Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye. Summer has turned to autumn, and Fire Cloud Valley has gained a touch of coolness.

In Lin Yun's courtyard, a slight fluctuation of spiritual energy emerged, and gradually, the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth accelerated its flow into his body.

He diligently circulated the "Wood Element Technique," and the mixed spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed through his meridians. After one cycle of refinement after another, it finally transformed into pure spiritual power and sank into his dantian.

Refinement level three!

"Phew! That wasn't easy."

Feeling his own aura grow stronger, Lin Yun let out a long breath, finally reaching this point.

"The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in Fire Cloud Valley is mainly fire-attribute, which is not very suitable for a cultivator like me who practices wood-based techniques."

"But at least I've reached the third level of Qi Refining!"

The Qi Refining Stage has ten levels, with each three levels forming a boundary, corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages respectively.

As for the tenth level of Qi Refining, it can be called the completion of the Qi Refining stage. Basically, it is the natural way for cultivators who failed to break through after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill at the ninth level of Qi Refining to reach this level.

Lin Yun was quite satisfied with his cultivation progress. At sixteen years old, he had reached the third level of Qi Refining, which was not bad at all.

Moreover, he still has five bottles of Nourishing Spirit Pills left, which will make his cultivation much easier, and he has a good chance of advancing to the mid-stage of Qi Refining before the age of twenty.

"My chances of joining the Taiyuan Sect are much greater now. Even if I can't compete with others at the Taiyuan Ascension Competition three years later, I'll still have another chance to participate."

He was twenty-nine years old at the time, just before turning thirty.

However, these things were still too far off. Lin Yun only fantasized for a moment before shaking these chaotic thoughts out of his mind.

  

"Take a look at today's intelligence."

The Book of Insight!

Soon, Lin Yun froze on the spot; the Book of Insight had malfunctioned!

Chen Guan returned from Zhongling Market, bringing back a mysterious page!

Chen Guan returned from Zhongling Market, bringing back a mysterious page!

Chen Guan returned from Zhongling Market, bringing back a mysterious page!

【…】

Chen Guan returned from Zhongling Market, bringing back a mysterious page!

All the intelligence today was about this one thing. Lin Yun's eyes widened. This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation.

"How could this be... Could that mysterious page be related to the Book of Insight?"

Lin Yun was somewhat skeptical and repeatedly activated the Book of Insight, trying to make it normal again.

[...when they were about to surrender, Xiao Ge San had returned to Wang Delei]

"Is there also the matter of ending the war?"

Lin Yun was greatly alarmed, realizing that if he didn't get the mysterious page from Chen Guan's hand, the Book of Insight wouldn't be able to return to its original state.

However, this was precisely the thing he least wanted to do, since the soul of a Core Formation expert resided in that body.

Lin Yun has been in Fire Cloud Valley for more than three months, and he has kept his distance from Chen Guan. During this time, he has not exchanged more than three sentences with Chen Guan.

"This is troublesome. It seems that the mysterious page is very important to the Book of Insight."

As he spoke, Lin Yun tried to sense the location of that page using the Book of Insight.

"It's getting closer..."

Lin Yun muttered to himself, then walked out of the courtyard gate, only to see Chen Guan returning to Fire Cloud Valley.

The page was in the storage bag at his waist!

In that brief moment, Lin Yun felt the Book of Insight in his mind begin to flip rapidly, without stopping for a moment.

Chen Guan raised an eyebrow, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Lin, on your further advancement in cultivation. It seems that you will soon be advancing to the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

"Heh, it was just a lucky breakthrough thanks to some family resources. It's nothing special."

Seeing that the other party had taken the initiative to speak to him, Lin Yun's heart stirred slightly, and he asked again, "Brother Chen Guan, where have you been returning from? Why do you look so travel-worn?"

"I went to Zhongling Market and bought some things I need for cultivation. I did run into a few petty scoundrels on the way, and it took some effort," Chen Guan said casually, as if it were as simple as eating and drinking.

Hearing this, Lin Yun felt a chill run down his spine, and he could roughly guess what would happen to those unlucky guys.

At the same time, he cursed the Book of Insight in his heart. Wasn't this ridiculous? How could it let him have designs on this evil star?

Despite his inward curses, he outwardly flattered him, saying, "Brother Chen is truly bold. I wouldn't dare to go to Zhongling Market alone."

Chen Guan shook his head and said, "It's nothing. Xiangnanling is relatively peaceful. You and I are both family members, so basically no one will deliberately make things difficult for us."

"On another note, I've heard that the noblewoman Lin Hongye has returned to Huangzhu Mountain. I wonder if you, Brother Lin, are acquainted with her?"

Do you need my help?

"Miss Hongye? I can say a few words about her."

This is not Lin Yun boasting, and it is no secret that Lin Hongye has returned to her family.

Outsiders may not know Lin Hongye's purpose in returning to the tribe, but Lin Yun knows perfectly well that she has returned to help her break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining with the help of the Fire Marrow Heart.

And that Fire Marrow Heart was provided by him.

After considering for a moment, Chen Guan said, "I have a favor to ask of your noblewoman, Fairy Red Leaf. I wonder if Brother Lin could convey my request?"

"It's possible, but my cousin is usually very busy with her cultivation, so I'm not sure if she'll agree." Lin Yun tried to keep her tone normal.

"This is easy to discuss. In return, I can provide some information related to a first-tier fire-elemental spirit object."

"Oh? In that case, I'll write a letter back to the family as soon as possible and inform my elder sister of this matter."

Chen Guan clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Then I thank you in advance, Brother Lin. If this matter succeeds, I will repay you afterwards."

"You're welcome."

Lin Yun watched Chen Guan return to his courtyard, a series of thoughts swirling in his mind.

If we could acquire that page through a trade, that would be ideal.

The problem is, there's something magical about that page that made Chen Guan take a liking to it, so he probably wouldn't take it out easily.

"Never mind, let's report this to the family first. However, Clan Sister Hongye is currently in a crucial period of cultivation, so there may not be a reply in the short term."

And so, Lin Yun wrote a letter and sent it back to his family.

In the letter, he mentioned that Chen Guan had a request, but did not specify what the reward would be.

After doing all this, he sat down cross-legged in the room to stabilize his newly broken-through cultivation and make his breathing more stable.

...

The next morning at dawn, Lin Yun, as usual, activated the Book of Insight to check the day's intelligence.

This time, the Book of Insight was no longer as erratic as it was yesterday, but it turned into a voyeur, frantically watching Chen Guan's every move.

Chen Guan finished his meditation and qi cultivation, taking another step closer to the fifth level of the qi cultivation stage.

Chen Guan continued his attempts to cultivate the "Taiyan Spiritual Eye," but failed again; his spiritual power was still recovering.

Chen Guan plans to find an opportunity to visit Baoquanzhou to see if he can find the final auxiliary ingredient for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Chen Guan cooked himself a pot of spirit rice porridge this morning, with two spirit fish as a side dish.

Chen Guan planned to demonstrate sufficient talent during Master Mo's Spirit Tempering class today in order to gain several months of free cultivation time.

【Chen Guan...】

"This book's condition is getting worse..."

...