Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

Frustrated by the fact that he had only heard of it but never seen it, Li Shen pretended to want to try to feel the quality of a mid-grade spirit stone, just like absorbing the spiritual energy contained in a low-grade spirit stone, but he quickly gave up the idea.

Although they are all spirit stones, mid-grade spirit stones have already shed their monetary function and can be sold as spiritual items, with no fixed price.

According to Li Shen, the last time a mid-grade spirit stone appeared in Yunhe Mountain Market was more than ten years ago at an auction held by Duobao Pavilion.

That one was eventually auctioned off to the Zhou family, a Foundation Establishment clan, for a high price of 580 low-grade spirit stones. Its rarity was comparable to that of a high-grade elixir.

I wonder if mid-grade spirit stones will still be so rare once we leave Yunhe Mountain...

Li Shen's thoughts drifted slightly away.

All the opportunities he had gained during this period served as a reminder to him.

Beyond Yunhe Mountain, the world stretches out before you.

He took back the mid-grade spirit stone, already having made up his mind.

Once I have mastered the art of array formations, I will use this as the core of the array.

That concludes the tally of today's earnings.

Night had fallen outside the window. Li Shen sat cross-legged, silently reciting the "Evergreen Mantra," waiting for midnight to arrive.

The next day, early in the morning.

The intelligence given last night was:

The Giant Tiger Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang clashed again in Prison Mountain, ending with the Wild Wolf Gang losing two mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators and the Giant Tiger Gang losing one mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Li Shen was pleased to see it succeed after reading it.

The more aggressively they fight, the better it is for him.

Before resting, Li Shen took the time to take out the Yin Soul Banner to check on the condition of the soul slaves.

Ever since consuming the old ghost's remnant soul, the Soul Slave's aura has become sinister and full of malevolence.

Li Shen was overjoyed. According to the description in the "Mysterious Soul Refining Scripture", this was a sign that the Soul Slave was about to break through.

At this point, he doesn't need to do anything; he can just wait for it to break through on its own.

Today's mission is to secretly protect Liu Rou and verify my suspicions.

Therefore, Li Shen did not prepare for drawing talismans and refining pills, but instead began to study the art of formations, waiting for Liu Rou to leave.

The plan was implemented for several days.

Li Shen finally felt relieved.

As he expected, the number of people monitoring Liu Rou began to decrease the next day, indicating that she had realized she could no longer contact Liu Feng.

Two days later, it was completely gone.

With the crisis on the Wild Wolf Gang's side resolved, Li Shen no longer secretly protected Liu Rou and focused on his own affairs.

Now, drawing talismans, refining elixirs, and learning array formations—three skills are simultaneously placed before him.

After some thought, he decided to prioritize learning array formations, followed by alchemy, and lastly, talisman drawing.

This is not only to deal with the formations that may be needed in the secret realm, but also to add an extra layer of protection for one's own safety.

Li Shen didn't believe that he was the only one who knew about the treasure left behind by the number one Golden Core cultivator.

While elixirs and talismans are good, they are ultimately consumables. If one can get a basic understanding of array formations, it will bring long-term benefits, whether for temporary defense or for managing one's cave dwelling in the future.

Time flies, and six months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Shen has mastered the Thousand Refinements and Myriad Transformations Technique to the third level, which has ensured a certain success rate for producing high-grade Qi Gathering Pills.

Currently, each batch can produce about five to six pieces.

However, due to a lack of channels to find spiritual materials of sufficient age, production has had to be slowed down.

During these six months, he would occasionally receive clues about spiritual plants suitable for refining Qi Gathering Pills, which prevented Li Shen from completely losing his chance.

In terms of cultivation, the combination of the superior-grade Qi Gathering Pill and the rich spiritual energy in the advanced training room has enabled his "Evergreen Technique" to steadily improve. His spiritual power at the sixth level of Qi Refining is already thick and solid, and he only needs an opportunity to break through to the later stage.

He was just waiting for Zhang Hong and Zhao He to find him some information about a mid-grade first-tier breakthrough pill or related materials.

He had high hopes for this, but he was also prepared to break through by sheer hard work alone, without any external help.

After all, his talent is undeniable, and his current progress is the result of a series of fortunate events.

Meanwhile, Li Shen continued to provide Zhao Yue with three or four more mid-grade concealment talismans intermittently to enhance the strength of the lower and middle classes of the Zhao family and better restrain the other three families.

Of course, Li Shen only uses the superior-grade Breath Concealing Talisman himself and does not pass it on to others.

The reason is simple: if the other party were to accidentally spread this information, and then encounter an enemy who possesses a superior concealment talisman, wouldn't that be like shooting oneself in the foot?

Li Shen will only consider this matter after he has established his foundation.

Returning to the present, at night, Li Shen took out an array plate with four small flags floating on it. He held it up with one hand, and with two fingers of the other hand together, a faint blue spiritual light flickered at the fingertips, while his lips murmured silently.

Finally, he let out a low shout:

"go!"

Four small flags quickly landed at the four corners of the room, and suddenly a cyan spiritual energy shield enveloped the entire room.

The spiritual energy shield flickered and changed between solid and void as the array patterns on the array plate flashed. Li Shen remained calm and focused on operating it, and soon it stabilized.

"The Lingbi Formation is complete!"

Li Shen was overjoyed and carefully activated the array plate. The cyan spiritual energy shield that enveloped the entire room gradually faded. If one did not pay close attention, one would not be able to detect that an array had been set up here.

This is the major achievement he has made in the past six months through studying the lineage of the Array Dao Sect.

Not only were they able to successfully set up the [Lingbi Formation], but they also managed to downplay it, achieving a certain degree of concealment.

Although the Lingbi Formation is a basic formation, it was a crucial step for Li Shen in creating something from scratch.

This means that he has truly stepped into the realm of array formations.

"With this array protecting me, when I travel in the future, even ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivators will have to put in some effort to break in without alerting me."

Li Shen nodded in satisfaction, waved his hand to remove the formation, and the four small flags flew back onto the formation plate.

After putting away the array plate, Li Shen took out the Yin Soul Banner.

After the Soul Slave showed signs of a breakthrough, it devoured all the remaining souls within the banner and fell into a deep sleep.

Li Shen would occasionally take out the Yin Soul Banner to check on the progress of his breakthrough.

As usual, he infused spiritual power into the banner, and his divine sense also probed into it.

However, this glance made him raise an eyebrow and his mind tremble slightly.

The dark space inside the banner was now completely silent.

In the center, the blurry figure of the Soul Slave could be seen huddled up, and the aura emanating from its body was much stronger than before, and was still slowly and continuously rising.

The Soul Slave's figure seemed to be more solid and clearer than before.

"It seems that the breakthrough has reached a critical moment, probably in the next few days."

Li Shen made his own judgment and couldn't help but begin to look forward to it.

If the Soul Slave can successfully break through and reach a level comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it will undoubtedly be a great help for him to enter the secret realm in the future.

He carefully withdrew his divine sense and spiritual power, and put away the Yin Soul Banner properly.

He then sat cross-legged, not cultivating the "Evergreen Technique," but instead took out the jade slip containing the array inheritance, began learning the next array, and waited quietly for midnight to arrive.