Yunmeng Immortal Clan

"I used to worry about not having enough Qi Gathering Pills, but now that I've reached the Great Perfection of the tenth level of Qi Refining, I'm worried about not being able to successfully establish my foundation. This path of cultivation is truly fraught with difficulties. It seems that without going through trials and tribulations, true immortality is hard to achieve!"

Song Daoxuan, dressed in a blue Daoist robe, stood by Qingfeng Lake and, with a hand seal, put the Foundation Establishment Pill formula into his storage bag.

Song Linyu did not pass on the Foundation Establishment Pill formula to his family. After all, in the entire Song Clan of Qinglian Island, after the passing of the Supreme Elder Song Chuanyuan, Song Daoxuan became the only first-level alchemist in this Foundation Establishment cultivation family. Even if the Foundation Establishment Pill formula had arrived in the family first, it would definitely have been reviewed by Song Daoxuan first.

However, once the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill spreads to cultivation families, it will only bring endless troubles.

"It seems that I need to obtain this Mystic Ice Flower before I can refine this Foundation Establishment Pill. So after I finish what I did at Qingfeng Lake, I must go to the snow-covered area of ​​the Yunling Mountains. Otherwise, given my cautious nature, if I could obtain this Mystic Ice Flower through ordinary means, I would never take the risk with my weak cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Tenth Level of Qi Refining..."

After all, countless cultivators have died in this snow-covered land of the Yunling Mountains, and tens of thousands of martial arts masters from the secular world, sent out by countless martial arts schools, have been buried there like meat grinders.

Unfortunately, the Xuanbing Flower is tightly controlled by various cultivation sects. It seems that cultivators in this world who want to achieve a more stable foundation establishment must join one of these sects and strive to enter the inner sect before they can obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. Moreover, the Foundation Establishment Pill must be from a reputable sect.

During Song Daoxuan's time at Qingfeng Lake, the Qingpin Foundation Establishment Pill that Song Hongshu and Song Zhiya, father and daughter, had spent a fortune to snatch from the Yunmeng Immortal Gathering was directly bestowed upon Song Hongyi, a cultivator in the clan who had just reached the tenth level of Qi Refining and was ranked twelfth among the Hong generation of cultivators.

Song Hongyi possesses the aptitude of three spiritual roots. In a cultivation family like the Song clan, the appearance of someone with three spiritual roots is generally considered to be top-tier cultivation talent.

As for Song Linyu, who possesses the Earth Spirit Root, there have truly been very few such individuals throughout the entire Song family's centuries-long history.

Throughout the entire Song family of cultivators, the limited number of Foundation Establishment Pill slots over the years have been determined by the elders' council.

The so-called council of elders is a structured arrangement of "a number of strong and wise men".

The term "wise men" refers to cultivators whose cultivation has reached the Great Perfection of the ninth to tenth level of Qi Refining. Even if these cultivators have not reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they are still highly respected within the cultivation families and will be granted the title of elder.

The rule of the powerful Foundation Establishment cultivation families is that any descendant of the Song family of Qinglian Island who cultivates to the Foundation Establishment stage will enter the family core and have the power to independently open a peak and allocate spiritual veins and spiritual energy.

Above the decisions of the elders' council, dozens of family elders, one vote of a Foundation Establishment elder is equivalent to ten votes of an ordinary elder. The family retains the power of the family patriarch and the supreme elder, who have the power to make decisions with a single vote. However, to ensure fairness, the patriarch and the supreme elder generally only listen in and do not participate in the decision-making of family affairs, large and small.

Song Hongyi was diligent and conscientious on his cultivation path. When he served as an elder, he could arrive at the scene immediately whenever there was a demonic calamity or an invasion by demonic cultivators within the clan. Not to mention that he could play a role at critical moments, his spirit alone moved all the elders of the clan.

Therefore, the quota for this Foundation Establishment Pill was directly given to Song Hongyi, a cultivator who had persisted in contributing to the family.

However, becoming an immortal in this world is not so easy. After Song Hongyi swallowed the Foundation Establishment Pill in his cave, bearing the expectations of the entire immortal cultivation family,

On the seventy-second day of his hundred-day foundation-building journey, Song Hongyi could not withstand the effects of the foundation-building pill and fainted instantly. Song Hongyi's foundation-building attempt failed.

Even a cultivator with three spiritual roots, with the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill, is not guaranteed to achieve Foundation Establishment.

Upon learning of Song Hongyi's failure to establish his foundation, the elders of the family came to advise him to relax, saying that it was just a failure and he could still contribute to the family.

A failed Foundation Establishment attempt will cause slight damage to the meridians of a cultivator. However, there is a second chance to attempt Foundation Establishment. But most Qi Refining cultivators do not dare to attempt this second attempt, because for a cultivator, there is no turning back after the second attempt.

Unexpectedly, after consuming the Foundation Establishment Pill from his family, Song Hongyi fell into deep self-reproach. After all, the family had spent a considerable amount of spirit stones to purchase this Foundation Establishment Pill at the Yunmeng Immortal Gathering, and he had wasted it. If he hadn't vowed to succeed in establishing his foundation, the Foundation Establishment Pill would have been given to several other cultivators in his family who were at the Great Perfection of the Tenth Level of Qi Refining.

At that time, the cultivators of these families who have reached the tenth level of Qi Refining might be able to successfully establish their foundation, thus adding a new Foundation Establishment cultivator to their families.

Because Song Hongyi was so obsessed with Foundation Establishment, he rested for several months. Even after his first Foundation Establishment, his external injuries had just healed, but his internal injuries had not yet fully recovered.

Song Hongyi chose to build his foundation independently with nothing in his body.

A mournful wail echoed from Song Hongyi's cave, followed by a violent explosion signifying a failed breakthrough. Song Hongyi was reduced to a weakened corpse.

The corpse was barely breathing, showing no signs of life. Its teeth and hair had all fallen out and were scattered all over the ground. Its death was truly gruesome.

When Song Daoxuan heard this news, his expression was incredibly complex.

"Seeking the path to immortality, seeking the path to immortality, searching for eternal life, searching for eternal life—is this so-called path to immortality truly so easy to obtain...?"

The fact that Song Hongyi's forced foundation building resulted in his death and the dissipation of his Dao made Song Daoxuan even more eager for the so-called foundation building pills.

"Although I am cautious, I, like my uncle Hong Yi, have an inexplicable thirst for the path to immortality. The Yunling Mountains are indeed extremely dangerous, but if those mortals from martial arts schools can go there, I, a mere cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining, refuse to believe that I have no chance of obtaining the Xuanbing Flower!"

"However, if I can raise my alchemy skills to the level of a second-tier alchemist before the Qingfeng Lake incident is resolved, I can immediately begin refining Foundation Establishment Pills after obtaining the Xuanbing Flower!"

With this in mind, Song Daoxuan took out his alchemy furnace and began refining batches of first-tier pills. He tried to remain calm and composed, hoping to seize every opportunity to break through to the second-tier alchemist level.