Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Inside the steward's office.

Li Ping sat at the table, holding a cup of spiritual tea in his hand, sipping it slowly.

But the steward, Mr. He, stood carefully behind him, respectfully answering his questions, but dared not sit down at all.

Li Ping didn't take it to heart. Having spent 27 years in the cultivation world, he was already used to its rules.

For junior Qi Refining cultivators, it's already a miracle if they don't kneel before Foundation Establishment cultivators; it's only natural that they don't have seats.

……

Before long, a clear buzzing sound rang out from outside the hall, accompanied by a spiritual pressure even stronger than Li Ping's.

"Oh? A Foundation Establishment cultivator? Is it Meng Qingyi from Azure Dragon Mountain who has arrived?"

Li Ping's expression shifted, and he stood up to look outside the hall. He saw a figure dressed in a light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a pair of moon-white cloud-patterned shoes peeking out from under the dress, walk in.

This turned out to be a sweet and lovely young girl.

The young girl simply styled her hair into a snake bun, which stood high on her head, making her long, elegant neck appear even more graceful.

A jade hairpin is casually inserted diagonally on one side of the snake-shaped bun, adding a touch of liveliness.

The girl was sweet and lovely, and seemed to be quite young, but Li Ping dared not treat her lightly.

Because he briefly scanned the other party with his divine sense, he judged that the girl's strength was actually stronger than his, and she had already reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

……

"Uncle-Master Meng."

Manager He quickly walked up to the girl and respectfully greeted her.

Only then did Li Ping realize that the person who had invited him to meet was this lovely young woman. He had originally thought that the person surnamed Meng would be a burly man.

The young woman waved her hand, signaling Steward He to stand up. Then, she looked at Li Ping with a smile in her eyes, and her voice, as clear as a flowing spring, reached Li Ping's ears: "Qingyi greets fellow Daoist, congratulations on your successful Foundation Establishment."

"Thank you very much, fellow Daoist. My success in establishing my foundation is also due to good fortune."

"There's no such thing as luck in Foundation Establishment, haha..."

……

Steward He served the spirit tea and then respectfully withdrew, leaving only Li Ping and Meng Qingyi exchanging pleasantries in the hall.

During this time, Li Ping would occasionally pick up his tea and take a small sip, while Meng Qingyi was quite disgusted with the spiritual tea served by Steward He, and had no interest in even glancing at it.

After exchanging a few words, Li Ping learned that Meng Qingyi was a disciple of Master Fenglan, and ranked twenty-sixth among them.

As they chatted, Li Ping discovered something quite surprising.

Meng Qingyi is not only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in terms of cultivation, but also a mid-grade second-tier talisman maker, capable of creating mid-grade second-tier talismans.

If it weren't for the fact that the two parties weren't already familiar with each other, and that bringing it up might be too presumptuous, Li Ping would have asked the other party right now if they would sell the "original flavor talisman pen".

It's not easy to ask for a "original flavor talisman pen," but it's no problem to ask for advice on talisman-making techniques.

Faced with a mid-grade second-tier talisman maker, Li Ping immediately asked her for advice on some of the difficulties he encountered when making talismans.

Meng Qing was also surprised that Li Ping was a mid-grade first-level talisman maker. Hearing Li Ping humbly ask for advice, she smiled and answered a few difficult questions for him.

Her guidance greatly benefited Li Ping, and he might be able to advance to a first-class high-grade talisman maker in the near future.

……

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Li, I have a question. I wonder if you could answer it for me?" As Meng Qingyi spoke, she looked at Li Ping with her beautiful eyes, causing Li Ping to be slightly distracted.

However, being a Foundation Establishment cultivator after all, Li Ping had far greater control over his body than ordinary people. He quickly regained his senses and said with a smile, "Please ask, Fairy. If I know the answer, I will certainly not hide it from you."

Upon hearing this, Meng Qingyi smiled and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Then Qingyi won't stand on ceremony. As far as Qingyi knows, there haven't been any auctions held in Immortal City recently, nor have Foundation Establishment Pills been sold. Could it be that you attempted to break through to Foundation Establishment on your own?"

According to common knowledge in the cultivation world, apart from the extremely rare Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators, even cultivators with different spiritual roots have a success rate of less than 50% in Foundation Establishment. Moreover, if they fail to break through, they will suffer severe damage to their vital energy, or even perish.

Therefore, cultivators other than those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots need Foundation Establishment Pills to increase their success rate when attempting Foundation Establishment. Moreover, with the protection of the Foundation Establishment Pills, even if Foundation Establishment fails, their vital energy will not be damaged.

Because of its remarkable effects, the Foundation Establishment Pill is considered a strategic resource among cultivators. Therefore, it is closely monitored from the moment it is refined, and the whereabouts of every Foundation Establishment Pill are clearly recorded.

According to the intelligence from the Immortal City, Li Ping had never obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill, which is why Meng Qingyi asked this question.

She regarded Li Ping as the kind of ruthless person who, even without a Foundation Establishment Pill, aspired to the Great Dao and attempted to break through to Foundation Establishment on his own, despite the low success rate.

Li Ping shook his head. He wasn't the kind of person who would disregard life and death; he valued his life very much. "You flatter me, fairy. How could I dare to attempt to establish my foundation without Foundation Establishment Pills? However, I didn't buy my Foundation Establishment Pills at an auction; I bought them from the black market."

The black market in the Immortal City mainly deals in shady transactions, but the people behind it are actually from the Azure Dragon Mountain lineage. So even if Li Ping doesn't say anything, Meng Qingyi can find out with a little investigation.

Therefore, Li Ping had no intention of hiding it.

Anyway, he bought the Foundation Establishment Pill with spirit stones. Besides, he has already used the Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully established his foundation, so no one can take it away from him.

"You bought a Foundation Establishment Pill on the black market? Fellow Daoist Li is truly blessed." Meng Qingyi nodded thoughtfully, not asking any further questions, but continued, "Fellow Daoist Li was able to establish his foundation in the Immortal City. I wonder what your plans are next? As far as I know, you are a rogue cultivator and haven't joined any faction?"

"They're here." Li Ping's heart skipped a beat.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator with a clean background like him would be irresistible to any force, and the Azure Dragon Mountain lineage was no exception.

He had suspected from the beginning that Meng Qingyi wanted to win him over, and now it seemed that was indeed the case.

In fact, Li Ping was quite happy to join the Qinglong Mountain lineage.

After all, the Azure Dragon Mountain lineage has a Core Formation Realm expert as its backer and is also the master of the Immortal City. Although he would lose some freedom by joining them, he would definitely not lose out, whether it's the cultivation grounds or the Core Formation Realm expert's background.

Moreover, if he wants to master advanced skills through the Tree of Heritage, he needs to collect inherited items or artifacts used by master craftsmen.

Joining the Qinglong Mountain lineage would obviously make collecting inheritances much easier.

At least, he has a very good chance of getting his hands on the "original talisman brush" of the fairy in front of him.

For him, joining the Azure Dragon Mountain lineage was the best option in the Fenglan Immortal City area.

With a quick thought, Li Ping smiled wryly and said, "What the fairy says is true. I am indeed a rogue cultivator, and I am currently only practicing the basic technique 'Golden Sword Technique.' I haven't even mastered a foundation-building technique yet."