Chapter 77

He returned to his cave dwelling.

The demon beast's body is still asleep; I don't know how much longer it will sleep.

Yunhe, sitting on the meditation mat in the cultivation chamber, was eager to know whether the demon beast's essence blood could meet the spiritual beast bloodline concentration requirement of the 'Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture'.

However, essence blood is far too important for any demon beast; the beast's body has just broken through to the second stage, and recklessly extracting even a single thread of essence blood would cause great harm.

This is a troublesome matter.

It's impossible to simply 'sacrifice' the demon beast's body just to cultivate a technique for the cultivator's body.

Both bodies are equally important to him.

So it's best to, before the demon beast awakens, find a way to obtain something that can replenish its essence blood, or a pill.

Now that he has successfully established his foundation, refining second-tier pills should be much easier; he can try to produce more 'nurturing pills,' which should be more effective for the demon beast's body than other auxiliary cultivation pills.

This way, the cost of the pills he needs for cultivation can be reduced.

Let's first comprehend the technique.

He took out a jade slip.

The 'Golden Water Elemental Classic' is sufficient for cultivation during the Qi Refining stage.

However, upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, trying to increase mana and cultivation through self-practice alone is too slow, and of course his inferior spiritual roots are also a major factor.

Therefore, rather than rushing to cultivate, it's better to first comprehend the 'Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture,' swiftly complete the technique exchange, and thereby improve cultivation efficiency.

Five days later.

Yunhe set down the jade slip, feeling his head a bit dazed, so he swallowed a grain‑avoiding pill and immediately fell asleep.

After sleeping for a day and a night and feeling fully refreshed, he then continued his contemplation.

Several more days passed.

'Hahaha—Junior Brother Yun, no need to see me off; I'll go on my own,'

A hearty laugh echoed from within Yunhe's cave dwelling.

'In that case, Senior Brother Huang, take your leave; Junior Brother thanks you for the 'spiritual fragrance fruit,' and I will certainly bring spiritual honey to visit you another day.'

Yunhe also wore a smile as he saw off a middle‑aged cultivator dressed in yellow cypress robes out of his cave.

'Excellent, excellent. Senior Brother has heard that Junior Brother started a beekeeping business; that spiritual honey must be extraordinary, and I will surely have a good taste when the time comes.'

After that Senior Brother Huang departed, Yunhe let out a slight sigh.

He did not conceal his foundation‑establishment achievement; earlier, few people visited because he needed time to consolidate his cultivation and because he lacked a stable cave dwelling.

But now, as his various affairs gradually stabilize, many sociable Foundation Establishment cultivators from the sect have begun to visit him of their own accord.

This Senior Brother Huang is one of them.

It's not just idle chatter; he often inadvertently shares matters that Foundation Establishment cultivators should pay attention to, or events from his travels, or interesting tidbits from the sect.

This has somewhat increased Yunhe's knowledge and understanding.

However, this also means he inevitably has to return the visit and bring gifts.

The world of cultivation also values interpersonal relations and etiquette.

After seeing off Senior Brother Huang, Yunhe discovered that someone was still standing outside his cave.

'Brother Ma?'

Yunhe was somewhat surprised.

The visitor was none other than Ma Boyuan, the current head of the Ma family of Qingshan City, who had originally come to Qingshan City together with him.

In the Changqing Sect, outsiders find it difficult to enter, but cultivators of the Ma family and the other four great clans can still open a small back door.

However,

Decades have passed; Yunhe has already achieved foundation establishment, while the other's cultivation remains stuck at the late Qi Refining stage, and he appears somewhat aged.

Hearing Yunhe's address, Ma Boyuan hastily bowed and said:

'I dare not accept the title of "Dao Fellow" from a senior; I, Ma Boyuan of the junior generation, represent the Qing Cheng Ma family in congratulating the senior on his foundation establishment; this modest gift is merely a token of respect.'

Saying this, he took out several items from his storage bag.

His attitude was extremely humble.

Yet he did not lose the Ma family's backbone.

Yunhe shook his head; although his impression of Ma Boyuan was not bad, it had not yet reached the level of Qian Dajiang, and he did not insist on a nod.

'Please come in.'

The two proceeded to the reception hall.

'Sit, don't be polite.' Yunhe took the seat of honor.

'Yes.'

After Ma Boyuan performed a respectful salute, he then sat upright.

'May I ask, Brother, what brings you here this time?'

Yunhe knew that the Ma family's Foundation Establishment elder would not live much longer; if the family did not produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator, this once‑prosperous clan in Qingshan City would likely collapse, and many cultivators would be eager to take a bite.

After all, a successful family is comparable to a small sect, and its centuries of accumulation are quite objective.

However, this has little to do with him; as a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the sect, he cannot possibly protect the Ma family.

Ma Boyuan did not hide his intentions and spoke frankly:

'This time, junior, first I wish to congratulate the senior on his foundation establishment; the great path is promising. Second, knowing that the senior is skilled at beekeeping, I would like to place an order for a batch of spiritual honey.'

Yunhe's expression turned somewhat strange.

Order spiritual honey?

Looking at the spirit stones Ma Boyuan produced, they clearly exceeded the price of a batch of red‑veined spiritual honey.

They immediately understood.

This is to curry favor, sending money.

But it's a trade—willing buyer, willing seller; the Ma family can't leverage his name for business.

If the Ma family's old ancestor someday dies, as long as it doesn't affect him personally, lending a hand is fine; the impact would be small.

If it exceeds his expectation, then there's nothing to do but let it go.

He wouldn't go all out for someone he isn't close to.

'The Ma family folks are coming; I reckon the other few families might also show up—should we find someone to help handle it?'

Seeing Ma Boyuan off, Yunhe looked at the gift before him, pondered a moment, but still chose to give up.

'Forget it—at most there are only four families left; we can't give the impression that a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator is putting on airs.'

He waved a hand and produced a Dust Avoidance Talisman, simply cleaning his cave dwelling.

'Time to keep cultivating the spirit bees.'

He'd bought a Four-winged Gold-spotted Bee at the auction, controlled it with the Blood Insect Control Technique, and casually fed it some second-tier demon beast meat, planning to wait for it to recover before considering mating.

Who knew the Four-winged Gold-spotted Bee would fall into a deep sleep after eating the demon beast meat?

Later, preoccupied with alchemy and Foundation Establishment, he almost forgot about the Four-winged Gold-spotted Bee.

By contrast, the Red Pattern Spirit Bee, bred over generations, now shows increasingly prominent gold stripes on the newborns' abdomens.

But it's still far from Yunhe's vision of gold patterns completely replacing the red.

'Indeed, natural evolution works, but its potential is ultimately limited—we need to introduce new varieties.'

Muttering to himself, he summoned the Four-winged Gold-spotted Bee from his spirit beast bag.

What surprised Yunhe was how remarkably good its condition was.

Not only had the earlier damage fully recovered, but his cultivation base also made significant progress.

'What kind of bee is this?'

'An ancient bee species?'

Yunhe doesn't think a few chunks of demon beast meat could produce such an effect; it's more likely due to its own nature.

'Next, we'll raise the new bee queen to First Stage Late and this bee to First Stage, then we can try mating.'

With a Feeding Pill, it shouldn't be hard.

Just don't know whether the two bees can mate successfully, and what kind of offspring they'd produce.

Afterward.

Yunhe's routine reverted to how it was before Foundation Establishment.

Each day he cultivated, made pills, crafted talismans, and kept bees—nothing else besides these.

Oh, plus one more thing.

He also needs to occasionally visit Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect—to get familiar, and to sit and discuss Dao with those he clicks with, which is also a worthwhile gain.

Such days continued for half a year.

Until this day, his demon beast body finally awoke.

'Ang!!!'

A roar like a turtle and dragon sounded, echoing across Huanhu Dao.

'King!'

Hearing the roar, the demon beasts dropped what they were doing and rushed toward Huanhu Dao.

'A hundred zhang of demon sense—not bad.'

Upon waking, Yunhe first checked his condition.

A nearly transparent round inner elixir spun in his qi sea.

'Once a second-tier demon beast condenses an inner elixir, all its demon power gathers into it.'

'Fortunately, the Carrying Mountain Technique includes both cultivation methods for those who haven't condensed an inner elixir and those who have.'

From inside out.

Its rugged carapace looks more imposing; with solid defense, it also makes opponents wary of the spikes on its back.

Aside from the turtle shell, his whole body is almost completely covered with a thin layer of dark scales that faintly sound with each breath.

He also learned that these scales not only boost his defense but also let him breathe underwater.

In other words, he can move freely underwater even without holding his breath.

Besides that, what Yunhe values most is the short little horn on his forehead.

He gave it a light touch, feeling its texture was no inferior to a red-sheath fan.

'I feel that even with just physical strength, my single horn could kill a person or a second-tier demon beast.'

He lacks a clear, concrete notion of demon beast strength.

Unlike a cultivator body, which clearly knows how much mana and divine sense an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator has.

But he can use the fiercest horned viper as a reference.

'Just talking about the body, I, who just broke through to Second Stage, am absolutely stronger than that horned viper—whether in strength or defense.'

Yunhe feels that if he now fought that horned viper that once made him suffer, even without any magical artifact, spiritual artifact, or talisman, he could press it to the ground and beat it.

This advantage stems from his early practice of the Carrying Mountain Technique, constantly tempering his body with Three Yang Heavy Water.

Practicing such cultivation methods, naturally the earlier the better.

Moreover, his bloodline's transformation gave him an even stronger body.

'The Three Yang Heavy Water has also been refined twice, making its body-tempering effect more pronounced; it could be refined a third time, which just requires gathering more three-yang water with the help of some underlings.'

Continuing to temper his body with Three Yang Heavy Water, as his cultivation base rises, his body can grow even stronger.

After smoothly reaching Second Stage, I should be able to cultivate the 'Moving Mountain Chapter' of the 'Mountain Carrying Technique', it seems there is also a spell. 'Moving Mountain'?

Just as he was about to sink his consciousness to recall the details of the Mountain-Carrying Secret, Yunhe suddenly froze.

"This is."

Hum—

From the Inner Elixir in his Qi Sea, a faint halo of light spread out, and suddenly it gave him insight and stirred his spirit.

The next second.

After Yunhe's body trembled slightly, his body actually began to enlarge at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After it successfully advanced, its body had grown to one zhang, but at this moment it suddenly swelled, instantly exceeding three zhang!

And it continued to grow.

In the blink of an eye, it became like a small hill, its body exceeding five zhang!

Feeling the change in himself, Yunhe's eyes, as big as a copper bell, widened.

He exclaimed in surprise: "Innate divine ability?"

But what surprised him even more was.

"It seems... there's another one?"

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(End of chapter)