Wei Zhong lowered his head in thought. He had originally intended to sell the Foundation Establishment Pill to Ning Cankun, his longtime friend, feeling obligated to give him a helping hand. However, Ning had declined, candidly admitting that he had given up hope of achieving Foundation Establishment.
Now, selling it to Daoist Hu Yang seemed like a good alternative. It would provide Chu Zhong, Wei Zhong's disguised persona, with some publicly accessible spirit stones. He would inevitably need spirit stones to lease spirit ground and purchase magic tools and medicinal pills later.
Wei Zhong looked up and said, "Fellow Daoist, you speak the truth. I do indeed have one Foundation Establishment Pill remaining, and I intend to sell it. Selling it to Senior Hu would certainly be preferable to selling it to anyone else. May I ask what price Senior Hu is willing to offer?"
Daoist Hu Yang held up three fingers. "Three thousand low-grade spirit stones."
Wei Zhong frowned. The current market price for a Foundation Establishment Pill was five thousand low-grade spirit stones. Daoist Hu Yang's offer felt insulting.
Daoist Hu Yang maintained his faint smile. "Fellow Daoist, there's no need to rush. First, take a look at the gift this Daoist has prepared for you."
Wei Zhong glanced at the gift box on the table. Upon opening it, he found a fragmented jade slip inside.
He probed it with his divine sense, and his heart leaped with joy at its contents:
A partial Second-Tier Spirit Wine Brewing Technique Inheritance.
It appeared to contain several wine recipes, but they were obscured by Restrictions, making them illegible.
"Well, Fellow Daoist, are you pleased with this gift?" the old Daoist asked. "Your mastery of spirit wine brewing is truly remarkable—this old one humbly acknowledges his inferiority. However, you're clearly constrained by the First-Tier and lack expertise in Second-Tier methods.
While this inheritance is incomplete, missing only a few crucial wine recipes, the core teachings remain intact. One might as well consider it a complete inheritance.
For a Loose Cultivator like yourself, obtaining such a Second-Tier inheritance is exceedingly rare."
Wei Zhong quickly scanned the jade slip and confirmed the old Daoist's words.
While not quite worth the full two thousand spirit stones, it was close enough.
Still, he felt the old Daoist was being a bit dishonest by factoring the gift's value into the transaction.
"Let's proceed with the trade as you've proposed, Senior," Wei Zhong decided.
After the transaction, the two men resumed their discussion about the Guest Elder position.
"Fellow Daoist Chu was wise to decline the Azurewood Sect's offer," Hu Yang remarked, a hint of wistfulness in his aged features. "He has a long-term perspective."
"Oh? Is there some hidden truth about this Guest Elder position?" Wei Zhong inquired.
Hu Yang shook his head. "It's not exactly a secret, but over time, the Azurewood Sect tends to assign these Loose Cultivators who have reached Foundation Establishment particularly thorny tasks. For instance, several Foundation Establishment Fellow Daoists perished during the recent development of the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range."
Wei Zhong's heart tightened. He was right to decline Xu Changjun's invitation.
"Ah, it's not as if the Guest Elder position is cursed. It's simply our ill luck to be caught in this situation," Hu Yang sighed. "The Azurewood Sect isn't alone; Han Bamboo City in this prefecture is also preparing for the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range venture. All the major powers in the other prefectures are either fervently preparing or already engaged. Developing the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range has become the dominant trend in the Cultivation World."
Wei Zhong frowned. "Could there be some deeper secret behind this development?"
Although Wei Zhong had heard some rumors from Ning Cankun, he knew Daoist Hu Yang possessed a far more comprehensive understanding.
Hu Yang downed a cup of spirit wine. "Actually, the upper echelons of the Human Race have been contemplating an offensive against the Myriad Beasts Mountain Range for decades. The recent surge in Secret Realm collapses across various sects has only accelerated these plans."
"Secret Realm collapses?" Wei Zhong couldn't help but think of the Clear River Secret Realm.
"The reasons vary, but the prevailing theory is that our world's absorption capacity for these fragmented spatial realms has intensified. Some even speculate that this marks a major upheaval in the Cultivation World, a sign of the world's fundamental strength increasing. They believe this heralds a golden age for cultivation."
Wei Zhong nearly choked on his drink, recalling a pattern from novels in his previous life: whenever a protagonist descended upon a world, calamity invariably followed. Behind every golden age lurked inevitable inevitable disaster. Could I be so unlucky as to have transmigrated into such a situation? This makes even cultivating feel precarious.
"Haha, no need to be alarmed, Old Brother," Hu Yang chuckled. "A golden age is good news! Who knows? With our modest talents, we might even glimpse the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realms."
Wei Zhong wiped away the spilled wine. "Senior speaks the truth."
...
"Well, Fellow Daoist, I've enjoyed our conversation today. This old Daoist has pressing matters to attend to and must depart."
"Farewell, Senior."
Outside the courtyard gate, the two men clasped their hands in a formal bow.
"Oh, by the way, Fellow Daoist, if you're seeking a spirit ground, you might want to investigate the Li Family."
With those words, Hu Yang stepped onto a fiery red Flying Sword and soared into the sky, leaving Wei Zhong alone at the gate, deep in thought.
The Li Family... Could this be the same Li Family that spent seven thousand spirit stones on a Foundation Establishment Pill over a decade ago? I heard their Foundation Establishment Patriarch was nearing the end of his lifespan. I wonder if he's still alive. Since this involves a spirit ground, I should investigate.
Wei Zhong immediately packed his belongings and headed to Market City to gather information.
He learned that the Li Family Patriarch had indeed passed away ten years prior. As for the priceless Foundation Establishment Pill, it had been given to Li Haowen, the clan's most promising Qi Refining "genius" at the time, in hopes of achieving Foundation Establishment. Unfortunately, Li Haowen failed, damaging his foundational essence in the process.
Consequently, his lineage lost favor and was relegated to an insignificant side branch by other factions within the Li Family.
Meanwhile, the newly ascendant main branch had cultivated a connection with a Loose Cultivator named Candle Daoist, who hailed from Han Bamboo City. Originally seeking refuge and a place to settle, Candle Daoist had inadvertently provided the Li Family with an opportunity to latch onto him and secure a favorable position.
With Candle Daoist's assistance, the Li Family managed to preserve much of its influence, barely maintaining its prestige as a Foundation Establishment Family.
Within a few years, the Li Family realized that the foreign cultivator had become increasingly greedy, a veritable leech clinging to their clan. He demanded a large portion of their annual yields, and his demands had grown even more voracious in recent years, leaving the Li Family disciples worse off than those of ordinary Qi Refining families.
Overwhelmed by his Foundation Establishment cultivation base, the Li Family dared not openly rebel. Instead, they secretly spread rumors of his tyranny throughout the region and covertly appealed to other Foundation Establishment cultivators to intervene on their behalf.
Candle Daoist: Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, skilled in fire techniques. Rumored to have been injured upon arriving in this region ten years ago, he has since been compelling the Li Family to collect various healing treasures, a demand that continues to this day.
Injured? More likely a cunning schemer.
Wei Zhong never trusted such intelligence. He simply assumed Candle Daoist was at least at the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, if not the Late-Stage. As for Core Formation, that was highly unlikely. The Azurewood Sect would never tolerate an unaffiliated Core Formation cultivator residing so close to their territory. If Candle Daoist had become a Core Formation Guest Elder for the Azurewood Sect, he would have proudly declared it, rather than concealing his true cultivation base and pretending to be merely Foundation Establishment.
This could work.
Wei Zhong made up his mind instantly.
The Li Family's spirit ground also perfectly suited his needs. Located within Sea Moon Lake, it comprised two Second-Tier Spirit Islands: one with a mid-grade Second-Tier spirit vein and the other with a low-grade Second-Tier spirit vein, along with several scattered First-Tier islets.
These lake-bound Spirit Islands were ideal for Wei Zhong's cultivation of the Spring and Autumn Water Refinement Manual.