The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

In the main hall of Huangfeng Valley, Yang Qingyuan and Sect Leader Zhong sat facing each other.

"Junior Brother Yang truly lives up to his reputation as a Thunder Spirit Root. He has successfully established his Foundation Establishment in just three short years since entering the sect. I admire him from the bottom of my heart." Sect Leader Zhong noticed that Yang Qingyuan had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage and immediately changed his form of address to address him as a fellow disciple.

Yang Qingyuan, beaming with pride, humbly replied, "Sect Leader, you flatter me. My Foundation Establishment was entirely thanks to the Foundation Establishment Pills distributed by the sect; I dare not take credit for it."

Zhong Lingdao was very satisfied with Yang Qingyuan's words. He then took out three mid-grade spirit stones, five small flags shrouded in a thin white mist, and a jade slip from his storage bag and introduced, "According to the custom of our sect, newly established cultivators can receive three mid-grade spirit stones as a reward. They can also receive one mid-grade spirit stone as an offering every year thereafter, and they do not need to do any miscellaneous work."

"As for these few camouflage flags, they are essential for opening up the cave. The jade slip contains information about setting up this camouflage array."

"However, the fog formed by this illusion array can only be used to defend against mortals and wild beasts. If Junior Brother Yang understands the principles of array formations, he can replace it himself."

"Also, Junior Brother, you can go to the Qilin Pavilion in the sect and rent a double-pupiled rat."

"Although this beast is a level one demon beast, it is born with a pair of spiritual eyes that can easily see through obstacles such as fog and trees that obstruct the view, helping cultivators to find places with abundant spiritual energy as the site for their cave dwellings."

Yang Qingyuan accepted the spirit stones and array flags, then bowed respectfully, rose and left the council hall. He stepped on green leaves and flew straight to the northwest of the Taiyue Mountains, but did not go to the Qilin Pavilion to borrow the Twin-Pupil Rat.

Arriving above the mountain range, Yang Qingyuan patted the spirit pet pouch at his waist, releasing a beam of snow-white light.

When the white light dissipated, a snow-white, six-zhang-long dragon appeared in mid-air; it was the Mo Jiao, a demonic beast that had broken through to the second level.

Now, the black dragon has recovered from its injuries after resting and recuperating. Because it possesses the bloodline of a dragon, it has a special affinity for water-attribute treasures.

"Go to the place in the mountains where the spiritual energy is most abundant," Yang Qingyuan instructed.

The black dragon stared with its golden dragon eyes, scanning the mountains below. Then, it twisted its body and pounced towards a valley in the mountains below.

Its flight speed was so fast that it left afterimages in the air, faster than ordinary top-grade flying magic artifacts, far surpassing that of the Double-Headed Duck.

This is normal, after all, Han Li created the top-grade flying magic weapon "Azure Wind Boat" using only the tail of the Ink Dragon, not to mention that the Ink Dragon is currently intact.

Soon the black dragon arrived in the valley, lay on a crevice in the rock wall, extended its sharp claws, and began to carve into the rock wall, widening the crevice to about ten feet in size, before finally diving inside.

Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan followed the black dragon into the crevice in the rock wall.

Behind the rock wall is a natural cave that is more than ten feet in size.

As soon as Yang Qingyuan entered the cave, he felt a strong spiritual energy rushing towards him.

In the very center of the cave, there was a tiny spring that was constantly gushing water.

The black dragon was lying beside the spring, gulping down the clear spring water.

"Is this the Spirit Eye?" Yang Qingyuan stepped forward and sensed that the abundant spiritual energy in the cave all came from this Spirit Eye Spring.

"Well done." Yang Qingyuan gently stroked the head of the black dragon, then took out the array flags of the Five-Pole Bewildering Array and arranged them around the area, condensing a large area of ​​white mist that covered the valley.

Just as he finished setting up the formation, a strange sound came from his storage bag.

Yang Qingyuan took out a red jade talisman from his storage bag, his face showing surprise.

This jade talisman was a communication talisman given to me by Nangong Wan when we were in the Blood Forbidden Land. It was meant to contact Yang Qingyuan and, through the token, allow us to explore the Blood Forbidden Land again.

After considering it for a moment, Yang Qingyuan thought to himself, "It's a good time to go to the Crimson Forbidden Land and get some spiritual herbs to prepare."

"Whether it's purchasing the formation or reforging the seven flying swords, it's a considerable expense."

"A place like the Crimson Forbidden Land must have some ancient medicinal herbs."

He also wanted to use the elixirs from the Crimson Forbidden Land to test whether the True Word Scroll possessed the time law to accelerate the ripening of elixirs.

With that thought in mind, Yang Qingyuan rode the black dragon, left the cave, and headed straight for Eagle Sorrow Stream.

With the speed of the black dragon, it only took a day and a night to reach the sky above Eagle Sorrow Gorge.

A stunningly beautiful woman dressed in white palace attire stood before the entrance to the underground palace, her graceful figure seemingly detached from the world—it was Nangong Wan.

Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan urged the black dragon beneath his feet to approach.

Nangong Wan also saw Yang Qingyuan above the black dragon's head. She then scanned him with her divine sense and saw that the fluctuations of Yang Qingyuan's magical power far exceeded those of a Qi Refining stage cultivator. A look of surprise flashed in her beautiful eyes. She parted her lips slightly and said, "I haven't seen you for three months. You have also successfully established your foundation."

"It seems you've been quite diligent in your practice."

Yang Qingyuan chuckled, "Wan'er, you flatter me. Haven't you also recovered your Foundation Establishment stage strength?"

Upon hearing this address, Nangong Wan's pretty face turned frosty, radiating a chilling aura. She coldly said, "I warned you, consider what happened before as a dream."

Yang Qingyuan didn't mind and replied, "I'll listen to you. Anyway, I've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and am not far from forming the Core stage. After I form the Core stage, I'll go to the Hidden Moon Sect to propose marriage. You won't have any objections then, right?"

Upon hearing this, Nangong Wan considered that Yang Qingyuan was indeed exceptionally talented and had a high chance of cultivating to the Core Formation stage, so it was not impossible for the two of them to become Daoist partners. She couldn't help but feel a stirring of romantic feelings.

"Hmph, all you do is sweet talk," Nangong Wan said coquettishly. "We'll talk after you've formed your core."

Seeing that Nangong Wan was indeed considering becoming Daoist partners, Yang Qingyuan stepped forward and put his arm around Nangong Wan's slender waist.

Nangong Wan frowned slightly, but half-heartedly, she didn't resist, only saying coquettishly, "Let's take care of business first."

Yang Qingyuan smiled nonchalantly, then put his arm around Nangong Wan and walked into the passageway.

More than three months have passed, and everything inside the mausoleum remains the same.

On the way, Yang Qingyuan recounted his battle with Wu Sangchong, omitting Chen Qiaoqian's story.

After listening, Nangong Wan also spoke up, "Our Yanyue Sect's understanding of the Crimson Forbidden Land far surpasses that of the other six major sects, which is also because we searched Wu Sangchong's cave and obtained a lot of jade slips."

"But this person later escaped from the Hidden Moon Sect, and the matter was left unresolved."

"Unexpectedly, the matter of this Life Gate Formation was hidden."

Do you have the battle formation diagram and the materials for setting it up?

Yang Qingyuan nodded, then took out the storage bag left by Wu Sangchong from his own storage bag and said, "The array diagram and materials are all here."

"However, setting up this formation will probably require a certain level of expertise in formations."

After reviewing the jade slip, Nangong Wan explained, "It's alright, this Life Gate Formation isn't too difficult."

"Although I have never specifically studied formations, setting up this Life Gate Formation is not a problem for me."

Give me the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan stepped aside.

Nangong Wan then took out array flags and array plates from her storage bag and arranged them around the area in an orderly manner.

After an incense stick had burned, Nangong Wan let out a long breath and said, "Now we're still missing the most crucial treasure."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan patted his storage bag, took out a square cyan token, and infused it with his magic power.

As the token glowed faintly, the surrounding array plates and flags also began to move, summoning gusts of wind.

Immediately afterwards, a blue tornado about ten feet tall appeared in the center of the tomb.

"Let's go." Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan reached out and put his arm around Nangong Wan, and together they stepped into the azure swirling wind...