23: Chapter 23 Immortal City Shops

That's not surprising then.

Yao Zhao is currently working for Liu Yunfei of the Liu Family in the market, so he naturally has some influence in the Immortal City.

“Thank you, brother,” Chen Xuan said, cupping his hands.

“Don't thank me yet. You can't handle this shop alone. The Qi Refining Realm is not enough to act as a backer for a shop in the inner city. This shop will be jointly operated by you, me, and the Liu Family, with profits split equally,” Yao Zhao said.

Chen Xuan agreed without a second thought: “Fine.”

The Liu Family wouldn't lose out either; they were essentially getting a free worker.

For Chen Xuan, it was even less of a loss.

Spending money was about establishing connections and background.

How could one ever get ahead by just doing business honestly?

Moreover, being able to cultivate on a Rank 3 Spiritual Vein was more effective than the current Rank 2 one and would allow for a closer alignment with the Great Dao.

“In that case, I'll go give the Liu Family my reply.”

“Mhm.”

His cultivation had been stagnant at the Late Stage of the fifth level of Qi Refining for a long time.

The growth was simply too slow.

It was mainly due to the influence of pill toxins, plus his Spiritual Root was absolute trash!

For two and a half years, he had been cultivating while taking qingling pills to expel pill toxins and taking Bone-Strengthening Pills to stabilize his meridians.

The cultivation-boosting pills he took during the Early-stage Qi Refining were now coming back to haunt him like a boomerang.

Chen Xuan didn't dare take any more cultivation-boosting pills until he reached Late-stage Qi Refining.

These things always came with a price that had to be paid back.

Unless they were Top Grade pills.

The two walked and chatted outside the restaurant until Chen Xuan escorted Yao Zhao back to the Biyun Market training hall before slowly heading home.

He had established a connection with the Immortal City.

Foundation Establishment might not be impossible in this lifetime.

Over the years, Chen Xuan had heard countless people recount one thing:

No one had ever seen a Pseudo Spiritual Root achieve Foundation Establishment.

Among those with Low Grade Spiritual Roots, those who could reach Foundation Establishment were one in ten thousand.

Only those with Medium Grade Spiritual Roots had hope of reaching Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty, thereby enjoying a long Lifespan of two hundred years.

Such individuals were called Foundation Establishment Old Ancestors.

Chen Xuan was no longer a novice just entering the world of cultivation in this life, so he naturally wouldn't indulge in unrealistic dreams.

But at the Foundation Establishment barrier, he would definitely give it his all.

If there was no precedent for a Pseudo Spiritual Root achieving Foundation Establishment in this world, then Chen Xuan would be the one to blaze that trail!

To live as long as the heavens.

Those four words were the goal for which countless Cultivators had risked their lives, one after another.

Now, Chen Xuan cultivated bitterly day and night without trying to force growth. It could only be said that cultivation was too difficult for a Pseudo Spiritual Root.

Adding even a single thread of magic power to his Dantian was incredibly difficult.

And after finishing his daily hard work, he had to sit in meditation for an hour to take pills and clear out pill toxins.

He somewhat regretted his previous behavior of popping pills every day.

Hopefully, he could soon break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining!

...

Another month passed.

The shop in the Immortal City was finally negotiated, and the specific details could be finalized soon.

Chen Xuan was currently refining Talismans at the Chen Family Talisman Workshop.

With the support of [Talisman Expert], his progress in this cultivation art had long reached the level where he could refine High Grade Talismans.

Chen Xuan was even on the verge of refining one, but unfortunately, the magic power in his body was several levels short, resulting in him only being able to refine High Grade Talismans with Medium Grade quality.

For example, High Grade Talismans like the [Heavenly Fire Talisman] and [Earthly Fiend Talisman] could be easily refined if Chen Xuan were at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

But since he was only at the fifth level, he could only reduce the energy within them.

Even though they were High Grade Talismans, their effectiveness was only that of Medium Grade.

A waste of Materials.

The Breakthrough in cultivation should be within the next few days.

Chen Xuan let out a long breath.

He summoned the wordless heavenly book, and red tadpole-like script flew out:

[Today's Luck: Minor Luck.]

[Today's Heavenly Secret: Soaring.]

[Today's Destiny: Talisman Master.]

[Minor Luck: In the Biyun Market trade zone, there is a piece of fine jade for sale. It is a cultivation curiosity; obtaining it can speed up cultivation speed.]

[Great Peril: Tunyun Market is in constant turmoil. The Secret Realm in the center of the market has produced Five Elements Spirit Qi, attracting waves of covetous eyes. There is definitely something fishy going on.]

[Great Peril: There are high-level rogue cultivators outside Fusheng Immortal City. Do not approach, or it will be certain death with no chance of survival.]

Hiss!

Chen Xuan was stunned.

In the past few days, the divinations were mostly 'Average' and showed no crises.

But today, all sorts of dangers appeared.

Without a doubt, he had to get that first heavenly secret jade slip.

Chen Xuan already had a pile of such items that accelerated cultivation in his room.

They were useful, but not extremely so.

Altogether, they could probably increase his cultivation speed by about thirty percent.

Which was considered quite good.

Tunyun Market was transformed from a Secret Realm. Generally speaking, only Rank 3 Secret Realms would be preserved. He didn't expect the Rank 2 Secret Realm of Tunyun Market to be self-contained and still preserved.

Chen Xuan made a judgment regarding the second Jade Slip.

It must have used the techniques of the Fusheng Sect.

To preserve a Secret Realm, one must use Formations to lock in the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and the entrance.

But since it was the work of the Fusheng Sect, why would there be turmoil?

Combining this with the third Jade Slip, could someone be trying to move against the Fusheng Sect?

The Qingcang Sect or the Liuyang Sword Sect?

It doesn't make sense.

These three major Sects check and balance each other, and each is king in its own right.

There was truly no reason to interfere with the Fusheng Sect.

However, the appearance of Five Elements Spirit Qi caught Chen Xuan's attention.

Although Foundation Establishment was still far off.

He had already collected water spirit qi, earth spirit qi, and wood spirit qi.

Among them, the water spirit qi was obtained at an auction.

The earth spirit qi was obtained in the past.

The wood spirit qi was a congratulatory gift sent by the Lingmeng Chamber of Commerce.

Ever since the Wang Family Beast Taming Workshop reached an agreement with the Lingmeng Chamber of Commerce—where a Rank 1 Spirit Beast that normally sold for fifteen Spirit Stones was sold to the Lingmeng Chamber of Commerce for only ten, with a monthly supply of one hundred—

Chen Xuan had established a relationship with the manager of the Lingmeng Chamber of Commerce, Chi Xiao.

This Chi Xiao was not even thirty years old and was already at the Late-stage Qi Refining. Only those who cultivated understood how terrifying this woman's talent was.

This meant that in the future, Chi Xiao was almost guaranteed to be a great Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Coming back to it, besides the three types of Spirit Qi, as long as Chen Xuan gathered fire spirit qi and metal spirit qi, he could look for Foundation Establishment items that were Heaven And Earth Treasures and prepare for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

One should know that in this world, no one had been heard of achieving Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

Chen Xuan had flipped through ancient books and knew the great secret of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.

It could strengthen Aptitude and change one's fate against the heavens.

Maybe his Pseudo Spiritual Root would directly turn into a Heavenly Spiritual Root under Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?

Although it was just a fantasy, it showed there was a chance for improvement.

Chen Xuan would not give up on Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!

Obtaining the first heavenly secret jade slip, the scene of the trade zone appeared in his mind.

An old acquaintance was selling it.

Chen Xuan went out and mounted Golden Roar.

Now, with a war saddle, Golden Roar looked very majestic.

Its speed was as fast as lightning; it truly deserved its Atavistic Bloodline.

He stopped steadily in front of the stall, bought the fine jade for a few Spirit Stones, and tied it to his waist.

Upon returning to the Chen Family Talisman Workshop, he saw the girl Chen Qiuyu.

Now seventeen, she had grown into a graceful young woman with a full bosom, a slender waist, and a pure face that possessed a strange lethality.

And those legs, which seemed longer than life itself, were glowing white like fine jade in this season, making one want to hold them and play with them for a while.

“Brother Teng, did you go shopping again? Why didn't you take me?” Chen Qiuyu huffed, her hands on her hips.

“Qiuyu, look what this is,” Chen Xuan smiled slightly and took an egg out of his Storage Pouch.

For many years, Qiuyu had always wanted to raise a fox like a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.

Chen Xuan had asked around and found that there were no foxes with such noble Bloodlines in the Southern Region.

But in the swamp volcanoes to the south of the Southern Region, there were Triple-Fire Foxes, which also had extraordinary Bloodlines.

Chen Xuan had paid a full eight hundred Spirit Stones through several chambers of commerce to obtain this spirit fox egg.

“Ah!” Chen Qiuyu screamed in excitement and lunged forward, hugging Chen Xuan tightly.

The girl's warm hair fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, exceptionally alluring.

Chen Xuan held the girl's slender waist and entered the Chen Family Talisman Workshop.