"The mine will only get bigger with excavation. Their area is no longer suitable to live in, so just give them Wild Pigeon Mountain!"

Chen Che ordered casually. There were hundreds of mountains outside Jinyun Valley, spanning well over a thousand li. It was too wasteful to leave them unoccupied.

"Also, tell them that I will buy as much Celestial Spirit Grass as they can produce, but it must be at least ten years old. Furthermore, all Spirit Herbs grown by the Liu Family must be supplied to Jinyun Valley first. We will purchase everything at market price."

Jinyun Valley’s consumption of Spirit Herbs was immense.

Relying on Loose Cultivators for harvesting was not enough to keep up with demand, leaving them in a perpetual state of shortage. Thus, the support of a Spirit Plant Clan was necessary.

The Liu Family only had around two hundred Cultivators, not nearly enough to fully exploit Wild Pigeon Mountain. This, in turn, would attract a new batch of Loose Cultivators to settle in the area.

"The Valley Master is truly benevolent!"

Xing Lin, having just finished instructing his disciples, heard the news and hurried over.

’Wild Pigeon Mountain is four to five times larger than the Liu Family’s territory, and he just gave it away so casually? Any other Foundation Establishment Influence would have squeezed the family dry first, then charged seventy percent rent on the land they were granted...’

’Not draining the pond to get the fish is considered benevolent now?’

Chen Che almost laughed.

He accepted the five Jade Gourds and the other medicinal ingredients, then turned and went straight back to his courtyard.

After the news spread, the Liu Family Patriarch, Liu Yuanqing, eagerly came to pay his respects that very day, bearing lavish gifts.

However, Chen Che had no time to receive him, so Vice Valley Master Hu Yao ended up hosting him instead.

Liu Yuanqing departed, profusely grateful. Almost the very next day, his entire clan migrated, and a flurry of construction immediately began on Wild Pigeon Mountain.

For the next several days, Chen Che remained secluded, focusing on Alchemy without setting foot outside.

During this period, he also tried using the Sacrificial Pill Furnace once. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

However, he discovered that the pills refined in it were less effective than those made with the Chixia Tripod.

’In other words, this Pill Furnace offers no significant enhancement when refining ordinary pills. Of course, it’s also possible that its primary function really is for sacrifices...’

Chen Che speculated.

After comparing the two Pill Furnaces, he immediately lost all interest and returned the Sacrificial Pill Furnace to the Treasure House.

Whether to sell it, give it away as a reward, or something else entirely was a decision for another day.

’It might still be useful in the future.’

After the calamity involving Ye Jingzhou, Chen Che had searched extensively for related information. Though he found nothing conclusive, he had accidentally discovered that living beings could also be used in Alchemy.

Of course, this wasn’t like what Ye Jingzhou had done, using Cultivators as sacrifices.

Instead, it involved using Cultivators or peerless Great Demons directly as primary or secondary ingredients for pills. For a time, several years after the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall on Earth Element Star, it was even common for Nascent Soul Cultivators to refine peerless Great Demons in their Pill Furnaces.

However, about fifty years later, the Immortal Sects passed laws to prohibit it.

Seven days later, Chen Che finally finished his refining.

However, the five gourds of Celestial Spirit Grass yielded only twenty-nine Celestial Spirit Pills, meaning his success rate was barely over twenty percent.

This was due to the high Grade of the ingredients and the difficulty of the recipe, as well as his own lack of practice.

However, one batch of materials cost about 130 Spirit Stones, while a Tier Two High Grade Elixir sold for around 400 Spirit Stones on the market. Consistently producing even one pill per batch was profitable.

Any other Pill Master in this realm, given the same amount of materials, would only be able to produce five to seven pills—just enough to break even.

That is, unless they had vast reserves of Spirit Stones to burn through to gain proficiency.

But as always, smaller clans could hardly afford such an expense.

...

The courtyard In the Valley was elegant and exquisite.

From the outside, it didn’t look large, but upon entering, the space opened up dramatically.

It had everything one could wish for: towers, jade pavilions, rockeries, and streams.

In the courtyard, Meng Qingxuan took out an exquisite Jade Bottle. The bottle itself was clearly expensive, and it was even sealed with a crisscrossing chain, giving it an air of great importance.

Chen Che guessed what was inside with a single glance.

Sure enough, Meng Qingxuan said:

"Alchemist Chen, this is the Foundation Establishment Pill my father asked me to give you. He had to return immediately for some family business after dropping off the Pill."

Meng Qingxuan was the only "outsider" permitted to not only enter Jinyun Valley, but also his private courtyard.

After the Meng Family became the first Major Foundation Establishment Race to establish a presence in the Market, everyone in Jinyun Valley had tacitly accepted her as the ’Lady of the Valley’. Even if that wasn’t her official title, their relationship was clearly far from simple.

There were even rumors that:

The Beast Shop was Meng Qingxuan’s dowry.

"How is business at the Beast Shop?"

Chen Che asked, his words carrying a deeper meaning.

"It was a little slow at first, but as more Cultivators have arrived, our income and expenses are now balanced."

Meng Qingxuan understood his meaning and replied, "It’s finally enough to silence some of the dissenters within the family."

"That’s good."

Chen Che nodded slightly. Meng Changtu’s unstinting support, crowned by the gift of a Foundation Establishment Pill, would surely cause dissatisfaction among some members of the Meng Family, even if Meng Changtu had acquired the pill himself.

’But so what?’

’As long as Jinyun Valley rises, they’ll all have to shut their mouths.’

"By the way,"

Chen Che handed her a bottle of pills. "These are the Celestial Spirit Pills I just refined. Consider them a return gift for your father..."

He treated others as they treated him.

Regardless, Meng Changtu had genuinely produced a Foundation Establishment Pill, and he had to acknowledge that gesture of goodwill.

"By the way, now that you have the Foundation Establishment Pill, when do you plan to auction it?"

Meng Qingxuan accepted the pills and continued her inquiry.

"At the December auction, as the year-end finale."

The October auction had just concluded. Auctioning the Foundation Establishment Pill right away wouldn’t allow enough time for the news to build, and it wouldn’t achieve the desired impact.

Postponing it to the end of the year would give the various Cultivation Clans and Loose Cultivators ample time to spread the word.

"I’ll contribute some Spirit Beasts for the auction as well."

Meng Qingxuan added, then looked at him with a hint of nervousness.

’Sigh.’

Chen Che sighed inwardly. He knew what was on her mind.

Ever since the disaster with Ye Jingzhou, Meng Qingxuan had completely shed her reserve, even actively making her feelings for him known through her glances.

"Alright."

"Alchemist Chen..."

"Yes?"

Meng Qingxuan’s eyes shone brightly. She slowly reached out a delicate hand and placed it on the back of his. "If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I would have died during the siege at the mine. I’m willing to be with you, even if I have no official title."

Chen Che looked up at her.

WHOOSH~

A sudden gust of wind stirred the hair at her temples, like parting the morning clouds.

After a long silence, Chen Che gave a slight nod.

...

The next day, news that Jinyun Valley would be auctioning a Foundation Establishment Pill at the end of December spread like wildfire. The tranquil Yunzhou was instantly thrown into turmoil, as if a giant boulder had been dropped into a calm lake, creating massive waves.

Instantly, countless Cultivation Clans were in an uproar.

Even many Loose Cultivators were paying close attention.

"A Foundation Establishment Pill? Jinyun Valley is actually willing to part with a pill like that? Is this for real?"

Someone said in disbelief.

A single Foundation Establishment Pill could produce a Foundation Establishment Cultivator for a clan. Any clan that obtained one would almost certainly use it internally. Who would be generous enough to auction it off?

After all, who would ever think they have too many Foundation Establishment Cultivators?

"It’s absolutely true! Vice Valley Master Hu Yao announced it himself. Many of the Cultivation Clans in Jinyun Valley have already started raising funds! Even some of the other major Foundation Establishment Clans in Yunzhou are starting to gather Spirit Stones. No matter how bold Jinyun Valley is, they wouldn’t dare deceive so many powerful groups at once."

"I have to go and find out if it’s true myself. My clan has been building its strength for 150 years and already has seven cultivators at the Late-stage Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. Perhaps this is our chance to become a Major Foundation Establishment Race!"

...

「The Bian Family.」

"Father..."

Bian Feiyun asked in disbelief, "Is the Meng Family really so generous? They just gave away a Foundation Establishment Pill, just like that?"

"It’s the genuine article!"

Bian Jian looked at Bian Feiyun’s expectant gaze and waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t even think about it. You’re only at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and you relied on pills to even get that far. Even if we manage to buy it, this Foundation Establishment Pill is for me!"

...

For a time, similar conversations could be heard among all the various Cultivation Clans.

Reaching Foundation Establishment was just too difficult.

Without the aid of a pill, the success rate was less than ten percent!

If a clan could obtain one, a previously obscure family could instantly rise to become a new major power!

Meanwhile, the Haizhou Hu Family was also in an uproar.