Chapter 43 Spiritual Root Hope

Hua Hongling had been exceptionally talented since childhood, and later she was taught the All-Hammering Body-Refining Technique, which was well-suited for artifact forging. She specialized in refining fire-attribute inner flames, possessed impressive artifact-forging skills, and boasted a high success rate in crafting fine-grade magic artifacts.

If she were truly willing to expend her heart's blood regardless of cost, it was even possible for her to forge top-grade magic artifacts.

Top-grade magic artifacts were rare; many mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators struggled to own even a single one, with the majority relying mostly on fine-grade magic artifacts.

The highest-grade magic artifacts in Jinhuang Immortal City were merely of the fine-grade.

Li Ji'an indeed had a strong demand for such items.

However, as for obtaining pills that could restore her body to the normal physical form of a female cultivator, he truly had no way to help.

The Bone-Altering Pill that a certain female cultivator had previously come to beg for only slightly altered the structural bone appearance of the face. Not only was the scope of its effect small, but altering one's bone structure in such a manner practically severed one's Dao path.

"Brother Li, your pill-forging skills are so extraordinary that you can even refine such an obscure pill as the Bone-Altering Pill. You must be able to refine the pills I need; you simply have to help me!" Unwilling to give up, Hua Hongling cupped her fists and half-squatted in front of Li Ji'an, attempting to put on a pitiful expression despite her towering, fortress-like physique.

Li Ji'an felt a strong sense of oppression bearing down on him.

"Fellow Daoist Hua, please forgive Li for speaking the truth. You are naturally blessed with a charming and outstanding appearance; the only slight flaw is that your physique is somewhat robust, and this minor blemish can be entirely overlooked. In particular, you have already achieved Foundation Establishment, making you an object of envy and admiration for countless rogue cultivators. Truly, you should no longer dwell on such a minor imperfection. Have you never heard of the beauty of imperfection?"

Hua Hongling pouted, refusing to buy Li Ji'an's rhetoric: "Since Pill Master Li puts it so well, how about the two of us become dao companions?"

"Li's heart is set upon the Great Dao, and for the moment I do not wish to—"

"Bah! You are all so hypocritical! The Great Dao spans ten thousand paths; who says only the ruthless path exists? Have you never heard that at the pinnacle of emotion lies the pinnacle of the Dao?

Furthermore, you and I are both rogue cultivators. Could it be that you actually harbor ambitions of achieving Core Formation?" Realizing that Li Ji'an likely lacked the true capability to help, Hua Hongling dropped her act.

"..." Li Ji'an was rendered speechless.

She wasn't someone who could be easily brushed off.

For ordinary cultivators:

In Cangyun Prefecture, and even across the entire Tiancang Domain, a rogue cultivator reaching Foundation Establishment was already one in ten thousand. As for Core Formation, over a history of more than six thousand years, such instances were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, and every single one of them possessed monumental fortuitous encounters.

After all, the tribulation of Core Formation was extremely difficult in a cultivation domain where sects held supreme authority and monopolized the vast majority of upper-tier resources. For a rogue cultivator, plotting to acquire Core Formation resources was virtually impossible.

Aside from resources, Core Formation served as the crucial gateway leading to the Great Dao, and its difficulty was extraordinary to say the least.

If the Foundation Establishment stage could be described as laying the foundation of the Dao and sowing the seeds of the Dao, then the Core Formation stage was the condensation of the true embryonic form of the Great Dao.

While the Foundation Establishment stage still offered pills such as the Foundation Establishment Pill that could directly increase the success rate, the Core Formation stage possessed no pills that could explicitly raise the success rate. One could only rely on rare treasures of heaven and earth, along with certain auxiliary pills, to aid the Core Formation process and enhance the quality of the resulting core.

The fundamental factor still lay in the cultivator's spiritual root aptitude, as well as their comprehension of and resonance with the Great Dao.

Only those with upper-grade spiritual roots were regarded as seeds for Core Formation.

As for ordinary individuals who had fallen to become rogue cultivators, almost none possessed superior spiritual roots.

The reason Li Ji'an harbored extravagant hopes of making a breakthrough toward Core Formation after reaching Foundation Establishment stemmed from the confidence brought by his fine-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, and the fact that his foundational magic power aura upon first entering Foundation Establishment was no inferior to that of Xiao Changfeng, an upper-grade spiritual root Core Formation seed.

Of course, it also relied even more on his pill-forging mastery, which offered the possibility of exchanging for rare treasures of heaven and earth.

For ordinary rogue Foundation Establishment practitioners like Hua Hongling or Pill Master Dan, their respective crafts could only support their cultivation up to the late Foundation Establishment stage at best, which was practically their limit.

If they wished to harbor ambitions of Core Formation, they could only pray for fortuitous encounters bestowed by the heavens.

"Fellow Daoist Hua might as well be optimistic. Once you achieve Core Formation, you will be able to regenerate severed limbs, and who knows, perhaps you can even reshape your physical body," Li Ji'an paused for a moment before offering words of encouragement.

"Reshape my physical body?" Hua Hongling suddenly stood up straight.

The true Core Formation masters of Cangyun Prefecture were limited to the three supreme figures of the Biyun Sect, and ordinary people had no opportunity to come into contact with them.

Moreover, empirical insights regarding Core Formation were virtually non-existent in the mortal world, and Li Ji'an was merely speculating.

"Indeed! If severed limbs can be regenerated, surely one can reshape their physical body!" Hua Hongling's face immediately flushed with excitement.

However, a mere moment later, she snapped back to her senses, her expression turning one of utter despair.

Compared to searching for some kind of malleable pill, Core Formation was something she didn't even dare to dream of.

"Never mind, never mind. Pill Master Li, there will be plenty of time in the future. Who knows, perhaps one day you will acquire some ancient pill formula or receive divine inspiration from the heavens. This humble maiden is going to latch onto you! In the future, whatever magic artifacts you need, just say the word, and I'll give you a discount on all of them!" Hua Hongling finally said with a sheepish laugh.

After all, throughout the entire immortal city, Li Ji'an—who had successfully refined top-grade pills—was the only one capable of offering her even a glimmer of hope.

After seeing Hua Hongling off, Li Ji'an smiled and shook his head. Half a year ago, he had begun taking on commissions for custom pill refining. Leveraging his fame from refining top-grade pills back when he was still in the Qi Condensation stage, his business had been flourishing.

Relying specifically on a single batch of Youth-Preserving Pills, he had garnered the fervent pursuit of numerous female cultivators.

Following that came Bone-Altering Pills, Beauty-Enhancing Pills, and various high-demand pills... quite a few female cultivators even arrived carrying their own pill formulas.

Refining these pills yielded even higher profits, eliminating the need for him to procure medicinal ingredients himself. Furthermore, owing to his high yield rate, he was even able to covertly retain a portion of the herbs for himself.

His profits multiplied manifold.

After a brief meditation to regulate his breath, Li Ji'an glanced at the darkening night and headed diagonally across the street to the Bai Residence.

Physician Bai was a Tier-2 physician.

Apart from the fact that cultivators nourished their physical bodies with spiritual Qi and thus possessed greater physical resilience, their essence remained mortal flesh and blood. While they might not fall ill in the ordinary sense, they still suffered injuries, experienced reversed vital energy, endured dantian tremors, and incurred damage to their foundational origins...

Aside from protecting the heart meridians and internal organs, an ordinary cultivator's magic power was incapable of therapeutic healing and repair.

Physicians, however, could rely on medical arts to effect repairs with wood-attribute magic power, nourish with water-attribute magic power, and even treat those whose dantians had been damaged after failing a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, feats that accomplished physicians were capable of healing.

Li Ji'an's visit to Physician Bai was, however, not for the purpose of seeking treatment for injuries.

"Senior Bai, you mentioned last time that those whose development was delayed in childhood, whose spiritual roots lacked spiritual Qi nourishment, could those roots still be nourished and recovered subsequently?"

Physician Bai was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment practitioner over two hundred years old, known for his benevolent disposition.

Following the initial small celebration, Li Ji'an had frequently engaged in conversations with him, with this very purpose in mind.

Since he could not alter the circumstances prior to his age of eight resulting from his "rejuvenation," his original spiritual root aptitude could not be fully stimulated.

In this lifetime, he had consumed a Source-Nourishing Pill, and from the age of eight to fifteen, his bodily essence had been cultivated within the Tier-2 spiritual vein territory of the Yan family while practicing Qi-sensing techniques. The result was a maximum of nineteen wisps of spiritual roots—falling just short of an upper-grade spiritual root.

Yet after residing in the immortal city for over a decade and reviewing numerous documents, he found that aside from the Source-Nourishing Pill, no more effective methods existed.

Even the favored grandson of an elder from the Biyun Sect had merely been provided with a Source-Nourishing Pill in his childhood, supplemented by a Tier-3 spiritual vein environment and Qi-sensing techniques. Such a setup could basically stimulate one's innate spiritual root origin to its maximum potential.

Consequently, in his next lifetime, Li Ji'an would in all probability still fail to break through to an upper-grade spiritual root.

Yet Physician Bai had allowed him to catch a glimpse of hope once more.

Physician Bai stroked his beard and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, the Five Elements bestowed by Heaven constitute the foundation. As long as the foundation remains intact, it can be nurtured and restored. However, once the form has completely set, there is practically no hope. Could it be that Pill Master Li's development was delayed in his youth?"

Li Ji'an sighed, looking somewhat troubled and despondent.

Physician Bai lamented, "Ah, indeed. Spiritual veins are scarce in these parts; countless geniuses have had their potentials delayed simply due to humble origins. That is precisely why the likes of us spare no effort to strive for a promising origin for the next generation."

"Senior Bai's words are entirely reasonable. However, I wonder to what extent recovery is possible through postnatal nurturing?" Li Ji'an inquired further.

"That is difficult to say. It depends on the degree of the delay, the length of time it went unaddressed, and it is also related to the nurturing medical arts employed. Nevertheless, theoretically speaking, if time is ample and medical skills are profound, complete recovery is not entirely impossible," Physician Bai answered truthfully.

"Complete recovery!" Li Ji'an's heart surged with tumultuous waves.

If so, the greatest obstacle to his "rejuvenation" could be resolved.

"Could it be that Pill Master Li has a younger descendant whose development was delayed? You might as well bring them for this old man to examine." Seeing Li Ji'an persist on the topic, Physician Bai read his expression and proactively offered goodwill.

"Many thanks, Senior Bai, but no. I was merely expressing a sense of regret," Li Ji'an waved his hand.

Physician Bai smiled and shook his head, offering words of comfort, "Pill Master Li, matters have reached this stage, and the raw rice has already been cooked into gruel; life cannot be relived. Besides, you have already achieved success in Foundation Establishment, so there is no need to dwell on such matters anymore. With your pill-forging artistry, your descendants will at least not suffer delayed potential. Thinking too much is futile—look forward!"

"Many thanks, Senior Bai."

Upon leaving the Bai Residence, Li Ji'an felt lighthearted. Although the possibility of acquiring medical inheritance was not immediately within reach, it had at least pointed him in a clear direction.

Aside from steadily plotting for Core Formation in his current life, diligently studying talisman-making to safeguard his path, he could now add the refined pursuit of medical arts as another objective.

Medical arts and toxicology had always been inextricably linked; toxicological methods were more covert and secure, aligning well with Li Ji'an's philosophy.

Precisely for this reason, he also began keeping an eye out for wood-attribute cultivation techniques on the market, hoping to find a relatively advanced wood-attribute cultivation technique leaning towards therapeutic utility to practice as a secondary discipline, thereby laying the groundwork for nurturing his dantian spiritual roots in his next lifetime.

As for the puppet inheritance of Puppet Master Gou across the hall, Li Ji'an temporarily abandoned the idea after several interactions.

Puppet Master Gou was overly cautious and handled matters with meticulous care, offering virtually no opportunity for close association, and on many occasions, communication was conducted solely through wooden puppets.

However, he learned from Hua Hongling that Puppet Master Gou had presumably acquired some form of soul-cultivation fortuitous encounter.

Because of this, his divine sense was considerably stronger than that of peers at the same realm, enabling him to forge Tier-2 puppets comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage even while he was still a late Qi Condensation cultivator.

At present, Li Ji'an suspected that he might even be capable of crafting mid-Tier-2 puppets comparable to mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"One must not underestimate the heroes of the world!" Li Ji'an increasingly felt that his hidden trump cards remained too few.

Over the ensuing three years, his cultivation life remained peaceful and steady.

While his cultivation realm progressed step by step, his talisman-making skills became even more refined.

He primarily practiced fire-attribute magic power, which tended to be overly volatile yet lacking in endurance, forcing him to make up for the deficiency through skill and pills.

Fortunately, his divine soul was robust; his spiritual sense was now comparable to that of a late Foundation Establishment practitioner, meaning he theoretically possessed the ability to draw late Tier-2 talismans, though he was held back by his magic power.

"Hoo~"

"It's finally done!" On this day, relying on a fine-grade Dharma-Nourishing Pill to sustain his magic power, he finally succeeded in drawing his first fine-grade early Tier-2 talisman.

An early-stage high-grade talisman was already comparable to a full-strength strike of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, whereas this fine-grade talisman touched nearly upon the might of mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

"I shall use this to test out my Natal Talisman first!"

The so-called Natal Talisman was nurtured within one's own dantian and infused with one's personal vital essence. As long as a certain duration was exceeded, it could be activated without the need for spiritual sense or magic power.

Moreover, its might would increase along with the duration of nurturing, and the extent of the enhancement depended on the duration and the dantian's magic power.

However, elevating its quality required a considerable amount of time; at the very least, ten years were necessary to achieve even a modest enhancement, and the upper limit of improvement was capped at a single grade.

A Qi Condensation cultivator's dantian magic power could only sustain the nurturing of a single talisman at most, whereas a Foundation Establishment cultivator could simultaneously nurture three.

Li Ji'an planned for one offensive, one defensive, and one evasion talisman.

Even so, only fine-grade Tier-2 talismans possessed the value of being nurtured.

Stowing the talisman away, Li Ji'an stepped out and headed towards the Jiuding Chamber of Commerce. Today marked the centennial birthday of Zhao Shuyao, who had specifically sent a message inviting Li Ji'an over to sit and converse.

As he passed through the immortal city's administrative district, a piece of news caused his footsteps to pause.

The Biyun Sect had finally made public a piece of news: twelve years ago, they had discovered an ancient ruin in the northern Daze Mountain Range, and currently, the outer protective barrier of that ruin had finally been breached.

At this moment, the sect was mobilizing nearly all its might to begin excavating the ruin, which appeared to be far from ordinary.

This news filled Li Ji'an with both joy and apprehension.

The joyous part was that a ruin regarded with such high importance by the Biyun Sect would inevitably contain numerous fortuitous encounters; when the sect's cultivators ate meat, they would naturally leave some soup for other cultivators in this realm.

The worrisome part was that great fortuitous encounters implied great risks, and risks could easily lead to turbulence.