[You do not dare to delay in the slightest and race all the way back to the Qingyun Sect.]
[Even after returning to your cave dwelling, you still have not recovered from the battle just now. It is not until night falls that you finally calm yourself down.]
[Because the mission failed, you do not receive any reward.]
[You take out the Foundation Establishment Pill you exchanged for earlier from your storage ring, and the words spoken by the demonic man involuntarily resurface in your mind—Do not reach Foundation Establishment!]
[No matter how much you ponder it, you cannot understand what he meant. In the end, you decide that he was only trying to deceive you. After all, they are demonic cultivators despised by everyone.]
[Early the next morning, disciples from the Qingyun Sect's Enforcement Hall come looking for you, saying that an inner sect elder wishes to see you.]
[You know why the elder has summoned you, but you cannot resist the Enforcement Hall disciples. Thus, you are brought to a great hall within the inner sect.]
[The Third Elder of the Qingyun Sect asks you why, out of everyone sent down the mountain this time to eliminate the demonic cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, you are the only one who returned.]
[After hearing the Third Elder's words, your pupils contract sharply.]
[You clearly remember that the demonic woman did not kill you yesterday. You and the other outer disciples fled in different directions, yet in the end, you alone returned to the Qingyun Sect.]
[Faced with the Third Elder's questioning, you explain that the outer disciples were assigned to surround and attack one of the demonic men, while the inner sect senior brother fought the demonic woman alone.]
[Only after losing several disciples were you able to kill the demonic man. When you went back to find the inner sect senior brother, you discovered that he had already been killed.]
[At that moment, you realized the situation had turned dire, so you all scattered and fled.]
[In the end, you never expected that only you would make it back to the Qingyun Sect.]
[After hearing your explanation, the Third Elder closes his eyes, strokes his beard, and says, "If it was her, then there is nothing strange about it!"]
[At that moment, the Third Elder suddenly opens his eyes and fixes you with a hard stare, asking whether the demonic woman said anything strange to you.]
[Upon hearing this, you once again recall what the demonic man said yesterday. But the Third Elder is asking about the demonic woman, so following the principle that less trouble is better, you answer that she did not.]
[The Third Elder nods, believing your words. He tells you to return and cultivate diligently, and to break through to Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.]
[And just as you are about to leave, he adds one final sentence in a meaningful tone: "Do not trust the words of demonic cultivators!"]
[After returning to your cave dwelling, you immediately cast aside everything that has happened recently.]
[At this moment, your only thought is to work hard and earn spirit stones, exchange for two more Foundation Establishment Pills, and break through to the Foundation Establishment realm as soon as possible.]
[As for the words spoken by that demonic man, you do not believe them at all!]
[Not break through to Foundation Establishment? Then how did he reach Foundation Establishment? How did the countless people throughout the Qingyun Sect reach Foundation Establishment?]
[Looking across all of Qingzhou, the Foundation Establishment realm is merely the beginning of cultivation.]
[Yet here he was, telling Su Ming to give up before he had even begun. As a transmigrator, how could he possibly abandon the path of immortality?]
[Year 7: Throughout this year, you keep accepting low-level missions to earn spirit stones. Although the earnings are small, at least there is no danger to your life. After your previous experience exterminating demonic cultivators, you have become even more keenly aware of the importance of the art of lying low.]
[Year 8: After unremitting effort, you finally save up enough spirit stones and successfully exchange them for a second Foundation Establishment Pill.]
[Looking at the Foundation Establishment Pill in your hand, you secretly rejoice: "After lying low for so many years, I can finally break through to Foundation Establishment!"]
[After returning to your cave dwelling, you set up a simple Spirit Gathering Array and begin preparing for your breakthrough.]
[After taking the first Foundation Establishment Pill, you begin your attempt to break through to Foundation Establishment.]
[Two months later, you feel that you are still lacking something in your attempt to break through, so you take out the second Foundation Establishment Pill and swallow it as well.]
[Half a year later, on this day, you feel the bottleneck loosen. In one final push, you break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.]
[Just as you are still immersed in the joy of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm, your vision suddenly goes black!]
[You lose consciousness...]
[You die...]
[Ding! Simulation ended. Please choose one of the following rewards.]
[Qi Refining Great Perfection Cultivation!]
[All Spell Proficiency from This Simulation!]
[All Experiences and Insights from This Simulation!]
[Foundation Establishment Pill ×1]
...
"What?"
"I freaking died again?"
Looking at himself dying in the simulator, Su Ming fell into deep thought.
He could not understand how exactly he had died. One second ago, he had just broken through to Foundation Establishment, and the next second...
Wait!
Foundation Establishment?
Do not break through to Foundation Establishment?
Su Ming suddenly thought of the two demonic cultivators he had encountered in the simulation. They had both said not to break through to Foundation Establishment.
"Could it be that I really cannot break through to Foundation Establishment? That breaking through means death?"
At that thought, Su Ming shook his head.
"How is that possible? If breaking through to Foundation Establishment means death, then what are all those Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect? Monsters?"
In the end, he still leaned toward the problem being with the Foundation Establishment Pill. He believed there was something wrong with the sect's Foundation Establishment Pills.
If there really was something wrong with the Foundation Establishment Pills, then there were only two possible solutions before him. Either he could buy Foundation Establishment Pills somewhere else, such as the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
Or he could refine them himself. Pills he refined on his own would definitely not have any problems.
The good news was that the ingredients needed to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill were not difficult to collect.
The bad news was that Su Ming did not know how to refine pills.
After choosing spell proficiency as his reward, Su Ming waited for an hour before beginning another simulation.
[Drawing a random talent!]
[Congratulations. You have obtained the Orange Talent: Alchemy Prodigy!]
[Alchemy Prodigy: You are born with a unique understanding of alchemy and possess extremely high aptitude in the Dao of alchemy...]
"An orange talent!!!"
"And it is even Alchemy Prodigy!!!"
At this moment, Su Ming felt that the simulator truly understood him. It knew exactly what he lacked right now and delivered it straight to his door.
[Day 2: After learning that there is something wrong with the sect's Foundation Establishment Pills, you no longer place your hopes on the Qingyun Sect.]
[At noon, seeing that you did not go work in the spirit field, Wang Hao storms angrily to your cave dwelling.]
[After you reveal your cultivation at Qi Refining Great Perfection, he is so frightened that he drops to his knees on the spot and begs for mercy, even offering up the spirit stones he previously extorted from you.]
[This time, you do not kill Wang Hao immediately. At your current stage, you do not want to be disturbed by too many external factors, so after taking all of Wang Hao's spirit stones, you let him go.]
[Looking at Wang Hao's departing back, you mutter to yourself, "Once I break through to Foundation Establishment, the death day of you and your brother will come!"]
[Day 3: You take the spirit stones you got from Wang Hao and buy an alchemy furnace.]
[Year 2: This year, you choose to develop quietly, earning spirit stones through missions to buy medicinal ingredients!]
[Because the ingredients for a Foundation Establishment Pill are somewhat cheaper than the pill itself, by the second year you have already collected a full set of ingredients.]
[However, you do not immediately begin refining pills. You plan to gather another set first and refine as many Foundation Establishment Pills as possible to increase your chances of a successful breakthrough.]
[In this life, you do not have many years of stabilized foundations behind you, so you will need more Foundation Establishment Pills.]
[Year 3: This year, aside from cultivating, you spend all your time doing missions. In the end, you collect the materials for a second batch of Foundation Establishment Pills!]
[At the beginning of Year 4, you refine two batches of pills and produce a total of four Foundation Establishment Pills!]
...