Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 154: Perfect Batch

Back with the family, Wang Hao first refined a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills and sent Wang Yanzhi into seclusion to attempt his breakthrough.

Then he went to see Wang Yanzhao.

“Old Wang, I’m back. Uncle Yanzhi was already at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, so I sent him to attempt Foundation Establishment. One more such cultivator would give the family another measure of strength.”

Wang Yanzhao had been so busy lately that he looked worn out. Without even raising his head, he said, “You can handle that. Where did the Foundation Establishment Pill come from? Didn’t we send them all with the Old Ancestor?”

“I still had one for Uncle Yanzhi. When I went overseas before, I thought he was progressing well and might reach Foundation Establishment,” Wang Hao replied.

Wang Yanzhao frowned but said nothing more. He took out a Storage Bag.

“You’ve only just returned, and I hate to burden you again, but many of the family’s alchemists went overseas. Your Sixth Granduncle is already in seclusion refining pills. These are the materials left over. Take them.”

“You know the situation around the Qingyuan Sect, and you know what our family faces. Our cultivators urgently need pills to advance their cultivation, as well as healing and recovery pills in case of war.”

Wang Hao nodded. “I chose to stay, so of course I’ll do my part. You should get some rest, Old Wang. I’ll go refine these pills and try to use up the materials as soon as I can.”

He left the council hall and went straight to the family’s alchemy hall.

Several elderly first-grade alchemists remained. They could make most of the first-grade pills, though Wang Hao would have to help with special ones such as Soul Gathering Pills.

With so many young cultivators, the family needed mostly first-grade low- and mid-grade pills. Even if Wang Yanzhi, Wang Yanpeng, and Wang Wenyuan succeeded in their current breakthrough attempts, the Wangs would have only six Foundation Establishment cultivators. Most second-grade pills would therefore be exchanged with the Li and Lei families for supplies.

The family had no earth fire, so Wang Hao could just as easily have refined the pills in his own cave. The alchemy hall was more convenient, with everything at hand and people to collect completed pills.

He sorted the spirit herbs in the Storage Bag into batches. There were enough for more than seventy furnaces, forty of them second-grade pills. Refining them might take half a year.

Several clansmen offered to assist him, but Wang Hao was not used to working with attendants. He sent them away and asked them to collect the pills once a month.

He closed the chamber and began refining.

He began with familiar Qi Gathering Pills. They suited early- and mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators best, though they also helped those at the late stage. Few cultivators in Green Bull Market were at the late stage, making these pills especially sought after.

Wang Hao was already a second-grade high-grade alchemist and had refined Qi Gathering Pills several times. His usual success rate was around seventy percent. With spirit water to help him now, he wanted to see if he could produce a Perfect Batch.

A Perfect Batch would mean drawing the full possible yield from a furnace.

A Perfect Batch was one of every alchemist’s goals. Its value lay not just in profit but in what it showed about skill. When two alchemists had similar success rates, producing a Perfect Batch could set one apart.

Wang Hao needed a goal. Becoming a third-grade alchemist was still too distant to consider before he reached late Foundation Establishment.

He cleaned the furnace, kindled the alchemical fire, and warmed the furnace to the right temperature.

Then he added the herbs in the order he had arranged: the first, the next, and finally the last.

He had done this countless times, but now he paid special attention. To achieve a Perfect Batch, he could not afford to be careless at any step.

He waited until each herb had yielded its medicinal liquid before adding the next. Only after all had been extracted could he combine them. Changing the order would cost them medicinal potency.

He spent a month refining Qi Gathering Pills without producing a Perfect Batch.

He was close, though: the last furnace had yielded nine pills. A few more attempts might be enough.

Another two months passed. At last, Wang Hao opened the furnace and laughed in delight: he had produced a Perfect Batch.

He had used all the herbs Wang Yanzhao had given him and fetched another batch from his farm. Switching to another kind of pill would mean learning its steps afresh.

After that success, he refined other pills much more quickly.

In a little over half a year, he finished them all.

The total was 270 Qi Gathering Pills, 100 Qi Recovery Pills, 88 Clearing Rhyme Pills, 103 Healing Origin Pills, 17 Origin Supplementing Pills, and 9 Soul Gathering Pills.

His success rate remained above sixty percent, except for the second-grade high-grade Origin Supplementing Pills, which came in below fifty percent.

That made him one of the better second-grade alchemists.

After half a year, the door to his cave opened and Wang Hao stepped out, stretching.

He had refined more than a hundred furnaces of pills during that time and upgraded his Chaos Earth Seal to a high-grade spiritual tool.

He had found third-grade low-grade earth-attribute materials at the Pill Cauldron Sect, enough to advance the seal to a Magic Treasure, but he had chosen not to.

Magic Treasures consumed too much spiritual power. At only the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment, he could activate one just once with all his power, and even then draw out only twenty percent of its might. That could kill a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator outright, but a battle could not always be won with a single burst.

Besides, he already had a Magic Treasure in the Heaven Encompassing Bracelet.

“Greetings, Elder,” a waiting clansman said.

Wang Hao nodded. “The final pills are ready. Take them to—no, I’ll find the clan head myself. Please clean the alchemy chamber.”

“Yes, Elder!” The two clansmen went in and cleaned every corner carefully.

With others handling such chores, Wang Hao had been able to work much more efficiently.

He took the pills to Wang Yanzhao. “I managed to refine plenty. They should cover the family’s needs and leave enough to trade with the Li and Lei families for talismans and spiritual tools.”

Wang Yanzhao had received earlier batches already. He had to admit that Wang Hao had surpassed him in alchemy; he himself was still at second-grade mid-grade, some way from high-grade.

Still, Wang Hao was his son, and he was pleased. “Well done, Hao’er. Your alchemy keeps surprising me. Your Sixth Uncle refined quite a few pills too.”

“Uncle Yanzhi and Wenyuan both reached Foundation Establishment. We can trade some pills for suitable artifacts for them. Unfortunately, your Uncle Yanpeng failed.”

“Everyone has their own fate,” Wang Hao said. “With the Vein Protection Pill, Uncle Yanpeng’s foundation should be intact. He can rest for a while and attempt another breakthrough.”

“But where will we get another Foundation Establishment Pill?” Wang Yanzhao frowned.

A failed attempt used more than forty thousand Spirit Stones’ worth of resources. Two attempts meant eighty thousand. An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator generated only two or three thousand Spirit Stones of value each year.

It would take forty or fifty years to repay that debt to the family.