May I seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, and live a long and prosperous life.

Qi Ming, the manager of the alchemy room, was a middle-aged cultivator with the cultivation level of the early stage of the fourth level of Qi Refining. He was pot-bellied and a bit bald.

His eyes lit up instantly when he heard Dantu say that this was a mid-grade Qi Gathering Pill personally refined by Li Heng.

He took the pill bottle, poured out a mid-grade Qi Gathering Pill, examined it carefully, and smelled it. Finally, he poured the pill back into the jade bottle, his face full of admiration, and gave the pill apprentice a thumbs up.

"Your master truly lives up to his reputation as the chief alchemist of our pavilion! This is his first time refining a mid-grade Qi Gathering Pill, and the quality of the pill surpasses all the mid-grade Qi Gathering Pills sold in our pavilion. He's incredibly skilled! I, Qi Ming, am truly impressed by Chief Li!"

"Believe it or not, as soon as I spread the word about your master's bottle of mid-grade Qi Gathering Pills, a bunch of cultivators will rush in with spirit stones to buy them. Hehe, that's the influence of your master. You should learn from your master!" Manager Qi encouraged the alchemy apprentice.

……

On the other side, Li Heng had finished his work at the Hundred Herbs Pavilion for the day. He then exchanged a few words with the disciples on duty outside the alchemy room before slowly walking out of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion and arriving at the market.

The market was bustling with people. There were energetic young cultivators with hopeful eyes, and there were also old cultivators from the lower classes who had been crushed by life and whose eyes were lifeless, their expressions revealing their weariness.

As Li Heng walked down the street, the shouts of vendors, the haggling of buyers, and the whispers of pedestrians all blended together, creating a lively atmosphere unique to the outer market of Chixia Mountain.

When Li Heng came to the market, he first bought some spirit rice and dried meat from monsters in the Qi Refining stage, as well as other daily necessities. Then he went to some book stalls selling cultivation techniques and looked around, but they were all common items, and he didn't find any books of any value.

Finally, Li Heng stopped in front of a stall selling spiritual plant seeds.

The stall owner was an elderly farmer who was at the second level of Qi Refining. He was very perceptive. When he saw Li Heng coming, he immediately greeted him warmly and said, "Fellow Daoist, come and take a look. These are all top-quality spiritual plant seeds. Planting them next to your cave will not only be beautiful, but also help gather spiritual energy."

Li Heng's gaze fell on a pile of black seeds the size of soybeans.

"What kind of seed is this?"

"Oh, these are seeds of the Night-Shining Grass. They glow faintly at night when mature. They're easy to grow, but they grow slowly, taking thirty years to mature," the old farmer said, scratching his head.

"Fellow Daoist, these Night-Shining Grass seeds are worthless. If you want them, you can have them all for one spirit stone, hehe." The old farmer was quite honest and told the truth.

After thinking for a while, Li Heng decided, "I want all of these Night-Shining Grass seeds. Wrap them up for me."

Li Heng paid with spirit stones and put the seeds in his pocket.

It doesn't matter that the night-blooming grass grows slowly; thirty years is just a blink of an eye for him.

By the time they returned to their cave, it was already dark.

He first came to the three graves, where weeds were still growing everywhere, so Li Heng had to do some simple cleaning.

After the cleanup was completed, Li Heng discovered that the wooden plaques for the three graves of Su Changsheng, Meng Ji, and Cui Bolao and Feng Yan were slightly rotten and the characters were somewhat blurred.

So Li Heng went and replaced the three wooden plaques with new ones, and re-engraved the names of the three people on them.

He then stood quietly in front of the three graves for a while, before taking out the packet of night-blooming grass seeds and scattering them evenly around the three graves.

"When the Night-Shining Grass matures, the three of you will have company. May the light always accompany you," Li Heng said softly.

It turns out that Li Heng bought the seeds of the night-shining grass so that they could provide some light at night for the graves of his three deceased friends.

If Su Changsheng, Meng Ji, Cui Bolao, and Feng Yan knew of Li Heng's actions in the afterlife, they would probably admire his thoughtfulness.

Back in his cave, Li Heng first went to check on the planting of the Soul-Nourishing Tree seeds.

Over the years, he had specially cleared out a place in his cave to plant the Soul Nourishing Tree. Now, more than ten years later, the Soul Nourishing Tree seed has only sprouted a little green shoot, and Li Heng can feel that faint vitality.

He pricked his fingertip, letting strands of life force melt into his blood and drip into the green sprouts.

The surface of the green seedling flashed with a faint light, then returned to its original state.

Li Heng was not disappointed. The seed of the Soul-Nourishing Tree would sprout in ten years and grow into a seedling in thirty years. He had plenty of time to wait.

......

One year later, on a certain day.

A tremendous commotion came from Li Heng's cave. Fortunately, multiple concealment formations masked the breakthrough fluctuations; otherwise, it would have definitely attracted the attention of many nearby cultivators.

Inside the cave, Li Heng opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, and smiled slightly.

He had already successfully advanced to the sixth level of Qi Refining!

Qi Refining Level 6 is already the highest level that can be achieved in the outer region of Crimson Cloud Mountain!

This also means that there are not many cultivators in the outer area of ​​Crimson Cloud Mountain who can pose a threat to Li Heng!

Li Heng was confident that even if he faced the leaders of the three major gangs, he could easily kill them without using any life-threatening techniques, relying on his solid foundation.

"It's been over ten years since I came to Chixia Mountain, and I've endured so much for over ten years. Now I can finally show my skills!"

"First, I need to avenge Su Changsheng. It's time to take the life of that Wang Quan from the Evil Tiger Sect!"

……

Before taking action, Li Heng secretly investigated Wang Quan, finding out almost all of his information and confirming that he did not know any important figures to rely on or have any powerful background.

So, on a dark and windy night, Li Heng, dressed in black and masked, arrived outside Wang Quan's cave.

Although Wang Quan's cave dwelling was also relatively inexpensive, it was still a bit better than Li Heng's cave dwelling.

Whether Wang Quan was too careless or simply didn't care, his cave dwelling had no protective measures whatsoever. There were no formations or restrictions set up, and Li Heng just swaggered in.

At this time, Wang Quan was still sleeping in bed, snoring loudly.

Wang Quan was a short, stout monk with a big belly. Li Heng could tell from his appearance that he was no good.

"Wang Quan, Wang Quan, why aren't you awake?"

Li Heng tried to wake him up; even if he was going to kill Wang Quan, he had to let him know why he died.

After Li Heng called out, Wang Quan finally woke up. He was sleeping soundly, still full of anger. Who the hell woke him up?

However, when he rubbed his eyes and saw a tall, imposing, and mysterious man dressed in black with a mask standing in front of his bed, his anger instantly vanished, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Who...who are you? What brings you to my cave? I...I'm just a spirit farmer from the Evil Tiger Sect, I don't have many spirit stones! You've probably come to the wrong person!"

Li Heng shook his head and said, "Wang Quan, I haven't come to the wrong person. You're the one I'm looking for."

"But I don't know you. I have no grudge against you. Why are you targeting me?" Wang Quan was a little puzzled. This mysterious person's strength was obviously above his own. He didn't remember ever provoking such a person.

"You may not recognize me, but do you remember someone, someone from over ten years ago!"

"More than ten years ago? That's so long, how would I remember who it was? Please stop playing coy!"

"Heh, more than ten years ago, you framed Su Changsheng for stealing the spirit rice from the Evil Tiger Sect, which led to him being beaten to death by the Evil Tiger Sect. Do you really not remember him?" Li Heng said in a deep voice.