Han Li picked up one of the jade slips and gave it a gentle blow, revealing its lustrous, jade-green surface.
He pressed the slip against his forehead and slowly let his consciousness sink into its depths. The method for refining a particular pill appeared before his eyes—was it possible? It was the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe he had been dreaming of, complete from the gathering of raw materials to the final condensation into pill form, not a single step missing. Surprise and joy surged through him simultaneously.
He could not be bothered to check the other slip just yet. He hurriedly scanned through the entire contents with his mind. But when the words "must be refined using innate True Fire" flashed through his consciousness, Han Li froze. He felt as though he had been struck completely dumb.
Innate True Fire was the Daoist yang flame possessed only by Foundation Establishment cultivators—a basic mystical ability that came naturally to any cultivator who had crossed into Foundation Establishment. It grew stronger as the cultivator meditated and cultivated, and upon reaching the Core Formation stage, this True Fire would transform into the legendary Samadhi Flame, said to be capable of burning all things under heaven.
But how could a mere Qi Condensation cultivator like Han Li possibly produce Innate True Fire? He would only be able to use it after achieving Foundation Establishment himself.
Yet to reach Foundation Establishment, he needed to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill—and to refine that pill, he required the Innate True Fire that came only after Foundation Establishment. An inescapable, circular trap had formed, locking him in place.
Han Li was so frustrated he wanted to slam his head into a wall.
Asking another Foundation Establishment cultivator to help refine the pill was entirely out of the question. That would be tantamount to exposing the secret of the small bottle to an outsider. At that point, the supposed helper would more likely become the one to take his life.
Han Li stood before the table in a state of restless agitation for a long while before finally lifting the jade slip from his forehead and setting it back down. Then, with distracted movements, he picked up the second slip, wiped it clean, and revealed a fiery red surface.
"The Foundation Establishment Pill will have to wait. Let me see what this one holds first—perhaps it contains a different recipe for a wondrous pill!" Han Li was, above all, a decisive man. He set the Foundation Establishment Pill matter aside immediately and turned his attention to this red jade slip, hoping it would bring a great surprise.
"Appearance Preservation Pill." The moment Han Li's consciousness entered the slip, these three characters surfaced in his mind. A flicker of unease stirred within him, but he quickly tried to reassure himself. "The name is what it is, but the pill's actual effects may not be what I'm assuming. Perhaps it has other extraordinary uses!"
But the very next lines shattered that thin hope completely. "Capable of preserving one's youthful appearance and maintaining one's visage for eternity"—that was the extent of its described功效. There was nothing more.
Han Li stood as though rooted to the spot, motionless and silent. Yet inside, the smoldering frustration he had been suppressing could no longer be contained, and he cursed inwardly.
"What kind of scripture vault is this? Not a single useful recipe in sight, but an absolute mountain of useless junk! What possible use are these gold needle secrets or Appearance Preservation Pills to cultivators? And yet they're displayed here as though they were treasures..."
Just as Han Li was beginning to feel that this entire trip had been a complete waste, that grating voice drifted up from below once more.
"Time's up. If you want to stay—"
"I'm coming down!"
This time, Han Li had no intention of throwing away yet another spirit stone for nothing. He picked up the jade slip containing the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe and prepared to leave.
But as he reached the staircase, he paused. He reflected that while the Appearance Preservation Pill offered no benefit whatsoever to advancing his cultivation, it might still be sellable to other cultivators. And more importantly, this pill did not require the so-called Innate True Fire—he could refine it right now with his current abilities.
At this thought, Han Li turned on his heel, strode back to the table, and snatched up the red jade slip as well. Only then did he return to the staircase and descend with heavy footsteps.
"Well now, young friend! Did you find anything worthwhile?" The moment Han Li appeared, the old man greeted him with a face full of smiles, though Han Li could hear the utter insincerity in every syllable.
"Elder Xu, is the floor upstairs really where the sect keeps its pill recipes? How is it filled with nothing but junk and refuse? There aren't more storage rooms elsewhere, are there?" Han Li ignored the old man's teasing tone and finally asked the question that had been gnawing at him, his expression one of unmistakable frustration.
The old man studied Han Li's face, then let out a raspy, scheming chuckle.
"Since I took charge of this place, you're far from the first to raise that question. Nearly every newcomer who visits the second floor comes back down to ask me the same thing. But if you want to know the full story..." Elder Xu deliberately drew out his words, the implication that he expected payment could not have been more transparent.
This shamelessly greedy expression left Han Li utterly speechless. The man standing before him was no Foundation Establishment cultivator—he was a merchant from the mortal world, a born miser in every sense.
At this moment, Han Li finally understood why the old man had insisted on being called "Elder Xu" rather than "Grand Uncle." The fellow clearly felt that if he were addressed as a sect elder, it would be unseemly to openly demand payment. A pathetic little ruse of self-deception.
Han Li's brow twitched. Without a word, he placed both jade slips on the table before the old man with two firm taps.
"This junior originally intended to have both slips copied. But now it seems I may not have enough spirit stones! In that case, I'll just have one copied and return the other." Han Li had not spent all those years in the mortal world for nothing. A small countermeasure to keep the old man's appetite in check.
"You want both copied?" Elder Xu's eyes went wide with delight.
"That was the plan. But this junior still needs answers to that earlier question, and the funds seem rather insufficient now."
"Hehe, since you're being so straightforward, of course the answer is free! Let me copy those for you first!" The old man hastily grabbed both jade slips, pulled two blank white slips from the shelf behind him, and began the copying process with frantic haste, clearly terrified that Han Li might change his mind.
"Done. Take them!" The old man's movements were astonishingly swift. Before Han Li could even close his mouth in astonishment, the copies were finished, and the old man tossed them onto the table. He then fixed Han Li with a look that plainly said, *Well? Aren't you going to pay up?*
Han Li's mouth twitched. He opened it as if to speak, but no words came out. After a brief silence, he reached into his storage pouch with practiced efficiency, produced twenty low-grade spirit stones, and handed them over without a word.
The old man accepted the stones with a radiant smile, practically glowing with delight. He counted them three or four times in succession before finally noticing that Han Li was still standing there, waiting for his answer.
Only then did Elder Xu tuck the spirit stones away with visible satisfaction. He regarded Han Li once more with the evaluating gaze one might bestow upon a wealthy patron.
"You truly can't judge a book by its cover! To think a young friend of yours would have such deep pockets—it's genuinely surprised me. But while I may love money, I am a man who keeps his word. Ask whatever questions you like today, and I guarantee you'll leave satisfied!" The old man withdrew his gaze and suddenly adopted an expression of solemn propriety.
Han Li was mildly surprised but wasted no time in demanding his answer.
"The truth is quite simple. Most of the pill recipes have long been lost. This isn't unique to our Yellow Maple Valley—even the other major sects, and indeed the entire cultivation world, face the same situation!" The old man spoke slowly.
Han Li blinked, puzzled, and stared at the old man.
"Think about it carefully, young friend, and the answer becomes clear. What gives a pill recipe its value? Obviously, it is because the recipe allows one to transform rare spiritual treasures into pills for us cultivators to consume."
"But have you considered that these spiritual treasures are exceedingly limited in number? Each one requires hundreds, even thousands of years to mature. And the number of cultivators has never decreased—if anything, it grows with each passing year. This has led to a gradual depletion of the raw materials recorded in those recipes, with some becoming entirely extinct. By the time the cultivation world realized the severity of the problem, most of the world's spiritual treasures had already been harvested clean. Only a handful remained in certain remote and dangerous locations—places so perilous that even accomplished cultivators would think twice before venturing there."
"Thus, recipes whose raw materials could no longer be obtained became utterly worthless. Who would bother preserving them? After the passage of vast stretches of time and several great catastrophes that shook the cultivation world, those pill recipes gradually vanished from history, leaving behind only a scant few. The Foundation Establishment Pill is one of the lucky survivors."