Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

Cultivating immortality knows no time, and three years passed slowly like this.

Three years later, Zhang Li had grown into a young man of about twenty years old. He was much stronger than before and looked much more mature.

With the support of ample resources, his cultivation level broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining. He also made great progress in alchemy, with a success rate of about 50% in refining Qi Nourishing Pills. Every batch he opened was a sure profit.

That morning, Zhang Li patted his storage bag and took out some pills. Just as he was about to sit down to cultivate, a streak of azure light suddenly passed through the tightly closed door and landed beside him.

"An elder summons?"

The cyan light contained a Qingxuan Sect elder summoning token.

When an inner disciple breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, the sect will bestow this token upon them, which allows them to forcibly recruit one inner or outer disciple to serve them every five years.

However, these summoning tokens also have many restrictions. Things such as intercepting and killing fellow disciples, slaughtering civilians, or using disciples as test subjects for medicine are not allowed by the sect.

Furthermore, the elders who issue the mandatory conscription order must provide corresponding rewards to the conscripted disciples according to the difficulty of the task, such as spirit stones, pills, talismans, or even low-level magic artifacts.

Zhang Li had heard before that some outer disciples were recruited by Foundation Establishment elders, but he never expected that it would be his turn today.

Despite his reluctance, he had no choice but to accept the summons token, and a familiar voice immediately came from the token.

"Outer disciple Zhang Li, come to Lingxi Peak immediately to see me!"

"It was him!"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, a name immediately came to Zhang Li's mind—Wu Feng.

However, after that first encounter, the two never crossed paths again. In the past few years, Wu Feng never sought him out, and Zhang Li never deliberately relied on his connections within the sect. They both understood each other without saying a word.

Zhang Li knew perfectly well that Wu Feng had only allowed him to become a disciple because of his grandfather's reputation. Zhang Li's own spiritual roots were of low quality, and he wasn't worth Wu Feng's efforts.

We've kept to ourselves for so many years, and I thought things would stay this way forever. But then Wu Feng suddenly used the mandatory conscription order that's only issued once every five years.

If this Uncle Wu were to truly entrust him with some difficult personal matters, he would find it hard to refuse, as his predecessor's ability to enter the path of immortality was inextricably linked to this Uncle Wu.

After some thought, Zhang Li still couldn't guess what Wu Shishu's purpose was, so he could only put away the pill in his hand.

After leaving his residence, he patted his storage bag, and the Heavenly Sun Sword was released from the bag, instantly growing to a size of ten feet.

Having broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, he was finally able to learn magic techniques, control magical artifacts, and ride the wind.

Seeing this, Zhang Li lightly touched the ground with his toes and jumped onto his flying sword. With a quick hand gesture, he transformed into a streak of red light and flew towards Lingxi Peak.

Half an hour later, Zhang Li arrived at Lingxi Peak, landed at the foot of the mountain, and headed towards Wu Feng's cave.

This Lingxi Peak is over a thousand feet tall, and a third-tier spiritual energy is hidden within it. Many Foundation Establishment cultivators have opened up cave dwellings on this peak, so he dares not rashly fly on this peak using his magical artifact.

In fact, inner disciples have two options when choosing a location for their cave dwelling after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

One option is to select a place with abundant spiritual energy on one of the three third-tier spiritual peaks inside the gate and open a cave dwelling there.

The second option is to choose a second-tier spiritual peak as one's future cultivation location.

Both options have their pros and cons. If Zhang Li breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the future, he will definitely choose a second-tier spiritual peak as his future cultivation residence.

Nothing more than freedom.

A moment later, Zhang Li arrived outside Wu Feng's cave.

Wu Feng's cave dwelling was built in a bamboo forest halfway up the mountain. A gentle breeze rustled through the bamboo, and a unique fragrance wafted out from the bamboo forest.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Li felt refreshed and invigorated, and his mind became much clearer.

"It seems this bamboo forest is no ordinary place."

With these thoughts in mind, Zhang Li clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Zhang Li, an outer disciple, requests an audience with Martial Uncle Wu."

"Come in."

As soon as Zhang Li finished speaking, Wu Feng's voice came from deep within the bamboo forest.

The next moment, the bamboo forest blocking Zhang Li's way suddenly closed off to both sides, leaving a narrow path in the middle that could accommodate one person.

Seeing this, Zhang Li straightened his clothes slightly and walked into the path.

The courtyard is not large, and the materials used must have been taken from the bamboo forest. Perhaps due to the long time that has passed, it has a yellowish-brown color, but the bamboo fragrance emanating from it has become more mellow.

"Come into the main hall."

Zhang Li obeyed and walked into the main hall without looking to the side.

Seated at the head of the main hall was a middle-aged Taoist priest with an air of otherworldly wisdom and slightly graying temples; this was none other than Wu Feng.

"Disciple Zhang Li greets Martial Uncle Wu."

Zhang Li bowed and said.

Wu Feng glanced at him indifferently, then his expression suddenly faltered slightly: "Huh! Your cultivation level..."

Wu Feng was quite surprised. Back then, he had only allowed Zhang Li, who only had the aptitude of four spiritual roots, to enter the sect because of past favors.

However, he had already decided in his heart that Zhang Li's path to immortality was bleak, and that it was already quite remarkable that he had been able to cultivate steadily to the third level of Qi Refining for so many years.

Who would have thought that in just six short years, Zhang Li would have cultivated to the fourth level of Qi Refining?

After a long pause, Wu Feng suppressed his surprise and doubt and slowly said, "With four spiritual roots, it is indeed rare to have cultivated to the fourth level of Qi Refining in six years."

Zhang Li lowered his eyes and cupped his hands in a humble manner: "Uncle-Master, you flatter me. I have only made this meager progress by diligently cultivating every day and accumulating some resources through alchemy."

He had already prepared a plan regarding his rapid progress in cultivation, so he naturally wouldn't reveal his weakness at this moment.

"You can also refine pills?"

Wu Feng's expression changed again, and the surprise in his eyes deepened.

He knew that Zhang Li was of poor aptitude and had never paid attention to him, let alone heard that he was involved in alchemy.

It is important to know that alchemy is even more difficult than cultivation, requiring a high degree of mental fortitude, perception, and talent. Many disciples with superior spiritual roots may not even be able to enter the field of alchemy.

A person with four spiritual roots should have found cultivation extremely difficult, yet he was able to devote himself to studying alchemy, using it to support himself and improve his cultivation. This was beyond his comprehension.

Zhang Li's expression remained unchanged, still respectful and composed: "Reporting to Martial Uncle, this disciple's aptitude for cultivation is extremely poor. Even sitting in my room every day, I can hardly improve my cultivation by much. I originally only practiced alchemy to pass the time."

"Over time, practice makes perfect, and I figured out a few tricks of the trade. By refining some basic pills to exchange for spirit stones, I was able to make progress step by step."

Upon hearing this, Wu Feng gave Zhang Li a deep look. His doubts eased slightly, but they did not completely disappear.

He nodded to himself. It made sense. Ordinary disciples with mixed spiritual roots had low cultivation efficiency. They could only meditate for half a day and get very little results. Rather than wasting time, they should find another way.

There might actually be cultivators with extremely poor cultivation aptitude but other exceptional talents.

In the vast world of cultivation, there are all kinds of cultivators, so there's nothing strange about it.