Cultivating immortality begins with formations.

On the way back to Qingyue Lake, Lu Yuan also learned the identity of the attackers who came tonight from the Zhou family cultivators who were accompanying him.

The old dog Wang that Zhou Qingyun was cursing was named Wang Ren. He had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining and was a treacherous, vicious, and vindictive person.

After failing to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage at the age of ninety, this person abandoned his pursuit of the Great Dao and, relying on his remaining years, acted recklessly, repeatedly provoking trouble against the Zhou family.

It was his reckless behavior that caused the Zhou family a great deal of trouble, yet they were unable to eradicate it in the short term.

After everyone returned...

Zhou Qingyun's face was gloomy. He led several core clan members straight to the main hall, clearly to discuss how to deal with the Wang family.

Zhang Dashan waved goodbye and happily went into the bridal chamber.

Lu Yuan and the pharmacist were settled in a guest room in a villa not far from Qingyue Lake.

"Ugh."

"I thought that by becoming a son-in-law of the Zhou family, I could cultivate in peace with the backing of this powerful family, but I never expected..."

The pharmacist sighed.

Now that the Zhou and Wang families are at loggerheads, Zhang Dashan, as the son-in-law of the Zhou family, is destined to have no peace in the future.

Lu Yuan was silent for a moment: "That's his own path."

The pharmacist nodded and said nothing more.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged and regulated his breathing, quickly entering a meditative state, quietly waiting for dawn.

Silent all night.

As dawn breaks, Qingyue Lake is shrouded in a layer of pale golden morning mist, its surface shimmering and the mist rising gently, creating a scene resembling a fairyland.

After enjoying the beautiful scenery by the lake and having breakfast with two beautiful maids, Lu Yuan and the pharmacist took their leave without lingering.

Big families really know how to have fun; they even wear see-through clothes for breakfast...

True to his nature, Lu Yuan was no exception.

However, he was able to maintain his moral boundaries and knew that a one-night stand would bring him trouble, and if he had children, he would be bound tightly to the Zhou family.

When they left.

The Zhou family members were still discussing in the main hall and did not come out to see them off. Only a junior member of the Zhou family respectfully escorted the two out of Qingyue Lake.

The two rode back to Jiulingfang Market.

After a few hours of driving, we arrived safely at Jiulingfang City.

After returning the spirit horse, they first sent the pharmacist back, only to find that Ji Ming still hadn't returned. The pharmacist, being old and kind-hearted, couldn't help but worry again.

Lu Yuan offered a few words of comfort.

Ignoring the pharmacist's repeated refusals, he left behind two Qi-gathering array plates and returned home.

He didn't rest until he had settled down.

They immediately transformed into high-level oxen and horses, continuing to carve the Qi-gathering array plate, accumulating spirit stones for their future.

In the following days, things settled down again.

Lu Yuan diligently inscribed the Qi-gathering array plate every day, and spirit stones flowed into his storage bag, a task he never tired of.

Moreover, every few days, Jiang Zhi would send him paper cranes, inviting him to come and set up formations and patterns for the magical artifacts.

Not only did they receive more spirit stones, but their relationship also deepened.

In the past few days, he took out all the spirit stones from his storage bag and counted them one by one. He found that apart from the mid-grade spirit stone, there were nearly a thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Lu Yuan himself was somewhat surprised.

The exchange rate for low-grade spirit stones is 1,000 to 1.

Having two thousand low-grade spirit stones in hand means that he will have the confidence to participate in the upcoming auction.

but……

not enough.

Purchasing longevity pills alone should be enough, but if array diagrams and patterns appear, one cannot have both fish and bear's paw.

Fortunately, there was still time.

As long as we continue to earn spirit stones in the days to come, there will still be some opportunities.

Of course, cultivation should not be neglected.

He discovered that after engraving the array plate, entering cultivation with depleted spiritual energy in his dantian resulted in faster advancement in his cultivation realm compared to when it was full.

Like a flexible cavity, it gradually expands as it is constantly released and filled.

Meanwhile, the Qi Condensation Pills never stopped being used, and the Qi Gathering Array never stopped operating.

Lu Yuan's cultivation speed at this time was comparable to that of a rocket compared to before.

Moreover, there are no bottlenecks from the fourth to the sixth level of Qi Refining. Bottlenecks only appear when one is about to enter the late stage of Qi Refining from the middle stage.

However, there are exceptions. Some exceptionally talented individuals with outstanding cultivation aptitude can achieve rapid progress in their cultivation before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, with almost no bottlenecks.

……

late at night.

Standing in the courtyard, I felt the abundant spiritual energy in my dantian.

Lu Yuan circulated his energy throughout his body, wielding the mid-grade magic weapon, the Golden Shadow Sword, which shone with golden light, and began practicing the Golden Edge Sword Technique in the courtyard.

The sword gleamed, and its energy surged.

Golden rays of light crisscrossed like thunderbolts, indicating that the Golden Edge Sword Technique had been mastered, thus providing an extra layer of protection in future battles.

If Lu Yuan hadn't intentionally controlled it, this courtyard built of green bricks and tiles would have collapsed in an instant, crushing the flowers and plants in the corner.

"No wonder those highly skilled senior monsters rarely live among people, but mostly open their own caves. Otherwise, just practicing magic would harm innocent people."

Lu Yuan stopped wielding his sword and pondered to himself.

Sudden.

A violent roar of fighting came from the direction of the Nine Ridges Mountains, interrupting his thoughts.

Immediately afterwards, a surge of spiritual energy swept over.

Even though Lu Yuan was in the heart of the market, he was disturbed by the atmosphere of rioting.

It is conceivable that the cultivators on the outskirts of the market felt it even more acutely.

Lu Yuan felt a chill run down his spine. He flashed out of the house, leaped onto the wall, and looked towards the Nine Ridges Mountains.

Many courtyards and houses also began to peek out, watching the Jiuling Mountains.

In the distance, dark clouds rolled across the night sky.

Beneath the dark clouds, a figure could be vaguely seen, holding a banner, shrouded in black mist, surrounded by fluttering spirits.

"Who is this? Such a powerful aura."

Lu Yuan was secretly alarmed and prepared to use defensive measures at any time.

In the distance, several beams of light swirled around, continuously striking at the black clouds, but for a time, they were helpless against them.

"Those bastards from Jiuling Marketplace, who treated my Yinluo Palace with disdain today, will surely..."

A sharp shout came from the black clouds...

However, before the shout was even halfway through, a blinding sword light shot out from the market, transforming into a huge pillar of light that struck the black clouds.

"Boom..."

After a loud bang, the figure inside the black cloud seemed to have suffered a silent loss, and transformed into a streak of black light, quickly escaping.

"This...this is definitely not the Foundation Establishment stage!"

Lu Yuan's cultivation was still shallow, and he was unable to discern the truth.

However, one could sense that the sword light that had just shot out from the market was like a majestic heavenly might, a power that no Foundation Establishment cultivator could possibly possess.

As for the figure within the dark clouds, judging from his words, he seems to be a member of the Yinluo Palace. He refers to himself as "this one," could it be Qiu Wantian of the Yinluo Palace...?

I had only heard that Qiu Wantian was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but tonight his aura was at least at the late-Foundation Establishment stage.

Lu Yuan didn't know what had happened in the Nine Ridges Mountains, but from this state, it wasn't hard to guess that the Yinluo Palace should no longer exist.

If Ji Ming is still alive, he should be back in the next few days.

You can ask him about it later...