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

It smells so good!

"This storage bag, as the name suggests, can be used to store items. You should be aware that this is an essential magical artifact for cultivators, and it is of paramount importance to every cultivator. However, it cannot store living beings, and low-level storage bags cannot recognize a master, so you must take good care of it; otherwise, if you lose it or die, all your belongings will belong to someone else."

Although Uncle Chen was joking in the last sentence, Wang Li could still sense a chill in his voice.

"Thank you very much, Uncle-Master. I am deeply grateful. I will always remember your kindness today."

"Don't mention any favors, it's just my duty; alright, I'll take you to see the sect leader now."

This seems to be the prelude to helping him finalize the Ascension Order and Foundation Establishment Pill.

Normally, the person in charge can delay for a few days before taking the person to report. There have been Foundation Establishment stage managers who did this before, but this Uncle Chen did not do so.

The sooner the deal is finalized, the more advantageous it will be for Wang Li.

If it's delayed, other Foundation Establishment stage cultivators might find out, causing unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, although the goodwill here was not visible on the surface, Wang Li could still sense it to some extent.

Furthermore, why did this Uncle Chen give him such instructions as soon as he entered the sect? He didn't understand before, but after seeing the figures darting around, Wang Li understood.

Too many people and too much attention.

This was because they were worried that someone might overhear their conversation, which could cause them unnecessary trouble.

It's fortunate for him that fewer people know about the Foundation Establishment Pill. Otherwise, a mere ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator would be constantly on people's minds and wouldn't be able to sleep soundly.

"Uncle-Master Chen, I'd like to ask you something. Is it convenient for you?"

After observing the man before him and confirming that he was of good character and worth trying to get to know better, Wang Li began to make his own plans.

"Tell me, as long as it doesn't involve the secrets of my Yellow Maple Valley or violate my personal principles, I can answer your questions!"

Uncle Chen laughed heartily.

"Uncle-Master, your cultivation is truly profound; I can't discern even the slightest trace of it..."

Wang Li made no attempt to hide her thoughts, but Uncle Chen's smile remained unchanged.

"I'm a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Hey, what's wrong?"

His smile remained unchanged despite his middle age.

The senior disciples in the sect all knew about his situation; it wasn't a secret, so there was no need to hide it.

Mid-term?

I imagine their net worth isn't too bad.

It barely meets the requirements.

(But if it's just a newly promoted early Foundation Establishment cultivator, he'll have to be careful.)

"Uncle Chen, does your family have any younger members who urgently need Foundation Establishment Pills to establish their foundation?"

When Wang Li put it this way, this Uncle Chen understood perfectly well that the junior before him most likely knew that the Foundation Establishment Pill he was about to obtain was a hot potato. Therefore, he intended to use it as a bargaining chip, exchanging it for something more suitable for his current cultivation level.

Asking him at this moment if there were any juniors in the family who urgently needed Foundation Establishment Pills was a roundabout way of showing goodwill.

In an instant, he even thought of two extended uses.

One option is to make a deal directly with him, or rather, with his family, to gain certain benefits while indirectly obtaining their protection, thereby avoiding the wrath of someone in the sect who had their Foundation Establishment Pill quota taken away.

Secondly, it's to ensure that Mr. Chen, or rather the Chen family, prepares the necessary resources to purchase the Foundation Establishment Pill in advance. They don't want it to be snatched up by someone else due to insufficient bidding.

Regardless of which possibility it is, it is a gesture of goodwill from this younger generation.

Of course, to avoid any misunderstandings, he needed to clarify things before proceeding further.

"Are you sure you want to trade that Foundation Establishment Pill?"

After pondering for a while, the middle-aged man asked the question directly.

"Yes."

Wang Li nodded.

There's no point in denying it.

If we don't say anything now, but suddenly bring up this topic later, wouldn't we offend this Uncle Chen terribly?

Although he is only at the Foundation Establishment stage, he might not stoop to the level of someone at the Qi Refining stage, or understand his difficulties; but what if he can't get over that hurdle? What if such a knot is truly planted in his heart?

Wang Li will then have a real headache.

Whether or not it was disclosed in advance is a matter of attitude.

"Do you know how many Qi Refining disciples in the sect are stuck at a bottleneck and can no longer make any progress? For a Foundation Establishment Pill, they would do almost anything."

Uncle Chen's expression became even more solemn.

"I could guess that, but the Foundation Establishment Pill is not suitable for me to fall into my hands now."

Wang Li was also very straightforward:

"Just as my uncle said, for the sake of a Foundation Establishment Pill, the disciples in the sect would almost disregard everything, and even some of the Foundation Establishment stage senior uncles might be tempted..."

Be confident, and remove the "no".

Moreover, it's likely that even before he obtains the Foundation Establishment Pill, a Foundation Establishment stage manager will come looking for him for the sake of their family's future generations. The person whose spot was taken away by his Ascension Token will likely cause him all sorts of trouble and even seek revenge.

If he doesn't establish his foundation, trouble will keep coming his way.

Having the small bottle in hand, what bothers him most is being the center of attention and being bothered by others.

On the contrary, if he can remain quiet and cultivate in seclusion for a period of time, allowing him to quietly amass wealth and improve his strength, that would be the most beneficial way for him to grow.

“Uncle Chen, if you or the Chen family are interested, I can make this deal with you directly.”

My asking price isn't high either:

A top-tier defensive magic weapon suitable for me; ten basic to high-tier talismans, good for both offense and defense; then give me the recipes for seven or eight kinds of pills suitable for Qi Refining levels 11 or 12, and supplement with spirit herbs, spirit medicines, and spirit stones as needed, and then..."

Chapter 9 Trading

"Stop! Stop!"

"What's wrong, Uncle-Master?"

Wang Li blinked his pure, big eyes.

"You call this a reasonable price?"

Uncle Chen was clearly amused: Even asking for the moon isn't this outrageous, is it?

"Uncle-Master, is this price too high? It's not! Everything I need has a price, but the Foundation Establishment Pill is priceless!"

In terms of interests, we should still fight for them.

"Heh, I won't go into detail about top-tier magic artifacts. You just need to know that even we Foundation Establishment stage cultivators might not be able to get one or two."

Wang Li nodded.

That's good. Many newly established Foundation Establishment cultivators are still using high-grade magic artifacts. These people, who have no one to take care of them, are so poor that they might not be able to afford to spend a few hundred spirit stones to buy top-grade magic artifacts.

So, isn't that why I've taken a liking to you, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator?

Dare you say you don't have two or three top-tier magical artifacts in your bag?

“Talismans are easy to deal with; I have that many on hand…”

My uncle is generous; he truly lives up to my reputation.

"But rare and precious items like pill formulas often involve the very foundation of a cultivation family. We cherish them as if they were our own lives. You don't actually think they're so cheap that they're just like cabbage, do you? And seven or eight kinds at random? Why don't you just rob us?"

Uncle Chen was initially annoyed, but then became increasingly interested and intrigued.

"As we all know, with the proliferation of cultivators and years of plundering, many rare and precious treasures in the world have begun to disappear. With the disappearance of these raw materials, many ancient pill formulas, especially those for which no substitute materials have been found, have become worthless."

But human wisdom is boundless!

The way Uncle Chen said this gave Wang Li an inexplicable sense of awe and reverence.

It was as if the person in front of me was rapidly growing taller and becoming incredibly majestic.

"Through generations of meticulous deduction and careful improvement by our ancestors, many ancient alchemical formulas have not only not diminished in value after finding alternative raw materials, but have actually increased dramatically. Even formulas that were only suitable for the later stages of Qi Refining have now become extremely precious treasures."

The young man in front of him could produce seven or eight pill formulas in one go. Not to mention that he, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, couldn't produce them, even the entire Chen family, and even some Core Formation cultivators, might not be able to.

A mere Foundation Building Pill, just one pill at that, is hardly worth several suitable pill formulas.

These two things are not the same concept at all.

"Actually, if you use more spirit stones to buy the Qi Condensation Pills refined by the sect for cultivation, the effect is also quite good..."

That's what they say, but you shouldn't flaunt your wealth.

Moreover, the Qi-Condensing Pills are extremely expensive, and their effects are not very good.

That makes sense; how good can something be if it's readily available and readily available from the masses?

"Uh, then... five?"

Someone innocently spread out the five fingers of their right hand.

"Oh."

Uncle Chen remained silent and smiled.

"Three pill formulas, I can't be short any more, Uncle-Master. I don't even know if I'll be able to find the raw materials that meet the required age for the formulas you gave me!"

Wang Li gave a bitter smile and sighed.

The three fingers he held up were trembling.

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Chen seemed to have grasped something: Wait, this kid is simply collecting pill formulas, not necessarily those that guarantee finding the raw materials and refining superior pills? Are formulas with hard-to-find raw materials acceptable?

Say it earlier.

If it's those prescriptions that have basically become useless, the Chen family can produce quite a few, and he already has some on hand.

"Kenken, three pill formulas are fine; but let me make this clear beforehand, so you don't back out later."

After clearing his throat twice, Uncle Chen glanced at Wang Li, who looked on with hope, and said calmly: