Eternal Life by Daily Divination

“Alright.”

Zheng Qingqing smiled sweetly and took the four Foundation Establishment Pills.

The two of them went to the Cao Family’s Treasure Vault together.

The Treasure Vault was also protected by an Array, but it was no challenge for Li Chang’an.

After just a moment, he opened the doors to the Treasure Vault.

In an instant, countless dazzling treasures appeared before their eyes.

Li Chang’an’s gaze focused on a corner of the Treasure Vault.

In that corner, a full one thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones, shimmering with Spiritual Qi, were piled up!

One Middle Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for one hundred Low Grade Spirit Stones.

In other words, these Middle Grade Spirit Stones alone were comparable to one hundred thousand Low Grade Spirit Stones!

The four Foundation Establishment Pills Li Chang’an had given Zheng Qingqing were only worth a total of around 250,000 Spirit Stones.

He glanced at the other treasures in the vault and made a rough calculation. Their value would certainly exceed 150,000 Spirit Stones.

He hadn’t lost out on this deal in the slightest!

“Qingqing, do you regret this?”

“As long as you’re happy.”

Zheng Qingqing pursed her lips, saying nothing more.

To her, as long as these four Foundation Establishment Pills could produce even one Foundation Establishment Cultivator, she would have come out ahead.

Besides, given their relationship, one couldn’t really speak of profit and loss. They had already gifted many treasures to each other over the years.

After that, Li Chang’an began to take inventory.

As most of the Cao Family’s Cultivators had an Earth Spirit Root, the majority of the items in the Treasure Vault were Earth Element Treasures.

’Dahuang is in for a treat.’

Li Chang’an’s eyes glinted. He walked past shelf after shelf of treasures, identifying each one before taking it.

「About a quarter of an hour later.」

He reached the deepest part of the Treasure Vault.

Suddenly, his gaze froze, fixed on a piece of wood placed by itself on the innermost shelf.

’This… could this be…?’

His heart stirred as he took down the piece of wood and carefully sensed it.

A moment later, a joyful expression appeared on Li Chang’an’s face.

“This is actually Qinghua Wood!”

Qinghua Wood was one of the five main ingredients for refining the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill!

The Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill was an Elixir Pill craved by countless Foundation Establishment Cultivators their entire lives, as it could increase the success rate of Core Formation by twenty percent!

Its importance to Foundation Establishment Cultivators was akin to that of the Foundation Establishment Pill to Qi Refining Cultivators.

However, the vast majority of ingredients for the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill were firmly controlled by Golden Core Influences, making it nearly impossible for Loose Cultivators to obtain them.

The Three Great Sects had been able to endure for millennia precisely because they hoarded the ingredients for the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill, ensuring an unbroken line of Golden Core cultivators generation after generation.

Li Chang’an would never have imagined that he would find an ingredient for a Golden Core Pill in the Treasure Vault of a mere Foundation Establishment Influence like the Cao Family!

Zheng Qingqing walked over, a trace of surprise also flashing in her beautiful eyes.

“Chang’an, congratulations.”

“Just luck.”

Li Chang’an smiled, suppressing his excitement, and carefully placed the Qinghua Wood into his Storage Pouch.

He was only in the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, yet he had already obtained an ingredient for the Five Elements Golden Condensation Pill.

It was truly good luck.

He could see that Zheng Qingqing also coveted the Qinghua Wood.

But this concerned the great path of immortality. He wouldn’t yield it even to a cultivation partner, let alone to someone who wasn’t.

…

「Over the next few days.」

Li Chang’an began to tally up his gains from the excursion.

He had not only taken Cao Zhengxiong’s Storage Pouch but had also collected the pouches from hundreds of Cao Family Cultivators. The Storage Pouches alone were worth a huge sum of Spirit Stones.

And that wasn’t even mentioning the vast amount of Treasures they contained.

He was quite busy for a while.

It took him five full days to finish cataloging all the Treasures.

Among the loot, all the treasures used for nurturing Spirit Plants were given to the Evergreen Vine.

There was also a large quantity of Earth Element Treasures.

He had no use for them, so he tossed them to Dahuang.

Dahuang had worked hard and performed great services, helping Li Chang’an with many tasks. Unfortunately, it only had a Middle Grade Bloodline, and its advancement Speed had never been able to match the Profound Water Turtle’s.

However, it had devoured quite a few Treasures over the years.

For instance, there was the Demon Core of that Tier Two Earth Dragon.

During the demon beast uprising, Li Chang’an had also slain several Tier Two Earth Element Spirit Beasts and given their Demon Cores to Dahuang as well.

With the addition of the numerous Earth Element Treasures from the Cao Family, Dahuang finally reached the cusp of advancement.

「About half a month later.」

A subtle fluctuation of Spiritual Power occurred on Changqing Mountain.

Dahuang had successfully advanced, becoming a Tier Two Middle Stage Spirit Beast.

“Not bad!”

Li Chang’an smiled and patted its head.

Dahuang wagged its tail excitedly and ran off to pick a fight with the Profound Water Turtle. Unsurprisingly, it was defeated and came scurrying back with its tail between its legs.

The Profound Water Turtle’s Talent Technique was stronger, and it had advanced earlier.

It was perfectly normal that Dahuang couldn’t win.

“Keep up your training. Maybe one day you’ll be able to defeat Xiaohai!”

Li Chang’an encouraged.

「That evening.」

He sat cross-legged inside his cave residence and took out the Venerable Soul Banner.

After the battle with the Cao Family, the number of Souls within the banner had surpassed ten thousand. Although most of them were the souls of ordinary Cao Family members, their collective power was not to be underestimated.

The Artifact Spirit conveyed an intermittent message, indicating there was enough power to raise the Evil Soul to the Tier Two Late Stage.

Unfortunately, the Venerable Soul Banner itself was still only Tier Two Middle Stage and couldn’t command a Tier Two Late Stage Evil Soul.

’I’ll have to find some treasures to upgrade the Venerable Soul Banner.’

Li Chang’an mused.

With his current status and position, finding such Treasures was much easier than it had been during his Qi Refining days.

Not long after, news arrived from the Zheng Family.

The four Foundation Establishment Pills Li Chang’an had sold to Zheng Qingqing ultimately produced two new Foundation Establishment Cultivators for the Zheng Family.

With this, the Zheng Family now had five Foundation Establishment Cultivators in one clan, a display of immense glory that shook the entire Qinghe Region!

News of the Cao Family’s annihilation had spread, and the other powers in the Qinghe Region dared not resist. They all submitted, becoming vassals of the Zheng Family.

’The Zheng Family is really flourishing,’ Li Chang’an mused.

With a full five Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they had the power to protect themselves even in these chaotic times.

Furthermore, after annexing the entire Qinghe Region, the Zheng Family had obtained a massive amount of cultivation resources. As long as they could fully assimilate them, a great number of Celestial Prides were bound to emerge in the future.

Barring any accidents, the Zheng Family would produce even more Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the future.

This was how a family rose to power.

The current Seven Great Clans had all risen to prominence step-by-step in this manner.

The Noble Families and Sects from other regions all began to entertain the idea of forming ties, dispatching envoys to the Zheng Clan Territory.

Because of this, Zheng Qingqing had been very busy recently.

As the matriarch of the Zheng Family, she naturally had to be the one to receive the representatives from the various powers.

「A month later.」

She finally came to Changqing Mountain and spent a few days resting with Li Chang’an.

…

「On this day.」

The two of them left Changqing Mountain and headed for Yellow Crane Immortal City.

Zheng Qingqing returned to her residence to continue her cultivation.

The Zheng Family’s other four Foundation Establishment Cultivators were each stationed at a Tier Two Spirit Vein, so she no longer needed to worry about such matters.

Li Chang’an, meanwhile, went to see an elder.

It was Su Yuyan’s master, Chen Huilan.

Not long ago, a dispute had broken out within the Cyan Cloud Sect.

Because Li Chang’an and Zheng Qingqing had joined forces to kill Cao Shaolong, an Honored Guest Elder of the Cyan Cloud Sect, many of the sect’s Elders felt that the pair had shown contempt for the Cyan Cloud Sect and wanted to have them captured.

Behind this turmoil, Xie Jiang and Yuan Shan were fanning the flames.

The two had lobbied many people and had nearly succeeded.

But…

In the end, Chen Huilan stepped forward and forcefully suppressed the controversy.

“Thank you, Elder Chen.”

Li Chang’an was deeply moved and thanked her with utmost sincerity.

On his journey, due to his poor talent, almost no seniors had ever been willing to look out for him. He had long struggled on his own.

But Chen Huilan had intervened on his behalf twice without asking for anything in return.

Now, Chen Huilan was in a very bad state.

Her frame was gaunt, her aura faint. She had reached the end of her life.

“Chang’an, sit down. Let me talk with you for a while.”

She smiled, her expression gentle, as she beckoned to Li Chang’an.

Li Chang’an did as he was told, sitting beside her and beginning to talk.

「Over the next few days.」

Chen Huilan clung to her last breath, using her faint voice to impart a lifetime of cultivation insights to Li Chang’an.

Time passed in a blur.

「At dusk one day.」

Chen Huilan’s aura gradually faded.

Her gaunt face still held a benevolent smile as she spoke in a soft voice.

“Ah, Chang’an, if you ever meet the right person, don’t let them slip away.”

In the end, she no longer spoke of cultivation, but of matters of the heart.

“When I was young, I met someone like that. But I was single-mindedly focused on cultivation and ignored his feelings. We slowly drifted apart… Looking back now, it remains a regret…”

“I understand your words, Elder.”

Li Chang’an replied softly, his expression sincere.

“However, I feel the road ahead is still long, and there’s no rush for such things. What do you think, Elder?”

After speaking, he looked toward Chen Huilan.

But Chen Huilan didn’t respond.

“Elder Chen? Elder Chen…”

Li Chang’an called out twice but received no reply.

Chen Huilan’s eyes were closed, her breath slowly fading away. Like a fallen leaf returning to its roots, she lay quietly on the bed, having passed on.

Li Chang’an’s heart filled with a sense of loss.

He slowly rose and gave Chen Huilan a deep bow.

“Farewell, Elder Chen.”