A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

Due to the butterfly effect, Li Huayuan had been wholeheartedly cultivating his ten nominal disciples for the past few years, focusing all his efforts on the Crimson Forbidden Land; he had no interest in taking on additional disciples for the mere few hundred or thousand spirit stones offered by the Wu family! Unless they were also willing to venture into the Forbidden Land for him!

As for him, with his pockets bulging right now, it's even less likely that he would stoop to accepting the poor boy from the Wu family for a "master-apprenticeship gift" worth hundreds or thousands of low-grade spirit stones.

If you don't have the talent of Zhong Weiniang, or the ambition to venture into forbidden territory, don't bother him.

Six months have passed in the blink of an eye.

With the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill, Wang Li easily returned to the Foundation Establishment stage without any hindrance. He didn't intend to waste the extra Foundation Establishment Pill. Before any well-informed people could find him, he sold it to "Senior Brother Wu," who had once given him some guidance, and is now "Junior Nephew Wu."

Inside the No. 19 Earth Fire Chamber, Junior Nephew Wu, who had previously used a Foundation Establishment Pill and possessed the three spiritual roots of wood, fire, and earth, unsurprisingly failed to establish his foundation for the first three months. His Azure Origin Sword Technique, meanwhile, remained stuck at the peak of the third level, unable to advance to the fourth.

However, when Wang Li delivered the second Foundation Establishment Pill two days later, exactly as predicted...

"Uncle-Master Wang, how can this be allowed?!"

To say I wasn't moved would be a lie.

"Forget about being a senior uncle or not. Once you reach Foundation Establishment, we'll be fellow disciples. Besides, I'm not without desires, Junior Brother Wu, I also have a small request..."

Chapter 82 Next Steps

Three months later.

Wu Feng, who obtained the second Foundation Establishment Pill and attempted to break through again, did not disappoint.

"Congratulations, junior brother, the path to greatness is within reach."

Wang Li, standing with his hands behind his back, smiled and nodded in congratulations.

"Thank you for your help, senior brother."

Through those eyes, one could see that Junior Brother Wu, who was bowing with clasped hands, had not changed his temperament after successfully establishing his foundation. On the contrary, his gratitude and respect for Wang Li were heartfelt and even greater than before.

"Junior Brother Wu, I hope you will remain true to your original aspirations and achieve success on your path to immortality! Today I guide you, and tomorrow you will guide me! Alright, enough of this nonsense, hurry up and report to Senior Brother Sect Leader. By the way, Junior Brother Wu, remember, I only sold you one Foundation Establishment Pill."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Wang, I understand."

Wu Feng was certain that he couldn't bring himself to do something as ungrateful.

Then, the No. 19 underground fire chamber was opened, and the young man, unable to hide his excitement, quickly left.

Now let's talk about Wang Li.

He had already taken stock of his spoils while the Fire Chamber on the 18th was in seclusion. And even now, more than half a year later, he still couldn't suppress his excitement.

The total value of the items might be a bit frightening.

1. Spiritual herbs: Total value not less than 700,000 spirit stones.

2. Inheritance: Priceless.

3. Monster materials: No less than 100,000 spirit stones. (Excluding the skeletons of ink dragons, giant dragons, and vine demons)

4. Ancient Array Plate: Priceless.

5. Talisman Treasure: Obtained four.

6. A number of magical artifacts, elixirs, etc.: nearly ten thousand spirit stones.

7. Spirit Stones: 274 of medium grade. More than 3,000 of low grade.

8. Treasure Chest: Priceless.

9. Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures: Four types.

10. Status and friendship.

His position stemmed from Li Huayuan's high regard for him; with this position, things became much easier for him.

In terms of friendships, one stemmed from the powerful nominal disciple under Li Huayuan, the second from the ordinary disciple without any connections, and the third from Junior Brother Wu. Coincidentally, all three of them had successfully established their Foundation Establishment. If we add Junior Brother Xu under Patriarch Chen, and the three newly added disciples under Li Huayuan, Wang Li's Foundation Establishment connections in Huangfeng Valley had quietly reached a level that could not be ignored.

While they might not be able to command a huge following, they could certainly put together a team of ten.

Overall, it was a very fruitful experience.

It wasn't that Wang Li was unwilling to share this joy with others; rather, he didn't want to follow in the footsteps of that fool from the Hidden Moon Sect who had created the "Moon Sun Pearl."

"Master, please believe me, you're the one who's taking the lion's share, I only got a little bit of the soup."

It wasn't the soup in Li Huayuan's tiny bowl, but the soup from the whole pot of food in the Bloodstained Forbidden Land.

……

Having returned to the Foundation Establishment stage, Wang Li naturally began to plan for new opportunities.

There are three within my capabilities.

First and foremost, there is Xin Ruyin, a genius in formations.

Those who obtain Xin Ruyin will directly gain the two great assistances of "Second Nascent Soul" and "Array Techniques", and indirectly obtain the super-large dungeon opportunity of "Chaotic Star Sea".

Also included is the Qi family, a renowned weapon-refining family in the Yuanwu Kingdom. However, the weapon-refining techniques passed down by this family are not considered any earth-shattering opportunities and can only be regarded as a minor auxiliary to Xin Ruyin's array techniques.

The primary and secondary points are clearly distinguished.

The former is necessary, while the latter is optional.

After all, he doesn't lack the inheritance of weapon crafting techniques, and it's even from ancient times.

The fact that it was carefully preserved in a treasure chest by ancient cultivators tens of thousands of years ago suggests that it might not be lacking in the weapon-forging techniques of the Divine Weapon Sect.

The second major opportunity lies in the Great Teleportation Token, the ancient teleportation array, and the five-colored beads that can be extracted from the extremely brilliant skeletons within the mine.

The third great opportunity came from little sister Han Yunzhi.

"Before planning these things, it would be best to make up for the loss of items in the forbidden area and strengthen ourselves."

Only in this way can we have some assurance when we go to Yuanwu Kingdom to search for people.

Therefore, talismans become crucial.

But he couldn't forge weapons just for the sake of forging them, nor could he devote himself to the arduous study of talisman making just for the sake of talismans. Early-stage cultivation advancement was clearly more important than these unorthodox skills. He could make up for these shortcomings later when his cultivation was higher and his lifespan longer.

The person Wang Li valued in terms of talismanic arts was none other than his junior brother Wu, who was extremely skilled in the Five Elements techniques.

Wang Li felt at ease using this person who had dedicated himself to the sect for decades, wholeheartedly teaching other Qi Refining disciples various techniques, based solely on his character.

"I need to go to the market to get some things."

Let's give Wu Feng another six months. How far he can improve within those six months will determine the level of support he receives in the future. He can also use this time to replenish his puppet army.

Having decided on the general direction, he prepared to return to his cave dwelling first.

But to Wang Li's surprise, as soon as he left the No. 18 Fire House, he ran into one of the people he least wanted to run into.

"Hey, Junior Brother Wang, you're in high spirits."

"Uncle-Master Chen!"

"Alright, you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator now, so don't call me 'Uncle-Master' anymore. If that gets to Uncle-Master Li's ears, he'll think I'm looking down on him."

Chen Tianya felt very pleased to hear Wang Li address him as "Uncle Chen" in a way that didn't seem pretentious.

That's thoughtful.

"Senior Brother Chen, are you also here to refine weapons or alchemy?"

"No, I came to find you."

Ok?

Wang Li was taken aback.

“Everyone has their little secrets, I don’t care. Besides, you have Uncle Li’s protection, and no one in the sect can touch you. No one will bully you against Uncle Li and my Chen family. But I hope you can sell me that extra Foundation Establishment Pill you have.”

Rebuilding one's cultivation requires only one Foundation Establishment Pill, or even less; this is common knowledge among those at the Foundation Establishment level in the cultivation world. It was precisely for this reason that Wang Li quickly sold the extra pill to Wu Feng.

The purpose is to extinguish some people's hopes and avoid some trouble.

"Senior brother, you're too late."

Wang Li wore a wry smile.

"Who did you resell it to?"

Chen Tianya frowned slightly.

"Back then, my senior brother told me to get to know Junior Brother Wu from the Transmission Hall more often and to ask him for advice on magic techniques. I benefited a lot from it. As the saying goes, one should not forget the well-digger when drinking water. In addition, Junior Brother Wu is kind and righteous. So, after I used one and recovered my cultivation, I sold the extra one to Junior Brother Wu, who had been kind to me back then, at a low price."

"Hey, I knew you'd be too lazy to deal with the hassle and would sell it quickly, but you're still a step too late."

Chen Tianya sighed.

Wang Li raised an eyebrow for a while: As expected of you, Uncle Chen.

"Forget it, it's just that Xiao Chen is unlucky. Let's wait another five years."

Does this involve Xiao Chen?

Yeah, seven or eight years have passed in the blink of an eye. That kid must be nineteen or twenty years old now.

Fortunately, the deal was made quickly. Otherwise, if the person in front of him had succeeded in getting the medicine and Xiao Chen had been lucky enough to successfully establish his foundation, wouldn't he have had to listen to Uncle Wang for a while longer?

Wang Li smiled slyly to himself.

"By the way, Junior Brother Wang, didn't you say you became Uncle Li's disciple to pursue that little girl from the Zhong family? How's it going? Has my help been effective?"

An assist? A miraculous effect?

Wang Li was completely bewildered: "Senior brother, I don't understand what you mean..."

"Don't understand? Hmph, to please you, I made a special trip to the Zhong family and spoke to Senior Brother Zhong tactfully for quite a while!"

Wang Li: "..."

What the hell!

Uncle Chen, it was you! You've ruined my life!

……

After leaving the Fire House, he returned to his own cave.

The cautious Wang Li first secluded himself in the fake cave for ten days to cultivate in seclusion. After confirming that no one was watching him from all sides, he quietly sneaked into the real cave.

Beside the eye of the spiritual spring, in a small medicinal field cultivated a few years ago, dozens of kinds of spiritual herbs are growing reasonably well under the care of a swarm of bees. The main attraction is that these Thousand-Star Bees have a newly formed queen and their numbers have multiplied to six or seven hundred, which is a pleasant surprise.