Mortal: I, Zhang Tie, started by joining forces with Han Li to kill a strategist.

"The sect has so many new cultivators joining, partly to welcome fresh blood, and partly because the Crimson Forbidden Land is about to open, at which time another batch of Foundation Establishment Pills will be available to distribute to outstanding disciples!"

A blood-red forbidden zone?!

Zhang Tie paused slightly.

He remembered that the first secret realm in the original story could only be entered by disciples at the Qi Refining stage. It contained many spiritual herbs that could no longer be found in the outside world, and these herbs were the key ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

If this butterfly hadn't altered the timeline too much, Han Li would have risked entering the Crimson Forbidden Land to find the main ingredient for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

In the forbidden area, Han Li will meet Nangong Wan, and some indescribable things will happen because of the Mo Jiao. From then on, there will be an inextricable bond between Han Li and Nangong Wan.

Han Li, having acquired a large number of spiritual herbs, was accepted as a disciple by Li Huayuan of Huangfeng Valley and successfully established his foundation with the help of a massive amount of Foundation Establishment Pills!

"Senior Brother Sun, when does the Crimson Forbidden Zone begin?" Zhang Tie asked.

Sun Feng thought for a moment: "Probably another six months! I heard that this time, it's our Martial Uncle Han from Lingxian Peak who's leading the team!"

Zhang Tie nodded without asking any further questions.

However, as Han Li's image appeared in his mind, he wondered how the guy was doing. He was probably shocked to learn that Han Li had taken the lead in Foundation Establishment and was almost at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment!

He couldn't help with the matter of the Bloodstained Forbidden Land, but he trusted Han Li.

...

Sun Feng decisively resigned from his position as a steward and took on the task of guarding the spirit medicine field.

On the day he left, Zhang Tie even went to see him off.

"Senior Brother Sun, I wish you all the best!" Zhang Tie clasped his hands in greeting.

"Junior Brother Zhang, let's meet again when I get back!" Sun Feng smiled, jumped onto the back of the Gale Falcon, and disappeared into the horizon as a streak of light.

Zhang Tie could only silently wish him all the best.

Back in his cave, Zhang Tie didn't rush to begin his seclusion. Instead, he first went to check on the insect eggs placed by the spiritual spring.

After more than a year of nourishment from the spiritual energy of the spring, Zhang Tie was surprised to find that the patterns and luster on the surface of the insect eggs in the black jar were slightly brighter than before. Although the change was extremely minor, they were indeed brighter.

"The spiritual energy is nourishing them, so it seems that placing them in a place with abundant spiritual energy is effective!" Zhang Tie was immediately delighted.

"I wonder if spirit stones will have any effect on these insect eggs?"

Zhang Tie thought for a moment, then put the insect eggs into two black jars and stuffed a few spirit stones into one of the jars.

The fact that the insect eggs can absorb spiritual energy means they are still alive and have a chance to hatch. Although the cultivation method of the Heavenly Crystal Ants has been lost, as long as the insect eggs can hatch, he will have a way to slowly figure it out.

Zhang Tie put the black jar back in its place, returned to the stone bed, closed his eyes, and began to regulate his breathing.

Next, he was going to do something big: break through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

However, before that, he had one more thing to do: refine the Soul Nourishing Crystal to enhance the strength of his soul.

The stronger a cultivator's soul, the more precise their control over spiritual power will be during a breakthrough, and the higher their chances of success will be.

Zhang Tie took out a jade box containing Soul Nourishing Crystals from his storage bag and then took out one Soul Nourishing Crystal.

The three Soul Nourishing Crystals were only the size of a fingernail, with a faint glow flowing inside. Holding them in your hand gave you a warm feeling, like warm jade.

Let's begin!

Zhang Tie closed his eyes, extended his divine sense, and directly enveloped the Soul Nourishing Crystal within it.

Soul-Nourishing Crystals are not meant to be ingested directly; in fact, ingesting them directly would be comparable to a deadly poison for cultivators.

Instead, one must use the power of the soul to envelop it and slowly refine it.

The Soul-Nourishing Crystal floating in front of him, enveloped by his divine sense, slowly emitted a soft silver light.

Zhang Tie soon felt a cool aura seeping out from the Soul Nourishing Crystal, and a semi-transparent silver light flowed into his sea of ​​consciousness along with his divine sense.

The spiritual power within his sea of ​​consciousness, like a sponge, began to vigorously absorb this highly nourishing energy!

Zhang Tie could clearly feel his spiritual power slowly but steadily increasing.

Zhang Tie held his breath and concentrated on his cultivation.

As time passed, the Lingxian Peak outside the cave quietly changed from green to yellow.

Three months later, the Soul Nourishing Crystal in front of Zhang Tie was finally completely absorbed, and the last trace of divine soul power entered his sea of ​​consciousness.

Zhang Tie opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing within them.

A wisp of divine sense probed out, and everything inside and outside the cave was within Zhang Tie's perception.

"The range of my divine sense... is nearly two miles!!!" Zhang Tie exclaimed in surprise.

Previously, his spiritual sense range could only cover about one mile, which was no different from that of an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator, but now it has doubled.

It should be noted that the range of divine sense of Foundation Establishment cultivators is roughly the same: generally only one mile in the early stage, two miles in the middle stage, and three miles in the later stage.

His current spiritual strength is comparable to that of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This is only the effect of refining one Soul Nourishing Crystal; if another one were to be refined...

Thinking of this, Zhang Tie no longer hesitated and took out another Soul Nourishing Crystal.

Although the Soul-Nourishing Crystal is quite valuable, Zhang Tie still felt that improving his abilities in all aspects was much more important!

"Your spiritual power hasn't reached its limit yet, continue to increase it!"

Zhang Tie closed his eyes again, his soul enveloping the second Soul Nourishing Crystal.

......

Just as Zhang Tie was in seclusion refining the Soul Nourishing Crystal.

Ten thousand miles away, in the Taiyue Mountains of the Yue Kingdom, lies Huangfeng Valley.

The Taiyue Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, with peaks soaring into the clouds. It is also one of the sacred sites of the Yue Kingdom. The gate of Huangfeng Valley is located deep in the mountains.

On this day, more than twenty Qi Refining stage disciples had gathered in front of the main hall of Huangfeng Valley. Some of them were gathered in twos and threes discussing something, while others sat in a corner waiting expressionlessly.

Han Li stood out in the crowd, his Qi Refining level 12 cultivation was only considered average among the disciples who entered the Crimson Forbidden Land this time.

At this time, Han Li was more cautious and experienced than he had been a few years ago. After entering Huangfeng Valley, Han Li experienced the theft of his Foundation Establishment Pill and being ambushed by fellow cultivators.

I've come to understand what cultivating immortality is all about, and I've also learned a lesson: might makes right, and if your fist isn't big enough, you'd better stay put.

If the elixirs for refining Foundation Establishment Pills weren't only found in that blood-red forbidden land, he would have already cultivated the elixirs in the little green bottle and secretly established his foundation!

Han Li looked towards the distant mountains, and a figure appeared in his mind.

I wonder how Brother Tie is doing these days, and whether he is also worried about the Foundation Establishment stage?

Spirit Beast Mountain is located in the southern part of Yue Kingdom, thousands of miles away from Yellow Maple Valley. The two lost contact after they were separated at the Ascension Conference!

"Brother Tie has three spiritual roots, so the chances of him getting a Foundation Establishment Pill from the Ascension Ceremony are probably slim! If we can successfully find the medicinal herbs in the Crimson Forbidden Land and refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, we might be able to keep a few..."

What Han Li didn't know was that Zhang Tie, who had three spiritual roots, had already established his foundation several years ago and was currently advancing towards the mid-stage of foundation establishment in the Spirit Beast Mountain!

"All disciples, let's go!"

A silver-armored horned python, over twenty feet long, descended from the sky, interrupting Han Li's thoughts.

Han Li was startled and instinctively retreated behind the crowd...

...