First achieve immortality, then cultivate immortality.

Spring goes and autumn comes, another ten years have passed.

During this period, Xu Mu had already visited Wulei City twice.

Besides selling the Spirit Gathering Fruit, he used all the remaining money, except for buying the Youth Preservation Pill, to buy second-grade spiritual herbs, increasing the number of times he could refine pills.

Selling Spirit Gathering Fruit once, and only buying the main ingredient of Rejuvenation Pill, can get you three portions of the main ingredient.

If you add more supplementary medications later, you can practice 15 more times.

Over the past ten years, I spent seven years cultivating materials for the Rejuvenation Pill and two years cultivating Spirit Gathering Fruit. I also went to Five Thunder City to shop, and in total, I obtained 20 sets of materials, enough for 100 repetitions.

With so much investment, the success rate of refining the Rejuvenation Pill has finally increased to 90%, and other pills can achieve at least 70%, which is considered acceptable.

Looking back on the expenses over the years, Xu Mu felt quite helpless; this was truly an expensive hoarding.

However, there was no way around it; alchemy was notoriously difficult to learn.

As Master Chen Xuan said, this is a kind of "Tao," and the path to seeking the Tao is indeed difficult.

Second-stage alchemy is not something that cultivators in the Qi Refining stage should master.

Because cultivators in the Qi Refining stage have too much to learn, lack the financial resources, and are busy with Foundation Establishment, they simply don't have time to delve into the second-stage alchemy technique.

Basically, only after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, which adds two hundred years to one's lifespan, will one have time to study "elective courses" such as alchemy and Qimen formations.

Therefore, alchemists at the second level or above, as well as their corresponding formation masters and weapon refiners, are all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Xu Mu's cultivation steps are clearly different from others.

"Finally, we can proceed as planned. It's time to prepare to refine the Golden Saint Pill."

My cultivation has been delayed for so many years. My original intention was to sharpen my axe before chopping wood, and to greatly increase my cultivation speed after refining the Golden Saint Pill.

As a result, he spent fourteen years sharpening the knife...

However, these are all minor matters.

How heavy is 14 years?

I didn't feel anything for Xu Mu, but Li Zhiyuan was already 49 years old and Li Zhihua was 47.

When he encountered setbacks, they stayed by his side and helped him through his troubles.

He wasn't really concerned about what achievements he had made. On the contrary, he was glad that he hadn't devoted himself to alchemy for the past 14 years, but had instead lived happily with them.

At this time, he should go to Five Thunder City again to prepare materials for the Golden Saint Pill.

"Go early and come back early," Li Zhiyuan said with a smile.

"Young master, go home early." Li Zhihua waved with a smile.

The two of them no longer showed any reluctance to see him leave, as if they wanted to make this farewell a normal thing.

Xu Mu smiled and nodded: "Wait for me to come home."

Finally, he patted their heads and soared into the air.

The two sisters watched him go with longing in their eyes until he disappeared into the horizon...

……

I've come to Wulei City once again.

Xu Mu was already familiar with the process and set up his stall as usual.

"Fellow Daoist, you're here to sell Spirit Gathering Fruits again."

Halfway through selling his goods, a man came to his stall, acting as if they were old acquaintances.

Xu Mu glanced at him indifferently, and seeing the other man's smile, he felt that he had some ill intentions.

The other party smiled and said, "I've noticed that you can produce more than ten Spirit Gathering Fruits to sell every four to five years. You're really capable."

"Buy it if you want, get lost if you don't," Xu Mu said coldly.

The other party was not annoyed, and chuckled, "Don't be in a hurry. My surname is Gu, and my given name is Cheng. I am a member of the Gu family."

Xu Mu remained silent with a somber expression, but he knew very well that he was in trouble.

Gu Cheng smiled faintly and said, "As far as I know, Spirit Gathering Fruits ripen only once a year. So you must be able to grow this many Spirit Gathering Fruits every year, but you just use them all yourself until you need to trade them, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Mu knew what the other party was thinking.

What they want is not a few Spirit Gathering Fruits, but a medicinal field that can grow Spirit Gathering Fruits.

Xu Mu sneered, "You're dreaming. If I could obtain this many Spirit Gathering Fruits every year, would I still be at this level after all these years?"

These words made Gu Cheng pause for a moment.

This is indeed something that their Gu family cannot be certain about.

Then he chuckled and said, "Fellow Daoist, please don't get agitated. I just wanted to ask a question. These Spirit Gathering Fruits are all lacking in spiritual energy, so they must have come from the same place. They might not have been grown by you. So, how did you obtain them?"

"What's it to you?" Xu Mu said indifferently.

"Hehe, it's indeed none of my business, but it is related to your own safety," the other party said with a smile.

"Let me tell you the truth, it's not just the Gu family that's eyeing you now. Once you leave the city, countless people, including the Xu family, the Fu family, and the Yang family, will try to capture you, just to extract the secret you've revealed."

Xu Mu's heart sank upon hearing this.

This was a situation he hadn't anticipated.

He probably underestimated the cruelty of the cultivation world.

In that case, wouldn't he be unable to even come to this market?

Thinking about this, he laughed in anger.

He just wanted to do some small business, and all the things were grown by himself with great effort, but it was as if he had committed some serious crime and had to run away like a rat in the street.

This incident solidified his resolve—he must never stand in the spotlight; he must find a way to remain behind the scenes!

Seeing that he understood the seriousness of the matter, Gu Cheng said gently, "I'm telling you this first because I want to give you this opportunity. As long as you cooperate with our Gu family, we will protect you and you won't be shortchanged on benefits. What do you say?"

Xu Mu paused for a moment, then sighed and said, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime. Let me think about it."

Gu Cheng thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then I'll wait here for a moment."

After saying that, he didn't leave, but just walked to the side and stood not far away, continuing to stare at him.

Xu Mu ignored him and continued selling his goods while pondering how to break the deadlock.

This trouble is probably really serious.

Including this time, he has come to Five Thunder City four times to sell Spirit Gathering Fruits.

Back in Nan Nian Gu, I was recognized the second time.

Now that it has happened four times, those who have noticed him must be certain that he has a place where he can grow Spirit Gathering Fruit, or at least know of such a place.

Moreover, this place is unclaimed territory; otherwise, it wouldn't have fallen into the hands of a rogue cultivator like him. Even if he has a powerful backer, it certainly wouldn't be a large one, otherwise why would he come here alone and sell Spirit Gathering Fruits in this way?

The annual production of a dozen or so Spirit Gathering Fruits is enough to ignite the greed of countless independent cultivators and aristocratic families.

By relying on these Spirit Gathering Fruits, they can continuously cultivate high-level Qi Refining cultivators who will become the backbone of the family.

If one of them has high comprehension and can establish a foundation after comprehending the Dao, then the family will instantly take off.

Therefore, we should not underestimate the importance that those powerful families attach to this matter; it would be no exaggeration to say that they would spare no expense to acquire it.

Xu Mu estimated that if it weren't for the large number of people eyeing him and their mutual concerns about the potential for a major conflict, they would probably have already started fighting in the city by now.

How can he extricate himself now?

He ran away the first two times, so they must know he's good at stealth.

The fact that the Gu family dares to contact him directly now, without fear of alerting him, probably means they are confident that they have him under their control.

If they panic and run out without thinking, they're doomed.

After much thought, he could only sigh helplessly.

"Let's see if we can ask someone for help first, otherwise, I'm afraid I'll be in grave danger on my own."

Gu Cheng, who was standing next to him, was not even in his consideration.

That's probably the only place that can help him now.