Immortal Road.

Chapter 107 Find a new way
When Lin Shan heard that the boss, Zuo Zhenren, wanted to meet him, he naturally did not dare to neglect it and hurriedly followed the maid to the fifth floor.

In the ancient-style reception room with the scent of sandalwood curling in the air, an old man without eyebrows was playing with an iron egg in his hand, leaning back in a chair with his eyes closed, resting, while the tea on the table next to him was still steaming.

"Junior Lin Shan greets Master Zuo."

"sit!"

Lin Shan sat down as he was told, only to see Master Zuo still playing with the ball with his eyes closed, while he was talking about the auction.

"This year's Yichuan Auction is about to be held, and the time for you to come out of seclusion is just right."

"Previous auctions were hosted by former chief appraiser Mr. Zhang. Now that you have taken over his position, it stands to reason that you should host the auction in two days."

Lin Shan listened quietly to what was going on. He believed that Master Zuo would not speak without a purpose.

"But your cultivation has not yet reached the foundation-building stage, so I'm afraid you can't control the situation. Under the gaze of so many cultivators, you may not be able to withstand the pressure from all sides, so I handed the job of hosting to someone else."

"What do you think?"

Master Zuo's tone was calm, but there was no negotiating attitude at all, he was just stating a fact.

“It’s all up to the real person!”

Lin Shan certainly understood what the leader meant. He had not originally planned to be a host. His cultivation level was indeed not enough to withstand the pressure from all sides. If the two bidding parties quarreled, he would be in a difficult position and no one would give him face.

It is understandable that Master Zuo is also considering the stability of the auction.

The two chatted for a while. Although Lin Shan's cultivation was low, his appraisal skills were solid. He had not made any mistakes since he came to the auction house. He was considered a professional. Master Zuo encouraged him.

Lin Shan felt relieved when he found out that Zuo Zhenren seemed to be just talking to him about work and nothing else. However, he started to think about something else.
Master Zuo is an old monster in the Jindan stage who has lived for hundreds of years. How could he not be aware of his little thoughts?
"I see that you have reached the ninth level of Qi training. Is it time to prepare for foundation building?"

"The real person has a keen eye!"

Lin Shan felt a little excited. If the auction house's boss, Zuo Zhenren, was willing to give him a back door, then maybe there would be a way to get the Foundation Establishment Pill!
After all, I am a professional in the auction house.
But before he had time to think too much, reality poured cold water on him.

"The Foundation Establishment Pills at this year's auction have already been reserved by the major families and sects. I'm afraid there are no extra shares. Even if I want to help you, I can't do anything."

Although Master Zuo had no eyebrows, he frowned, which looked extremely strange, but Lin Shan didn't think about it at all.

He had confirmed through these words that even the big boss of the auction house said that he could do nothing, so it seemed that there was really no hope.

Foundation Establishment Pills are usually in short supply, and the only place that independent cultivators can hope to get them is at auction.

It won’t work here, and it won’t work anywhere else!
The Black Lotus Cult's agreement lasts only one year. Can I only build my foundation by force and leave everything to fate?
It is not impossible to build a foundation by force, but the success rate is shockingly low, especially for newcomers who try to "combine Qi and Spirit" for the first time. There is a high probability that they will fail and only add a "Dao Mark".

Among the casual cultivators in the foundation-building stage in the world of cultivation, there are very few who can successfully build a foundation within three times. And the more Dao marks there are, the more difficult it will be to break through, so the risk of forcibly building a foundation is too great.

Not to mention that Lin Shan was feeling disheartened, Zuo Zhenren, who was sitting in a high position, would naturally not let his subordinates feel disheartened, so he changed the subject.

"Yichuan Auction House holds a small auction every year and a large auction every five years. Only during the large auctions will there be extra shares for independent cultivators for Foundation Establishment Pills. The next large auction will be in four years!"

"When the time comes, since you are my man, I will naturally help you choose one. Don't worry about it."

With the identity and status of Zuo Zhenren, he was able to make such a promise, which was obviously a promise of his word. Moreover, in his opinion, if he waited for four years and got a guaranteed foundation-building pill, everyone should be ecstatic.

The reason why he got the former appraisal master, Mr. Zhang, was all thanks to the foundation-building pill that Zuo Zhenren had obtained for him.

But Lin Shan looked embarrassed.

Four years!

Another four years to wait!

It only took him four years from the beginning of his cultivation to the completion of his Qi training!
This stopped progressing for four years, and his cultivation level did not improve at all, wasting precious time. By that time, the three sects of the Demonic Path would probably have deployed 100,000 troops and would have already entered the inland of the Song Dynasty.

We are now in the midst of a time of chaos, and four years will definitely bring about earth-shaking changes. Who knows if any Foundation Establishment Pills will leak out of the major sects by then.

If there is no Foundation Establishment Pill by that time, will I just keep wasting time waiting?

Moreover, if he had not followed the proprietress of Yanchunlou to join the Black Lotus Sect before the battle between good and evil in the Song Dynasty, even if he had obtained the foundation-building pill four years later and stepped into the foundation-building stage by chance, it would be extremely difficult to enter again at that time.

After all, having someone to guide you and having no one to guide you are two different things!
Having a Jindan-stage magic master as a guarantee is of course much more reliable than sneaking in alone.

However, Lin Shan could still understand Master Zuo's good intentions. It was very kind of him to be able to help him to this extent.

He immediately bowed and thanked: "Thank you for your kindness!"

Zuo Zhenren didn't take it seriously either. He probably thought that since Lin Shan had achieved perfection in Qi training at such a young age, he naturally had high aspirations and didn't want to waste four years.

But that's how the world of cultivation works, the weak prevail over the weak, and resources are controlled by the upper echelons. He has the opportunity four years later, which is better than countless others, but he just doesn't know how to appreciate his blessings.

Then Lin Shan took his leave. He had no intention of attending the auction two days later. After all, the foundation-building pill had already been selected, and he was not well-off. When the time came, he would be sitting there and watching with envy, and could do nothing else.

However, he had expected that he could not obtain the foundation-building pill by relying on external forces. For a cultivator in the Qi training stage, this kind of pill was a life-changing pill, so it was normal for a casual cultivator to have difficulty obtaining it.

But is he normal?
Now that we have saved so much of the ancient charm of the reinforced panel, it’s time to put it to use!

……

“There are two paths ahead.”

Lin Shan began to come up with the plan he had been building for a long time.

"First, the recipe for the foundation-building pill is not a secret. What is scarce are a few five-hundred-year-old main herbs. I just need to find some younger main herbs and strengthen them to a sufficient age, and then I can prepare to refine the pill."

"But the foundation-building pill is not an ordinary pill. Without advanced alchemy skills, we can only borrow the help of others and ask for another alchemist."

"Asking an alchemist to make pills for me, not only is the success rate unguaranteed, but if the alchemist pockets the money, I will be helpless."

Lin Shan didn't mind speculating about others with malicious eyes. After all, this was a world of cultivation ruled by the law of the jungle, and everyone was concerned with profit.

I dare to ask which alchemist does not enrich himself? I am afraid there is not one.

The materials for a furnace of Foundation Building Pills are worth tens of thousands of spirit stones. Once refined, depending on the level of the alchemist, the number of pills that can be produced ranges from one to more than ten.

If I am unlucky and fail to successfully break through with one Foundation Establishment Pill, I will naturally need the next one, and even the next one.

Embezzling others' wealth is not a big deal. What I am afraid of is that they will waste the medicinal materials they have strengthened before they can be successfully refined.

There is no way to reason with this. Wouldn't all my ancient charm be wasted?

Then what about refining the elixir yourself? That's not impossible.

But the question is, can my alchemy skills reach this level in one year?

The enhancement panel enhances specific spells and magical powers rather than a hodgepodge of skills. It is impossible to easily enhance alchemy, one of the six arts of cultivation, from a novice to an alchemy master. There is no such thing.

You need to know the six arts of cultivation: alchemy, weapon refining, beast taming, formation, puppetry, and talismans.

Each subject is profound and contains a vast amount of knowledge. What is needed is the combination of countless theories and practices. There is no such thing as a simple "skill book" to learn for yourself.

All the alchemy apprentices in the world of cultivation now, whether they learn it from word of mouth from their elders or from alchemy books bought in shops, only know some pharmacological knowledge, material identification, fire temperature experience, fire control techniques and the like at most.

Every master and even grandmaster of alchemy has mastered the success rate of alchemy by combining fragmentary knowledge with countless years of experience.

Moreover, the success rate of each type of elixir and each elixir recipe is different, and each requires a different level of proficiency.

Therefore, disciples of large sects usually wait until they have reached the foundation-building stage and have sufficient lifespan before considering studying one of the six arts.

At the same time, as the cultivator's realm becomes higher, his magic power becomes deeper. With a bird's-eye view, he will naturally learn faster and more deeply than lower-level cultivators.

Lin Shan is now learning alchemy. After he has mastered it, he may be able to refine some low- and medium-level pills, but the success rate of refining high-level pills like the third-grade magic pill "Foundation Building Pill" is likely to be slim.

Without the deep spiritual power of the foundation-building period, and without the precise control of fire by the divine consciousness, if one wants to refine pills of higher levels, nine out of ten times, a furnace of hundreds of years of medicinal materials will be wasted!
Then this method is too risky, so you can only choose the second one.

"Strengthening pills!"

The Foundation Establishment Pill is different from the bottleneck pills in the Qi training period. Its value lies in increasing the success rate of the integration of Qi and spirit, and its miraculous effect of eliminating "Dao marks".

Strengthening pills also need to follow the rules of pharmacology.

If the enhanced pill does not have the two medicinal effects he expected, then it is entirely a matter of luck as to what new functions the enhanced pill will have, just like opening a blind box.

Lin Shan's purpose is to build a foundation, so naturally he won't gamble on other messy effects.

He only needs to assist in the two effects of "combining Qi and Spirit" and eliminating "Traces of Dao"!
However, after searching through all the low- and mid-level elixirs for the Qi training period, there is not a single elixir that has both of these effects.

In other words, there is no ready-made elixir that can strengthen it into an elixir with the same effect as the Foundation Establishment Pill.

But there is always a way out, some things can be worked around.

Lin Shan has possessed the golden finger of the enhanced panel for four years. As the owner, he naturally understands that the functions of this incredible panel are far more than that.

Therefore, if there are no ready-made pills to strengthen yourself, you have another way to do it.

That is.
According to the pill formula and pharmacology, first make a "low-end version" of the foundation-building pill.

(End of this chapter)