The Eight-Pill Gamble

Chapter 216: Potency

Seeing the man apologize so carefully, Han Li found it hard to keep holding a grudge. He abandoned his original plan to teach the fellow a lesson. After all, the ugly man’s only real offense had been his earlier rudeness; he hadn’t committed any major sin.

Thinking this, Han Li’s expression softened, and he spoke calmly.

“Since there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”

With that, he drifted lightly away from the spot.

The ugly man stared at Han Li’s retreating figure for a long while. Finally, he let out a deep sigh and muttered to himself, “There’s no justice in this world. Others can just casually go into a ground-fire room and come out having established their Foundation. But me? I find a quiet meditation chamber, stockpile a pile of supplementary pills, and still can’t break through. No wonder that man was accepted as Senior Li’s personal disciple. He must have extraordinary talent.”

The ugly man had mistaken Han Li for a genius of exceptional aptitude. If Han Li had heard this, he would have been bitterly amused.

At this moment, Han Li had already walked out of Yuelu Hall. The two guarding the teleportation formation had been replaced by others, or else they would have been shocked to see a Qi Condensation cultivator suddenly become a Foundation Establishment one.

Han Li piloted his flying tool slowly through the sky, feeling completely at ease as he recalled the experience of breaking into Foundation Establishment.

Five months earlier, after refining his Foundation Establishment Pill and weighing his options, Han Li had determined that using a ground-fire room for his breakthrough was an excellent idea. At the very least, he didn’t have to worry about someone suddenly bursting in and interrupting his secluded meditation, causing him to fail midway.

With his decision made, Han Li first consumed one of his original three Foundation Establishment Pills, then began circulating his cultivation and dissolving the medicinal potency.

The potency of the Foundation Establishment Pill took effect quickly. Within just a few hours, Han Li felt a scorching flame growing hotter and hotter in his dantian, while his limbs and the rest of his body became bitterly cold. This created a stark contrast of hot and cold sensations.

But this feeling only lasted a short while. The flame in his dantian suddenly vanished without a trace, and his limbs returned to a normal temperature. This left Han Li somewhat puzzled.

A flicker of confusion passed over his face, then his expression suddenly changed drastically. Both hands pressed firmly against his dantian, refusing to move even an inch.

Because at that spot, a fierce pain had erupted, as if seven or eight sharp knives were twisting simultaneously. Unprepared for this, Han Li’s face instantly turned deathly pale. Sweat droplets the size of soybeans rolled ceaselessly down his jaw. His entire body curled into a tight bow.

Writhing in agony on the ground, Han Li cursed furiously in his mind. Why had no one ever mentioned that taking a Foundation Establishment Pill would be this excruciating?

But before he could finish two curses, the sharp pain in his dantian suddenly exploded outward.

The explosion transformed into countless streams of heat that surged along his meridians, flooding his entire body and even penetrating deep into his bone marrow. Then, the heat immediately changed into an unbearable, maddening itch, as if countless ants were crawling all over his body. He wished he could smash his head against the wall just to find some relief.

This torment, which nearly drove Han Li insane, lasted for the time it took to eat a meal before gradually subsiding. Only then could Han Li support himself against the wall and barely stand up. By now, he was drenched in sweat, his entire body covered in a layer of strange gray matter that was sticky and gave off an indescribable foul odor.

But Han Li paid no attention to any of this. What mattered to him was that his cultivation technique had suddenly advanced to the twelfth layer, and his entire body felt warm and comfortable.

Clearly, the Foundation Establishment Pill he had just taken had already improved his constitution, tempering his marrow and strengthening his tendons. As for the warmth in his body, it was likely the residual medicinal potency of the pill that had not yet been fully absorbed. He could absorb it to increase his mana. This was also the reason why one had to go into secluded cultivation for three months after taking a Foundation Establishment Pill. Otherwise, this potency would gradually dissipate over time.

At first, Han Li strictly followed the established process for Foundation Establishment, earnestly sitting in meditation to absorb this residual potency.

But he soon discovered that the potency stored within his body could only deepen his mana by a small amount and would not further improve his constitution.

If someone had only one Foundation Establishment Pill, they would naturally seize this rare opportunity to increase their mana. They would not stop until they had spent a full three months in secluded cultivation, absorbing all the potency.

But Han Li was different. He still had a large batch of Foundation Establishment Pills in his possession. He didn’t care much about these residual potencies. What concerned him was how many more cycles of constitutional improvement he would need before he could truly step into Foundation Establishment. After all, tempering the marrow and strengthening the tendons was the key to breaking through and successfully establishing the foundation.

After more than ten days of meditation, Han Li finally came to this understanding. He naturally had no patience to wait several months before taking his second pill.

He told himself that taking one Foundation Establishment Pill in quick succession shouldn’t cause any major problems. At worst, the residual potency would be a little more abundant. That was nothing. After thinking it over several times, Han Li finally didn’t wait any longer. Just a few days later, he took a second Foundation Establishment Pill.

The same sharp pain. The same maddening itch. Even though he was prepared, Han Li still suffered terribly. But he noticed that the second time seemed slightly lighter than the first. Still, a fair amount of impurities had been expelled from his body. It seemed his aptitude was truly poor.

After taking the second Foundation Establishment Pill, Han Li didn’t feel anything wrong with the residual potency in his body. Of course, the warmth was slightly stronger, but that was harmless. His mana also advanced by leaps and bounds to the thirteenth layer—the peak of the Qi Condensation stage.

This relieved Han Li. After that, he took one Foundation Establishment Pill after another. Each pill had the same marrow-tempering effect, driving out one batch after another of gray impurities from Han Li’s body.

But starting with the third pill, Han Li clearly felt the marrow-tempering effect of the Foundation Establishment Pill decline sharply. The impurities expelled also decreased. At the same time, the true energy within his body was undergoing a strange transformation.

His original gaseous true energy, after several Foundation Establishment Pills, gradually became dense and viscous, showing a clear tendency to transform into a liquid state. By the time he took the seventh pill, aside from a small core area in his dantian, Han Li’s true energy was practically indistinguishable from liquid.

However, after taking the seventh pill, the residual medicinal potency in Han Li’s body finally reached near saturation. The original warmth throughout his body had now transformed into a searing, burning sensation. This made Han Li hesitate.

He truly didn’t know if swallowing an eighth pill would cause the potency to erupt and bring about chaos. But he also felt that he was very close to Foundation Establishment. Perhaps it would only take one or two more pills.

After a brief deliberation, Han Li’s desire for Foundation Establishment won out. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed an eighth Foundation Establishment Pill.

But the moment this pill entered his stomach, the residual potency he had barely managed to control suddenly erupted violently. A wave of heat rushed through his meridians, and he immediately lost consciousness.

When Han Li woke up, his body burning hot, he discovered with surprise that he had broken through during his unconsciousness and had entered Foundation Establishment.

Jolted awake by a mix of shock and joy, Han Li immediately wanted to leap up to release his excitement. But as soon as he straightened up, his body burned up again, and he collapsed to the ground. This gave him a great fright.

It turned out that although he had successfully established his Foundation, the residual potency of the eight Foundation Establishment Pills in his body had not diminished in the slightest. It still filled his entire body, a very dangerous situation.

In his current state, he had to immediately circulate his cultivation and absorb this potency. Otherwise, it could erupt again at any moment.

Even though Han Li understood the solution to his crisis, his heart was secretly bitter. He couldn’t cheer up.

Because aside from the Azure Essence Sword Art, Han Li had no Foundation Establishment stage techniques at all! And as for this sword art, considering how casually his new master had tossed it to him, it was clearly some low-grade technique.

Furthermore, Han Li had flipped through the book a few times before and made some inquiries about it.

The sword art was indeed very ordinary. Almost every Foundation Establishment disciple of Yellow Maple Valley had practiced two or three layers of it, but no one had ever cultivated it beyond the third layer. Han Li hadn’t yet gotten a clear explanation for the specific reason, but the sword art’s poor quality was obvious from this.

But in his current situation, even if Han Li didn’t want to practice it, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go ahead.

Left with no other option, Han Li took out the Azure Essence Sword Art, spread it flat on the ground before him, then sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate according to the book.

The Azure Essence Sword Art had a total of nine layers. The first three layers could be practiced by Qi Condensation disciples. The middle three and the final three layers could only be practiced by Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators respectively. And for every three layers completed, one could use a unique ability of this sword art.

After completing the first three layers, one could emit sword-light over three meters long from their palm without using any magic tool. Its power was comparable to an average high-grade magic tool.

After completing the middle three layers, one could instantly release a protective sword shield. Its defensive power was roughly equivalent to that of an average elementary mid-grade defensive spell, but this shield came with a certain degree of sword-light counterattack. Anyone who casually attacked this shield would be struck by the sword-light it automatically released.

As for the final three layers...