The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

Chapter 92 Late Foundation Establishment Stage

Xuan Le was very satisfied to see that Yang Qingyuan agreed so readily. He then pointed to the big man from Spirit Beast Mountain next to him and introduced him, "This is Fellow Daoist Lü Tianmeng from Spirit Beast Mountain, with the cultivation of the late Foundation Establishment stage."

"From now on, we'll be working together."

The burly man from Spirit Beast Mountain saw that Yang Qingyuan was only at the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, much weaker than himself, so he simply nodded and did not exchange any more pleasantries.

Immediately afterwards, Xuan Le looked at Chen Qiaoqian beside her and instructed, "Since Junior Brother Yang is also a cultivator from Huangfeng Valley, then we will trouble Junior Sister Chen to lead the way and find a place for Junior Brother Yang to stay."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiaoqian's delicate body trembled, and she looked at Yang Qingyuan with a complicated expression.

"Thank you for your trouble, Senior Sister Chen." Yang Qingyuan remained calm and gave Chen Qiaoqian a slight bow.

The five people stepped on the magical artifacts and hurried towards the depths of the canyon.

Upon reaching the bottom of the valley, Yang Qingyuan finally saw the array that was flashing with four colors of light: blue, red, green, and yellow. It was the Four Fiends Array, which was widely known in the cultivation world. Its power was so-so, and at most it could only hold off a Core Formation cultivator for a short while.

If the six sects of the demonic path were to attack, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan thought about finding the teleportation array in the mine as soon as possible, but after looking around, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

However, tens of thousands of holes were carved into the rock walls surrounding the mine, appearing densely packed.

Yang Qingyuan released his divine sense and swept it across the mine tunnels inside the mountain. He found that these tunnels were interconnected and crisscrossed, stretching all the way to the depths of the earth, with no end in sight.

Inside the mine, hundreds of Qi Refining stage cultivators were using pickaxe-like magical artifacts to mine spirit stones.

Chen Qiaoqian stood aside, looking at Yang Qingyuan with a mournful gaze, and explained, "The cultivators stationed at the mine all carved out cave dwellings in the abandoned mine tunnels."

"Junior brother, you choose one."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan chose a long-abandoned and secluded mine tunnel and went inside.

But unexpectedly, Chen Qiaoqian also came in.

Han Li, Xuan Le, and Lü Tianmeng looked thoughtful upon seeing this scene, but said nothing and returned to their respective caves.

Inside the mine tunnel, Yang Qingyuan stopped and turned to Chen Qiaoqian, asking, "Senior Sister Chen, is there something important that you've brought along?"

Chen Qiaoqian looked hesitant and stammered, "Junior Brother Yang, congratulations on breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."

Yang Qingyuan frowned slightly and replied, "Senior Sister Chen, please be frank and say what's on your mind."

Chen Qiaoqian then explained, "After the invasion of the demonic path, in order to stick together for mutual support, our Chen family found me a marriage alliance with another cultivation family."

"The man is the eldest son of the Feng family of Taibai Mountain in Jianzhou."

"I've met him too. He's at the early Foundation Establishment stage, has three spiritual roots, and is quite handsome. He's a pretty good catch."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan replied, "Senior Sister, I understand what you mean."

I will keep our relationship a secret.

"I will never let the eldest son of the Feng family know."

"You can rest assured."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiaoqian's face turned ashen, and she exuded a chilling aura. She bit her red lips, remained silent, and stared intently at Yang Qingyuan with her beautiful eyes.

Yang Qingyuan tilted his head and asked, "Senior Sister Chen, is there anything else?"

Chen Qiaoqian's lips twitched slightly, then she snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Yang Qingyuan watched the other woman's figure disappear at the mine exit, then withdrew his gaze. Not wanting to get entangled with her any longer, he took out a pair of magic artifacts shaped like ghost claws from his storage bag, opened up four stone chambers, and then took out five array flags and arranged them around the area.

After finishing, he walked along the mine tunnel deeper underground, trying to search for clues about the ancient teleportation array.

After searching for several hours, they still couldn't find any trace of the teleportation array, so they had to give up for the time being and go down into the mine tunnel the next day.

For the next two months, Yang Qingyuan searched along the mine tunnels one by one. In his spare time, he cultivated a medicinal field in the cave, planting two spiritual herbs, Seven-Colored Peony and Scrophularia, and then used the "Agriculture" mantra to accelerate their ripening.

Both of these medicinal herbs are essential for refining the Spirit Returning Pill.

As for the other dozen or so auxiliary medicines, they were originally produced in the Blood Forbidden Land and had long been carried by Yang Qingyuan.

Soon, the first batch of "Returning Spirit Pills" was successfully refined.

After taking the elixir, Yang Qingyuan successfully mastered the sixth level of the "Divine Sword Thunder Control Scripture" and broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage.

The sixth level of the technique also includes a sword magic spell called "Sword Locks the Land".

This spell already has the rudiments of a sword formation, requiring the coordination of more than seven flying swords. Once set up, it will release a continuous stream of sword energy.

These sword energies are only one-tenth the power of the flying sword itself, but they are inexhaustible until the magic power is exhausted, making them a rare group attack method.

Han Li, Xuan Le, Lü Tianmeng, and Chen Qiaoqian were also quite surprised by Yang Qingyuan's cultivation speed when they saw him break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

During this time, the cultivators who came to the mine to transport spirit stones would occasionally bring news from the front lines.

According to the visitor, the battle at the front is at a stalemate, and the seven major factions of Yue have even won a minor victory.

This is all thanks to Spirit Beast Mountain.

Spirit Beast Mountain was originally a branch of the Demonic Spirit Control Sect, a secret agent planted in the Yue Kingdom by the six sects of the Demonic Path a thousand years ago.

Now that the six major sects of the demonic path are preparing to invade the Yue Kingdom, they want to use Spirit Beast Mountain as a pawn, planning to coordinate from within and without to severely damage the other six major sects of the Yue Kingdom.

However, the higher-ups of Spirit Beast Mountain did not choose to return to the Spirit Control Sect. Instead, they turned the tables and spread false information to lure the six demonic sects into a pre-arranged ambush, severely damaging the vanguard of the six demonic sects in one fell swoop.

The six sects of the demonic path were naturally unwilling to suffer in silence, and immediately launched a full-scale attack, starting a war with the Yue Kingdom.

The two armies clashed at a place called Jingu Plain, where the borders of Yue, Cheqi, and Jiang meet. They fought more than ten battles, resulting in the deaths of eight Core Formation stage cultivators.

Tens of thousands of Qi Refining stage cultivators died.

However, the strength of the six sects of the demonic path far surpassed that of the seven major sects of the country, and they quickly gained the upper hand.

Fortunately, the seven major sects of Yue Kingdom set up some forbidden formations in time, which was able to withstand the attack.

Just when the Yue Kingdom was on the verge of collapse, reinforcements from neighboring countries such as the Zijin Kingdom and the Yuanwu Kingdom arrived just in time.

After all, the Nascent Soul cultivators of these countries all know the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold." Once the six demonic sects annex Yue Kingdom, neighboring countries such as Yuanwu Kingdom and Zijin Kingdom will not be able to escape either.

With the support of cultivators from neighboring countries, the seven major sects of Yue were finally able to withstand the fierce offensive of the six demonic sects.

As a result, the two sides were locked in a stalemate on Jingu Plain.

Seeing that they could not break through the Yue Kingdom's defenses in a short time, the six demonic sects changed their strategy and sent a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators to bypass Jingu Plain and penetrate deep into the Yue Kingdom to raid the Yue Kingdom's spirit stone mines and spirit herb gardens, attempting to cut off the Yue Kingdom's army's supplies.

The situation within the Yue Kingdom became increasingly chaotic, with news of attacks on spirit stone mines and spirit herb gardens frequently emerging, creating an atmosphere of extreme fear and unease.

Fortunately, the spirit stone vein near Yanjiabao is far from Jinguyuan, so it has remained calm.

However, the seven major sects of Yue Kingdom were still not at ease, so they sent four Foundation Establishment stage cultivators and over a hundred Qi Refining stage cultivators to support the mine.

Two months later, Yang Qingyuan finally found a clue about the teleportation array.

At dawn, hundreds of Qi Refining stage cultivators gathered on the open ground of the mine, their heads thronging and bustling about.

Yang Qingyuan was also alarmed, so he left his cave and rushed to the plaza to investigate.