Chapter 3693 — Taking the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill!

The process was the same as when he had refined the Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill last time: once all the herbs were placed into the Shennong Cauldron, all he had to do was input true qi according to the prompts. The Foundation Establishment Golden Pill's effects might surpass those of the Barrier-Breaking Pill, but at the end of the day it was still only a fourth-grade pill—there was no real difference in the refining process.

"Please wait a moment. Jingjing is calculating the refining time and temperature curve for Brother Wei Zhao. Generating automated refining script..."

"Script generated. Based on automatic analysis of the weight within the cauldron, this refining session contains one portion of materials. Estimated refining time: six hours and twenty minutes. Please accumulate physical strength and true qi in advance! Estimated pill yield: one!"

Only one, as expected! Wei Zhao could not help feeling a little disappointed. He had been hoping that, as with the Barrier-Breaking Pill last time, he might get a few extra pills out of it!

But on second thought, there was only one portion of materials this time, after all. Successfully producing even one pill would already be a stroke of tremendous luck; wanting more than that would be plain greed—and greed was bad for one's karma.

He sat cross-legged and adjusted his state a little, making sure his essence, qi, and spirit had recovered to their peak. Only then did Wei Zhao begin circulating the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art and channel true qi into the Shennong Cauldron.

He had only one portion of materials this time, after all. If he failed, there was no telling when he would find another Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass. So this time, no matter what changes occurred inside the Shennong Cauldron—changes he could not interfere with—he had to guarantee that everything within his power went flawlessly.

The night passed without incident, and only when the sky was fully bright the next day did Wei Zhao finally let out a long, turbid breath and slowly rise to his feet.

Looking at the line displayed on the Shennong Cauldron's tablet, Wei Zhao felt a surge of relief: "Congratulations, Brother Wei Zhao, on successfully refining one pill."

The Foundation Establishment Golden Pill was unlike the others—it ranked among the very finest of all fourth-grade pills. To successfully refine one from a single portion of materials was, apart from marveling at the Shennong Cauldron that the genius Han Jingyi had remodeled, a matter for which he could only thank his luck.

Apart from the occasional buzzing tremor, this refining session had gone remarkably smoothly from start to finish, with no unexpected mishaps. Had it been like the Barrier-Breaking Pill last time, with accidents cropping up again and again, Wei Zhao really would have been scared into a nervous breakdown.

Failing to refine the Barrier-Breaking Pill was no great matter—at worst he would waste a few portions of materials. But this time, refining the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill, he had no spare Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass. If he failed now, he truly would have no tears left to cry, and all the effort and heart's blood he had poured into the entire trial would have been for nothing.

Fortunately, all had gone smoothly.

Opening the cauldron lid, Wei Zhao quickly found the golden pill he had been waiting for so long. Even rarer, this golden pill actually bore rings of pill halos upon its surface.

Han Jingyi was a refining genius indeed. After her remodeling, the Shennong Cauldron had produced two successful refinings in a row since arriving at Cloud Terrace Island, and every pill it turned out was a top-grade one wreathed in pill halos. If word of this got out, it would probably drive other pill refiners to die of sheer shame and rage.

According to usual practice, barring special occasions like the new disciples' trial, Wei Zhao was supposed to report to the Spirit Jade Hall to mine. These past two days, however, attendance was optional.

After all, the beginning of the month was two days away—the all-important first ranking tournament of the entire Newcomer Pavilion. So that every new disciple could be fully prepared and thoroughly digest the fruits of the trial, the better to display their best in the tournament, the Newcomer Pavilion had long since reached an agreement with the Spirit Jade Hall permitting new disciples temporary absence.

For Wei Zhao, who had just successfully refined the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill, the timing could not have been better. He needed exactly this time to digest the pill.

Better early than late—no pill, however fine, could take effect until it was swallowed. And since the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill was not the sort to produce violent side effects, Wei Zhao had no need for excessive caution; as long as he had the time, he could take it as soon as possible.

Drawing a long, deep breath, Wei Zhao slowly put the freshly refined Foundation Establishment Golden Pill into his mouth, then calmed his mind and concentrated, mobilizing true qi throughout his body to begin digesting it.

The Foundation Establishment Golden Pill was extremely bitter on entry—perhaps because of its principal ingredient, the Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass. Once swallowed, it even produced waves of heart-devouring agony. An ordinary person would likely have fainted dead away from the pain.

And even for a skilled cultivator of Wei Zhao's caliber, an early-Foundation Establishment expert whose true qi shielded every meridian in his body, the process was exceedingly long and agonizing. He could not help cursing inwardly: if this Foundation Establishment Golden Pill had not been refined by his own hand, he would have taken it for poison by now and forced it back out of his body—this medicinal effect was just too damned torturous!

The heart-devouring agony lasted a full stick of incense's time, leaving Wei Zhao drenched in sweat, before it finally began to fade. And just as Wei Zhao thought he could breathe easy, his body suddenly gave a violent shudder, as if in a trance.

It felt as though a bomb of true qi had detonated inside him. Then an endless, surging tide of medicinal power burst forth in an instant, spreading through every part of his body and ceaselessly transforming into purest true qi that merged into his meridians.

Wei Zhao had assumed that, as an early-Foundation Establishment expert, his true qi was already quite formidable. Only now did he realize he had been a frog at the bottom of a well. Under the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill's effects, within mere breaths his true qi had more than doubled—and was still rising even now!

No wonder not a single one could be found for sale even in the marketplace. Only at this moment did Wei Zhao truly grasp the value of the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill: a single pill was enough to match decades of bitter cultivation by an ordinary early-Foundation Establishment expert!

Even Wei Zhao himself, armed with the cheat-like treasure of the jade pendant's space, would probably need at least several years of bitter cultivation to achieve the same result!

By comparison, the Barrier-Breaking Pill—also a fourth-grade pill—had no such terrifying effect of one pill equaling ten years of cultivation.

In the marketplace, four hundred spirit jades could buy a Barrier-Breaking Pill. But the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill was a thing with a market but no price. Forget four hundred spirit jades—even ten times that amount might not secure one!

After his true qi had surged for a while, Wei Zhao quickly touched the barrier that Long-Suffering Senior Brother had once mentioned to him. He could clearly sense that the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill's medicinal power had not yet been fully unleashed.