Zhao Di bought a few grains of spiritual elixir and a large batch of secondary spiritual elixirs, then found a corner to remove his cloak.

  Then he went to Duobao Pavilion and boldly purchased some commonly used refining equipment auxiliary materials, which were not worth much spiritual stone, and he didn't need to guard against anything.

  As for the materials for making talismans, he thought about it for a moment and decided not to buy them for now. He had already planned to use the next period of time to study the art of refining equipment. The production of mid-to-high-grade talismans during the Qi Refining stage could wait until later.

  After wandering around the not-so-big Kuai Ridge Street for two rounds, and not seeing anything unusual, Zhao Di went to the "Xian Ke Ming" tea house at the end of the street. He sat down, ordered a pot of Yunwu Ling tea, a specialty of the Gangluo Mountains, and sipped his tea while waiting for Jian Xiang'er.

  This Yunwu Ling tea is indeed a top-grade spirit tea, with leaves that unfold like knives and are as green as new ones. The tea water is clear and slightly yellowish-green, with even a faint mist gathering at the rim of the cup. As soon as it enters the mouth, Zhao Di feels a refreshing aroma, invigorating and refreshing, with a hint of warmth in his heart. Taking another sip, he finds the flavor rich and mellow, with no greasiness or slipperiness to the palate. Upon closer savoring, there is a subtle bitterness amidst the richness, leaving an aftertaste that lingers on. Even someone as ignorant of tea as Zhao Di feels greatly satisfied after drinking several cups.

  When Zhao Di had drunk more than half a pot of Yunwu Spirit Tea, Jian Xiang'er finally appeared.

  "Vivacious!" This was Zhao Di's first impression when he saw Jian Xiang'er. At this time, Jian Xiang'er had a faint blush on her cheeks, fine sweat on her forehead, and sparkling eyes that shone like water, revealing an excited expression. Coupled with the pink dress she wore, she looked exceptionally lively and charming.

  As soon as she appeared in the teahouse, she immediately attracted a lot of attention. Many monks couldn't help but steal glances at her, and even Zhao Di beside her was looked at several times.

  "What good things have you managed to haggle for?" Zhao Di smiled slightly and asked, while handing the girl a cup of spiritual tea.

  "Hehe, guess!" Jian Xiner sold a suspenseful look, she seemed to be thirsty, after taking the spiritual tea, she drank it all in one gulp. Then she casually released an "isolation technique", a small, faint light shield enveloped Zhao Di and her within it.

  This is a commonly used low-level auxiliary spell that can only isolate sound and has no significant defensive effect.

  Zhao Di refilled her cup and shook his head, saying: "I really can't guess." In fact, he was thinking to himself: "What else could it be? Either beautiful clothes or cosmetics."

  "Haha, I knew you wouldn't guess it. Look, what's this!" Jian Xiner proudly pulled out a small wooden box from her bosom and handed it to Zhao Di.

  "What is this?" Zhao Di opened the small box, inside were seven or eight identical purple dan pills about an inch in diameter, but it was a kind he had never seen before, and from the spiritual energy emitted by the dan medicine, it seemed to be a secondary dan.

  He brought the danwan to his nose and sniffed it hard, feeling that this danwan was particularly fragrant and pleasant, but he really couldn't think of what kind of dan medicine it was.

  "I don't recognize it, what kind of amazing medicine is this that makes you so happy!" Zhao Di admitted defeat, he had read many classics about Dan medicine, but still couldn't identify it, could it be a very rare and obscure type of Dan medicine?

  "Let me tell you, this is the Elixir of Youth! Taking one pill will keep your youth forever, and your appearance will never age." The girl said excitedly, but her voice sank a lot after a moment: "Unfortunately, these few pills are all inferior elixirs, and the effect is probably minimal. The real Elixir of Youth only has a few pills, and they were all bought by several female masters in the foundation period at a high price of 900 spiritual stones. This time, each pill will be sold for three spiritual stones! I don't know how many sisters are eager to buy, and these few pills I got were almost half-bought and half-snatched."

  "Does Zidan also want one Sanling stone? It's so expensive, it must be a good thing! Give me a few!" After finishing speaking, Zhao Di didn't wait for Jian Xiang'er to agree or not, and directly took two or three Dan pills from the box and put them into his own storage bag.

  "What's the point of being a big man with eternal youth?" Jian Xiner pouted, rolling her eyes at Zhao Di and revealing an expression that made him think she was adorable.

  "Hehe." Zhao Di smiled foolishly for a moment, but didn't respond. Instead, he directly asked about her recent cultivation progress.

  Jian Xiner's excited expression suddenly disappeared, she put away the wooden box and said slowly: "It's still the same. I've been cultivating in Sun Shibo's medicine garden every day, where the spiritual energy is very abundant, but the progress is also quite ordinary. I don't have confidence that I can reach the 12th layer of Qi Refining before the Foundation Establishment trial two years later. I'm afraid the Foundation Establishment trial will be particularly difficult."

  Zhaodi understood Jianxian'er's meaning. Like him and Jianxian'er, who didn't have the support of a powerful sect or family behind them, were similar to loose cultivators' eleventh-level cultivators, their strength could only be considered mediocre among many outer disciples. Furthermore, Jianxian'er also didn't have much actual combat experience in fighting against others, and the magical tools she possessed were only mid-grade at best. To think of standing out in the Foundation Establishment trial where everyone was eager to win, indeed the chances were slim.

  The requirements for participating in the foundation-building trial are to have a cultivation level of at least the 10th layer of Qi Refining, and be under the age of 40. Because after the age of 40, the chances of building a foundation become much smaller, and even if one is lucky enough to successfully build a foundation, they will basically remain in the initial stage of foundation-building for their entire life, making it very difficult to make any further progress in cultivation. The best age for building a foundation is under 30 years old, as cultivators within this age range have a large portion of their cultivation potential still available for growth.

  Among the nearly two thousand outer disciples who participated in the foundation-building trial, there were hundreds of people who had reached the 13th and 12th layers of the Qi Refining stage. The rest were mostly at the 11th layer of the Qi Refining stage. To get one of the few dozen spots among these two thousand people was originally extremely difficult. Either their cultivation level was high, with stronger magical powers than others; or they relied on possessing powerful magical tools to suppress others. In general, both conditions had to be met in order to have a slightly higher chance of winning the foundation-building pill.

  Jian Xiner, obviously, did not meet either of these conditions, so she really didn't have much confidence in the foundation-building trial two years later. Her tone also clearly revealed a hint of despair.

  Zhaodi still encouraged her a few words, suggesting that she focus on cultivating and not worry about the law instrument for now. The powerful law instrument that everyone wants is hard to come by, even if you spend too much thought on it. It's better to focus on cultivation, if you can break through to the 12th layer of the Qi Refining stage before the trial, you can also increase your strength a lot.

  After all, the cultivation has been upgraded by one level, whether it is Fa Li or Shen Shi, etc., can increase a few points.

  Jian Xiner nodded in agreement, she also agreed with Zhao Di's point of view.

  The sky wasn't very early yet, and the two left Cuiling Street, chatting about their cultivation experiences while flying towards Tiechuofeng.

  Zhao Di returned to the Alchemy Room after sending Jian Xin'er back to Tie Shoufeng.

  According to his own plan, since it is difficult to make a big progress in his cultivation within these two years, he might as well use this time to properly prepare the magic weapons for the trial.

  What can be bought in the market is basically mid-grade artifacts or slightly better high-grade artifacts, and none of them are cheap. Zhao Di didn't dare to act rashly for two reasons: first, he thought these artifacts were not powerful enough, and second, they wouldn't be of much use in the intense competition of the foundation-building trial, so he didn't put his hopes on the market.

  And after he discovered that the small tripod had a magical effect of enhancing the material for refining equipment, he thought that one day he might be able to refine his own magic weapon.

  Now he thinks it's not only possible but also highly feasible.

  According to his preliminary understanding of alchemy, the most important thing in refining a good magic weapon is not whether the alchemist's technique is superb, but rather the material used for refinement.

  No matter how rich the experience of a master refiner, it is impossible to refine a few kilograms of high-quality copper scrap into a medium-grade ritual vessel. This is the same principle as "a skilled woman cannot cook without rice".

  On the contrary, as long as the raw materials are good enough, even if the technique of refining is a bit rough, it is still possible to refine a medium or high-quality ritual vessel. For example, Zhao Di's small cauldron was made from superior refined copper material that had been slightly cultivated, and with just a little refinement, it could be refined into a medium-quality ritual vessel. If encountered with a highly skilled master refiner, perhaps an even higher quality ritual vessel could be produced.

  For inexperienced alchemists, the possibility of failure in refining equipment is very high. Once the refinement fails, the materials, spirit stones, and auxiliary materials used in the refinement will all be scrapped, with almost no chance of reuse. Therefore, for ordinary cultivators, they dare not refine artifacts by themselves, and would rather spend a large amount of spirit stones to ask a master refiner to process and refine them. Otherwise, if they fail, the wasted materials and spirit stones would be too costly to bear.

  But for Zhao Di, he had an endless supply of fine materials and spiritual stones, so wasting some was nothing! What he feared wasn't waste, but revealing his wealth. He didn't dare to hand over the good materials to others to refine for him.

  What if the person who is refining it becomes greedy and sets a trap for him to fall into, that would be terrible.

  "The fewer uncertainties, the better. One's own destiny should still be grasped in one's own hands!" Zhao Di thought to himself.

  (4th update, thank you for your support!)