Immortality begins with upgrading buildings

Chapter 184 An Unexpected Encounter with an Old Friend [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

"Junior brother, this is a robe I've been spinning recently. Take it with you; it'll give you some protection when you're out and about."

On the way south of the Water Dragon Sect, Ji Yuan looked at Du Wanyi who had followed him, and then at the blue robe in her hand.

Other protective magical artifacts can only be crafted by weapon refiners.

However, protective magical artifacts like robes are different; they cannot be crafted by weapon refiners.

Those who can weave robes belong to another profession among the myriad arts of cultivation, known as "Spirit Weavers".

Du Wanyi only began learning the art of spirit weaving after joining the sect.

Ji Yuan naturally knew about this.

I never expected that she would be able to weave a magic robe of the spiritual weapon level so quickly.

It seems that, as expected, everyone has talent; it's just a matter of how to use it and discover it.

Back when she was still in Yunyuze, Du Wanyi had tried alchemy, array formations, and talismanic artifacts, but she had no talent for any of them and couldn't get started.

It wasn't until she joined the Water Dragon Sect that she found the cultivation arts that suited her.

Ji Yuan looked at the blue robe that Du Wanyi handed over... It was a small gift but a deep sentiment.

Moreover, a robe of the spirit artifact level is not a small gift.

Ji Yuan wasn't lacking in robes; he was already wearing robes of mid-grade spiritual artifact level.

He doesn't lack anything, and Du Wanyi knows he doesn't lack anything either.

But she still gave it to her.

This is very telling.

Liu Yuan, who loved watching this kind of show, laughed and said, "Junior Sister Du, your Senior Brother Liu is also lacking a robe. How about weaving one for him?"

Du Wanyi blushed slightly.

But he refused to admit defeat verbally.

"Then it's fine if Senior Brother Liu is missing."

They had known each other for a long time. When Du Wanyi joined Shuiyitang before she was even in the Qi Refining stage, she did so through Liu Yuan's connections.

Not to mention that both of them are now Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Seeing this, Ji Yuan had no choice but to put away the robe, then cupped his hands and said, "Second Sister, you are very kind."

Seeing that Ji Yuan accepted the gift, Du Wanyi's anxious heart finally settled down.

"The mission within the sect is important, so I won't disturb you any longer, senior and junior brothers. Take care!"

Du Wanyi clasped her hands in a fist salute, then hurriedly urged the flying boat forward and descended from the clouds.

Seeing that Liu Yuan still wanted to speak, Ji Yuan urged the flying boat to head straight south.

"I'm leaving, Brother Liu."

Seeing this, Liu Yuan knew that Ji Yuan didn't want to say more, so he didn't press the matter further.

Ji Yuan really didn't want to say more.

Can he see through Du Wanyi's thoughts?

can.

He could see not only Du Wanyi's thoughts, but also Dong Qian's little schemes, but precisely because he could see them, he didn't want to say anything more.

The matter of a Daoist partner... indeed, Ji Yuan had considered it.

But after what happened with Xu Fugui and the Iron Hammer Island Master, his interest waned considerably.

Why?

Because of fear.

Ji Yuan was confident that with the support of numerous buildings, as long as he didn't court death, forming his core in the future shouldn't be a problem.

At worst... we'll just pile on resources.

Even if you burn through all that money, you'll still end up with a Core Formation cultivator.

But what about Du Wanyi?

It's not that Ji Yuan is ruthless; without any great opportunity, her Foundation Establishment stage would most likely be the end of her journey.

Ji Yuan could help her establish her foundation, but when it came to forming her core... Ji Yuan himself was still far from achieving that, let alone helping her form her core.

Ji Yuan dared not imagine what it would be like if he were to become a Daoist partner and remain so for a hundred years. After a hundred years, he would still be in his prime, but he would have to watch helplessly as his Daoist partner grew old.

Compared to that kind of pain and setback, Ji Yuan would rather not start.

It's fine as it is now.

During their journey south, Ji Yuan continued to consult Liu Yuan on other matters.

Spiritual veins like those in Liancheng Mountain are usually guarded by five Foundation Establishment cultivators working together.

In other words, besides Ji Yuan, Liu Yuan, and Senior Sister Rouyi, there are two other people on the Water Dragon Sect's side.

Moreover, given Master Xuan Shui's philosophy of balance, the other two are most likely either from his faction or from the Third Elder's faction.

Based on this, it is highly likely that there are also five Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding Huanxi Palace and Medicine King Valley.

In total, there are fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators, three of whom are at the peak of Foundation Establishment, or even higher, reaching the legendary Pseudo-Core Realm.

They are only one step away from reaching the Core Formation stage.

With this setup, plus the third-tier protective formation for the spiritual veins, even a Golden Core cultivator wouldn't stand a chance.

Moreover, if they fail to conquer it, not only will they gain no benefits, but they will also face joint pursuit from the three immortal sects.

Therefore, guarding a spiritual vein is safer than guarding a city.

Even if demonic cultivators are rampant, they wouldn't come to such a place to plunder.

Especially these newly opened spiritual veins, because such spiritual veins often have other methods set up by the immortal sects.

After discussing this matter, Ji Yuan inquired about the three-colored spirit eggs that the [Chicken Coop] was about to produce, as he had not been able to find any relevant information about them in the sect.

Surprisingly, Liu Yuan had never heard of it either.

Unfortunately, they had no choice but to give up.

In addition, Ji Yuan subtly inquired about Liu Yuan's views on demonic cultivators.

Liu Yuan was quite easygoing and said it directly.

"If the demonic path were to unify our Cangluo Continent, then we righteous cultivators would have to become demonic as well."

"Just like Shangxi now, they all refer to the Three Demonic Sects as the 'Three Holy Lands'."

The two chatted as they traveled south, and it took a full 18 days before Ji Yuan finally arrived near his destination.

Although they had crossed countless mountains and rivers along the way, it had been extremely safe. Except for a brief rest stop on a mountain where they encountered a foolish first-tier wild boar monster causing trouble, nothing unexpected happened.

They even killed and ate the wild boar.

"That must be Liancheng Mountain."

Liu Yuan pointed to the mountain range in the distance, which was shrouded in layers of formations, and said.

The two paused there for a moment, and then a streak of light rose from the mountains; their voices arrived before they did.

"This place is one of the three forbidden zones. You should leave immediately!"

The light finally landed in front of the two, transforming into a long-faced man riding a flying sword.

Ji Yuan glanced at him and saw that he was a cultivator from the Medicine King Valley, with a cultivation level of mid-Foundation Establishment and the Yang-patterned alchemy furnace on his chest.

I don't know if it will be easy for me to kill him. If I'm going to make a move, I have to be quick to prevent him from using talisman treasures. Most of the people guarding this place are disciples of Golden Core cultivators, so it's not surprising that they have talisman treasures... Ji Yuan subconsciously started thinking about killing someone.

Liu Yuan chuckled and, together with Ji Yuan, used a hand seal to remove their disguises.

The appearance of the deep blue robes proclaimed his identity.

"Oh, so you are fellow Daoists from the Water Dragon Sect. I am Dan Chengzi. I greet you both."

Since they were all fellow Daoists, Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan naturally introduced themselves. Liu Yuan introduced himself as Master Liu Yuan, while Ji Yuan introduced himself as Lord of Wuyou Island.

After exchanging names, Dan Chengzi went ahead and returned to Liancheng Mountain.

Liu Yuan then transmitted his voice to Ji Yuan, saying, "Go back and inform them. We should hurry up and leave so they don't stop us, or we'll lose face for our Water Dragon Sect."

"Um."

Before long, as the two of them approached the Liancheng Mountain formation, they took out the token issued by True Person Xuanshui.

A flash of light, and the two of them were already inside the formation.

This was the first time Ji Yuan had ever seen a spiritual vein... Well, spiritual veins are underground, so you can't see anything there.

From this vantage point, it looks like a mountain has been partially sheared off, with an extremely smooth cut surface.

The person who made the move must have only used one move to cut through this mountain range.

Ji Yuan guessed that it was a Golden Core cultivator who had made the move, and not just any Golden Core cultivator, but probably someone in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

At the foot of this mountain, there is a dark cave entrance that seems to lead directly to the underground spiritual vein. Outside the cave entrance, there are also cultivators from the Three Immortals Sect stationed.

This is merely the entrance to the spiritual vein.

The headquarters of the Three Immortals Sect is not located here.

Ji Yuan didn't dare to use his divine sense, he just glanced at it with his naked eyes.

The Water Dragon Sect's headquarters was located beside a lake on the north side of Liancheng Mountain, where a water fortress was built, and houses were constructed along the shore.

The Medicine King Valley's headquarters were located halfway up Liancheng Mountain, where caves had been carved out of the rock face.

Ji Yuan couldn't see the location of Huanxi Palace, but he guessed it was south of Liancheng Mountain.

The two glanced around quickly, and before they could take a closer look, they had already arrived above the Water Dragon Sect's encampment...

……

After a while.

Ji Yuan then met the other three Foundation Establishment cultivators who were on duty at this post.

The person in the lead was none other than Rouyi, who was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. The two had met once before outside Linshui City, so they were not strangers. She was still carrying that familiar giant sword.

Of the other two, Ji Yuan was somewhat surprised by the identity of one of them.

Linmu Island Master, Yang Tai'an.

That is, the older brother of Yang Shun'an, the early Foundation Establishment cultivator whom Ji Yuan killed with a giant toad in order to upgrade the Meditation Room.

Later, after Ji Yuan joined the Water Dragon Sect, he also secretly inquired about it.

It turned out that Yang Shunan did not investigate the matter of Yang Shunan's death in depth, so they let it go. They never expected to meet him here again.

Could it be that he also became a disciple of some Golden Core cultivator?

Just as Ji Yuan was filled with doubt, Liu Yuan quickly sent a telepathic message to explain.

"I just found out about the situation from my senior sister. This Linmu Island Master wanted to join the Third Elder's side, but it hasn't happened yet. I guess he offered some good things, so Xiao Chengyi asked to stay here. As for the other one, it's Senior Sister Yunmiao. She is the disciple of the Sect Leader Uncle."

Oh?

Who were the people Xiao Chengyi left behind?

Ji Yuan glanced at Yang Tai'an across from him.

The latter naturally assumed that Ji Yuan was trying to be friendly to him, and even smiled kindly.

Ji Yuan: "..."

The other Cloud Mist Island Master, dressed in a snow-white long dress and with a pure white veil covering his face, sat there with an air of "keep away, strangers."

Judging from his eyes alone, he should be quite good-looking.

"These are our new junior brothers, Liu Yuan and Wu You. We'll be working together for the next few years. I don't care what you do in private, but I have one thing to say."

When Rouyi spoke, she crossed her legs and didn't even open her eyes to look at people.

Ji Yuan felt like she was a powerful, influential woman in the underworld.

"As long as you stay in Liancheng Mountain for one day, you have to listen to me. If you don't, get back to your sect right now."

Rouyi raised her right thumb, pointing it backwards at herself, and said.

Ji Yuan had no objections, as the area around Liancheng Mountain was currently under the control of the Rouyi people.

"If you don't speak, then we'll take that as your agreement. This is the situation in Liancheng Mountain. You two take a look, and then you'll have three days to adapt. After three days, it'll be your turn to take over."

As Rouyi spoke, she tossed out a jade pendant, which landed between Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan.

When Ji Yuan finally realized what was happening and turned around, he found that Senior Sister Rouyi was gone.

He has a decisive and efficient personality... Ji Yuan's divine sense penetrated the jade pendant, and after a moment, he gained some understanding of the situation in Liancheng Mountain.

The contents of the jade pendant mainly summarize the tasks of these Foundation Establishment cultivators.

First, we must guard the key points of the formation.

Without a Golden Core cultivator guarding the spiritual vein, the third-order formation becomes of paramount importance.

If nothing unexpected happens, this task will be undertaken by Rouyi, a cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

The second task was to go down into the mine.

This task... is extremely important.

According to Rouyi's description, the miners working under the spiritual veins were all early-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Before they go down into the mine, they must be thoroughly investigated by Foundation Establishment cultivators using their divine sense to prevent them from bringing in storage bags or other items.

Moreover, when mining underground, Foundation Establishment cultivators need to use their divine sense to check at any time to prevent them from taking the opportunity to absorb the spirit stones inside.

Once discovered, they will be killed without exception.

Of course, such an important place as a spiritual vein cannot rely entirely on these Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The array here covers the entire spiritual vein, and any spirit stones taken from it contain special restrictions. Unless they are removed through special means by the three sects, they are considered "private goods" and few people would dare to accept them outside.

Ji Yuan had heard of this.

If you encounter someone trading "private goods", you can report it to the Water Dragon Sect. Reporting one person will earn you ten times the amount of spirit stones.

In other words, if you encounter someone using a "private transaction" of 1 mid-grade spirit stone, you can receive 10 mid-grade spirit stones by reporting it. Moreover, the person using the private transaction will definitely be killed by the Water Dragon Sect.

The profits are enormous and there are no future troubles, so anyone who encounters a cultivator using their own resources will choose to report them.

This can be considered a means by which the Shangdong Six Immortals Sect controls strategic resources like spiritual veins.

In addition, Foundation Establishment cultivators like Ji Yuan also had to protect the safety of the miners.

This is because a strange beast called the "Spirit Crystal Beast" will grow in this spiritual vein.

Although the high-level spirit crystal beasts inside have been dealt with by Golden Core cultivators, there are inevitably some that are equivalent to Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment cultivators. Once these are encountered, it will be up to the Foundation Establishment cultivators to take action.

Besides these two tasks, the third task is relatively easy, which is patrolling.

The Dan Chengzi that Ji Yuan and his companion encountered when they entered is now a patrolling cultivator.

Its main task is to protect the safety of Liancheng Mountain. It doesn't care about passing cultivators, but if they linger in the vicinity, it will have to drive them away.

Overall, everything is fine.

This was not beyond Ji Yuan's expectations.

Moreover, he could also see that of the three tasks, the simplest was actually the one guarding the formation, because there was nothing to do there; all he needed to do was focus on his cultivation.

Unfortunately, Rouyi chose to keep this task for herself.

"If Junior Brother Wuyou has anything you need to know, you can come to me anytime."

As Ji Yuan was thinking, Yang Tai'an's voice rang in his mind.

He looked up in surprise and nodded to the island lord of Linmu Island opposite him.

As for the Cloud Mist Island Master, he had already left earlier, truly displaying an attitude of "keep away, strangers."

After that, Ji Yuan went to see his residence in Liancheng Mountain. It was alright, a three-courtyard house. He didn't think too much about it, as long as it was habitable.

The first thing he did upon entering the courtyard was to release the Star Cloud Barrier Array.

Liu Yuan, who lived next door to him, was the same.

When traveling, it's perfectly normal to carry a basic protective formation with you.

Over the next two days, the two of them strolled around Liancheng Mountain together. The ruins of the original battle were no longer visible. It was said that several Foundation Establishment stage earth magic cultivators from Medicine King Valley came and used the "Earth Dragon Turns Over" technique to fill in the places where the battle had taken place.

The reason given was that staying there would be unsightly and would hinder cooperation among the three immortal sects.

After all, if one opens their eyes to see the traces of the previous battle, and then thinks of the fellow disciples who died or were injured, one will inevitably feel some resentment.

The immortal lord was kind-hearted and could not bear to see the ruins of this great battle.

Now you can just bury it.

Ji Yuan also saw the residence of the Joyful Palace, which was different from the lakeside hut of the Water Dragon Sect and the cavemen of the Medicine King Valley.

The residence of Huanxi Palace was actually a luxurious palace.

Ji Yuan looked at it from afar several times before confirming that it was a high-grade spiritual artifact, standing prominently in the valley.

"It was her."

Liu Yuan seemed to know where this person came from.

Taking the opportunity, Ji Yuan asked, "Who?"

"Madam Meiru is a pseudo-core cultivator who is extremely skilled in dual cultivation techniques."

Liu Yuan transmitted his voice.

"Is it very strong?"

"To put it another way, I once escaped with my life from a Core Formation cultivator."

"That's really strong."

Ji Yuan had never heard of a Foundation Establishment cultivator defeating a Golden Core cultivator. Putting aside everything else, just the overwhelming divine sense of a Golden Core cultivator was something even a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't withstand, let alone kill a Golden Core cultivator.

The fact that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could escape from the clutches of a Golden Core cultivator already speaks volumes about their strength.

After learning more, Ji Yuan originally planned to visit the underground spiritual veins to see if he could activate the [Spiritual Vein] building.

Unfortunately, other cultivators are not allowed to enter this place.

If Ji Yuan wants to go down and see, he can only wait until it's his turn to be on duty.

three days later.

Ji Yuan and his companions arrived at Rou Yi's residence once again.

"We're going down into the mine tomorrow, so let's do a simple division of labor now," Rouyi said, glancing at Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan. "You two are new here and not very familiar with things, so let the two elders each take one of you."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Tai'an said, "Then I'll go with Junior Brother Wuyou."

Rouyi's gaze fell on Ji Yuan again.

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble Senior Brother Linmu."

Ji Yuan agreed.

The division of labor was decided, and tomorrow it was Ji Yuan and Yang Tai'an's turn to go down into the mine.

That's excellent; Ji Yuan had been wanting to go down and take a look for a while.

The next day, Ji Yuan and Yang Tai'an arrived at the entrance of the spiritual vein early in the morning. Four Foundation Establishment cultivators from Medicine King Valley and Joy Palace had also arrived there.

Yang Tai'an took the opportunity to introduce the other party's identity to Ji Yuan.

Whether it was Huanxi Palace or Yaowang Valley, all the people who went down into the mine this time were in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Only the Shuilong Sect had an extra person, Ji Yuan, who was in the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Therefore, Ji Yuan immediately transmitted his voice to Yang Tai'an, saying, "Junior Brother's cultivation is still shallow and he is not good at killing. If you encounter any trouble in the spiritual vein, please take care of him."

"That's natural."

Yang Tai'an transmitted his voice and said with a smile, "With me by your side, Junior Brother, you can rest assured."

If Ji Yuan hadn't learned about Yang Tai'an's character while killing Yang Shun'an, he probably would have thought Yang Tai'an was a kind person.

As for why they are being so friendly now...

Ji Yuan could vaguely guess the reason.

"Alright, let's get going."

Seeing that the miners in the early stages of Qi Refining were almost ready, Dan Chengzi from Medicine King Valley stepped forward and said.

"it is good."

Then the miners, who lived in the open space in front of the spiritual vein's exit, lined up and passed in front of the Foundation Establishment cultivators one by one, allowing them to inspect them with their divine sense.

Before long, the inspection was completed, and not a single miner dared to commit suicide.

Seeing that the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the other two families had already gone down into the mine.

Yang Tai'an turned to Ji Yuan and said:

"Junior Brother Wuyou, let's go too."

Having long awaited the [Spirit Vein], Ji Yuan immediately plunged into the cave.

Go down into the mine!

Please support me with your monthly votes!

(End of this chapter)