Immortality: Starting with the Fruit of Taiyin

"……never mind."

Wang Xuan shook his head slightly and smiled helplessly.

"Once you become a third-tier great demon, you will be able to understand what I'm saying."

If nothing unexpected happens, I will probably receive a gift from the Han family in a few days to congratulate him on reaching the late stage of Qi Refining.

In such a small matter, the other party will definitely handle it perfectly.

His expression was calm, neither sad nor happy.

There wasn't much emotional fluctuation, because Wang Xuan knew that this was just the beginning.

As his cultivation level increases, similar incidents will occur frequently.

After all, not to mention those far away, the famous Changchun Zhenjun in the north, who cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage with a low-grade spiritual root, is a prime example.

If a cultivator has mediocre spiritual roots, background, and abilities, how can they advance all the way up and leave their peers behind?

The cultivation world is so vast that there will always be people who are curious.

Even though that True Lord had the nickname "Turtle True Man" when he was young, he was always kind to others, avoided trouble whenever possible, and never stood out.

Even so, he was still targeted by many people and had to fight and kill others.

If he hadn't been good at running away, he would have died halfway there.

This shows that in the world of cultivation, such things are unavoidable, and Wang Xuan didn't expect to be able to avoid them either.

Fortunately, he possessed the Dao Fruit, so he didn't need to go out on adventures often.

This one point alone can avoid more than 90% of crises.

……

More than a month later.

He practiced his spiritual cultivation in a quiet and undisturbed manner, as if everything had already passed.

On this day, Wang Xuan went to Manager Zhao's tea stall for tea as usual.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, to be honest, it is truly rare for a rogue cultivator to have reached the late stage of Qi Refining at your age."

There weren't many customers, and it felt rather deserted.

With his temples streaked with gray, Manager Zhao couldn't help but sigh.

"Unfortunately, it is difficult for us independent cultivators to advance, especially in acquiring key resources."

"Without the aid of Foundation Establishment Pills, even if one cultivates very quickly in the past, it will be difficult to make further progress."

"Fellow Daoist is right."

Wang Xuan nodded in agreement and did not object.

Over the years, he had read almost all of the jade slips that Chen Yao had left him.

He also gained a clearer understanding of the major realms in the cultivation world.

Rumors circulated that Foundation Establishment Pills could increase a cultivator's success rate in Foundation Establishment by 20-30%, and Wang Xuan had previously believed this to be true as well.

However, after reading Chen Yao's jade slip, he realized that this was not the case at all.

If we consider Foundation Establishment as an exam, then the cultivator's own foundation is the score, and external things are extra points.

To put it in a concrete way, if the maximum score is 100, reaching or exceeding it means you've definitely reached the Foundation Establishment stage, with no chances of anything going wrong; passing with 60 means you have a chance to try your luck, but at least you're not completely without a chance of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Whether one can successfully establish a foundation, and what the probability of success is, ultimately depends on the total score and whether one passes the "score threshold".

If one's own foundation is rotten, even with the "extra points" from pills, one still won't reach sixty.

Even if you attempt Foundation Establishment a hundred times, and each time you have Foundation Establishment Pills, you will only fail on the hundred and first attempt. There is no such thing as a 20% or 30% success rate.

In general, as long as one does not have excessive pill poison, hidden injuries, deficiency of qi and blood, or damage to spiritual consciousness, a mid-grade spiritual root will basically have a minimum score of 60 points. Directly establishing the foundation is a one-in-a-hundred chance.

However, if one has a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill, it's equivalent to adding 20 points, meaning one in seven or eight people can successfully establish their foundation.

Furthermore, considering that most people with low-grade spiritual roots struggle to even reach the Qi Refining Perfection stage, the probability of this is not significantly reduced... Therefore, the claim that Foundation Establishment Pills increase the chance of Foundation Establishment by 20% is basically derived from this.

"The Foundation Establishment Pill is precious, as everyone knows."

"Not only are they expensive, often costing thousands of spirit stones, but ordinary people simply have no way to buy them, which is unavoidable."

Wang Xuan spoke casually, his mindset at peace.

Regarding the Foundation Establishment process, although he had considered obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill as a backup, it wasn't absolutely necessary.

With a primordial spirit-level Qi refining technique, a secret art of refining secret arts, and the addition of physical cultivation, even without the support of a high-level spiritual root or spiritual body, his foundation 'score' would most likely exceed ninety.

As for the exact amount, it will need to be calculated using secret techniques after the Qi cultivation is complete.

With such a foundation, as long as there is a protective pill to ensure success, the success rate of a direct breakthrough will not be small.

If it weren't for the need to avoid attracting too much attention and to prevent any unforeseen accidents, Wang Xuan probably wouldn't have even considered obtaining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Yes, yeah."

With a sigh, Manager Zhao poured Wang Xuan a cup of tea, seemingly quite regretful.

"It's fine for me, but you are so young and have such a bright future. It would be such a pity if you fell at this point."

"If you ask me, while you're still young, you should probably go out and see the world."

"As far as I know, some large and medium-sized markets release a Foundation Establishment Pill for auction every once in a while, giving independent cultivators a glimmer of hope."

"Even if you don't need it now, it's always good to have more contact with it, as it can help you accumulate experience for the future."

"Oh?"

A hint of curiosity flashed across Wang Xuan's face. He didn't refute her, but instead went along with what she was saying.

"What you say makes sense, fellow Daoist... but I have little experience venturing out. I wonder if you have any advice for me?"

"I wouldn't call it instruction," Manager Zhao said cautiously, lowering his voice. "As far as I know, Black Stone Market will be auctioning off a Foundation Establishment Pill soon."

"It is said that this pill was made by a master of the Li family of Baishan. There were two genuine pills and one defective pill. The one being auctioned is the defective pill."

"If you are interested, you may wish to take a look and familiarize yourself with the auction process."

"I see."

After a moment of thought, Wang Xuan simply expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist."

"There's no need for thanks; it's just a piece of news."

With a smile, Manager Zhao waved his hands repeatedly.

"As long as you remember me, Old Zhao, when you successfully establish your foundation, that's enough."

……

After chatting for a while, Wang Gao took his leave and returned to the Dan Pavilion.

Just as he had expected, a few days ago, to congratulate him on reaching the late stage of Qi Refining, Han Changde gave him several first-grade high-quality defensive talismans and specifically told him to be careful.

Wang Xuan naturally accepted the offer with a smile, saying that he would definitely be careful.

As for those talismans, he planned to have Ye Yan sell them when they met again.

After all, he doesn't leave the market, so what use are these talismans to him? He can only watch them slowly dissipate their spiritual power and eventually become completely useless.

As for Manager Zhao's suggestion during the day, he listened to it as soon as the other party mentioned it.

Wang Xuan had no objection to being asked to be his audience.

Getting him to leave the market is absolutely impossible.

And so, another month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, in the Earth Fire Chamber, Wang Xuan, as usual, pointed out the shortcomings of several apprentices in their alchemy.

When the lecture ended, Han Bo, who was supposed to leave, unexpectedly stayed.