I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Leihe Peak, Mountain Stream Frog Pond.

On the grassy bank of the stream, Zhou Tai, with a slightly hunched back and a respectful expression, was explaining the condition of the frog swarm to Zhang Yuanjing.

"Uncle Zhang, look, these frog eggs were laid last night. Based on my past experience in raising them, they should hatch in about a month."

"In the past, whenever new tadpoles appeared, Uncle Yang would give them spirit rice powder and demon insect meat paste as an extra meal."

"It usually takes about two years for a tadpole to grow into a low-grade first-tier demon beast."

At this time, more than half a year had passed since Zhang Yuanjing took over Leihe Peak, but Zhou Tai was still not familiar with this rarely seen Uncle Zhang, so he spoke very cautiously, only speaking about the matter at hand and not daring to talk about anything else.

Judging from Zhang Yuanjing's expression, he was clearly not dissatisfied with Zhou Tai's way of speaking.

After Zhou Tai finished speaking for a while, he said, "If you need any resources, just ask Yuan'er. As long as they are used for the frog swarm, she won't make things difficult for you."

He paused for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "How about this, from now on you will also receive five catties of spirit rice every month, as a reward for your hard work in raising frogs."

Is this for real?

Zhou Tai was overjoyed and quickly bowed deeply to express his gratitude: "Disciple thanks Martial Uncle for your kindness and generosity. I am deeply grateful and will do my utmost to raise the frog troop well for you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuanjing immediately encouraged him, "Work hard. You have the talent of a lightning spirit root. Even if there's little hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, you still have a chance to become an outer disciple in the future."

This statement seems to imply something, but it's not obvious.

However, Zhou Tai still seemed greatly encouraged and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Disciple understands, disciple will definitely work hard in cultivation."

"That's settled then. Report any changes in the frog pod immediately."

Zhang Yuanjing waved his hand, finished speaking, and then soared into the air, riding the wind and leaving the mountain stream and frog pond.

Zhou Tai watched the figure riding the wind and departing gracefully in the sky, his eyes filled with envy.

Foundation Establishment stage cultivators can all fly using their Qi, but only cultivators with the Wind Spirit Root can travel by wind like Zhang Yuanjing.

Compared to the Qi-based flight of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, flying with the wind is not only more elegant and stylish, but also faster and more energy-efficient.

But recalling Zhang Yuanjing's words before he left, Zhou Tai couldn't help but clench his fist again.

"Since none of you think I can achieve Foundation Establishment, I wonder what your expressions will be when I actually succeed!"

Thinking about the possible reactions of those people, Zhou Tai suddenly grinned and relaxed his fist in relief.

But then he chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "Looks like my ability to handle pressure still needs some improvement!"

Shaking his head, Zhou Tai then left the mountain stream frog pond.

Zhang Yuanjing kept his word, and the next day Zhou Tai received five catties of spirit rice from his concubine who managed supplies.

Although this spirit rice is only the lowest grade of purple millet, it is still genuine spirit rice, and its taste, flavor, and nutritional value are far superior to ordinary rice.

After receiving the rice, Zhou Tai cooked himself a bowl of millet rice.

This large bowl of millet rice had no side dishes, but he found it more delicious than any delicacy.

"It smells so good! I wish I could eat this every day!"

After licking every last grain of rice off the porcelain bowl with both hands, Zhou Tai put it down and let out a satisfied sigh.

Come to think of it, he had only ever eaten in such an extremely unseemly manner when he was still a beggar. He never imagined that he would have such a day after becoming a cultivator!

At this moment, he had forgotten about Uncle Yang; his heart was only filled with Uncle Zhang.

Five catties of spirit rice per month, which is actually only equivalent to one low-grade spirit stone, but Uncle Zhang is generous and willing to give such a fixed benefit to a menial disciple.

Everyone works for someone else; who wouldn't like working with such a generous boss?

After finishing his meal, Zhou Tai immediately went to the quiet room, sat down cross-legged, and began his meditation practice.

Although the spiritual energy contained in the rice is weak, it can still enhance one's cultivation. Zhou Tai urgently needs to improve his cultivation, so he will not let go of any opportunity.

More than a month later, the eggs of the Thunder Frog began to hatch. Zhou Tai reported the news, and Zhang Yuanjing came to check on them again, giving him another round of encouragement and praise.

Zhou Tai could sense that this Uncle Zhang also valued the Thunder Pattern Frog swarm, but he still didn't know what the other party was planning to do.

As time went by, Zhou Tai continued to feed the frogs, draw talismans, and cultivate his spiritual practice. His lifestyle remained the same, but it was much more relaxed.

One day, Zhou Tai, who was meditating as usual, suddenly experienced a surge in his aura and broke through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage as if water had flowed into a channel.

"It wasn't easy! I've finally broken through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage!"

In the quiet room, feeling the surge of magical power within his body, Zhou Tai felt both joy and a myriad of emotions.

When he started cultivating, he usually broke through one level of cultivation every two or three years. However, it took him more than four years of arduous cultivation to go from the fourth to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage.

If I hadn't taken a bottle of Ginseng Qi-Nourishing Pill in between, I'm afraid I would have had to cultivate diligently for another six months before I could break through.

This experience made him deeply realize the difficulty of cultivation, and he also roughly understood why others did not think he could reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

At the mid-stage of Qi Refining, it would take him four or five years to break through one level of cultivation. At the late stage of Qi Refining, it would take at least six or seven years to break through one level of cultivation. How many more six or seven years does he have left?

Counting on his fingers, he began his cultivation at the age of thirty-seven, broke through to the second level of the Qi Refining stage at thirty-nine, broke through to the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage at forty-five, and is now nearly fifty years old!

If we calculate it this way, without a major stroke of luck, even if he breaks through another level of cultivation in the next four or five years, he will only have just broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining at the age of sixty.

No wonder even Zhang Yuanjing, who also has a different spiritual root, doesn't believe he'll ever have a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in his lifetime.

"At this rate, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining at sixty will indeed be difficult, given the poison from that pill cannot be completely ignored. However, reaching sixty-four or sixty-five should be no problem at all!"

Thinking of this, Zhou Tai's slightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed.

Reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of sixty was merely the best-case scenario he envisioned; failure to achieve it was not unacceptable.

Over the years, through frequent exchanges with Aaron Kwok, Zhou Tai has gained a deeper understanding of the situation of advanced age foundation building.

According to Aaron Kwok, achieving Foundation Establishment at an advanced age is indeed difficult, but not as difficult as ordinary cultivators imagine.

The reason is actually not complicated; it just depends on whether you have money or not!

The world of cultivation is full of wonders, and there are countless mysterious and extraordinary spiritual objects, including those that can slow down the decline of physical health and even make people younger.

Under normal circumstances, if a cultivator has not reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage by the age of sixty, it means that he is not only lacking in aptitude, but also lacks money. Naturally, he would not be able to afford to purchase those Qi-nourishing spiritual items while simultaneously acquiring auxiliary foundation-building spiritual items.

After understanding all this, Zhou Tai no longer demanded that he break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of sixty.

As far as he was concerned, as long as he could draw the thunder talisman, he would definitely not lack those spirit stones.

If he can't draw it, there's no way he can achieve Foundation Establishment. Worrying now is useless!

As for drawing the thunder talisman, Zhou Tai had already made some plans.

After resting for half an hour, he immediately moved to another quiet room where he drew talismans.

Having broken through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage, in addition to a significant increase in his magical power, his divine sense also slightly improved. Now, the range of his divine sense has exceeded two three-foot widths, comparable to Aaron Kwok's previous eighth level of the Qi Refining stage.

Taking advantage of his excellent condition, Zhou Tai spread out the talisman paper and began drawing talismans.

An hour later, Zhou Tai, looking slightly tired, put down his talisman brush, shook his wrist, and sat back down in his chair.

During this hour, he drew talismans ten times and succeeded four times. All the talismans he drew were fire snake talismans.

Speaking of which, ever since Zhou Tai was able to draw a mid-grade first-tier magic talisman, he has only drawn this kind of fire snake talisman and has never tried to draw other magic talismans.

It's not that he really can't draw other talismans, but that he feels it's unnecessary.

Drawing talismans was merely a means for him to make a living and cultivate himself; it wasn't even a hobby.

Therefore, he naturally pursues high efficiency and effectiveness.

He can improve his success rate in drawing fire snake talismans, which will also help him hone his control skills and ensure he makes money. Why would he need to draw other talismans?

Even if he were to draw other talismans in the future, it would have to wait until he was able to draw thunder talismans.

After resting for a while, Zhou Tai examined each of the four finished talismans one by one. He checked each one very carefully, and he would recall the process of drawing the talisman in his mind.

This is a little trick he figured out himself. Most people only look for reasons in failures, and few people would think that successful works are also valuable for their own study.

He often gains insights by studying his own success stories, noting valuable little details.

"I drew talismans ten times in one hour, resulting in four mid-grade first-tier talismans. With my current skill level, I should be able to achieve a decent ranking in the Talisman Hall's Talisman Competition!"

Zhou Tai recalled the results of the "Talisman Contest" and nodded slightly, confirming that his judgment was correct.

This also proves that his current talisman-drawing skills are already good enough to be considered among the upper-middle level of Qi Refining stage talisman masters.

If he could increase the success rate of the Fire Serpent Talisman to 50%, that would be truly top-tier, and he could even be called a "master" outside the sect.

By then, he can start trying to draw thunder talismans.

"Next time I trade with Senior Brother Guo, I'll ask him to help me buy the method for making thunder talismans."

Looking down at the talisman in his hand, Zhou Tai had already made up his mind.