Chapter 25: Soldier Realm Middle Stage

Facing the sudden pill explosion, the first thing Jiang Xincheng did was not to dodge. Instead, he rushed forward, bent down, and quickly protected the two Seven Refinements Pills on the porcelain plate on the table. Only after securing them did he move aside to avoid the blast.

However, it was already too late. Covered in the exploding pill powder, Jiang Xincheng’s entire face turned black. The clothes on his upper body were torn to shreds, and several bloody cuts appeared on his skin. Blood trickled down his blackened flesh.

Fortunately, the Seven Refinements Pill was not a Primordial Force pill, so the explosion was not very powerful. If it had been a top-grade, first-level Primordial Force pill exploding, the Primordial Force contained within would have blasted Jiang Xincheng half to death.

The moment the explosion happened, when Jiang Xincheng saw the twisted silver patterns on the pill, he knew why it exploded. The amount of Century-Old Tree Root powder in this Seven Refinements Pill was too much—just over one-tenth of a gram more than it should have been. But that tiny bit extra caused the pill to explode.

If it had not exceeded one-tenth of a gram, this Seven Refinements Pill could have been successfully refined without any problems. Although it did exceed the limit, the excess was not too large. Otherwise, the pill would have exploded inside the furnace, and then not a single Seven Refinements Pill in the entire furnace would have survived.

His Spiritual Sense was still a bit too weak, and refining the Seven Refinements Pill was very challenging for him. If not for decades of alchemy experience supporting him, with Jiang Xincheng’s current Spiritual Sense level, he would not have been able to refine a top-grade, first-level pill like the Seven Refinements Pill.

He shook his head with a bitter smile. Looking at his blackened body and the wounds on it, Jiang Xincheng thought to himself that he would need to cultivate a Body Refining Technique soon. After all, he planned to refine pills frequently from now on. Even though he was a fourth-grade Alchemy Master, he could not guarantee that pill explosions—or even furnace explosions—would never happen again.

If he did not have a strong body, a few more explosions like this would finish him off.

He carefully stored the two Seven Refinements Pills. For his first attempt at refining Seven Refinements Pills in this lifetime, succeeding in creating two at once was a result that made Jiang Xincheng quite happy. Even though he got blasted in the end, it was not too serious and would not affect his upcoming cultivation.

He went straight to the well in the yard and took a thorough bath, applying some wound medicine afterward. Unfortunately, his blackened body and face only became slightly lighter. It seemed they would not return to normal anytime soon.

However, Jiang Xincheng planned to stay here and focus on cultivation during this period, with no intention of going out. So he did not have to worry about scaring children or damaging flowers and plants outside.

After resting for several hours, it was almost 5 a.m. Jiang Xincheng got up, took one of the Seven Refinements Pills, and went to the bamboo grove near the yard. He found an open patch with lush grass, sat down cross-legged, and placed the Seven Refinements Pill in his mouth.

As soon as the Seven Refinements Pill entered his mouth, a fiery medicinal potency surged out and spread throughout Jiang Xincheng’s body. This hot medicinal energy shook, trembled, and roared… like countless hammers of flame striking Jiang Xincheng’s body.

From head to toe, from skin to bones and internal organs, from his Meridians to his Dantian—every part of him was assailed by these fiery hammers. They tempered his body, refined his Meridians and Dantian, and strengthened his internal organs.

As the flame hammers hammered away, black Century-Old Tree Root powder mixed with various Spiritual Herb powders that solidified the foundation infused into Jiang Xincheng’s body, especially into his Meridians and Dantian.

A sensation like an electric shock rushed over him, and at a visible speed, his somewhat unstable Meridians and Dantian were tempered until they became stable, stronger, and more resilient.

Most of the medicinal energy focused on his Meridians and Dantian, while the remaining smaller portion seeped into his muscles, bones, and internal organs, making his body much sturdier.

Ten minutes later, the first silver pattern on the black Seven Refinements Pill dissipated. All of its medicinal energy had been absorbed by Jiang Xincheng. Then the second pattern broke apart, and the second wave of medicinal energy started to take effect.

With the second wave of medicinal energy at work, Jiang Xincheng’s Meridians and Dantian became even more solid and dense, and his body grew stronger as well.

Then came the third wave…

The fourth wave…

The fifth wave…

The sixth wave…

All the way to the seventh wave.

An hour later, Jiang Xincheng had absorbed all of the seventh wave’s medicinal energy. By then, one-tenth of his Cultivation Foundation had been stabilized. In other words, he needed only ten Seven Refinements Pills for his foundation to be completely solidified.

Aside from his Cultivation Foundation, Jiang Xincheng’s physical strength and toughness had also increased by one-third, making him quite robust.

A smile touched the corners of his mouth. After sensing the condition inside his body, Jiang Xincheng began to take the second Seven Refinements Pill…

Another hour passed, and Jiang Xincheng’s Cultivation Foundation was stabilized by another tenth. His physical strength had also risen significantly. With both Seven Refinements Pills consumed, it was time to continue refining more.

So Jiang Xincheng returned to the rented room and started refining Seven Refinements Pills again.

For the next few days, Jiang Xincheng repeated the cycle: refining Seven Refinements Pills… consuming Seven Refinements Pills… consolidating his foundation and strengthening his body… refining Seven Refinements Pills again.

During these days, Jiang Xincheng did not go to school. His dormitory brothers were all student union members, so it was easy for them to help Jiang Xincheng skip classes without any trouble.

Jiang Xincheng also turned off his phone during this period, devoting all his time and energy to stabilizing his Cultivation Foundation and improving his physical strength. He ignored everything happening outside, focusing only on his cultivation path.

A few days later, in the bamboo grove, Jiang Xincheng felt the changes inside his body and revealed a happy smile.

After days of arduous cultivation and diligent pill refining, never daring to slack off, he had finally completely stabilized his Cultivation Foundation. Not only had he solidified the Peak Late Muscle-Tempering Stage foundation, but he had also reinforced the foundation for breaking through to the Early Tendon Refining Stage.

At this moment, as long as Jiang Xincheng had enough pills to support him, he could quickly advance to the Early Tendon Refining Stage, become a Primordial Warrior in the Tendon Training Realm, and compete with the powerful seniors in the second and third years.

Therefore, Jiang Xincheng now needed good Spiritual Pills to help him break through the bottleneck of the Muscle Training Realm and enter the Tendon Training Realm. The first-grade, low-quality Earth Soil Pill could no longer help him.

His eyebrows raised slightly. Since that was the case, the first thing he needed to do next was to break through his Spiritual Sense level to the Soldier Realm Middle Stage. With sufficiently powerful Spiritual Sense Power, he could refine stronger Primordial Force pills to help himself overcome the Muscle Training Realm bottleneck.

With that thought in mind, Jiang Xincheng wasted no time. He returned to his room, took out several Willow Essence Pills he had refined earlier, placed one in his mouth, and began absorbing the Spiritual Sense Power within the pill, preparing to break through the bottleneck of the Soldier Realm’s initial stage.

Jiang Xincheng’s Spiritual Sense Power had long reached the peak of the Soldier Realm’s initial stage. However, because his Meridians and Dantian were unstable, he had been unable to advance to the Soldier Realm Middle Stage. Now, with the help of the Seven Refinements Pill, his Cultivation Foundation was completely stable, so the breakthrough in his Spiritual Sense would proceed smoothly.