Five days later, at the beginning of the Si hour, Ji An's talisman bird descended near the Artifact Refining Hall on Red Copper Mountain.
He bypassed the building and continued up the mountain path.
The Artifact Refining Hall was a public area, while the caves of Foundation Establishment cultivators were all situated at the spiritual vein nodes higher up the mountain.
The mid-mountain area was already sealed off by restrictive wards. Without the proper token, one could not enter.
Halfway up, he spotted Chu He, Zhao Mengyao, and a somewhat familiar-looking female disciple waiting by the roadside.
Ji An paused for a few seconds before recalling that this female disciple had also come from Green Pine Dao Academy. She had entered the sect three years earlier than him and came from a cultivation family in the immortal city near the academy.
Quickening his steps, he went up to greet them.
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, thank you for waiting."
Yue Rong cast Ji An a discreet glance. She vaguely remembered him as a rather wooden disciple from the Dao Academy. Her impression was faint, which meant he had no notable background and was likely from a loose cultivator origin.
She wondered what ability he possessed that made Zhang Yuanshan invite him to such a celebration. After all, those invited to this occasion were either acknowledged by Zhang Yuanshan or had connections with him.
Chu He laughed.
"Haha, everyone's here. Let's head inside."
He produced a token and activated it with a spell. A streak of golden light shot into the mountain above.
Two quarters of an hour later, a fiery cloud of light flew out from within. Accompanied by the oppressive aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Zhang Yuanshan descended from the sky.
"My fellow Daoists, thank you for waiting."
Zhang Yuanshan was dressed in a dark Daoist robe, the two golden threads on his sleeves shimmering in the sunlight.
"Daoist Zhang."
The four of them cupped their hands in greeting. At a moment like this, addressing him as "Martial Uncle" would seem too formal and would even lower their own standing.
"Daoist Zhang, congratulations on your Foundation Establishment. This is my humble gift."
Zhao Mengyao presented a gift box, and the other three also offered theirs. Ji An's gift was a piece of Red Blood Copper ore.
Since the other party was a craftsman, the ore would surely be of use.
"Haha, thank you, fellow Daoists.
I have merely taken one step ahead. The immortal path is long. In the future, let us walk it side by side; none of us needs to face the journey alone."
Zhang Yuanshan produced a white jade flying boat about an inch long. With a flick of his hand seal, the boat expanded against the wind until it was nearly two zhang long.
"Everyone, please board!"
Once the flying boat carried them, it passed through the restrictive wards.
Ji An immediately felt the rich and pure spiritual energy; it was countless times denser than at his own dwelling. He sank his mind into the Stone Tortoise and noted the current amount of spiritual qi he possessed.
[Spiritual Qi: Kan – 120.6, Kun – 664.8, Xun – 389.7, Zhen – 6.6]
Before long, the boat descended at the mountainside of a peak, Zhang Yuanshan's chosen cave-dwelling.
The estate was quite expansive, with an outer lake, gardens, and herb fields. Inside were a reception hall, purification chamber, beast-taming room, artifact refining room, and more.
At this moment, over a dozen cultivators were gathered in the spacious reception hall.
Seeing Zhang Yuanshan personally welcome four Qi Refining disciples, the guests all cast curious and scrutinizing gazes at them.
The instant Ji An stepped inside, his spiritual sense trembled violently. Within this cave, there were no fewer than seven or eight Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Even though they did not deliberately release their auras, the sheer weight of their presence pressing down was suffocating.
Zhang Yuanshan led the group to a side table in the corner and said with a smile:
"Fellow Daoists, no need to stand on ceremony. Enjoy the food and drink. I won't be able to accompany you just now; those over there are my senior brothers and sisters."
Chu He suppressed the tremor in his heart and managed a faint smile.
"Go ahead, Daoist friend."
He understood in his heart that the other party had already stepped onto a higher level. If the gap between them continued to widen, eventually they would fade from each other's memory.
As cultivators advanced, their lifespans grew ever longer. If they could not walk the path side by side, then inevitably, they would drift further and further apart.
It was cruel, but it was the truth. Since cultivators did not wish to suffer the pain of losing close friends, it was better to sever such bonds early.
He quietly clenched his fist, his yearning for Foundation Establishment growing ever stronger.
At this moment, Chu He suddenly realized that among the four of them who had come, he was the one with the lowest chance of establishing a foundation.
Senior Sister Yue had already reached the peak of Qi Refining and was polishing her divine sense. A Foundation Establishment Pill was already in her hands.
Senior Sister Zhao, with her superior spiritual roots, would certainly obtain a Foundation Pill within a few years; her breakthrough was only a matter of time.
Junior Brother Ji, though without support, earned spirit stones at a frightening pace. Among the four of them, he definitely ranked first in this regard.
Meanwhile, Zhao Mengyao quietly observed the gathering. She noticed that every other Qi Refining disciple invited here had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.
From their bearing, it was easy to see that most were from large cultivation families.
There was no doubt that, in Zhang Yuanshan's eyes, these people were all "Foundation Establishment reserves."
She asked softly,
"Junior Brother Chu, do you recognize those Qi Refining disciples?"
Chu He gave a slight nod.
"They're disciples from the Artifact Refining Hall. Quite a few of them entered the sect the same year as us. They all have talent in the refining arts."
He felt a little awkward. Back then, he had left the Refining Hall out of necessity. Now, seeing his old peers again, every one of them was doing better than he was, and bitterness welled up in his heart.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators sat at one table, while the Qi Refining disciples were split between two others, just like circles of social standing; the division was clear.
Ji An had no intention of networking. In situations where status was unequal, sticking one's head in only invited disdain.
It was like in his past life, trying to sell insurance; if the customer spoke to you from a condescending height, there was no chance of a deal.
So, he simply sat down calmly and, following Zhang Yuanshan's words, focused on the food and drink.
"I'm Yue Rong. I haven't yet asked Junior Brother your name or which mountain you've been assigned to."
Watching him eat and drink so at ease, Yue Rong asked out of curiosity.
"I am Ji An. Greetings, Senior Sister. I've been assigned to a valley near Bihai Lake, just a humble spirit farmer."
Chu He chuckled.
"Don't listen to his nonsense, Senior Sister. Though Junior Brother Ji has a few plots of spirit fields near Bihai Lake, his grasp of spellcraft runs deep. In just three years since joining the sect, he cultivated the Minor Rain Technique to perfection.
He's also quite talented in combat. Just recently, when we hunted demons at Mo Cliff Mountain, there were several times when it was thanks to him that the battle turned in our favor."
As he spoke, Chu He animatedly recounted the scenes of their demon hunt.
Though he kept his voice low, every Foundation Establishment cultivator present could hear him clearly.
One Foundation Establishment cultivator laughed.
"For a disciple to reach mastery in a spell within three years of joining the sect, everyone here knows how difficult that is.
Junior Brother Zhang, your guest, is very likely to possess a special constitution. If, after establishing his foundation, he can find a cultivation method that resonates with it, his future achievements will not be small."
Another chuckled and said,
"Senior Brother, that's not certain.
The fact that he was assigned to farming spirit fields already shows his aptitude is average, with no one backing him. Breaking through to Foundation won't be easy.
What's more, competition for Foundation Pills is fierce these days. Who knows how long he'll have to wait to exchange for one?"
Aptitude wasn't everything, but at the stages of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, aptitude was extremely important.
The sect had no shortage of disciples with special constitutions who, due to lacking sufficient talent, wasted away their years. That kind of torment was the hardest to endure.
Cultivation demanded courage and relentless progress. If a cultivator spent years chasing after resources, suffering repeated blows to their confidence, they would gradually lose the will to forge ahead.
Zhang Yuanshan gave a slight nod. Foundation Establishment truly was just the threshold.
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