Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

Wu Feng suppressed his distracting thoughts and stopped delving into the matter, then slowly got to the point: "I called you here today because I need you to do something for me."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Li's heart tightened, but he remained respectful, bowing his head and listening attentively without asking any questions, waiting for Wu Feng to finish speaking.

Wu Feng sighed softly and said slowly, "Twenty years ago, after the sect discovered a second-grade top-quality spiritual vein in Yulin County, it intended to build another immortal city on this spiritual vein. Now the immortal city has taken shape."

"However, the Immortal City is newly established and everything needs to be rebuilt. Even the resource points opened up around the Immortal City need to be guarded and managed by disciples."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Li had a vague premonition of something bad.

As expected, Wu Feng continued, "The Golden Core Ancestor has issued a strict order to select a group of disciples from the sect to be stationed in Yunyu Immortal City for a long period of time to guard the medicinal fields, spirit stone mines, and spirit beast breeding farms outside the city. In order to mobilize the disciples in the sect, all elders in the sect must send one of their disciples to guard the area."

Zhang Li's heart sank suddenly, and he instantly understood the reason.

Being sent to Yunyu Immortal City for a minimum period of several years.

With the Immortal City newly established and everything in need of rebuilding, people are needed everywhere. Choosing to stay in the Immortal City at this juncture would probably mean not even having time to cultivate.

Where else can one find peace and quiet like staying in the sect, meditating and refining pills all day long? The progress of cultivation is destined to be significantly slowed down.

Zhang Li could already imagine what would happen after these disciples who had been transferred there had actually completed the most arduous and tiring early accumulation phase, and had properly managed the spirit fields, mines, and spirit beast farms, and the city's layout had become completely stable.

The powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators within the sect would then replace a group of their true confidants to reap the rewards.

By then, those who had endured hardship during their early years of overseas assignments would have wasted several years of their lives, gained little benefit, and been left far behind by their fellow cultivators.

Zhang Li's mind raced, and she had already guessed Wu Feng's plan, but she still kept her eyes down, quietly waiting for him to continue.

Wu Feng rambled on and on, going around in circles, his words filled with the righteousness of the sect, every sentence emphasizing the importance of guarding Yunyu Immortal City and the inviolability of the ancestor's orders, as if he were acting against his will and had no other choice.

"The affairs of Yunyu Immortal City are of great importance to the sect, and every elder must contribute. I am no exception."

Wu Feng changed the subject, his tone becoming more earnest, "I only have two disciples. My eldest disciple, Lu Ying, made a great contribution and was given a Foundation Establishment Pill by the sect. He is currently in seclusion, focusing all his efforts on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and cannot leave."

"My second disciple, Yu Wan, has only been on the path of immortality for two years and has only just begun practicing Qi. In addition, she is too young. I am really worried about sending her to guard the mortal immortal city alone."

Wu Feng frowned slightly, feigning annoyance, and sighed softly, "Originally, this matter had nothing to do with you, but unfortunately, someone exposed the relationship between us."

Now all the elders in the sect know that back then, out of respect for your grandfather's kindness, I made an exception and accepted you into the sect despite your only having the aptitude for four spiritual roots.

According to the rules, given our connection, I can consider you my disciple, so this task fell to you.

These words were spoken as if he had no choice in the matter, and in his words, he completely absolved himself and his two personal disciples, instead attributing all the reasons to the gossip of others and the coercion of sect rules.

Zhang Li was insightful and had already seen through the other party's thoughts.

With one of his two disciples needing to go into seclusion to build his foundation and the other too young to handle the heavy responsibility, neither of them wanted to send him out to suffer. So, the difficult task of being sent out to work elsewhere fell to him.

Seeing Zhang Li remain silent, Wu Feng softened his tone and adopted a posture of planning for his future, continuing, "Yunyu Immortal City has just been established and is in need of talent. There are many opportunities. If you go there and do things properly, the sect will record your merits upon your return, which will greatly benefit your future cultivation. It is not impossible for you to be directly recruited as an inner disciple."

Zhang Li could only sneer inwardly at this empty promise.

In the early stages of the Immortal City's establishment, it was all tedious and hard work. Disciples sent out to do all the dirty and tiring tasks had to take care of everything. Once everything was on track, the benefits and opportunities would only be reserved for the elders' confidants.

For someone like him, who is temporarily pushed out to fill in, his so-called merits are nothing more than a few empty words, and he doesn't get any real benefits at all.

Fortunately, he had the space Kuroda with him, so ordinary cultivation resources were not a problem for him. His top priority was safety.

Zhang Li knew he had no right to refuse; insisting on declining would only anger Wu Feng, making his life in the sect even more difficult.

Since it's unavoidable, we should strive to gain more benefits.

Although he thought this in his heart, Zhang Li did not show any dissatisfaction on his face. He still bowed his head respectfully and truthfully explained his difficulties: "I understand what you said, Uncle-Master. It's just that I have poor aptitude and my cultivation is slow. I rely entirely on refining pills to accumulate spirit stones to support my cultivation."

Yunyu Immortal City is newly established and in need of reconstruction. If disciples go there, they will probably not have time to cultivate in peace, and their cultivation and alchemy will stagnate.

Furthermore, although I possess cultivation, I lack the means to protect myself, making it difficult for me to shoulder the responsibility of guarding the position. If anything goes wrong and you, my senior uncle, are implicated, that would be extremely unfortunate.

"I know your concerns, so I have naturally made preparations for you." Wu Feng raised his hand and took out a storage bag. "Inside there is a mid-grade flying magic weapon, a mid-grade defensive magic weapon, seven high-grade spirit talismans, and twenty mid-grade spirit talismans. In addition, your salary will be doubled during your duty period."

After saying that, Wu Feng took out another jade bottle and said, "This is the Harmony Pill. It was originally meant to help you break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, but since you have already broken through the bottleneck on your own, I will keep it for you to improve your cultivation. After refining it, it will greatly shorten the time it takes for you to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining."

The generous compensation is right in front of them, but it can't make up for the delayed path to immortality.

Suppressing his utter helplessness, Zhang Li bowed deeply with his hands clasped, his tone sincere and obedient: "I am deeply grateful for your generous gift, Uncle-Master. After arriving in Yunyu Immortal City, I will act cautiously and manage the resource points I am responsible for guarding well, so as not to cause you any trouble."

Seeing that he sensibly agreed, Wu Feng tossed him a jade token and instructed him, "Within one month, take this jade token to Yunyu Immortal City to report for handover."

"This disciple will remember." Zhang Li put away his storage bag and jade bottle, bowed again to take his leave, and turned to walk out of the bamboo forest cave.

……

Zhang Li returned to his small courtyard, sat cross-legged on a futon, and began to plan for the future.

I'm going out on duty, and I don't know how many years I'll be gone.

The compensation Wu Feng gave seemed generous, but all in all, it was only enough for him to cultivate for a little over a year.

Unlike within the sect, outside the sect one can focus solely on cultivation, where time is the most precious resource.

If he had a choice, he would never choose to go out on duty at this time.

Unfortunately, he is now of low status and has little influence, so he has no right to bargain.

Zhang Li slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and his chaotic thoughts finally calmed down.

Since there's no way to avoid it, we can only make ample preparations.