Cultivating immortality through titles, without bottlenecks.

Yang Jingting frowned for a moment, then relaxed.

He was, after all, a Qi Refining Level 7 cultivator, a respectable late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Could it be that they can't protect Wei Zhong? Why would the Wei family send a Qi Refining cultivator as a bodyguard?

Could it be that this person...?

Yang Jingting looked up and sized up the newcomer, who appeared to be in his thirties. Compared to his own venerable and otherworldly appearance, the newcomer was indeed remarkably young.

He stood up to greet her.

"I am Yang Jingting, the humble Taoist priest, and I am honored to be the sect leader of Qingya Sect. Please come in, fellow Taoist."

Lin Qingyuan entered the cabin and took a seat. Yang Jingting gave him a wink, and Wei Zhong immediately poured him tea.

"May I ask your name, fellow traveler? And from where?"

Lin Qingyuan's expression remained natural:

"Mu Qingyuan is a rogue cultivator from the Eastern Lands. About a year ago, he met Pavilion Master Wei by chance and was recruited by him. He is now a guest elder of the Wei Clan's Spirit Pavilion."

"Guest advisor?"

Yang Jingting scrutinized Lin Qingyuan, but could not discern any significant distinguishing features from him.

Even his cultivation level was completely concealed, so that outsiders could not see it.

So he sent a telepathic message to Wei Zhong:

"Sixth Brother, what's the background of your guest elder, and how skilled is he?"

Wei Zhong secretly chuckled at the "game" between the two sides and replied telepathically:

"What Master said about his experiences is true. As for his cultivation level, he is at the sixth level of Qi Refining, but he cultivates swordsmanship, which is much stronger than that of ordinary mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators. He can almost fight against late-stage cultivators."

"Sword cultivators?" Yang Jingting couldn't help but recall the descriptions of sword cultivators his daughter had given him.

However, upon hearing that the latter's cultivation level was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, it was absolutely impossible for him to kill Chao Wenhao with a wave of his hand.

"Not this person?"

Yang Jingting's gaze lingered on the sword behind him for a few more moments.

Wei Zhong coughed a few times to change the subject:

"Master, what are the rules for this Alchemy Conference?"

Yang Jingting's attention then shifted entirely to this:

"Articles of Association?"

"The rules of the Alchemy Conference are different each time, but the alchemy competition among cultivators and the alchemy of the Medicine King are fixed events."

"The Medicine King?"

Lin Qingyuan explained upon seeing this:

"The Medicine King is the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley, similar to the Sect Master of a typical sect. He is the core figure of Medicine King Valley."

Before leaving, he secretly transmitted a message: "It's not a title."

"Fellow Daoist Mu seems to know quite a bit about Medicine King Valley," Yang Jingting said with a smile.

Lin Qingyuan shook his head:

"Who among the people of the East doesn't know about Medicine King Valley? After all, the elixirs we consume are all inseparable from the influence of Medicine King Valley."

"It has improved countless ancient alchemical formulas, benefiting countless cultivators..."

Listening to the two of them talking back and forth, Wei Zhong finally got a preliminary impression of the behemoth that was Medicine King Valley.

As the saying goes, a sacred place of alchemy is different from ordinary sects.

Unlike ordinary sect cultivators who reject independent cultivators, they are very tolerant of them.

The annual Alchemy Conference never restricts independent practitioners from participating. As long as they pass the initial screening and are deemed capable, they can obtain a spot.

Internally, alchemy is highly valued, and second-tier alchemists are far more important than ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"It is precisely because the alchemy of Medicine King Valley is so prosperous that so many countless alchemy lineages have appeared in our Eastern Land."

"Most of them come from cultivators who have left the valley, independently excavating secret realms to pass on their skills..."

In short, Medicine King Valley has become the fertile ground for the inheritance of alchemy in the entire Eastern cultivation world.

As the three were talking, a buzzing sound suddenly came from high above.

Wei Zhong lifted the curtain, revealing a huge spirit boat flying in the sky.

It flew higher and was much larger, many times larger than the spirit boat under Wei Zhong's feet.

Yang Jingting's gaze came from behind Wei Zhong:

"This ship is the Fulang Warship of the Biluo Sect."

"Warships?"

"Indeed, a warship is naturally designed for war."

"Although this boat is only a second-tier magic artifact, the spiritual patterns and accompanying magic arrays on its body are far more numerous than those of ordinary magic artifacts."

"It can almost be considered a small mobile mountain gate."

"When fully mobilized, he's comparable to a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

Wei Zhong couldn't help but look at Lin Qingyuan, muttering to himself:

"That strong?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a strange sense of unease rose in Wei Zhong's heart.

Wei Zhong felt a strange force sweep over his entire body, and then, seemingly not finding anything, turned and left.

He involuntarily shrank back and looked back at Yang Jingting, only to see that the latter had the same reaction as him.

Wei Zhong was about to speak when he saw Lin Qingyuan make a "shh" gesture with one hand, and he immediately fell silent.

Only after the warships overhead had flown far away did Yang and Lin breathe a sigh of relief and say:

"Finally, they're far away."

"Master, what was that just now?"

Yang Jingting naturally replied:

"That is divine consciousness."

"Divine sense?" Wei Zhong's heart skipped a beat. "Doesn't that mean there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator on that spirit boat just now, and that he was probing us?"

Yang Jingting nodded:

"It should just be a brief, routine reconnaissance, with no malicious intent."

At this point, a hint of doubt appeared on his face:

"With such a grand scale for this alchemy gathering, I wonder which Foundation Establishment senior is leading the Biluo Sect?"

The Medicine King Valley Alchemy Conference is a grand event in the cultivation world.

If even a small sect like Qingya Sect is participating, Biluo Sect naturally cannot be absent.

Yang Jingting was puzzled, but Lin Qingyuan noticed the difference:

"It must be Zhao Chengye, the Qi Master of the Biluo Sect."

Before Wei Zhong could grasp the true meaning behind those words, Lin Qingyuan was already in shock:

"What? Brother Mu, are you serious?"

"It really is that titled cultivator, Senior Zhao, the Qi Master."

Wei Zhong's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this voice.

"A titled cultivator, and also at the Foundation Establishment stage—just how powerful must this person be?"

At the same time, as if sensing Wei Zhong's thoughts, Lin Qingyuan transmitted his voice:

"This title of 'Aikishi' is somewhat special; it's not a typical combat power enhancement."

"If it's not a boost to combat power, then what is it?" Wei Zhong wondered. Lin Qingyuan immediately answered:

"Most of its effects are in assisting spiritual practice, primarily assisting oneself and secondarily assisting others."

"This title can increase the owner's cultivation speed, but the specific increase is unknown."

"As for assisting others, it involves using the dual cultivation method to help them break through their cultivation bottlenecks."

Wei Zhong was taken aback:

"Breaking through the bottleneck?"

Isn't this the very foundation of his title "Breakthrough"? In fact, Wei Zhong shouldn't be calling this a breakthrough, but rather that he doesn't have a bottleneck at all.

The fact that the [Qi Harmony Master] of the Biluo Sect possesses such abilities, although with considerable limitations, is already considered a divine skill for many ordinary cultivators in the cultivation world.

Wei and Zhong communicated telepathically, while Yang Jingting on the other end couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"It is said that this Senior Zhao was a late bloomer. He entered the cultivation world at the age of twenty and spent a full ninety years to reach the perfection of Qi Refining."

"He should have reached the end of his life and passed away."

"Afterwards, I don't know what conditions were met, but I gained the approval of heaven and earth and obtained the title of [Qi Envoy]. In just one month, I broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

"His progress was even more rapid afterward. What would normally take an ordinary person fifty or sixty years to reach, he achieved in just ten years..."