Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

Lin Hongye's heart is set on the path of cultivation. As the youngest Foundation Establishment cultivator in the history of the Lin family, she naturally has the ambition to reach the Core Formation stage.

Becoming an elder of the Penal Law Hall of the Taiyuan Sect would give one the opportunity to wield more power, but it would also involve getting involved in many things that would delay one's cultivation.

However, Elder Meng continued to persuade her regarding her mindset:

"Red Leaf, the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation is not the same as the Qi Refining stage. Even if you have dual spiritual roots, you cannot rapidly improve your realm just by meditating."

"Does your Lin family intend to continue providing resources to support your Foundation Establishment cultivation, giving you the opportunity to attempt Core Formation at the appropriate age?"

That's highly unlikely. The Lin family is, after all, just a Foundation Establishment family. How could they possibly have such a huge amount of resources to support a Foundation Establishment cultivator in breaking through to the Core Formation stage?

The Lin family will certainly continue to provide financial assistance and support for Lin Hongye's cultivation, but this is only a drop in the ocean for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Elder Meng continued, "Becoming an elder of the Punishment Hall is a great opportunity. The Punishment Hall is in charge of the sect's punishments, and even the law enforcement power in Taiyuan Immortal City is in the hands of the Punishment Hall."

"As far as I know, after you become the Elder of Punishment, you will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the situation in the Immortal City, and you will even be able to intervene in the leasing of some shops."

Elder Meng's meaning was very clear: he wanted Lin Hongye to agree to become an elder of the sect's Punishment Hall.

In this way, shops in Taiyuan Immortal City can be rented at a more reasonable price.

Elder Meng has profound attainments in the art of talismans and is a second-tier talisman master.

She wanted to take this opportunity to cooperate with Lin Hongye and the Lin family behind her to lease a shop in Taiyuan Immortal City.

She could then sell her talismans in the shop, thus obtaining a stable source of spirit stones.

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongye fell into deep thought.

This matter is of great importance, and even she wouldn't agree to it casually; she would need to think it over carefully.

Li Tianhe of Lingxu Peak, however, also showed interest after hearing this.

Unfortunately, the deputy peak master only intended to place Lin Hongye in the Hall of Punishments and did not mention this matter to him.

"This matter... I need to think about it some more. I need to discuss it with my family again," Lin Hongye said.

Elder Meng nodded and said, "That's how it should be. You should think about it carefully."

Afterwards, the group chatted happily in the cave for a while before leaving one after another.

Only some direct descendants of the Lin family remained.

  

At this moment, Lin Hongye put away her joy at successfully establishing her foundation, and instead glanced at the several family cultivators in the sect before finally looking at her uncle, Lin Desheng.

"Uncle, I shouldn't be saying this, but without the Foundation Establishment Pill, it's still too dangerous to attempt Foundation Establishment again."

"Your niece hopes you can return to the family. Your father and grandfather miss you very much."

For the family, watching Lin Desheng fail to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage and die was an immense loss.

This is a direct descendant of the Lin family, and he has the cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

If he could return to his family, given the convenience he had gained from cultivating within the sect for so long, he would certainly be able to bring great help to the family.

Putting everything else aside, if the Lin family had a direct descendant cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining to oversee the mining area, it would be easier for them to deal with the sect disciples stationed at the mine.

After all, Lin Desheng was a senior member of the sect, and the younger disciples would give him some face.

"Hongye, please don't say any more. My mind is made up."

"Uncle has accumulated a sum of sect contribution points over the years, and he will be able to exchange them for a Foundation Establishment spiritual item in a while."

"When the time comes, could you help me pull some strings and get the sect to do me a favor?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongye couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

She couldn't very well refuse the offer from her uncle, who had held her when she was a child.

As a Foundation Establishment elder of the sect, he still has this much face.

Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects are far less precious than Foundation Establishment Pills, and their effectiveness is greatly reduced. Moreover, if one fails to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage by using Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects, there is still a risk of death.

"Alright," Lin Hongye reluctantly agreed.

Upon hearing this, Lin Desheng stood up and said, "I thank you in advance, niece Hongye, for this matter. I have other important matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

"Take care, Uncle Desheng!"

The other younger members of the Lin family also stood up and respectfully saw off their steadfast uncle.

They have no right to comment on this; their eagerness to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage is simply human nature.

After Lin Desheng left, Lin Hongye relaxed a lot and started to act like the eldest sister of the family.

"Are you having any difficulties cultivating within the sect? Please feel free to speak up. If I can help, I will do my best to lend a hand."

Lin Mo was the first to speak. He took a deep breath and said, "Cousin, I'd like to seek a long-term position managing the herb garden, but it seems that none of the elders in the sect are short-handed in their herb gardens recently."

At this point, he hesitated and said, "Cousin, why don't you try cultivating a medicinal herb garden? And then recruit me?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongye said with a playful tone, "So you won't have to waste time on sect missions and can focus all your energy on cultivation?"

"Xiao Mo, you should give up on that idea. I've only just established my foundation, and my roots are very shallow. What kind of spiritual herbs do I need to cultivate?"

"Furthermore, issuing sect missions isn't as simple as you think. You need to understand that this involves sect contributions!"

As a Foundation Establishment Elder of a sect, one is qualified to issue long-term missions and recruit people to do work for one's sect. The sect contributions received by the disciples are shared equally by the Elder and the sect.

However, the Taiyuan Sect strictly supervises the sect contributions of its disciples and Foundation Establishment elders, as this involves Foundation Establishment Pills and other strategic resources.

If the sect discovers that she has set up a fake herb garden and then posted a sect mission to recruit someone to freeload a sum of sect contribution every month, the consequences could be quite serious.

Let alone the fact that she has only just established her foundation, even a veteran foundation-establishing elder would not be willing to violate the sect's rules.

If the disciples of the Punishment Hall come knocking on our door, that will be quite a troublesome matter.

"What about you lot? Is there anything you can help out with in the sect?"

After thinking for a moment, Lin Xuan expressed her desire to become a law enforcement disciple of the Punishment Hall.

If Lin Hongye can become an elder of the Punishment Hall, she will have the opportunity to become a law enforcement disciple of the Punishment Hall.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo, who had just sat down, also showed a hint of interest.

Clearly, for these newly joined disciples, the monthly sect tasks they had to complete were a considerable burden.

Lin Yun remained silent throughout.

...