Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

An hour later, in an inconspicuous courtyard in Blackwind City.

Li Xiuyuan quietly slipped into the underground training room and activated the concealment formation.

He sat cross-legged and took out all the storage bags he had obtained, picking out the storage bag belonging to the arrogant demonic cultivator.

He subtly activated his divine sense, and in the next instant, a finely crafted jade box appeared in his palm.

Li Xiuyuan was in a state of great anxiety. He tore off the talisman sealing the jade box and gently opened it.

With a slight movement of the lid, a delightful and pleasant fragrance wafts out.

Li Xiuyuan's expression brightened, and he then peered into it.

Inside the jade box lay a pure white rice seedling, about four inches in size, its white veins shimmering with a faint light.

This item is extremely well preserved, as if it had just been unearthed. Its medicinal properties are still intact, and it remains vibrant.

Unfortunately, many of the roots are severely damaged and can no longer be planted or cultivated; they can only be used.

"This is the Spirit-Refining Grass!"

Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed and could no longer contain his happiness, so he burst into laughter.

This laughter contained the weight of years of arduous and careful cultivation, the bitterness of scheming and infighting among various factions, and the joy of immense gains.

A thousand emotions welled up inside me, and now they all burst forth at this moment.

Fortunately, he had set up an array in advance, and the training room was located underground with a thick layer of soil, so the sound would not be transmitted outside.

After a long while, Li Xiuyuan finally stopped smiling.

With this Refining Spirit Grass, plus the Crimson Sun Grass bestowed upon him by the Water Lily.

With his mid-grade spiritual root aptitude, as long as he cultivates to the point of perfect Qi Refining, refines his magical power, and with the blessing of the Divine Refining Technique, the probability of successfully establishing his foundation is as high as 75%.

The Crimson Sun Grass can enhance the physical strength of cultivators, allowing cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage to receive medicinal protection during their Qi and blood transformation, safeguarding their heart meridian from being destroyed by the powerful medicinal force. This item can increase the probability of Foundation Establishment by 25%, making it extremely precious.

That's nearly an 80% chance! Even with the new Foundation Establishment Pill, a cultivator with an ordinary mid-grade spiritual root can only reach the fourth level. This is far beyond the chances of any fellow cultivators in the world who want to establish their foundation.

After a while, Li Xiuyuan calmed down his agitated emotions.

He put away the Refining Spirit Grass and began to inventory the other spoils of war.

Liu's trip yielded: 3,000 spirit stones, two high-grade magic artifacts, and eight mid-grade magic artifacts.

There were countless low-grade pills and talismans, roughly estimated to be worth over a thousand spirit stones.

The most valuable item was Liu Ye's storage bag, which contained three thousand spirit stones, plus two high-grade magic artifacts, making up the bulk of the entire harvest.

The spirit stones were probably the Liu family's savings accumulated over many years, so it was normal for them to be given to the clan leader.

The rest are just common martial arts techniques, such as "Eternal Spring Technique," "Five Elements Spiritual Technique," and "Mountain Moving Technique," which are not valuable.

As for the mid-grade magic weapons, they were mostly damaged in battles by ordinary cultivators of the Liu family.

Some of these magical artifacts even had dimmed spiritual light and their internal mechanisms and restrictions were nearly broken, making them practically worthless.

But Li Xiuyuan didn't care at all; selling these scattered items on the black market would bring in a considerable amount of income.

Independent cultivators are not picky; they would even covet a magic weapon that is almost beyond repair.

Next, Li Xiuyuan checked the storage bags of the four cultivators of the Demon Flame Sect.

Splash!

As soon as the Demon Flame Sect cultivator's storage bag was opened, spirit stones and magical artifacts poured out with a clatter.

Li Xiuyuan felt a stirring in his heart and couldn't help but sigh.

As a disciple from a sect, his status far surpasses that of this insignificant cultivation family.

With a simple sweep of his divine sense, the mountain of spirit stones piled up in front of him opened his eyes wide.

No more, no less, exactly two thousand yuan.

There are also six mid-grade magic artifacts, some for defense and some for attack.

As for talismans and elixirs, there aren't many.

It's estimated that the group has been hiding in the southern mountains for a while, and they've almost used up all their pills and talismans.

Looking at these things, Li Xiuyuan recalled the two powerful cyan-gold mirrors and the dark green bell that released poisonous fire from the arrogant demonic cultivator that day, and sighed deeply.

"If only those two top-grade magic artifacts had fallen into my hands, this person would rather destroy them and end up shattered to pieces. It's truly lamentable."

Li Xiuyuan's tone conveyed both regret for losing a top-grade magic weapon and admiration for the man's courage in self-destruction.

As for the storage bags of the wandering cultivators in the Southern Mountains?

Li Xiuyuan looked down on these "small fish" and let the cultivators from the Xiao and Ye families divide them equally; this was also a means for him to win people's hearts.

After all, the clan leader is dead, but they still need to survive and cultivate. Real benefits are better than empty slogans.

Li Xiuyuan sorted everything into categories and made a simple estimate of what he had gained this time.

One Refining Spirit Grass is worth 5,000 spirit stones, and various magical artifacts, talismans, and pills are worth 4,800 spirit stones.

"An income of nearly ten thousand spirit stones, plus several thousand spirit stones for magical artifacts, pills, and talismans—truly, murder and arson bring wealth!"

Li Xiuyuan was taken aback when he considered his gains this time.

Once he calmed down from the joy of the harvest, he carefully considered his plans for building the foundation.

Although he possessed two foundation-building spiritual treasures, the Refining Spirit Grass and the Crimson Sun Grass, along with the Refining Spirit Technique and the first-order perfect body refinement cultivation.

The probability of Foundation Establishment is a full 75%, which is already a very high probability.

But as the saying goes, "It's better to be safe than sorry," so he needs to make extra preparations in case of unforeseen circumstances.

"The new Foundation Building Pill has frequently appeared at auctions in Shanyang Market in recent years, with prices mostly ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 spirit stones. Selling the seized magical artifacts, along with the spirit stones I have, will definitely be enough."

"The sect offers Foundation Establishment Pills for exchange, but the required merit points are too high. I definitely won't be able to collect enough through this mission alone. Besides, there are many cultivators who participated in the war waiting to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills to establish their foundations. No matter how many times I queue up, it will never be my turn."

"If I go through Senior Brother Du's connections, it shouldn't be difficult to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. But one should use favors sparingly. The Foundation Establishment Pill is a big deal, but it's not the only way. This is not a problem for me. I'll save this connection for later."

"Personally refining Foundation Establishment Pills is impossible, as there are no new Foundation Establishment Pills available."

"It seems that the only way out is to pay money to get things done."

Li Xiuyuan's eyes flashed with a glint of light as he estimated the time. After returning to his sect, he would go to Shanyang Market to keep watch.

As far as he knew, the second-tier spiritual veins in Shanyang Market were enough for him to break through.

He will then spend a few years honing his magical power to perfection, and then spend money to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill, at which point he can attempt to establish his foundation.

As for going to that so-called ancient forbidden land to pick spiritual herbs and personally refine pills, he had no such idea.

Why risk your life when you have plenty of spirit stones on you?

His Golden Light Sword and Blood Slaughter Blade were severely damaged, their power halved, and they probably won't last much longer.

Fortunately, he is about to establish his foundation, and apart from top-grade magic artifacts, other grades of magic artifacts have roughly the same effect on him.

He can temporarily use the captured magical artifacts as a transitional measure. Once he has established his foundation, he will no longer need these artifacts, and there will be no need to upgrade them.

He pondered these things in his mind and then began to sit cross-legged in meditation.

He took out a healing pill from his storage bag and swallowed it, beginning to refine the medicinal power to repair the meridians damaged by excessive stimulation of spiritual energy.

By dawn on the third day, Li Xiuyuan had finally begun to recover from his injuries.

Despite this, Li Xiuyuan was severely weakened by the battle and will need at least half a month to recover to his peak condition.

But Li Xiuyuan felt it was all worthwhile, because the gains this time far outweighed his losses.

……

One month later, early one morning, Li Xiuyuan got up without delay.

As soon as he got up, he packed his things and flew towards the sect on his magical artifact.

He spent the past month carefully healing his injuries and finally managed to recover 90% of his strength.

What had initially caused him great distress, as he worried it would damage his Foundation Establishment Divine Sense, was easily repaired by him after refining all the [Divine Refinement Technique] runes.

This relieved his worries of the past few months, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

He also received news that the Heaven and Earth Society knew of its leader's death, and that the Demon Flame Sect and Southern Mountain had been destroyed. They scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing without a trace.

With so many good things happening at once, Li Xiuyuan was in a particularly good mood. He didn't rush along the way as he had before.

Whenever he came across a market town or a gathering place for cultivators, he would go in and investigate.

Buy some local specialties so you can give them as gifts when you return to your clan.

Anyway, it's on the way and it won't cost much.

Li Xiuyuan would visit the market to experience the local customs and culture, but in reality, he was there to sell the spoils of the battle between the Liu family and Nanfangshan.

He would always disguise himself and conceal his cultivation level using the Breath Concealment Technique.

Sometimes it was Qi Refining Level 7, sometimes it was Qi Refining Level 6. He sold pills and talismans in batches, and magic artifacts were especially popular. He sold a total of 5,300 spirit stones.

After traveling for a month and a half, Li Xiuyuan finally returned to the Blazing Fire Sect.

Due to the still tense situation, the Blazing Fire Sect sent many cultivators to patrol outside the mountain gate, and each cultivator had to have their identity verified before entering.

Li Xiuyuan was stopped at the mountain gate and was only allowed to enter after showing his disciple token.

Upon returning to the sect, Li Xiuyuan immediately headed towards Su Nu Peak, as he needed to report back first.

After all, this mission was given to him by the Water Lily Goddess.

It took Li Xiuyuan half an hour to travel the approximately one hundred miles from the mountain gate to Su Nu Peak, riding his golden sword.

There are dozens of pavilions and towers of various sizes on Su Nu Peak, which seem to be arranged according to some specific pattern.

Neat and beautiful, it gives people a peaceful and wonderful feeling. If ordinary people saw it, they would surely exclaim "a sacred place of immortals".

Li Xiuyuan was stopped by the mountain-guarding cultivators at the foot of the mountain and was forced to withdraw his escape light.

"Halt! No unauthorized personnel allowed in the mountain!"

Both of these cultivators were at the late stage of Qi Refining, and they were quite imposing.

The two men looked at Li Xiuyuan with solemn expressions, as if it were business.

"Greetings, senior brothers. I am Li Xiuyuan, an inner disciple. I have been sent by my senior sister Shui Lian to complete a mission outside. I have come to pay my respects to her."

After speaking, Li Xiuyuan took out the inner disciple token and the jade pendant with the scent of water lilies from his storage bag and handed them over together.

One of them took the token, then took out a palm-sized disc-shaped magical artifact, cast a spell on it, and the disc swept across the token, emitting a yellow light. He then nodded to his partner beside him, indicating that everything was correct.

"We still need to ask our master for permission before you can enter the mountain. Only if our master agrees can you enter."

Once their identities were confirmed, their expressions softened.

As fellow inner disciples, we cannot be arrogant; we must still explain the rules in a professional manner.

Then one of them walked up the mountain, clearly to report to Shui Lian.

Li Xiuyuan nodded, indicating his acceptance.

Su Nu Peak is the Daoist temple of Golden Elixir True Persons; it's not a place for just anyone to enter.

Li Xiuyuan remained calm and not in a hurry.

Half an hour later.

The man reappeared and gestured to the other person that they could pass.

"Junior brother, you may now ascend the mountain. Master Shui has agreed to let you go. Her cave is located at..."

The disciple who delivered the message handed over the token with great politeness, his tone no longer as harsh as before.

This person was also an inner disciple and had a connection with his senior uncle from Su Nu Peak, so he naturally wouldn't offend him. He gave him a few pointers and let him in.

Li Xiuyuan accepted the two items, bowed, and went into the mountain.

The Water Lily Cave is located halfway up the mountain, situated on a second-tier spiritual vein, where the spiritual energy is far more abundant than that of a typical Foundation Establishment cultivator's cave.

Flying is forbidden for Qi Refining disciples on Su Nu Peak. The mountain is four thousand feet high, and it took Li Xiuyuan only one incense stick to walk from the foot of the mountain to the cave halfway up Shui Lian Mountain.

When Li Xiuyuan stood outside the Water Lotus Cave, he could already see a dwelling amidst the beautiful mountains and waters.

Clearly, the cave's restrictions were open, allowing him to pass through directly.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he naturally wouldn't personally greet him.

Li Xiuyuan straightened his clothes and went inside.

The cave dwelling was extremely simple and unadorned, with only the necessities of life and no excessive decorations.

It seems that this Uncle Shui Lian is also a person who practices asceticism, Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.

Shui Lian was still dressed as a cold and aloof female Taoist priest, sitting cross-legged on the high platform of the cave's main hall.

Upon seeing this, Li Xiuyuan quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Disciple Li Xiuyuan greets Martial Aunt Shuilian!"

He walked to the lower part of the main hall, bowed, and spoke with great respect.

Shui Lian looked at Li Xiuyuan with a half-smile, as if she could see right through him.

This junior has only been gone for half a year, yet his aura has become even more profound. It seems he will soon be preparing to establish his foundation.

She was quite conflicted about this person, feeling both gratitude for his saving her younger sister and dissatisfaction with the Douzhanfeng lineage.

But she was kind-hearted and did not want to involve the younger generation in the grudges of the past.

She smiled and asked with a hint of probing, "You must have found the group of thieves who kidnapped the young lady, right? How did you deal with them? Tell me."

"Yes, Uncle-Master."

Li Xiuyuan then recounted, with embellishment, his actions of "annihilating" the Heaven and Earth Society cultivators, working tirelessly day and night, and venturing deep into enemy territory, emphasizing the difficulty of the mission and his own sacrifices.

In particular, the unexpected discovery of the Demon Flame Sect disciples' invasion, and the righteous cause of leading the Xiao and Ye families under the Blazing Fire Sect to annihilate the demon cultivators and maintain the sect's rule, were all mentioned. The gains of this trip were omitted in a vague and ambiguous way.

He then handed the tokens containing the Pig Sun Heaven token and the Demon Flame Sect disciple's identity token to Shui Lian for inspection, and then stood respectfully to the side to wait for further instructions.

With a light tap of her jade-like fingers, a gentle breeze stirred in the hall, carrying the objects to her front.

After a long while, a rare expression of admiration appeared on Shui Lian's usually aloof and noble face.

With mixed feelings rising in her heart, how could she not know how much of Li Xiuyuan's words were true and how much were false?

After Li Xiuyuan used a specially made communication talisman to send the message back, the Blazing Fire Sect dispatched disciples from the Enforcement Hall to investigate the situation.

She understood about 80-90% of the situation, but she still couldn't help but look at the person in front of her with newfound respect.

After all, with his Qi Refining Level 8 cultivation, he was able to deal with the collusion of three forces, annihilate the enemy army, and still escape unscathed.

Her intellect, methods, and shrewdness are all top-tier among Qi Refining disciples, yet even when she personally took action, the result was nothing special.

As for the extermination of the Liu family, Xiao Nanshan was completely wiped out, so it would be the same if she were to take action.

Anyone or any force that betrays the Blazing Fire Sect will suffer a devastating blow.

Shui Lian nodded slightly, her alluring eyes opening wide, no longer displaying her previous aloofness, and her tone carried a hint of admiration as she spoke:

"Hmm, you did a good job. You single-handedly thwarted the Demon Flame Sect's plot to destroy our sect's resource points. That's a great achievement. I will personally report to the sect to recommend you for commendation."

"You accepted my mission, and it nearly cost you your life; it's my fault!"

After saying that, the Water Lotus Taoist priestess rolled up her robe and put away the evidence of the collusion between the Demon Flame Sect and the Heaven and Earth Society. She then conjured a fiery red lotus seed from her sleeve.

As he spoke, he handed it to Li Xiuyuan, saying, "This item is called the Earth Fire Lotus Heart. It is an excellent resource for cultivators practicing the Golden Flame Burning Heaven Technique. I obtained it by chance, and since it clashes with the cultivation method I practice, I am bestowing it upon you. I hope you will cultivate diligently and achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible, so that you may become one of us!"

Then a gentle breeze brushed my face, and the scene before me shifted and changed.

When he opened his eyes, Shui Lian was nowhere to be seen. When he looked around, he found himself outside the cave.

Li Xiuyuan gripped the blazing Lotus Heart in his hand, bowed deeply, and said loudly, "Thank you, Uncle-Master. I will remember your teachings."

After saying that, he went straight down the mountain.