"Use some of those contribution points you have earned and rent a closed-door meditation chamber," Elder Tye suggested. "They have arrays and spirit stones that increase the density of Qi almost tenfold. When you've entered the room, take a Body Foundation Pill. The pill won't increase the amount of Qi you can absorb, but it will work on the Qi you've been cultivating.

"The pill can only be taken once a month, any more than that and the toxic buildup will counteract any gains you may have. You Dantian should shatter sometime within the following six hours. Once it does shatter, then would be the time to take a Body Tempering pill.

"Use the efficacy from that pill to increase the amount of Qi you channel and cultivate. Try to gather at least twice as much Qi as you normally cycle. It will make the Dantian reform more robust.

"Don't forget to include your elemental affinities when collecting Qi in these closed-door rooms. Talk to the attendant and make sure you find a room that collects water and air elements for you to include while cultivating.

"The room comes with a bath that includes a soaking tub; I'll instruct the Supply clerk to issue you a herbal prescription that can be absorbed through the skin, herbs that will strengthen your Spirit Root and meridian channels. Spirit Root Strengthening should be only attempted once you smash through the bottleneck. If you rebuild your Dantian, strengthen your Spirit roots and meridians, and collect the elements you are aligned with, you will find a much-improved outcome.

"We should have discussed this process before you moved from the low to mid-tier of Body Refinement, but your last breakthrough was atypically easy. This is the first time you will have used this method, so soak in the baths before you try. Make the water as hot as possible so that your pores open and you can expel any remaining impurities.

"This is the last time your body will expunge these kinds of toxins. The next advance will be between Realms, not tiers. Your spirit sea will be what is most impacted while navigating the stages of the Qi Gathering Realm," Elder Tye continued, his instructions more detailed and helpful than I'd expected.

I'd never thought to ask Elder Shadow or Elder Tye advice about advancing my tiers or realms, I'd assumed that the knowledge I needed was included in the jade slip that had held the [Transcend the Heavenly Footpath] cultivation technique.

"I have to warn you the herbal bath will be painful. It will feel like every pore in your body is on fire as the medicinal bouquet is absorbed. When the medicine from the herbs makes contact with your Spirit Root, the pain will increase exponentially.

"But!

"Do not allow yourself to pass out!

"You need to stay awake to guide the changes made to your Spirit Root," he warned.

"Will it increase the level of my Spirit Root?" I wondered, thinking it unlikely. If it were possible to do something like that, everyone would soak in this herbal bomb until their roots had evolved to Gold.

"Not exactly," Elder Tye said. "It increases the depth of your roots which have a direct relationship with your inner sea. Those who have not formed a Dao column would risk crippling themselves, but by expanding your inner sea, by strengthening your Soul Ocean, you strengthen the Dao seed you have nurtured."

"It will help with enlightenment and understanding?" I asked.

"No, the path to enlightenment is one of introspection and hard work. There are no herbal remedies that can short circuit the path a cultivator must take to attain a complete understanding of their Dao. What it does is create a more robust foundation, it vitalizes the waters of your soul ocean, and nurtures the growth of that seed. And it creates an island of serenity that your Dharmic body can physically visit and meditate at."

"I wonder if I can use the trick of splitting my awareness to meditate with my Dharmic body and cultivate with my physical body," I mused aloud, seeing no reason why it couldn't be done. Eventually.

"That ability will manifest when you reach the Qi Condensing Realm," Elder Tye informed me. "The Body Refinement Realm re-builds your organs, skin, and bones setting the stage and a foundation for future growth. But the Qi Condensing Realm begins the process of refining your Dharmic body and your soul energy. What you can do now, the small success you have with Dharmic control, and alchemy is the equivalent of a baby learning to crawl. In the Qi Gathering Realm, you will learn to walk.

"But the next Realm is a discussion for the future. Today we need to worry about advancing your Body Refinement stages. I will make sure you have the cultivation resources we discussed, you get busy and see how far you can progress in crafting a Body Foundation pill.

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"If you are unsuccessful in creating an advanced-tiered pill, requisition one. There is no point in risking success, not this close to the tournament," he said before ushering me out of his workroom.

I did notice that veiled mention of the tournament, but his door was slammed and barred before I could ask anything further.

If an advanced pill would assure my success, what would a perfected pill accomplish, I wondered? I would find out, I decided.

I first went to my workroom to study the formula Elder Tye had given me. Once I was certain I understood how the herbs would combine, I checked my Sect token. I had enough contribution points to purchase the herbs the recipe called for, not enough for an unlimited stock, but enough that I could afford to make a mistake or ten before I had to worry.

I would spend today and tomorrow trying to master this recipe, but if I wasn't able to create a perfected pill by then, I would buy one. The stronger I was, the better my chances in the upcoming tournament.

I purchased enough supplies for twenty attempts. I had found, over time, that out that many attempts would result in a single chance for a perfected-tier pill. Unfortunately, those results were with a pill recipe that I had mastered. I had needed hundreds of practice attempts, dozens of failures, even a cauldron explosion or two, before my progress advanced enough that no pill would be ruined. My familiarity increased enough that I would have a three percent chance to condense advanced-ranked pills.

I didn't remember how many failures I'd had with Body Refinement pills before I began improving quality and success rates, but this time shouldn't be as difficult. The process to create, the steps for both pills were almost exactly the same. I was hoping that similarity in creation would mean I would have a better chance of grasping the minute requirements for controlling heat and the timing needed to add herbs. The similarities between formulas should allow me to progress much faster in mastering the Body Foundation pill.

There was nothing for it but to get to work. I kept my working space pristine. I had gotten into the habit of cleaning as I went. That habit allowed me to have my tools ready for use whenever I stepped into the room.

My process began with preparation. Unlike Elder Tye who was confident enough in his abilities, I refused to steep, grind, or crush the herbs I needed in bulk. This allowed me to make some small changes, to test if parts of the herb changed quality if I used different parts of the plant. Having measured by weight the herbs I needed into twenty lots, I began my first attempt.

I was pleased when my first attempt was a success. The quality of the pill was horrendous, it was full of impurities, but my pill cauldron hadn't exploded. Explosions never damaged the cauldron, at least not cauldrons that were well forged and had capable runic masters enchant them, but the resulting mix of smoke and charred remains would take time to clean up. This time, it was only a few moments of work for me to sanitize the cauldron and get ready for the next attempt.

Any effective alchemist understands the need to meditate and reflect, to replay the steps taken when creating a pill so that real understanding can occur. Each attempt, each success or failure was stored in a kind of mental database that the person could access. It was by making minute changes, experimenting to see what worked and what didn't, and comparing those changes to a 'saved' successful attempt that improvements were made.

I spent hours adjusting the temperature by the slightest degree in various stages of creation, using leaves, stems, or both to fine-tune the formula I had been given. Within ten attempts I was creating normal-tiered pills. I had to requisition a second batch of ingredients, the quality not having reached advanced. This time I purchased enough for fifty attempts, and as I did so I mused that the price of one perfected pill would have been. On my fortieth attempt, I had progressed enough that I had a fifty percent success rate at producing advanced quality pills. Finally, on attempt 109, after another trip to secure another fifty sets of ingredients, I was the owner of a perfected-tier Body Foundation pill.

I released the mental fugue that I had been working under. The focusing technique that alchemists often embraced was mentally draining. I had taken longer to succeed than I had planned; it was the morning two days after my discussion with Elder Tye, but not so much longer than I needed to worry. I'd wanted to begin my closed-door cultivation yesterday evening, but I was certain the results were worth spending the extra time. A matter of a few hours shouldn't be problematic.

The pill was larger than I'd expected, about the size of my smallest fingernail. It was filled with vibrancy and Qi and had a luster and sheen to it that could only be found with perfected grade pills. The smell was reminiscent of Orchids in bloom, scents of vanilla and orange tantalizing the senses.

I only spared a moment to luxuriate in my accomplishment before rushing to the Supply clerk to obtain the Spirit Root bath balm and herbal mix to open my pores Elder Tye had promised me. I admit that I made judicious use of [Lightning's Rush] to make my way across the Sect property so that I could rent a closed-door cultivation chamber.

The chambers, actual caves, were located halfway up the mountain. Each cave had been excavated and built to have two rooms, the bathing chamber, and the cultivation platform. The rooms were activated and accessed by the injection of Qi and a drop of blood, transferring ownership for the length of time you rented.

I had set aside a week for my breakthrough, but the extra time spent in pill creation meant I only needed to rent the chamber for six days. I made sure to explain to the attendant I needed a room that resonated with water and air elements. The price of rental increased, but that was to be expected.

I watched in anticipation as the array that was etched into the cave reacted to my Qi and lowered a stone, weighing tons, to block the entrance. The room's Qi density beginning to increase as soon as a seal was formed, part of that density adding to the protection of the room by forming a barrier that merged with the entrance stone.

Moving to the baths, I found the soaking tub already filled with warm water, discarding clothing, jewelry, and tokens, I entered the bath, barely reclining before I dropped the herbal mixture into the water.

Elder Tye had warned the process would be painful. His words were nothing compared to the reality. Fear may be the mind-killer, but pain shattered the soul.