Begin Alchemy!
The first furnace exploded!
The explosion was quite unexpected; it blew up before even entering the final melting stage.
He Pingsheng was not discouraged.
It's good that it exploded.
Now that it exploded this time, he'll have experience for next time.
Then, the second furnace exploded again.
Continue!
The third furnace exploded!
The fourth furnace failed!
Although it failed, he successfully refined twelve waste Medicinal Pills.
"Hoo…" He Pingsheng exhaled a deep breath of turbid Qi.
After two continuous days of Alchemy, he finally produced one furnace.
For He Pingsheng, waste Medicinal Pills were considered successful Medicinal Pills!
He did not continue refining, but instead pondered for two days, summarizing the gains and losses of Alchemy, and only then did he begin to continue refining.
From the fifth furnace to the tenth furnace, there were no more explosions.
They were all waste Medicinal Pills, thoroughly wasted, very stable, and with much experience gained.
Ten sets of Materials yielded a total of seven furnaces of waste Medicinal Pills.
Next was the strengthening process.
He Pingsheng only strengthened one of the furnaces.
Twelve waste Medicinal Pills were strengthened into twenty-four top-grade Gathering Yuan Pills.
The remaining six furnaces remained in the form of waste Medicinal Pills; He Pingsheng did not continue to strengthen them, because this type of Medicinal Pill is only useful for Golden Core Stage Disciples during their Cultivation, and he has no use for them now, so there was no need to strengthen them.
After gaining a general understanding of his Alchemy skills, He Pingsheng returned to a state of calm.
Over the past year, he first spent half a year refining clothes and shoes, then another half a year Cultivating Divine Thought and Body Refining, plus his previous participation in auctions, trade fairs, and exploring with Xuan Yuan to refine the Double Divinity Pill; he had traveled enough.
He could continue his Cultivation.
He Pingsheng did not rush to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage third layer; he planned to first bring up his other four Dantians, as they were still at Foundation Establishment Stage first layer.
However, before he could begin Cultivating, he was interrupted.
The visitor was Daoist Bailong.
"Fellow Daoist He… I heard you can even refine third-grade Medicinal Pills now…" Bailong looked at He Pingsheng, his eyes growing more and more admiring.
He Pingsheng said, "You know about this too?"
"Hey…" Bailong said, "This is good news!"
He Pingsheng, however, shook his head: "How could there be such a good thing? The reason I was able to refine a third-grade Medicinal Pill last time was because I swallowed two Double Divinity Pills, wasn't it?"
"That's still impressive enough!" Bailong said, "Fellow Daoist He is not far from truly being able to refine third-grade Medicinal Pills!"
"Oh… right, right…"
Bailong suddenly slapped his head and said, "Talking only about Alchemy, I almost forgot about the main business!"
"Fellow Daoist He, Divine General Mountain, are you going?"
"Divine General Mountain?" He Pingsheng's brows furrowed slightly: "Hasn't it already opened?"
He remembered it was said to open in a year last time, and it's been over a year now, and it hasn't opened yet?
"Not yet!" Bailong said, "There's still half a month… Fellow Daoist He, good news, the rules for entering Divine General Mountain have changed!"
He Pingsheng was slightly surprised: "Changed?"
"Indeed!" Bailong nodded: "Before, it was said that only the top one hundred on the dragon soaring rankings had the qualification to enter Divine General Mountain, and even if each of them brought one person, that would only be two hundred people!"
"These past few days, the rules suddenly changed!"
"Now, the top three hundred Cultivators on the dragon soaring rankings can all enter, and each person can bring one person!"
"Additionally, besides these, any Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator from Dingxiang County who passes the City Lord's Mansion's test can also enter!"
"This news has now spread throughout every corner of Dingxiang County; even Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples from remote areas are flocking here!"
He Pingsheng's eyes narrowed slightly: No wonder the streets suddenly seemed so much more crowded recently.
So, many Disciples from outside Sects have come.
"May I ask, Daoist Bai!" He Pingsheng asked, "What exactly does the City Lord's Mansion's test assess?"
Bailong said: "I don't know yet… but I heard it's a test of Comprehension Ability!"
"It does not test combat power!"
"Daoist Zi Xian's younger sister is a powerful Foundation Establishment stage twelve layer Cultivator, and her idea is that we can form a team to enter Divine General Mountain together to seek treasures, so we can look out for each other!"
"Fellow Daoist He, what do you think?"
He Pingsheng neither agreed nor refused.
From his perspective, he certainly did not want to go in.
After all, it is said that besides Spear Intent, there are no other Heaven-Defying things inside, only ordinary treasures.
Even if there were some third-grade Heaven And Earth Treasures, they wouldn't attract him.
Why should I take risks for things that can be bought with money?
But now, hearing Bailong say that many Sects, large and small, from Dingxiang County had come to Dingxiang City, He Pingsheng wanted to go and see.
First, go to the City Lord's Mansion to participate in the test and see if he can meet any Cultivators from Tai Xu Sect?
If he did, he could inquire about how things were going there.
And Qiao Huizhu.
He at least had to find a way to send her a message, didn't he?
"Good…" He Pingsheng pondered for a while, then nodded: "Whether I participate or not doesn't matter, let's just go to the City Lord's Mansion and take a look first!"
"Hehe…" Bailong chuckled: "Good, good, good… Zi Xian and Zi Lan are both not far from the City Lord's Mansion, let's go join them!"
The two left the small courtyard and headed towards the City Lord's Mansion.
There were a lot of people at the entrance of the City Lord's Mansion.
Bustling, shoulder to shoulder.
He Pingsheng's Divine Thought surged forth, not scanning everyone's cultivation, but simply patrolling within a five-hundred-zhang radius, hoping to see Qiao Huizhu or Xu Kunlun.
Unfortunately, he looked for a long time but didn't see them, though he did see the siblings Zi Xian and Zi Lan standing in a corner.
He and Bailong approached them.
"He… Fellow Daoist He…" Seeing He Pingsheng approach, Zi Lan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she was somewhat surprised: "I was worried you wouldn't come!"
He Pingsheng quickly cupped his hands: "Greetings to both Fellow Daoists!"
"Don't be so polite!" Zi Lan said, "You saved me once!"
He Pingsheng said, "Actually, it's not much. Have you two taken the test yet?"
"Not yet!" Zi Lan said, "The City Lord's Mansion hasn't started the test yet, everyone is waiting. It's said to officially begin tomorrow, but the City Lord's Mansion will open its doors soon to let everyone in to wait first!"
"Oh, right, He… uh… Fellow Daoist He!" Zi Lan asked again, "I still don't know Fellow Daoist He's name!"
At this, Zi Xian and Bailong also looked at He Pingsheng.
Including Xuan Yuan Chang Geng, everyone knew He Pingsheng's surname was He, but no one knew his real name.
He Pingsheng, without thinking, cupped his hands and said, "My name is He Kunlun…"
He was borrowing Xu Kunlun's name.
No choice… he really didn't dare to use his own name.
If it were before, he wouldn't have cared, but now that many local Sects had come to Dingxiang City, who knew if there were any people from Beast Taming Immortal Sect? If they heard his name, it would definitely not be good.
He Pingsheng felt that Beast Taming Immortal Sect might not necessarily pursue and kill a small Foundation Establishment Stage Disciple like him; but it might not necessarily not pursue and kill him either, after all, he was Taixu Old Ancestor's last true Disciple.