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

It was during this time that he gained a deeper understanding of the actual situation of low-level Qi Refining disciples in Huangfeng Valley, learned about another kind of cruelty in the cultivation world, and truly realized the purchasing power of spirit stones.

Non-family Qi Refining disciples can only earn twenty or thirty spirit stones a year by working themselves to the bone doing tasks; after deducting daily expenses such as cultivation and purchasing pills, they are lucky to save a few spirit stones a year.

These people are equivalent to low-level workers in modern society who earn around two thousand to less than three thousand yuan a month.

Please respect them; society cannot do without them.

As for the family's scions, take Xiao Chen in front of us as an example. A job that pays less than ten spirit stones a month is not worthy of him. It's not that he's unworthy of the job, but that the job is unworthy of him.

These people are the successors of equal family businesses; their starting point is the same as the ending point for ordinary people.

People join the workforce simply to go through the motions, to familiarize themselves with the procedures, and to avoid being taken advantage of later. (If these people are paid very low wages, then they are definitely "setting an example" by suppressing wages, and you can't argue with that.)

Another group that can meet this starting point are the so-called social elites. They possess the special skills and techniques required by task issuers, and it is indeed necessary to offer higher salaries or bonuses to attract them.

For example, Master Ma's herb garden yields five low-grade spirit stones every month.

But you have to know how to take care of the spiritual herbs in the garden, otherwise why invite a living ancestor over to wreak havoc on his garden of treasures?

Moreover, if the spirit herbs are not properly cared for and are damaged, you will not only fail to earn spirit stones, but you will also have to give spirit stones to Master Ma to make up for part of his loss.

"Spiritual materials? Oh, you mean those broken trees that my great-great-grandfather planted back then?"

Xiao Chen exclaimed in surprise.

The little guy didn't accept the spirit stones this time.

"Yes, Xiao Chen, oh no, Senior Brother Xiao Chen. Actually, I only need to plant one section to see if I can use it when I reach Foundation Establishment. You should also know how difficult it is for me to reach Foundation Establishment without the Foundation Establishment Pill. I need to at least reach the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, cultivate some powerful techniques, and arm myself from head to toe before I can go to the Crimson Forbidden Land to try my luck."

Otherwise, you'll never have a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in this lifetime.

"By the way, I haven't touched any of those spiritual materials, not even a single leaf, during this time. You can go and check."

Wang Li assured him.

Bringing up the Foundation Establishment Pill was just a roundabout way of gaining sympathy, since he had indeed traded his Foundation Establishment Pill to the Chen family at a low price, and this kid clearly knew about it.

Proposing the Blood Forbidden Trial was both a ploy to garner sympathy and a subtle hint.

Proving that you haven't touched those spirit trees is a matter of whether your stance is upright or not. Some people are very concerned about ownership of their belongings; they'll feel disgusted even if someone touches them. Even if something has no practical use and is considered dispensable, you can't just touch it.

"I already told you, don't call me Senior Brother Chen, call me Junior Brother Chen."

The little guy had a tense expression.

I now strongly resist being flattered.

"Hmm...are you sure you didn't touch those wooden blocks of mine?"

Although the little brat's face was tense, his hands moved quickly. As he spoke, he familiarly took the spirit stone from Wang Li's hand.

This action made someone's lips twitch.

Clearly, the little guy has a strong sense of self-esteem and possessiveness, and Wang Li's attitude pleased him greatly.

"Absolutely certain."

Wang Li patted his chest again to assure him.

Just kidding. Since Uncle Chen specifically explained the origin of this thing, if he dares to mess with it, he probably doesn't know how to spell the word "death."

He understood the principle that being impulsive can lead to big trouble.

"So... you really want to participate in that Blood Forbidden Trial?"

Because of the proliferation of cultivators and their lack of proper development, over time, the spiritual herbs in the cultivation world have become increasingly scarce, with many even disappearing altogether. Now, the only places where these rare spiritual herbs might still appear are those so-called forbidden areas.

The main ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill in the cultivation world of Yue Kingdom comes from a forbidden area sealed off by an ancient wind-attribute restriction.

The restriction will be weakened every five years, at which time the seven sects can open a temporary passage and send a certain number of Qi Refining stage disciples into it to compete for spiritual herbs.

However, due to the lack of external pressure, the seven factions of Yue Kingdom are now fiercely competing with each other, all thinking about expanding their own power. In addition, with the gradual plundering, the number of century-old spiritual herbs that meet the required age is becoming increasingly scarce, causing bloodshed to occur continuously in this forbidden area that only allows Qi Refining stage cultivators to enter. It has now become extremely bloody.

It is said that the survival rate was less than one-third of the initial rate.

Look closely, it's the very first third, not the first third.

Two words make all the difference.

Because initially, there were casualties as well.

This shows just how brutal the Blood Forbidden Trial is now.

However, in order to obtain the increasingly scarce Foundation Establishment Pill, the seven major sects of Yue Kingdom had no choice but to grit their teeth and bleed themselves dry while simultaneously recovering their strength.

"Junior Brother Chen, do you think I have a choice?"

A bitter expression appeared on Wang Li's face.

There was no other choice.

The sect distributes Foundation Establishment Pills every five years, but the quantity is always quite limited. There are tens of thousands of Qi Refining cultivators in the sect, and many have much stronger backing than him—either they are relatives of Core Formation cultivators or nephews and nieces of senior Foundation Establishment managers in the sect. These people usually only need to participate in the sect's internal test to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, such as Dong Xuan'er, the scumbag Senior Brother Lu, Chen Qiaoqian, and Senior Brother Ye's grand-nephew.

That's right, Chen Qiaoqian was one of them.

Where did she get her first Foundation Establishment Pill?

It was either obtained through a sect test, or it was allocated by the sect to a family, and then bestowed upon them by the family!

However, Foundation Establishment Pills are not as common as cabbages, so there is only one easy opportunity like this. Therefore, even though Chen Qiaoqian is the only daughter of the Chen family patriarch, after losing this Foundation Establishment Pill, she can only participate in the Blood Forbidden Trial to obtain the sect's second Foundation Establishment Pill reward.

Because any participant who manages to survive with a few qualified medicinal herbs has a chance to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.

For every ten or more medicinal herbs brought out, there is a chance to obtain a second or third one...

However, the Chen family is not Wang Li's backer, and they are unlikely to stand up for him in the struggle for the Foundation Establishment Pill. Even if he performs well in the sect's comprehensive test and his overall score, including spiritual root aptitude and personal strength, is not low, he will most likely be eliminated by someone with a powerful background; or he will be sidelined by a prodigy with exceptional talent who has been accepted as a disciple by the sect's Core Formation elders in advance.

Just like how Sect Leader Zhong used the Ascension Token to reject the Foundation Establishment Pill from Elder Wu's grand-nephew.

Otherwise, why do so many powerful Qi Refining cultivators always participate in the Crimson Trial, setting aside those who failed despite using a Foundation Establishment Pill, and those with abundant treasures, great strength, and brimming confidence? Isn't it simply because the sects can't achieve absolute fairness?

Otherwise, why would these exceptionally talented individuals risk their lives for such a risky endeavor?

In short: none of us have any powerful connections.

That explains why, despite the absence of many newly established Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Crimson Forbidden Land during Han Laomo's time, there were still so many others who had reached Foundation Establishment at the same time as Han Laomo.

"If that's the case... sigh..."

Seeing the boy's feigned reluctance, Wang Li felt utterly exhausted.

If it's really that difficult, why did you take the spirit stones from my hand?

Do you want me to raise the stakes?

no way.

Over the course of several months and numerous interactions, he had pretty much figured out what his Uncle Chen's precious son was all about:

Innocent boy?

That's how it is in front of Uncle Chen, that's for sure.

As for the places Uncle Chen can't see, hehe.

"Knife knife..."

Before meeting the senior brother, Xiao Chen knew that this was the senior brother's limit, as he no longer intended to take out spirit stones.

“Senior Brother Wang Li, I can give you one of each kind of spirit tree, but you must promise not to let my father hear about it, or he will definitely beat me up. Also, before you go to the Blood Forbidden Trial, you should transplant them back to this valley, otherwise, with the concentration of spiritual energy outside and no one to take care of the saplings, they may wither and die.”

Wow, the little guy is quite kind.

But if someone knew what Xiao Chen was thinking at this moment, they would probably want to strangle that little bastard.

how to say?

"Senior Brother Wang Li, go ahead! Once you perish in the forbidden area, won't those few broken trees you transplanted back to the valley become ownerless again? I'll just put them back in their original places then. My father, my uncles, and my other uncles probably won't notice anything amiss. Hehehe, I've made ten spirit stones for free! I'm such a little genius!"

Thinking this to himself, he took out a jade pendant that emitted a soft white light and hung it on his waist. Then he walked leisurely into the forest and soon selected a few of the youngest trees for Wang Li.

“Senior brother, it’s not that I’m unwilling to give you the bigger ones, but those have already been divided up by the elders in the clan. These smaller ones were all secured for me by my father. You can take them.”

Wang Li was deeply moved by their generosity.

"Thank you very much, Junior Brother Chen."

Ten-year-old seedlings are still acceptable.

It's probably something you planted when you were just a tiny little thing.

Seriously, I looked around from outside several times and couldn't find a single seedling, yet you managed to find so many in no time.

Thank you for your hard work.

It's easy to imagine how familiar this little creature is with this place, or rather, how familiar the Chen family is with this place.

This also proves how rare these sacred trees are.

That was close.

Thankfully, I didn't do anything rash before.

"You're welcome. If there are any good things like this in the future, or rather, if there are any mutually beneficial things, remember to call me."

Ten spirit stones are almost equivalent to his monthly allowance.

"necessary."

Good buddies!

"So, Junior Brother Chen, I might have to go out on a mission in a few days and take care of some worldly matters. I won't be back for about three months. During these three months, could you help me manage the spirit fields and look after the spirit valley? Don't worry, all the spirit stone rewards will be yours, and I'll also give you a separate three spirit stones as a thank you fee."

All five fingers of his right hand were trembling.

More spirit stones.

"Hey, I took this spot, and you're still giving me three spirit stones? Are you sure?"

The little guy's big eyes are shining.

"For the first three months, it will be three spirit stones; if I return a little later, I will add three more every three months!"

"make a deal!"

Three spirit stones are not a small amount for someone at the seventh level of Qi Refining, let alone this is just an extra.

This means Xiao Chen is back to his old job, but with an extra three spirit stones as a bonus.