Cultivating immortality begins with formations.

Two months from now.

Lu Yuan found a new place to stay, still in the inner city, near the towering city walls.

He only told Yao Lao and others about his new residence, and rarely went out on weekdays.

After rearranging the Qi Gathering Array and the Five Elements Mist Array, he locked himself in his home and devoted himself to cultivation.

In this way, he vaguely felt that it wouldn't be long before he could steadily break through and reach the fifth level of Qi Refining.

And recently.

Jiulingfang Market has become lively again.

Because the Azure Lotus Sword Sect has already made a name for itself, a trial conference will be held a year later.

Anyone with a clean background, under forty years old, and at least at the seventh level of Qi Refining, regardless of their origin, is eligible to participate.

If one performs exceptionally well at the conference, one can become a disciple of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect.

The top three will be able to become inner disciples directly.

This news caused an instant sensation.

Not only Jiuling Market, but also many cultivators from the surrounding immortal cities flocked to the area.

Other families and forces in the immortal cities, realizing that the Azure Lotus Sword Sect intended to promote the Nine Ridges Market, began to plan how to enter the Nine Ridges Market.

As a result, Jiulingfang Market became an unprecedentedly prosperous place.

Not only are more and more monks coming to settle here.

The prices of various elixirs for enhancing cultivation, as well as energy-gathering arrays, talismans, and magical artifacts, have once again skyrocketed to astonishing levels.

Lu Yuan was currently residing in the inner city.

The monthly rent has also risen to an astonishing two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Taking advantage of the chaos and prosperity of the market, he took out all the magical artifacts he had previously obtained through illicit means and handed them over to the artifact refiner Jiang Zhi, entrusting her to sell them on his behalf.

Jiang Zhi knew that he had left the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and now intended to downplay his reputation as the Jade-Faced Array Master who had made a name for himself in the market, so she gladly accepted.

With the help of Jiang Zhi, they made another fortune.

She also told me that the inner elder of the Glazed Tile Sect was currently very busy and seemed to be in contact with a certain force in Xuan'an Immortal City.

In this way...

Lu Yuan was relieved for the time being.

Although the two never confronted each other about their grievances, the fact that the other party left a mark in secret suggests that they had ulterior motives.

At this point, Lu Yuan informed Yao Lao and the others that he would begin his secluded cultivation.

……

The next six months.

The prosperity of Jiulingfang Market reached its peak.

The cultivation families and sects in the market are also growing rapidly.

During this period, many families and sects contacted other forces that wanted to enter the market and reached mutually beneficial cooperation agreements.

In addition, the ten Foundation Establishment Pills that appeared at the previous auction have increased the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in various forces by nearly ten.

In this way...

The balance of power in the entire market inevitably tipped.

Coupled with the scarcity of various resources, friction between other forces, not just the Zhou and Wang families, gradually became more frequent.

All of this will naturally affect every cultivator in the market.

For Lu Yuan, who was in seclusion and had accumulated a large number of spirit stones, the impact was negligible.

Inside a sealed room.

The energy-gathering array emitted a faint light, and its lines inspired a gathering of spiritual energy, filling the entire secret chamber.

The spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from Lu Yuan have increased to a higher level compared to before.

"Five levels of Qi Refining."

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes from within the Qi Gathering Array, circulated his Qi for several cycles to consolidate his cultivation, and then pulled out the array flag.

The swirling spiritual energy gradually dissipated, revealing his clear eyes.

Open the panel.

Name: Lu Yuan

Lifespan: 31/61 (Lifespan increased, triple effect)

[Realm Level: Qi Refining Level 5]

[Spiritual Root: Five Elements Spiritual Root (Low Grade)]

[Cultivation Technique: Five Elements Technique (Minor Success, Breakthrough achievable after 30 years of practice)]

[Skills: Qi Gathering Array (Perfected, can be broken through after 19 years of cultivation); Five Elements Mist Array (Perfected, can be broken through after 38 years of cultivation)]

[Spells: Fire Separation Spell (Proficient, requires ten years of practice to break through); Qi Concealment Technique (Proficient, requires ten years of practice to break through); Golden Edge Sword Technique (Beginner, requires three years of practice to break through)]

[You can infuse your lifespan into cultivation techniques and spells to increase your cultivation progress. Currently, you can infuse up to 30 years of lifespan.]

Looking at his attribute panel, Lu Yuan sighed inwardly.

At thirty-one years old, he was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, which was considered below average in the market. However, his mastery of formations and spells meant that his combat strength was already at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

This comes at the cost of several decades of lifespan.

Otherwise, with the buff of three times his lifespan, he wouldn't only have thirty years left to live.

Lu Yuan had no intention of keeping the thirty years of lifespan that had just arrived.

Again.

Lifespan is like money deposited in a bank; if you die unexpectedly before you've spent it, it's a great tragedy in life.

Lu Yuan took out the Longevity Pill that he had won at the auction from his storage bag.

Without thinking, he stuffed it into his mouth.

The medicinal power of the Longevity Pill exploded within the body, transforming into a trickle of spring water that slowly flowed to every part of the body.

After dozens of spring water baths, the medicinal effects gradually wore off, and Lu Yuan looked at the panel again...

Name: Lu Yuan

Lifespan: 31/91 (Lifespan increased, triple effect)

【…】

[You can infuse your lifespan into cultivation techniques and spells to increase your cultivation progress. Currently, you can infuse up to 60 years of lifespan.]

Sixty years!

This is truly a huge fortune...

Lu Yuan has already taken two Longevity Pills. Based on the tolerance of cultivators to Longevity Pills, he can only take one more at most.

If you continue taking it, it will have no further effect.

of course.

Some rare and precious natural materials that can prolong life are not included in this list.

Moreover, if one breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, there are corresponding pills that can increase the lifespan of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Although a plan for allocating one's lifespan had already been devised.

But when the moment came, Lu Yuan still hesitated for a moment.

It's like you've already decided to buy a house in your past life, but when you see other people driving luxury cars, you can't help but feel tempted and hesitant.

The best solution to this is to have it all.

However, Lu Yuan doesn't have any more lifespan right now, so he still needs to allocate it reasonably and reserve enough lifespan for himself to support his next breakthrough.

With his mind made up, Lu Yuan waved his hand dismissively...

[Five Elements Technique, Infusing Thirty Years of Lifespan]

【Five Elements Skill (Proficient)】

[Remaining lifespan available for infusion: 30 years]

……

As his primary cultivation method, the Five Elements Technique is closely related to his proficiency and cultivation speed, and it perfectly matches his Five Elements spiritual roots.

The reason Lu Yuan had not chosen a cultivation method before was because he believed that increasing the speed of cultivation would not bring about a qualitative change in his life in a short period of time.

Now, the protective magic is basically complete.

Proficiency in the Five Elements Technique is now of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, after Lu Yuan reached the proficiency level of the Five Elements Technique, he tried to circulate the technique and found that the improvement in cultivation speed was not very fast.

Compared to his previous minor success level, his cultivation speed has increased by about one-fifth.

This is still a flaw of low-grade spiritual roots.

Lu Yuan analyzed that if he had a mid-grade spiritual root, the improvement effect would be about half that of the past.

Fortunately, apart from that.

After Lu Yuan discovered that he had improved his Five Elements Technique to the proficient level, he also comprehended a new technique from the technique.

The Five Elements Escape Technique.

Moreover, this Five Elements Escape Technique is derived from the Five Elements Skill, and it is directly at the proficient level, so it can be used as easily as an arm, without the need to spend time cultivating it.

"These thirty years of spending were definitely worthwhile!"

Lu Yuan was overjoyed.

Then lifespan is replenished again...

[The Qi-gathering Technique, infusing ten years of lifespan]

【The Art of Gathering Qi (Complete)】

[Remaining lifespan available for infusion: 20 years]

……