I only reached the Foundation Establishment stage at eighty years old, and then the system appeared.

As Yang Hongbo strolled through the city of Anxi, he overheard a group of merchants discussing something in a misty, ethereal teahouse.

He also entered the teahouse, went up to the second floor, ordered a pot of famous tea from the cultivation world—Azure Sea Floating Immortal—as well as several exquisite snacks, and listened attentively to the merchants' discussion while sipping his tea.

"Back then, this city of Anxi wasn't called Anxi. It was originally called Muri City, and its population was only about a million. That was more than three thousand years ago."

"Later, Lord Anxi moved his family to Mu Ri City. At that time, he was only a Foundation Establishment True Person, but his cultivation speed was very fast. He advanced to the Nascent Soul Heavenly Venerable in just over a hundred years."

"After Lord Anxi advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, he challenged the original Lord of Mu Ri City, defeated him, and replaced him as the new Lord of Mu Ri City, but did not change the name of the city."

"Wow! Lord Anxi is truly amazing. He was already a Nascent Soul Celestial Venerable thousands of years ago. Doesn't he have even more power now?" a chubby merchant exclaimed in admiration!

"Of course! After Lord Anxi became the city lord, he began to vigorously develop Mu Ri City, not only searching far and wide for spiritual veins to replenish the city's spiritual veins, but also eliminating several hostile forces in the vicinity!"

"Isn't this what the city lord should do? So why are the city's residents singing his praises?"

"I heard that happened five hundred years after Lord Anxi became the city lord," a thin, elderly merchant remarked with a touch of nostalgia.

"At that time, Lord Anxi had already cultivated to the Void Realm, and the city had expanded to over a thousand miles, with a population of over fifty million!"

"More than 20 million miles away from Mu Ri City, there is a first-rate demonic sect. They need a large amount of cultivators' blood essence to cultivate their demonic arts. After learning that there are more than 10 million cultivators in Mu Ri City, they decided to occupy the city and prepare to enslave its residents!"

"This demonic sect has a Supreme Elder who is at the early stage of the Void Realm. He thinks that dealing with a city lord at the Void Realm is easy, so almost the entire sect is mobilized."

"This war has lasted for nearly twenty years. With the help of a seventh-order killing formation and a seventh-order defensive formation, Mu Ri City has been able to hold off most of the Demon Sect members. However, the Demon Sect's Supreme Elder would occasionally sneak into the city and wreak havoc."

"It's just that this Supreme Elder is only at the early stage of the Void Realm. He was also afraid of being surrounded by the powerful people in the city. He knew that many ants can kill an elephant. He killed some people, caused some damage, and then ran away."

"In these twenty years of war, the ordinary people in the city suffered the most. Nearly two-thirds of the ordinary people died in the war, and more than four million low-level cultivators were killed or captured."

"Something must have happened later, otherwise there wouldn't be the Anxi City we know today!" the fat man asked eagerly.

"Then we'll have to rely on our great Anxi Ancestor. As the war entered its twentieth year, Lord Anxi suddenly broke through to the Void Realm. When he was undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation, he rushed out of Mu Ri City and underwent the tribulation among the Demon Sect disciples. That Heavenly Tribulation killed seventy or eighty percent of the Demon Sect disciples."

"Then, Lord Anxi faced off against the Supreme Elder of the Demonic Sect. Although the Supreme Elder of the Demonic Sect had advanced to the Void Realm earlier than Lord Anxi, he had not been able to make any further progress for hundreds of years, proving that he had exhausted his potential."

"The battle between the two Void Saint Emperors lasted for more than ten days. In the end, the Demon Sect's Supreme Elder, who could neither win nor escape, could only die a humiliating death at the hands of the Anxi Saint Emperor."

"The cultivators in Mu Ri City also launched a massive counterattack, fighting all the way to the Demon Sect's territory and annihilating the entire Demon Sect. To commemorate Lord Anxi's great achievements, the people of Mu Ri City renamed it Anxi City and addressed Lord Anxi as Anxi Ancestor!"

"A thousand years after Anxi City was renamed, one of Anxi Ancestor's descendants also advanced to the Void Realm. Anxi Ancestor then handed over the position of city lord to him and went into seclusion."

"Then tell me, what is Ancestor Anxi's cultivation level now? Has he reached the Tribulation Transcending stage?"

"That's hard to say. Nearly two thousand years have passed, and no one has seen Anxi Patriarch appear."

At this moment, Yang Hongbo transmitted his voice to the Tribulation Transcending Puppet: "Yang Tian, ​​can you find the secluded cultivation place of Ancestor Anxi?"

"Master, in my divine sense, there's a secret chamber a thousand meters underground in the City Lord's Mansion. Inside is a late-stage Mahayana cultivator, who is currently the most powerful cultivator in Anxi City!"

"Pretty good! He's reached the late Mahayana stage in just three thousand years. It seems he can advance to the Tribulation Transcending stage in another two or three thousand years."

Yang Hongbo pondered to himself, Anxi City was indeed a place where hidden talents resided. However, his purpose in coming here was not to cause trouble, but to find some rare spiritual herbs to supplement the deficiencies in his secret realm space. He stood up, tossed a top-grade spirit stone onto the table, and said to Yang Tian, ​​the Tribulation Transcending Puppet beside him, "Yang Tian, ​​let's go out for a stroll and see if there are any spiritual herbs I need in Anxi City."

Yang Tian nodded and followed closely behind Yang Hongbo as the two walked out of the teahouse. The streets of Anxi City were wide and clean, lined with shops displaying a dazzling array of rare treasures and elixirs. As Yang Hongbo strolled along, he scanned the surrounding shops with his divine sense, searching for any possible medicinal herbs.

"Master, there's a spirit medicine shop over there. It looks quite large; perhaps it has the spirit medicine you need," Yang Tian suddenly said, pointing to a shop not far away.

Following the direction Yang Tian pointed, Yang Hongbo saw a huge plaque hanging in front of the shop, bearing the three large characters "Wancaotang" in vigorous and powerful strokes, exuding an extraordinary aura. He nodded and led Yang Tian into the shop.

Inside the shop, various medicinal herbs were neatly arranged on the shelves, their fragrant aroma invigorating the senses. Yang Hongbo looked around and was secretly pleased to find that the herbs were numerous and of superior quality. He walked to the counter and said to an elderly man who was arranging herbs, "Shopkeeper, I've heard that you have many rare medicinal herbs here. May I take a look?"

The old man raised his head, scrutinizing Yang Hongbo with keen eyes, then smiled and said, "Sir, you have excellent eyesight. Our Wancao Hall does indeed possess some rare spiritual herbs. May I ask which kind of herb you require? Is it for healing injuries, enhancing cultivation, or something else?"

Yang Hongbo pondered for a moment and said, "I need some spiritual medicines that can improve cultivation, especially those that are useful for Mahayana cultivators."

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in the old man's eyes. He carefully examined Yang Hongbo for a moment, then said, "Sir, we do have quite a few spiritual herbs here to enhance cultivation, but not many are effective for Mahayana stage cultivators. However, we do have a spiritual herb here called the 'Nine-Turn Golden Pill,' which has a significant effect on enhancing the cultivation of Mahayana stage cultivators."

"Nine-Turn Golden Elixir?" Yang Hongbo's heart skipped a beat. He had seen this name in ancient books before; it was said to be an extremely precious spiritual medicine that could greatly enhance a cultivator's cultivation level without any side effects. He quickly asked, "Shopkeeper, how many Nine-Turn Golden Elixirs do you have? I'll take them all!"

Upon hearing this, the old man looked troubled: "Sir, we do have a few Nine-Turn Golden Elixir pills in our shop, but they are quite expensive and in limited quantities. Would you be able to accept that?"

Yang Hongbo smiled slightly and said, "Shopkeeper, price is not a problem. As long as the medicinal herbs are genuine, I will naturally offer a reasonable price."

The old man nodded, took out an exquisite jade box from under the counter, and opened it to reveal three golden pills inside, emitting a rich medicinal fragrance. Yang Hongbo took the jade box, examined it carefully, and after confirming that it was genuine, said, "Shopkeeper, I'll take all three Nine-Turn Golden Pills. Name your price."

The old man pondered for a moment and said, "Sir, each of these three Nine-Turn Golden Pills costs ten thousand top-grade spirit stones, for a total of thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones."

Upon hearing this, Yang Hongbo silently calculated in his mind. Although 30,000 top-grade spirit stones was a huge sum for ordinary cultivators, it was nothing to him. He nodded and said, "Alright, 30,000 top-grade spirit stones it is, I'll buy it."

After speaking, he took out a pile of top-grade spirit stones from his storage ring and placed them on the counter. Upon seeing this, the old man's face lit up with surprise and delight. He quickly handed the jade box to Yang Hongbo and said, "Sir, you are truly generous. This is your Nine-Turn Golden Pill. Please accept it."

Yang Hongbo took the jade box and put it into his storage ring. Then he said to the old man, "Shopkeeper, besides this Nine-Turn Golden Pill, I need some other spiritual herbs. Do you have any here?"

The old man nodded and said, "Sir, besides the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, our Wancao Hall also has many other rare spiritual herbs. May I ask which ones you would like to know? I can introduce them to you."

In the following time, Yang Hongbo selected several rare spiritual herbs from the Wancao Hall, including "Dragon Blood Grass" to enhance physical strength, "Divine Sense Fruit" to increase spiritual awareness, and "Rejuvenation Pill" to accelerate cultivation recovery. Each of these spiritual herbs was something he lacked in his secret realm and would greatly help his cultivation.