61: Chapter 61: Preparations

Zhou Yuansheng nodded: "Yes! It is said that the Pill Formula was obtained by the Cult Master from a certain ancient ruin, and only the Cult Master knows it."

Xiao Yuan asked again: "Who is your Cult Master? What is his cultivation level?"

Zhou Yuansheng shook his head: "This… This subordinate truly doesn't know. Every time the Cult Master appears, he covers his face and never shows his true appearance to others. However, his cultivation level is Early Foundation Establishment. Or perhaps, it is even stronger!"

"What about the Protectors?"

"Including this subordinate, there are a total of six Protectors, all of whom are Half-step Foundation Establishment."

Zhou Yuansheng honestly confessed: "Normally, we each develop our own subordinates and collect... tie... tie up Cultivators with Spiritual Roots. Every three months, the Cult Master will summon us to submit our results. If the contribution is sufficient, he will refine a foundation establishment pill for us! At that time, he will bestow the pill upon us!"

Xiao Yuan was deep in thought.

Six Half-step Foundation Establishment and one Cult Master with Early Foundation Establishment strength.

This lineup could not be considered very strong, nor could it be considered weak.

With his current strength, he was confident in fighting a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator one-on-one, and he was even confident in killing an Early Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

If the Yinsha Cult's camp was truly this simple, fighting seven at once wouldn't be a problem; however, it was hard to guarantee that these people didn't have backup plans.

After all, an evil cult that could hide in the Imperial Capital of Jing was probably not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Furthermore, since the other party possessed that bizarre foundation establishment pill Pill Formula, they must have refined foundation establishment pills. Since those foundation establishment pills were so effective, it was impossible that there were no Foundation Establishment powerhouses among them.

Even among the remaining five Protectors, someone might have already successfully achieved Foundation Establishment!

However, the foundation establishment pill Pill Formula was too important to him. If possible, he must find a way to get his hands on it.

"You have seen that Cult Master refine a foundation establishment pill?" Xiao Yuan thought for a moment and asked another question.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuansheng's face revealed a trace of excitement: "Senior, I have seen the Cult Master refine pills once. Afterwards, with Low Grade Spiritual Root Aptitude, he successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, and his Spiritual Root even improved to upper-Medium Grade."

Hearing this and looking at his expression, Xiao Yuan finally understood why the other party trusted that so-called Cult Master so much.

It seemed there was a precedent.

However, since that Cult Master had already successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, why did he still need to refine foundation establishment pills?!

Aside from refining foundation establishment pills for his subordinates to win over their hearts, he probably needed such foundation establishment pills himself to boost his cultivation, or perhaps there was some other purpose!

As for what specific purpose it served, he would know once he obtained that foundation establishment pill Pill Formula.

Xiao Yuan furrowed his brow, considering whether he should go seize that foundation establishment pill Pill Formula! Although the Pill Formula was truly a huge temptation to him.

But... he needed to have his life to take it. If he lost his life for the sake of the Pill Formula, it wouldn't be worth it.

He didn't completely believe what Deacon Zhou said.

If he had a soul-searching Spell, he wouldn't have had to ask the other party directly. With soul searching, he would know everything.

Xiao Yuan asked a few more questions, especially about where the main altar of the Yinsha Cult was located. But Deacon Zhou's answer was that he didn't know.

He only said that an emissary of the Cult Master would contact him, and then he would go to meet the Cult Master. Moreover, the meeting place changed every time.

From Deacon Zhou's mouth, Xiao Yuan extracted the time and location of the next gathering.

He didn't ask anything else; after all, he didn't know whether what the other party said was true or false. Of course, Xiao Yuan couldn't leave behind any future troubles either.

He brought his fingers together like a sword, and a sword radiance flashed past.

Zhou Yuansheng opened his eyes wide and slowly collapsed.

With a flick of his hand, he tossed out two fireballs, burning the two corpses into ashes.

He then fished out the two Storage Pouches. A sweep of his Divine Sense showed that the harvest was not bad.

After finishing this, Xiao Yuan stood by the window, gazing at the night sky.

"Yinsha Cult… earth-grade foundation establishment pill…"

He frowned and murmured: "Three days later, Black Wind Fortress?"

"Fine, then I will go meet this Cult Master."

...

Early the next morning, Xiao Yuan left the stronghold and headed towards the market in the Imperial Capital of Jing.

The Jing Country Imperial Family could also be considered an immortal cultivation faction in the Northern Region's immortal cultivation world. Although their strength was inferior to the six major Sects, they could still be considered a mainstay.

In order to win over numerous factions and attract more Cultivators to come to Jing Country, the imperial family had spared no effort.

In Jing Country, the trading of cultivation resources was relatively developed.

In addition to the markets where low-level Cultivators purchased resources, trade fairs and exchange meetings were held every few days.

However, Xiao Yuan had no connections to those trade fairs and exchange meetings. Even if he had connections, he wouldn't dare to easily attempt them for the time being.

After all, he had not yet reached Foundation Establishment. Even though his true strength could slay Early Foundation Establishment, confront Middle Stage Foundation Establishment head-on, and even have the strength to fight a Late Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator,

the problem was, what if there was a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator with special means?! Or what about Peak Foundation Establishment?! How much advantage could he possibly gain in someone else's hands?!

Killing people and seizing treasures was too common in the cultivation world. Once wealth was exposed without the ability to protect it, it would be a dead end for him. Therefore, before having sufficient strength,

Xiao Yuan still didn't want to touch dangers he couldn't control. Staying low-profile and developing steadily was the true way.

Arriving at the largest market in the imperial capital, it was countless times larger than the market under Jade Maiden Palace, and Cultivators could be seen everywhere.

The weakest were at Qi condensation tier three, and at the strongest, he even saw Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators!

As expected of the Imperial Capital of Jing, compared to Jade Maiden Palace, it even felt more bustling and prosperous.

Xiao Yuan walked into a shop selling Spells. Inside were all common low-level Cultivation Techniques, including Spell types, Artifact Refining types, Alchemy types, talisman-making types, and even Formation types.

This could also be considered Xiao Yuan's first time coming into contact with so many Cultivation Techniques. Previously in the Sect, although he had seen quite a few Cultivation Techniques, they didn't seem as diverse in categories as what he was seeing now.

Moreover, back then, he had no ability to purchase them at all and could only look!

Now, Xiao Yuan had quite a few Spirit Stones on him. After seeing these Cultivation Techniques, he went on a major shopping spree.

For miscellaneous studies and support-type Cultivation Techniques, he picked the best one of each, including soul-searching types, of course.

Leaving the Cultivation Technique shop, Xiao Yuan went to a Medicinal Pill shop. Aside from Medicinal Pills that enhanced cultivation, he also bought quite a few Medicinal Pills that assisted in combat.

As for Spiritual Artifacts, he also made a trip, but the Spiritual Artifacts in the Spiritual Artifact shop were at most High Grade, and moreover, they were of the lowest quality among High Grade.

Compared to the few Spiritual Artifacts on his body that had been upgraded to top-grade by the creation cauldron, they were far too inferior.

Xiao Yuan didn't see anything that caught his eye, so he didn't make any purchases. After all, he had a top-grade Spiritual Artifact sword in his hands, and the green scale shield given to him by Ruotong was now also top-grade.

He also acquired a top-grade enemy-trapping Spiritual Artifact, the Dragon-Binding Rope! Coupled with that, his current Physical Body strength was comparable to a High Grade Spiritual Artifact.

The enemies he encountered were all too weak; aside from the Spiritual Artifact sword, he hadn't even used other Spiritual Artifacts.

However, he did manage to buy a set of Tier 2 Low Grade Formation Flags, even though they were defective products.

But this set of Formation Flags was a treasure capable of contending against the Foundation Establishment Stage.

With the creation cauldron in hand, he didn't need to worry about this being a defective product. If he let the creation cauldron refine and upgrade it, there might be an unexpected pleasant surprise.