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

Time flies, and three years have passed just like that.

During these three years, Zhang Li rarely left Crescent Lake Spiritual Site, and lived a peaceful and fulfilling yet leisurely life.

In terms of skills, he has made great progress in alchemy and talisman making.

With the cave world at his disposal, Zhang Li had no shortage of materials to practice with. His success rate in refining Qi Condensation Pills had reached about 60%. With this success rate, he had begun to try refining Qi Cultivation Pills, which were used by late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

In addition, he has made great progress in talisman making, and has mastered several common first-grade low-level spirit stones.

Comparing the two, Zhang Li could also sense that his talent in talisman making was indeed higher than that in alchemy. However, due to the nature of his grotto-heaven, he spent more time on alchemy, so his progress in talisman making was not fast.

Since there has been significant progress in skills, there is no need to elaborate further on cultivation.

After successfully cultivating the Root Shaping Technique, Zhang Li's cultivation efficiency improved by several levels.

Given his original aptitude, even with ample resources, he could indeed advance to the sixth level of Qi Refining, but he would never be able to reach the threshold of the seventh level.

Although he has already reached the threshold of the seventh level of Qi Refining, Zhang Li is unsure when he will be able to break through.

The transition from the sixth to the seventh level of Qi Refining is a formidable barrier in the Qi Refining realm, where countless cultivators have been trapped for years, or even decades, without making any progress.

With his four spiritual roots, there was almost a 90% chance that he would encounter a bottleneck when advancing to the late stage of Qi Refining. Therefore, Zhang Li had been paying attention to news about breakthrough pills for a year.

In the cultivation world, pills that can help cultivators break through realms are rare items regardless of their grade. Even within the Su family, which has a considerable foundation, or the powerful Qingxuan Sect, the stock is extremely limited.

The breakthrough pills produced by the sect's alchemy workshop will be given priority to the inner sect's direct disciples and the elders' personal disciples. Zhang Li has no elders to support him and is all alone. To the Qingxuan Sect, he is just an ordinary outer sect disciple who is insignificant and dispensable.

As for the Su family, Zhang Li's relationship with them hasn't reached that level yet.

He would never have bothered Su Qinghe unless he was truly desperate and had no other options, and he was unwilling to use the little affection he had left to make things difficult for her.

After a moment, Zhang Li collected his thoughts and muttered to himself:

"Judging by the days, the cultivators who will be taking over should be arriving soon."

No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock on the door in the courtyard.

Zhang Li got up and went outside, opened the courtyard gate, and Li He was standing there.

"Senior Brother Zhang, the cultivators from the sect who came to take over have arrived."

"Okay, let's go." Zhang Li nodded.

Before long, two figures dressed in the robes of outer disciples of the Qingxuan Sect came into view. Upon seeing Zhang Li approaching, the two stepped forward and bowed.

The tall, leading cultivator produced the sect's handover certificate and said, "I am Zhao Feng, and this is my junior brother Lin Xiaowu. We have come here on the sect's orders to take over the post of guarding the Crescent Lake Spiritual Field. This is the certificate."

Zhang Li took the voucher, carefully checked it, and nodded, saying, "The voucher is correct. Junior brothers, please follow me."

Afterwards, he handed over many matters concerning the Crescent Lake sacred site to the two men, and after they confirmed that everything was correct, he left Crescent Lake, the place where he had stayed for seven years, without looking back.

After finishing my duty, I felt a sense of lightness throughout my body. Even the breeze blowing through the mountains and the air I breathed in my chest felt incredibly refreshing and invigorating.

I had planned to visit Su Qinghe at Yuntian Garden on my way there, and also say goodbye to her.

According to the servants, Su Qinghe had been in seclusion for half a year and had not emerged since.

As he walked along the main street of the immortal city, his gaze swept over the cultivators from various sects hurrying by. He sighed inwardly. The fellow disciples he had met at the previous trading meeting were now scattered in all directions. Some had returned to their sects, some had gone out to seek opportunities for breakthroughs, and some had gone to more distant resource points to continue guarding them.

If we want to get everyone together again next time, we'll just have to rely on luck.

That's how cultivation is; everyone has their own path to follow, and everyone is trapped in their own cultivation challenges.

Cultivators seek nothing more than longevity, breakthroughs, and resources. Their paths diverge, encounters are merely fleeting moments, and parting is the norm.

It's a rare opportunity to meet, but once we each have our own goals, we must part ways, not knowing when we'll meet again.

Zhang Li suppressed a sense of melancholy and left Yunyu Immortal City.

……

Zhang Li flew smoothly in the Black Shadow Boat towards the Qingxuan Sect, and returned to the sect in just a few days.

Seven years later, Zhang Li returned to the incense hall.

The incense hall was just as it had been when he left it. The hall was bustling with people, and disciples were crowded inside and out. Many inner and outer sect cultivators were gathered around the mission jade wall, discussing and selecting missions in hushed tones. There were also people queuing up to wait for the steward to register and hand over the files. It was a lively scene.

Looking at the obviously still very young faces in the crowd, Zhang Li felt a little dazed. In the seven years since he left the sect, another batch of new disciples had joined.

Seven years is but a fleeting moment on the long road of cultivation, but for a low-level cultivator struggling in the Qi Refining Realm, it is enough for everything to change drastically.

After completing the formalities at the incense hall, Zhang Li, holding the elder token that Wu Feng had used to recruit him years ago, once again set foot on Lingxi Peak. But just as he arrived outside the bamboo forest, an unexpected figure slowly emerged from the bamboo grove ahead, catching his eye.

Zhang Li paused, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and blurted out, "Senior Brother Qin?"

Emerging from the bamboo forest was Qin Ying, Wu Feng's eldest disciple.

He was also the one who helped him with all the formalities when he first entered the sect, and he was considered his guide on the path of cultivation. Later, Zhang Li even used him to completely get rid of Wang Hao's entanglement.

Qin Ying thus received a Foundation Establishment Pill from the sect, and subsequently went into seclusion to seek advancement to the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, judging from his perception, Qin Ying's cultivation level is still at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

"Could it be that the Foundation Establishment stage failed?"

Zhang Li had this guess in his mind, but he still had a gentle smile on his face and quickly stepped forward to bow.

Qin Ying looked up upon hearing the voice and recognized the person as Zhang Li, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. A smile immediately appeared on his face. However, when he sensed Zhang Li's current cultivation level, his smile faltered slightly, and a complex expression appeared in his eyes.

Qin Ying never expected that Zhang Li, who had entered the profession through personal connections and had poor aptitude, would grow to this level in just over ten years.

Looking at himself, after more than ten years, his cultivation level had remained stagnant. Even with the help of Foundation Establishment Pills, his attempts to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm after years of seclusion still ended in failure.

In an instant, a mix of disappointment, bitterness, and resentment welled up in my heart and lingered there.

However, Qin Ying was, after all, an old cultivator who had been through many years in the immortal realm. He quickly suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind, cupped his hands in return, and said with a hint of regret, "So it is Junior Brother Zhang Li. It has been many years since we last met. I did not expect that Junior Brother has already achieved such cultivation. You are only one step away from reaching the late stage of Qi Refining."