Yunmeng Immortal Clan

On Qinglian Islands, atop Qingsui Peak.

Song Hongsheng controlled the array plate for the group of family cultivators, while the other cultivators each handled their assigned array flags and contributed some spirit stones into the array.

This cultivation world's grand formation is divided into eight categories: Yin and Yang, Three Powers, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Luminaries, Eight Trigrams, and Nine Palaces.

Based on size, they are further divided into small, medium, and large.

The Fire Nail Formation before us is a medium-sized formation.

As the spirit stones were poured in, the great array shone brightly in an instant, and the sky was filled with fire that enveloped the "dark cloud".

Then Song Hongsheng chanted incantations and used the technique to manipulate the great formation. One after another, blazing and dazzling arrows of fire split into multiple streams and pierced towards the green-winged locusts.

Some of the Green-Winged Locusts were quite intelligent. As soon as they saw that things were not going well, they fled in droves. However, the power of the great formation could not stop them, and they were immediately burned to ashes by the sizzling fire arrows.

The corpses of the Azure-winged Locusts fell into the spirit field. The corpses of these demonic insects, the Azure-winged Locusts, did not need to be processed. They were born from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and contained rich nutrients. Now that they had fallen into the spirit field, they were like natural fertilizer.

With the locust plague completely over, the cultivators on Qing Sui Peak finally put their magical artifacts into the low-grade storage bags at their waists.

The group of cultivators held a banquet, drinking and chatting happily.

"The spirit stones consumed by this formation must be reimbursed by the clan leader; we Qi Refining cultivators can't afford such a huge expenditure!"

"Of course. We cultivators of this family have done our utmost for the benefit of the family. If the family doesn't even offer this much compensation, then the family would be too disheartening for us cultivators."

As the banquet ended, Song Daoxuan returned to the vicinity of his cave dwelling. After being wary of his surroundings, he sat cross-legged on the ground and took out the Qi-gathering gourd.

The moonlight was bright and clear, hazy and indistinct, like a light veil shrouding the entire Qingsui Peak.

Moonlight gathered from all directions into the Qi-Gathering Gourd, transforming into tiny, moon-white specks...

The following day, Song Daoxuan once again absorbed the essence of the morning glow.

Then came cultivation, watering the spiritual field, gathering qi, and learning the way of alchemy from the Supreme Elder Song Chuanyuan.

Although these days were dull and tedious, Song Daoxuan gritted his teeth and persevered whenever he thought of the words "immortality".

Several months passed.

The white jade rice has ripened, and the heavy, golden ears of rice have bent the stems.

All the cultivators on the peak organized themselves, and their figures could be seen on the ridges of the spirit fields.

Each of these cultivators picked up a specially made long scythe, poured some magic power into it, and with a swing of the scythe, harvested all the spirit rice.

After a few days, the rice harvest was completed, leaving the fields bare. The rice, bundled into stacks and placed among the fields, was quite a beautiful sight.

"The results for the spirit rice that Qing Sui Peak submitted this year have all been tallied. Ten mu yielded a total of 1,236 jin. After accounting for losses, there was a surplus of 89 spirit stones..."

The one who uttered these words was Song Daoxuan's second uncle, Song Hongdong, who was actually a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Unfortunately, my second uncle didn't have a Foundation Establishment Pill when he was establishing his foundation. Instead, he luckily obtained a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object called Xuan Yin Cold Water, which had an effect comparable to a Foundation Establishment Pill.

A cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining can attempt Foundation Establishment once they have cultivated a Five Elements Technique to the ninth level.

Unless a cultivator with a spiritual root of earth or higher can establish their foundation on their own, the probability of other cultivators establishing their foundation is extremely low without the aid of foundation-establishing pills and spiritual objects.

After failing to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, a cultivator's meridians will be damaged to a certain extent. Generally speaking, a cultivator who fails to establish the Foundation Establishment stage for the first time will give up, because it would be good to succeed on the second attempt, but if he fails, he will die and his cultivation will be destroyed.

The second uncle failed the first time he used the Foundation Establishment Pill without relying on the Three Spiritual Roots, but he succeeded in establishing his foundation the second time by relying on the Profound Yin Cold Water. He was going all in, determined to succeed or die trying.

Although Second Uncle successfully established his foundation, the hidden dangers of the Xuan Yin Cold Water, the so-called cold energy, continued to stimulate Second Uncle's dantian.

This so-called cold energy, which is not used by cultivators who have formed their core to condense their core flames, will forever affect their cultivation progress, and they will have to endure the cold energy enveloping their bodies day and night, causing pain as if their bones were being scraped and their flesh was being cut.

But my second uncle remained silent, diligently handling family affairs, never showing a trace of pain on his face.

He's a ruthless character, but only ruthless to himself. Towards his people, he always maintains a gentle demeanor.

Upon hearing Song Hongdong's words, Song Daoxuan frowned slightly: "In previous years, a little over a thousand catties could earn over a hundred low-grade spirit stones, how come now, with over two thousand two hundred catties, we're only getting eighty-odd low-grade spirit stones!"

Song Hongdong said with a somber expression:

"In recent years, the immortal clans along the Yunmeng Marsh have been cultivating spirit rice on a large scale. Although it is not the same white jade spirit rice, the fact that it is similar to other spirit rice has caused a price surge, resulting in an increased yield this year, which is why we have earned so few spirit stones..."

Upon hearing his second uncle's words, Song Daoxuan remained silent. He received the spirit stones from his second uncle, which were a reward from the clan for planting spirit rice over the past few years. One stone was missing, leaving him with only four low-grade spirit stones.

After giving Song Hongdong a few instructions on what Song Daoxuan should pay attention to in his cultivation, he left somewhat sullenly.

"On Qinglian Island, the hundred acres of spirit fields rely mostly on this spirit rice for spirit stones. As for the spirit plants and herbs from the cultivation world, they take at least several decades to mature, making the costs too high. The real income depends on this spirit rice. With the family's income plummeting and the family struggling, I imagine Second Uncle's life must be difficult as well!"

Song Daoxuan remained silent for a long time, but when he thought that he was just a minor cultivator in the Qi Refining stage in the family, and that the power center of the family was still in the hands of the elders and Foundation Establishment cultivators, he once again fell into the tedious cultivation.

Time flies when cultivating immortality. Another six years passed, and Song Daoxuan reached the age of twenty-five. His cultivation level had barely broken through to the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Inside Song Daoxuan's Qi-gathering gourd, more than forty drops of Purple Dew had accumulated, while one drop of Lunar Dew had finally been accumulated. Among countless purple energies, a drop of silver energy suddenly caught his eye.

Song Daoxuan was overjoyed. He had been diligently collecting the power of the moon's essence every day, and today he finally reaped the rewards.

He was well aware of the slow pace of cultivation with the five spiritual roots, and he didn't want to endure such hardship any longer. He immediately swallowed the drop of Taiyin Dew and began to refine the astonishing power contained within it.

Inside an inconspicuous cave on Qing Sui Peak, accompanied by a violent wail, the young cultivator's physical constitution underwent an unprecedented change.

His spiritual root form remained unchanged, still being a five-elemental root, but his cultivation speed underwent a qualitative change, catching up with the cultivation speed of a four-elemental root.

After another year of seclusion, when Song Daoxuan was twenty-six years old, he broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, becoming a mid-level cultivator instead of a beginner.

"I've finally broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining. After years of studying alchemy with the Supreme Elder every day, my spiritual energy now only meets the minimum requirements for refining pills..."

A few days later, in Song Chuanyuan's cave.

Song Daoxuan bowed to Song Chuanyuan with his hands clasped, saying, "Grand Uncle..."

Song Daoxuan got straight to the point, explaining his purpose: he wanted to borrow Song Chuanyuan's alchemy furnace to prepare for refining pills.

Song Chuanyuan's Foundation Establishment cultivation was quickly detected by his divine sense, revealing that Song Daoxuan's cultivation had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. However, he was already twenty-six years old, so his cultivation speed was not considered particularly fast.

However, when he thought that Song Daoxuan was a person with five spiritual roots and had achieved this, he realized that this young man had probably not been negligent in his cultivation, so he felt more favorably toward him.

Song Chuanyuan gazed at Song Daoxuan with a kind expression and coughed lightly a few times.

"Dao Xuan, I've been teaching you alchemy for some time now. Although I don't have many rare pill formulas, I have enough common ones for you to practice with. I have a Qingling Powder pill formula here, which is relatively simple to make among first-tier pills. Since you've already prepared the main ingredient, Ninglu Grass, and I have the other auxiliary ingredients, you can start making the pill..."

Inside Song Chuanyuan's alchemy room, Song Daoxuan was intently manipulating the flames.

However, the next moment, black smoke suddenly rose, and a foul smell of dregs of medicine wafted into the nostrils, extremely pungent!

He frowned slightly, his expression grim. If the flame temperature got too high, the herbs would be burned into dregs, and a poisonous gas would stagnate inside the furnace.

If the dregs of the medicinal residue are not cleaned up in time, it will seriously affect the probability of successful pill formation. Some more orthodox alchemists will have a special alchemy apprentice to clean the alchemy furnace. However, these apprentices have extremely short lifespans and are replaced every once in a while...

Song Daoxuan was not discouraged, nor was he arrogant enough to believe that he could succeed in refining pills on his first attempt.

"Sigh! Another failure. The flame temperature was too low, causing the herbs to not be fully consumed, thus resulting in the failure of the alchemy!"

The great-uncle Song Chuanyuan looked at his nephew with a smug smile.

He thought to himself, "I never expected that these ten sets of alchemy materials would be enough to refine a single finished pill. But learning the art of alchemy requires more than just theory; practice is essential..."

"When I first refined this Qingling Powder, it took me a full twenty portions of materials to barely succeed. Now, I can only manage one pill every eight batches at most..."

However, when Song Daoxuan was refining the eighth batch of pills, there was neither black smoke nor any sign of undigested herbs in the furnace.

The three nascent pills solidified completely at this moment, enveloped in a faint glow, and then floated out from the lid, hovering in mid-air.

Song Chuanyuan was immediately shocked. The pill had actually been made just like that?