Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Cultivation knows no time.

It has been two years since Lin Zui went into seclusion. In the first few months, Yan Ruyan kept an eye on things, but as time went on, she stopped paying attention and focused on her cultivation.

Anyway, there's a sensory barrier left by Xin Ruyin in the secluded room, so even if something really happens, she can sense it in time.

However, after two whole years, there was still no sign of anything happening, and Yan Ruyan finally started to lose her patience.

"Even if his cultivation level was only at the tenth level of Qi Refining at the time, with the medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill, there should have been results long ago."

Yan Ruyan murmured to herself. Her cultivation had reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage several days ago. She originally wanted to share this good news with Lin Zui, but after waiting for several days, Lin Zui still showed no signs of coming out of seclusion. Helpless, she could only return to the stone chamber to prepare to continue her cultivation.

Just then, a familiar yet completely different spiritual fluctuation emanated from the stone chamber where Lin Zui was in seclusion. After scanning the cave several times, it retreated back into the stone chamber like a tide.

"It's... done!"

Yan Ruyan turned around in surprise. As expected, the stone chamber door, which had been closed for more than two years, had reopened, and a figure was walking out. Who else could it be but Lin Zui?

"Congratulations, my husband, on advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage!"

Yan Ruyan quickly went to greet him, but hesitated for a moment before looking at Lin Zui with some uncertainty.

"Husband, your cultivation level... how..."

Lin Zui chuckled.

"What happened to my cultivation level?"

"Early Foundation Establishment stage... peak?"

Yan Ruyan couldn't believe it.

"Could it be that the reason my husband has been in seclusion for so long is because after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he continued his cultivation and reached the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage?"

Yan Ruyan knew that Lin Zui had a lot of pills to improve the cultivation power of the Foundation Establishment stage. It was not impossible for her to continue cultivating while she had enough pills. However, even so, this speed was too fast.

For ordinary cultivators advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, it takes one or two years just to stabilize their magical power. Even if they cultivate quickly, it's unthinkable to reach the peak of the initial stage without four or five years of cultivation.

Even with her Heavenly Spiritual Root, it took her seven or eight years to go from Foundation Establishment to the current mid-Foundation Establishment stage. How did Lin Zui, with his Five Spiritual Roots, manage to do such a thing?

However, Lin Zui had not anticipated this at all.

He didn't continue cultivating after breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage as Yan Ruyan guessed; in fact, he had just successfully established his foundation.

More than a year ago, he used the Foundation Establishment Pill to cleanse his marrow and improve his cultivation to the thirteenth level of Qi Refining. After that, the Foundation Establishment Pill no longer had the effect of cleansing his marrow and improving his cultivation, and only had a slight effect of improving his magical power.

Having reached the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, his total magical power cultivation had reached an unimaginable level. Even the medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill was insufficient, let alone other Qi Refining pills. Helpless, he could only turn his attention to Foundation Establishment pills.

The magical power of the Foundation Establishment stage is fundamentally different from that of the Qi Refining stage. Therefore, the risks he would take by forcibly consuming Foundation Establishment pills when he had not yet established his foundation are obvious.

Sure enough, as soon as the pill entered his stomach, it transformed into a powerful heat current that surged into his dantian, qi sea, and limbs. Even though Lin Zui had anticipated this, he was still caught off guard.

Fortunately, after repeatedly expanding his meridians using the "Five Elements Transformation Technique," Lin Zui's dantian and meridians were far beyond what ordinary Qi Refining cultivators could achieve. Upon regaining his senses, Lin Zui immediately circulated his cultivation technique, controlling the spiritual root vortex to absorb and refine the medicinal power while tightly restricting it to prevent it from running rampant within his body.

However, while control was achieved, absorbing and refining these extremely high-level medicinal powers was not so easy, and the efficiency was extremely low.

However, Lin Zui was already in a bind. No matter how difficult it was, he had to refine it. Understanding this, Lin Zui completely dispelled all his concerns and devoted himself to refining it. In a year and a half, he refined more than a dozen Foundation Establishment stage pills. Finally, at a certain moment, Lin Zui's magic power reached the point of perfect five elements.

At that moment, the thick and powerful magical energy within Lin Zui's body finally reached its critical point, like clouds that had accumulated to their limit, which, after a thunderclap, turned into a torrential downpour.

After everything settled down, Lin Zui had a sudden realization: peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage!

Unlike others who barely broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and need a lot of time to consolidate their foundation, he accumulated a vast amount of knowledge and skills, and his breakthrough came naturally. Moreover, his magical power was far superior to that of ordinary early-stage cultivators. As long as the opportunity arises, advancing to the mid-stage is just around the corner.

Overjoyed by this unexpected turn of events, he lost all interest in continuing his cultivation and only wanted to find someone to share his happiness with.

Seeing Yan Ruyan's surprised and puzzled expression, Lin Zui was in no hurry to explain. He pulled her into his arms and began to caress her. As her face grew increasingly flushed and her eyes became more and more hazy, Lin Zui no longer restrained himself. He picked up her delicate body and returned to the stone chamber.

……

After a passionate and unrestrained lovemaking session, the two embraced, and Lin Zui then told her what had happened.

"There are gains and losses. Although my husband's progress was slow during the Qi Refining stage, I never expected that breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage would bring such benefits. Ruyan was originally quite pleased with herself for breaking through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, but she never expected that her husband would catch up with her in the blink of an eye."

Yan Ruyan's small hand stroked Lin Zui's chest, full of envy for Lin Zui's progress in cultivation.

"Fool, I am limited by my natural talent, which is why I have no choice but to cultivate the Five Elements Transformation Technique. Although I am now at the peak of the initial stage, without the right opportunity, I don't know when I will be able to break through to the middle stage. But you are different. You have the talent of a Heavenly Spiritual Root. As long as you follow the steps, it is not impossible for you to advance to the Core Formation stage within a few decades. So why envy me?"

Lin Zui hugged her and comforted her.

"From now on, you can just focus on your cultivation in your cave. Leave everything outside to me."

"No, my husband's cultivation is the most important thing. How can we let those trivial matters distract us?"

"Hehe, it's not exactly a distraction, but given my current situation, it's difficult to break through by simply cultivating in the cave. It's better to go outside and look for some opportunities."

Lin Zui smiled, then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, right, there's also that 'Soul Resonance Technique' secret method. You can start practicing it now. As far as I know, you've been looking forward to it for a long time, haven't you?"

"Hmm, that secret technique looks incredibly profound. If we were to successfully cultivate it, I wonder how extraordinary it would be. It would definitely be of great help to our subsequent cultivation."

Lin Zui nodded. Just as Yan Ruyan said, it was precisely because he had high expectations for this secret technique that Lin Zui never considered using the "Great Evolution Technique" even though he was always troubled by insufficient spiritual sense.

Now that I've finally broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, I can start training.

In addition, there are many secret techniques that can be cultivated during the Foundation Establishment stage, such as the "Five Elements Transformation Technique." I can also try to make the intermediate and higher-level talismans that I was previously unable to create due to insufficient divine sense. Oh, right, I also need to make a few of those Spirit Nourishing Talismans as soon as possible to see what kind of supernatural power that thing that seems to be the Destruction Cone has...

Thinking about it this way, Lin Zui suddenly realized that there were so many things to do, and it seemed that he wouldn't be able to stay idle for a while.

"By the way, my husband, a little over a month ago, Manager Ye from the Seven Star Tower came to our shop, hoping we could help make a talisman. However, you were still in seclusion at the time, and you had previously said you would stop the custom talisman business, so I politely declined."

Suddenly, Yan Ruyan seemed to remember something and said something.

"Seven Star Tower... Ye Changqing?"

Lin Zui was taken aback, then seemed to be deep in thought.

"The Seven Star Tower has a profound history. If we can befriend them, it may bring many benefits in the future, so we shouldn't refuse."

"Oh, what should we do then?"

Yan Ruyan panicked upon hearing this.

Lin Zui smiled and patted her.

"It's alright, I'll go take a look."