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

The cultivator in charge of the transaction backstage at the auction was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator, just like Ma Kun.

After inspecting the spirit stones Zhang Li had taken out, the Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge of the handover handed him two jade bottles.

Given Jubaolou's reputation, they wouldn't stoop to tampering with such items.

However, Zhang Li still checked it as usual, and only after confirming that the items were correct in person did he put them into his storage bag.

After he put his things away, the Foundation Establishment cultivator tapped the counter, and three passages leading to unknown destinations immediately appeared in the ground behind him.

This is a safety passage prepared by Jubao Tower for cultivators who win the auction. Each passage has several additional exits along the way, which maximizes the safety of the bidders.

Zhang Li glanced at the three passages and chose the one on the left to go in.

The cracked entrance behind him slowly closed in, and he sped along the winding passage, changing his route at random along the way.

When he returned to the market through the randomly selected passage, about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea had passed.

By this time, the last item had likely found its owner, meaning the auction should have officially ended.

As he had expected, when he used magic to change his appearance and clothes and returned to the street, he saw wave after wave of cultivators walking out of the Treasure Pavilion.

He recognized some of those faces at the auction.

However, Zhang Li did not leave the market immediately like the others, but instead prepared to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining before leaving.

He spent nearly five thousand spirit stones at the auction. With such wealth and his cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining, he would be the target of countless cultivators.

So instead of going out to gamble now, it's better to lay low in the market for a while and wait it out.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Li spent a lot of money to rent a cave dwelling in Yunxia Market for two months.

Stepping into his own independent cave, Zhang Li activated the jade tablet with a backhand, and the stone walls and doors crashed down, with layers of light blue spiritual light enveloping the entire cave.

As expected of a second-class cave dwelling, the concentration of spiritual energy is much higher than that of the outer sect.

"good!"

Zhang Li nodded in satisfaction, and then treated this place like his sect's courtyard, staying inside the main gate every day and focusing on his cultivation.

After meditating quietly in his cave for a few days, Zhang Li, sensing that the time was right, took out the Jade Mushroom Pill that he had bought for over nine hundred spirit stones.

"With the help of this elixir, we will surely succeed in one fell swoop."

After whispering something, Zhang Li put the pill into his mouth.

After taking the pill, he immediately closed his eyes, made a hand seal, and began to circulate his energy, trying to break through the bottleneck.

A faint red halo emanated from Zhang Li's face, flashing and spreading outwards. As time passed, it grew stronger, and his robes billowed without any wind.

This time, he mobilized all the magical power in his dantian, circulating it along the meridians he had previously opened, circle after circle, without any excess increase in magical power.

Due to the effects of the medicine, the circulation of magical power within Zhang Li's body was much faster than before, increasing with each cycle. By the twelfth cycle, he began to feel a sense of loss of control.

"Now!"

Zhang Li exerted all his strength to control his unleashed magical power, guiding it towards a new meridian.

With each impact, he could feel pain emanating from the meridians.

Zhang Li gritted his teeth and controlled his magic power to launch attacks on the bottleneck time and time again.

Finally, after a quarter of an hour, a crack was broken through the bottleneck, creating an opening.

As the saying goes, a thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole.

With this breakthrough, it's only a matter of time before we completely overcome the bottleneck.

"Pop..."

A bubble burst, and he finally broke through the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining. The medicinal power of the Jade Mushroom Pill also completely disappeared at this moment.

Zhang Li relaxed, a hint of joy appearing on his face. He carefully controlled his magical power and began to circulate it along the subsequent meridian routes of the cultivation technique.

After months of stagnant mana, it finally began to grow rapidly.

Streams of spiritual energy were refined into magical power, which quickly filled the now larger dantian. It wasn't until more than three hours later that the magical power reached saturation and stopped increasing.

Half an hour later, Zhang Li slowly finished his practice, and the red aura around him disappeared into his body. He opened his eyes and began to carefully experience the changes of breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

Feeling the abundant magical power in his dantian, which was about half again as much as before the breakthrough.

Whether it's fighting or flying with magical artifacts, the time will be greatly extended, and the strength will increase even further.

A genuine smile appeared on his face. After so many years of cultivation, he was finally one step closer to Foundation Establishment.

After getting used to his late-stage Qi Refining cultivation, Zhang Li began to plan his next move.

The first priority is to prepare for promotion to the inner sect.

According to the rules of the Qingxuan Sect, apart from those with Heavenly Spiritual Root and Dual Spiritual Root who can directly become inner disciples, other cultivators must cultivate to the seventh level of Qi Refining before the age of thirty-five in order to be promoted to inner disciples.

Both conditions must be met simultaneously; otherwise, one will be stuck in the outer gate for life.

Like Liu Lin of Qingmu Valley, although he has the cultivation level of the late stage of Qi Refining, he can only stay in the outer sect because he broke through at the age of thirty-eight.

Don't be fooled by Liu Lin's comfortable life tending to spiritual plants in Qingmu Valley. That's only because he has exceptional skills in cultivating spiritual plants. If it were any other late-stage Qi Refining cultivator in the outer sect, their lives wouldn't be so easy.

Most of them were dispatched by the sect to various resource points or immortal cities to guard. The number of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators who were permanently stationed in the outer sect was extremely small, and even if there were any, they were in long-term seclusion.

Besides, although there is only a one-word difference between the inner and outer gates, the differences between them can be described as quite significant.

The biggest difference lies in the methods of cultivation.

After being promoted to inner sect, outer sect disciples have one opportunity to change their cultivation method for free.

Don't underestimate this opportunity to change your cultivation method. You should know that all the disciples practice the sect's basic cultivation method. Although they can cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage, this kind of cultivation method is not special. It does not have any powerful spells attached, nor does it have any special bonus when fighting enemies.

The cultivation methods that are changed are different. Each one has its own emphasis on attributes, powerful spells, and most importantly, the ability to cultivate to a higher level.

Thinking of this, Zhang Li already had the idea of ​​completing the inner sect promotion procedures as soon as possible.

But he quickly suppressed his urgency, as he had other important matters to attend to.

Now that he has broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining, his cultivation level has greatly improved, and the mid-grade magic weapon that was previously suitable for the mid-stage of Qi Refining is no longer able to keep up with his strength.

As one's cultivation level advances, one's equipment must also be matched. Only by equipping oneself with a high-grade magic weapon can one be considered a complete late-stage Qi Refining cultivator and fully unleash one's combat power.

He still had nearly two months left on his lease for the cave dwelling, so he had plenty of time.

Zhang Li immediately decided to take advantage of this free time to focus on refining pills and accumulating spirit stones. When the lease expired, he would use these pills to buy suitable high-grade magic tools in Yunxia Market.