Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 196 Foundation Establishment Level Two
While Fang Jingxuan was still savoring the battle, Jue Yunzi was already feeling extremely pained. This ghost general was one he had painstakingly captured and sealed, and now that he had recalled it, he discovered that it had lost about ten years' worth of cultivation yin energy.

But having been defeated, Jueyunzi was quite decisive. He packed up the altar and prepared to leave.

But just as he turned to leave, he heard Fang Jingxuan say:
"Fellow Taoist, please stay."

Fang Jingxuan, with Tuoyuan in tow, moved forward several hundred feet and stopped about ten feet away from Jueyunzi.

This distance is already very close for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If they get any closer, Jue Yunzi will probably turn on them immediately.

At this moment, Jueyunzi looked somewhat displeased. He had already admitted defeat, so what more did Jueyunzi want?

Do you really think you have no temper? Everyone has a few cards to play, it's just that you don't want to fight to the death over such a small matter.

Fang Jingxuan could also sense Jue Yunzi's emotions, but he had no intention of continuing to pester her. He just wanted to make a deal.

"Fellow Daoist, as the saying goes, no friendship is formed without a fight. We can be considered acquaintances now. I would like to invite you to a banquet. There is something I would like to ask you for help with."

Jue Yunzi was somewhat uncomfortable with Fang Jingxuan's shamelessness. "We were just fighting, and now you want my help?"
Jue Yunzi wanted to refuse, but faced with Fang Jingxuan's sincerity, he found it difficult to swallow his pride.

After all, Fang Jingxuan had just defeated him, so Jueyunzi naturally had some respect for him.

As mentioned before, if someone can possess a Law Domain during the Foundation Establishment stage, or even the early Foundation Establishment stage, their future achievements will be extraordinary.

"What is it? Let me make this clear first: I will not join your Holy Infant Sect."

Fang Jingxuan was taken aback upon hearing this, and then he realized that the reputation of the Holy Infant Sect, which he had joined, was really not good.

"Fellow Daoist, please don't misunderstand. I'm just curious about your ghost general. I can sense the aura of the Yellow Spring True Water from him. I wonder if you have ever collected this kind of rare water from heaven and earth?"

During the recent exchange, Fang Jingxuan did indeed sense the aura of the Yellow Spring True Water from this ghost general, which means that the origin of this ghost general is most likely related to the Yellow Spring True Water.

Currently, Fang Jingxuan has only obtained two liters of true water from the Holy Infant Sect's treasury, and has not collected any more since. He is not lacking in Xuanming True Qi, but the Yellow Spring True Water is scarce, affecting the upper limit of his supernatural power.

Therefore, Fang Jingxuan wanted to give this glimmer of hope a try.

"Yellow Spring True Water? This water is extremely rare. Even I only have a few liters of it."

Oh no, you actually have one.

Upon hearing this, Fang Jingxuan's face lit up with joy. He hadn't expected the other party to actually possess it. If he could obtain these few liters of Yellow Spring True Water, then his Yellow Spring Domain would likely gain another supernatural power.

"Fellow Daoist, Fellow Daoist Jueyunzi, could you spare some for me? I will exchange it for you with Xuanming True Qi."

As a cultivator of the Shangqing lineage who was responsible for sealing the ghost general, the Xuanming True Qi was indeed a great tonic for that ghost general. Fang Jingxuan did not believe it, because his own ghost general's cultivation had just declined, and Jueyunzi was unmoved.

Sure enough, after a few moments of hesitation, Jueyunzi nodded.

The Xuanming True Qi is also a controlled resource. Even within the Holy Infant Sect, the supply is not very abundant. Fang Jingxuan only received a share of several hundred catties because he was valued by Xiao Yan.

However, during his years of seclusion, Fang Jingxuan used up quite a bit of his energy, and now he only has about a hundred catties left.

After a brief and amicable discussion with Jueyunzi, Fang Jingxuan exchanged eighty catties of Xuanming True Qi for one catty of Yellow Spring True Water.

At this point, both of them were fairly satisfied, just as with Xuanming True Qi, he had a way to obtain it.

And this Yellow Spring True Water doesn't seem to be a non-renewable resource for Jueyunzi.

Fang Jingxuan even suspected that Jue Yunzi had a stable channel to collect the Yellow Spring True Water, but he had no way of verifying this at the moment.

After exchanging the spiritual materials, Fang Jingxuan did not stop Jue Yunzi from leaving this time. He silently watched Jue Yunzi leave, still holding the talisman that Jue Yunzi had given him in his hand.

Once this talisman is lit, it allows for long-distance communication with Jueyunzi. The two agree that when Fang Jingxuan has collected enough Xuanming True Qi again, he can exchange it for Yellow Spring True Water from him.

After Jue Yunzi was completely out of sight, Huang Fengxian returned from a distance. He had seen what had just happened, and his desire to establish his foundation grew stronger.

As a Qi Refining cultivator, I didn't even have the right to speak with Jue Yunzi, while this Uncle Xuanming not only had a slight advantage but also took the initiative.

"Alright, this matter is settled. Jueyunzi promises that everything between you will be wiped clean, and the mark on your body will be automatically removed in six months. His previous remarks were just to scare you."

Fang Jingxuan smiled lightly, looking very relaxed. This time, he not only obtained the second-tier top-grade comrade item [Jianmu Spirit Cypress], but also stabilized the acquisition channel of Yellow Spring True Water. It was truly a double blessing.

Sure enough, it's necessary to go out and explore; otherwise, if one stays in the cave and cultivates diligently, one will miss out on these opportunities.

"Disciple thanks Uncle Xuanming. Your kindness will never be forgotten."

"Alright, this is a fair trade. In the Holy Gate, it's all about exchanging benefits. Now, I'm going back to the Holy Gate. If you're willing, come with me. If not, then do as you please."

Fang Jingxuan curled his lip, completely disregarding Huang Fengxian's promise. Right now, he wouldn't completely trust anyone; he only trusted himself.

"Please give me a ride, Uncle Master."

Huang Fengxian did not hesitate and chose to continue following Fang Jingxuan. After all, with Fang Jingxuan, a Foundation Establishment cultivator with extremely strong combat power, in this outer sea, her safety could be guaranteed very strongly.

"Then come up, Xiao Yuan, let's go back to the Holy Gate."

Tuoyuan shook its head, turned around, parted the waves, and sped off into the distance.

In less than two days, Fang Jingxuan returned to the Holy Infant Sect. Then, in his quiet room in his cave, he took out the [Jianmu Spirit Cypress] and replaced the [Three Friends of Winter].

That evening's meditation gave Fang Jingxuan a great surprise. When he was practicing the "Mysterious Abyss True Explanation", he could clearly perceive that his natal "Thousand-Spirit Cypress" in his sea of ​​consciousness was constantly exchanging spiritual energy with the "Jianmu Spirit Cypress".

With each interaction of spiritual energy, the [Thousand-Year Cypress] within my sea of ​​consciousness is constantly growing, and the effect is quite obvious.

In just one day, it was equivalent to the previous three days, and even the appearance of the [Thousand Spirit Cypress] itself was quietly changing.

After his cultivation, Fang Jingxuan glanced at his attribute panel and found that his cultivation progress had increased by as much as 27 points in just one night.

Even without the twelve points boost from the second-tier superior-grade Miaoji Qingyun Pill, relying solely on the same ginseng, I can achieve a seventeen-point improvement in one night. Before exchanging for these two ginseng, this number was less than ten points.

Clearly, the higher the grade of the item, the greater the benefit to one's cultivation.

Now, I can achieve a cultivation progress of 10,000 points per year. This cultivation speed is in the upper-middle range among Foundation Establishment cultivators, almost reaching the upper level. However, I am still some distance away from those geniuses.

However, Fang Jingxuan didn't care too much. He was satisfied with the result. Cultivation shouldn't be about pursuing speed, foundation, and combat power. These are the most important things.

Now that the Yellow Springs Domain has been completed, the next one should be the Extreme Yin Moonlight Domain.

Thinking of this, Fang Jingxuan got up and left the quiet room, going to Lin Xiaoqian's alchemy room.

Seeing Fang Jingxuan approach, Lin Xiaoqian quickly put away the storybook in her hand, and her expression became serious.

This gave Fang Jingxuan a strange sense of déjà vu; he felt like a ruthless boss exploiting his employees. "How's your research on the purification method I asked you to do coming along?"

Fang Jingxuan looked around, then slowly asked, and Lin Xiaoqian thought for a moment before quickly replying:

"Reporting to the Cave Master, we have made some progress. I previously extracted seventeen kinds of spiritual liquids using various spiritual plants, and also tried to extract the blood of certain spiritual beasts, separating out some crystals."

Fang Jingxuan listened attentively to Lin Xiaoqian's research findings. With his support, Lin Xiaoqian's alchemy skills were improving rapidly, definitely much better than they were three years ago.

Only then could Fang Jingxuan feel at ease handing over the Moon Essence Dew to her for extraction.

"This is a bottle of Moon Essence Jade Dew Liquid. Take it and study it. I want to obtain another kind of rare water from heaven and earth, the Extreme Yin Moon Essence True Water. See what conditions are needed to support it. If I can do it, I will satisfy you."

Lin Xiaoqian carefully took the jade bottle from Fang Jingxuan's hand, her face full of confidence, which pleased Fang Jingxuan greatly.

"Work hard, and you won't be treated unfairly."

Fang Jingxuan casually made a grand promise to Lin Xiaoqian, then left her there to study it, while he went out to take a stroll through the market.

Now he has become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his divine soul has become much more abundant.

Then it's time to train a new spirit pet. After all, although we have Liugu to assist in controlling the field and Tuoyuan to defend and protect, we still lack a fighting spirit beast that can charge into battle and kill without mercy.

I just don't know if there are any suitable spirit pet cubs for sale in this Holy Gate Market.

With the intention of buying a spirit beast cub, Fang Jingxuan wandered around the Holy Gate Market.

However, there are not many shops selling spirit beast cubs in this market, and most of them are low-level spirit beasts for Qi Refining cultivators, which is far from meeting Fang Jingxuan's psychological needs.

Nowadays, Fang Jingxuan no longer looks down on first- and second-tier spirit beast cubs.

Cubs of this quality have limited potential for growth.

In such cases, having one example like Tuoyuan is sufficient; it doesn't even consider how many resources Fang Jingxuan invested in Tuoyuan's development.

However, if that fourth-tier spiritual material, the five-colored mirage dragon scales, were sold, I wonder how many spirit beasts like Tuoyuan could be bought back.

At Fang Jingxuan's level, he is capable of pursuing higher-grade spirit beast cubs, and he is even qualified to possess a third-grade cub.

However, the higher the grade of the spirit beast cub, the higher the price and the greater the cost of raising it. Whether to blindly pursue grade is a matter of personal preference.

At this moment, Fang Jingxuan had several types of spirit beasts in mind, among which he preferred fierce birds of prey such as eagles and falcons.

These kinds of spirit beasts can fly at altitudes of 70,000 to 80,000 meters. This is an altitude that even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators would not be able to reach.

The higher one flies, the thinner the spiritual energy above becomes. Foundation Establishment cultivators must constantly interact with the outside world, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish their own consumption.

Therefore, the general altitude at which Foundation Establishment cultivators fly is only a few thousand meters in the air. Even when piloting a flying shuttle spirit boat, an altitude of tens of thousands of meters is sufficient.

Eagles and falcons can move freely at altitudes of 50,000 to 60,000 meters, and with their sharp eyes, they can see very clearly what is happening hundreds of nautical miles away at this altitude.

If danger is encountered, it will definitely be able to detect the warning immediately, and when escaping, it can come to this high altitude to avoid danger.

Besides eagles and falcons, Fang Jingxuan also favored fierce and powerful creatures like flying tigers and unicorns.

After wandering around for a while, Fang Jingxuan did manage to spot a few spirit beast cubs, but he wanted to wait and see if he could find something better, so he didn't plan to make a move for the time being.

In the following days, Fang Jingxuan did not encounter any suitable spirit beasts. Occasionally, he would encounter spirit beasts of extraordinary quality, but they were all sea beasts.

Because of Tuoyuan, Fang Jingxuan no longer wanted to cultivate sea beasts, so he had no choice but to give up.

Over time, he came to understand the situation here and realized that true high-level spirit beasts could only be obtained from places like the Beast Taming Sect.

Fortunately, Fang Jingxuan decided to put these thoughts aside for the time being and began to focus on his cultivation.

Fang Jingxuan felt satisfied with his daily cultivation progress, which was around 27 or 28 o'clock each day.

As time went by, the five-year period promised by Xiao Yan began to wane.

Nine months later, Xiao Yan sent someone to remind Fang Jingxuan that the five-year period had passed and it was time to send a mission for the Holy Infant Sect.

Fang Jingxuan simply claimed that he already knew about this, but he still went into seclusion to cultivate, because he was about to advance to the second level of Foundation Establishment.

Four more months passed. On this day, Fang Jingxuan finished his meditation in the quiet room, checked his attribute panel, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

[Real name: Fang Jingxuan]

【Age: 47/280】

[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Level 2 (20/55000)]

Total Mana: 1830 (drops)

[Divine Sense Perception: 620 (zhang)]

Compared to when he was at the first level of Foundation Establishment, his strength had increased significantly, with a noticeable increase in the total amount of mana, while the range of his divine sense had only increased by about one hundred feet.

The total cultivation required for the second level of Foundation Establishment is only 10,000 points more than that for the first level. Based on his current cultivation speed, he will only need less than six years to advance to the third level of Foundation Establishment.

After finishing these calculations, Fang Jingxuan was in a good mood, but when he thought of Lin Xiaoqian, his brows furrowed slightly.

More than a year has passed, and the Extreme Yin Moon Essence True Water still hasn't been extracted. It's unclear whether it's because Lin Xiaoqian is only a Qi Refining cultivator and therefore powerless against true water of this grade.

Thinking of this, Fang Jingxuan sighed. If Lin Xiaoqian couldn't extract it, he would have no choice but to ask a Foundation Establishment level alchemist for help.

Fortunately, during the past year or so, he managed to exchange the Yellow Spring True Water with Jueyunzi once more.

In two separate instances, a total of three liters of Yellow Spring True Water were refined by Fang Jingxuan into his Yellow Spring Domain. Currently, Fang Jingxuan's Yellow Spring Domain possesses five supernatural powers, and his own strength has been greatly enhanced.

However, Fang Jingxuan had a limited supply of high-grade spirit stones at the moment, since the Xuanming True Qi was too expensive, costing one high-grade spirit stone per pound.

After exchanging them twice, Fang Jingxuan currently has no extra high-grade spirit stones to squander.

However, now that he has become a cultivator at the second level of Foundation Establishment and his five-year period of seclusion has passed, it is time to go find Xiao Yan and hang around in front of him.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to Xiao Yan in the long run.

So, Fang Jingxuan tidied himself up, stepped out of his secluded cave, and arrived at Xiao Yan's residence.

(End of this chapter)