The road is vague

Chapter 266 Late stage of foundation building
"Master, what does that immortal root look like? Is there any record of it in any ancient texts?"

Because most of the ancient immortal roots were naturally grown, and now that the world of the Mountain and Sea Realm has undergone tremendous changes, most of them have long since become extinct.

What cultivators know now is only the tip of the iceberg of the ancient relics passed down.

Seeing that Li Mo was interested, Lu Qi immediately took out a book from his bosom.

He quickly flipped through the pages and pointed to one of them.

"that's it!"

Wang Xiyue, Wei Cang, Jiang Feiyan, and Li Mo all looked in the direction Lu Qi pointed.

The Nine Heavens Ginseng, also known as the Nine-Bend Ginseng Spirit or Divine Grass Doll, is naturally grown and prefers secluded, sparsely populated places. It has an innate, formless body and requires the use of spiritual eyes to observe it. It can enter the earth and escape the wood. It cannot fly. If it takes human form, it will cause great chaos. Eating it can refine the essence of the sun and moon, repair deficiencies in the heavens, grow flesh from bones, and prolong life.

"The Divine Herb Doll?"

Li Mo recalled the many stories of herb gathering at Jimintang when he was a child, including the so-called "divine herb doll".

Legend has it that eating the magical herb doll can grant immortality and allow one to ascend to heaven in broad daylight, a dream shared by countless herb gatherers. However, compared to such unattainable myths, herb gatherers are more eager to find a century-old spiritual herb so they can become rich and powerful.

Lu Qi stroked his beard, his eyes burning with desire.

"The so-called refining of the essence of the sun and moon is a cultivation method of demon beasts. Therefore, before the Great Zhou Dynasty, ancient cultivators who wanted to cultivate both body and mind mostly needed to refine something like an immortal root in order to achieve the dual cultivation of body and mind. It's just that it wasn't called that back then."

The five chatted about ancient legends and interesting stories from the State of Lu in the cave. Time flew by, and they didn't leave until late at night.

As for whether he would attend the so-called Longevity and Enlightenment Conference, Li Mo did not give a definite answer, saying that it would depend on the specific situation five years later.

Next.

Li Mo spent several days gathering all the necessary auxiliary ingredients for the Blood Essence Pill.

Using the demon core of the bamboo rat spirit he had killed deep in the Southern Wilderness Plains as a catalyst, he successfully refined the Blood Essence Pill. It then took him a full month to completely refine the pill.

However, the pill's efficacy did not meet expectations.

Although his magical power seemed to have become slightly more refined as a result, it was not as exaggerated as described in the elixir formula.

"Could it be because my own magical power is already sufficiently refined?"

Because of his consumption of the Creation Pill, coupled with his cultivation of the "Li Mo Inner Classic," which was adapted from the "Emperor Xin Inner Classic" based on his own meridians and acupoints, his magical power was already much deeper than that of others of the same level. Therefore, it was reasonable that the Blood Essence Pill had a limited effect on condensing magical power.

Having figured this out, Li Mo did not feel any regret.

The higher the level of a cultivator, the more effort they will put into increasing the probability of breaking through a bottleneck, even by the slightest bit.

Otherwise, if you fail to get promoted, the difficulty of getting promoted again will increase several times over.

So he quickly composed himself and prepared to do something else.

Now that Lu Qi and Wang Xiyue have been married for three months, it is time for Li Mo, as Lu Qi's disciple, to move out of Lu Qi's cave.

Wei Cang had already moved out half a month ago, preparing to settle down in the mountains and start a family.

Jiang Feiyan went to the Ancestral Hall and did not return for several days.

After obtaining Lu Qi and Wang Xiyue's consent, Li Mo packed his belongings that same day. After a moment's thought, he decided to develop a new cave dwelling on his own, preferably one that was far away from other people.

He plans to remain in seclusion here for an extended period.

So after searching through many back mountains, he arrived at this Little Spring Peak.

The mountain peaks here are relatively low and located at a branch of the Qingming Mountain spiritual vein, where the spiritual energy is much thinner. However, the scenery is beautiful, and a spring provides fresh water, attracting many small animals. Therefore, it occasionally attracts some cultivators to establish cave dwellings here.

However, since the internal strife within the Lingmu Sect, the number of Foundation Establishment disciples has decreased sharply, and this mountain peak has become vacant.

"This is it!"

He possesses the Misty Spirit Eye Array, which can draw spiritual energy from Misty Peak. He is also preparing to refine a composite Bagua Spirit Gathering Puppet. Once everything is ready, the commotion will likely be significant, so the more concealed the better.

Even if the spiritual energy is somewhat sparse, it is insignificant compared to the vast amount of spiritual energy he can draw upon.

With that in mind, Li Mo immediately summoned the Heavenly Golden Sword and began to carve a cave on Xiaoquan Peak.

a few days later.

After the cave was completed, Li Mo set up the defensive flag array and put away his personal belongings. With everything ready, he was about to start refining the composite Bagua spirit-gathering puppet when he sensed a communication talisman descending from the sky, which was blocked by the flag array.

He frowned slightly and then reached out to summon the talisman.

"Senior Brother Li Mo, I, Jiang Caiqian, recently came across a piece of calligraphy by Pang Yun, a Grand Secretary of the First Rank of the current dynasty. It is said that each word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. It is said to contain noble spirit and reflect the truth. It can also ward off evil spirits and has endless wonderful uses. I wonder if Senior Brother has the time to appreciate it with me?"

Li Mo held the communication talisman, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Among the unmarried female cultivators of the Lingmu Sect, Jiang Caiqian was already considered one of the top candidates, and with his proactive pursuit, it seemed that he only needed to say a word to win her heart.

However, he was not tempted at all.

After a long silence.

After confirming that his heart was not in this matter and that he had no feelings for Jiang Caiqian, Li Mo immediately took out a communication talisman, murmured a few words in a low voice, sighed softly, and then sent it out.

After doing all this, Li Mo went to the puppet room and looked at the room full of spirit bamboo.

With a total of sixty-four basic puppets, he'll be busy from now on.

one year later.

The once unremarkable Xiaoquan Peak in the back mountain suddenly became densely covered with spiritual energy.

Even with the vast array of flags blocking the way, people standing outside could still clearly feel the ever-dissipating and drifting spiritual energy of heaven and earth emanating from them.

A group of Enforcement Hall disciples arrived, carrying compasses. "Hiss!"

The squad leader, sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth constantly wafting through the air, gasped in shock.

"Who opened up this cave and set up a spirit-gathering array without permission, causing such a violent fluctuation in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!"

Upon hearing this, the vice-captain quickly began to examine the spiritual vein map.

"Captain, this is the cave dwelling of Li Mo, a true disciple."

Upon hearing this, the squad leader in charge of daily patrols immediately changed his expression, revealing a hint of awe.

Currently, the Lingmu Sect has four true disciples.

There's no need to mention the former acting sect leader Chen Shouyi. Among the remaining three true disciples, Li Mo is the most famous. After the battle at Qinglongtan, he was so feared by the older generation of law enforcement disciples that they turned pale at the mere mention of his name.

"So it was him. Let's go."

The squad leader immediately led everyone away.

These people naturally had no idea that in the cave dwelling located in the center of this vast array of flags, as the composite Bagua Spirit Gathering Array was activated, a continuous stream of spiritual energy from all directions converged into the secret chamber. In addition, the Misty Spirit Eye Array reached directly to Misty Peak, constantly surging out astonishing spiritual energy into reality. At this moment, the density of spiritual energy in this secret chamber had reached an almost unbelievable level.

Within this spiritual energy, Li Mo's figure appeared ethereal and uncertain.

As he continuously circulated his energy throughout the universe, inhaling and exhaling to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the spiritual energy in the secret chamber not only did not become thinner due to his absorption, but many of the spiritual energy that he could not absorb in time even formed spiritual liquid on his skin.

After these spiritual liquids flowed onto the ground, they gradually formed a milky-white spiritual pool.

Muran.

Li Mo, who had been sitting cross-legged there for who knows how long, suddenly swayed slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the secret room surged violently.

The water in the spiritual pool beneath him seemed to boil, surging along with the intense magical power surging within his dantian, and continuously converging into his body.

A surge of spiritual pressure suddenly materialized!
Spiritual pressure is only momentary.

But in that instant, the liquid mana within Li Mo's body was affected and collapsed and condensed again, transforming into a higher-density liquid mana.

It seems that if we take another step, we will reach the solidified golden elixir, which can nourish the soul.

"Late stage of Foundation Establishment."

Li Mo slowly opened his eyes and murmured to himself.

His face showed neither sadness nor joy; he was simply recounting a trivial matter, as if it were only natural.

He first glanced at the milky white spiritual energy around him.

The density of spiritual energy here is almost several times that of Qingming Mountain, and it has actually condensed into liquid, gradually forming a spiritual pool beneath him.

If a Qi Refining cultivator cultivates in such an environment, they will not need Foundation Establishment Pills at all and can establish their foundation on their own!

In this environment, the difficulty of advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishment is reduced by several points. So he looked inward at his dantian and felt the various changes that come with advancing to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

"My vitality and lifespan have improved again, and I feel like I have inexhaustible energy."

Li Mo seemed to hear his own strong heartbeat.

His blood and energy seemed to be burning brightly, and he was full of vitality. Even if he didn't rest or sleep for several days in a row, it wouldn't matter.

"Furthermore, my mana and divine sense have increased by fifty to sixty percent compared to when I was in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage!"

The immense magical power not only allows cultivators to fight for longer periods of time, but also helps to reduce the difficulty of casting intermediate-level spells and enhance the power of spells, secret arts, and magical artifacts.

As for the enhancement of divine sense, it can help cultivators further improve their reaction speed, foresee danger and perceive details, analyze situations on a larger scale, pursue powerful enemies, conceal themselves, and seize the initiative, etc.

He had a feeling.

Even without relying on other means, his own magic and magical artifacts alone are enough to completely overwhelm Chen Kaixuan in a one-on-one situation!

This is the ample confidence that comes from the comprehensive improvement of magical power and divine sense.

The strength gained through cultivation level is far superior to any other fancy methods.

"However, in terms of spiritual understanding... I seem to be lacking something. It seems that I lack that sense of distinction between immortals and mortals, and the sublimation of the mind."

After a thoughtful expression, Li Mo slowly uttered two words.

"Transcending the mundane."

He had heard Lu Qi, Wei Cang, and Jiang Feiyan recount this story.

Once a cultivator advances to the Golden Core stage, they are equivalent to a true immortal in the eyes of mortals. They hardly need to worry about food, drink, shelter, or transportation. Under normal circumstances, no matter how many mortals there are, they cannot threaten a Golden Core cultivator.

However, to advance to the Golden Core stage, one must have a profound understanding that transcends the mortal realm.

This kind of realization is not difficult for most people. They only need to wait until their ordinary friends and acquaintances in the Qi Refining stage die one by one, and they will naturally gain a transcendent state of mind.

"This is probably why high-level cultivators can go into seclusion for a hundred years."

After gradually adapting to the various changes in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, Li Mo closed his eyes again and continued to cultivate the Great Circulation in the secret room.

Only after reaching the Golden Core stage can cultivators have some control over their own destiny.

Although he has now advanced to the late stage of Foundation Establishment and has the status of a true disciple, making him a figure not to be underestimated in the Lingmu Sect, as Chu Yuni said, they are all just tools, only with different roles.

(End of this chapter)