The Capital, Ye Family Ancient Estate.
Ye Chengye hastily left, following Shan Hu's command, and initiated the Ye family's vast intelligence network.
Shan Hu returned alone to the quiet room in the separate courtyard. For him, the most pressing matter was not waiting for intelligence, but preparing for his next steps.
"The Mid Foundation Establishment stage is stable, but to truly begin my Immortal Emperor's path of vengeance and rebuilding, the Golden Core stage is the true starting point."
Shan Hu muttered to himself. The lack of spiritual energy on Earth prevented him from relying solely on absorbing Heaven and Earth spiritual energy to break through to Golden Core. He had to refine pills—especially the crucial pills for advancing from Late Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, such as the "Foundation Establishment Pill" and the "Infant Condensing Pill."
However, alchemy demands an extremely rigorous environment.
"Firstly, I need an alchemy site that is sufficiently sturdy and capable of gathering spiritual energy."
Although the spiritual vein palace beneath the Ye family estate was rich in spiritual energy, it was the very foundation of the Ye family. Should he conduct alchemy at full power, the terrifying might and the pill tribulation (if refining high-grade pills) could directly destroy the entire palace and even affect the Capital's geomantic veins.
"Secondly, I need a suitable alchemic cauldron."
As an Immortal Emperor in his previous life, he naturally possessed supreme treasures, but in this life of re-cultivation, he didn't even have a single artifact.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he discovered an unused herb garden behind the Ye family estate, a quiet area with fertile soil, though the spiritual energy was sparse.
A thought flashed through Shan Hu's mind, and he immediately went to the herb garden.
In the center of the garden stood an abandoned rockery, hollow inside, seemingly having been used as a storage room for miscellaneous items. Shan Hu casually waved his hand, and the debris inside the rockery was instantly cleared.
"This place is adequate."
Shan Hu lightly tapped his finger, and Azure Emperor True Essence shot out like silk threads, inscribing complex spiritual gathering formations and isolation arrays inside the rockery. These formations far surpassed any known arrays on Earth; they could forcefully draw in the sparse external spiritual energy and firmly lock it within the rockery.
In just the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a simple alchemy chamber with dual functions of spiritual gathering and isolation was completed.
Next was the cauldron.
In a corner of the herb garden, Shan Hu found a discarded bronze cauldron, heavily covered in patina, thrown aside like scrap metal. The cauldron was about a meter tall, with three legs and two handles. Its styling was ancient and looked immensely old.
Shan Hu walked up to it and brushed away the rust with his finger, revealing ancient runes faintly glimmering beneath the bronze.
"Hmm? This is the remnant of the 'Dragon Breath Fire Cauldron'?" A flash of surprise appeared in Shan Hu's eyes.
The Dragon Breath Fire Cauldron was renowned in the ancient cultivation world. It was not a true immortal artifact, but an auxiliary magical treasure specifically designed for Foundation Establishment stage alchemists. Its furnace body was inscribed with special fire-element runes, capable of greatly enhancing the temperature and stability of the Earth Fire.
Although this cauldron was heavily damaged, with most of its runes worn away, its core structure remained intact.
Shan Hu immediately sat cross-legged in front of the cauldron, injecting streams of Azure Emperor True Essence into it.
As the True Essence began its repair work, the patina on the cauldron's surface started to peel off, the ancient runes gradually lit up, and a low humming sound came from within the cauldron, as if a sleeping giant dragon was stirring.
After spending about two hours, Shan Hu finally restored the Dragon Breath Fire Cauldron to a barely usable state.
While refining high-grade pills would still be difficult, it was sufficient for refining basic pills like the Foundation Establishment Pill.
"Everything is ready, except for the medicinal ingredients."
Shan Hu stood up and moved the Dragon Breath Fire Cauldron into the simple alchemy chamber—the rockery.
The pills he needed to refine were the most basic Foundation Establishment Pills, and the ingredients were relatively common, requiring only some spiritual herbs containing gentle spiritual energy. After the Ye family's spiritual vein had most of its energy absorbed by him, the quality of the spiritual herbs might be affected.
"It seems I must personally visit the Ye family's medicinal storage."
Shan Hu made up his mind and left the quiet room, preparing to ask Ye Chengye for the specific location and inventory of the Ye family's medicinal stores. He knew that although the Ye family had declined, their medicinal accumulation over hundreds of years should still meet his needs for refining a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills.
He intended to use this batch of Foundation Establishment Pills as the first reward for gathering the Ye family cultivators, and simultaneously, to make the most thorough preparations for his own path to the Golden Core stage.