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

Song Chen's hand hovered in the air, his expression unnatural: "Boss? How much is this bell?"

"Two thousand spirit stones."

The boss didn't even glance at it, but a smile played on his lips, indicating his determination to win.

Song Chen's face darkened as he strode to the boss's desk: "Why has the price increased by a thousand spirit stones in such a short time?"

"It's my shop, my stuff, I set the price! What? You have a problem with that?"

The boss raised his eyelids, and the aura of a peak Qi Refining expert emanated from within.

Song Chen was alarmed.

No wonder my divine sense couldn't detect the boss's true cultivation level; it turns out he was at the same cultivation level!

Divine sense can only detect cultivators with lower cultivation levels than oneself; it is ineffective against cultivators of the same cultivation level but higher realm.

The boss's aura surpassed Song Chen's, suggesting he was a cultivator whose superior divine sense had broken through to the peak of Qi Refining.

After weighing the pros and cons, Song Chen decided it was better to avoid trouble. However, encountering a shady shop owner raising prices wasn't a big deal.

"Alright! I'll buy it, two thousand spirit stones!"

The spirit stones were piled up like a mountain and placed on the table, gleaming brightly.

But the boss remained unmoved, swaying back and forth in his recliner, glancing at Song Chen with shifty eyes, and shaking his head:

"You've really disappointed me. I think two thousand spirit stones is too low; ten thousand spirit stones would be more enough!"

Song Chen gritted his teeth, his lips twitching.

This is a rip-off! Absolutely a rip-off!

But that bell is currently the only thing that could possibly be linked to comprehension.

Song Chen took a deep breath and said, "Here is ten thousand spirit stones."

"No returns accepted. Take your items with you."

The shopkeeper snorted coldly, took the spirit stones, and muttered, "Just a mid-level divine sense and you think you can get a bargain? You're just throwing money away."

Song Chen took the bell, looking constipated. He glanced back at the shop without a sign and silently memorized the owner's face.

His hair was slicked back, gray and white, and shiny; a scar on his right cheek, neither too deep nor too shallow...

......

One day later.

"Moonfall Courtyard"

A clear, ringing bell rang through the sky, its powerful, soul-stirring sound reverberating throughout the cave.

Song Chen took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on a rock outside the cave dwelling, and began to comprehend the Foundation Establishment Aid Method.

Several hours passed.

He opened his eyes, expressionless, and analyzed:

"It still doesn't work. The Soul Bell doesn't improve comprehension, but it's not entirely useless. It has a certain effect on calming and stabilizing the soul, subtly improving the soul's foundation, and thus making the divine sense more solid and powerful."

Song Chen felt a slight change in his divine sense, which offered him some psychological comfort. He thought to himself:

Perhaps, given time and accumulated experience, even intermediate-level divine consciousness can transform into superior-level divine consciousness?

The influence of the soul's foundation on consciousness is mostly concentrated before consciousness is condensed.

The stronger one's foundation, the easier it is to condense superior divine consciousness.

In theory, if one's soul foundation is strong enough to reach its peak, one can directly condense superior divine consciousness without needing the Concentration Technique.

But people whose souls are this strong usually possess special physical constitutions.

Cultivators with special physiques are almost all geniuses who enter top-tier sects early on, have no shortage of resources, and do not need to accumulate soul essence to condense superior divine consciousness.

"I've never heard of condensing divine sense and then further increasing its strength. Could this bell be the cause?"

Thinking of this, Song Chen looked at the bronze bell in his hand, and his anger dissipated considerably.

However, this slight compensation does not mean that his feud with that boss is over.

One thing at a time!

Furthermore, the issue of comprehension remains unresolved, and Song Chen still has to go out.

......

Song Chen strolled through the streets, observing the people coming and going. This scene calmed his mind and made his spirit more stable.

"I should get out and about more, instead of just staying in seclusion."

Just as he was thinking this, a beautiful figure brushed past him.

Song Chen glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and recognized him as the rogue cultivator he had met at Wang Zhouzhou's house that day.

Jiang Manxin's eyes flickered slightly when she saw Song Chen, but her expression remained blank, no different from that of a stranger.

"This person looks familiar?"

Song Chen chuckled to himself. It seemed the Forget-Me-Not Pill was working quite well; at least he had no obvious memory of the past.

The two walked towards each other, getting further and further apart.

On a street corner, a young monk held up black bills and shouted:

"Master Qian is giving a sermon again! There are only ten tickets left, each costing only three hundred spirit stones. First come, first served!"

The crowd surged toward the black bill in the cultivator's hand.

"This is mine! Get out of my way!"

"Get out of here!"

Two of the cultivators were clearly making a big move, moving through the crowd like wolves among sheep. Anyone who blocked their way was either elbowed away or knocked away with a spell, and they quickly went straight for the cultivator holding the black bill.

The monks at the front kept paying and taking away the black tickets, and the number of black tickets decreased rapidly.

The young cultivator holding the black tickets suddenly had only two left in his hand.

The two cultivators exchanged a glance, both seeing competitive hostility in each other's eyes.

Song Chen glanced at them and recognized the two men as the middle-aged man with the piercing thorn and the rough, dark skin who had been extorted by Tie Wumian earlier.

Both of them were cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining, but had not yet broken through to the peak of Qi Refining.

Although Chongtianci's cultivation level was relatively low, the two were still evenly matched in overall speed, with no significant difference between them.

Then, another person rushed to pay and bought one.

The past and the present are always strikingly similar, and so we find ourselves back in that situation where there's only one black ticket left.

Upon seeing this, the two moved even faster than before.

Song Chen was initially unmoved, but seeing the two of them working so hard, he couldn't help but feel a little curious.

What is so special about Professor Qian's lecture series that attracts so many people?

Why not go and listen? Three hundred spirit stones isn't much.

Having made up his mind, Song Chen acted on his thoughts, and his figure suddenly disappeared from the spot.

A dark figure flew over the two men's heads, swiftly took the last black ticket, and tossed three hundred spirit stones into the young cultivator's hand, thus completing the transaction.

Everyone was startled by Song Chen's sudden action and stared at him in a daze.

The young cultivator swallowed hard, his expression blank as he stared at the three hundred spirit stones that had suddenly appeared in his hand, feeling a sense of unease.

Although the middle-aged man with the piercing thorn and the rough, dark-skinned man were both displeased, they only snorted coldly and didn't say anything more.

That's how it is with ticket buying; the strong get priority.

It's more accurate to say that this applies to the entire cultivation world.

......

Holding the receipt, Song Chen asked, "Where did Mr. Qian preach?"

The young cultivator blinked in confusion and said, "Follow me."

Just then, a figure landed on the spot.

It is iron without a face.

"No conflict occurred?"

He was slightly surprised. His divine sense swept across the scene and finally landed on Song Chen, who was holding the black bill and preparing to leave with the young cultivator.

Song Chen felt the divine sense sweep over him, his cheeks twitched slightly, and he sneered inwardly:

"How come this Iron Faceless is everywhere! How dare he, with his mere low-level divine sense, sweep around like this in front of me?"

He showed no weakness and immediately used his divine sense to push back Tie Wumian's divine sense.

The invisible collision of divine senses appeared calm to these cultivators, but it was quite different to the cultivators at the peak of Qi Refining.

Snapped!

Tie Wumian's face paled instantly. He had lost the battle of spiritual consciousness and wanted to lash out, but a thought arose in his mind and he did not act.

Song Chen didn't use his full strength; if Tie Wumian died right there, it would be a huge problem.

This is not alarmist.

In a clash of spiritual consciousness, if one side possesses a powerful spiritual consciousness and deliberately acts ruthlessly, it can instantly obliterate the other side, causing severe damage on the spot!

At best, it can cause dementia; at worst, it can lead to immediate death!

Tie Wumian was well aware of this, and coupled with his sense of Song Chen's strength, his bullying instinct resurfaced, and he hurriedly left in a huff.