"The recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill is already in my hands, and I''m notcking the main ingredient. The auxiliary spiritual medicines can be collected in the marketce."


    "What I need to do now is to find a safe spiritnd to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill!"


    Zhou Yi had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refinement for more than thirty years. He had read many records of cultivators'' Foundation Establishment process and knew that it required an environment rich in spiritual energy. Hiding in the mortal world, it would be difficult toplete the Foundation Establishment.


    "Marketce? Spiritnd?"


    The marketce under Dan Ding Sect has the richest spiritual energy, yet breaking through a major boundary would produce an anomaly, difficult to conceal from the stationed True Ones.


    Having just escaped Xuan Yu''s pursuit, Zhou Yi did not dare to return to the marketce under the Dan Ding Sect''s jurisdiction for the time being. If there were any spells to intercept and retain his aura, wouldn''t that be like throwing oneself into the?


    "Even if the chances of breakthrough are higher in the marketce, I cannot take the risk, no matter how small the possibility might be."


    All actions taken by Zhou Yi were for the sake of survival, preferring to match wits and bravery with the air itself.


    "It''s better to find a spiritnd. There, no one is my opponent, and it''s just a matter of taking a few more Foundation Establishment Pills. After cultivating in the spiritnd to the limit, it will take at least several decades. By then, no spell to detect aura would be effective!"


    "Spiritnds are hard to find. Currently, the ones with clues are the Jiangnan families, the Hu family, and the Chu State Imperial n..."


    The Jiangnan families have many members, and even if they own a small spiritnd, they wouldn''t allow non-family members to enter.


    The Hu family belongs to an emerging cultivator n and could be one of the options. Zhou Yi once inquired about a Hu cultivator. It was said that he had an ent from the Northwest of Da Qian.


    Following this clue, by investigating the well-known Hu families in the Northwest, it wouldn''t take more than a decade to find the Hu family''s descendants, and from there, find the cultivating spiritnd they upy.


    "This is more reliable than the Jiangnan families. The Hu family has only a few decades of foundation, and they pose no threat to me."


    As Zhou Yi contemtes thest option, the Chu State Royal Family has always recruited loose cultivators, allowing them to cultivate in the Royal Family''s spiritnd and offering spirit stones each year.


    Of course, it''s not just about taking money without doing anything. Chu State''s legacy hassted for six to seven hundred years, having endured several crises of state destruction. Their survival can be attributed to the Immortal Pensions Office''s covert assistance.


    Throughout the generations, the Chu State Royal Family has had exchangeable disciples, so the operations of the Immortal Pensions Office are not overly secretive. The Dan Ding Sect conveniently turns a blind eye.


    "In the past years, it was all right, but now that the Chu State Royal Family has a Foundation Establishment True One, their actions have be somewhat arrogant ande with risks!"


    Zhou Yi''s eyes suddenly brightened: "If the Chu State Royal Family can find a spiritnd, Da Qian naturally can as well, unless there''s no spiritnd within its territory! Even if so, scouring the mountains and ins, the Hu family''s spiritnd won''t be able to remain hidden."


    "Utilizing the power of the Imperial Court is both quick and safe!"


    At this thought, Zhou Yi suddenly felt nostalgic for Da Qian. Even if he couldn''t find a spiritnd, it would be good to return for a look.


    "And to burn some incense for an old friend, and visit his grave!"


    ...


    Qian Capital.


    A hundred years ago, it was known as Divine Capital, but its name was changed after the founding of Da Qian.


    East City, ten miles away, lies a Bai family estate covering a hundred acres - the site of the Bai family''s ancestral graves.


    Midnight.


    Old Bai, who was responsible for guarding the ancestral graves, carried antern and finished his patrol. He was about to return to his room to sleep when he caught sight of a ck shadow emerging from the ground near a grave mound not far away.


    Ghosts!


    Old Bai threw down hisntern and ran for his life.


    In front of Old Bai''s grave.


    Zhou Yi took out a hundred-year-old bottle of Pear Blossom White, poured a bowl for his deceased friend, and squatted in front of the grave, drinking by himself.


    The tombstone, weathered by a hundred years, had turned from white to a mossy green, exuding an ancient charm.


    "Old Bai, it''s been a blink of an eye, and you''ve been dead for one hundred and fifty or sixty years. If there is reincarnation in this world, you''ve likely been reborn by now. I wonder whether you''re male or female?"


    "I''ve been wandering in the Cultivation World for over a century, and still haven''t made much of a name for myself!"


    "The social hierarchy in the Cultivation World is even more rigid than in the mortal world. Those big shots have all sorts of means and methods to keep loose cultivators on their toes... Oh, you don''t understand what ''social hierarchy'' means."


    "Forget it! Let''s change to a more cheerful topic. The female cultivators in the Cultivation World are by no meansparable to mortal women."


    "That vor, tsk tsk, this round I won against you..."


    Zhou Yi rambled on, talking about every which thing, from east to west, from south to north, sometimes reminiscing the past when the two of them used to drink under the moon, sometimes telling interesting stories from the Cultivation World.


    After finishing a jar of wine, the moon was already setting behind the Western Mountains.


    "Old Bai, I''m leaving again!"


    "The next time Ie back, I hope your tombstone is still standing here, so I can talk to you again."


    Zhou Yi stood up, feeling refreshed in both body and spirit. The depressive emotions umted over the years had dissipated.


    "Sometimes I envied you, lying there carefree and at ease, without a single worry."


    …


    The Imperial City.


    The main gate is called Dingqian, with the imperial decree posted beside it.


    The issuer of the decree was the founding Sage Emperor of Da Qian; the text of the decree contained not a single character and had withstood decades of wind and rain without damage.


    Folk rumors held that whoever could understand the contents of the imperial decree could be a national temple steward.


    Zhou Yi looked at the imperial decree from afar, his eyes flickering with spiritual light, "Using this method to recruit Loose Cultivators, promising Spirit Stones and spiritualnds, it seems the Li family is also developing toward the Imperial n of Chu State."


    Times change.


    It had been eighty years since he left Da Qian, and Zhou Yi was unaware of any changes that had urred in that time.


    "For now, I shall observe for a while."


    After contemting for a moment, Zhou Yi decided to first return home for a look.


    …


    Ningde Fang.


    A hundred years had passed, and everything had changed.


    Zhou Yi arrived at his family home to find the seal on it half fallen off.


    He pushed the door open and saw the ground covered with a thickyer of dust, with a few footprints; he was unsure whether they were from thieves or something else.


    Mana swept across, cleaning up the dust in an instant."


    "The jujube tree and grapevine, you two are still alive?"


    Zhou Yi spoke to the two trees as if he were catching up with old friends, burying a few Spirit Stones under them.


    In the mortal world, with its thin Spiritual Energy, it was impossible for the trees to be spirits, but the Spiritual Energy seeping from the Spirit Stones could nourish and rejuvenate them, allowing the age-old trees to sprout anew.


    The main room.


    There was a wooden tablet on the table that looked somewhat familiar.


    "Is this the one for sending messages from back then?"


    Zhou Yi picked up the wooden tablet, his Mana probing inside to find a jade slip contained within.


    In the martial world, information was stored using Secret Techniques that transmitted sound, which would typically dissipate after thirty to fifty years, whereas a jade slip could preserve information for hundreds of years.


    A few momentster.


    Zhou Yi ced the jade slip into his storage bag; it recorded thest words of Li Hong and Chen Jinyu.


    After Li Hong abdicated, he and Chen Jinyu devoted themselves to cultivation and never stopped searching for Zhou Yi. Even on their deathbeds, they were still preupied with him, sending someone to leave a jade slip in the courtyard.


    If a descendant of the Zhou family took the jade slip, as long as the Li Imperial n still existed, they would repay this kindness.


    "A descendant of the Zhou family... Hmm? That''s not entirely out of the question!"


    Zhou Yi already had a n in mind.


    …


    Several months passed in the blink of an eye.


    Zhou Yi had been observing outside the Pce, finally waiting for a cultivator to appear.


    He slightly revealed his aura, and whatever he asked, the other would answer.


    During their travels in cultivation, Li Hong and Chen Jinyu, who had been named disciples of the Pill Cauldron Sect, made the acquaintance of a fellow sect brother from Chu State, and learning from the way of the Royal Family, they established the Immortal Pensions Office to recruit Loose Cultivators.


    As for the origins of the spiritualnds, the man was not very clear, but there were rumors linking them to the former dynasty.


    Currently, among the spiritualnds upied by the Da Qian Imperial n, the one with the highest cultivation was an old Lord Li, who was said to be at the sixthyer of Qi Refinement and on the verge of breaking through to theter stages at any time.


    "That is very good!"


    Zhou Yi waited a few more months and caught another cultivator; the information matched what he had heard previously.


    A few dayster.


    A young man named Zhou Shen came to the Pce Gate and struck the gong to request an audience with His Majesty.