of miles away, in a secret cave realm shared by several sects of the Demonic Path.
Xu Yi and one of his ghost spirits were fighting with a red-haired young man.
Not long ago, he discovered a Jade Spirit Fruit tree on a remote cliff in this secret realm. There were five ripe Jade Spirit Fruits on the tree, which should have been a big harvest. However, when he was picking the fruits, he was seen by the guys from the Demon Flame Sect.
The two fought for a long time, but neither could do anything to the other.
Although Xu Yi had a spirit ghost, the red-haired young man was surrounded by countless fire crows. These fire crows were red all over and were burning with flames, which just happened to restrain the spirit ghost.
The red-haired young man looked at Xu Yi and sneered, "Xu, your spirit ghost is useless to me. If you know what's good for you, hand over those jade spirit fruits quickly. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude..."
Xu Yi was quite helpless. If his five spirit ghosts were still there and set up the Five Ghosts Soul Refining Formation, these guys from the Demon Flame Sect would not dare to be so arrogant.
Unfortunately, he only has one ghost spirit left, and his strength has been greatly weakened. He can only fight on equal terms with the man from the Demon Flame Sect. If he continues like this, the outcome is still uncertain.
Xu Yi also replied without hesitation: "The Jade Spirit Fruit is right here. If you have the ability, come and get it yourself..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a blazing rain of fire fell from above his head. Xu Yi held up a hemispherical water curtain to block all the fire rain. At the same time, the red-haired man condensed a flaming spear in his hand and stabbed it towards his water curtain.
laugh……
The flames collided with the water curtain, making a harsh sound. The two men attacked and defended, and in a short period of time, the flames and the water curtain were in a stalemate.
In this way, the winner will be determined by whose magic power is exhausted first.
However, their strengths are comparable, both have dual spiritual veins at the peak of Qi training . Under normal circumstances, their magic power will be exhausted at the same time.
Continuously casting spells consumed a lot of mana, and soon the water curtain became thinner and thinner, but the flame also became weaker and weaker.
The red-haired young man took out a Qi-restoring pill and threw it into his mouth. His mana was instantly restored to a large extent. Although the alchemy of the Demon Flame Sect could not be compared with that of the righteous Kunlun Sect, it was still the best in the Demon Sect. Xu Yi, this idiot, was actually stupid enough to compete with him in mana...
But just as this thought came to his mind, he saw Xu Yi also took out a pill and threw it into his mouth. He didn't know if it was because he was dazzled, but he actually saw five dan patterns on Xu Yi's pill...
He must be dazzled by his eyes. Even dogs would shake their heads when seeing the elixirs made by the Soul Refining Sect. They couldn't find anyone in their entire sect who could make top-grade elixirs.
The red-haired young man thought so in his heart, but as time passed, Xu Yi's water curtain remained stable, but his magic fire began to slowly shrink. This was because his magic power was almost exhausted.
The red-haired young man took out another Qi-restoring pill and threw it into his mouth. But the next moment, Xu Yi also took out a pill. This time, the red-haired young man saw clearly that there were five pill patterns on the pill in Xu Yi's hand...
The mana restored by the best-grade elixir is at least 30% more than that of his high-grade elixir!
The red-haired young man gritted his teeth and insisted, "I just don't believe that you still have top-grade elixirs!"
Xu Yi smiled slightly and said, "Not many, not many, just over a hundred. If you want to use them, I can keep using them with you."
Xu Yi felt extremely happy.
At this moment, he finally understood Li Yu's happiness.
If your magic power is similar and you have elixirs, you can do whatever you want.
Of course the red-haired young man from the Demon Flame Sect didn't believe that there were more than a hundred top-grade Qi-restoring pills, but when he saw that he took one pill and Xu Yi took one pill, and each pill had five pill patterns, he began to feel unsure...
Where on earth did this guy Xu Yi get so many top-grade elixirs?
He only had one Qi-recovering pill left. After using it up, his mana would be depleted and he would have no way to replenish it. He didn't dare to gamble on whether Xu Yi had any more Qi-recovering pills. After taking the last pill, he did not choose to continue fighting with Xu Yi. Instead, he immediately retracted the flame, turned into a stream of light, and fled away...
Only one roar was left, echoing in the void:
"Xu, just wait for me!"
The red-haired young man fled in panic. Xu Yi collected his magic power calmly and collected one kilogram of purple gold from the sect. Li Yu gave him two top-grade Qi-recovery pills, and he gave one to each disciple of the sect. For every ten kilograms of purple gold, Li Yu gave him one more. In one transaction, he received more than a hundred top-grade Qi-recovery pills. He didn't need these three or five pills at all...
He didn't plan to ask for more Qi-refining stage Qi-revitalizing pills. These one hundred pills were enough for him to use until he established his foundation. He didn't know if he could exchange these four Jade Spirit Fruits for Qi-revitalizing pills for the foundation-building stage from Li Yu. He had to prepare some for the future...
…
Half a month passed quietly. During this half month, Li Yu's practice progress was quite good. He could already compress the magic power of the entire Fire Spirit Vein into fifteen acupoints.
According to Patriarch Xuan Zhen, after compressing five more acupoints, he could try taking the foundation-building pill to build his foundation.
Li Yu did not practice today. He left Ziyun Peak and planned to take part in the second-grade alchemist assessment.
Li Yu had tried to refine the Tongmai Pill once before, but after using three portions of spiritual liquid, he only managed to produce a low-grade pill.
Now his magic power is several levels deeper and more condensed than before. The alchemy furnace in his body has absorbed a lot of soul power and its ability has become stronger. Li Yu feels that he should be able to at least refine a top-grade Tongmai Pill.
After being promoted to a second-grade alchemist, one can get better treatment. Of course, the sooner the promotion, the better. Moreover, the sect can also exchange Tongmai Dan for Tuomai Dan. Although it is not cost-effective, for the sake of practice, he can only suffer this loss.
Not long after, Li Yu came to Lingyun Peak again.
Seeing Li Yu, a deacon disciple came up to him enthusiastically and asked, "Junior Brother Li, are you here to get the spiritual medicine for next month?"
Li Yu smiled and said, "I won't take the elixir this time. I'm here to take the second-grade alchemist assessment."
The disciple was stunned for a moment and asked, "Have you already established your foundation?"
Li Yu shook his head and said, "Not yet, but I am confident that I can refine a second-grade elixir."
The deacon disciple brought Li Yu into an empty hall. It was not the place where he was promoted to a first-grade alchemist last time. This hall was slightly smaller and there was no one inside.
He waited for nearly half an hour before the deacon disciple led a middle-aged man with three dan patterns embroidered on his chest and slowly walked into the hall.
Li Yu didn't know many of the sect's third-grade alchemists, but he happened to know this middle-aged man. After the first-grade alchemist competition was over, it was he who took Li Yu to Yuxu Peak to meet the headmaster.
Li Yu remembered that his name was Wang Hua.
The assessment of a second-grade alchemist requires the presence of a third-grade alchemist.
Li Yu bowed to him and said, "Meet Elder Wang."
Wang Hua looked at him and said with some regret: "What happened to Elder Zhao is such a pity."
Li Yu also sighed: "The path to immortality is difficult, everything is fate."
Wang Hua waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this sad thing. I heard from the deacon disciple that you are going to take the second-grade alchemist assessment, but you haven't established your foundation yet..."
Li Yu asked, "Without a foundation, can't I take the second-grade alchemist exam?"
Wang Hua shook his head and said, "Not really. It's just that I haven't built my foundation yet. My magic power is not condensed and strong enough , and the temperature of the pill fire is not high enough. However, if it were you, it would be possible. I can make an exception for you. Have you decided which three second-level pills to refine?"
Li Yu had thought about these things before coming here, and said: "Second-level Qi Recovery Pill, Qi Gathering Pill and Meridian Opening Pill."
Qi-restoring pill is just a general term, not referring to a specific grade. Those taken during the Qi Refining Stage use relatively ordinary materials and are first-grade pills. Those taken during the Foundation Establishment Stage require high-level materials and are naturally second-grade pills.
As for the Qi Gathering Pill and the Meridian Opening Pill, although they are a little more difficult to refine, they are the best-selling and the most useful. Li Yu has given careful consideration to these three kinds of pills.
The Qi-Restoring Pill was fine, but the Qi-Gathering Pill and the Tongmai Pill were also difficult to refine among the second-level pills, especially the Tongmai Pill. Many alchemists who had been promoted to the second level for many years had low success rates. Wang Hua asked uncertainly, "Are you sure you want the Qi-Gathering Pill and the Tongmai Pill?"
Li Yu nodded and said, "OK."
In that case, Wang Hua said nothing more.
The materials for second-level elixirs are much more precious than those for first-level elixirs. Each time you take the test, you need to pay a fee of one thousand spirit coins.
After Li Yu paid the spirit coins, the deacon disciple took him to a stone chamber and asked him to choose the herbs needed for alchemy. Li Yu first refined the second-level recovery pill. The main ingredient of the second-level pill must be at least one third-level spiritual medicine. He could not touch it directly with his hands, and he could not bring a secretary to the assessment, so he wore a pair of silver gloves on his hands.
This pair of gloves was a protective magic weapon that Li Yu bought from a shop in Zixiao Peak. He used it to isolate the spiritual energy of herbs and avoid direct contact with them, so as to prevent them from being directly absorbed by the alchemy furnace.
This behavior, in the eyes of Wang Hua and the deacon disciple, has a different meaning.
No wonder the rate of other people's top-quality pills is so high. In order to ensure that the materials are not contaminated, they actually consider it so carefully. Most alchemists do not pay attention to these details when refining pills.
Li Yu skillfully took the liquid and purified it, then added the materials one by one in order, lit the alchemy fire and began refining.
Wang Hua looked at the magic fire condensed by Li Yu, thinking that he was worthy of being the son of alchemy with five spiritual veins. Although the degree of condensation of the alchemy fire was not as good as that of the foundation-building period, coupled with his extraordinary talent in alchemy, it was enough to refine the second-level elixir.
The Qi-restoring Pill is the most basic second-level pill, which is not difficult to make. After three hours, Li Yu was able to refine it with his own ability. With three portions of materials, he produced two top-grade pills in one furnace.
Even Wang Hua, a third-grade alchemist, was surprised by what he saw. Although he used three portions of materials, second-grade pills were extremely difficult to refine and there would inevitably be losses in the process. If a second-grade alchemist could refine a middle-grade pill in one furnace, he would be considered qualified, and if he could refine a top-grade pill, he could be considered excellent.
Even Wang Hua himself could only produce two second-level recovery pills stably, but the quality was higher than Li Yu's, and he could often produce super-quality pills.
As for producing three pills from one furnace, it requires not to waste any materials. This requires perfection in every step of the refining process. Even a third-grade alchemist cannot do it. Only a few fourth-grade masters in the sect have this ability.
Wang Hua looked at Li Yu and said, "You have refined the Qi-restoring pills very well. You can choose to come back tomorrow or two days later for the next batch of pills. The maximum time cannot exceed three days."
Refining second-level pills is extremely laborious and it is impossible to refine them one furnace after another, so the time limit for the second-level alchemist assessment is relatively generous.
Li Yu was indeed a little tired at the moment, and said, "Then I'll come back in two days."
His choice was not beyond Wang Hua's expectation. With no foundation building skills, he was able to refine a second-level elixir. There were a few geniuses in the sect's history who could do it, but there was no one who could refine the second furnace without resting after refining. If Li Yu didn't even need to rest, it would be too exaggerated. Anyone would have to suspect that he had some big secret...
Li Yu's fatigue this time was not fake. He had not yet established his foundation, and refining second-level elixirs was not easy. After returning to Ziyun Peak, he slept for two days to rest up and restore his magic power to its peak. Then he came to Lingyun Peak again for the second assessment.
For this batch, he chose the Qi Gathering Pill.
For the official disciples of Kunlun who have already successfully gathered Qi, Qi Gathering Pills have no effect. Taking them will do more harm than good, and will also slow down the pace of cultivation because of the opening of additional spiritual veins. But for those cultivators in the Qi Induction Stage who have not yet gathered Qi, one Qi Gathering Pill can allow them to step into the door of immortality. Many disciples and elders of the sect have families outside, and there is a great demand for Qi Gathering Pills.
When refining the Qi Gathering Pill, Li Yu also did not rely on others. After four hours, he refined a super-quality Qi Gathering Pill.
Wang Hua stood beside the alchemy furnace and nodded slightly. This ability was already considered top-notch among second-grade alchemists.
Before the third test, Li Yu chose to rest for three days.
His spirit and magic power recovered to the peak again, and he came to Lingyun Peak again. This was the last test of the second-grade alchemist. If he could pass it successfully, he would be promoted to a second-grade alchemist and enjoy the sect's monthly subsidy of 10,000 spirit coins. He could also move to a larger villa.
Li Yu had practiced Tongmai Pill once before, but the effect was not very good. He was quite confident in this assessment. He was even worried that after the trusteeship, the quality of the pill refined would be too high, so he only entered a semi-trusteeship state.
This is a new skill that Li Yu unlocked as the alchemy furnace was repaired.
After returning from the Thousand Poison Cave, even though it was completely under control, Li Yu would not fall into a trance, but would be able to retain a part of his consciousness, so that he could mess up the furnace when it was controlling him to refine the elixir, and reduce the quality of the elixir.
The sect's requirement is to use three materials to refine one pill. If he refines three pills, the sect will raise the requirements for him, and it will be Li Yu's own interests that will suffer.
It took Li Yu five hours to refine this Tongmai Pill.
During the refining process, he also took two Qi-recovering pills to barely maintain the continuation of the mana fire.
Five hours later, Li Yu extinguished the flame, opened the alchemy furnace, and took out a Tongmai Pill with three danwen. He was a little dissatisfied and sighed, "It's just a top-grade one..."
Wang Hua said at the side: "The top-grade Tongmai Pill is already amazing. Eighty percent of the second-grade alchemists cannot refine a top-grade Tongmai Pill. You have just been promoted to a second-grade alchemist, and you are already the best among the second-grade alchemists in the sect. With your current level of alchemy, you can be firmly ranked in the top 100 among all the alchemists in the sect. After you build your foundation, I am afraid that the only ones who are stronger than you will be the third-grade alchemists or above..."
In the three assessments, Li Yu completed the tasks at an exceptional level and was successfully promoted to a second-grade alchemist.
Soon, the deacon disciple brought Li Yu a new alchemist robe. The elixir pattern on the chest of the robe changed from one to two.
Li Yu asked Wang Hua, "Elder Wang, can I get the materials for the second-level elixir now?"
Wang Hua nodded and said, "Of course, what kind of elixir do you want to refine?"
Li Yu said: "Just take the Qi-restoring pill, Qi-gathering pill and meridian-opening pill."
Wang Hua smiled and said, "The Qi-restoring pill and the Qi-gathering pill are fine, but the materials for the meridian-opening pill are not available here."
Li Yu was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why?"
Wang Hua explained: "The main ingredient of Tongmai Pill, Yuling Fruit, is uniformly distributed by the sect. It will only be distributed to the Dandao Peaks at the beginning of the month according to the quantity. Only by joining Dandao Peak Zhu can you have the opportunity to refine Tongmai Pill. By the way, Li Yu, do you want to join my Qinghua Peak? I can let you refine three furnaces of Tongmai Pill every month..."
Li Yu finally understood why so few of the second-grade alchemists in the sect set up their own schools. Most of them joined a certain peak of alchemy.
If an alchemist wants to improve his level of alchemy, he must practice with countless materials. The various peaks of alchemy have monopolized these high-level elixirs, so a second-grade alchemist must join them if he wants to improve.
This means that even if one becomes a second-grade alchemist, there is no way to directly obtain the materials for Tongmai Dan.
Li Yu did not agree to Wang Hua directly, and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Elder Wang, I will think about it..."
Wang Hua did not say anything. After all, with Li Yu's fame, after he was promoted to a second-grade alchemist, other peaks in the alchemy world would also invite him. Ultimately, it would depend on his own choice.
After leaving Lingyun Peak, Li Yu went straight back to Ziyun Peak.
After being promoted to a second-rank alchemist, he could apply to the sect to move to a bigger house, but Li Yu did not use this authority. The small courtyard at Ziyun Peak was enough for two people and a tiger. The smaller the space, the more cozy it seemed.
I thought that after being promoted to a second-grade alchemist, I would be able to help Zhou Zixuan and even Ling'er build their foundation earlier, but I didn't consider the monopoly problem of spiritual medicines.
The important elixir like Tongmai Dan is 100% monopolized by all the alchemy sects. Only second-grade alchemists can get the opportunity to refine it by joining them. If they refine elixirs for others, not only will they not receive any rewards, but they will also have to feel grateful to others.
After all, if the alchemy masters don’t give them a chance, they simply won’t have the materials to practice with, and there’s no way they can improve their alchemy skills.
But doesn’t this look like begging on your knees?
The truly wealthy ones are the third- and fourth-grade alchemists. Second-grade alchemists may be very powerful in the outer sects, but in Kunlun, they are just employees of others.
With the existence of the alchemy furnace, Li Yu does not need to practice at all. However, he makes the pills himself, and the excess pills can be given to Zhou Zixuan and Ling'er. If he really cannot get the materials, he will definitely have to join a certain peak in the end.
But he was not in a hurry. He had not yet built his foundation. After building his foundation, the quality of the pills he refined would be greatly improved, and he would be able to get more chips at that time.
…
Not long after Li Yu left Lingyun Peak, news of his successful promotion to a second-grade alchemist spread like wildfire in Kunlun.
In Kunlun's history, it is not that no one has ever been able to refine a second-level elixir with the cultivation level of the Qi Refining Stage, but it is extremely rare, and all of them are well-known masters of alchemy.
When the news reached Danding Peak, those alchemy apprentices who had started learning alchemy together with Li Yu seemed very excited. Li Yu, who came out of Danding Peak, was their pride. Being able to know such a talented alchemist was also worth bragging about to their new disciples.
When Han Tiancheng learned the news, he felt mixed emotions.
Before Li Yu was born, he was already a first-class alchemist.
When Li Yu entered Kunlun and became an apprentice of Dandao, he was of the first rank.
When Li Yu was promoted to the first rank, he was still a first rank.
Now Li Yu has been promoted to a second-grade alchemist, while he is still a first-grade one. It would be fine if the alchemist was not familiar with Li Yu, but he has watched with his own eyes Li Yu grow step by step from an alchemy apprentice. This huge psychological gap is difficult to describe in words.
This also dealt a huge blow to his mentality.
Once a crack appears in a cultivator's spiritual heart, collapse will occur in a moment.
He was refining Qi-restoring pills, and upon hearing the news, he was furious. He suddenly put away the fire of the pill and said angrily, "I won't refine it anymore. I'm not going to refine any pills anymore. From today on, I will switch to practicing the Dharma. This is rubbish. Even dogs won't practice this!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
He was not angry at Li Yu, but at his choice back then. Alchemy was all about burning oneself to illuminate others, which would delay his own practice. If he could achieve something in this area, his life would be worth it. However, he had failed the assessment to become a second-grade alchemist several times, and he had long since doubted this path.
Li Yu's promotion to the second-grade alchemist became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
At this moment, Han Tiancheng naturally didn't know that because of his action, a hundred years later, Kunlun lost a second-grade alchemist, but gained a golden elixir elder...
