66: Chapter 66 Two Years of Advancement, Scalper Intelligence

Flowers bloomed twice, and leaves fell twice.

Time slipped away quietly.

Two years had passed since Xu Changsheng arrived at Donglin Fortress.

On the other side of the Ancient Wood Mountain Range, the Lai Family had completely devoured the Xie Family's territory. It was said that under the pressure of resources, another Cultivator was about to reach Foundation Establishment.

The Xie Family had also fully integrated into the Zhou Family system.

Xie Wantang arranged for the women of her clan to marry Zhou Family male Cultivators' mounts as concubines, while the men of the clan joined the Zhou Family to work like beasts of burden.

Ever since Zhou Qian became a eunuch, he had completely lost the spirit to pursue Xie Wantang. He was dejected, simply eating and waiting for death.

Only news of Lu Yuanze could pique his interest slightly.

He hated Lu Yuanze for not killing him, leaving him in a state worse than death.

...

One day.

In a scenic courtyard within Donglin Fortress.

Xu Changsheng sat cross-legged on his couch, slowly lowering his hands as he finished his cultivation session.

"With unceasing diligent cultivation, I have finally broken through to Late Stage Qi Refining today."

Looking at the empty yellow dragon pill bottle in his hand, he sighed slightly.

By now, his Low Grade Spiritual Root had reached a level where it was holding him back.

He had filled his Dantian with Spiritual Qi three months ago, yet he had struggled to find the path to advancement.

He had no choice but to take a yellow dragon pill.

There were rumors that taking Realm-breaking pills during minor Breakthroughs would reduce one's potential.

But he didn't care about any of that.

If he couldn't even reach Late Stage Qi Refining, his wish for longevity would be equally futile.

He quietly took out that Top-Grade Spirit Stone from his sleeve.

This item was truly Heaven-Defying; every time he attempted a Breakthrough, it could increase his success probability by at least twenty percent.

Furthermore, it had absolutely no side effects. After all, the Spirit Stone merely provided him with an environment even more abundant in Spiritual Qi.

After toying with it for a moment, he put it away.

After breaking through to the Late Stage.

The effects of the Great Sun Fusang Scripture became increasingly powerful.

Although he had just broken through, the amount of spiritual power in his Dantian was already close to the level of Qi Refining Great Perfection.

His Divine Soul strength even exceeded Qi Refining Great Perfection, though it was still a long way from the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Because of this, he was also able to successfully practice the most rudimentary illusions.

Three days later.

"Phantom!"

In the next instant, within the courtyard.

A 'Xu Changsheng' identical to him suddenly appeared by his side.

It was lifelike, as if it were the man himself.

Very satisfied, he chanted again: "Shattering Delusion!"

A speck of golden light appeared on his forehead.

The fake 'Xu Changsheng' was torn apart and gradually faded into the Void Realm.

Feeling content, he knew that the illusion techniques of some Cultivators were bizarre and unpredictable; now, he finally had some means to counter them.

He looked up.

He looked at the fleshy cocoon hanging upside down from a branch of the old locust tree.

"Last month, Ink Shadow ate two High Grade Spiritual Plants in one go..."

Star Pattern had long since broken through to the Middle Stage of rank one. It was currently crawling around the edge of the pond in the corner, leaving behind mysterious Formation patterns.

Just then.

An astonishing force of blood and Qi emanated from the old locust tree.

The fleshy cocoon unfurled, transforming into a pair of wings.

Bestial pupils slowly opened. Seeing Star Pattern behind Xu Changsheng, it flew over excitedly and scratched at the turtle shell, but failed to leave even a single mark.

Star Pattern was furious and jumped back into the pond.

"Stop provoking it. Go back into the Spirit Beast Bag to stabilize your aura first."

He lightly tapped his waist. A streak of gray light flashed, and Ink Shadow was pulled inside.

"This way, only Body Refining is left."

Rank one High Grade Body Refining materials were hard to find; he had only managed to buy three from Xie Wantang.

However, it shouldn't be much of a problem to advance to Late Stage Body Refining before the Ancient Wood Secret Realm opened.

Over these two years, his Spirit Stone consumption and his stipend offset each other, so the Spirit Stones on his person remained roughly around four thousand.

He had originally held high hopes for Zhou Qian's Storage Pouch, but it only contained a mere thousand Spirit Stones and some low-rank spiritual items.

[Today's Intelligence (White): The distressed disciple of Yellow Ox]

[Chu Linger, the youngest female disciple of Immortal Master Yellow Ox, entered the Ancient Wood Mountain Range for a trial a few days ago. She was accidentally heavily injured by Robber Cultivators and is on the verge of death. She is currently unconscious in the Bluestone Cave at the foot of Qingshi Mountain. This woman has a kind Heart-Nature and knows how to repay kindness.]

"Another white-tier intelligence."

"No, this one is different."

Over the past two years, aside from a few green-tier intelligence reports about rank one Low Grade Spiritual Plants, most had been useless white-tier weather forecasts.

Today, something different finally appeared.

Looking at this intelligence.

He fell into deep thought.

Now that he had advanced to Late Stage Qi Refining, he could start preparing for Foundation Establishment. He was currently still lacking a foundation establishment pill and more Foundation Establishment spiritual items.

There was news that foundation establishment pills were only sold in Yellow Ox Immortal City.

After he tempered and improved his Spiritual Root in the Ancient Wood Secret Realm, he would head to Yellow Ox Immortal City to attempt Foundation Establishment.

If he could gain her favor and a favor by rescuing this woman, it would give him a bit more confidence for his path of cultivation after entering the Immortal City.

However.

As far as he knew, the disciples of Immortal Master Yellow Ox all started at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Although he prided himself on not fearing anyone in the Qi Refinement Stage, he was still quite far from a true Foundation Establishment Cultivator. He estimated he would only have a fighting chance once he reached Qi Refining Perfection and rank one Major Achievement in Body Refining.

If this woman repaid his kindness with enmity, he would be in danger of falling.

After pondering for fifteen minutes.

Xu Changsheng still took some healing Medicinal Pills and walked out of Donglin Fortress.

The final part of the intelligence regarding this woman's character gave him confidence. The Senior who had come to pick up Yun Xin before also had a character that matched the description in the intelligence, at least as far as he was concerned.

...

Qingshi Mountain.

It was located deep within the Ancient Wood Mountain Range.

True to its name, the mountain was covered in giant dark blue stones and was rarely visited by people.

On this day.

A rapidly moving figure appeared, breaking the silence.

It was precisely Xu Changsheng and Ink Shadow.

At this moment, both man and pet looked a bit disheveled.

They kept looking back.

"Fortunately, it didn't follow."

Xu Changsheng still felt lingering fear.

Qingshi Mountain was simply too deep into the heart of the Ancient Wood Mountain Range.

On the way here, he had encountered three waves of rank two Yao Beast attacks.

The first two waves were fine; they weren't as fast as Ink Shadow and were easily shaken off.

The third wave was a nightmare. They encountered a rank two Golden Eagle, which was much faster than Ink Shadow.

Fortunately, Xu Changsheng found an underground river and forced Ink Shadow to dive in headfirst, allowing them to escape.

Recalling Ink Shadow into the Spirit Beast Bag.

Xu Changsheng personally searched on foot.

He had never heard of a place called Bluestone Cave.

He looked up.

Is it there?

An opening suddenly appeared halfway up the mountain, covered by several weathered and collapsed giant boulders.

Xu Changsheng used a Body-Lightening Technique and moved as if flying.

He arrived quickly.

Passing through a narrow crack that required him to turn sideways.

Found it.

His Divine Sense quickly discovered a human-shaped object lying on the ground in the deepest part of the cave.

As he approached, his expression gradually turned grim.

He thought to himself: "Is this what the intelligence meant by 'heavily injured'?"

The person lying on the ground had disheveled hair and was barely recognizable as human.

The exposed skin was completely bloodless and abnormally pale.

Her flat abdomen was torn open, and yellow, foul-smelling matter was visible.

He reached out a finger to check her breath, but there was none.

"Is she really still alive?"

"Or was she alive when the intelligence arrived, but couldn't hold on until today?"

Xu Changsheng's face flickered with uncertainty.

He felt the female Cultivator's waist; she didn't even have a Storage Pouch.

There was truly nothing to gain from her.

"Whatever, I'll treat a dead horse as if it were alive."

He placed several healing Medicinal Pills into Chu Linger's mouth.