Immortality begins with upgrading buildings

Chapter 81 [Cave Dwelling: lv2], Star Cloud Barrier Array

When this most important matter was brought up, Luo Tian immediately pressed for an answer:

"Brother, Dong Qian said she'd go into the sect to help us find out about the pseudo-spiritual root foundation establishment thing. Any news?"

"Yes, she sent a message a couple of days ago. Besides seeing your fourth brother, she also wanted to talk to you about this matter."

Yao Jingfeng nodded.

Ji Yuan realized that what was about to be said was the important part, and quickly asked, "What exactly is it?"

Du Wanyi explained, "The establishment of a foundation with a Heavenly Spiritual Root is a natural process, without even needing a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, for Earthly Spiritual Roots and True Spiritual Roots, a treasure like a Foundation Establishment Pill is required."

"Generally speaking, an Earth Spirit Root requires one Foundation Establishment Pill, while a True Spirit Root may require one pill or two."

"But you must have heard about the difficulties that it is for pseudo-spiritual root cultivators like us to establish our foundation."

Ji Yuan nodded. "I've heard of it. There are very few cultivators in the entire Water Dragon Sect who have established their foundation with pseudo-spiritual roots."

"Well, so we asked Dong Qian, who joined the Water Dragon Sect this year, to help us find out how many Foundation Establishment Pills are needed for this pseudo-spiritual root foundation establishment, so that we can have a better idea in advance."

"How many exactly?"

Luo Tian pressed for an answer.

As the three looked over, Yao Jingfeng sighed, "It's more than we expected."

"What?"

Luo Tian exclaimed in surprise.

"Currently, there are three seniors in the sect who have achieved Foundation Establishment with pseudo-spiritual roots. One was lucky and succeeded after using 5 Foundation Establishment Pills, another used 7, and the third used a full 11 Foundation Establishment Pills to succeed."

After Yao Jingfeng finished speaking, he looked at Ji Yuan and said with a wry smile, "Previously, the three of us estimated that we, with our pseudo-spiritual roots, would need at most 5 Foundation Establishment Pills to establish our foundation based on the Earth Spiritual Root and True Spiritual Root.

"I never imagined that five pieces would be the minimum; the maximum would probably require more than a dozen pieces."

After these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

Clearly, this data put a lot of pressure on them.

Even Luo Tian leaned back in his chair, adopting a nonchalant attitude.

"If we were to buy it, how many spirit stones would one Foundation Establishment Pill cost?" Ji Yuan asked curiously.

"Fourth brother, don't even think about buying them. You know how many Qi Refining Peak cultivators are waiting for you inside the sect. How could any Foundation Establishment Pills possibly be circulating outside?"

Du Wanyi said with a wry smile, "If you want to get Foundation Establishment Pills, you have to gather the medicinal materials yourself and then find an alchemist to help you refine them. They're not sold at all."

"Then surely the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill is available for sale?" Ji Yuan pressed.

"Of course, and you can also exchange for them using contribution points within the sect."

Yao Jingfeng added, "The pill formula isn't valuable; we can basically get it after we join the Water Dragon Sect. What's rare are some of the medicinal herbs inside. It's said that some of them are extremely rare and hard to obtain."

"No rush, we haven't even reached the peak of Qi Refining yet."

After a while, Luo Tian got used to it. "Let's stick to the old path. Let's improve our strength first. We can consider the Foundation Establishment Pill when we reach the peak of Qi Refining."

"Um!"

Du Wanyi nodded vigorously, "That's right, the reason we haven't joined the Water Dragon Sect yet is so that we can improve our strength as soon as possible."

It seems that those with the strength and opportunity are not in a hurry to join the Water Dragon Sect.

They all understood the principle of "better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix"... Ji Yuan listened to their words and thought to himself.

The four then chatted about their recent situations and discussed whether there were any convenient ways to earn spirit stones.

It was through this that Ji Yuan learned that Du Wanyi and Yao Jingfeng were the people who ran the shop at No. 18, Jia. They made a lot of money by traveling between various markets using the convenience of flying boats.

Luo Tian, ​​on the other hand, was mostly...

"Alright, in that case, let's leave it at that for now. Do you have anything else to say?"

Yao Jingfeng's gaze swept over them.

Ji Yuan shook his head, but still felt that something was missing.

Sure enough, Yao Jingfeng then looked at him and said, "Fourth brother, I'm sure you understand now. The most important thing among the four of us is to be honest with each other, followed by resources. If you feel you can share something, you can share it with each other. Or, if you have something left over after you've met your needs, you can share it with each other."

"It's like waiting until we enter the sect, and if one of us gets the pill formula, it's the same as all four of us getting it. This way, we can save a lot of unnecessary effort."

"Yes, I understand, don't worry, brother."

Ji Yuan said with a smile.

"Yes, Fourth Brother is a sensible person."

Du Wanyi smiled in response.

What's there to not understand? Just share resources as much as possible, but that sharing depends entirely on your own initiative... If I keep hanging around with these four people without contributing anything, they probably won't include me in their group for long.

The same applies to them. If Luo Tian or Du Wanyi only think about getting something for nothing, Yao Jingfeng will definitely gradually distance himself from them.

The four then exchanged locations for contact purposes to avoid getting lost later, before going their separate ways.

Du Wanyi and Yao Jingfeng both gave them locations in the market area, but Luo Tian gave them a location on a small island in Yunyuze.

After leaving shop number 18, Ji Yuan watched as Luo Tian and the other two left in their flying boats, and then stretched comfortably.

Having witnessed this today, I have finally come to understand the true nature of the cultivation world.

Comparing the two, Ji Yuan felt even more strongly that...

Everything I experienced in Zengtou City before was for the sake of survival, not for cultivating immortality or achieving longevity.

Only after reaching the late stage of Qi Refining can one truly begin the path of cultivation.

With this thought in mind, Ji Yuan summoned the Thunder Falcon Boat, and after making an arc, headed straight for the lakeside cottage.

The materials for the Level 2 [Cave Abode] are ready; now it's time to upgrade.

The journey home was swift and uneventful; in no time at all, Ji Yuan had already arrived in his own courtyard. Since advancing to the late stage of Qi Refining, he no longer needed to open the door.

After arriving home, he first closed the doors and windows, and then took out 10 catties of Zhenhe Sand that he had prepared in advance, as well as 6 Qingling Jade given by Du Wanyi from his storage bag.

He naturally possessed 50 spirit stones.

Not to mention that his elder brother Yao Jingfeng also gave him 30 more, he sold 150 blood essences just yesterday.

With everything arranged, Ji Yuan glanced at the (achieved) indicator on the panel.

On a whim, he chose to upgrade.

As the text on the panel changed, the [Cave Abode] leveled up from level 1 to level 2.

[Cave Dwelling lv2]

[Effect: Daytime spiritual energy concentration +10%, nighttime spiritual energy concentration +30%, basic silent barrier]

[Upgrade Requirements: 50 Low-grade Spirit Stones, 6 Pure Spirit Jade, 10 Jin of River-Suppressing Sand]

The level 2 cave dwelling not only increased the concentration of spiritual energy at night, but also increased the concentration of spiritual energy during the day by 10%.

In addition to the original dust-repelling barrier, a silent barrier has also been added.

In the future, if I want to do something at home, I won't have to worry about being overheard, and I won't have to stick mute notes or anything like that on the wall.

Having seen so many level 3 building effects, Ji Yuan now feels that the effects of this level 2 [Cave Abode] are just so-so.

What truly captivated him was the effect of the level 3 [Cave Abode].

As he focused his mind on the panel, the spiritual effect of the level 3 [Cave Abode] appeared before his eyes.

[Cave Dwelling lv3]

[Effect 1: Calm the mind and concentrate your energy; daytime spiritual energy concentration +20%, nighttime spiritual energy concentration +40%]

【Effect 2 (Starry Cloud Barrier): The cave automatically generates a second-tier protective formation, "Starry Cloud Barrier Formation"】

[Upgrade Requirements: Cultivation level reaches Foundation Establishment stage, 50 mid-grade spirit stones, 10 jin of starlight stones.]

Two more miraculous effects?!

The concentration of spiritual energy increased by 10% both during the day and at night, especially at night, where it increased by a full 4%.

With this wonderful thing, one's cultivation will always be faster than others.

What truly excited Ji Yuan was the second spiritual effect... the cave defense formation, which had finally been unlocked!

The cave dwelling has no protective array, which makes one feel very unsafe.

While level 1 and level 2 cave dwellings may have some dust-repelling and sound-silencing effects and are practical, they are still far inferior to true defensive formations.

Now it's all good, all we need to do is upgrade the cave dwelling to level 3.

Therefore, once my cultivation reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, the most important thing is to upgrade my [Cave Abode] to level 3 and take down this formation.

Starry Cloud Barrier Array... Just the name sounds extraordinary.

It's probably one of the stronger ones in this second-tier formation.

After the gathering, the cave dwelling was upgraded, and Ji Yuan could finally focus on his cultivation.

That evening, Lin Hu and his wife also came to see him and offered their congratulations in a somewhat awkward manner.

The plan was to tell them they didn't need to do that, and that everything could proceed as usual.

……

Two nights later.

Zengtou City, Qin Family.

Qin Long and He Laosan stood guard in front of a dark room, waiting silently. After an unknown amount of time, the stone door opened with a soft "bang," and an old voice came from inside.

"Come in and talk."

Qin Long and his companion exchanged a glance and hurriedly got up to go inside.

The large, dark room was lit by only one candle, making it appear extremely dim.

In the center of the room sat an extremely old man with a wrinkled face. The few remaining white hairs on his head were no longer tied up, but were simply draped behind his head.

"What is it?"

The old man slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with white film, making it difficult for him to see clearly, which looked extremely eerie.

"It's still related to Ji Yuan," Qin Long quickly said.

"It's him again?"

Old Blind Qin frowned and said in a deep voice, "Didn't we say that from now on, our Qin family has nothing to do with him anymore? What more do you want?"

"No, Father, I don't know how Ji Yuan caught the eye of Yao Jingfeng and his group. Now Yao Jingfeng, Luo Tian, ​​Du Wanyi, and Ji Yuan have formed a small meeting. I'm worried that this will affect our Qin family," Qin Long said hurriedly.

He Laosan then cupped his hands and said, "Second Brother is absolutely right; that's exactly what I was worried about."

They weren't worried about Ji Yuan alone, but with Luo Tian and the other two... even the Qin family couldn't handle it.

"Luo Tian and Yao Jingfeng actually think highly of Ji Yuan?"

This news surprised Old Blind Qin somewhat.

Old Blind Qin knew what kind of taste those three had. Many people wanted to befriend them, but they all looked down on them. Now, they actually took the initiative to approach Ji Yuan.

But then I thought about it again, and it made sense. Ji Yuan had already broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining at such a young age, so it was only natural that he would be chosen.

"Exactly."

After Qin Long finished speaking, the dark room fell silent.

Old Blind Qin seemed to be weighing his options, his fingers tapping incessantly on the table, making a "thump-thump" sound that echoed in the dark room.

A full cup of tea's time passed before his hoarse voice finally broke through.

"Where is Qiu Qianhai now?"

"After parting ways with Ji Yuan, he disappeared without a trace. There's no news from the Zhu family either. I guess he's still hiding in Qingbo Pond, or he's gone to another market."

"I'll go out myself."

Old Blind Qin slowly got up.

"What?! Father, you're going to kill Qiu Qianhai yourself?!"

Qin Long exclaimed in astonishment.

It was one thing to send three Qi Refining Level 6 cultivators to hunt down Qiu Qianhai, but now Old Blind Qin is going to take matters into his own hands... If there's nothing serious going on here, who would believe it?

"Yes, there are some things I absolutely must get my hands on!"

As he spoke, Old Blind Qin walked toward the door.

"Remember, don't tell anyone I'm going out."

(End of this chapter)