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

Upon entering the market, Li Shizhou did not go to the first area where he set up a stall this time, but instead went to the ninth area where he first found a bargain.

Inside, it was as bustling as ever, with crowds of people and lively atmosphere, filled with the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and bargaining.

He wandered around inside like an ordinary Qi cultivator.

The items displayed on the stall were no longer of any interest to Li Shizhou.

This is simply to revisit the path we've traveled.

Before we knew it, it was already 4:45 PM, and the daily opportunity information panel refreshed as scheduled.

[Daily Opportunity Information]

[Area: Five li]

[An: Shen Youyi, a rogue cultivator in the Qi Refining stage, has a Nine-Aperture Jade Ginseng on her stall, which is being sold as an ordinary spiritual ginseng. She can earn nearly a hundred spirit stones by acquiring it and reselling it.]

[Danger: Wang Ning, a Qi Refining stage cultivator from the Miaoyin Sect, possesses a rare treasure given to him by a Core Formation cultivator. It has the power to suppress demons and exorcise ghosts. Stealing it can be exchanged for over a thousand spirit stones.]

After reading the first intelligence opportunity, Li Shizhou remained completely unmoved.

But when he saw the name "Wang Ning" in the second post, he subconsciously stopped in his tracks.

"Wang Ning, isn't that the real name of the famous Zi Ling Fairy, the number one beauty of the Chaotic Star Sea, in the original novel of 'A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality'?"

In the original book, this woman was not only exceptionally beautiful, but also had a tragic fate and was quite cunning, having been kidnapped several times.

Li Shizhou couldn't help but feel very curious. He searched with his divine sense and soon found two female cultivators with the Miaoyin Sect's mark embroidered on their sleeves not far away.

One of them was a female cultivator in a green dress, with the cultivation level of the eleventh level of Qi Refining. Although her appearance was quite pretty, she was definitely not the number one beauty in the Chaotic Star Sea. Moreover, she had a strong sense of being a young married woman, so she was definitely not Fairy Zi Ling.

Beside the green-skirted female cultivator was a white-clad female cultivator, also at the Qi Refining stage, but already at the thirteenth level.

The woman wore a veil-like ritual object on her face, obscuring her features, but her eyes and eyebrows were exquisitely beautiful.

Her demeanor was dignified yet possessed a touch of girlish playfulness. Although she wore a loose and elegant white dress, a tightly fastened light purple belt around her waist still revealed a hint of her stunning figure.

This woman is probably Fairy Ziling; she is truly extraordinary.

After observing for a moment, and seeing that the two female cultivators had already gone far away, Li Shizhou withdrew his outward-released divine sense, walked around for a while, and came to a stall located in the middle of the ninth stall area.

Since we're already here, earning some spirit stones wouldn't be bad.

So he bought the Nine-Aperture Jade Ginseng and then sold it to a shop that buys spiritual herbs in exchange for spirit stones.

After chatting with the shopkeeper for a while, Li Shizhou returned to his cave.

During the following period, he completely emptied himself of his thoughts.

Whenever the mood strikes, I wander aimlessly around, or sit on the viewing terrace outside the main stone, drinking wine and tea while overlooking Tianxing City below the sacred mountain.

Occasionally, I would go to the "Food Fairy Pavilion" with familiar fellow disciples to enjoy spiritual cuisine.

Ten days later, just as dawn was breaking.

Li Shizhou brewed a pot of tea and sat on the viewing terrace to admire the golden sunrise on the horizon.

Just then, someone requested an audience outside the array's light barrier.

"Brother Li, are you in the cave? I have something to ask you."

He probed with his divine sense and found it was Gu Ci, a member of the Gu family of Li Cang.

So he opened the light screen to let people in, and then got up and went to the reception room in the outer pavilion to wait.

After a few breaths, Gu Ci walked into the reception room.

"Greetings, Junior Brother Gu. Come, have a seat. It's been a while since we last met. Shall we have some wine or spirit tea?" Li Shizhou greeted him warmly.

"A pot of tea will suffice."

After sitting down opposite him, Gu Ci said that he had recently advanced to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and he looked somewhat haggard at the moment.

The past twenty years have been difficult for the Gu family in Li Cang; in fact, they have suffered a dramatic decline.

The Gu family originally had three Core Formation cultivators, one of whom, Li Shizhou, was already in the late Core Formation stage when he first entered the clan, and also had the potential to form a Nascent Soul.

Unexpected events can happen at any time. Twenty years ago, this cultivator attempted to break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage, but unexpectedly, he fell victim to the tribulation of inner demons and died.

As a result, the Gu family lost its pillar of support.

The two remaining Core Formation cultivators in the Gu family are, respectively, only at the early stage and at the middle stage, but their lifespans are running out.

What was once a thriving cultivation family suddenly turned upside down, unable to even maintain its original dignity, let alone take any further steps.

Helpless, they had to shrink their sphere of influence, and the Gu family voluntarily gave up many mines and medicinal gardens.

Even Foundation Establishment cultivators like Gu Ci are now facing a significant reduction in the supply of cultivation materials, and often need to go out to sea with their clansmen to hunt demons in exchange for spirit stones.

It was precisely because of this that his twin brother, Gu Yan, perished in the outer space ten years ago.

After drinking tea for a while, Li Shizhou asked, "Junior Brother Gu, you said you had something to discuss with me. May I ask what it is?"

Gu Ci replied, "Brother Li, do you have any free time recently? Could you spare a month to come with me to the Outer Star Sea to pick a spiritual herb?"

"Junior Brother Gu, I'm really sorry. I'm currently preparing to break through the bottleneck of Core Formation. Once I've regulated my mind, I'll go into seclusion. I'm not allowed to leave Tianxing City before then."

With his breakthrough imminent, Li Shizhou didn't want any unexpected setbacks, especially since it involved venturing into the dangerous alien sea. So he directly refused.

Gu Ci looked somewhat disappointed after hearing this. He hesitated for a moment, holding his teacup, before continuing, "Brother Li, have you ever heard of the Golden Elixir Inquiry Talisman?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shizhou's previously calm state of mind was suddenly stirred.

The "Golden Elixir Inquiry Talisman" is an extremely rare talisman.

Once a cultivator has reached the Foundation Establishment stage, using this talisman can simulate a complete Core Formation process, allowing them to identify their shortcomings, fill in the gaps, and significantly improve their chances of Core Formation.

After Li Shizhou entered the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he also considered using such talismans.

However, "Golden Core Inquiry Talismans" are rarely circulated in the market, and even when they are traded, they are mostly exchanged between high-level cultivators.

That's why he hasn't succeeded all these years.

After pondering for a moment, Li Shizhou asked, "What is the connection between the Golden Core Inquiry Talisman and going to the outer star sea?"

Seeing his interest, Gu Ci quickly explained the whole story.

It turns out that the Gu family had already prepared the other materials for refining the "Golden Elixir Inquiry Talisman," but the talisman required the juice of "Illusion Heart Grass" to mix with the spiritual ink.

The "Illusion Grass" has extremely demanding growing conditions. Three hundred years ago, a cultivator from the Gu family finally found a suitable place to cultivate it on a small island in the outer sea.

Now that the time is right, all that's left is to pick the "Illusion Heart Grass" and then refine the "Golden Elixir Inquiry Talisman".

After listening, Li Shizhou still had many doubts, so he asked, "Junior Brother Gu, if I may be frank, your Gu family has two elders at the Core Formation stage. Why not send them to the Outer Star Sea?"