Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

A moment later, Lin Zui returned to his cave and tallied up his gains.

The spirit stones amounted to about 70,000 to 80,000, which was rather low for a Core Formation cultivator and a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, it's possible that they were used up in the great battle. Lin Zui doesn't have much need for spirit stones for the time being, so he's not too concerned about them.

Many of the magical artifacts were destroyed because of Huang Ming's final, frantic self-destruction. There were no top-grade artifacts left, but there were still a few high-grade ones, though Lin Zui didn't really care for them.

However, the strange cone that Huang Ming took out was quite special. It was completely unusable. No matter whether spiritual power or divine sense was injected into it, it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, with no reaction whatsoever.

"What exactly is this thing?"

Lin Zui had no clue, but Yan Ruyan frowned and pondered for a while before speaking uncertainly.

"I seem to recall my ancestor mentioning that the Huang family of Tianque Fortress possesses a treasured heirloom called the Annihilation Cone, which is extremely powerful. However, it seems there are certain conditions for activating it, and it cannot be used casually. Could this be it?"

"The Cone of Destruction?"

Lin Zui frowned, recalling what Huang Ming had shouted back then. With a thought, he took out the Spirit Nourishing Talisman and stuck it on this object.

Soon, the Spirit Nourishing Talisman emitted a spiritual light, and under the effect of the talisman, wisps of gray-black aura began to separate from the void and merge into the pointed cone.

"What is this thing? It's neither spiritual energy nor evil spirit energy; I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before."

Yan Ruyan frowned, looking at the grayish-black aura with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know, but I can confirm that this Spirit Nourishing Talisman is indeed specifically used to charge this object. Once I make a few more Spirit Nourishing Talismans and fully charge it with energy, we'll test it out and find out."

Lin Zui was completely clueless, but since it was already in his hands, he could study it slowly later.

Besides these things, there are also a huge amount of low-level spiritual materials, which can be used for alchemy, weapon crafting, talisman making, and array setting, but most of them are of low grade.

But that's normal. Truly high-end items are definitely carried by high-level cultivators, so how could they be stored in a warehouse waiting for someone to steal them?

However, there were some high-end items as well. Quite a few talismans and pills were found, some of which were of a very high grade and should be the private collection of that Core Formation cultivator.

Lin Zui was overjoyed to find more than a dozen Foundation Establishment Pills in one of the pill bottles.

He had originally planned to wait until he reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining before looking for some Foundation Establishment Pills to cleanse his marrow and body, but unexpectedly Huang Ming brought them to him. Since that was the case, he could only reluctantly accept them.

There was one thing that puzzled Lin Zui: where was that Core Formation cultivator's magic weapon?

Even if he doesn't have any other magical treasures, he should at least have a natal magical treasure, right?

But there wasn't any.

Lin Zui searched through Huang Ming's several storage bags but found nothing related to magic treasures, leaving him puzzled and deeply disappointed.

Regardless, this was definitely a huge success.

"Husband, when are you going into seclusion to attempt the Foundation Establishment stage? With these Foundation Establishment Pills, your breakthrough should be a sure thing."

Yan Ruyan took the bottle containing the Foundation Establishment Pill and looked at Lin Zui. She was really looking forward to seeing how much Lin Zui's strength would improve after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, having cultivated the Five Elements Transformation Technique.

Moreover, once Lin Zui reaches Foundation Establishment, she will be able to cultivate the "Soul Resonance Technique." She has been studying it for a long time and is already itching to learn about its wonders.

"Let's wait a few more days until things stabilize in the market. Then I'll go into seclusion and focus all my energy on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

……

Seven days later.

"From this day forward, this market will be renamed Chiyang Market and will be under the jurisdiction of my Demon Flame Sect. As long as the merchants in the market abide by the rules set by my Demon Flame Sect, they may operate in peace. My Demon Flame Sect will never interfere. However, if anyone harbors ill intentions, those corpses outside the market will be their fate..."

Listening to the echoing voices of the Demon Flame Sect cultivators throughout the market, Lin Zui returned to his shop with a slightly gloomy expression.

Adhering to the rules set by the Demon Flame Sect meant that taxes increased by nearly 50%, and many merchants had their profits halved, but at least their businesses were preserved.

Of course, there were also those who were dissatisfied with these regulations and raised objections, but now they have all turned into charred corpses and are hung in the most conspicuous places.

"The price of all talismans will increase by 20% from now on!"

Lin Zui instructed Xiao Mei that because the taxes were too high, most merchants in the market had already raised the prices of their goods. Lin Zui didn't want to stand out, so he naturally followed suit.

"Yes, young master."

After finishing his business at the shop, Lin Zui turned and went to the back room. After a flash of light from the teleportation array, he was back in his cave.

"Husband, has everything been arranged at the shop?"

Yan Ruyan came forward to greet her.

"Well, next, I plan to go into seclusion to focus on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Don't disturb me unless it's something important. Also, temporarily remove the sign for the custom talismans and keep a low profile. We'll deal with everything after I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

"Yes, Ruyan will handle things outside, so please rest assured, my husband."

Lin Zui nodded, turned and walked into the stone chamber. He activated the isolation barrier, first meditating to regulate his breathing and improve his overall condition to the extreme, before finally taking out a light blue Foundation Establishment Pill and swallowing it.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, transforming into a surge of heat that rushed straight to the dantian. The dantian immediately felt a swelling sensation. However, before the spiritual root vortex could fully refine the medicinal power, the heat surged out of the dantian and traveled throughout the body along the meridians. Wherever the heat surge passed, a piercing, bone-chilling tingling sensation quickly spread, and waves of intense pain began to emanate from within the dantian.

Lin Zui knew that this was the process of cleansing the marrow and refining the essence. He immediately focused his mind, gritted his teeth and endured it. After about half an hour, the intense pain and numbness gradually subsided, replaced by a warm and comfortable feeling all over his body.

However, while this Foundation Establishment Pill could directly propel a cultivator with exceptional talent into the Foundation Establishment stage, or at the very least, raise their cultivation level by one or two levels, it only managed to increase Lin Zui's mana by about a quarter of his tenth level.

Shaking his head, Lin Zui did not hesitate. After washing away the filth left by the cleansing and marrow purification, he took out another Foundation Establishment Pill and swallowed it.

Two days later, Lin Zui, who had taken ten Foundation Establishment Pills in a row, had a flushed face. The enormous medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pills accumulated in his body caused him severe pain in his meridians, and he felt as if they were about to burst.

"No, we can't take any more. The cleansing of essence and marrow has almost reached its limit. Taking more will only increase the potency of the medicine."

Lin Zui knew very well that his cultivation had just reached the peak of the twelfth level of Qi Refining. He couldn't expect to succeed in Foundation Establishment like Han Li by taking another pill, fainting, and sleeping. On the contrary, he might burst his meridians due to the accumulation of too much medicinal power, which would be a disaster.

Having figured this out, Lin Zui decisively put away the Foundation Establishment Pill, circulated his cultivation technique, and began to refine the enormous medicinal power accumulated in his body.

Six months later.

"Heh, this Foundation Establishment Pill is pretty much useless except for providing some medicinal power."

Lin Zui smiled bitterly, sensing the thick, viscous, and liquid-like massive magical power within his body, yet he was still only at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining.

Over the past six months, he gradually refined the immense medicinal power within his body into magical power, and his cultivation level broke through from the peak of the twelfth level to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining. Afterward, he took a Foundation Establishment Pill, but apart from increasing his magical power slightly, there were no other changes.

"The five elements are complete..."

Recalling this sentence mentioned in the "Five Elements Transformation Technique", Lin Zui had a sudden realization. It seemed that only by cultivating his magic power to the point of perfect harmony of the five elements could he successfully advance to the Foundation Establishment stage.

"But……"

Looking at the five Foundation Establishment Pills remaining in his hand, Lin Zui frowned. He was afraid that even if he took them all, it would be impossible to push his magic power to the point of perfect five elements.

Do I have to go into seclusion and cultivate for more than ten years before I can advance to the Foundation Establishment stage?

Are you kidding me?

Gritting his teeth, Lin Zui put away the Foundation Establishment Pill, took out another medicine bottle, and poured out a pill that could enhance the mana of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The pills for the Qi Refining stage are almost useless to him at his current level, so let's use the ones for the Foundation Establishment stage.

Anyone else at the Qi Refining stage who dared to take this kind of pill would most likely have their meridians burst, but Lin Zui…

"I refuse to believe I can't digest your worthless pill!"