I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

Li Zelei felt as if he had been having a very long dream.

In his dream, he climbed the steps, with the sea of ​​clouds surging beneath his feet, almost touching the legendary immortal gate.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch him, a tremendous force struck from above, kicking him into the abyss.

Upon opening his eyes, he found himself lying peacefully on the bed in the cave, and the memories of his previous dream faded instantly.

Li Zelei stood there blankly for a long time.

A moment later, he used an internal vision technique to examine himself.

He had prepared himself for his meridians to be completely shattered and his foundation to be destroyed. However, upon closer inspection, he found that although his injuries had not yet healed, the magical power that had been causing continuous damage had been completely stabilized, and his meridians had been mostly repaired.

It seems that not only has the injury recovered, but there are no hidden dangers left behind.

Li Zelei remained dazed.

He could hardly believe it; he almost thought he was dead and that what he was seeing was just a hallucination in his dying moments.

Looking to the side, I saw a female cultivator lying on her side by the bed, her hair disheveled, her face covered with tear stains, fast asleep.

But seeing her furrowed brows and shortness of breath, she seemed restless even in her dreams.

Li Zelei's heart softened, and he couldn't help but softly call out, "Moon Maiden?"

The female cultivator was clearly extremely tired. With the normal reaction speed of a cultivator, she actually called out several times before there was any response.

The Moon Goddess slowly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with bloodshot veins and a hint of confusion.

When she saw Li Zelei's tender gaze, her eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape, and she was speechless for a long time.

Li Zelei couldn't help but smile slightly: "What's wrong? Still half asleep?"

He was just joking around, but unexpectedly, Yue Niang swayed, tears streaming down her face, and threw herself onto his shoulder.

"I thought you were dead..."

"They all said you couldn't be saved... I really thought..."

Seeing her suddenly burst into tears, Li Zelei felt embarrassed and hurriedly reached out to comfort her, but the movement aggravated his injury, causing him to grit his teeth slightly.

Yue Niang noticed his unusual behavior and quickly wiped away her tears, saying, "Don't move. You've just woken up, and your injuries haven't fully healed yet."

Li Zelei felt a warmth in his heart and asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"

Moon Lady calculated: "It's been about ten or twenty days."

"It's been quite a long time."

Li Zelei frowned slightly: "I remember my injuries were quite severe before. How come I woke up to find that there's nothing seriously wrong with my body? Did you manage to get the sect's physicians to help, Yue Niang? How much did it cost?"

Yue Niang shook her head: "No, the sect's physicians all said that only an elder could save you from your injuries."

"So how did I get better?" Li Zelei asked.

Yue Niang blushed and said, "I really thought you were going to die, and I searched everywhere in the sect for information. Later, someone told me that there was another person in the sect who practiced medicine, named Xu Zhou, so I wrote a letter and had someone take it to him..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Zelei's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Xu Zhou? Where is he?"

"In the front hall..." Yue Niang exclaimed in surprise, "Oh dear, he said to call him as soon as you wake up. I'll go tell him now."

Li Zelei nodded with a wry smile: "Go ahead."

A moment later, Xu Zhou came in, but Yue Niang said she needed to prepare some food for Li Zelei, so she didn't come in.

Li Zelei, lying on the bed, slightly raised his hand and made a fist-and-palm gesture: "I never expected that it would be Junior Brother Xu who saved my life this time. I really don't know how to repay this kindness."

Xu Zhou smiled upon hearing this: "What you're saying, Senior Brother Li. We've been friends for years, why bother with these useless things?"

He quickly changed the subject, glancing towards the door: "Is this your sister-in-law? Why didn't you tell me?"

"This is... a long story." Li Zelei felt extremely embarrassed and then tried to explain.

It turns out that Li Zelei met Yue Niang during one of his training experiences.

Initially, he rescued the other person out of a desire to help his fellow disciple when he saw him in danger. It was a spontaneous act without any ulterior motives.

But Yue Niang followed him after that, and no matter where he went, she would always find a chance to follow him. Even if they encountered danger, she would resolutely help him, saying that she wanted to repay his kindness.

At this point, Li Zelei couldn't help but smile wryly: "At first, I was actually quite annoyed by her."

"Your cultivation is inferior to mine, and having you by my side could easily lead to trouble... I was thinking of finding an opportunity to clarify things."

He paused, his tone lowering slightly:

"As a result, before he could even shake off the danger, he ended up losing his life."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhou couldn't help but chuckle: "It seems that Senior Brother Li is unlikely to shake off Yue Niang."

Li Zelei's embarrassment lingered, but his expression remained firm: "Yue Niang has done so much for me, I will naturally not let her down."

"Not bad either."

Xu Zhou said with a smile, "I told you before, Senior Brother Li, the path you've taken is too dangerous. You've been fighting outside for so many years, and now that your cultivation is stable, you're getting old enough. Finding a Daoist partner would be more stable, and there's no harm in that."

Li Zelei remained silent for a long time before sighing helplessly: "Perhaps that is indeed the case."

When I was young, I thought that as long as I kept working hard, the path of cultivation would never end.

But after all these years, having reached my current level of cultivation, I've discovered that further advancement is limited by both the cultivation techniques and the available resources. No matter how hard you try, opportunities don't come every day.

He looked at Xu Zhou and sighed, "It's you who recognized the path from the very beginning. After all these years of studying alchemy, you were still able to save me. It's truly enviable."

Xu Zhou shook his head: "Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Senior brother, your cultivation has already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining, while I only broke through to the third level of Qi Refining a few days ago. I don't know how long it will take to catch up with your cultivation. Maybe by then, you will be almost at the Foundation Establishment stage."

He exchanged a knowing smile with Li Zelei, but didn't say much more about the matter.

Xu Zhou's expression turned slightly serious: "Speaking of which, Senior Brother Li, your injuries are rather strange. Do you know who did it?"

When this was mentioned, Li Zelei immediately showed resentment.

"Who else could it be but the Hu family?"

He explained, "A few years ago, when I was traveling, I saw the Hu family bullying others. I couldn't help but intervene, and that's how I started this feud with them. You know about this."

This time, however, I was stopped by a group of cultivators after attending an auction. During the fight, I recognized them as members of the Hu family.

Xu Zhou frowned: "Can this be confirmed?"

"able."

Li Zelei smiled smugly: "I once obtained a magical artifact by chance called the 'Mirror of Exorcism.' As long as I drip blood into it, it will automatically record my aura. Afterwards, whether I encounter the other party or their blood relatives within three generations, it will remind me."

During the battle with those masked robbers, all three of them triggered the warnings of the Calamity-Exorcising Mirror. If they weren't from the Hu family, they must be extremely close to each other.

He then sighed, "Unfortunately, given my status within the sect, I doubt they will help me seek justice."

"That's not necessarily true."

Xu Zhou gave a slight, cold laugh: "This matter may not be over yet."

He then repeatedly inquired about the key aspects of the fight that day, and Li Zelei did not hide anything, carefully describing the details of that day.

As for how he was injured, he only said that three people attacked him.

As a result, the opponent not only failed to gain the upper hand, but instead suffered repeated defeats.

Just as victory seemed imminent, the opponent suddenly pulled out several silver needles from his sleeve and shot them toward Li Zelei.

These needle-shaped magical artifacts are the most difficult to defend against in combat. Although Li Zelei managed to dodge most of them in his haste, some still landed on him.

Although he pulled it out immediately, he then felt a tingling and itchy sensation in the wound, indicating that the artifact had been coated with poison.

Li Zelei dared not linger in the fight. Seeing that the opponent was pressing forward, he immediately used his trump card, the Wind Control Talisman, and fled a hundred miles away before escaping.

However, after escaping, the poison in his body took effect, and his magical power became increasingly out of control. He eventually returned to his sect, where he was seriously injured and fell into a coma.

Xu Zhou nodded slightly after listening to Li Zelei's description.

So it was poison.

No wonder the magic power went out of control so strangely. If it was poison, then it's not surprising. After all, the cultivation world is quite vast, and no one can say for sure that someone might have developed a new and rare poison in some corner of the world.

He then asked for the Mirror of Exorcism.

He then said to Li Zelei, "Senior brother, please rest here. I will report this matter to the sect first."

"Don't worry, senior brother. The sect may find it difficult to give you justice, but I'm 70% confident the Hu family won't get away with it either."

Li Zelei waved his hand: "Go ahead."

...

Li Zelei and Xu Zhou had been disciples for over twenty years and had long since changed their backgrounds, now holding the status of inner disciples.

Even so, neither of them had any connections within the sect. The Hu family patriarch was originally a disciple of the sect, making him, in a sense, their senior uncle. The sect would never help him seek justice.

But things are different now.

A year ago, Zheng Feng encountered an unknown assailant on his way back to the sect and nearly died on the road. The second-tier array master of the Zheng family was furious about this, but after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find the culprit.

I thought the matter would just fade away, but unexpectedly Li Zelei provided this piece of evidence today.

With the Mirror of Exorcism and the blood inside, as well as Li Zelei's testimony, although not irrefutable evidence, it was enough to give the Zheng family an outlet for their anger.

Xu Zhou did not hand over the evidence directly to the sect.

If the sect intervenes, it might be out of consideration for the feelings of all parties involved, and the matter might ultimately fizzle out.

But the Zheng family was different.

The matter of Zheng Feng has not yet been settled. If we hand over the evidence to the Zheng family now, they will definitely not let it go.

Xu Zhou found an opportunity and secretly went to the Zheng family's house.

Because he had saved Zheng Feng before, the Zheng family still treated him with courtesy, even though he received a second-tier inheritance as a reward.

After listening to Xu Zhou's description and taking the warding-off bell from his hand, the Zheng family patriarch could no longer hide his anger.

After that, Xu Zhou did not inquire about the specifics.

Several months later, the Zheng family brought him news. They said that the perpetrator of the crime had been identified, and the second-tier array master of the Zheng family had invited an elder from their sect to personally visit the Hu family to demand an explanation.

According to the visitor, the second-tier array master from the Zheng family personally set up a large array outside the Hu family's mountain gate that day.

Those who had participated in the attack were called out by name on the spot.

They tried to explain themselves and even attempted to resist and escape, but they were all firmly locked in place by the formation.

Finally, they were all taken down one by one in full view of everyone.

The Zheng family wanted to offer Xu Zhou some benefits in return, but Xu Zhou declined.

After all, what he did was suspected of sowing discord between the two sides.

Although the Hu family has suffered a loss and lost face, their power has not been greatly affected, and some members of the sect still maintain close ties with them. If they want revenge, they might just vent their anger on someone else.

He was unwilling to accept the Zheng family's favor at this time, lest someone discover that he had designs on them.

The Zheng family was aware of this, so they did not insist. They simply said that they owed Xu Zhou a favor and would repay it another day.

Xu Zhou then took this news and gave it to Li Zelei as a congratulatory gift.

It happened right at the wedding of the other party and Yue Niang.