Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 100: Entanglement

And our protagonist, throughout this year, had completed the modification of four first-order pill recipes, transforming them into Water Refining pill formulas.

Thanks to his growing experience, Li Zhirui had already begun to attempt modifying a second-order pill recipe, the Hundred Herbs Pill, though he found the difficulty to be much greater than he had imagined, and he was still at the stage of slowly exploring while referring to two Consolidating Yuan Pill recipes.

Why choose the Hundred Herbs Pill as the first to try? Because the pill is profound – it could be refined using just fifty types of first-order Spiritual Medicines, and none of these fifty types were considered precious! This could save Li Zhirui some Spirit Stones.

Moreover, after gaining a deeper understanding, Li Zhirui developed a sense of admiration and reverence for the predecessor who had created the Hundred Herbs Pill.

There were times when he would often ponder, who exactly was this remarkable and brilliant individual who could concoct such a profound pill recipe, one that could turn first-order Spiritual Medicines into high-order Spirit Pills!

First-order, second-order, third-order; these were pill recipes with heaven-and-earth differences, yet one could still progress step by step, following discernible patterns.

Sometimes, Li Zhirui couldnʼt help but speculate whether the Medicine King Valley harbored a fourth-order Hundred Herbs Pill recipe, or if not, at least some speculations and records regarding this.

Unfortunately, with Li Zhiruiʼs status, he feared he might never encounter it in his lifetime.

——

After a year of relentless hard work from Li Zhirui, the success rate and quality of the Consolidating Yuan Pills had both improved further.

This time, however, Li Zhirui didnʼt keep the price of the Consolidating Yuan Pills the same as the Fire-Refined pills, like he did with the Jade Spirit Pills, but instead marked up the price by five Spirit Stones per Spirit Pill.

Even so, the Consolidating Yuan Pills refined by Li Zhirui were still a hot commodity; as soon as they hit the shelves, they were bought by Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the miscellaneous shopʼs business too improved greatly as a result.

The sales approach for the Consolidating Yuan Pills also differed from that of the Jade Spirit Pills – previously, Li Zhirui sold the Jade Spirit Pills at a discount to his family, but now he was consigning the Consolidating Yuan Pills in the miscellaneous shop, giving a ten percent commission to the family.

The Li family was developing rapidly, and other forces in Yunping State had also undergone many changes!

The most noteworthy of these was the emergence of another Golden Core true person within the Yuanming Sect!

This true person had succeeded in his Tribulation Transcendence and achieved Golden Core during the zombie disaster period, but at that time, most cultivators were preoccupied with the zombies littering the ground, leaving the Golden Core Thunder Tribulation of the Yuanming Sect largely unnoticed.

It was only after the disaster was dealt with and the Yuanming Sect hosted a grand Core Formation ceremony, inviting all vassal forces in Yunping State as well as nearby forces, that people became aware of it.

It was said that the Yuanming Sect had initially planned to take advantage of the situation to occupy some of the Green Sword Sectʼs territory, especially since the Green Sword Sect had acquired a Secret Realm several years ago but had yet to announce a second Golden Core.

Unexpectedly, on the day of the ceremony, the representative sent by the Green Sword Sect turned out to be a cultivator in the Middle Golden Core Stage!

This was because the Green Sword Sect had focused all the resources they gathered into their Golden Core Sword Cultivator, Yu Qing.

It was a cautious choice; after all, breaking through to Golden Core was no small feat and investing a large amount of resources could ultimately result in failure.

But assisting Yu Qing in his breakthrough was a different matter – his profound foundation, coupled with a plethora of resources, shortened several years of his arduous cultivation, allowing him to successfully advance to the Middle Golden Core Stage!

Perhaps it was a fated entanglement; with the Yuanming Sect gaining a new Golden Core and the Green Sword Sect now having a Middle Golden Core cultivator, the eager ambitions of both forces had to be suppressed once more.

Yet, the world is ever-changing, with fortune and calamity intertwined.

At this moment, thriving Yunping State, in some corner to its west, gave birth to a species of tiny insects that would, in the future, sweep across the neighboring large states and bring countless disasters.

But because the little creature was well hidden, for the time being, no one had discovered it yet, and the cultivators in Yunping State carried on as usual, either teaming up to hunt Water Devils in the sea or heading south to Green Mountain State to explore the mountains therein.

In the border region of the three major sects of Green Mountain State, there is a mountain range that stretches for thousands of miles, with numerous Spirit Veins and rich Spiritual Energy, where Devil Beasts and Spiritual Medicine often appear.

All three sects wanted to claim the range for themselves, but it was too vast and long, and deep in the mountains lay many third-level Devil Beasts, so they lacked the power to even seal off the area.

Thus, they completely opened up the mountain range, allowing cultivators to explore at will, as most of the Spiritual Objects the Loose Cultivators found ended up in their hands anyway.

And Li Zhirui, who had cooped up on Da Rong Island without setting foot outside for a year, was now quietly contemplating action, preparing to explore the Green Mountain Range.

However, things donʼt always go as one wishes.

Just as Li Zhirui was entertaining the thought of going out, Li Zhizhun came to him, requesting Foundation Establishment Pills.

”Big brother, are you preparing to enter seclusion to break through to Foundation Establishment?” Li Zhirui sized him up and saw that Li Zhizhunʼs energy was well-rounded, even better than when he had attempted his own Foundation Establishment breakthrough.

Li Zhizhun, showing no signs of the usual tension that comes with a breakthrough, confidently said, ”Yes, after polishing my skills for the past half-year, I feel itʼs time to advance.”

”Then I wish big brother all the best, may you achieve your goal swiftly!” Li Zhirui took out the jade bottle containing the Foundation Establishment Pills from deep within his storage bag and handed it over with great solemnity.

”Youʼve had a hard time handling the familyʼs affairs in this period,” Li Zhizhun said with a teasing smile.

Li Zhirui smiled awkwardly; as the Acting Clan Leader, he had become increasingly negligent, especially after acquiring the Pill Scripture in this past year, truly becoming a hands-off shopkeeper.

”The hard work has really been on you, big brother.”

Li Zhizhun waved his hand dismissively, as that was his responsibility and the price he had to pay.

Perhaps calling it a price was too severe as Li Zhizhun really didnʼt feel much of it, because without this, his chances of obtaining the Foundation Establishment Pills would have been very slim.

Perhaps at over fifty years of age, he would have had to take a desperate gamble, or, like other members of his family, just continue living until decades later when he would turn to dust.

Compared to living an additional sixty years, what did such a sacrifice count for?

The two chatted casually for a while, mainly Li Zhizhun handing over his responsibilities to Li Zhirui, and after clarifying everything, he left the small courtyard and returned to his own home.

Li Zhizhun looked at the yard that only housed two Spirit Fruit Trees, smiled faintly, then activated the Formation, hung up the ʼIn Seclusionʼ sign, and walked into his meditation chamber with steady steps.

”Perhaps in a few months, our family will have one more Foundation Establishment cultivator, and I can finally let go of the position of Acting Clan Leader!” Li Zhirui was very happy about this prospect.

Compared to sneaking out of Da Rong Island now to explore the Green Mountain Range, it would be better for him to oversee the family for a few months and then venture out without as many concerns.

In order to complete the duties of Acting Clan Leader perfectly and return the family to Li Zhizhun, Li Zhirui didnʼt slouch off for the next few months.

Instead, he became exceptionally active, going through all matters thoroughly and even discussing with the Elders about how the family should develop moving forward.

At first, everyone was somewhat puzzled, but once they knew about Li Zhizhunʼs seclusion, they understood why Li Zhirui was the one taking action.