Mortal: I'm in Tianxing City, intelligence updates daily.

Li Shizhou mounted the dog's back again and squeezed through the crack in the light curtain, which was now only a few feet wide.

Although he didn't achieve his ultimate goal, the gains from the trip exceeded his expectations, making the trip worthwhile.

The dog burrowed underground for hundreds of miles before Li Shizhou finally emerged from the sea.

He already had enough to make Core Formation cultivators and even Nascent Soul cultivators covet him, and not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble, he took out the sea chart, looked at it, and flew towards Tianxing City.

Six months later, he returned to the familiar Tianxing City.

Upon reaching the cave on the fifty-third level of the sacred mountain, Zhuo Ruting had already emerged from seclusion. Her cultivation had now reached the peak of Qi Refining, and she was ready to break through the bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment stage at any time.

After a long time apart, the two spent a tender night together.

The next day, as soon as it was light, he went out and rode his flying chariot toward a weapon-refining room.

The owner of this weapon-refining room is named "Chen Shuheng". After Li Shizhou entered the Star Palace, the miscellaneous task he was assigned was to hammer the raw materials for magical artifacts for this person.

However, after only three months, he successfully entered the Foundation Establishment stage.

Later, during a casual conversation with a fellow disciple, I learned that this Senior Brother Chen was quite famous among the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Star Palace.

The reason for its great reputation is that its weapon crafting skills are extremely high, ranking among the top five in its class.

Secondly, this person has an eccentric personality, is aloof and dislikes social interactions, and has had conflicts with many fellow disciples. If it weren't for his skills, he would probably find it difficult to move an inch within the sect, and being exiled to a remote island to guard a teleportation array would be considered a light punishment.

Li Shizhou was interested in formations, but if he wanted to refine formation plates and flags, he would need to have certain crafting skills.

Furthermore, if one can form a core in the future, crafting a natal magic weapon will also require a certain level of crafting skill.

If one could receive guidance from this senior brother, one could naturally avoid many detours and save a lot of time.

Therefore, even though Li Shizhou knew that the other party was not an easy person to get along with, he still went to visit him frequently.

Fortunately, he had done odd jobs during his Qi Refining stage, which left a good impression on Senior Brother Chen. In addition, the strength he gained from cultivating the Pure Yang Technique could be of some help.

Over time, they developed a friendship. After spending a few years together, Li Shizhou discovered that Senior Brother Chen was actually a pretty good person and not the kind of person who was petty or calculating.

He just has a bad temper, is stubborn, and his words are often unpleasant to hear, or more accurately, offensive.

He had just arrived at the door of Senior Brother Chen's weapon-refining room when he heard angry curses coming from inside.

"With your skill level, you dare to come to my weapon-refining room to do chores and claim credit? Get out of here right now, and don't let me see you again."

Soon, a young cultivator dressed in the uniform of an outer disciple of the Star Palace hurriedly came out, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he walked.

Upon seeing Li Shizhou, he hurriedly bowed and greeted him. After receiving permission, he quickly made his escape.

"Senior Brother Chen, why are you so angry?" Li Shizhou said from outside the door.

"Junior Brother Li, it's you. You've come at just the right time. I'm in dire need of a hammer-wielding laborer. I don't know what the miscellaneous affairs office does; the people they send over are all useless trash, not a single one of them is of any use."

As Senior Brother Chen spoke in the weapon-refining room, he opened the array light screen. He was quite unceremonious, starting to order people around even before they entered.

Li Shizhou thought to himself, "This Senior Brother Chen really doesn't know how to talk. No wonder he's not popular."

Once he entered the weapon-refining room, Senior Brother Chen pointed to a purple-gold spirit hammer and said, "Here, same as always, I'll take the small hammer, and you take the big one."

Without wasting words, Li Shizhou rolled up his sleeves, picked up the spirit hammer, and began to strike the blank of a dagger following the other party's instructions with the small hammer.

He has now cultivated the Pure Yang Technique to the third level, and his strength has increased a lot. Now he no longer needs to use both hands as before. He can wield the thousand-pound Purple Gold Spirit Hammer with one hand with great force and without any effort.

After being hammered for a while, the raw material was placed into the underground fire in the middle of the refining room.

The two found chairs, sat facing each other, and chatted over tea.

Two hours later, the blank for a top-tier magic weapon was completed.

Senior Brother Chen was in a great mood. After carefully examining the dagger blank for a while, he said, "Your craftsmanship is still the best. It's just a pity that you succeeded in Foundation Establishment after working as a janitor for three months. Come on, let's go to Shixianju for a meal later. It's on me today."

Upon hearing this, Li Shizhou thought to himself, "How strange! This is the first time in history. Could it be that Senior Brother Chen has something to ask of me today?"

In the world of cultivation, there is a special type of cultivator who is skilled at using demonic beasts and spiritual herbs as raw materials to cook spiritual dishes.

Its flavor is far superior to that of ordinary dishes, and it also has wonderful uses such as enhancing one's cultivation and improving one's state of mind.

These cultivators who are skilled at preparing spiritual cuisine are called "food cultivators".

The owner of "Shi Xian Ju" is such a cultivator. His shop is located in the market of Tianxing City and has a great reputation in the city. Of course, the prices are not cheap. Even so, customers come in an endless stream every day, including many Core Formation cultivators.

Since the other party had offered to treat him, Li Shizhou naturally didn't stand on ceremony and replied, "Then I'll trouble you to pay for today, Senior Brother."

"No expense, no expense. Junior brother, please wait a moment while I tidy up the weapon-refining room and then I'll leave."

A moment later, the two left the weapon-refining room and flew towards the Tianxing City market.

......

Shi Xian Ju, in a private room by the water.

A white-robed maidservant at the Qi Refining stage placed the last dish of spiritual food on the table and said softly, "Seniors, the spiritual food is served. Please enjoy it."

"No need for all this rambling, you can leave now," Senior Brother Chen said, waving his hand at the maid with obvious impatience.

The maid in white smiled awkwardly, bowed, and slowly left the private room.

After everyone left, Senior Brother Chen pointed to a plate of meat soup and said to Li Shizhou, "Come on, Junior Brother, try this Four Spirits Soup. It's made with the heart meat of the Cloud Dragon, the Golden Fiend Leopard, the Sun Sparrow, and the Mountain-Bearing Turtle, along with spiritual herbs. It not only tastes great, but it can also strengthen your body."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony, junior brother."

Li Shizhou ladled out a bowl, first tasting the hot liquid. It was indeed delicious and mellow, with a slight medicinal flavor, but it wasn't overpowering.

I tried another piece of meat; it was tender and soft, crispy yet not crumbly, with a perfect balance of saltiness, leaving a lingering fragrance in my mouth after swallowing.

The two ate, drank, and chatted. Senior Brother Chen seemed to want to say something, but he swallowed his words back several times.

Since Li Shizhou also needed Chen's help, he took the initiative to say, "Senior Brother Chen, is there something you need my help with?"

Senior Brother Chen hesitated before saying, "There is indeed something I need to do, but if you are unwilling, I will not force you."

"If you have something to say, senior brother, then I will do it. As long as I can do it, I will not shirk my responsibility."

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Chen breathed a sigh of relief: "I have two grandsons who, based on their aptitude alone, cannot enter the Star Palace for cultivation. They can only follow the path of independent cultivation. I have already used up all my own recommendation slots, so I hope to borrow Junior Brother's slot."