Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable - Chapter 209

Chapter 209: The middle stage of foundation building, an old friend comes to visit (seeking follow-up subscription)

Mo Xi recounted this incident to Mo Qingxue.

When she mentioned Li Changan’s successive slaying of two demons, her voice unknowingly quickened, her heart aching.   Mo Qingxue paused

in thought .   ”It seems I misunderstood him before.”   ”Sister Qingxue, why is Li Changan so powerful?”   Mo Xi recalled the scene of Li Changan slaying the demon, still finding it hard to believe.   Mo Qingxue calmly replied, “It’s just a battle of higher rank. If you learn a few more techniques, you can do it, too. This is nothing.”   ”That sounds easy…” Mo   Xi muttered to herself.   Fighting a higher rank, how could it be so easy?   ”Well, don’t underestimate yourself. Li Changan only has low-grade spiritual roots. He was able to establish his foundation naturally due to some luck, but he was ultimately limited by his spiritual roots. You’re different. Don’t dwell on your current strengths. One day, you’ll surpass him,”   Mo Qingxue said with a cold expression.   …   At the same time.   To express her gratitude, Mu Caiwei invited Li Changan to her home.   Li Changan didn’t refuse. After all, he was a connection of the Mu family, so he had to manage it well.   Not long after,   the two arrived at Mu Caiwei’s house in Huanghe Fairy City.   Her house was not big and very quiet. On weekdays, she lived alone with her brother.   ”Ahua, come out to meet the guests.”   Mu Caiwei called softly from the depths of the house.   After a while,   a thin young man walked out.   ”Friend Li, this is my younger brother Mu Hua. He has been ill for many years and is a little shy. Please don’t be offended.”   Mu Caiwei introduced him to Li Changan with a smile.   Li Changan looked at Mu Hua and was slightly surprised.   The young man was pale and bloodless, his limbs were as thin as dead branches, and he seemed a little timid, with his head slightly lowered.   It looked like…   It was indeed as Mu Caiwei said, sickly and shy.   But Li Changan had seen this guy before!   ”Disciple of the Five Poisons Wanderer!”   A few years ago.   Wu Du San Ren broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage and held a celebration.   Li Chang’an disguised himself to congratulate him and saw many disciples of Wu Du San Ren’s lineage.   Among them was Mu Hua!   It was surprising that a member of such a prestigious Jindan family would join the Wu Du San Ren lineage.   ”Mu Caiwei doesn’t seem to know her brother’s other identity,”   Li Chang’an thought, perhaps he could give her a hint.   Then,   he and Mu Caiwei sat across from each other and discussed their experiences with spiritual plants.   This conversation lasted for the better part of an hour.   During this time,   Li Chang’an asked to see the Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid.   Mu Caiwei didn’t refuse, and immediately pulled a drop of spiritual liquid from her storage bag.   ”Fellow Daoist Li, please look, this is my Mu family’s Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid.”   She spoke gently, opening her fair palm. A drop of turquoise spiritual liquid hovered in her hand, translucent and shimmering like melted jade.   Instantly,   the entire courtyard was filled with the rich fragrance of plants and trees, making one feel as if they were in a lush spiritual herb garden.   In the corner of the yard, countless weeds grew wildly, reaching half a man’s height in just a few breaths, even showing signs of evolving into spiritual medicines.   Furthermore, this Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid seemed to have effects beyond just plants.   Li Changan took a few breaths, feeling his lungs moistened, his mind refreshed, and his entire body feeling much better, as if he had rested for a long time.   ”What a wonderful treasure!”   his eyes lit up, unable to resist the compliment.   Mu Caiwei smiled, having anticipated his reaction.   Even a member of the Mu family would be shocked upon first encountering this Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid.   ”Fellow Daoist Li, this spiritual liquid can’t be left exposed for too long, or its effects will fade.”   With a gentle wave, she returned the drop of liquid to her storage bag.   Li Changan took a deep breath, a hint of regret welling in his heart.   ”Fellow Daoist Mu, is this Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid really not for sale? I can offer you many treasures in exchange.”   ”I’m truly sorry, but this is a family rule, and I can’t violate it.”   ”In that case, then forget it.”   Li Changan didn’t press the issue.   There was still plenty of time.   One day, he would find a way to obtain the Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid. After all,   the Mu family was a Jindan family with countless members, not just Mu Caiwei.   Perhaps there would be a member willing to break family rules and secretly sell the Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid to others.   After a conversation, Li Changan stood up to say goodbye.   Before leaving,   he gave a subtle hint.   ”Fellow Daoist Mu, your brother’s condition may not be due to physical weakness.”   ”Oh? Fellow Daoist Li, did you see anything?”

Mu Caiwei asked hurriedly.

Li Changan whispered, “When I was exploring the secret realm before, I fought some poison cultivators. They looked much like your brother: pale, emaciated, and frail.”

“Poison cultivator?”

Mu Caiwei’s beautiful face frowned, in disbelief.

She had already investigated.

Her brother possessed only a faint trace of magical power; he couldn’t possibly be a poison cultivator.

“Fellow Daoist Li, my brother isn’t a poison cultivator. He’s simply weakened due to other factors. I’m still investigating.”

“Okay, I’m probably overthinking it,”

Li Changan said without further ado, turning away.

He went to the Wanbao Tower

to inquire about the Qingxuan Spirit Liquid.

Jin Yue, looking hesitant, explained that the Qingxuan Spirit Liquid was a unique treasure of the Mu family and wouldn’t be sold to the public.

If one reached the Golden Core stage, perhaps they could obtain it from the Mu family’s ancestor.

“Shopkeeper Jin, your Jin family is a family of merchants. Don’t you have any special channels to obtain the Qingxuan Spirit Liquid?”

“I really don’t!”

Jin Yue shook his head.

Li Chang’an had no choice but to purchase a batch of ordinary cultivation treasures.

Afterward,

he left Yellow Crane Immortal City and went to the black market, posting a quest for the Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid.

To ensure the quest would attract attention, he listed a variety of valuable treasures as rewards, such as Foundation Establishment Pills, something that would drive a Qi Refining cultivator crazy.

As expected

, the quest immediately caused an uproar on the black market.

“Foundation Establishment Pills! Someone’s actually willing to take Foundation Establishment Pills as a reward!”

“What the heck is Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid? Why have I never heard of it?”

“You’re so ignorant!”

“Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid is a treasure of the Mu family in Hongye Valley, impossible for outsiders to obtain.”

“Don’t the Mu family have traitorous disciples?”

“…”

For a moment, the entire black market was abuzz with the quest.

Li Chang’an sat quietly in a corner, listening in, eavesdropping on everyone’s conversations.

With his current strength,

intercepting the voice transmissions between Qi Refining cultivators was easy.

What he wanted most was news about the Mu family’s traitorous disciples.

However,

the news he received was somewhat disappointing.

The Mu Clan strictly controls the Qingxuan Spiritual Liquid. Qi Refining disciples are practically inaccessible, and only Foundation Establishment members can exchange it.

However, at the Foundation Establishment stage, betrayal becomes nearly impossible.

Li Changan listened for a long time, but received no useful information, so he had no choice but to leave.

…

Two hours later.

He returned to Changqing Mountain and retrieved the corpses of the two second-level monsters he had previously slain.

As soon as they smelled blood, Da Huang and Xiao Hei came running over, and even the vines of the Evergreen Ivy reached out.

Each one looked like they were waiting for dinner.

“Don’t rush,”

Li Changan smiled.

He flicked a sword energy finger, dissected the carcass of one of the monsters, and searched carefully. He

found nothing.

Then,

he dissected another monster.

Soon, in the belly of this monster, he discovered a blood-stained jade slip.

Within the jade slip, a technique for escaping from the body was revealed.

The Five Elements Spiritual Light Escape!

“Sure enough, there’s an escape technique, and it’s reached Earth Grade!”

Li Chang’an beamed. Finally, he could change his technique.

He extracted the demon cores of two demon beasts and tossed the two corpses aside.

“Eat!”

After receiving permission,

the two beasts and the vine immediately began to devour the meal.

Li Chang’an sat nearby, digging into the jade slip with his spiritual sense, carefully perusing its contents.

This Five Elements Spiritual Light Escape, like the Lesser Five Elements Escape Technique, allows one to utilize the principles of mutual generation and switch between the five elements at will.

According to the description, this escape technique is considered exceptional even among Earth Grade techniques.

Over the next few days,

Li Chang’an immersed himself in it, cultivating the technique wholeheartedly, and unknowingly mastered it.

“It’s truly an Earth Grade escape technique! My initial speed is approaching that of a fully-developed Lesser Five Elements Escape Technique!”

He beamed with delight, and continued practicing.

…

A month later,

Li Chang’an had mastered this escape technique to the Lesser Success stage.

He paused, no longer practicing the escape technique, nor did he cultivate other spells or refine his skills.

It was because he vaguely felt that the time for a breakthrough had come.

In the next few days.

Li Chang’an sat cross-legged deep in the cave, breathing in and out spiritual energy, adjusting his state.

“There’s a small threshold between the early and middle stages of Foundation Establishment. Many people never cross it, remaining stuck in the early stages, like Zheng Feihong.”

Back then, when he first arrived at Qinghe Market, Zheng Feihong was already in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

All these years later, Zheng Feihong remains stuck there.

This situation

is not uncommon in the world of immortal cultivation.

Even many powerful Foundation Establishment masters from the three major sects and seven great families are like this, unable to cross this threshold in their lifetimes.

While talent is certainly a factor, there are other reasons as well.

For most cultivators,

Foundation Establishment is their ultimate goal in life.

Consequently,

after successfully achieving this, their inner pride fades, and they lose interest in striving for higher realms, shifting their focus to family or sect affairs.

But Li Chang’an was different.

“This time, breaking through shouldn’t be a problem.”

He had remained focused on himself over the years, not distracting himself too much, and never slacking off in his cultivation.

He had accumulated a profound amount of magical power.

His spiritual roots also rose from low-grade to high-grade.

His current cultivation talent was enough to be considered a prodigy even among the three major sects and seven great families!

Seven days later,

Li Changan set up a second-grade, superior spirit gathering array around him.

He summoned Da Huang, handed him a large number of spirit stones, and gave him careful instructions.

“Da Huang, when I break through, you must fully activate the spirit gathering array!”

“Woof!”

Da Huang’s face was solemn, conveying a reassurance.

Li Changan then summoned the Black Water Turtle and instructed him to guard the cave and not allow anyone to disturb it.

Furthermore,

the Evergreen Ivy also played a role.

Waves of powerful vines sealed the cave entrance, prohibiting anyone from entering.

Jiang Muyu was not on the mountain, having gone down to train.

Soon,

Li Changan sat cross-legged deep in the cave, his eyes slightly closed, practicing his cultivation techniques, and began his efforts to reach the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

A few hours later, unusual fluctuations in the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth on Evergreen Mountain were observed.

However, due to the obscurity of the two great formations, they remained unnoticed by the outside world.

That evening.

A mysterious aura of breakthrough slowly emanated from Li Chang’an.

He opened his eyes, a flicker of joy in them.

“Middle Stage Foundation Establishment, accomplished!”

As an ancient technique, the Ancient Tree Evergreen Technique only has three stages within the Foundation Establishment stage.

With each breakthrough, his power far surpasses the previous.

Li Chang’an slowly stood up, his mana surging within him, emanating the powerful aura of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

“It’s only been twenty-three years since I’ve established my foundation.”

He calculated the time.

In just over twenty years, he had already reached the middle stage.

If this news were to spread, it would surely shock countless people.

How could someone with a mere low-grade spiritual root achieve such a rapid breakthrough?

This speed of breakthrough defied the expectations of ordinary cultivators.

By then,

a Jindan cultivator would likely come and capture Li Chang’an for study.

“I better keep a low profile and continue displaying my early Foundation Establishment cultivation. Wait a few decades before breaking through again.”

Li Chang’an cast a spell, restraining his aura.

He sat down again, practicing the technique to consolidate his realm.

…

Seven days later,

Li Chang’an officially emerged from seclusion.

He continued to practice the Five Elements Spirit Light Escape, intending to perfect it.

The world was becoming increasingly chaotic, and the more skilled one was in escaping, the better.

Time seemed to flow in practice,

and before one knew it, half a year had passed.

One day,

amidst the mountains,

a great blue eagle demon, draped in a turquoise hue, was swiftly escaping.

“Evil creature, still trying to escape!”

Li Changan pursued it relentlessly.

This great blue eagle demon was the same one that had led the other eight demons in the attack on Cuiping Mountain.

It was a rare wind-flying demonic beast, not one of the Five Elements. Similar to the Shadowless Bird Li Changan had once slain, it excelled in wind escape techniques and possessed exceptional evasive abilities.

Because of this, despite

the passage of so many years,

despite its frequent appearances and devastation, it remained remarkably alive.

With its late-stage second-order strength and wind escape techniques, ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators could not possibly catch up.

However, today, it collided with Li Changan.

“Boom!”

A beam of divine azure light streaked through the sky, suddenly impacting the blue eagle’s back.

It screamed, blood splattered everywhere, and countless green feathers fell. It had suffered heavy damage!

But its speed did not decrease, but instead increased a little bit, as if it had used some kind of escape talent that squeezed its potential to try to shake off Li Changan.

But it was all in vain.

Li Chang’an had perfected his Five Elements Spiritual Light Escape technique, catching up with the Azure Eagle in the blink of an eye and unleashing another

blast of Azure Wood Divine Light. With his mid-stage Foundation Establishment strength, the Azure Wood Divine Light was particularly terrifying.

A single contact would kill a normal mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, caught unawares, would shatter instantly! Though

the Azure Eagle demon’s physique was formidable, rivaling even a late-stage second-stage human, it couldn’t withstand the barrage of multiple blasts of Azure Wood Divine Light.

After just over ten breaths,

it wailed and collapsed, slamming heavily into the forest below, unable to rise again.

“Boom!”

Li Chang’an waved his hand casually, unleashing another blast of divine light.

The demon beast was cunning; completely shattering its head was the safest option.

During the years of the beast tide,

many cultivators, complacent, believing the demon beast was dead, rushed forward to harvest materials, only to be killed by the demon beast’s final attack.

As the Great Blue Eagle Demon’s head shattered,

it trembled for a moment, then fell silent, its breath gone.

Thus,

this great demon, which had wreaked havoc for years, possessing formidable magic, physique, and escape techniques, perished at the hands of Li Chang’an.

Li Chang’an stepped forward, extracted the demon core, and sensed it.

“Yes, while this demon core is not without attributes, it is very suitable for alchemy. Its grade has reached the upper second rank. Perhaps it can be used to refine two high-quality foundation-building pills.”

He smiled, collected the demon core and corpse, and returned to Changqing Mountain.

Throughout the Zhao Kingdom’s southern region, the immortal cultivators remained unaware that the Great Blue Eagle Demon had perished.

For a long time thereafter,

patrols from major sects and aristocratic families searched for the Great Blue Eagle Demon.

…

Half a month later.

On Changqing Mountain, in the alchemy room,

the alchemy fire burned brightly, and the fragrance of the elixir filled the air.

Li Chang’an raised his hand, and three round pills flew out of the alchemy furnace and landed in the small jade bottle in his hand.

“Yes, two premium Foundation Establishment Pills. The other one, while not quite premium, is much better than an ordinary one.”

“It can be exchanged for a large sum of resources.”

Although many second-tier great demons have perished in the years since the Beast Tide, Foundation Establishment Pills remain in short supply.

This is because many human Foundation Establishment cultivators have also perished.

Major clans and sects are in urgent need of Foundation Establishment Pills to cultivate new ones.

Therefore, far from falling, the price of Foundation Establishment Pills has actually increased by 10% compared to before the Beast Tide.

The same is true for other elixirs.

The prices of talismans, puppets, formations, and so on have all risen.

Meanwhile, the price of raw materials has fallen significantly.

Just as Li Changan had initially predicted,

this Beast Tide

had brought him a significant profit.

However, he still hoped the Tide would subside soon.

It had already caused too much chaos, throwing the entire cultivation world of the Southern Zhao Kingdom into disarray.

If this chaos continued, it would sooner or later disrupt the peace of Changqing Mountain.

“The three great sects and seven great families should have far more than this strength. Why haven’t they launched an all-out attack to end this beast tide?”

Li Chang’an put away his elixir and walked out of the alchemy room, pondering silently.

Just then,

Chen Qianya suddenly came up the mountain with a message.

“Senior, someone has visited us down the mountain. They claim to be an old friend of yours, someone who once followed you in your quest for immortality.”

“Old friend?”

Li Chang’an paused to think, looking down the mountain

. After so many years of building his foundation, an old friend finally came calling.   He had been

waiting all these years.

News of his foundation should have spread throughout the Zhao Kingdom’s immortal cultivation world, but no old friend had come, which surprised him for a while.   Normally, after building one’s foundation, many old friends and acquaintances would visit, renewing friendships.   …   Now, down the mountain,   an old man and a young man were waiting.   The old man’s hair was gray, his face was weathered, and a hint of sorrow lingered between his brows, as if he had endured many hardships.   His aura wasn’t strong, only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, not even past the later stages.   Beside him stood a young woman in green.   ”Grandpa, why do we have to seek out Ancestor Changqing?”   the young woman whispered, somewhat puzzled.   ”Isn’t our family dependent on Ancestor Huoyun? Ancestor Huoyun is in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, while Ancestor Changqing is only in the early stages. If we only ask Ancestor Huoyun for help, our family’s predicament will be resolved.”   (End of Chapter)