Looking at the two pills on the jade tray, Li Ye held his breath for a moment.
He carefully picked up the completed Foundation Establishment Pill, examining it closely before placing it back down with utmost care.
Then he picked up the inferior one, using various techniques to verify its medicinal strength and properties. Everything matched those of a true Foundation Establishment Pill.
Only then did a faint smile slowly appear on his face one that quickly broadened into excitement.
"Hahahahaha! The Foundation Establishment Pill… I've finally succeeded!"
Li Ye burst out in laughter, completely ignoring the scorching waves of heat around him.
Even though his alchemy skills had already reached mid-tier second grade, and even though he had simulated the process many times before, this was his first time using pure plant-based essences in place of high-aged spiritual herbs to refine the pill!
Had his calculations been wrong, and the essences not strong enough to fully replace the herbs, all his careful planning would have gone to waste!
Fortunately, his faith in the interface hadn't let him down everything had unfolded just as he envisioned.
After that satisfying release, Li Ye quickly calmed his emotions.
Cultivation didn't mean erasing all feelings or turning one's heart into stone. Rather, it was about being able to freely shift between release and restraint only then could one truly maintain their core.
Now that his theory was proven, he saw no reason to hold back the remaining opportunity for refinement.
With the experience from earlier, he now had a deeper understanding of the medicinal changes throughout the process. Using only essences in place of herbs, he was confident this next attempt would yield a pill with a visible alchemical pattern.
He sat silently for a moment, analyzing the first refinement step by step. Then, Li Ye reopened the furnace and began the process anew, adding ingredients one at a time…
One day later…
Clang!
The furnace opened once more, and a surge of heat burst out as several pills shot into the air.
Ding ding ding!
Three soft chimes sounded as the pills landed in the jade tray.
Li Ye looked down and sure enough, there were two standard pills, and one pill glowing with a faint alchemical pattern: a single-lined Foundation Establishment Pill.
"Only a single line?" Li Ye was slightly surprised. "Could it be that the essence, though a substitute for aged spiritual herbs, still falls short in medicinal strength?"
He believed he had done everything perfectly in the previous refinement.
But the result had only managed to raise the pill's quality by one level. This performance was quite different from how plant-based essences usually acted in pill refinement.
"If I get the chance later, I should try verifying this with other types of pills…"
Still, he didn't dwell on it too much.
A one-pattern pill was already a significant boost to his chances of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment. Obsessing over it might instead open a crack in his heart and negatively affect his breakthrough.
After stowing away the pill furnace and sealing off the earth-fire cavern completely, Li Ye walked up the mountain with steady, unhurried steps.
.....
At this time, after several days of preparation, news of what was said during the disciple acceptance ceremony had begun to spread.
The alliance now held the moral high ground it was coming to reclaim the Lan family's rightful inheritance from the villain Li Ye, who had usurped it like a cuckoo laying eggs in another bird's nest.
Outside Mount Changcui, a group of cultivators from Pingyang Mountain had already gathered.
Though there were fewer than ten of them, most were at the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining.
If there were no formation in place, capturing and killing Li Ye would be no trouble at all!
"You've observed this formation several times. Can you break it?" Xie Yushu asked directly, turning to Tu Zhiyong at his side before officially giving the order to act.
Tu Zhiyong stared at the mountain peak shrouded in those illusory yet solid trees. His brow furrowed, eyes flickering with uncertainty, though he forced a confident tone.
"Let me take another look. This formation can be broken!"
Xie Yushu, as the vice leader of the Mountain Alliance, dealt with countless cultivators daily. How could he not see through the man's bravado?
Though he kept his expression calm, disappointment filled his heart.
As expected…
Though Tu Zhiyong had some talent in formation arts, compared to Li Ye, he was still far inferior!
But if even someone like him nearly at second-rank level couldn't decipher the formation, then…
Xie Yushu's face darkened slightly. He asked bluntly, "Be honest. Has this formation reached the second rank?"
Tu Zhiyong's expression changed. He wanted to argue, but when he met Xie Yushu's cold gaze, he faltered and could only nod in defeat.
"Though the formation's outward power seems lacking, its internal structure reaches the level of a second-rank array... I suspect it's simply limited by the local first-rank spiritual vein and thus can't fully display its potential."
"So in short you can't break it?" Xie Yushu pressed.
Such a direct question admitting it would be acknowledging he truly wasn't as good as Li Ye.
Tu Zhiyong cursed inwardly. His eyes swept across the others, noting their stares, and gritted his teeth as he said,
"If we had the appropriate access tokens, or someone inside to cooperate with me, then yes I could break it!"
"Bring the people and the items!" Xie Yushu ordered without even looking back.
Soon, three people were brought forward.
Lan Xinyi, Fang Ze, and Xiong Li stood before the gathered cultivators.
Lan Xinyi was expressionless.
Fang Ze looked overly eager, his face plastered with a fawning smile. Xiong Li, usually a brash and domineering woman, now appeared anxious and timid.
Alongside them were the access tokens they had previously used to enter and exit the Green Vine Verdant Wood Formation.
"See if these are usable."
Xie Yushu handed the tokens to Tu Zhiyong. After a brief test, he shook his head grimly.
"Useless... Li Ye has completely sealed the formation and revoked all permissions. These are just empty trinkets now."
Xie Yushu, already familiar with Li Ye's cautious nature, wasn't surprised. Instead, he turned to the trio.
"Can any of you trick Li Ye into opening the formation?"
If the tokens were worthless, their only option was to try inserting a spy.
"Vice Leader, we've worked his fields for years perhaps we can give it a try!" Fang Ze quickly stepped forward and gave Xiong Li a push.
Based on experience, Li Ye often sealed the formation, but always eventually let them in to tend to the crops.
He had never regarded people like them as a threat. Maybe this time, that oversight would bring Li Ye down from his mountain sanctuary!
"Then go give it a shot."
Xie Yushu saw no reason to object. Since they were planning to attack the formation anyway, a few extra attempts couldn't hurt.
"Take this if you manage to get inside, simply activate it on the spot."
Tu Zhiyong handed them two bamboo slips and waved them on.
Fang Ze received the bamboo slip with both hands, bowed deeply, and then set off with Xiong Li toward the great formation halfway up the mountain.
Standing before the formation, he continuously poured spiritual energy into the token and shouted:
"Master... It's me, Fang Ze! Why won't you let us in? It's been days the Evergreens must be in poor shape by now..."
After shouting a few more times, he glanced at Xiong Li, urging her to shout along.
Watching from afar, Lan Xinyi's expression was a mix of bemusement and irony.
"If Li Ye could be tricked into opening the formation this easily, would he have stayed holed up in that mountain for so long?"
"Then why don't you give it a try?" Xie Yushu said coldly.
Lan Xinyi gave a bitter smile. "Even I couldn't make him open the formation…"
Snap! Whoosh
Before the conversation even finished, the formation suddenly shifted. Several thick vines tipped with sharp wooden spikes lashed out, and Fang Ze and Xiong Li were sent flying.
Xiong Li tumbled to the ground, coughing up blood and seriously injured.
Fang Ze, on the other hand, seemed to be suffocating, clawing at his chest. It was only then that the others noticed a wooden spike had pierced his heart, and blood was gushing out rapidly.
It was clear he wouldn't survive.
And just then, another sudden change occurred!
The formation that had once covered the mountain from waist to peak began to retract upward, its coverage shrinking rapidly.
But in doing so, its power appeared to sharpen and grow stronger…
By the time it had withdrawn to about halfway, even the cavern at the mountainside was now fully exposed and the Green Vine Verdant Wood Formation had advanced to full second-rank power!
At that moment, Li Ye's slightly mocking voice echoed from the mountain:
"Vice Leader Xie, if you truly intend to kill me, then enough with these pointless tricks! This Green Vine Verdant Wood Formation is a second-rank array I've meticulously refined myself. I'll be waiting here in the mountain for you to break through it!"
"And if you can't, then perhaps you should go back and tell Alliance Leader Xu it'd be better for both our sides to just call it off... After all, I'm nothing more than a cultivator quietly living in seclusion. Is someone like me worth all this trouble?"
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