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

In the middle of the night, Song Chen opened the door to his house and was slightly taken aback by the mess in front of him.

While I was out, my house was burgled.

Several faces flashed through Song Chen's mind.

He came to the sect, devoted himself to cultivation, and exchanged spiritual herbs and pills for contribution points. He never provoked anyone, nor did he have any deep friendships with anyone.

Naturally, not many people knew when he left home.

The pool of suspects is very small, almost limited to the few people who traveled together.

A fair-skinned face appeared in Song Chen's mind, and he could roughly determine who the culprit was.

His gaze shifted, and a business card lay on the table.

Yunyu Pavilion

An organization composed of superior cultivators from the Lower Sword Sect has arranged to meet in the woods on the east side of Lower Sword Island on the night of the full moon next month.

Was it an organized crime group breaking into the house? Or was it a burglary?

Song Chen couldn't be sure, nor did he care about any organization, so he casually tossed the business card aside and started tidying up his messy home.

"The earth vein crystal sand is more than enough; you can buy the other medicinal herbs at the market and the sect's pharmacy."

The storage bag contained an unusually large amount of leyline crystal sand.

While everyone was unconscious, Song Chen secretly took it out.

Recalling the initial allocation of crystal sand, one monk was dissatisfied with his share.

After checking, Song Chen indeed found several hundred taels of earth vein crystal sand in Du Wanming's storage bag.

He took it along the way, thus clearing Du Wanming's name.

In retrospect, everyone realized that they would only point the finger at the mist and the ley line rats, and would not blame their savior.

......

Ten days later.

A mysterious person bought up all the Foundation Establishment herbs in the pharmacies of various markets and sects, leaving not a single one.

No one knows where this person came from or where he went; all that is known is that he is a disciple of the Lower Sword Sect.

This person was none other than Song Chen.

He collected a large amount of materials for Foundation Establishment Pills, which was enough to meet his needs.

Foundation Establishment Pill is a fourth-grade pill. Song Chen's alchemy skills are not as good as fourth-grade pills, so he cannot refine it. He can only find an alchemist to refine it for him.

This is actually extremely common in the cultivation world.

Therefore, many reputable alchemy workshops are run by Foundation Establishment cultivators, who not only need to provide their own medicinal materials, but also pay exorbitant prices.

But neither of these points is a problem for Song Chen.

Song Chen carefully selected a pill-making workshop within the sect, funded it with spirit stones, and then left it to its own devices.

"You want to refine a Foundation Establishment Core?"

A woman dressed in gorgeous clothes looked unbelievable.

This person is named Xiao Cai'er. She is an apprentice in the alchemy workshop and has the strength of a second-grade alchemist at a young age.

She is said to be the daughter of a Foundation Establishment cultivator within the sect, with an extremely powerful background, so no one dares to offend her.

Song Chen sensed the disdain in the other person's voice but didn't take it seriously.

It's normal for a pampered and talented second-generation immortal to look down on a cultivator like Song Chen who rose from humble beginnings.

Song Chen ignored the woman behind him and walked straight out of the pharmacy.

The manager of the pill shop is the one in charge of refining pills, and it has nothing to do with this little girl. Moreover, it's an order system, and the shop has to pay so many Foundation Establishment Pills to settle the matter.

The alchemy workshop has a long history and wouldn't renege on Song Chen's order for such a small profit; otherwise, this century-old alchemy workshop wouldn't be able to continue operating.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Cai'er frowned and muttered to herself:

"A lucky rogue cultivator dares to ignore me! He's incredibly audacious... Seriously, where did he get so many Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients? There's definitely something fishy about him!"

With a flick of her finger, a respectful maid came forward and bowed slightly.

This maid is no ordinary person; she possesses considerable cultivation, having reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"Investigate this person thoroughly; find out who he is."

"yes!"

The maid responded and then disappeared.

As for Xiao Cai'er, her eyes sparkled as she thought, "If I could also refine Foundation Establishment Pills, wouldn't the money for these medicinal herbs be mine?"

With that in mind, she went up to the top floor of the alchemy workshop, where her master, who was also the head of the workshop, refined pills.

"Master! I want to learn how to refine Foundation Establishment Elixirs!"

She excitedly crawled inside and exclaimed.

An old man was concentrating intently on refining pills, without even raising his head. His aura was terrifying, indicating he was in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Get out! Next time you come in while I'm refining pills, I won't care about your father's reputation!"

Even after being scolded, Xiao Cai'er didn't back down. Instead, she skipped and hopped to the alchemy furnace to check the heat.

Alchemy requires careful planning and execution, especially for Foundation Building Pills.

Seeing that Xiao Cai'er didn't make any move, the old man stopped paying attention to her.

Just as Xiao Cai'er attempted to interfere with the alchemy process, the old man noticed and instantly unleashed his aura, sending her flying.

"Get out! If you have something to say, have your father relay it!"

The old man held back, and although Xiao Cai'er was in a sorry state, she was not seriously injured. Upon hearing this, she slunk away from the top floor.

"You damned old bastard, Old Deng will kill you sooner or later! So what if you're going to refine some pills soon? What's with the attitude?"

......

He left the alchemy workshop and returned to his room.

Song Chen took the spirit herb seeds he bought from outside and planted them in the medicinal field.

These seeds can directly grow into spiritual herbs, and these herbs can grow indefinitely, with their value constantly increasing.

Song Chen plans to plant a few here. When they are old enough, they can be used for alchemy or sold.

Unable to improve his cultivation level, he tried his best to use external objects to enhance his strength in preparation for the upcoming sect competition.

"I am now good at both offense and defense, and I have multiple ways to escape. If I had to point out any weakness, it would be that I don't have any top-grade talismans."

Top-grade talismans are not comparable to high-grade, mid-grade, or low-grade talismans. These talismans are crafted from divine sense, making them far more powerful than high-grade talismans. They also consume almost no spiritual energy, making them quite practical.

Actually, Song Chen wasn't unwilling to buy top-grade talismans on this trip; he just couldn't find a place to buy them.

The main problem is that crafting top-grade talismans consumes a lot of spiritual energy. Cultivators who can craft them generally don't draw them, and even if they do, they only use them themselves. Cultivators who want to draw them can't, which is extremely awkward.

Song Chen pulled out a thick stack of high-grade talismans:

"Never mind! Since we don't have any top-grade talismans, this number of high-grade talismans should be enough to handle most situations."

These were the preparations he made before going to Dragon Valley, but he never expected that he would escape without ever needing them.

But it doesn't matter. As long as you prepare, it will be useful. At least it can be used in the competition, right?

Since he couldn't cultivate and didn't know where to start to improve his strength, Song Chen decided to scout out the enemy's situation in advance.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated!

......

But when Song Chen actually found out about his opponent and investigated the situation on the ground, he realized just how powerful his opponent was.

Chang You is a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining, specializing in the path of fire.

He's just one step away from Foundation Establishment, lacking only the right opportunity. He'll likely participate in the Grand Competition for Foundation Establishment, making him extremely difficult to deal with.

Song Chen looked at Chang You's house from afar, feeling slightly ashamed.

The mere aura emanating from the other party was enough to make Song Chen's heart tremble; he dared not even imagine the scene of being their enemy.

Chang You, who was at home, did not notice Song Chen's gaze and continued practicing his magic.

The towering flames blotted out the sun, and for a moment they seemed to rival the sun in brilliance.

How can you win against an opponent like this?