Vessel of Worlds

After seeing Jian Xin'er back to Tiechuan Peak, Andy returned to his forging chamber immediately.

He placed the Tendon-Transforming Pill into the bowl without a moment's delay, then took out a high-grade water spirit stone and settled into meditation.

Half a month later, powered by the supreme-grade Tendon-Transforming Pill's formidable potency and the high-grade spirit stone's support, Andy successfully broke through the eleventh-layer bottleneck and became a cultivator at the twelfth layer.

Even within the Taixu Sect, a twelfth-layer outer-sect disciple ranked solidly in the upper-middle tier. Combined with his several upper-grade artifacts, he believed that as long as his luck wasn't terrible—as long as he didn't draw one of the handful of peak-stage senior brothers or sisters—he stood a very good chance of winning a Foundation Establishment Pill.

He had also discovered that his spiritual sense was remarkably powerful. He could simultaneously operate three upper-grade artifacts without the slightest confusion or hesitation. Whether this was because he had carried over a full twenty-odd years of memories and cognitive ability from Earth, or because of the considerable number of Mind-Nourishing Pills he had consumed—or perhaps both—he didn't bother investigating too closely.

With only three months left before the Foundation Establishment Trial, it was unrealistic to try learning any new secret techniques or making another major cultivation breakthrough. But Andy was never the type to put all his eggs in one basket. Extra aces up his sleeve could only help.

In this short window, the most practical thing he could prepare—and the most useful for the trial—was talismans. He didn't plan on attempting high-grade Qi Refinement talismans, either. Instead, he would produce another large batch of mid-grade ones. Andy had come to appreciate just how convenient talismans were in combat—fast to deploy, light on spiritual power consumption, and devastating when used in quantity. More importantly, talismans were commonplace items. Even if he used dozens at once, people would only think him extravagant and wasteful—no one would suspect anything deeper.

The only real drawback of talismans was that they were consumables. Use a few and it barely mattered; use a lot and it was like burning money. For most cultivators, having a handful of talismans on hand for emergencies was already quite good. Someone like Andy, who routinely hurled dozens at his opponents, was probably the first of his kind and the last.

To stay as low-profile as possible, Andy's plan for the trial was to rely on his artifacts whenever he could, using talismans only occasionally. He would save his trump cards—simultaneously controlling three upper-grade artifacts or unleashing a storm of talismans—for moments when he absolutely had no other way to win.

Two months before the Foundation Establishment Trial, Guling Street hosted another trading meet. This time, both the scale of the shops and the number of attendees were several times greater than previous meets. Obviously, many outer-sect disciples who still lacked satisfactory artifacts were seizing this final opportunity to acquire something useful and improve their chances.

The merchants of Guling Street had naturally anticipated this, going to great lengths to stock a batch of upper-grade artifacts that sparked fierce bidding wars among the outer-sect disciples. Prices ran noticeably higher than usual, and the merchants made handsome profits.

Beyond artifacts, anything useful for combat was selling briskly—talismans especially. Mid-grade Qi Refinement talismans that normally went for six or seven spirit stones were now eight or nine. High-grade Qi Refinement talismans had surged to forty or fifty spirit stones each, and every batch that appeared was snapped up instantly.

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Even mid-grade spirit stones had appreciated. The normal exchange rate was one hundred and five low-grade stones per mid-grade stone, but now even a hundred and ten low-grade stones often couldn't secure one. The reason was simple: when two evenly matched cultivators clashed with comparable artifacts, battles often devolved into a war of attrition. Having a mid-grade spirit stone in hand instead of a low-grade one for that crucial moment of replenishment could make all the difference. Many cultivators who normally wouldn't dream of spending mid-grade stones were now scrambling to stockpile two or three.

Some items, however, had actually dropped in price. Cultivation-boosting pills like Marrow-Washing Pills and Tendon-Transforming Pills were among them. With only two months to go, trying to gain a full cultivation layer from a handful of pills was unrealistic. Better to spend those spirit stones on artifacts and talismans with more immediate impact.

As a result, Tendon-Transforming Pills—normally impossible to find—were now appearing on the market. Meanwhile, pills that could quickly restore spiritual power and stamina in the short term, which had little demand in normal times and weren't cheap, had become hot commodities. During the trial, there would be no opportunity to sit down and meditate between rounds.

Andy made a single circuit of Guling Street and had the shifting market dynamics largely figured out.

He wasted no time. First, he made several purchases of talisman paper and cinnabar for mid-grade Qi Refinement talismans, buying in separate batches. Then he picked up a substantial quantity of various pills. The Tendon-Transforming Pills in particular—he bought seven or eight over the course of the meet. This windfall was an unexpected and delightful bonus.

After the trading meet ended, an unusual calm settled over the Taixu Sect for two months. Cultivators were rarely seen flying between the peaks, and even the sect's main entrance saw little traffic. Most of the normally busy outer-sect disciples had taken leave during this period to prepare quietly for the trial—some in meditation, others drilling with their artifacts. The Taixu Sect grew noticeably quieter.

Andy spent this time in his forging chamber, continuing his "frenzied" talisman production. Mid-grade talismans were second nature to him now, and in just one month of near-constant work, day and night, he produced close to two hundred mid-grade talismans—more than enough for the trial.

This calm before the storm shattered the moment Sect Master Xiong announced that registration and lot-drawing for the Foundation Establishment Trial had begun.

Word quickly spread: this trial had drawn eighteen hundred-odd qualified outer-sect disciples—roughly in line with previous years. But the number of Foundation Establishment Pills to be distributed was just over fifty—more than ten fewer than last time.

The sect's leadership explained that this batch of Foundation Establishment Pills had yielded a smaller total, and since the allocation for inner-sect disciples had not been reduced, the shortfall had to come from the trial's allotment. Sect Master Xiong added that the Foundation Establishment Pill rewards for the "Dragon Descent Valley" mission, scheduled one year after the trial, would remain unchanged, and encouraged all disciples to participate.

The outer-sect disciples were furious, but helpless. As for Dragon Descent Valley—it was a notoriously dangerous forbidden zone. Never mind finding treasures inside to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills; based on past expeditions, fewer than a third of the cultivators who entered ever came back alive.

With the number of participants and pills confirmed, the trial's format was announced. The rules were straightforward: random lot-drawing divided contestants into pairs for each round, with anyone left without a partner receiving a bye. Under the condition that killing was strictly prohibited, a match was won by forcing the opponent to surrender, pushing them off the arena boundary, or incapacitating them to the point where they could no longer resist. Winners advanced to the next round, where lots were drawn again.

Five consecutive victories earned a Foundation Establishment Pill.

If a contestant killed their opponent during the trial, they would be disqualified. If this happened in the final round, the Foundation Establishment Pill that would have gone to the winner would be reclaimed by the sect and added to the Dragon Descent Valley rewards instead.