7: Golden intelligence reappears!

Returning to his residence at Xuan Kun Mountain, it was merely a simple stone house carved out of a mountain cliff.

The stone door closed heavily with a dull thud, completely isolating all the noise and prying eyes of the outside world.

Lu Qiu flicked his hand to cast a hand Seal, activating the basic defensive Formation at the entrance of the Immortal Cave. A faint screen of light enveloped the stone house, shimmering slightly before fading from view.

The light inside the Immortal Cave was dim, and the air carried a hint of the coldness of the mountain rocks and a faint scent of dust.

He sat cross-legged on the cold stone bed, but his mind could not find peace. The scene on the mountain path from earlier replayed over and over again.

Chen Qiaoqian.

Lu Chenyun.

Their appearance was an unmistakable signal.

Han Li had already joined Yellow Maple Valley.

The plot of the original work had already begun.

Lu Qiu's fingertips brushed unconsciously against the edge of the stone bed, the cold touch helping his chaotic thoughts coalesce slightly.

Next, the most important event within the Sect should be the opening of the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.

Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.

These words stirred ripples in his mind.

It meant mountains of corpses and seas of blood; it meant a slim chance of survival.

It also meant a massive Opportunity.

Even more so, it meant something that haunted his thoughts at this moment—the foundation establishment pill.

To achieve Foundation Establishment, one must have a foundation establishment pill.

This thought was like a thorn, deeply embedded in his Divine Soul.

The Sect had issued him one as per protocol when he reached Qi Refining Perfection.

He still remembered the excitement when he received the Medicinal Pill, as well as the intense pain and despair of his spiritual power surging backwards and his Meridians nearly rupturing after failing to break through the Bottleneck.

Failure was failure.

The Sect's rules were cold and heartless; it was impossible for them to give him a second one.

Thus, participating in the Blood Colored Trial to fight for the Spirit Medicines inside had become almost his only legitimate way to obtain a foundation establishment pill.

But he knew the cruelty of that trial better than anyone else in Yellow Maple Valley.

That wasn't a trial at all; it was a meat grinder that devoured Geniuses.

Every time it opened, elite Disciples from the Seven Great Sects flooded in, and in the end, not even one in ten would come out alive.

Even those Geniuses from cultivation clans, built up with resources, might not be able to save their lives.

If not for his Golden Finger, Lu Qiu wouldn't have dared to let this thought stay in his mind for more than a breath.

But now, everything was different.

He had the Daily Information System.

This System could continuously provide him with secrets and Opportunities unknown to anyone else in this world.

He could fully utilize this information to exchange for a large number of Spirit Stones, and then use those Spirit Stones to buy top-tier Magical Artifacts and high-grade Talismans, arming himself from head to toe.

As long as he prepared sufficiently, it wasn't impossible to survive, gather Spirit Medicines, and obtain a foundation establishment pill in the chaotic situation of the Blood Colored Trial.

Of course, there was another path.

A path that seemed more stable.

Not participating in the Blood Colored Trial.

Just staying peacefully in the Sect, waiting for the storm to pass and for everyone to think the dust had settled, before finding a way to trade with Han Li.

After all, Lu Qiu knew better than anyone that the harvest that fellow obtained in the Forbidden Ground was far more than just one foundation establishment pill.

This thought only flashed through his mind for an instant.

In the next moment, he mercilessly snuffed it out himself.

Having read the original work, he understood Han Li's character and temperament perfectly.

That was a fellow whose vigilance and level of caution were ten times stronger than his own.

His "low-key survival" was a survival Law etched into his very bones.

Making him proactively reveal that he had leftover foundation establishment pills?

That was absolutely impossible.

Lu Qiu could even clearly simulate that scene.

If he were to rashly approach him and indirectly suggest trading for a foundation establishment pill,

not only would he fail to get the pill, but it would also instantly trigger the other party's deepest level of alertness.

A question would immediately explode in Han Li's heart: Who is he? How does he know I have more than one foundation establishment pill? What other secrets of mine does he know?

To protect his secrets and eliminate this incomprehensible potential threat, this future Old Devil Han had a more than ninety percent chance of choosing to kill him to silence him.

Clean and efficient, leaving no loose ends.

A layer of fine cold sweat broke out on Lu Qiu's back.

He didn't want to provoke such a calculating and decisive protagonist of the original work before his own wings had fully grown.

The risk was too great.

So great that he simply couldn't bear it.

There should still be quite some time before the opening of the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.

He still had enough time to gather information, accumulate resources, and make thorough preparations.

Who knows, during this time, maybe one day's information would directly yield a foundation establishment pill?

Although this possibility was minuscule, it wasn't non-existent.

In short, unless it was a last resort, Lu Qiu never wanted to bet his life in a chaotic meat grinder like the Blood Colored Trial.

The current priority was still to restore his cultivation to the Perfection state of the Thirteenth Layer of Qi Refining.

This way, it would also add a bit more to the chance of success for a possible future Foundation Establishment.

He stopped overthinking, suppressing his cluttered thoughts, and took out a crystal-clear Medicinal Pill from his Storage Pouch.

The Medicinal Pill melted the moment it entered his mouth, and a stream of pure medicinal power dissolved within his body, flowing slowly along his Meridians and finally converging into the Qi Sea of his Dantian.

Lu Qiu possessed Fire, Wood, and Metal triple-attribute Spiritual Roots, with mediocre Aptitude. He practiced the most common fire-attribute basic Cultivation Technique of the Sect, the "Cloud Fire Art."

Now, under his guidance, the warm spiritual power washed through his Meridians again and again, nourishing his Dantian and gradually replenishing the magic power that had regressed after the failed Breakthrough.

The night passed in silence.

Early the next morning.

When the first ray of sunlight pierced through the mist outside the Immortal Cave and cast a bright spot on the stone wall, Lu Qiu slowly opened his eyes.

He exhaled a long breath, and with a hint of anticipation in his heart, he summoned the familiar text panel in his Sea of Consciousness.

Time to see today's information.

The light screen lit up, and several lines of text appeared.

[white information: Li Yu, a Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator on Xuan Kun Mountain, died three days ago from heart meridian incineration after failing a forced attempt at Foundation Establishment. His body is still in the secret room of his Immortal Cave, undiscovered. In his Storage Pouch, there are fifty Spirit Stones, one Intermediate Magical Artifact, and several Talismans.]

[silver information: At the bottom of the ten-thousand-foot abyss of Bluestone Cliff in the central Taiyue Mountain Range, there grows a five-hundred-year-old "Purple Spirit Flower," which is a primary ingredient for refining various Foundation Establishment Stage Medicinal Pills.]

[gold intelligence: In the Magical Artifact area on the third floor of the Sect's Yue Lu Palace, within an Intermediate Flying Sword Magical Artifact named "Jinghong," a secret technique was sealed by its creator.]

Lu Qiu's gaze was relatively calm as it swept over the first two pieces of information.

The inheritance of an unexpectedly fallen fellow Disciple and a five-hundred-year-old Spirit Medicine.

These were all within expectations, routine gains.

But when his gaze touched the last one, that line of golden text, his breath suddenly hitched.

gold intelligence!

The gold intelligence that had disappeared for nearly a month had finally reappeared!

Moreover, this time, the location was actually right within the Yellow Maple Valley Sect!