A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248

by Translator: Johnchen

  But the people who had spent that much time in the Earth Fire room were all at the very least disciples above the Foundation Establishment stage! It was truly his first time seeing a Qi Condensation disciple like Han Li spend so long inside there refining pills.

  In addition, Qi Condensation disciples could only hold out at most a month without eating; could this disciple of Martial Ancestor Li have brought in food and drink with him, allowing him to persevere for so long?! The ugly man thought with a doubtful expression.

  Inside of the Earth Fire room, Han Li sat cross-legged on the prayer mat, looking at the twenty or so vividly blue Foundation Establishment Pills floating in front of him, an expression of deep thought on his face.

  These pills were all the rewards that Han Li had received from spending countless amounts of his blood, sweat, and tears during this past half year. Obtaining them was truly difficult beyond comparison!

  Han Li had been unable to pass even the coagulation step for the first twenty or so refinements. Looking at each of the waste pills, his heart felt very pained. He had almost given up, deciding that after he had returned and learned the proper alchemy techniques from other alchemists, he would start refining Foundation Establishment Pills again. Although the amount of time he would waste would be incredibly long, it would be better than for him to vainly squander his spiritual medicines!

  However, before he was about to leave, he decided, perhaps by a stroke of divine inspiration, to open the cauldron and make another refinement. And this time, as if by the aid of the gods, the pill actually coagulated; in addition, when he opened the furnace to retrieve the pill, he was miraculously able to successfully retrieve it on his first try. Thus, he obtained his first Foundation Establishment Pill that he had created by his own hands.

  This Foundation Establishment Pill, apart from being slightly smaller, was exactly the same as the other three medicinal pills that he already had. This caused Han Li’s spirit to be greatly stirred up!

  With this time’s encouragement, Han Li gritted his teeth and dispelled the idea of returning; he calmed his heart and continued.

  Following this time’s experience of success, Han Li’s success rate in coagulating the pill immediately began to increase like crazy; within three refinements, he successfully coagulated the pill once. As for opening the furnace, Han Li had extraordinary innate skill; he successfully retrieved more than half of the medicinal pills from the furnace on his first try. This was something that Han Li had never expected could happen!

  During this period of time, when Han Li felt extremely hungry and thirsty, he would take out the bottle of fasting pills that he had received from the little old man and eat one; then, he would be able to persevere for another month! He had obtained this bottle of fasting pills by exchanging them for a few hundred-year-old herbal medicines! Today, they just so happened to come in handy.

  Like this, when the raw materials Han Li possessed were almost completely used up, he had obtained this batch with a frightening amount of Foundation Establishment pills; the number of medicinal pills in this batch greatly surpassed his initial expectations!

  Early on, when he had heard about the great difficulties of refining pills, he reckoned that it could be considered pretty good if he were to even obtain seven or eight of them! But today it seemed that it was not as excessively difficult to refine as he had heard from the cultivating world! Could those alchemists be misguiding other cultivators? Or was it that he truly had an innate talent for refining pills!

  Han Li felt perplexed!

  In reality, Han Li had thought too far to the left; the technique for refining pills was actually even more difficult than was spread around in the outside world. It would be impossible for one to groom an alchemist with average talent without twenty to thirty years of time and a nearly astronomical amount of money.

  And the Han Li of today, with respect to his skill in refining Foundation Establishment Pills, could already be considered part of the upper echelon when compared with other average alchemists! The reason why such an inconceivable phenomenon could occur was completely due to Han Li’s nearly half a year of refining the same pill.

  One had to know that even the most rich and imposing sects would have no way of having an adequate supply of precious ingredients to allow an alchemist to refine the same pill for half of a year’s time.

  This kind of thing was somewhat possible if one were to consider the lowest grade medicinal pills! However, if it were low-grade medicinal pills, what need was there for one to purposefully refine and accumulate experience? In any case, the ingredients were cheap, and if it was not refined successfully one could just start again.

  Han Li did not understand this, and so naturally he did not figure it out; however, after briefly mulling over it, he let it go. This was because he suddenly had the idea of immediately swallowing the Foundation Establishment Pill and attempting to break through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck.

  This thought was extremely strong, causing Han Li to consider very seriously the possibility of undergoing closed-door cultivation in this Earth Fire room.

  ……

  After eleven months, the stone door to the Earth Fire room that Han Li was in remained tightly shut with no sign of opening.

  On this day, the ugly man was numbly gazing at the nineteenth stone door with an anxious expression! He was certain that something had definitely occurred to Han Li inside. Otherwise, even Foundation Establishment cultivators should have already come out.

  He was not actually worried for Han Li as a person; rather, he was seriously afraid that Martial Ancestor Li would, after discovering his disciple’s mishap, would take out his anger on him. In addition, although he was a close relative of Sect Leader Zhong, which was the reason why he could watch over this area, the ugly man was very clear that if Martial Ancestor Li really became angry over this, his supporter would definitely not get him out of this predicament.

  Just as the ugly man’s stomach was filled with anxiety, the stone door in front of him suddenly flashed with a white light, then it opened soundlessly. Next, a person walked out, flushed with success; this was Han Li, who had been inside of the room for close to a year.

  The ugly man reacted after a long time and was instantly both surprised and happy; he hurriedly took a few steps forward with a mouthful of complaints:

  “Junior Martial Brother, why have you only come out now? If you hadn’t come out, I would’ve... Yi! You......!”

  The ugly man had just spoken a few sentences when his eyes suddenly became round, as if he had seen a ghost. He pointed at Han Li, his mouth open and his tongue tied; he was unable to say anything!

  “What, is there something wrong with me?” Han Li asked with a slight smile, glancing at the light that suddenly flashed across the person’s face.

  “Your...... your cultivation! Am I......? Could...... could you be in the Foundation Establishment stage?” The ugly man regained his focus after a long time and asked while stammering with a confused and alarmed expression.

  “Yes! After I refined the pill, I felt that the environment here wasn’t bad, so I swallowed a Foundation Establishment Pill and underwent closed-door cultivation. In the end, I successfully broke through the bottleneck; now, I truly am a Foundation Establishment cultivator!” Upon hearing the other person ask in this way, Han Li declared proudly while stretching lazily.

  “Reach Foundation Establishment here?”

  The ugly man glanced at the Earth Fire room behind Han Li, then glanced at Han Li, still unable to believe it! Undergoing Foundation Establishment inside of an Earth Fire room specifically for refining pills, this was truly his first time hearing of anything like this!

  However, after moving his lips a few time, he did not voice the questions that he had. Not only was the other person Martial Ancestor Li’s disciple, simply based on his identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was already not someone that a Qi Condensation disciple like him could afford to prov
oke.

  “What, is it not allowed?” Han Li casually glanced at the other person and asked impolitely. He immediately emitted the pressure that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could release. This caused the ugly man, who was very close to him, to instantly be forced many steps backwards, and he began to sweat profusely.

  “Of course it isn’t; there are no such nonsensical rules from above. Congratulations to Martial Uncle on his great success during his seclusion!” The ugly man was actually very clever, immediately nodding his head and bending over at the waist, saying this while laughing with him. Even his previous way of addressing Han Li as “Junior Martial Brother” was immediately changed to “Martial Uncle”.

  Since the other person had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage today, he could be considered the ugly man’s elder; to be somewhat more deferential was a necessity.

  The ugly man was able to adopt a very lighthearted perspective! He understood very thoroughly what the appropriate behavior should be towards those with greater power in the cultivating world!

  Chapter 216: Medicinal Power

  Seeing how careful the ugly man was, Han Li felt embarrassed from trying to find an opportunity from him. He had no better option than to revoke his original intention of teaching him a lesson. After all, apart from the ugly man’s previous rudeness to him, he had made no other great offenses toward him!

  With this thought, Han Li expression relaxed as he insipidly said, “Since there’s nothing else, I will take my leave!”

  With that said, Han Li departed, light as a feather.

  For a very long moment, the ugly man looked at Han Li’s departing figure and finally gave a long sigh. He then mumbled to himself, “This is truly against reason! He hid himself inside the Earth Fire room and casually secluded himself, succeeding in Foundation Establishment. As for me. how could I, who found a quiet room and a great amount of supplementary medicine pills, not actually succeed! No wonder! Since this person has been accepted as Martial Ancestor Li’s disciple, it seems his aptitude is certainly beyond normal!”

  The ugly man actually blamed Han Li’s success on heavenly talent! If Han Li himself heard this, he would perhaps bitterly laugh without end!

  At this moment, Han Li had already left Yue Lu Hall. The two individuals guarding the transportation formation had already been exchanged with two others. Otherwise, if they saw Han Li suddenly reach Foundation Establishment from Qi Condensation, they would have likely been astonished.

  Han Li slow drove his flying magic tool through the sky without the slightest of worry as he thought back to his experience of entering Foundation Establishment.

  When Han Li had finished refining the Foundation Establishment Pills five months before, after some deliberation, he felt that undergoing Foundation Establishment in the Earth Fire room wasn’t a bad idea. At the very least, he wouldn’t need to worry about others suddenly intruding and interrupting his seclusion, forcing him to leave things half finished!

  Thus, with his mind made up, Han Li consumed one of his original three Foundation Establishment Pills and then began to make use of medicinal power spreading throughout his body!

  The power of the Foundation Establishment Pill flared very quickly. After several short hours, Han Li felt a small inferno roaring and steadily growing inside his Dantian. All the other parts of his body felt colder than ice. Altogether, he felt a completely distinct feeling of ice and fire!

  However, this feeling only continued for a short amount of time before the inferno in his Dantian disappeared without a trace. The rest of his body also returned to its normal temperature, causing Han Li to be a bit stunned!

  After a moment of bewilderment, Han Li complexion greatly changed as he placed his hands against his Dantian without letting go.

  Because at that time, a fierce pain similar to seven or eight daggers simultaneously ripping into him occurred. Not prepared for this in the slightest, Han Li became incomparably pale, slack-jawed, and beaded with sweat the size of soybeans while his entire body bent into a complete curl!

  While Han Li was painfully curled into a ball on the floor, he was raining curses in his heart. Why did the people who gave the pill to him never mention the pain that came after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill!

  But without even completing his curses, the sharp pain in his Dantian suddenly turned into an explosion.

  This explosion turned into countless threads of warmth, immediately flowing throughout his body’s meridians and reaching even the marrow of his bones. But the warmth then turned into a strange, unbearable itch, as if there were countless ants crawling all over his body. This caused him to want to bang his head against the wall and slightly alleviate his suffering.

  This torment that nearly caused Han Li to go mad continued for the time it took to eat a meal before it gradually diminished. At this moment, Han Li was finally able to support himself against the corner of the wall and stand with much difficulty. Sweating profusely, he was completely covered in a layer of an indescribable gray substance. Furthermore, it was sticky and emitted an unspeakably strange odor.

  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  However, Han Li didn’t care about this at all! What was on his mind was that his cultivation had progressed to the twelfth layer. Furthermore, he was comfortably warm from head to toe without the slightest of discomfort.

  It was very clear that the Foundation Establishment Pill from before had already improved his bodily structure, cleansing his marrow and replacing his tendons. As for the warmth in his body, it should be residual medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill. However, after he absorbed it, he used it to increase his magic power. This must be the reason why disciples seclude themselves for three months after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. Otherwise, this medicinal power would gradually fade away after time had passed.

  Han Li now started truly following the steps laid out by those in Foundation Establishment and sincerely sat down, absorbing the residual medicinal power.

  However, Han Li quickly discovered that the bits of residual medicinal power that remained in his body could only slightly deepen his magic power and could not again be used to improve his physique.

  If it were only one Foundation Establishment Pill, after cleansing the marrow and replacing the tendons, none would naturally let this good opportunity to increase one’s magic power pass by, so they would seclude themselves for three months to thoroughly absorb the medicinal power. They naturally wouldn’t easily abandon it.

  However, Han Li was not the same. He had great amounts of Foundation Establishment Pills on hand. These bits of residual medicinal power weren’t enough to enter his eyes! What he was concerned with was improving his physique several times, eventually entering Foundation Establishment! After all, cleansing the marrow and replacing the tendons was the crucial point of breaking through Foundation Establishment.

  After sitting in meditation for over ten days, Han Li clearly understood this. Naturally, he did not have the patience to wait several months before taking his second Foundation Establishment Pill.

  After some contemplation, he came to the conclusion that taking consecutive Foundation Establishment Pills shouldn’t cause any large problems. At most, there should be an excess of residual medicinal power, but this was nothing. After pondering several more times, he took a second Foundation Establishment Pill without waiting any further.

  These was a similar pain and a similar tingling itch. Han Li, who was already prepared, still suffered greatly! However, Han Li had already felt this before, and the sensation seemed to feel slightly lesser than before. However, the impurities that were released from his body were not small. It seemed that his aptitude was truly terrible!

  After taking his second consecutive Foundation Establishment Pill, Han Li did not feel anything strange about the residual magic power in his body. Naturally, the warmth in his bones felt slightly stronger. There weren’t any problems at all! Furthermore, his magic
power had leaped to the thirteenth layer, the peak of Qi Condensation.

  As such, Han Li started organizing his thoughts. He shouldn’t take the Foundation Establishment Pills one after another. Each medicine pill had a similar effect of cleansing one’s marrow, further releasing more impurities inside Han Li’s body!

  However, when he took the third pill, Han Li clearly felt the Foundation Establishment Pill’s marrow cleansing effect decrease noticeably, discharging less and less impurities. But at the same time, the true essence and magic power within his body underwent a fantastic change.

  The original condition of his true essence, after undergoing several Foundation Establishment Pill, had gradually consolidated, changing further into liquid. After his seventh Foundation Establishment Pill, apart from a small area at the core of his Dantian, his true essence had turned completely into liquid.

  However, after taking the seventh Foundation Establishment Pill, the residual magic power in Han Li’s body approached saturation. The original feeling of warmth throughout his body had now turned into a scorching heat, causing Han Li to hesitate!

  He truly did not know if whether or not chaos would stem from the great amount of medicinal power released once he took the eighth Foundation Establishment, ! But Han Li felt that he was truly close to reaching Foundation Establishment. It was perhaps only one or two pills away!

  After slight contemplation, Han Li’s thirst for Foundation Establishment won over, and he took his eighth Foundation Establishment Pill.

  However, when this medicine pill entered his belly, the residual medicinal power that he was barely able to control cried out, suddenly exploding. This heated up the meridians throughout Han Li body, causing his consciousness to become faint!

  However, when Han Li woke from his scalding body, he discovered a pleasant surprise. While he was unconscious, he actually succeeded in breaking through, already entering Foundation Establishment.

  Exhilarated, Han Li immediately thought of jumping into the air to release his excitement! But when he straightened his back, his entire body heated up and he once again fell to the floor, causing him to become greatly scared!