[Looking at the four Foundation Establishment Pills in your hand, you reveal a delighted expression and immediately choose to enter seclusion to attempt a breakthrough.]
[Three months later, after swallowing two Foundation Establishment Pills in succession, you faintly feel that you have touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment.]
[But at that moment, the scenes from your previous two simulations suddenly surface in your mind, and a heart demon begins to grow within you.]
[You choose to interrupt the breakthrough and step out of your cave dwelling to clear your mind.]
[After arriving at the back mountain of the Qingyun Sect, you accidentally notice a graceful figure beneath the moonlight.]
[When you quietly approach, you suddenly realize that the figure seems somewhat familiar.]
[You see her long jet-black hair dancing in the night sky. Her eyes are tightly shut, and sweat covers her face as if she is enduring immense pain.]
[At that moment, the mysterious woman suddenly opens her eyes and shouts in your direction, "Who is there?!"]
[At that exact moment, your eyes meet hers.]
[Before you can recover from your shock, you turn around and sprint back toward your cave dwelling. The mysterious woman stands up and watches your departing figure but does not pursue you.]
[After returning to your cave dwelling, you gasp heavily for breath.]
[That gaze just now was far too familiar—it was the same demonic woman you encountered in your previous simulation.]
[You never expected that you would encounter her this time much earlier, and judging by the situation, she actually seemed to be a disciple of the Qingyun Sect.]
[At this moment, you cannot make sense of it at all. Why would a demonic cultivator appear within the Qingyun Sect?]
[Or perhaps at this point in time, she has not yet joined the demonic path? Then why would she join it later?]
[Just now you clearly sensed that the woman had only just broken through to Foundation Establishment, and it seemed she had suffered considerable injuries.]
[Why would she be heavily wounded within the sect? And why was she alone at night healing in such a remote place?]
[Everything seems to be shrouded in mystery, leaving you extremely perplexed.]
[The next day, you stop dwelling on what you saw last night. You decide to push forward in one decisive effort to break through to Foundation Establishment.]
[You take out the remaining two Foundation Establishment Pills and swallow them at once. A powerful force surges through your body, and you begin refining the medicinal power.]
[Two and a half months later, while still in seclusion, you suddenly open your eyes. In one final surge, you shatter the shackles and successfully break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.]
[Just as you are about to experience the power of the Foundation Establishment stage, that familiar sense of danger suddenly appears.]
[You fall unconscious...]
[You die...]
[This simulation has ended. Please choose one of the following rewards!]
[Orange Talent: Alchemy Prodigy!]
[This Simulation's Cultivation!]
[Foundation Establishment Pill Recipe!]
[All Alchemy Insights from This Simulation!]
After glancing at the rewards, he ultimately chose the Alchemy Prodigy.
After selecting the reward, Su Ming silently left his cave dwelling.
Standing outside and looking at the starry sky above, he fell into deep thought.
"I died again..."
"What exactly went wrong? Could it really be that Foundation Establishment is impossible? That breaking through means death?"
No.
Something must be wrong somewhere. It could not possibly be that Foundation Establishment was impossible.
There had to be some flaw somewhere within all this.
Su Ming frowned tightly, recalling everything that happened in the simulation.
This time, the Foundation Establishment Pills were refined by his own hands. He personally gathered the ingredients and refined them himself.
Logically speaking, everything should have been foolproof.
So why did he still die?
After a long silence, he could think of only one possibility.
"Could it be... that the problem with the Foundation Establishment Pill lies in the source ingredients themselves?"
After comparing everything before and after, Su Ming realized that whether it was the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill or the one he personally refined, consuming it and breaking through always led to death.
If that were true, then the problem would be enormous.
Because in the Canglan Realm where he lived, ever since the ancient era ended, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had undergone certain changes.
From that point onward, all cultivators needed a Foundation Establishment Pill in order to break through to Foundation Establishment. It was no longer possible to rely solely on one's natural talent like in ancient times.
"But... how did the inner disciples break through to the Foundation Establishment stage?"
That question immediately followed.
At this moment, Su Ming felt as if his brain was no longer sufficient to process everything.
Too many things simply could not be explained. If the Foundation Establishment Pill truly had a problem, and anyone who broke through after taking it would die, then how were the others able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage and still remain alive?
Soon, an hour passed.
Su Ming returned to his cave dwelling and began another simulation.
[Simulation begins!]
[Drawing a random talent!]
[Congratulations. You have obtained the White Talent: Soul Return.]
[Soul Return: Seven days after your death, your soul will briefly return to the place where you died.]
[Day 1: After learning that breaking through with a Foundation Establishment Pill leads to death, you temporarily abandon the idea of reaching Foundation Establishment. You need to find the root of the problem.]
[Day 2: Seeing that you did not go to work, Wang Hao angrily storms into your cave dwelling to confront you.]
[Already in a foul mood, you directly kill Wang Hao and seize all the spirit stones on him.]
[Since you no longer plan to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, you devote all your energy to alchemy.]
[Year 1: You immerse yourself completely in alchemy.]
[Year 2: You become an alchemy apprentice in the Alchemy Hall. In your spare time, you begin secretly studying the pill recipes stored within the hall.]
[Year 4: Your act of secretly learning pill recipes is discovered by an elder. Just as the elder prepares to strike you dead with a single palm, you reveal that you are already a First-Grade Alchemist.]
[Hearing this, the elder stops his killing strike and looks at you with astonishment. "How could a mere Qi Refining cultivator like you possibly become a First-Grade Alchemist?"]
[Faced with the elder's doubts, you do not bother explaining. Instead, you directly take out your alchemy furnace and request a set of Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients from him.]
[The elder originally refuses, but when you declare that you will take your own life if you fail to refine the pill, he immediately throws you a set of ingredients.]
["I want to see what tricks you can possibly pull off!"]
[Thus, under the elder's watchful gaze, you quickly complete the refining process. A batch of Foundation Establishment Pills is produced, containing two high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills.]
[At that moment, the elder's gaze toward you changes from doubt to one of seeing a priceless treasure.]
[He announces that he will take you as his disciple and tells you to cherish this opportunity.]
[You sense the underlying threat within his words. Not daring to refuse, you nod in agreement.]
[Seeing you nod, the elder directly makes an exception and promotes you into the inner sect ahead of time.]
[The Alchemy Hall holds a very high status within the Qingyun Sect, and the sect places great importance on alchemists.]
[Thus, despite only having Qi Refining cultivation, you inexplicably become an inner sect disciple.]
[Your master, Mo Chen, instructs you to go to the academy the next day to further study alchemy knowledge.]
[You have no objections and go directly to the academy the following day.]
[When you enter, everyone's gaze turns toward you. They are curious how someone with only Qi Refining cultivation managed to enter the Alchemy Hall.]
[You ignore their gazes and sweep your eyes across the inner disciples in the academy.]
[Suddenly, your gaze stops on a certain figure.]
["Why is it her?"]
...