"After only eight short years, your cultivation had advanced to the sixth level of Qi Refining. You have not disappointed Fellow Daoist Chu He's expectations."
Luo Mingyan looked at Wei Zhong below the platform with some satisfaction.
"That was all thanks to Uncle Luo finding me such a fine job."
Wei Zhong lowered his head as he spoke.
Luo Mingyan, however, shook his head.
"Alas, what kind of fine job is being a spirit farmer? It was your own hard work."
Now that Luo Mingyan had established his foundation, he was no longer what he had once been. Thus, Wei Zhong had to show him at least outward respect.
As Luo Mingyan's elder, Ning CanKun did not need to do so. He praised Wei Zhong instead.
"Not only that, but Chu Zhong has learned a fine craft for brewing spirit wine these past years. I often go drink with the old fellow, and that spirit wine tastes even more marvelous than Spring Breeze Pavilion's Ten Mile Fragrance."
Wei Zhong immediately praised him inwardly. He had not given this old man wine for nothing.
"Oh? So my worthy nephew brewed it himself?"
He then instructed the servants to bring the Green Vine Intoxication Wei Zhong had sent to the banquet.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Luo Mingyan invited the guests to take their seats.
Wei Zhong sat beside one of the wine tables below the platform. Looking around, he found that everyone below was a Qi Refining cultivator. Only the platform held four Foundation Establishment cultivators seated with Luo Mingyan. No one knew what they were discussing, and those below could not hear them clearly.
"Are those four seniors also Uncle Luo's friends?"
Wei Zhong sampled the spirit food on the table and spoke to Ning CanKun beside him.
The latter set down his wine cup, a trace of amusement spilling from his face.
"Yes and no. But they will all be in the future."
Wei Zhong had long understood his habit of keeping people in suspense, so he poured him another cup of spirit wine.
After drinking half the cup, Ning CanKun explained.
"From left to right, those four seniors are the sect's fourth, fifth, and seventh true disciples.
"As for the last senior in red robes, he is a rogue cultivator who established his foundation. He is known as Hu Yang Daoren, a Foundation Establishment expert who has long been famous in Bright Moon Market."
Wei Zhong had heard of Azurewood Sect's seven Foundation Establishment true disciples and Hu Yang Daoren, the rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator, in his daily life. But this was his first time seeing their true faces.
"Among the three true disciples, the seventh true disciple is an old acquaintance of Mingyan's. His name is Shen Yuqi. He possesses dual fire-and-wood spirit roots and is apprenticed to Senior Duan, the Pill Hall Master."
"Senior Duan, the one skilled at refining Foundation Establishment Pills?"
"That is right, Senior Duan. Mingyan's Foundation Establishment this time also could not have happened without the help of this Pill Hall Master's disciple."
Wei Zhong finally understood.
"Of the other two true disciples, that female senior is Lin Muxue, the fourth true disciple. Her Five Elements Technique has reached a miraculous level, and she is apprenticed to Hall Master Yu of the Law Hall.
"And the fifth true disciple is Luo Zhigang. He bears the title Unbreakable Vajra and is a Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator, apprenticed to Hall Master Zhao of the Artifact Hall."
Azurewood Sect had three great halls: the Pill Hall, Artifact Hall, and Law Hall. Their three Hall Masters were all Core Formation Cultivators of extraordinary strength.
Any true disciple of the sect could become the disciple of one of them.
"I wonder which hall Mingyan will enter this time."
Ning CanKun raised his cup and sighed.
But Wei Zhong no longer had the mind to echo him.
At that moment, all he could think of was that seventh true disciple's connection to Foundation Establishment Pills.
"Junior Brother Luo, this spirit wine is truly excellent. It actually has a trace of an ability to nourish the fleshly body," Lin Muxue said in praise.
Upon hearing this, the others all tasted the spirit wine.
Luo Zhigang spoke with some regret. "It is indeed so. Unfortunately, it is only first-rank spirit wine, and its effect on me is already negligible. Still, it is useful to all of you. Drinking it over the years can strengthen the fleshly body to a certain extent."
"I never expected my cheap nephew to possess such skill."
Luo Mingyan was also somewhat moved.
"If you all like it, I will have him brew more another day and send it to you."
"Then this old man will accept without ceremony."
Hu Yang Daoren smiled, and the wrinkles on his face bloomed like a chrysanthemum.
The other cultivators also voiced their agreement.
"Speaking of which, Junior Brother Luo, the timing of your Foundation Establishment was rather fortuitous." Lin Muxue gave Shen Yuqi an amused glance as she said this. "Otherwise, you would have had to enter that secret realm this time and search bitterly for spirit herbs."
Luo Mingyan felt somewhat embarrassed. As a sect disciple, he naturally knew that Senior Sister Lin was referring to the Qingchuan Secret Realm controlled by Azurewood Sect.
As Azurewood Sect's exclusive secret realm, it had been discovered by chance by the sect's ancestor a hundred years ago. Azurewood Sect had established itself here largely because of this secret realm.
Its resources were abundant, and it nurtured many types of spirit herbs, including the ingredients required to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.
"Senior Sister, please stop making fun of me. Last time, I searched bitterly in the secret realm for ten days and only found two supplementary herbs, a Thousand Knot Flower and Gold Essence Ginseng. Yet I did not even see the shadow of the most important Jade Marrow Mushroom.
"If I had to go again, I would not be confident either. That was why I sought Brother Shen's help."
Shen Yuqi shook his head. "Between brothers like us, why speak of begging or not begging?"
Hu Yang Daoren, seated nearby, also revealed an interested expression.
"Oh? Such a thing happened? Back then, this old man also obtained a chance to enter the secret realm at an auction. By a stroke of luck, I found a Jade Marrow Mushroom, then asked Senior Duan to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill. With it, I broke through into the Foundation Establishment realm."
Luo Zhigang picked up the conversation.
"To be frank, Elder Hu, today's Qingchuan Secret Realm is far inferior to what it once was."
Luo Mingyan hesitated somewhat. "Senior Brother Luo..."
The latter waved his head.
"It is nothing. This is no longer any secret; it will be announced publicly in a few days.
"The Qingchuan Secret Realm has existed since ancient times, and its exact age can no longer be verified. All that is known is that it contains abundant spirit-herb resources.
"Throughout the generations, Azurewood Sect opened the secret realm once every ten years. Using its advantages, we cultivated a great many outstanding disciples for our sect.
"Yet now, as extraction continued without end, the secret realm gradually failed to keep up with demand, and its resources began to diminish."
Luo Mingyan asked in confusion.
"Then why not seal the secret realm for several more decades?"
Shen Yuqi cleared up his confusion. "That is because, besides overharvesting, there is an even more important reason: the secret realm's spiritual qi is leaking away.
"In other words, even if the secret realm were sealed, it could no longer provide a favorable environment for spirit herbs to grow.
"On the contrary, doing so would leave the sect unable to obtain even a single spirit herb from it."
Luo Mingyan was instantly stunned. He had never expected that there was such a deeper reason behind his failure to find Jade Marrow Mushroom.
Hu Yang Daoren was greatly shocked. "How could this be?"
Those who depended on this secret realm were not only Azurewood Sect cultivators, but other rogue cultivators as well.
Lin Muxue shook her head. "The precise reason is unknown. However, my master mentioned an interesting possibility a few days ago: the Qingchuan Secret Realm is merging into this world. Its spiritual qi has not vanished into thin air, but is flowing into this vast cultivation world."
Shen Yuqi agreed.
"My master also supports Hall Master Yu's explanation. Moreover, Azurewood Sect is not the only sect whose secret realm has encountered problems. The Rakshasa Sect in neighboring Nether Luo Prefecture has experienced the same situation with its secret realm.
"As early as several years ago, the Rakshasa Sect had nearly abandoned its secret realm and turned its gaze toward the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range."
"The Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range? How would the Rakshasa Sect dare provoke that horde of demon beasts?"
"That, we do not know."
Luo Zhigang said.
"In any case, to deal with this secret-realm predicament, the sect intends to strip the secret realm completely clean the next time it opens.
"This time, not only will a large number of Qi Refining cultivators from within the sect be dispatched, but a large number of secret-realm entry qualifications will also be sold to rogue cultivators."
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