The acquisition of high-quality Mingguang Sha Qi is indeed very difficult, as it signifies immense killing.
In the secret chamber, Mingguang Sha Qi of such quality is not found. Even if it were, it would likely not be directly offered to ordinary individuals like Quan, who hailed from distant tribes and yearned for cultivation, but rather held by cultivators who had already made significant contributions to the cultivation consortium.
Within the secret chamber, although Mingguang Sha Qi exists, it is only of ordinary quality.
Sha Qi of this caliber can be refined from the remains of ten异兽 (yi shou - strange beasts), yielding enough for twenty servings. It is abundant rather than refined, highly accessible, and not particularly precious.
"Mingguang Sha Qi, Dilong Sha Qi, Guishe Sha Qi…"
Quan recited these names, collecting the three types of Sha Qi using an immortal cultivation secret technique.
Among these three types of Sha Qi, Guishe Sha Qi was the most precious, while Mingguang Sha Qi was the most common. With these three as the primary components, supplemented by smaller quantities of other Sha Qi, Quan was ready to perform his first pill refinement.
Ordinary pill refinement requires a cauldron. First, the cauldron is warmed, then various medicinal ingredients are added, followed by a gradual increase in heat to harmonize the medicinal properties, condense the liquid, and finally form the pill.
This is ordinary pill refinement.
Sha Qi, however, is different.
Sha Qi is not a common medicinal ingredient. Although some Sha Qi possess form and can exist in solid or liquid states, this does not mean they can be placed in a cauldron and refined over high heat.
Using the three main types of Sha Qi as the base, and blending them with other Sha Qi, is not a test of the furnace but a harmonization of the spirit.
Quan, armed with the knowledge of the steps and the properties of Sha Qi he had learned, began his pill refinement.
Soon, he managed to fuse Mingguang Sha Qi with Guishe Sha Qi.
Three hours later.
Quan, in his spirit, in the depths of his consciousness, felt fire.
A great fire.
This was a fire of the spirit.
At the location of this spiritual flame, a phenomenon seemed to manifest. Within the Sha Qi, mixed in various proportions, something appeared to be emerging.
Quan knew the time had come.
He exhaled, employing his learned knowledge of Sha Qi properties, and began the process of collecting the pill.
Circulating the immortal cultivation secret technique, in his spirit, a pill emerged, exuding a faint aura of killing intent and righteous light, its runes dim.
Quan looked at this pill with its dim runes and dull color, knowing in his heart that he had likely refined a failed pill… no, it was a failed pill.
He sighed deeply.
Indeed, to expect to refine a pill that would allow him to step onto the path of immortal cultivation on his very first attempt was wishful thinking.
It wasn't that it was impossible to succeed on the first try, but rather that the probability of such an immediate success was very small.
Others might possess such luck, but he did not.
Perhaps, for someone like him, multiple attempts would be necessary for success.
Regarding the grade of refined pills, the Taihang Mountain Cultivation Consortium possessed a book titled "Pill Success Nine Grades," which described various pills, methods of collecting them, and their respective grades.
Quan himself had read this book and naturally understood how pill grades were classified.
Pills with unclear light, dim surface runes, and dull colors were classified as the lower three grades.
Pills with a bright yellow hue, flashing runes, but no golden radiance were classified as the middle three grades.
Pills with pervasive golden radiance and perfect form were classified as the upper three grades.
The pill Quan had refined earlier, using Mingguang Sha Qi, Guishe Sha Qi, and Dilong Sha Qi as the primary components, was a lower-grade pill.
If it were a pill for another stage of cultivation, such a lower-grade pill would not necessarily be considered a failed pill, as it would still have the effect of increasing spiritual power.
However, the pill Quan was refining was a crucial one, meant to allow him to step onto the threshold of immortal cultivation.
This was a pill for the transition from mortal to immortal cultivator. The passage from mortal to immortal is incredibly difficult. Unlike pills for other stages, this pill, which condenses the first divine ability seed and cultivates the first Yin Sha spiritual power, absolutely could not be of the lower three grades.
According to statistics from the Taihang Mountain Cultivation Consortium, among the nine grades of pills, only those reaching the fifth grade could serve as a crucial pill for the path from mortal to immortal, ensuring a certain level of safety.
While lower-grade pills were not entirely unusable, they carried risks of death, disability, and foundation damage.
In the early days of immortal cultivation's development, some pioneers relied on such pills out of necessity. However, the immortal path had now developed to a certain extent. Quan possessed knowledge of the properties of various Sha Qi and had sufficient supply of Sha Qi in the secret chamber. Naturally, he would not risk embarking on the immortal path with a lower-grade, failed pill.
Given the choice, he had no intention of going mad, suffering mental breakdown, or dying outright.
He began to rest for an hour before commencing his next refinement.
Quan firmly believed in the principle of practice makes perfect.
If it didn't work once, he could try many times.
With the enhancement of a high-grade fire spirit root artifact, his efficiency was the same as others possessing spirit root artifacts. Now, it all depended on his comprehension.
As for comprehension,
Quan did not believe he was inferior to others.
Several months later.
Quan circulated his Yin Sha spiritual power, initially rising several tens of meters above the ground. Soon, he felt his spiritual power weakening. As this was his first time flying, he was naturally afraid of accidents and quickly descended.
In the Yin Sha realm, flight was indeed possible once an appropriate divine ability seed was condensed.
However, for cultivators who had just consumed a pill and entered the Yin Sha realm, their flying ability was not yet remarkable.
They could not fly recklessly.
In the centuries-long history of the Taihang Mountain Cultivation Consortium, there were instances of cultivators who, upon entering the Yin Sha realm, immediately sought to fly through the heavens and earth. They would ascend to heights of over a hundred meters, only to find their divine ability seeds and Yin Sha spiritual power insufficient, and consequently fall.
Having just condensed a divine ability seed, they possessed only the ability to fly, but not the innate divine ability of body tempering. Their physical bodies lacked sufficient strength. Despite being Yin Sha realm cultivators, their bodies were still as they were as commoners.
The physical body of a commoner, a mortal body, once the Yin Sha spiritual power was depleted, what would happen if they fell from a great height?
Such incidents, falling from hundreds of meters and crashing to the ground, becoming cultivators who died due to flight, had indeed occurred, and more than once.
Quan had no desire to die such a foolish death.
The Taihang Mountain Cultivation Consortium had compiled a "Flight Manual" as a guide for beginners practicing flight.
In the "Flight Manual," senior cultivators warned their juniors not to fly too fast immediately after learning to fly, nor to ascend to excessively high altitudes.
The optimal flight for beginners was low-altitude flight, not high-altitude flight. Even for experienced flyers, it was generally not recommended to ascend beyond twenty meters.