Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

Time flies, and the intelligence arrives as promised.

Familiar lines of text appeared before Li Shen's eyes.

The first four words immediately piqued his interest.

"A beast tide has broken out..."

Li Shen subconsciously repeated it in his mind, then looked back.

The outbreak of the beast tide was the result of a discussion between Yun Tianming, the sect leader of Yunhe Sect, who was at the late stage of the Golden Core realm, Leng Sha, the supreme elder of the Blood Soul Sect, who was at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and the Golden Flood Dragon King, who was at the mid-stage of the fourth rank, who occupied the ancient ascension platform ruins deep in the Prison Mountain.

The Blood Soul Sect offered an ancient blood sacrifice array as its bargaining chip, capable of sacrificing the essence and souls of tens of thousands of living beings. The Cloud Crane Sect offered a Dragon Transformation Pearl, which was condensed from a strand of true dragon essence blood. This pearl was the key to a dragon-type demon beast's advancement to the fifth rank and was also left behind by the Cloud Crane Sect's Supreme Ancestor, Cloud Crane Child.

It took him more than half an hour to fully digest the information contained in the intelligence report.

The beast tide was more ferocious than he had imagined.

The sect leader at the late Golden Core stage, the Supreme Elder at the early Nascent Soul stage, and the Golden Flood Dragon King at the mid-fourth rank—any one of them was someone he could only look up to with a sore neck.

The appearance of the Yunhe Sect Master completely validated his judgment, and the Yunhe Sect completely switched sides.

"The relics left behind by the late Supreme Ancestor of the Yunhe Sect..."

Looking at these words in the intelligence report, Li Shen understood the Yunhe Sect's considerations.

The passing of the Supreme Ancestor was a pivotal event for the sect, one that could be considered a matter of life and death.

The fact that Yunhe Sect is willing to offer up something that is at the fifth rank indicates that the sect will not have the opportunity to use this item for a long time to come.

Furthermore, Yunhe Sect has not had any new Nascent Soul cultivators to oversee it. Having Golden Core cultivators alone is far from enough. In the face of Nascent Soul cultivators, Golden Core cultivators are nothing more than slightly larger ants.

In the world of cultivation, the status of a sect has always been determined by its top-tier combat strength.

If you have a Nascent Soul cultivator in your presence, you are a regional overlord; if you don't, you can only depend on others.

At this point in his analysis, Li Shen recalled a rumor he had heard before.

The reason why the Yunhe Mountain Range is called the Yunhe Mountain Range is said to be because a Nascent Soul ancestor of the Yunhe Sect, together with several fellow cultivators, wiped out the demonic beasts of the Yunhe Mountain Range. Because he was the strongest, the mountain range was named after his Daoist title.

What a magnificent sight that was!

But now?

The Jade Sword Sect was the most powerful of the three sects, and there was speculation that the decline of the Cloud Crane Sect was related to that Nascent Soul ancestor.

Li Shen didn't take it to heart when he heard it; he just treated it as a joke.

There are too many rumors in the cultivation world; it's lucky if one out of ten is true.

The Blood Soul Sect, by offering a blood sacrifice array capable of sacrificing tens of thousands of lives, clearly intends to secure this cooperation.

As for where these tens of thousands of lives came from, the answer is almost obvious.

Those righteous cultivators in this war, or the rogue cultivators active within the territory of Duan Kingdom, and even those mortals.

The Golden Flood Dragon King, at the mid-stage of the fourth rank, is equivalent to the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm in humans, and its significance among demonic beasts is self-evident.

Being able to occupy the ruins of the ancient ascension platform must make it the most powerful of all the monsters.

Li Shen, who had awakened his innate wisdom, naturally knew that the Nascent Soul stage was not the end; above it lay the Deity Transformation stage, and even higher realms.

Upon hearing the words "Ancient Ascension Platform," Li Shen understood why the Blood Soul Sect was so eager to take control of Laoshan.

Even if it is just a relic, it means there is a possibility of breaking through to a higher realm.

However, this matter is still very far away for Li Shen. Right now, he should focus on finding a way to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

After thinking it over, Li Shen took out the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Foundation Building is the first real insurmountable barrier on the path to immortality.

In the end, cultivators in the Qi Refining stage are nothing more than "people who know magic" who are slightly stronger than ordinary people.

Their lifespan is only a little over a hundred years. They cannot withstand swords or fire and water. A serious illness or an accident can take their lives.

But foundation building is different.

A cultivator who successfully establishes their foundation will have their lifespan double, reaching over two hundred years.

The spiritual energy within the body transforms from "qi" to "liquid," undergoing a fundamental change in both quantity and quality.

Foundation Establishment cultivators can fly on magical artifacts and cast more advanced spells, but that's about it.

In the presence of a Golden Core cultivator, a Foundation Establishment cultivator is still an ant.

In front of a Nascent Soul cultivator, they are not even ants.

Could there be Foundation Establishment cultivators among the beings sacrificed by the Blood Soul Sect?

Li Shen looked at the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand, and the words from the intelligence report resurfaced in his mind.

Late stage of Golden Core. Early stage of Nascent Soul. Mid-stage of Fourth Rank.

Each realm was like an insurmountable chasm, standing in his way.

Even if he successfully establishes his foundation, it will only be in the early stages.

Above that are the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, the late-Foundation Establishment stage, the peak-Foundation Establishment stage, and then the Golden Core stage.

Golden Elixir.

That is a realm that is even more unattainable.

How many Golden Core cultivators are there in the entire cultivation world of Duan Kingdom?

Although Li Shen didn't know the details, he could guess the general idea.

Behind every Golden Core cultivator lies the accumulation of hundreds of years of sect's efforts and the hard work of several generations.

And what makes him, a pseudo-spiritual root cultivator who has difficulty even breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage, so capable?

"On what grounds?"

Li Shen felt somewhat lost and asked himself softly.

But reflecting on how he got to where he is today, he gradually emerged from his fear.

The answer slowly came to mind.

The path to immortality is fraught with hardship. Spiritual roots and aptitude are innate; all he can do is seize every useful piece of information and opportunity to go further on this path.

Reach a position where you no longer have to depend on anyone else's opinion, and where your life is in your own hands.

After thinking it over, only one thought remained in my mind.

We must break through to the Foundation Establishment stage no matter what!

If he succeeds, he will live an extra hundred years.

A hundred years is enough time to do a lot.

Li Shen put away the Foundation Establishment Pill; it wasn't the right time to use it yet.

With a flick of his finger, he retrieved the seven-colored python, stroked its cool, smooth, scaly neck, smiled, and whispered:

"Xiao Qi, it seems we can't stay in the Yunhe Mountains for the time being."

As he spoke, he took out the Chi Pei Dan and fed it to Xiao Qi.

The seven-colored python swallowed it whole, its expression one of great satisfaction.

At this moment, he had completely given up on the idea of ​​joining the sect.

This war will inevitably affect the entire Duan Kingdom; there is no safe place left.

Therefore, Li Shen planned to use the teleportation array located beneath the pool of Qingyajian.

To give themselves a chance to survive.

However, this matter can only be carried out after we leave the secret realm.

It's not just because the secret realm contains the treasures left behind by Chu Kuangge, the number one Golden Core cultivator.

Furthermore, Li Shen was still unsure how many spirit stones were required to activate the teleportation array once.

He must find a way to acquire more spirit stones while these forces are fighting.

For the next few months, Li Shen devoted himself to arduous cultivation in his cave, preparing for a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Pills like Qi Gathering Pills, which are beneficial for improving cultivation, were consumed one after another.

Relying on the intelligence refreshed at midnight every day, Li Shen was like a chess player watching a game of chess, clearly seeing the movements of the righteous path, the demonic path, and the monsters.

The first piece of valid intelligence came several days later.