Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Under Feng Qufeng's respectful guidance, Li Ping walked out of the cave.

At the same time, he was still pondering the conversation between Master Hu and his own apprentice.

Many questions arose in his mind: "The Wang family's senior came to see him? Is it the Wang family Foundation Establishment cultivator I know? What does he want with Master Hu? To refine pills? Or something else?"

The Wang family patriarch cheated him out of one hundred spirit stones. Although he didn't actually lose out, he still felt a sense of unease.

If given the chance, he wouldn't mind taking action and letting the other party know what cruelty truly means.

……

As Li Ping was pondering, Feng Qufeng's cautious voice interrupted his thoughts: "Senior, I've actually heard of your great name long ago."

"My full name?" Li Ping looked at the other person with a slight doubt, but the two of them did not stop walking during the conversation.

Feng Qufeng quickly said, "I am very close to Fellow Daoist Gu Musheng. He has spoken of Senior Li to me many times, and he has shown great respect for Senior Li in his words."

"Oh, I see." Li Ping suddenly realized.

Not long ago, when he met Gu Musheng, he discovered that Gu Musheng's cultivation had broken through from the sixth level of Qi Refining to the seventh level, becoming a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

They displayed a cultivation speed that did not match their own aptitude.

Gu Musheng told Li Ping that he had bought a pill called "Qi Condensation Pill" from Master Hu's disciple, which could help him break through the bottleneck of the seventh level of Qi Refining, and that's how he was able to break through successfully.

It now appears that the one who sold him the pills was none other than the eldest disciple in front of him, who was not valued by Master Hu.

"So, young friend, you are actually good friends with my third brother." After figuring it out, Li Ping took out another second-grade low-level spirit talisman from his storage bag: "My third brother told me that you have taken good care of him, so I'm giving you this spirit talisman as a token of my gratitude."

With a second-tier spiritual land as his place of cultivation, Li Ping's speed of recovering his magical power increased significantly, and his efficiency in drawing talismans also improved considerably. Giving two talismans to Master Hu's disciple as a greeting gift was really nothing special.

Perhaps he'll need these two in his future plans to build Master Hu's alchemy furnace.

However, he originally planned to distribute one of the second-tier low-grade spirit talismans he had drawn to each of the cultivators of the Fellowship at the New Year's Eve gathering, as a trump card for survival.

Now that he has given away two, he will have to slightly sacrifice some of his cultivation time.

……

"A second-tier spirit talisman." Feng Qufeng was quite surprised. He hadn't expected that his friend Gu's elder brother would be so generous.

Surprised, Feng Qufeng immediately declined, saying, "Senior, this is too precious, I cannot accept it."

Although he declined, Feng Qufeng's eyes revealed his longing and desire.

Li Ping smiled and directly stuffed the talisman into his hand. Feng Qufeng quickly put the talisman away.

After accepting Li Ping's talisman, Feng Qufeng became even more enthusiastic and answered all of Li Ping's questions.

Li Ping feigned curiosity and asked about Senior Wang's purpose in visiting Master Hu. Feng Qufeng didn't think much of it and immediately began to explain to Li Ping: "Senior Wang came to ask Master to refine pills... He has gathered enough spiritual materials for a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills and asked Master to refine them."

"You've gathered enough spiritual materials for a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills? To refine Foundation Establishment Pills?" Li Ping was taken aback upon hearing this.

The Foundation Establishment Pill, a divine medicine in the eyes of low-level cultivators, has an undisputed formula and the spiritual materials required for its refinement; many people can recite it by heart.

Refining Foundation Establishment Pills is relatively straightforward, but the main ingredient is incredibly troublesome, which is why Foundation Establishment Pills are so precious.

There are two methods for refining Foundation Building Pills, and each method requires different main ingredients.

One of the main ingredients is the spiritual herb "Golden Marrow Jade Fungus", which must be at least 700 years old, and the older the better.

A batch of 700-year-old alchemy can produce a maximum of three pills. For every additional hundred years, two more pills can be produced. If a batch of 'Golden Marrow Jade Fungus' aged over a thousand years is used, a single batch can produce a maximum of ten Foundation Establishment Pills.

Another main ingredient is the inner core of a third-tier demon beast, whose effect is equivalent to a thousand-year-old "Golden Marrow Jade Fungus".

The fact that the Wang family patriarch asked Master Hu to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill indicates that he had at least obtained one of the items. If he was lucky, he might even be able to create three more Foundation Establishment cultivators in the family.

Of course, even with Foundation Establishment Pills, there is still a chance of failure in Foundation Establishment.

But three Foundation Establishment Pills can at least create a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"That's quite a big spender. No wonder he didn't design a dough-less scam to make money."

Li Ping sighed, silently cursing in his mind, "I hope you fail at alchemy."

However, considering that Master Hu is a second-tier high-grade alchemist with a very high success rate in refining Foundation Establishment Pills, this curse may not necessarily come true.

He quickly changed his curse: "May your cultivator fail to establish his foundation."

……

After being respectfully escorted out of the cave by Feng Qufeng, Li Ping rode his escape light back to his own cave.

Sitting cross-legged in the hall, Li Ping pondered his conversation with Master Hu, still vaguely sensing that something was amiss with the other man's attitude.

Master Hu was just like the Meng family patriarch, he was too enthusiastic towards him.

After thinking it over, he couldn't help but take out a bronze mirror from his storage bag and look at himself.

Well, he still looks the same as before, with a fair complexion and no beard, and hasn't turned into a round-faced man with a full beard.

Li Ping was puzzled: "That's strange. Could it be that Master Hu also has a grudge against that sword cultivator in the ditch?"

……

In the alchemy room behind Master Hu's cave, two figures sat facing each other, with Master Hu's closed-door disciple Liu Yuan serving them.

One of the two figures was Master Hu, and the other was the Wang family patriarch who had swindled Li Ping out of one hundred spirit stones.

The Wang family patriarch politely bowed and said, "Master Hu, thank you for your trouble!"

As he spoke, he took out the various materials for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill from his storage bag, as well as the payment for Master Hu's pill refining.

Among all the materials, the most precious was naturally the seven-hundred-year-old Golden Marrow Jade Fungus. In order to buy this spiritual herb from that person, he paid more than double the price.

He had previously exhausted many of his family's resources in his attempt to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, but failed.

In order to raise enough money to buy the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill and to pay Master Hu, the Wang family was almost emptied out. He even had to set up a scam, ruin his reputation, and plunder spirit stones from those rogue cultivators.

Master Hu nodded and carefully examined the many materials brought by the Wang family patriarch.

He examined the 700-year-old golden marrow jade mushroom with particular care.

After a long while, Master Hu raised his head and sighed: "The materials are fine, but it's a pity. If this Golden Marrow Jade Mushroom had been cultivated for another three hundred years, its value could have increased several times over."

The Wang family patriarch smiled without saying a word; how could he possibly wait three hundred years?

Master Hu solemnly said, "I will now begin refining the elixir for you, fellow Daoist. You may watch from the sidelines!"

The Wang family patriarch nodded. With so many precious spiritual materials, he naturally wanted to watch Master Hu refine the pills.

Otherwise, who knows if the other party will embezzle his spiritual materials?