Chapter 57: Theoretical State

Inside the wooden house.

After Cheng Buzheng had completely mastered the two pill recipes, his mind sank...

Master of the Heavens Jade Disc: Cheng Buzheng

Realm: Qi Refinement Level 3

Tier 1 High-grade Cultivation Method: Starry Sky Manual (Ultimate) +

Tier 1 High-grade Spells: Stealth Technique (Ultimate) +, Lotus Pupil Technique (Ultimate) +

Tier 1 Low-grade Spells: Amethyst Carving (Ultimate) +, Earth Escape Technique (Ultimate) +

Tier 1 Low-grade Pill Recipes: Inedia Pill (Exquisite) +, Qi Nourishing Pill (Ultimate) +

Spiritual Power: 927

He noticed the slight changes in the panel but did not pay them much mind; however, he felt a surge of joy regarding the change in the Qi Nourishing Pill.

Although the recipe for the Ultimate-quality Qi Nourishing Pill required half as many spiritual herbs as before—and even included a new herb that wasn't originally there, Purple Rhombus Grass—the deduced recipe's medicinal potency had increased significantly, by more than half.

Compared to the improved recipes of those alchemy masters, this Qi Nourishing Pill recipe's effectiveness was absolute dominance.

But Cheng Buzheng knew he absolutely could not sell it. At the very least, until he stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage, not a single pill of this astonishingly effective Qi Nourishing Pill could appear on the market.

He pondered inwardly whether he should continue to deduce the recipe further. However, reaching the "Ultimate" tier of Tier 1 Low-grade had already added one new spiritual herb; if he continued to deduce it to Tier 1 Mid-grade, he would likely need several more.

The spiritual herbs in the world were countless, and he wasn't sure if he could find all of them.

After all, the herbs traded in cultivators' markets were typically those used in mainstream recipes. The new herbs appearing in the recipes deduced by the Small Disc might not necessarily be easy to find.

While it was theoretically possible to continue deducing the Qi Nourishing Pill recipe without needing to find new recipes, he knew this was merely theoretical and practically impossible to achieve.

Cheng Buzheng sat cross-legged on the bed, resting his chin on his right hand in thought.

Then, shaking off these headache-inducing problems, he stood up and brushed off his robes.

He walked toward the door, pushed it open, and flipped the wooden sign on the door. The two large characters on the sign changed to "Out."

He followed the small path in front of the door toward the exit of the canyon. Passing several nearby houses, he saw that his teammates had still not returned.

Cheng Buzheng felt a hint of disappointment. He had originally intended to ask his teammates for information, as he had been away from the sect for two years and was ignorant of much news.

He needed to understand the current situation within the sect to see if there were any conflicts with his upcoming plans.

In all matters, one must never act against the general trend. Although the possibility was extremely slim, he decided he still had to make inquiries.

After all, one should always prepare for the unexpected.

Since his teammates were currently absent and could not be found, Cheng Buzheng could only find a way to gather information on his own.

His footsteps paused briefly before he strode toward the "Wind and Cloud Pavilion" located halfway up the slope of Immortal Spring Peak.

Exiting the canyon.

Cheng Buzheng kicked off the ground, and the air exploded. His body sliced through the seemingly solid air, creating ripples. The shockwaves on either side of him spread out like two dragons of air, surging into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared outside the canyon.

Before long.

Cheng Buzheng arrived outside the Wind and Cloud Pavilion, seeing many fellow disciples inquiring about prices and strolling around the stalls set up by senior brothers and sisters.

He joined the crowd, slowly wandering from the first senior sister's stall. After a large circuit, he still had not found an alchemy furnace at a suitable price.

Seeing this.

Cheng Buzheng did not delay further and stepped directly into the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. The first-floor hall was quite spacious, but since there were no seats, he headed straight to the second floor.

Finding no available seats, he had no choice but to return to the noisy first floor, where he found a secluded corner and ordered a pot of clear wine.

This clear wine was the cheapest spiritual wine in the Wind and Cloud Pavilion, costing a total of one spirit stone. To gather information, he had to indulge in a bit of luxury.

Cheng Buzheng sat calmly in the corner, playing with his wine cup and taking occasional sips of the spiritual wine, while pricking up his ears to listen to the conversations and discussions of his fellow disciples.

Although a large portion was useless small talk, he still managed to overhear some useful information.

Among the cultivators who had joined the sect in the same batch as him over two years ago, seven youths—the ones with the best aptitude, including two with mutated spiritual roots and five with dual spiritual roots—had already become disciples under Foundation Establishment senior uncles.

"Do you guys know? I joined the sect specifically to join Senior Brother Wang's group. Senior Brother Wang has a mutated spiritual root, and he has already reached the fourth level of Qi Refinement. In another ten years, there is a solid 70% chance he will reach the Foundation Establishment stage. It's basically a sure thing. Completely stable."

A small-eyed cultivator boasted proudly to his companions.

The other cultivators at the table could not help but express their envy

"Senior Brother, your timing was truly perfect. Once Senior Brother Wang breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he can look after you all. Don't forget to take care of us then!"

The companions at the table couldn't help but flatter him.

Cheng Buzheng looked toward the small-eyed cultivator, recalling in his mind that he had indeed joined a team of Wind Spiritual Root cultivators back then.

Then, he raised his wine cup and silently took a sip of the spiritual wine.

Cheng Buzheng did not care whether Senior Brother Wang of the Wind Spiritual Root would succeed in reaching Foundation Establishment.

Even if the breakthrough failed, the senior uncle would find a way to provide him with another Foundation Establishment Pill. This was the privilege of having good spiritual roots; the sect could make exceptions for them.

But Cheng Buzheng only had a triple spiritual root; he could only rely on himself. He had no master or clan backing him.

Moreover, he was still far from the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refinement. With his current cultivation speed, he would not be able to reach the ninth level for at least ten years.

Cheng Buzheng continued listening to the discussions in the hall.

Over the past two years, the family-based cultivators who had joined the sect had drawn much attention from fellow disciples.

With the strong support of their families, some family cultivators with excellent aptitude had seen their cultivation progress by leaps and bounds, becoming prominent figures within the sect.

Once these family cultivators broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, they would bring immense benefits to their families. There were many such family cultivators in the White Cloud Sect.

In the cultivation world, most sects were the same.

Cheng Buzheng thought to himself that this was the way of mutual interdependence between families and sects. The White Cloud Sect dared to allow the development of family cultivators because of the existence of their Nascent Soul ancestor.

Of course, some smaller sects did not dare to let family cultivators join freely, primarily fearing that powerful cultivation families would swallow the sect whole.

Such examples were very common in the cultivation world.

Naturally, there were also small sects that swallowed the ancestral properties of small families to further increase the sect's overall strength.

In the end, it all came down to strength.

(End of Chapter)