Ning Fa had cultivated four Lesser Thunder Sources in the early stage of Qi Condensation, and it only took him three to four months.
If other cultivators with Lightning Spiritual Roots who practiced the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture knew about this, their jaws would likely drop.
However, Ning Fa possessed the Great Five Elements Thunder Body, which was legendary even in the Upper Realm, granting him a massive boost when cultivating any lightning-based techniques.
Therefore, achieving this wasn't entirely surprising.
With the opening of this Lesser Thunder Source, the spiritual pressure emanating from Ning Fa increased again, far surpassing that of ordinary cultivators in the early Qi Condensation stage.
At this point, the total amount of spiritual power within him was several times that of cultivators at the same level, and the power of the spiritual power cultivated through the top-tier Ancient Source Thunder Scripture was incomparable to that of other cultivators.
Moreover, after this spiritual power was refined by the mysterious Five Elements Thunder Rune Pattern, its power doubled.
After his initial joy, Ning Fa frowned slightly.
He had expected to reach the bottleneck for breaking through his realm after opening the fourth Lesser Thunder Source, but it still wasn't enough.
However, it was close. Ning Fa could already vaguely sense that barrier.
Next, he planned to open a fifth Lesser Thunder Source in the Zhongwan acupoint on his chest.
He had a premonition that once this fifth Lesser Thunder Source was successfully opened, it would be time for him to break through to the mid-Qi Condensation stage.
Ning Fa did not continue cultivating. His cultivation time for the day was up, and it was now time for alchemy.
During these three months, in addition to refining Essence Replenishing Pills, he had also gradually mastered the refinement of Qi Replenishing Pills and Essence Supplementing Pills, with his recent success rate stabilizing above thirty percent.
However, Ning Fa still dedicated most of his alchemy time to Essence Replenishing Pills.
He repeatedly reverted successful Essence Replenishing Pills back into spiritual materials, and after summarizing his experiences, he would begin the next refinement.
Although the process was tedious and monotonous, Ning Fa found joy in it, pouring in immense passion and focus.
With his efforts, his mastery of refining Essence Replenishing Pills became increasingly proficient, and his success rate stabilized at nearly ninety percent.
Ning Fa's understanding of this pill also reached a new level.
He could clearly feel the improvement in his alchemy skills, and his ability to master Qi Replenishing Pills and Spring Return Pills to this extent in such a short time was also attributed to this.
One evening, Ning Fa refined another batch of Essence Replenishing Pills.
During this refinement, he felt his state was better than ever, extremely smooth and fluid, as if his body was instinctively performing the alchemy.
When the entire alchemy process concluded, Ning Fa had a feeling of waking from a dream.
At this moment, the alchemy furnace in front of him emitted a colorful glow, with faint Sanskrit chants emanating from it.
Ning Fa's expression was peculiar. He beckoned, and the alchemy furnace opened, releasing several pills enveloped in a halo of light.
One of the pills was extraordinary. It shone with a multicolored radiance all over, and its surface bore a natural, uncarved mark, within which mysterious runes flickered.
"A One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill!?"
Ning Fa exclaimed.
Having already gained a foothold in the path of alchemy, he was very familiar with Dao Patterned Pills and clearly understood what it meant for a pill to have a Dao Mark.
This was something countless alchemists dreamed of, and many second-tier alchemists could not refine Dao Patterned Pills in their entire lives.
Being able to refine Dao Patterned Pills indicated that one had entered the hall of alchemy and possessed immense potential, with the possibility of becoming an alchemy grandmaster in the future.
When Ning Fa underwent the assessment at the Pill Hall previously, he had refined an Essence Replenishing Pill with a nascent Dao Mark. Although it was only a nascent form, it had still shocked everyone present.
Ning Shaohong's regard for Ning Fa was also largely due to this.
According to family records, Ning Chuyun, an ancestor of the Ning Family renowned for his alchemy, had successfully refined Dao Patterned Pills three times.
He had even refined a second-tier pill with a One Dao Mark, and Ning Chuyun used this priceless Dao Patterned Pill to help the Ning Family overcome a great calamity.
"Hahaha! I truly am a genius!"
Ning Fa laughed heartily, shamelessly making no mention of the Mysterious Scroll's role.
"It is rumored that Dao Patterned Pills not only have potent medicinal effects but also possess special abilities. I wonder what special ability my One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill will have?"
Ning Fa brought the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill closer to examine it, murmuring curiously.
He then smiled and swallowed the pill directly.
If he ate it, wouldn't he know its effects?
As he consumed the pill, a vast and pure surge of spiritual energy erupted within him, its medicinal power far exceeding that of other Essence Replenishing Pills by several times.
Ning Fa couldn't help but let out a cry of pleasure.
As the spiritual energy transformed by this pill was continuously converted into silver spiritual power through the Five Elements Thunder Rune Pattern, Ning Fa could vaguely sense the barrier in his dantian, and it felt as if it had loosened slightly.
Ning Fa was overjoyed. At this moment, he had a rough understanding of the effect of this One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill.
Its medicinal efficacy was about three to four times that of ordinary Essence Replenishing Pills.
However, that was secondary. The crucial point was that this pill actually possessed the ability to assist in breaking through bottlenecks!
Ning Fa no longer hesitated and immediately circulated his cultivation technique, attempting to break through the bottleneck to the mid-stage.
After a full day, Ning Fa, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, opened them.
A hint of regret appeared on his face. Although the effect of this One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill was extraordinary, it still couldn't help him break through the bottleneck. He still hadn't reached the threshold for a breakthrough.
Yesterday, it was only under the special medicinal power of that single Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill that I sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough.
Ning Fa felt a bit unnerved.
Although the Great Five Elements Thunder Body was indeed mysterious and powerful, he was truly troubled by the high threshold for breakthroughs in this cultivation technique.
If the bottleneck at the mid-Qi Condensation stage was like this, what about the bottlenecks at the late-Qi Condensation stage, or even Foundation Establishment?
Thinking of this, Ning Fa's headache worsened.
But it was still alright for now, because due to the Great Five Elements Thunder Body's boost to the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture, his cultivation speed was actually very fast.
In less than half a year, he had cultivated the Main Thunder Source and four Lesser Thunder Sources, something other Lightning Spiritual Root cultivators wouldn't even dare to imagine.
Ning Fa composed himself and continued refining pills, wanting to see if he could refine another Dao Patterned Pill.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't refine another Dao Patterned Pill.
He couldn't help but reflect, feeling that he was being too deliberate, thus losing that sense of natural Dao, of being unforced and perfect.
After realizing this, Ning Fa quickly refined another single Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill.
It was as if he had unlocked a secret, and from then on, he could basically refine one single Dao Mark pill for every ten furnaces.
With the Mysterious Scroll, it was equivalent to him being guaranteed to refine a single Dao Mark pill for every set of Essence Replenishing Pill ingredients.
This was quite terrifying; even if a Grandmaster Alchemist were to refine their most proficient pill, they couldn't guarantee the refinement of a Dao Patterned Pill.
Ning Fa consumed all these refined single Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pills himself, as the spiritual power transformed by these pills, into silver magic power, would increase by several tenths, significantly boosting his cultivation efficiency.
Another two months passed.
The Lesser Thunder Source in Ning Fa's chest's Dan Tian acupoint had taken initial shape, and it wasn't far from being successfully opened.
Because the difficulty would multiply with each additional Lesser Thunder Source opened, this time it took a bit longer to open the Lesser Thunder Source.
On this day, Ning Fa, who had been at home for half a year, stopped cultivating and refining pills and walked out of his house.