Immortality Cultivation: Fellow Daoists, please live for two more episodes!

The Gathering Wealth Pavilion, the back room.

Lin Qiusheng and Qin Jiu sat down at opposite ends of the table once again. Lin Qiusheng's expression remained unchanged, but unlike last time, Qin Jiu was unusually warm and friendly this time.

As soon as he sat down, he took out two items from his sleeve and placed them on the table, pushing them toward Lin Qiusheng.

"These two items were given to me by that person to bring to Brother Lin."

The first item was a thin jade slip, which Qin Jiu pointed to:

"This is the [Spirit Bathing Scripture], not a cultivation technique, but a supplementary cultivation method. After practicing it, one's affinity with spiritual energy will greatly increase, and one's cultivation speed among those of the same level will be at least 30% faster."

The second item was a small, emerald-green porcelain bottle with a ring of fine spiritual patterns engraved on its surface, and it felt slightly warm to the touch.

"This bottle is called the [Life-Giving Bottle]. It contains a self-generating spiritual liquid. A single drop can transform something decayed into something splendid. If any elixirs or magical artifacts are damaged, a single drop can restore them to their original state. It generates three drops every month, and its supply is inexhaustible."

Inside the stone chamber, Zhou Youyuan looked at the two items on the light screen, feeling somewhat speechless.

Turning decay into glory? Generating spiritual elixir monthly?

Isn't this just a simplified version of Han Li's little green bottle?

Although he cannot cultivate, after so many years, he can no longer be considered a complete novice in cultivation.

The effects of this [Life-Generating Bottle] are clearly the "growth" power that only the six basic Qi of spring possesses.

Otherwise, how could an ordinary magic weapon achieve the effect of generating spiritual liquid every day or every month?

Unless the person who crafted this bottle possessed a Dao foundation of the Six Qi of Spring, and integrated the power of that foundation into the magic weapon, this would not be possible.

If that magical treasure had been stolen from somewhere else, that would be one thing.

But if we follow the conspiracy theory, what if this [Life-Giving Bottle] was truly created by that person themselves...?

The six qi of autumn, plus the six qi of spring.

Even if they were to seize the two Dao foundations of True Person Shenyuan, namely [End of Heat] and [White Dew]...

Isn't it that the [Jianglou] formation is almost complete?

No wonder the person behind Wanji Hall is almost a mortal enemy of Shenyuan Zhenren.

We can't investigate this any further.

Thinking too much can easily offend people; when someone does you a favor, it's a gesture of reciprocation.

You, on the other hand, use the gifts someone gave you to dig up their secrets. If that person finds out, you'll probably be left with nothing but bones.

Thinking of this, Zhou Youyuan manipulated Lin Qiusheng to toast Qin Jiu with another cup of wine:

"Then I would like to thank that person for their kindness on my behalf."

Qin Jiu smiled and waved his hand, then raised his wine cup and clinked it against his.

"However, it has been verified that Jiang Yuheng is indeed that person's destined calamity?"

"That's natural."

Qin Jiu put down his wine cup, his tone becoming more composed:

"That person has spoken. Although I don't know why you have a problem with Master Chenyuan, Brother Lin, since you gave her such a big gift, she won't mind giving you a big surprise in return."

"Brother Lin, have you heard about the outer sect disciple competition six months from now?"

"The one who was promoted to inner sect?"

"Yes, but this time it's different."

"You don't need to know the specific differences. All you need to know is that at that time, my husband will take action against Jiang Yuheng."

When Zhou Youyuan heard these words in the stone chamber, his heart stirred slightly.

Six months later, in the outer sect competition, that person will personally take action against Jiang Yuheng.

This may seem like just a signal that he's going to make a move, but in reality, there's no useless information in the Water Moon.

Now that he knows the outer sect competition will descend into chaos, he has much more to plan...

However, Qin Jiu's next words made his heart skip a beat.

"There's one more thing."

Qin Jiu shifted his gaze from the wine cup to Lin Qiusheng's face.

"Although I don't know why you asked someone to inquire about that secret realm recently, Brother Lin, that person still asked me to tell you that the secret realm is related to the foundation of True Person Shenyuan. You've been too obvious about some things."

The shop was quiet for a moment.

"Of course, this time, my partner has already shielded you from the consequences."

Qin Jiu picked up his wine cup and took another sip: "But next time, it'll be your own business."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Youyuan in the stone chamber gasped, his face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his back. It took him a long time to recover, his heart heavy with unease.

Yes, have I been too aggressive lately?

That secret realm wasn't really a secret; it was just a trap specially set by True Immortal Shenyuan to select those with the body destined for death.

The intelligence sent by Wanji Hall clearly stated this, and indeed, quite a few cultivators lost their lives because they were interested in that place.

So he originally planned to use this opportunity to put Shen Ye in that person's sight and, incidentally, to secure some resources for him. He thought he had done this discreetly and flawlessly.

But unexpectedly...

We underestimated the intelligence capabilities of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Those skilled at swimming drown; those skilled at riding fall.

Fortunately, that person shielded him from the consequences this time; otherwise, Qin Jiu might have brought not benefits, but a coffin today.

Zhou Youyuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

On the screen, Qin Jiu was getting up to say goodbye, while Lin Qiusheng's smile remained unchanged as he watched him walk out the door, holding his iced tea.

The shop fell silent again.

……

Let's return to the secret realm.

After passing through the light curtain, Shen Ye found himself in a pitch-black tunnel.

He had no other choice but to grope forward, supporting himself on the wall with one hand. His fingertips traced the rough stone surface, which was icy cold. After walking for an unknown amount of time, a faint glimmer of light finally appeared ahead.

At the end of the passageway is a spacious stone hall.

There were already five people in the stone hall, dressed in the same coarse cloth shorts as him, scattered around. Some were squatting against the wall, some were sitting on the ground in a daze, and they all looked dusty and dirty.

"Another one."

The oldest servant, with an old scar across his left cheek, spoke first. He said calmly, "Come and squat down. You can't get out of here."

Shen Ye did not squat down immediately, but first scanned the stone hall.

The stone hall was not small, about four or five zhang square. The dome was inlaid with several thumb-sized fluorescent stones, which emitted a dim light that was barely enough to make out a person's face.

There is a stone door on each of the three walls, all tightly closed, without handles or gaps, looking as if they were directly grown into the walls.

The ground is made of a single piece of bluestone, with a barely noticeable seam in the center.

"here it is?"

"You don't know? Weren't you sent by Manager Lü?"

The scarred servant casually explained, "We were all sent in by Manager Lü to explore this secret realm; there have been several groups of us in total."

"After passing through the light curtain and the secret passage, we arrived here. There are three doors, all closed, and we can't push them open or break them down."

He pointed to a corner: "The first one to arrive has been trapped for almost a month. If he hadn't brought the fasting pill, he probably wouldn't have made it. But this door hasn't opened even once in the past month."

Shen Ye looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a young handyman squatting in the corner. His face was sallow and his eyes were dark. He hadn't uttered a single word since Shen Ye came in.

He just stared at the ground with empty eyes. Judging from that, he was probably the one who had been asleep the longest.

The others were also in their own states.

The tall handyman paced back and forth in the stone hall, taking two steps, pausing, then taking two more steps, as if he wanted to do something but didn't know what to do.

The short, stout servant leaned against the stone wall with his eyes half-closed, seemingly resting or deep in thought. His breathing was neither fast nor slow, and he appeared much calmer than the others.

As for the last tall, thin man, he huddled in the shadows in the corner, never raising his head from beginning to end, like a shadow. If Shen Ye hadn't taken another look, he almost wouldn't have noticed that there was such a person.

Shen Ye found a spot to squat down next to the scarred servant, and was just about to ask a few more questions when the ground in the center of the stone hall suddenly shook.

It was the seam that Shen Ye had noticed before.

The stone slab cracked along the seam, revealing a square hole more than half a person's width. Then, a stone figure slowly rose out of the hole.

It was about half a person tall, and its shape was exactly the same as the two stone statues at the entrance of the cave, only much smaller. Its face had no features, only a smooth stone surface.

A dark light suddenly shone from the stone figure's chest, followed by a sound, indistinct and unclear, like words pieced together by stones grinding against each other:

"The six-person pool is full; the test officially begins."