47: Cultivation Country

Water Lingmiao fell silent, while Xu Qi'an stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

Xu Qi'an then said, "It's alright. Yue Country is vast; I don't believe there's no place for us to stay."

"Lingmiao, you don't need to worry."

"Besides, looking at Floating Cloud True Person's condition, he might perish soon and won't have time to bother with us."

"We'll just have to see if Cloud Maple and the others can break through to the Core Formation Stage!"

"And we still have time."

Water Lingmiao pondered for a moment and also nodded.

"Then let's heal for a few days and then plan the refining of the Ling Yuan Pill!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

Xu Qi'an continued to ask, "Oh, right, Lingmiao, do you have any insights or secret methods for Core Formation?"

Water Lingmiao was stunned for a moment, but without any hesitation, she immediately took out several Jade Slips from her storage bag.

"Xu Qi'an, these are all things I've collected over the years. You can use them for reference."

Xu Qi'an nodded, not being overly polite, and directly accepted them.

"Thank you, Lingmiao!"

Water Lingmiao, however, waved her hand, indicating that Xu Qi'an didn't need to be so formal with her.

After making their plans, the two of them went to their respective cave dwellings and began to cultivate in seclusion to heal their injuries.

Xu Qi'an returned to his cave dwelling, adjusted his breathing for a day, and then began to plan the refining of the Ling Yuan Pill.

He first placed the main ingredients for the Ling Yuan Pill obtained from the Foundation Establishment Secret Realm into the Omnipotent Treasure Basin.

After a few days, the quantity of this main ingredient increased by dozens of portions.

Xu Qi'an adjusted his state to Peak condition and began the refining of the Ling Yuan Pill.

Several days later, after experiencing more than ten failures, Xu Qi'an finally succeeded in refining the Ling Yuan Pill.

This made Xu Qi'an extremely happy.

So, after waiting for a few more days, the number of Ling Yuan Pills directly surged to dozens.

Xu Qi'an then returned to Lingmiao Market, intending to give a bottle of Ling Yuan Pills to Water Lingmiao.

Unfortunately, Water Lingmiao was too severely injured, and Xu Qi'an did not see her. So he gave the pills to Shui Ling'er and then hurriedly returned to his cave dwelling to begin seclusion.

This time, Xu Qi'an decided to enter a long period of seclusion.

In the blink of an eye, three years passed.

With the help of the Ling Yuan Pill, Xu Qi'an successfully broke through to the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage, and was only one step away from Core Formation.

Xu Qi'an took out the continuously replicated Dustfall Pills, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes: "Let's see if I can break through to the Core Formation Stage with the Dustfall Pills!"

......

Lingmiao Market.

A figure in blue was standing at the pavilion, gazing into the distance. Her eyes were filled with affection, revealing a hint of melancholy.

"Xu Qi'an, are you still in Yue Country?"

Three years ago, the Ling Yuan Pills that Xu Qi'an left for Water Lingmiao had successfully helped her enter the late Foundation Establishment Stage, and now they had even allowed her to reach the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, not far from the Peak of Foundation Establishment.

She then looked in another direction, which was the location of Floating Cloud Sect.

Over the past few years, there had been constant changes above Floating Cloud Sect. At first, it was an alternation of divine light and blood light, and later it evolved into a shockwave of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

"I'm afraid Cloud Maple has already started his attempt at the Core Formation Stage!"

......

Yue Country is located in the interlayer between the Three Great Countries, namely Wu Country, Chu Country, and Yuan Country.

The Three Great Countries are all led by Jie Dan Cultivators and belong to third-level Cultivation Countries!

This is an agreement of the Cultivation Alliance.

Countries with only native Cultivators at the Qi Refining stage are first-level Cultivation Countries, Foundation Establishment Stage are second-level, Core Formation Stage are third-level, and so on.

However, there are basically no first-level or second-level Cultivation Countries, because such countries would basically be immediately annexed by third-level Cultivation Countries.

And now, the Cultivators from the Three Great Countries have arrived above Yue Country.

The Jie Dan Cultivators leading Yuan Country was a woman with graceful bearing, whose cultivation had reached the Core Formation Late Stage.

The Jie Dan Cultivators leading Wu Country was a handsome Sword Cultivator, whose cultivation was at the Core Formation Stage.

The Jie Dan Cultivators leading Chu Country was a muscular, bearded man who looked fierce and not like a righteous person. His cultivation was also quite impressive, reaching the Core Formation Stage.

The Three Great Cultivation Countries each brought a group of Foundation Establishment cultivator and surrounded the National Lockdown Formation of Yue Country, staring at Yue Country with covetous eyes.

Yuan Yi's eyebrows flickered as she looked at the two Jie Dan Cultivators and said coldly, "So it's Fellow Daoist Wu from Wu Country and Fellow Daoist Chu from Chu Country. What's wrong, you also want to meddle in the muddy waters of Yue Country?"

Daoist Wu snorted coldly, and the sound of thousands of sword lights seemed to echo around him: "What, only Sect Leader Yuan is allowed to come, but we are not?"

"Moreover, it's still unknown whether this trip is muddy water or treasure water?"

"That's right, Sect Leader Yuan's words might be a bit too much!" Chu Wu stepped forward, his movements clanging, and his voice was even more deafening.

Yuan Yi ignored him after hearing this. She also knew that it was impossible for her to devour the cake of Yue Country alone.

Although her cultivation was at the Core Formation Late Stage, the methods of the other two were also endless. She could only say she had a slight advantage when facing one of them alone.

Just as the three of them were staring at Yue Country, a powerful figure suddenly rushed over.

The newcomer was actually an old man whose appearance was over fifty years old, but the aura emanating from him made the three Cultivators not dare to be negligent at all.

Yuan Yi was the first to react and immediately bowed.

"So it's Lord Envoy who has arrived. This Junior Yuan Yi pays respects to Lord Envoy!"

Daoist Wu and Chu Wu then reacted and quickly bowed in greeting.

"Greetings, Lord Envoy!"

The old man called the envoy was surprisingly a Nascent Soul Stage!

Luo He pondered, "All of you, rise. This time, I am here on the order of the Heavenly Dao Sect to handle the matters of Yue Country."

"I know you are all eyeing Yue Country covetously, but since my Heavenly Dao Sect is your superior sect, my Heavenly Dao Sect has its rules."

"Do you know?"

The three of them repeatedly agreed.

Luo He then said, "Nie Fuyun is dead, but there are still people in Yue Country attempting Core Formation!"

"So my Heavenly Dao Sect will give Yue Country ten years."

"If Yue Country does not produce a Jie Dan Cultivators after ten years, you can occupy the land of Yue Country yourselves."

"But conversely, Yue Country will still be Yue Country."

"Do you understand?"

"Understood, understood." Yuan Yi and the other two could only repeatedly agree.

After Luo He finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of light and left the spot.

Seeing Luo He leave, the expressions of Yuan Yi and the other two changed.

"Ten years? We have to wait ten years?"

"I wonder what benefits that old scoundrel Nie Fuyun promised the Heavenly Dao Sect's envoy?"

Yuan Yi's face instantly turned cold. She didn't know how long she had waited for this Opportunity.

Yue Country was within reach, but she couldn't do anything at all.

The other two fell silent.

Ten years was enough time for many variables to arise.

If someone from Floating Cloud Sect succeeded in Core Formation by then, their plans would fall through.

Daoist Wu sighed, "I didn't expect that Nie Fuyun, despite having the lowest cultivation among our four countries, had a bit of a strategic mind."

Chu Wu, however, laughed, "Heh heh, that's the behavior of the weak."

"Who doesn't know that this Nie Fuyun is a poor, pedantic scholar and doesn't have a single powerful Magic Treasure."

"As a result, he was drawn into the Heavenly Dao Sect's Extraterritorial Battlefield last time and was severely injured and on the verge of death."

"I'm afraid his Disciples don't have any decent treasures to attempt Core Formation."

"This Yue Country will be ours sooner or later!"

"Hahaha, that's right. In that case, what's the harm in waiting for ten years?"

However, Yuan Yi, who was standing nearby, was exceptionally silent.

He looked down at Yue Country below, his face hardening, and he said coldly, "What if I give you another ten years!"

Immediately, Yuan Yi took her Disciples and returned home.

And Daoist Wu and Chu Wu, who were chatting idly nearby, also left the sky above Yue Country upon seeing this scene.

Inside Xu Qi'an's cave dwelling.

Before Xu Qi'an, several Dustfall Pills of extremely high quality had appeared. These were all obtained through multiple gatherings of treasures by the Omnipotent Treasure Basin.

If so many Dustfall Pills were placed outside, who knows what kind of uproar they would cause.

For others, obtaining even one Dustfall Pill was already a heaven-sent Opportunity.

But now, for Xu Qi'an, the only trouble was deciding which pill to use.

Soon, Xu Qi'an selected a pill and simultaneously adjusted himself to his Peak state.

Breaking through from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation lies in compressing and condensing the spiritual sea within the body into a Golden Core.

This aspect relies on both the quality of the spiritual sea and the quality of the Spiritual Root.

Xu Qi'an only had a Low Grade wood Spiritual Root. Although it was much better than those pseudo-five-element Spiritual Roots, it was not optimistic.

Fortunately, the pills gathered by the Omnipotent Treasure Basin were generally of extremely high quality, amplifying the medicinal effects of the pills manifold.

"Now that the National Lockdown Formation is in place, I cannot leave Yue Country. Cloud Maple and others in Floating Cloud Sect are bound to be condensing their Golden Cores. If I don't form a core, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to find a place to stay in Yue Country afterwards!"

"There's no time for me to find any secret methods to increase the chance of Core Formation anymore. Let's just go for it!"

"Let's begin Core Formation!"