When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

Song Chen didn't actually really want to go to this opportunity related to the Foundation Establishment Pill.

There are two main reasons.

Firstly, he owns a medicinal herb field, which allows him to accumulate contribution points at a speed that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve.

Secondly, contribution points can be exchanged for Foundation Establishment Pills.

But there are many reasons for going.

First of all, accumulating 30 million contribution points is extremely difficult.

This month, Song Chen worked day and night without rest, but he only managed to accumulate 30,000 points.

Roughly calculated, it would take at least a thousand months, or... eighty-three years, to accumulate 30 million contribution points.

It's almost impossible to redeem.

Even if Song Chen were to win the Foundation Establishment lecture every month in the monthly lottery for selecting top-tier cultivators, and resell the opportunity each time, it would still take a considerable amount of time to exchange it for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Moreover, even with such effort, one can only obtain one Foundation Establishment Pill.

It is said that breaking through to the peak of Qi Refining with a Heavenly Spiritual Root does not require Foundation Establishment Pills. A single Spiritual Root requires five pills, a pseudo-Spiritual Root requires twenty pills, and a fragmented Spiritual Root requires fifty or more pills. Furthermore, the foundation is damaged due to the Spiritual Root, making it impossible to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm further.

In terms of cultivation, the Blood Spirit Root is comparable to the Incomplete Spirit Root, requiring at least fifty Foundation Establishment Pills.

This is just the minimum, meaning the least.

If Song Chen really wants to break through to the peak of Qi Refining and build a foundation in the future, he should conservatively prepare one hundred Foundation Building Pills to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

Moreover, even the Foundation Establishment herbs require an incredibly high number of contribution points, almost on par with Foundation Establishment Pills.

In that case, even if we don't go to the Foundation Establishment Pill trip, we'll have to find a way to go.

"Dragon Group..." Song Chen pondered a way to deal with it.

Dan Shijian's method is acceptable, but as cautious as Song Chen is, he certainly can't rely on just this one safeguard...

Two days later, at night.

In a fine wine shop on the main street of Ha Kem Island.

Ten cultivators sat around a table. Song Chen, Shi Jian, and an unfamiliar male cultivator sat in the main seat, while the rest sat in order of their cultivation level.

Shi Jian glanced around and, seeing that everyone had arrived, said, "Tomorrow we will head to Dragon Valley to gather herbs. Let's get to know each other today."

After speaking, Shi Jian raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp.

The crowd applauded, and some shouted cheers.

Afterwards, Shi Jian introduced two cultivators at the tenth level of Qi Refining to everyone.

"Please help yourselves to the food! Let's get to know each other! The man on my left is Song Mazi, everyone please introduce yourselves!"

Song Chen stood up and gave a slight bow.

"The person to my right is Du Wanming, also a master cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining!"

Du Wanming nodded slightly but did not stand up.

Song Chen glanced at it, remaining calm as he remembered the face, but inwardly he was somewhat taken aback.

This person is actually a male cultivator?

Du Wanming was very fair-skinned, with snow-white skin, blood-red lips, and large, bright eyes.

Song Chen looked at it carefully again before confirming that it was a male cultivator.

Du Wanming has a well-defined facial structure and a flat figure; otherwise, she would easily be mistaken for a female cultivator.

......

The dinner party began.

Almost no one came up to talk to Song Chen.

With a superior cultivator and the tenth level of Qi Refining, my Sword Sect is practically walking the Heavenly Dao, and no one dares to offend me.

As Song Chen watched the people chatting happily, an overwhelming sense of loneliness washed over him.

Since arriving in this world, he has been the same person, never changing; it's just that the intense focus of his cultivation has temporarily made him overlook these emotions.

But this feeling has never disappeared. Just like how high school students are often in a high-pressure learning environment, how could they not experience sexual repression?

The same applies to spiritual cultivation; loneliness is inevitable, and everyone experiences it, the only difference being the degree.

Song Chen sometimes asked himself: Should cultivating the Tao be a solitary activity?

The answer is yes.

The path to immortality is long and arduous, and no one can always be by your side. Moreover, for a cultivator like Song Chen whose cultivation is increasing extremely rapidly, there is certainly no one behind him.

Moreover, bonds can often be a weakness, which Song Chen is intentionally avoiding.

but......

This does not mean that he dislikes talking to people or being with others.

Suddenly, a cultivator from the other side came over to try and become familiar with them.

"Brother Song! I am Ying Wanjie, this cup is for you!"

"Okay!" Song Chen responded confidently without any stage fright.

The wine glasses clinked and were immediately separated. After half a glass was down his throat, his body began to feel warm, and Song Chen's cheeks even flushed red.

Song Chen's alcohol tolerance is not good, which may be because the wine at the wine shop is too strong.

He was already a little drunk after drinking half a glass.

However, at this stage of cultivation, one can use spiritual energy to break down alcohol.

But Song Chen didn't do that.

Firstly, the purpose of drinking is to achieve a sense of clarity and the feeling of being drunk.

Secondly, using spiritual energy to break down alcohol is extremely impolite among cultivators, as it's equivalent to throwing away the wine. Since Song Chen needs to cultivate relationships with others, he naturally wouldn't do such a thing. He could only tough it out and honestly experience the dizziness and euphoria brought on by the alcohol.

In an instant, many thoughts raced through Song Chen's mind, images flashed by, and many emotions that he had suppressed through his past cultivation surged forth like a tide, filling his entire heart.

Whether in his past life or this one, Song Chen had not drunk any alcohol until just now.

He had always thought that alcohol was a bad, awful, and unpleasant drink.

One drink today has greatly changed my perspective.

The wine was pretty good.

"Brother Song, are you drunk? Hahahaha!"

When Shi Jian saw Song Chen's appearance, he immediately found the contrast amusing and teased him.

Ying Wanjie also noticed the dazed Song Chen and exclaimed, "As the saying goes, one cup and you're done, but my brother Song only lasts half a cup!"

This remark drew laughter from everyone.

Du Wanming smiled without showing her teeth, and as she raised her hand, it fell back down.

"It's not that Brother Song can't hold his liquor; the wine at the tavern is specially made for cultivators, precisely to prevent us from getting drunk too quickly!"

Ying Wanjie smoothed things over again, preventing Song Chen from feeling embarrassed.

Song Chen smiled, glanced at Du Wanming, and seemed to be deep in thought.

He wasn't completely drunk; he was quite lucid and could see everyone's reactions.

Then, as if responding to all the voices, he shouted, "I'm not drunk! Again!"

As everyone knows, drunk people always claim they're not drunk.

To others, this sounded like utter drunkenness.

Everyone praised Song Chen's good mood, but they behaved themselves and no one tried to get him to drink anymore.

......

After a night of revelry, the sun was high in the sky when I woke up.

Song Chen opened his blurry eyes and was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.

He was surrounded by a group of drunkards.

He had the highest cultivation level and drank the least amount of alcohol, so he naturally woke up earlier.

A figure stood by the window; it was Shi Jian. He turned around and said:

"Awake? Once everyone sobers up, we'll set off under the cover of night."

"Okay," Song Chen replied.

Shi Jian looked at Song Chen, his mind overflowing with thoughts: "It is truly my blessing to meet everyone in the sect."

Song Chen smiled but remained silent.

In this treacherous world of cultivation, it is truly rare to find someone who can speak so freely, drink alcohol at will, and disregard their status and cultivation level!

Du Wanming didn't seem to be drunk last night; she went home after the drinking party.

The remaining people opened two inns nearby and settled in.

As time went by, more and more people sobered up.

As dusk fell, everyone sobered up.

At Shi Jian's command, the group immediately headed towards Dragon Valley in the southwest.

Dragon Valley is neither too far nor too near.

A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator can arrive in a little over an hour by flying boat, but a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator would need more than a day.

As night fell completely, the group arrived at the canyon.

The group took a long detour to the east side of the lower canyon.

Shi Jian stopped and said to the people behind him:

"In this operation, we must always remember that life comes first, resources second!"

"The dragons' lair is on the west side. We enter the canyon from the east side. The medicinal herbs we need to collect are located at the bottom of the canyon on the south side, which is closer to the east side. Generally speaking, as long as we don't deliberately attract the dragons and follow the instructions to avoid them, there shouldn't be any problems!"

Upon hearing this, everyone began applying the prepared substances.

In an instant, the fragrance filled the air, soaring straight into the sky.

The Three Pure Jade Dew is tasteless, but the sachet of the Yin Flower emits a unique fragrance that is very refreshing.

But this fragrance was a foul stench to the dragon, an extremely unpleasant smell!

Furthermore, the Sanqing Jade Dew has a certain ability to diffuse its scent, making the smell even more pungent and overpowering, to the point of being cloyingly foul!