Immortality begins with equipping a worn-out talisman pen.

A few days later, a blue-feathered crane landed outside Li Mufeng's cave.

A blue jade slip was tied to the crane's leg; it was a reply from Chen Jingyuan.

Li Mufeng took the jade slip down, and the spirit crane glanced at him with a rather intelligent look, seemingly unwilling to leave.

Seeing this, Li Mufeng took out a low-grade spirit stone from his pocket. The spirit crane picked up the spirit stone, bowed to him, flapped its wings, and soared into the sky, quickly disappearing into the clouds.

Seeing this, Li Mufeng couldn't help but sigh, "Even the way messages are sent within these immortal sects is so different."

After returning to his cave, Li Mufeng probed the jade slip with his divine sense, and a familiar voice slowly rang out.

"Brother Li, it is as if we have met in person upon receiving this letter."

"Both the Frosty Soul Iron and the Moonlit Dew are Foundation Establishment spiritual items, rarely seen in the Black Stone Market. I asked around and found out that if you want to find these two items, you can try your luck in one of the three immortal cities."

"Firstly, Flowing Cloud Immortal City. This city is one of the largest cultivation cities under the jurisdiction of Qingxuan Sect. Merchants gather here, and Foundation Establishment spiritual items appear in every major auction."

"Secondly, Xuanshuang Immortal City. This city is backed by the Ten Thousand Mile Cold Abyss, and the surrounding area is rich in cold-attribute spiritual minerals. Cold Soul Black Iron occasionally flows out, but its price has always been high."

Thirdly, the Celestial City.

At this point, the voice in the jade slip seemed to become more solemn.

"This city does not belong to any sect, but was built by a legendary Golden Core cultivator—Tianque Zhenren."

"It is said that he was just a rogue cultivator in his youth, but he overcame all obstacles and finally became a Golden Core cultivator after hundreds of years. Afterwards, he refused to rely on any sect and instead gathered rogue cultivators from all over the world to build a celestial city at the intersection of the three sects."

"For hundreds of years, countless independent cultivators, merchants, and even sect cultivators have traded there. As a result, Tianque Immortal City is known as the number one city for independent cultivators in Yue Kingdom. As long as you have enough spirit stones, you can buy almost any treasure. If Brother Li is interested, you can go there."

Li Mufeng's eyes flickered slightly when he saw this.

A celestial city established by a Golden Core cultivator.

To be able to hold a place in the cultivation world where sects abound, that True Person Tianque must be quite an extraordinary figure.

Keep reading.

The contents of the jade slip suddenly felt much lighter.

"I also have some news for Brother Li."

"I am preparing to establish my foundation. Over the years, I have been fortunate to receive the care of my elder brother and the opportunity to establish my foundation from Danxia Peak. The time has come, and delaying it any longer would only harm my Dao heart."

"If we succeed by chance this time, I, Chen, will certainly host a small banquet and invite Brother Li to come and have a drink."

"To my shame, when I first met Brother Li, I did have some intention of befriending a mid-grade talisman master. But over the years, I have found that Brother Li is one of the very few people who will not deliberately flatter me because of my background."

"In the eyes of others, I am the second young master of the Chen family, the younger brother of the chief of Danxia Peak. But in Brother Li's eyes, I am just a fellow cultivator, Chen Jingyuan. The path of cultivation is long, and it is not easy to find a fellow cultivator who truly understands you. May we both build the Great Dao and ascend to the path of immortality."

The jade slip ended with only five short words.

May the path to immortality be everlasting.

Li Mufeng slowly put down the jade slip and remained silent for a long time.

A slight smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

Over the years, he has always been cautious in his dealings with others and has been unwilling to easily form deep friendships with them.

But Chen Jingyuan ultimately became one of the few friends he could truly respect.

He looked out the window and murmured, "Heavenly Immortal City."

......

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside Cave No. 13, Bingzi.

The rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously converged into the cultivation room, forming a visible vortex of spiritual energy that slowly entered Li Mufeng's body.

After a long while.

He slowly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing within them.

At the same time, spiritual energy surged within his dantian, becoming several times more abundant than before.

[Cultivation Level: Qi Refining Stage 8]

Li Mufeng exhaled a breath of stale air, a smile appearing on his face.

"Three years, finally a breakthrough."

In the later stages of Qi Refining, the advancement of each level is far greater than that in the early stages of Qi Refining.

Even with the perfected "Boundless Ocean Technique," the aid of the Spirit Gathering Array, and his unwavering daily cultivation, it still took him three full years to finally reach the eighth level of Qi Refining.

However, he was not in a hurry. Although he was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, his current reserves of magical power were terrifying. Even cultivators who had reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage with ordinary techniques might not have as much magical power as him.

Li Mufeng raised his palm.

A spiritual ruler, its entire body a deep blue and as clear as autumn water, slowly appeared in his palm.

It is indeed the [Spirit Embryo - River of Oblivion].

Compared to three years ago, the River of Oblivion has clearly undergone significant changes.

On the surface of the vessel, the naturally formed water patterns grew ever deeper, resembling rushing rivers or surging abysses. The cold light at the tip of the ruler was concealed, yet it gave off an even more dangerous feeling, as if the slightest movement could tear everything in front of it apart.

Li Mufeng gently stroked the River of Oblivion, a trace of emotion appearing in his eyes.

Two years ago, with the help of the Liu family, he finally managed to purchase a first-tier high-grade water-attribute monster from the Treasure Pavilion.

That was a Cold Water Python that had cultivated for hundreds of years, and its strength was almost comparable to that of a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator.

Fortunately, the animal was already severely injured when it arrived. Li Mufeng had already mastered body tempering, so he easily dealt with it using a spirit embryo in his own backyard.

It was precisely because of this that Wangchuan successfully devoured the essence of a first-tier high-grade demon beast, and the spiritual embryo grew once again.

The second effect finally brought about a complete transformation.

【Effect 2: Abyss】

[Area range expanded to ten zhang, slowing effect increased to 80%, enemy spiritual energy circulation speed reduced by 80% within the area, additionally inflicting spiritual energy erosion effect. Duration: ten seconds. Cooldown: one day.]

Looking at the information before him, Li Mufeng's lips curled up slightly.

Compared to its former range of several feet, the abyss has undergone a qualitative change.

Within ten zhang, once the supernatural power is unleashed, not only will movement become extremely difficult, but the spiritual energy within the body will also feel like it is trapped in a quagmire, circulating slowly, and may even be continuously eroded by the domain.

If combined with the extremely rapid killing power of the "Tai Xu Fen Guang Jue", ordinary Qi Refining cultivators probably wouldn't even have a chance to react.

He put Wangchuan into his storage bag and then his gaze fell on the weapon rack beside him.

Several high-quality magical artifacts floated silently.

There are flying shuttles that excel at attack, magic shields that specialize in defense, and flying artifacts with astonishing speed.

Each one is quite valuable.

Inside the storage bag, there was a thick stack of exquisite talismans neatly arranged.

Golden Light Talisman, Water Dragon Talisman, Flying Escape Talisman, Concealing Essence Talisman, Focusing Spirit Talisman...

It has everything: attack, defense, stealth, escape, recovery, and sustain.

Upon closer examination, he has now not only reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, but his body refinement is also comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He also has the Spirit Embryo Wangchuan, several high-grade magic artifacts protecting him, and a set of exquisite talismans that can withstand several major battles.

Let alone a Qi Refining cultivator, even if he were to encounter a cultivator who had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, he would be fairly confident of escaping unscathed.

Having spent so many years lying low in Black Stone City, Li Mufeng was itching to leave and was planning to go to a larger cultivation city to seek his opportunity to establish his foundation.

As for why he dared to do this, it was naturally because a year ago, he discovered that the gaze of the Bai family silently watching him had also disappeared.

Even so, Li Mufeng still did not make any rash moves.

Throughout the past year, he continued to go to Wanfuzhai every day to draw talismans, living a life no different from usual, silently fulfilling his last year's contract with the Liu family, without showing any sign of abnormality.

Today, the ten-year period has come to an end.

Li Mufeng pushed open the stone door of the cave and slowly looked toward the center of the market.

Several days ago, he had already sent a message to Liu Yan'er, asking her to meet him today so that he could discuss something important.

Blackstone City was ultimately just the starting point of his path to immortality.

Now that I have grown strong enough, it is time to leave this place and go to the wider world of cultivation to find my own opportunity to establish my foundation.