Collecting Rent From All Realms, Even Empresses Must Pay Tribute
Ch. 124 - Refining the Crystallization Pill

Ye Chuan opened the alchemy interface and searched, but he couldn't find the recipe for the Crystallization Pill.

If he had to compress his spiritual energy manually, it would take far too long.

Especially since he had achieved Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment, his foundation was exceptionally strong, and his spiritual energy reserves were vast, making compression even more difficult.

"Qianshuang, do you have a Crystallization Pill?" Ye Chuan asked Bai Qianshuang directly. 

She shook her head; her storage pouch was gone, so she naturally didn't have any pills.

"Ye Chuan, if you can't find a Crystallization Pill, you can just compress your spiritual energy manually," Bai Qianshuang suggested. 

Since there weren't even any cultivators in this world, she couldn't imagine where he could find a Crystallization Pill.

"Mm, I'll think about it."

Compressing his spiritual energy manually was out of the question. 

Ye Chuan found even regular cultivation tedious; how could he possibly sit still for days just to compress his spiritual energy?

But if he didn't compress it, he wouldn't be able to reach the Crystallization realm, let alone Golden Core.

"Huh?"

Ye Chuan suddenly had an idea. Since he had Holographic Adventure now, he could just go to the Tianxuan Continent and find the recipe for the Crystallization Pill.

"Qianshuang, where do you usually get Crystallization Pills in the Tianxuan Continent?"

"Well…" Although Bai Qianshuang didn't understand why he was asking, she still explained, "Usually, the sect provides them. If you're a rogue cultivator, you can only obtain them through fortuitous encounters, auction houses, or by compressing your spiritual energy manually."

Auction houses.

Ye Chuan made a mental note and stopped asking about the Crystallization realm.

Just then, a notification popped up on his phone.

[Obtained a Bai Qianshuang-related item. Added to backpack.]

Oh?

His precious sunflower had produced an item?

Ye Chuan opened his backpack and found a pill he had never seen before.

[Item: Eighth-Grade Crystallization Pill

Use to break through to the Crystallization realm.]

What?!

She had given him a Crystallization Pill directly?

Eighth-Grade?

So lucky!

"What's the highest grade for a Crystallization Pill?" Ye Chuan asked Bai Qianshuang curiously.

"First-Grade," Bai Qianshuang explained. "But as far as I know, no one in the Tianxuan Continent can refine a First-Grade Crystallization Pill anymore, as the necessary ingredients are extinct. You might be able to find one in ancient ruins."

Eighth-Grade to First-Grade.

Ye Chuan calculated; it seemed Eighth-Grade was quite low quality.

A whole seven grades lower.

He was a Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment cultivator; how could he use an Eighth-Grade Crystallization Pill for his breakthrough?

"But since I've obtained a Crystallization Pill, does that mean the recipe is unlocked?" Ye Chuan eagerly opened the alchemy interface and, as expected, saw that the recipe for the Crystallization Pill was now available.

Woohoo!

Time to refine!

[Ingredients not found in backpack. Spend 100,000 to purchase raw materials?]

Buy! It was even cheaper than the ingredients for the Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment Pill!

[Refine?]

[20% chance of successfully refining a Crystallization Pill, 80% chance of failure, 0% chance of furnace explosion (Success rate is affected by pill quality, furnace quality, alchemy level, etc.)]

Ye Chuan felt his vision darken.

Seriously, the success rate was that low?

"Salary recovery plan." Ye Chuan felt like he was being scammed, but then again, they had given him an Eighth-Grade Crystallization Pill for free.

But he wasn't satisfied; he had to have the best.

What was the point of an Eighth-Grade pill?

"I'll just upgrade the furnace then," Ye Chuan said, glancing at his High-Mid Grade Xuanmiao Furnace and chose to upgrade it.

He spent six hundred thousand yuan, upgrading the furnace three levels.

[Pill Furnace: Nine Fire Li Furnace (Top-Grade)]

[80% chance of successfully refining a Crystallization Pill, 19% chance of failure, 0% chance of furnace explosion, 1% chance of increased pill quality (Success rate is affected by pill quality, furnace quality, alchemy level, etc.)]

Although six hundred thousand was a bit painful, seeing the success rate jump from twenty to eighty percent made Ye Chuan feel much better.

[Pill refining in progress. Time remaining: 239 hours 59 minutes]

[Spend 10,000 to accelerate?]

He'd accelerate it.

Ten days was a bit too long; he wanted to break through to the Crystallization realm quickly.

[Congratulations! You have obtained a Fifth-Grade Crystallization Pill. Added to backpack.]

Ye Chuan: "..."

Looking at the pill in his backpack, Ye Chuan suddenly realized a serious problem.

One hundred thousand yuan for the ingredients, one pill per batch.

And the quality of the pill was random.

So, the probability of obtaining a First-Grade Crystallization Pill was uncertain!

The Heaven-Grade Foundation Establishment Pill at least had a displayed probability; in comparison, it was much more reasonable.

"Getting a First-Grade Crystallization Pill requires money, time, and luck," Ye Chuan said, looking out the window, a sense of melancholy washing over him.

Change of plans.

Any Crystallization Pill within the first three grades was acceptable.

Ye Chuan spent another one hundred thousand on ingredients and watched the furnace start working, then put down his phone.

He'd save some money first.

He needed a money tree, a cute, obedient money tree.

He thought of Qiao Xin, who had contacted him yesterday—

"She'll probably contact me again. I'll find an opportunity to sell her something," Ye Chuan thought, his mood improving. After a quick breakfast, he went to find Luo Xi.

Bai Qianshuang, seeing Ye Chuan's haste, didn't offer to help him with his Crystallization.

With her current strength, she could help him compress his spiritual energy.

But the resulting realm would be unstable, potentially affecting his future cultivation.

"It's fine, everything happens for a reason," Bai Qianshuang said, looking at the baozi in front of her and picking one up.

She'd just eat for now.

…

Ye Chuan met up with Luo Xi and went to school.

"The Silver Mountain Academy anniversary is coming up soon, and every class needs to prepare a themed performance," their homeroom teacher announced. "If you have any ideas, please inform the class president."

The school anniversary.

"Chuan Chuan, what kind of performance should we do?" Luo Xi asked Ye Chuan. She was the class president.

"Anything is fine," Ye Chuan said, his mind still on the Crystallization Pill.

Money, he needed money.

He felt both rich and poor.

His life was comfortable, but his cultivation was… lacking funds.

"Xiaoyu, what do you think?" Luo Xi asked her best friend, An Shiyu.

"Anything is fine," An Shiyu said, her head down, playing a game on her phone, as listless as Ye Chuan.

Luo Xi: "..."

"You guys, at least give me some suggestions," Luo Xi said, swaying in her chair.

"What did we do last year?" Ye Chuan asked An Shiyu.

An Shiyu didn't look up. "Oh… it was a play, The Creation Myth: Lin Daiyu vs. Xiang Yu? I think it was quite well-received." (TL: This is a humorous, anachronistic mashup of characters from Chinese literature and history.)

"Let's do a play again this year," Ye Chuan said.

"Agreed."

"No way!" Luo Xi immediately protested.

"Why?"

"Because you always make me play Lin Daiyu with a giant hammer." (TL: Lin Daiyu is a delicate, melancholic character from Dream of the Red Chamber)