Immortality and cultivation begin at age forty, starting with Foundation Establishment.

He transmigrated to the world of cultivation and joined the Xuan Yang Sect.

Since embarking on the path of immortality, Chen An's Dao heart has been steadfast. He has diligently cultivated the art of killing and seized resources from scattered cultivators to nourish himself.

At the age of forty, he refined the primordial yin of the furnace cauldron and consumed three Foundation Establishment Pills, successfully entering the Foundation Establishment realm.

Thus, the path to immortality is now open.

"Foundation Establishment, I've finally achieved Foundation Establishment!" Chen An felt a surge of relief. His newly attained cultivation level uncontrollably suppressed everything around him.

Seeing this scene, the woman not far away trembled her eyelashes and shed a tear of joy.

In order for Chen An to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, the maid Wang Qian practiced the Yin Refining Manual of the Hehuan Sect.

One must cultivate oneself as a great medicine, and only after the refinement of energy is complete can it be harvested.

This method of cultivating Yin, while offering rapid breakthroughs in cultivation, harbors significant drawbacks. The breakthrough process consumes a large amount of lifespan, and the cultivator becomes weaker than other cultivators of the same level, making it difficult to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage.

During their dual cultivation, Wang Qian disregarded the damage and transferred all of her cultivated Yin energy to Chen An to help him break through his cultivation level, which resulted in damage to her own essence.

"Senior brother, Qian'er doesn't blame you. Ever since you saved me from this sea of ​​suffering, I've decided to spend my whole life repaying you. If I can become someone useful to you, I'll die without regrets."

"Meeting my senior brother is the greatest luck in Qian'er's life."

Chen An hugged Wang Qian tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his body. He had always known that Wang Qian was the most obedient and well-behaved person.

Does Chen An feel guilty?

not at all.

Everyone has their own path. Becoming Chen An's furnace was the path Wang Qian chose, and she was willing to believe in Chen An.

Cultivation is difficult, breaking through barriers is even more difficult; to find a way out, one must find another path.

Wang Qian's life was full of misfortune. When she was ten years old, her father sold her to a brothel for twelve taels of silver. Chen An happened to pass by and rescued her.

At that time, Chen An was twenty years old and had just entered the sixth level of Qi Refining. He was full of vigor and was doing missions in the mortal world as a disciple of the Xuan Yang Sect.

Wang Qian did not attract much attention from Chen An; he simply placed her casually within the forces of the mortal realm.

Two years later, Chen An was twenty-two years old. His cultivation at the seventh level of Qi Refining was blocked. He felt that it was difficult to obtain resources in the cultivation world. He accidentally discovered that the little girl Wang Qian, whom he had saved, actually possessed spiritual roots.

Just as the Xuan Yang Sect was recruiting disciples, they introduced Wang Qian and several other children of similar age with spiritual roots to the sect, hoping they would receive help on their cultivation path in the future.

However, Wang Qian is weak and submissive, and with no one to look after her on the path to immortality, she will inevitably be devoured by the disciples of the immortal sects, leaving not even a bone fragment.

Chen An was twenty-four years old and at the eighth level of Qi Refining. He killed a disciple of the Demonic Sect in the mortal realm and obtained a scroll of the Hehuan Sect's Cauldron Refining Method, the Yin Refining Manual, from the disciple's storage bag.

In hopes of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the future, Chen An examined several young female disciples who had been recruited into the sect through him, and found that Wang Qian was the most suitable for cultivation.

At the time, Wang Qian was fourteen years old, a young girl just coming of age. Surrounding her were not protectors, but a pack of hungry wolves.

Chen An found Wang Qian and explained the benefits and dangers of the cultivation technique. He also said that when Chen An reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he would find longevity-promoting medicines for her, help her rebuild her cultivation technique, and give her a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Wang Qian agreed without hesitation. Chen An had pulled her from darkness into light, and she felt the greatest gratitude towards him.

Even if she was sold, Wang Qian was willing to accept it.

Since the agreement was made, Chen An is forty years old and Wang Qian is thirty years old. Chen An broke through the peak of Qi Refining but encountered a bottleneck, and Wang Qian offered herself to cultivate with him to help him.

Chen An successfully broke through the barrier of the peak of Qi Refining and entered the Foundation Establishment realm.

Wang Qian has repaid her debt of gratitude, and with her shackles removed, she feels much lighter. In the future, she will stand before Chen An as his junior sister, on equal footing.

Early morning, outside the secluded valley of Bailian Peak.

The disciples stopped in their tracks and looked toward Hundred Refinement Peak, their eyes filled with complex emotions—envy and jealousy, but also reverence and hope.

Sensing the fluctuations in energy emanating from the second-tier spiritual vein, they knew that the Xuan Yang Sect had gained another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Which senior brother from Hundred Refinements Peak do you think has broken through?"

"I think it's Senior Brother Liu Hao. Senior Brother Liu Hao has a solid foundation and has already attempted to break through three times in seclusion. If he could get one more Foundation Establishment Pill, he should be able to break through."

"Senior Brother Liu Hao is over fifty years old. Unless he goes to a trial ground with Foundation Establishment Elixir, the sect will never give him another Foundation Establishment Pill. I think it should be Senior Brother Wang Rulong. I heard that among the disciples who went on a mission with Senior Brother Wang a few months ago, only Senior Brother Wang came back."

The disciple's words seemed to have a hidden meaning.

The morning mist outside the valley had not yet dissipated, and the bluestone path was covered with dew, reflecting the pale light just beginning to appear on the horizon.

The disciples were originally gathered in twos and threes, unable to contain their anticipation of who would emerge from the secluded valley.

Suddenly, a disciple called out, "Greetings, Martial Uncle Lu."

Everyone turned their heads and saw an old man walking slowly towards them at the end of the mountain path. The disciples all bowed in greeting.

The old man was dressed in a coarse cloth short brown outfit with an old hemp rope tied around his waist. It should have been the attire of an ordinary old man in the mountains, but it was hard to look at him directly.

Her full head of silver hair was casually draped over her shoulders, with a few bamboo leaves dampened by the morning dew clinging to the strands, each strand perfectly in place, shimmering with a soft silver light in the thin mist.

"It's Uncle Lu, the only second-tier alchemist on Hundred Refinement Peak. I even bought pills from Uncle Lu before."

"I heard that this Uncle Lu usually stays in seclusion on the peak for many years. Why did he come down the mountain today? Could it be that Uncle Lu and the uncle who broke through in the secluded valley are old acquaintances?"

Rumors circulated that Lu Nian was a reclusive person who rarely interacted with other cultivators except for selling his own pills and purchasing the cultivation resources he needed. Sometimes he would even go into seclusion for two or three years at a time.

As a result, most disciples knew that there was a second-level alchemist named Lu on Hundred Refinement Peak, but few had ever seen Lu Nian.

Seeing him in such a disheveled state today greatly disappointed the disciples.

Inside the secluded valley, Wang Qian will rebuild her lost cultivation.

Chen An, however, left.

He has more important things to do.

Lu Nian greeted him with a smile and cupped his hands, saying, "Congratulations, Junior Brother Chen, on reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm."

To Chen An's surprise, the first person he met after leaving the secluded valley was the alchemist Lu Nian.

"Greetings, Uncle-Master Lu."

Lu Nian looked Chen An up and down curiously and chuckled, "Just call me Senior Brother. Junior Brother has now entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, so we should address each other as peers. If Junior Brother has a great opportunity to enter the Golden Core Realm in the future, even I, your Senior Brother, will have to call you Uncle-Master Chen."

Chen An cupped his hands and said, "Even if Junior Brother enters the Golden Core realm, when we meet again in the future, you will still be Senior Brother Lu's junior. As for how you address me, I won't stand on ceremony."

Hearing Chen An's words, Lu Nian's eyes softened, and the corners of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly. He was increasingly satisfied with Chen An, who was neither arrogant nor impatient, but a rough gem, just like the feeling he had when Chen An was in the Qi Refining stage.

"After you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, do you have any plans? If not, I can point you in the right direction and help you make your journey on the path easier."

"Oh?" Chen An asked, somewhat curious.

"The Yu family, a Golden Core cultivator, has a daughter named Yu Peiyao. If you become her Daoist partner, you will establish a solid foundation in the Xuan Yang Sect and avoid many detours in the future."

The Yu family of Jindan?