Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

The day after his return, Li Xiaoyao set off for Chaoli Heaven and the New Era Realm.

Chaolitianli is the closest to Luoxiajie, and the flying boat can reach it in half a day. The elder of the collateral branch of the Li family, who guards this place, had already received the news and was waiting for them with a group of disciples at the anchorage in the void.

Li Xiaoyao waved his hand, indicating that they didn't need to make a fuss and that he could just wander around and take a look.

Chaolitian is much more prosperous than it was sixty years ago. The human race, which migrated from the New Era Realm, has taken root here after several generations of reproduction.

The spiritual fields stretched to the mountainside, and the market town extended from the foot of the mountain all the way to the plain. From time to time, one could see cultivators riding magical artifacts soaring through the air.

Li Xiaoyao walked through the market, looking at the bustling crowds, feeling quite satisfied.

He stopped in front of a shop selling Buddhist artifacts.

Inside the shop, an old craftsman was polishing a magical artifact. His technique was skillful, and he controlled the spiritual energy perfectly.

Li Xiaoyao glanced at it a few more times. The old craftsman looked up, recognized him, and his hand trembled, almost dropping the clay.

"Shang...Shangyuan Zhenren!"

"No need for such formalities." Li Xiaoyao raised his hand to stop him from bowing. "Who taught you that technique?"

The old craftsman composed himself and respectfully replied, "Reporting to the True Immortal, when I was young, I was an apprentice in the Immortal Sect's Artifact Hall. Later, I was taken in by the Li family and settled here."

Li Xiaoyao nodded and bought a few small magical artifacts of decent quality from the shop as a gesture of support.

As he was leaving, the old craftsman chased after him and insisted on giving him one of his most prized works—a breastplate in excellent condition—as a token of gratitude to the Li family for taking him in years ago. Li Xiaoyao couldn't refuse and accepted it.

After leaving Chaolitian, he went to the New Era Realm.

The changes here are even greater. What was once a desolate plane with only a few hundred thousand people now has a population of over ten million, and its spiritual veins are showing signs of breaking through to the third tier.

The effect of the two-way feedback formation was even better than expected. The spiritual energy of the Sunset Realm fed back, giving this former "subordinate plane" an amazing vitality.

The Li family members guarding this place reported on the situation in recent years. After listening, Li Xiaoyao went to check several spirit fields and mines to confirm that everything was normal before leaving with peace of mind.

As he passed through a small town, he saw a group of children gathered around a stone tablet at the entrance of the village, listening to an old man tell a story.

He listened for a while and discovered that the old man was telling the story of his battles in the Heavenly Demon Realm.

The story was embellished considerably, with phrases like "one man fights against a hundred demigods" and "demons are vanquished wherever the radiant light passes," which made the children's eyes light up.

Li Xiaoyao touched his nose and quietly left.

The next day, Li Xiaoyao set off for the Immortal Sect headquarters.

The purpose of this trip is twofold: to collect a reward and to buy things.

The list provided by the sect leader was already quite generous, but Li Xiaoyao knew in his heart that those were rewards for "Shangyuan Zhenren" (a high-ranking official in the Shangyuan sect). He would have to use his own merit points to buy what he needed.

The Hall of Merit of the Immortal Sect remained majestic and magnificent. Li Xiaoyao stepped through the gate and was immediately greeted by several familiar True Immortals. After exchanging pleasantries, he got straight to the point.

"Fellow Daoist, do you have any spiritual items that can assist in the breakthrough from Foundation Establishment to Purple Mansion?"

The steward of the Good Deeds Pavilion was an old True Person in the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm. Upon hearing this, he looked up at him and slowly said, "Fellow Daoist Shangyuan, are you helping your family member break through?"

"My elder brother."

The old master nodded and took three jade slips from the shelf: "Spiritual items to assist in breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm, divided into three grades: low, medium, and high. Low-grade increases the chances of success by 10%, medium-grade by 20%, and high-grade by 30%. As for the price..."

Li Xiaoyao said directly, "Top-grade, the very best."

The old master was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist Shangyuan is straightforward."

He took out a jade box from the inner room, opened it, and inside was a fist-sized golden pill, with a faint spiritual light flowing around it.

"【Purple Mansion Breakthrough Pill】, produced by the Immortal Sect's Pill Hall, increases the breakthrough probability by 30%. Five million merit points."

Li Xiaoyao didn't even blink: "I'll take it."

He then checked off a few more items from the list: thirty Foundation Establishment Pills, to prepare for the younger collateral relatives in the family who had reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage; various rare and wondrous items, magical artifacts, and pills, as gifts for the children of the Yuan and Xi generations; and fifteen Void Flying Boats, in a variety of sizes, enough to triple the family's transportation capacity.

The deacon calculated everything one by one and finally reported the total.

Li Xiaoyao checked his merit points balance; there was still a considerable amount left. He added another item: "Intelligent half-beast demon labor, five thousand."

The deacon was taken aback: "Five thousand? Fellow Daoist Shangyuan, are you planning to establish a sect?"

Li Xiaoyao smiled and said, "There are too many people and too much work to do at home, so I can't manage it all."

The butler asked no further questions and placed the order for him.

There were too many things, so Li Xiaoyao waited at the Immortal Sect for three days before he could finish counting all the goods and putting them into his storage ring.

Before leaving, he visited the Martyrs' Park and offered incense at the grave of Changqing Zhenren.

Then he went to the Artifact Hall to retrieve the several magical artifacts that had been ordered before, and went to the External Affairs Hall to explain the follow-up matters of this mission.

Once everything was settled, he began his journey home.

Upon returning to the Realm of Sunset Glow, Li Xiaoyao first went to the Void Anchorage.

Fifteen brand-new flying boats were neatly parked there, and the Li family members were gathered around to look at the spectacle.

Li Changhu had already brought his men to take over, and upon seeing Li Xiaoyao, he quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"Second Uncle, this...this is too much."

"Not much." Li Xiaoyao handed him the storage ring. "There are other things inside. Take a look and divide what needs to be divided and store what needs to be stored."

Li Changhu took the storage ring, probed it with his divine sense, and was immediately stunned.

"Five, five million merit points for a pill?" His voice trembled slightly.

Li Xiaoyao patted him on the shoulder: "This is for your father. Don't worry about anything else, just take care of things at home first."

Li Changhu took a deep breath and nodded emphatically.

Three days later, on the back mountain of Qixia Peak.

Before the secluded cave dwelling, the entire Li family gathered.

Li Mutian stood at the entrance of the cave, having changed into a clean blue robe and neatly combed his hair.

His gaze swept across everyone's faces—Li Changhu, Li Tongya, Li Xiangping, and Li Chijing, his four sons standing at the front.

Then come the grandchildren of the Xuan generation, the great-grandchildren of the Yuan generation, and the great-great-grandchildren of the Xi generation.

And then there were those from collateral branches, those with different surnames, those who came to rely on others... densely packed, filling most of the mountain.

Li Xiaoyao stood beside him and handed him the golden pill.

Li Mutian took it, looked at it for a moment, and suddenly smiled.

"Back when I was establishing my foundation, I used the lowest grade Foundation Establishment Pill, which was a second-hand item I bought from the Merit Pavilion." He raised his head and looked at everyone. "Now that I'm about to break through to the Purple Mansion realm, I'm using a high-grade pill worth five million merits."

He paused, his voice becoming low: "Our Li family has come a long way, from nothing to something, from weak to strong, to where we are today. It hasn't been easy."

Everyone listened quietly.

"I, Li Mutian, am of mediocre talent. In terms of ability, I am no match for my second brother, nor for you juniors. In terms of combat strength, I am utterly hopeless."

"To have progressed from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment Perfection is already a testament to the virtues accumulated by our ancestors. Whether I succeed or not today is not up to fate or destiny, but up to myself."

He turned and walked into the cave. Reaching the entrance, he suddenly stopped, and without turning back, said:

"No one in our family has ever perished while attempting to break through from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Purple Mansion stage. Let it begin with me."

His voice echoed through the mountains:

"May the younger generation of our family never lose their diligence and aspiration in cultivating the Tao!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped into the cave. The stone door slammed shut, shutting him out.

The mountain wind howled, and everyone remained silent.

After a long while, Li Chijing stepped forward and bowed deeply to the tightly closed stone door.

"During my father's seclusion, Chijing was willing to stay here and never leave."

Li Xiaoyao glanced at him and nodded.

"it is good."

The crowd gradually dispersed. Li Xiaoyao stood outside the cave, staring at the stone door, remaining silent for a long time.

The seclusion of the Purple Mansion can last from ten years to several decades, or even a hundred years. During this time, no unusual phenomena may occur inside or outside the cave, and no one may act rashly. This is the rule, and also the bottom line for those who protect the Dao.

He turned around and looked into the distance.

My journey is still long.

The third supernatural power, [Caihua Chen], has been completed, but it is still quite far from being perfect.

The cultivation at the mid-stage of the Purple Mansion realm relies on painstaking effort, honing supernatural abilities little by little, and accumulating foundational knowledge step by step. It cannot be rushed, nor can it be stopped.

As for the fourth supernatural power...

Li Xiaoyao shook his head, deciding to put it aside for the time being.

A supernatural power, from nothing to something, from a flash of inspiration to its final form, from cultivating and absorbing qi, to building a foundation for immortality, to the manifestation of the supernatural power, requires opportunity, enlightenment, and time at every step.

He looked up at the magnificent sunset on the horizon.

Then, without looking back, it transformed into a ray of light and flew beyond the boundary.