Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

With a thought, the fire spirit root that had been dormant within him was quietly activated.

This time, he no longer used the "Emperor Yan's Burning Heaven Chapter," but instead followed the unique cultivation path of the divine power "Visiting the Clouds Curtain," absorbing external spiritual energy and transforming it into strands of "Visiting the Clouds True Fire" imbued with a faint glow.

This is a process that starts from scratch.

Fortunately, Li Xiaoyao's cultivation level was already at the Purple Mansion stage, and his control over spiritual energy and understanding of the essence of cultivation techniques far surpassed that of ordinary people. He also had the support of the pure spiritual energy and the Daoist charm of the entire Sunset Realm.

Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Xiaoyao, relying on his already perfected foundation in fire-attribute true essence, switched to cultivating the fire-attribute radiant light technique suitable for the Qi Refining stage in the "Canxia" inheritance, and progressed extremely quickly.

With virtually no bottlenecks, his cultivation level, corresponding to his fire spirit root, naturally returned to the Qi Refining stage, progressing smoothly and successfully completing the Qi Refining process, thus elevating his cultivation level.

With the Qi refining process complete, the next step is to forge the foundation for immortality.

In the quiet room, floating in front of Li Xiaoyao was the third-grade supreme celestial treasure given to him by the senior "Taiyue"—the Earth Essence of Clouds.

This object is neither earth nor rosy clouds; it possesses a weighty yet dazzling quality, and a calm yet ever-changing nature.

With a thought, he began to slowly refine the strange object according to the secret method recorded in the cultivation manual and which he had deduced himself.

When the essence of the Earth element entered his body, it did not bring the violent energy impact that Li Xiaoyao had imagined.

It naturally merged with the "True Fire of the Clouds" that he had cultivated for ten years within his body.

Fire and earth are mutually generative, and earth can also bear the light of fire; the light of the sunset originates from fire, yet transcends it.

Under Li Xiaoyao's exquisite control and skillful guidance, the two began to slowly and steadily merge and take shape.

This time, it took even longer.

As the sun rises and the moon sets, the spiritual energy ebbs and flows within the quiet room.

Fifteen years have passed quietly within the cave.

Finally, one day, the rosy light and earthy yellow spiritual light in the quiet room shone brightly, and then quickly receded.

Within Li Xiaoyao's dantian, besides the towering, radiant Purple Mansion Dao Foundation [Yuxia Tian] at the center, a new, illusory foundation prototype slowly condensed and took shape above and to the side of it.

The base is a warm reddish-gold base, yet it flows with iridescent light, giving it a light, expansive, and ethereal feel, as if it could transform into a celestial canopy at any moment.

Flames faintly rose from the base, but the firelight transformed into dazzling clouds, weaving together a hazy curtain of light.

The second prototype of the Immortal Foundation – [Yexiaowei] – has been successfully forged!

Although there is still a long way to go before it is fully cultivated and finally pushed into the Ascendant and condensed into a true second innate divine power, [Yexiaowei], the most crucial first step has already been taken.

Thus, forty-five years had passed since Master Songhe left and Li Xiaoyao began his seclusion to meditate.

In the quiet room, Li Xiaoyao slowly opened his eyes. He exhaled a long breath, his aura becoming increasingly harmonious and restrained.

His initial stage of the Purple Mansion realm had been completely stabilized, and his magical power had become even more refined and profound due to his forty-five years of dedicated enlightenment and cultivation of his second immortal foundation.

With a thought, the dark golden Purple Mansion Expansion Mission Token appeared in his hand.

"Forty-five years... There are five years left until the fifty-year compulsory education period ends."

Li Xiaoyao's consciousness sank into the token.

The star map inside the token rotated slightly, projecting a screen of light.

On one side of the light screen is a short scrolling bar for "List of New Fellow Daoists".

He glanced at it and saw that in the past forty-five years, three new Purple Mansions had been promoted under the rule of the Immortal Sect. Their Daoist names were "Xuan Ge", "Shu Yu" and "Bai Chuan". All of them belonged to the Five Elements Constant lineage, and no new Void Proofs had appeared.

His name (Shangyuan) is still displayed relatively prominently, followed by the small print "Hongxia Kongzheng," which is quite eye-catching.

"It seems my popularity will continue for a while longer."

Li Xiaoyao chuckled self-deprecatingly and turned his attention to the main body of the light screen—the task list.

The list refreshes in real time, with numerous entries, each labeled with information such as mission location, description, required cultivation level, estimated risks, and basic rewards.

Li Xiaoyao directly selected: "Exploration type", "Suitable for the early stage of Purple Mansion", and "Relatively flexible time limit".

The screen flickered, the number of items decreased sharply, leaving only seven or eight to choose from.

His gaze swept over each item one by one:

"Preliminary exploration of the Yi-Yao Cave 1 (101) half-plane (faint traces of demon civilization found, risk assessment: low)..."

"Resource recovery of the C-987 Remnant Realm (a relatively large fragment after the collapse of the original Lesser Thousand World) (Contains unstable spatial rifts and resentful spirits, risk assessment: medium)..."

"Assist the 'Blackwater Realm' in suppressing the Earth Lung Poison Fire Riot (Requires proficiency in water and earth elemental abilities, time-sensitive, risk assessment: medium-high)..."

"Tracking the 'Space Pirates - Ash Claws' team in the Sinking Sands Starfield (this team is suspected of possessing methods to severely injure Purple Mansions, risk assessment: high)..."

These tasks each have their own characteristics; some are located in remote areas and take an unpredictable amount of time, while others do not match the risks and rewards to Li Xiaoyao's current needs.

Suddenly, a newly refreshed quest, marked in light purple (indicating something special or unknown), caught his eye:

"Explore the unnamed 'Boundary Ruins' that have recently emerged at the edge of the 'Wasteland Corridor'."

(A special distorted space, possibly formed by the accumulation of debris after the collapse of multiple dimensions, with chaotic laws, unstable spacetime, and an extreme and variable internal environment).

"Preliminary scans show high-intensity energy reactions and signs of unknown life, and also detect fluctuations in rare minerals such as 'Qianyang Refined Gold' and 'Wanzai Kongqing Stone'."

"Mission Requirements: Enter the area in teams of at least two people, create a preliminary map of the core internal area (using a special spatial beacon made by the Immortal Sect), collect samples of high-energy matter with at least three different properties, and assess the stability and potential threat level of the Boundary Ruins."

"Task timeframe: Submit a preliminary report within ten years of accepting the task."

"Basic rewards: 150,000 merit points and 300 Immortal Sect contribution points. Additional rewards will depend on the exploration results."

Risk assessment: Unknown.

(Warning: The laws within the Realm Ruins are strange, and you may encounter unknown dangers, or even get lost in the spacetime turbulence or encounter terrifying remnants of ancient existence.)

"Minimum cultivation level required: Early stage of Purple Mansion (It is strongly recommended that players at the mid-stage of Purple Mansion or above go in a team)."

"Boundary Ruins..."

Li Xiaoyao uttered the term in a low voice, a look of interest appearing in his eyes.

The Beginner's Guide provides a detailed description of the Realm Ruins: These are semi-enclosed spaces formed when the remains of multiple planes or worlds fail to completely dissipate after destruction, collision, or being torn apart by powerful forces, and instead accumulate, distort, and merge in a special void environment.

They are like junkyards in the void, their internal laws often a chaotic and unstable patchwork of fragments from multiple worlds, frequently giving rise to bizarre environments, monsters, or... opportunities.

Qianyang refined gold, Wanzai Kongqing stone... these are all rare and precious items that are hard to come by.

Whether used to enhance the family's foundation or to prepare for cultivating corresponding immortal foundations for oneself or other clansmen in the future, it is of great value.

"Five years left... This mission has a ten-year time limit, which is plenty of time. It requires at least two people to form a team..."

Li Xiaoyao pondered.

He has now formed the prototype of his second immortal foundation. In the short term, he needs to nurture and improve it slowly, rather than sitting in seclusion.

Going out to gain experience, seek opportunities, and see a wider world is more beneficial to one's spiritual heart and subsequent cultivation.

Although places like the Ruins of the Realm are full of unknown dangers, they are also the most likely places to find strange resources that are hard to find in the ordinary world.

"Perhaps... I should go out for a walk."

Li Xiaoyao looked outside the quiet room; he needed a teammate.

The Immortal Sect Mission Token has a simple communication function, allowing you to send invitations to other fellow cultivators who meet the team-up requirements.

However, this newly promoted expert in the Void Realm had no familiar fellow Daoists within the Immortal Sect's Purple Mansion circle. Who should he turn to?

Li Xiaoyao's gaze returned to the task list, his fingers unconsciously tapping the token.