I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

"Refine the pills yourself?"

Xu Zhou frowned slightly, but did not ask any more questions. Instead, he looked at Song Rou.

Song Rou smiled enigmatically: "Although the Foundation Establishment Pill is a second-tier pill, the real difficulty lies in finding the ingredients. If we only consider the refining technique, it's not necessarily so profound as to be unattainable."

She took out a book and handed it over.

"This is the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill. Senior Brother, you may take a look."

Xu Zhou took the prescription and began to peruse it.

After a while, he gently exhaled and closed the prescription.

"The process of refining this pill is too long, and it requires extremely high levels of spiritual awareness and fire control."

"My cultivation is still shallow, and my magical power and divine sense are insufficient to support the changes along the way, so I'm afraid I won't be able to learn how to refine it."

Upon hearing this, a hint of regret flashed across Song Rou's face.

"What a pity."

She sighed, "Although I have already established my foundation, I still need a lot of time to consolidate my cultivation and learn new techniques. I can't find the time to study this pill formula for the time being."

She paused, then her tone softened slightly: "However, I do know a few people who can practice it."

Xu Zhou's eyes flickered slightly.

Song Rou continued, "However, second-tier alchemists are not short of money. Spirit stones are not enough to hire them."

Xu Zhou pondered for a while, then asked, "Then, how should I ask?"

"This is not difficult."

Song Rou continued, "Alchemists who reach the second level usually don't lack spirit stones, but rather rare medicinal herbs and opportunities to practice. As long as you can gather the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill, it won't be difficult for you to ask them for help."

Xu Zhou frowned and shook his head: "Isn't the hardest thing about Foundation Establishment Pills the materials?"

"Senior brother is already a top-grade alchemist, so collecting most of the auxiliary materials is not difficult."

Song Rou added, "The only difficulty lies in its main ingredient, the Heavenly Spirit Fruit."

However, this item is difficult for other independent cultivators to find, but within a sect, there is still a chance to find it.

Xu Zhou fell silent for a moment.

He knew, of course, where the Heavenly Spirit Fruit was.

However, knowing it is not enough; actually obtaining it is not easy.

"Sunset Valley Secret Realm"

He slowly revealed the location.

If cultivators seeking Qi Refining want to find the Heavenly Spirit Fruit, this is the only place they can go.

However, that secret realm is said to be quite large, and although there are Heavenly Spirit Fruits within it, finding them is not so easy.

Every few years, people organize trips to secret realms in search of opportunities, but it often takes twenty or thirty years before news of a discovery of the Heavenly Spirit Fruit spreads.

Seeing his silence, Song Rou could only say helplessly, "At least there is still some chance. Senior brother is now a top-grade alchemist, so why not give it a try?"

Otherwise, it's uncertain when Senior Brother will be able to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Xu Zhou nodded: "I understand."

The two changed the subject and chatted for a while longer.

At one moment, Song Rou seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up.

She then looked at Xu Zhou apologetically: "Senior brother, it seems we have a guest visiting. It looks like we won't be able to have a long chat today."

Xu Zhou tactfully stood up: "It's alright, Junior Sister's hospitality is more important, so I'll take my leave now."

Song Rou escorted him to the door.

The cave entrance opened, and a beautiful woman stood in front of it.

She smiled and was about to say something to Song Rou when she immediately noticed Xu Zhou's presence.

The beautiful woman's expression shifted slightly. Sensing that the other party's cultivation level was only at the Qi Refining stage, she calmly nodded to him.

Xu Zhou bowed in greeting and then quickly left.

Song Rou watched him leave, her gaze calm, lost in thought.

Upon seeing this, the beautiful woman couldn't help but frown.

"Junior sister, who is this person?"

Song Rou smiled and said, "Senior Sister Zhou, he was a senior brother I met at Baicaotang, so we are old acquaintances."

The beautiful woman surnamed Zhou frowned even more, and after a long while, she said, "Now that you have established your foundation, relationships formed during the Qi Refining period are only a hindrance. It's best not to associate with him in the future, so as not to affect your cultivation."

Song Rou remained silent for a moment.

"It's alright."

Then she said softly, "I'm afraid we won't have many more chances to meet in the future."

That's good.

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman surnamed Zhou finally relaxed her brows.

She had initially thought Xu Zhou was some young man in the Qi Refining stage, trying to curry favor with her naive junior sister, because he looked so young.

But since Song Rou said that, she must already know what she was talking about, so there was no need for her to remind her anymore.

"Never mind that, I've found the Dragon Scale Fruit you asked me to inquire about last time..."

...

Sunset Valley Secret Realm.

Xu Zhou was no stranger to this place.

According to the scriptures he had read in the library, this place should be a remnant of the founding patriarch of the Golden Flame Sect, a secret realm that has not been fully explored.

Within this secret realm, the rich spiritual energy and unique environment have fostered the growth of various rare spiritual plants, while also providing habitat for many dangerous and exotic beasts.

Whether it's a mythical beast or a spiritual plant, in the world of cultivation, they are all extremely valuable treasures.

It's just a pity.

The patriarch's cultivation was ultimately lacking, and this secret realm was not completely stable.

After the patriarch passed away, the secret realm lost its foundation and could no longer withstand the exploration of those with high cultivation levels.

And it will gradually collapse over time.

It is said that if the sect could produce another Nascent Soul ancestor, there might still be a way to stabilize the secret realm.

Otherwise, the secret realm will eventually become completely unbalanced and shatter one day. Naturally, the rare resources within will then be impossible to extract.

For this reason, although the sect valued this secret realm, it had no choice but to abandon it.

While the secret realm was still stable, the higher-ups within the sect had already taken away most of its rare items.

After that, although the secret realm continued to generate new resources, cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage dared not enter, and it was only open to Qi Refining cultivators to search for them.

The sect then opened this secret realm to its disciples; anyone who paid a certain amount of spirit stones could apply to enter.

The amount of spirit stones is quite large, and even with many disciples in the sect, a new batch only arrives every few years.

Since mastering the technique of refining Qi Condensation Powder, Xu Zhou has been able to accumulate enough over a year.

He had originally wanted to find Mu Yueteng, and now that he needed the Heavenly Spirit Fruit, he naturally longed for it even more.

However, Xu Zhou was quite restrained in his journey to the secret realm.

He had a clear understanding of himself: an alchemist who was not good at combat. If he really wanted to enter the secret realm, he would have to find trustworthy people to help him explore.

Over the years, many fellow disciples have come to him and befriended him, including several who are skilled in combat.

Xu Zhou befriended these people and spent time getting to know them. Over the years, he had a few candidates in mind.

They had already made a private arrangement, and soon after, the group would head to explore the secret realm.

Unexpectedly, at this critical juncture, Song Wubai appeared out of nowhere and killed He and Zhang, who had made an appointment with him, resulting in two unsuitable candidates being missing.

"We'll have to find someone to replace him."

Xu Zhou instructed the other cultivators who had made the appointment to ask their close friends for suggestions, and to select two people to fill the gaps left by He and Zhang at the next gathering.

He actually preferred to wait until he met another trustworthy expert within the sect before extending an invitation.

However, this would delay things for several more years, and there might be other changes.

Xu Zhou could only wait and see what kind of people others could recommend.

...

Several days later.

Xu Zhou arrived at the front of a cave.

The owner of the cave was named Ouyang Ming, who was also an old friend of Li Zelei.

The other party was also one of the people Xu Zhou had arranged to meet, and their strength was consistently among the top twenty in the sect.

The discussion about the secret realm was decided to take place in this person's cave.

When Xu Zhou entered the hall, the others were already waiting there.

He glanced at it briefly.

Apart from the few others who had made an appointment with him, the rest were people who had come at his invitation to join the exploration of the secret realm.

Most of these people had joy on their faces, after all, the person who invited them was Master Xu, a high-grade alchemist who could help refine Qi Condensation Powder.

If you're lucky, you might not only gain a favor on this trip, but you might also find the opportunity you need in the secret realm!

Upon learning of this, not a single cultivator could refuse to come.

Among the crowd, one person stood out from the rest.

The others carried a degree of anticipation. Only the young man sat in the corner, eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this trip had little to do with him.

Even when everyone was discussing secret realms and opportunities, he never interrupted.

Upon seeing the other person's appearance, even Xu Zhou, who was known for his deep cunning, couldn't help but show surprise.

The other party was a handsome young cultivator, but his gaze was extremely cold and sharp.

But everyone present knew his name.

Juan's fate!

Xu Zhou felt a sense of doubt.

Why did this genius array master from the Imperial Array Hall end up here?