Purple smoke swirled, spiritual essence settled and condensed. Inside the three-legged, beast-headed pill furnace, three golden-hued pills were gradually condensing. Their rich fragrance permeated the entire secret chamber.
It was the critical moment for pill formation. Bei Chen sat hunched beside the pill furnace, sweat beading on his forehead, more than half of the spiritual energy in his body already consumed.
"Next is the crucial moment for pill formation. I absolutely cannot produce failed pills again, otherwise, the past two years would have been a complete loss for me! Three pills are impossible. I'll take a gamble and refine two."
Having made up his mind, Bei Chen's expression turned serious. He urged the pill incantation, and one of the pills inside the furnace shattered, transforming into pure medicinal power that dissipated.
Although only two pills remained, Bei Chen's expression became even more solemn. His mind was highly concentrated, not daring to show the slightest slackness, as the spiritual energy in his body surged out wildly, guided by the pill incantation.
Pill formation hinges on this moment!
The two pills continuously absorbed the spiritual energy Bei Chen channeled into them. Fifteen minutes later, two spiritual energy vortexes formed inside the pill furnace. The power of the vortexes spread through the pill furnace, permeating the entire secret chamber, instantly draining more than half of the surrounding spiritual energy. Even the Spirit Gathering Array set up in the secret chamber could hardly replenish the lost spiritual energy in such a short time.
Seeing that the spiritual energy was insufficient, a fierce resolve rose in Bei Chen's heart. He took out two mid-grade spirit stones, crushed them, and then, using the pill incantation, forcefully channeled the spiritual mist from the crushed stones into the pill furnace.
As the pure spiritual energy entered the furnace, it was like boiling water poured on snow. Flowing light shimmered, the medicinal essence condensed, and the two spirit pills were successfully refined.
With a low hum, the entire beast-headed pill furnace trembled. Immediately, its lid flew off, and two streams of golden spiritual light shot out from within. Bei Chen, already prepared, guided them with a magic incantation, collecting the two spirit pills into a jade bottle.
"Misty Star Primordial Pills! Top-grade Primordial Pills! Two of them!"
Bei Chen, who had been constantly anxious while watching the two golden pills in the jade bottle, couldn't help but let his expression change.
In the cultivation world, the art of pill refining had very clear distinctions in rank. Successfully refining a top-grade Primordial Pill also symbolized a Pill Apprentice officially advancing to become a Pill Master with some standing in the cultivation world.
This successful refinement of two top-grade Primordial Pills also officially meant that Bei Chen's pill refining technique had welcomed its first qualitative change.
After all, resources in the cultivation world were limited, and top-grade Primordial Pills were the miraculous spirit medicines sought after by cultivators in the Core Formation stage.
Bei Chen had only managed to refine two Misty Star Primordial Pills on his third batch of medicinal herbs. Among pill masters, while not considered top-tier, he had reached a respectable level. After all, within the Southern Profound Sect, Pill Apprentices personally taught by Pill Masters often only succeeded in forming pills on their second or third batch when attempting to break through to Pill Master. Some even barely managed to refine one pill on their fifth batch.
Suppressing the joy in his heart, Bei Chen calmly sat cross-legged, circulating his spiritual incantation, seizing the time to recover the spiritual energy in his body.
Half an hour later, Bei Chen awoke from his meditative state, the spiritual light in his eyes growing more intense. He had fully recovered to his peak state.
Striking while the iron was hot, Bei Chen quickly took out his fourth spirit medicine cauldron and continued refining the Mì Tinh Yuan Pills. Perhaps due to the transformation and sublimation of his pill refining technique, both the fourth and fifth cauldrons successfully condensed pills, with no failed pills appearing.
The fifth cauldron even yielded three pills, exciting Bei Chen for a long time, but unfortunately, the second cauldron had only yielded two.
To attempt to become a Pill Master, Bei Chen had prepared a total of five sets of materials for refining Mì Tinh Yuan Pills. In the end, he refined seven pills, which was considered a decent success rate.
The seven Mì Tinh Yuan Pills coming out of the cauldron also meant that Bei Chen's days of financial hardship, where his output couldn't cover his input, were finally over on his path of pill refining. From now on, he had gained another means of survival in the cultivation world.
—Seven Mì Tinh Yuan Pills. Finally, I can attempt to break through to late-stage Blood Transformation.
To improve his pill refining technique, Bei Chen had not hesitated to remain at the sixth layer of Blood Transformation for two years. A year ago, his cultivation had already reached the peak of the sixth layer of Blood Transformation. With the aid of seven Mì Tinh Yuan Pills, advancing to the seventh layer of Blood Transformation and achieving late-stage Blood Transformation cultivation was truly a matter of course.
Putting the beast-head cauldron into his storage bag, Bei Chen took out a Mì Tinh Yuan Pill from a jade bottle and consumed it. The moment the pill entered his mouth, it instantly transformed into a stream of liquid that flowed directly into his Dantian Qi Sea. Immediately, a surge of pure spiritual energy, guided by the medicinal properties, rapidly spread throughout his hundred meridians, tempering his meridians and refining his bloodline.
—A high-grade Yuan Pill, its medicinal effect is truly potent. If my physical body hadn't been constantly tempered, I might not have been able to withstand such a sudden influx.
A few days later, outside Bei Chen's cultivation chamber, an escape light descended. A middle-aged man in scholarly robes emerged from within. From his expression, there was a faint hint of joy.
Not long after, two more escape lights, whose auras were no less impressive, flew over. A burly man and a woman in palace attire both emerged, their faces also showing joy.
The three guardian elders descending simultaneously quickly drew the curiosity of many disciples, who rushed out of their cultivation rooms and approached Bei Chen's cultivation chamber.
The middle-aged man in scholarly robes asked the burly man:
—Junior Brother Wang, is the disciple who rented this cultivation chamber that one?
A disciple advancing in cultivation would normally please Wang Mu. However, after he recognized which cultivation chamber it was, his expression couldn't help but change, becoming incredibly complex, revealing a hint of helplessness.
—Senior Brother Liu, Junior Nephew Bei Chen rented this cultivation chamber a month ago. Judging by this, he must have successfully broken through his realm and advanced to late-stage Blood Transformation.
Upon learning that the person in seclusion who had advanced was Bei Chen, Liu Fu's expression also changed.
—Junior Brother, you're not mistaken, are you? The one in there is Little Bei Ba.
—It's that brat. When he was in mid-stage Blood Transformation, he dared to chase and kill the Heavenly Hall Master's grandson, hacking him all over the sect. I heard that Gu Jun was subsequently confined by the Heavenly Hall Master, absolutely forbidden from leaving his cave abode until he broke through to the eighth layer of Blood Transformation.
Thinking of the things that Little Bei Ba had done in recent years, Liu Fu couldn't help but secretly sweat. That time, he himself had been summoned by the Mountain Master and given a stern lecture. This Bei Chen, when he was still in mid-stage Blood Transformation, dared to chase and hack Gu Jun, who was at the seventh layer of Blood Transformation, all over the sect. Now that he's advanced to late-stage Blood Transformation, it's over. It seems my difficult life is about to begin.