A second-tier fire beast crystal core!
Even though the fire beast's breakthrough had been rushed and its post-breakthrough state was unstable, the energy contained in its crystal core after death had undeniably reached the Foundation Establishment level!
"Hmm… a bit on the weaker side. Might affect the number of pills produced, but it's perfect for practice…"
"Even if I fail, it won't be too painful a loss!"
Li Ye chuckled to himself. But as the thoughts turned over in his mind, his expression grew serious again.
"Still… if all the fire beasts here can break through by devouring their kind, that could get dangerous…"
"What if I run into a swarm and lose focus for a moment? It could go from an easy sweep to getting surrounded and beaten down by multiple beasts of the same tier."
"Unless I can set up a controlled environment, then maybe I could exploit this trait to farm second-tier crystal cores… otherwise, I need to take them out quickly not giving them the chance to break through mid-fight!"
By now, he had gathered a fairly thorough understanding of the lava palace's outer region and had more or less finished comparing his observations with the notes left behind by Xu and Ma.
Playing it safe as always, Li Ye had no intention of continuing his exploration today.
But he wasn't in a rush to leave either.
He carefully recorded and sorted all his recent findings into a jade slip. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he used Cold Breath Talismans to cool the area as he stood at the lakeshore, observing for over an hour more.
Only after confirming that the battle earlier hadn't caused any significant chain reaction in the surrounding formations and that the slow expansion of the restriction field hadn't accelerated did he finally feel at ease.
After all, the formation arrays here were inherently unstable and already exhibiting a slow growth trend. No one could say when they might suddenly expand in a major surge.
Had it not been for Li Ye's decent skill and his constant, careful maneuvering to avoid triggering anything major, he might have already stirred up quite the disaster.
But after this long period of observation, he now felt confident that while the formation fields connecting each structure island were indeed interlinked, there was a clear logic to their layout.
As long as he avoided critical nodes, he could prevent wide-scale chain reactions. At worst, any effects would be contained within the individual structure's boundaries.
He hadn't fully cracked the system yet, but he was feeling much more confident.
"Things aren't nearly as bad as I first feared. Looks like I can go ahead and keep picking up 'scraps' here for a while…"
Content with the day's work, Li Ye left a batch of insect puppets behind to continue monitoring the area, then made his way back along the route he came.
"The formation and the upper-level components still need to be restructured… can't even block out the geothermal heat. And yet, despite incomplete information, I was still able to probe them a potential risk…"
Back at the entrance to the lava cave, he stared at the active formation array, muttering to himself as he began revising and simulating its design again…
By the time Li Ye finally walked out of his secluded courtyard, several more hours had already passed.
.....
Seated solemnly before the alchemy cauldron, the blazing ground fire surged higher and higher. Inside the cauldron, waves of scorching heat rolled outward, resembling clouds of fiery vapor relentlessly pounding against the cauldron walls.
Fully focused, Li Ye controlled the flame within the cauldron with utmost precision. His expression was serious, a bead of sweat trailing slowly down his brow.
After a moment, he suddenly shouted:
"Open!"
A surge of flame erupted, scarlet light flaring as the vast medicinal energy within the cauldron condensed all at once, forming several pills that shot into the air.
There were five in total. Two of them instantly crumbled into black ash mid-air.
The remaining three pills about the size of longan fruits carried wisps of faint red mist around them as they gently landed into a jade plate.
"About a sixty percent pill yield… but limited by the low purity of the crystal core's spiritual power, most of it was wasted during refinement. Reduced the final output."
"Even so, this Firecloud Pill is still a big win."
Li Ye made a calm assessment, clearly satisfied with the result.
Second-tier pills required high-grade ingredients whether spiritual herbs or demon cores each coming with age and cultivation demands, often making them extremely valuable.
The cost of refining a single batch of second-tier pills was considerable!
And because of that, second-tier pills especially those that enhanced spiritual power were often not just expensive but rare to the point of being unavailable even if one had the wealth.
But now, Li Ye had produced them from mere scavenged second-tier fire beast cores. This was, without a doubt, an enormous profit!
"With this as leverage, I should be able to attract the attention of the various factions across the nations…"
He smiled. "After all, they're just Foundation Establishment-level forces. As long as they haven't nurtured their second-tier alchemists, none of them would be able to resist this kind of temptation!"
"Once they bite the bait and bring out the cultivation techniques and pill recipes I need… I'll be able to resume my great farming endeavor!"
He extinguished the ground fire and cleaned up the cauldron, a faint smile creeping onto his face.
Because of his current cultivation technique's limitations, his progress since reaching Foundation Establishment had been minimal he hadn't even advanced a single drop of liquid spiritual energy.
If not for the multiple avenues still left to explore, he had already considered heading out to the markets under the control of a Core Formation sect to try his luck!
Fortunately, the letters he had sent out over the past few days ever since returning from the lava cave had finally begun to receive scattered responses.
Most replies were cautious, expressing doubt given the complete lack of prior contact. Many indicated that restoring relations similar to those with the late Xu Pingyang would require further observation.
Some even hinted at sending envoys for inspection.
Li Ye, however, remained calm and unbothered.
Rather than play into their tentative approaches, he had directly added the Firecloud Pill to the list of trade goods and openly declared his needs for cultivation techniques, inheritances, and spiritual plants. Then, he sent out a second round of letters to the factions across the three nations.
These were sent just a few days ago after returning from the lava cave. Though the distances were great, he expected fresh responses to arrive any day now…
This time, it wouldn't be them choosing him he would be the one picking from what they could offer.
As he walked out of the alchemy chamber, the heat from the refining session and the faint fragrance of medicinal herbs still lingered on him.
Waiting just outside, Xia Qiong and Hong Yao stepped forward carefully with a bowl of lotus seed soup.
"Master, you've worked hard refining pills. Please have some lotus seed soup to cool off…"
Li Ye nodded, and the three of them headed toward a nearby pavilion.
Overlooking the scenic mountain view, he slowly savored the sweet, chilled soup as Hong Yao gently fed it to him. Beside him, Xia Qiong used a soft handkerchief to delicately wipe the sweat from his forehead.
The heat that had built up in his body from the alchemy session quickly faded away.
"Master, the fragrance from the pill is just divine!"
Xia Qiong leaned in closer, her petite nose twitching as a flush crept onto her cheeks and a dreamy expression lit up her face.
"This pill is something to be smelled, not tasted. Too much of it and I doubt you could handle it…"
Li Ye chuckled, lightly tapping the girl's nose with his finger, prompting a playful squeal.
Seeing this, Hong Yao silently cursed the little flirt in her heart, but on the surface, she maintained a gentle smile as she spoke to Li Ye:
"Just now, the formation was triggered Vice Leader Luo sent up a letter. Please take a look, Young Master."
As she spoke, she retrieved a faintly fragrant letter from her robes and respectfully handed it over to Li Ye.
Li Ye raised an eyebrow. Immediately ceasing the playful teasing with his maids, he took the letter and, upon reading it, a wide smile spread across his face.
Without hesitation, he stood up and began walking outside.
There was news about the second-tier wood-element spiritual rice he had been seeking!
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