Ye Qin accepted the few cold bone tiles handed over by the Chief of the Wu Tribe. There were four in total, each covered with tiny, ant-sized characters of the Earth Tribe script—twisted and extremely cryptic.

Holding them, Ye Qin examined the tiles, but unable to decipher the Earth Tribe script, he looked towards the Chief of the Wu Tribe.

“The first tile contains the medicinal ingredient formula for the Innate Sacred Pill.”

“The second records the advanced secret techniques of the East Sea Tribe, those only mastered by high-level Strong Men. These high-level secret techniques have been passed down through our East Sea Tribe over countless years. Although Xiu’er possesses astonishing divine strength, she is unfamiliar with secret techniques, which often puts her at a disadvantage in combat.”

“The third tile pertains to the sorcery of the Wu Department. To learn the sorcery of the Wu Department, one requires an aptitude for chanting. In our East Sea Tribe, those with chanting talent are extremely rare; every one of them is a born Shaman. In the year I have observed her, Xiu’er shows this chanting talent, yet has not managed to learn the sorcery, which is truly a pity.”

“The final tile records some hidden secrets and important inheritances of the East Sea Tribe. Should Xiu’er have the opportunity in the future, she may investigate these secrets.”

“Xiu’er is a member of the East Sea Tribe and can read the tribal script on these four bone tiles. If Elder Ye has any points of confusion, you may simply ask Xiu’er,” the Old Chief explained.

Ye Qin nodded and accepted the four tiles.

He, Huangfu Bing'er, and Bai Xiu’er left the grand hall of the Wu Tribe settlement. Escorted by Elder Wutu and over a dozen high-level Strong Men, they departed the cavern within the mountain belly aboard their mount, the Venom-Horned Beast.

After Ye Qin departed and initiated his journey.

A clamorous debate immediately erupted within the grand hall of the Wu Tribe.

“Old Chief, why hand over the Wu Department’s Innate Sacred Pill formula and sorcery to those East Sea immortals?”

“Our East Sea Tribe has fought immortals before. Ever since the immortals arrived in the East Sea, we have suffered no small amount of bullying!” The elders of the Wu Tribe looked thoroughly indignant.

“My four bone tiles are for Bai Xiu’er; that Immortal Ye cannot even understand them. Furthermore, even if he could understand them, so what!? The Innate Sacred Pill, secret techniques, and sorcery are only effective for the Earth Tribe races. Do you truly believe an immortal would abandon immortal arts to study our tribal sorcery? By leveraging the immortal’s power,” he paused, “it will instead allow our tribe to grow faster. I must do this to gain Immortal Ye’s trust. I have my own judgment on this matter; speak no more.” The Old Chief swept his gaze over the assembled elders and spoke in a deep voice.

“However, though Xiu’er holds the hope of becoming a Sacred Strong Man, we cannot place the entire hope for the East Sea Tribe’s prosperity solely on her shoulders. The major undertaking our tribe is currently pursuing must not be delayed in the slightest.”

Ye Qin summoned the Dark Cloud Veil and returned to his own cave dwelling on the island. He handed three of the four bone tiles directly to Bai Xiu’er, keeping only the Innate Sacred Pill tile for himself, and instructed Bai Xiu’er to translate the contents of the formula into cultivator terminology so he could memorize it.

Following this, Huangfu Bing’er entered secluded cultivation, and Ye Qin also began his intense seclusion, preparing to focus entirely on refining the Root Potential Pill.

Even the eleventh-grade alchemy furnace he had purchased at great expense—the finest available on the market in the coastal cities—was brought out this time. The preliminary preparations for alchemy had been made with extreme thoroughness. To successfully refine a twelfth-grade Root Potential Pill, the alchemist’s own skill must be exceptionally strong, and all external conditions, such as the furnace and the fire, could not be treated lightly in even the smallest detail.

Ye Qin surveyed all the prepared items.

With all preparations complete, Ye Qin sank his consciousness into the Purple Mansion's Floating Wood Island and retrieved a Fire Lotus Seed from the Zi You Lotus, which flowed with five-colored light. Then, wrapping it in his divine sense, he plucked sufficient quantities of the other required spiritual materials and brought them back to the alchemy chamber.

“The formula for this Root Potential Pill was originally obtained from the scripture repository of the Azure Pill Sect. It details the use of the Zi You Lotus seed as the primary material, along with over three hundred types of sixth to tenth-grade spiritual materials. The ages of these materials range from several hundred to several thousand years, and some even have specific age requirements.”

Ye Qin collected the Root Potential Pill formula and meticulously reviewed it once more, musing internally.

“Besides the difficulty in refining it, the inherent scarcity of the materials is also a reason why a single Root Potential Pill rarely appears in hundreds of years. If not for the Purple Mansion being able to accelerate the growth of materials using spirit stones, gathering all the required materials would likely have been impossible.”

Ye Qin shook his head, looking at the enormous mass of spiritual materials before him, feeling a slight headache. Currently, the over three hundred different spiritual materials, emanating distinct auras and glows, were suspended in the air of the ten-zhang square alchemy chamber, controlled by Ye Qin’s magical power, revolving around him and the alchemy furnace. If he hadn't previously set up an extremely meticulous and comprehensive restrictive formation within the alchemy chamber, the spiritual energy emanated by these materials alone would have attracted countless demonic beasts in a frenzy.

“Only one chance! If this attempt fails, I will have to cultivate the Zi You Lotus anew and wait for it to bear another cluster of seeds. That would take several more months.”

Gazing at the brilliantly shining Zi You Lotus seed, Ye Qin let out a long breath. However, he wasn't overly anxious. After all, Bing’er had only recently entered the eighth layer of the Golden Core stage; she was still far from the peak of the ninth layer, requiring at least another twenty years. These twenty-plus years were enough time for him to refine many Root Potential Pills. Therefore, whether this first attempt succeeded or not would not significantly impact him; there was no undue pressure.

Ye Qin formed hand seals, laying down more than ten overlapping layers of alchemy restrictions around the furnace. These restrictions included protecting the furnace, insulating temperature, and even amplifying the furnace fire’s power. Ye Qin even took out a stack of various high-grade talismans, just in case; if his internal magical power proved insufficient, he could use the talismans to compensate. Next, he tossed a pile of exquisite, red Cinder Charcoal beneath the furnace. This was no ordinary charcoal but specially selected Cinder Charcoal used by alchemists, refined from tenth to twelfth-grade spiritual wood, capable of greatly increasing the heat during refining. Such Cinder Charcoal provided excellent heat but was very expensive, unaffordable for most alchemists.

Ye Qin, being only a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, could barely heat this eleventh-grade cauldron red-hot relying solely on his Samadhi True Fire. To refine high-grade spiritual pills, such as this Zi You Lotus seed, the fire from his Golden Core stage Samadhi True Fire was utterly insufficient to refine it into a medicinal liquid. These tenth-grade and higher Cinder Charcoals could precisely augment the blaze, pushing the heat intensity close to the True Fire of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Then, Ye Qin summoned several highly condensed, searing Blue Flames from the Fire Floating Island and shot them toward the furnace base. These extremely high-temperature Blue Flames rapidly ignited the high-grade Cinder Charcoal, emitting soft crackling sounds. The intense flame, a mixture of red and blue, immediately caused half the body of the alchemy furnace—adorned with five tigers for feet, a phoenix for carving, and a coiled dragon for the lid—to glow a fiery red. The entire furnace radiated waves of heat, encircled by swirling halos of light, presenting an awe-inspiring spectacle.

“Open the furnace!” Ye Qin made a finger gesture and shouted softly. Instantly, the furnace lid spun upward, and a surge of powerful heat erupted from the cauldron. Even with the restrictions blocking the majority of the heat, the temperature within the alchemy chamber shot up rapidly. Simultaneously, Ye Qin’s hand seals changed continuously, activating both the pill formula incantation and the fire control technique.

The red and blue interwoven Samadhi True Fire at the furnace base surged once more. He flicked his finger, and the Fire Lotus Seed of the Zi You Lotus, trailing a streak of fiery red light, was tossed into the cauldron. Under Ye Qin’s control, the currents of heat inside the furnace had already formed a violent vortex. The Zi You Lotus seed was immediately sucked securely into the center of the vortex eye. Under the ceaseless, violent impact of the heat vortex, the dazzling red light emanating from the Zi You Lotus seed grew ever brighter, and its form remained unchanged, showing no sign of being refined.

Seeing this, Ye Qin remained unhurried. He waved his right-hand finger seals, and instantly, the four high-grade spiritual materials of differing colors and forms placed to the side were enveloped by a cyan light and shot into the furnace. These four materials were refined into four-colored medicinal liquids almost the moment they touched the heat waves inside the furnace, spiraling with the vortex toward the Zi You Lotus seed in the eye of the vortex. However, these four-colored liquids only managed to suppress the red glow emanating from the seed. The intensely scorching heat flow within the furnace remained completely incapable of refining this twelfth-grade Zi You Lotus seed.

Ye Qin’s expression shifted slightly at this. “This seed, a twelfth-grade spiritual object, is proving difficult to melt with the furnace fire. Could the furnace fire still not be strong enough? I have utilized the Earth Blue Flame condensed within the Fire Mansion. The Cinder Charcoal at the base is also twelfth-grade charcoal…”

“It seems the furnace’s fire intensity and the supplementary spiritual medicines used for catalysis are insufficient to refine it.”

Ye Qin shook his head and threw more carbon-based spiritual materials into the furnace base, maintaining the heat while further increasing its power. Following this, four tenth-grade spiritual materials, predominantly yellow, cyan, blue, and brown, with forms resembling flowers, grasses, and leaves, were successively introduced into the furnace under Ye Qin’s magical control, following a specific sequence. But unlike the previous four-colored materials, these four tenth-grade materials firmly occupied the four corners of the vortex within the furnace. Although constantly battered by the heat flow, they remained perfectly stable, only their emanating light flickering intermittently.

“Alchemy Formation!” Ye Qin swiftly cast out several fiery formation flags, planting them around the furnace to deploy a formation that enhanced the fire’s intensity. He let out a long breath, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead unnoticed, focusing entirely on the changes within the furnace. This alchemy formation was something he rarely used. This auxiliary alchemy formation was only newly learned after he advanced to the level of a Grandmaster Alchemist of Minor Supernatural Powers. For top-grade spiritual materials to be successfully refined into the desired medicinal or pill liquid by the alchemist, while maintaining their required medicinal properties and necessary transformations, the control over the fire, the manipulation of the pill incantations, and the addition and catalysis of supplementary spiritual materials and catalysts must all reach the highest possible standard.