After a night passed, Wei Zhong woke feeling refreshed and could not help but sigh. Cultivation still required a balance between work and rest.
Throughout the past several decades of cultivation, he had always felt that something was missing. So this was what had been lacking.
"Ling'er, do you still have any strength left?"
Xie Linghua shyly slapped Wei Zhong's thigh and said with feigned anger:
"Senior, you truly tormented Ling'er terribly last night..."
Wei Zhong smiled and took out the Green Vine Intoxication he had brewed himself.
"This Spirit Wine is called Green Vine Intoxication. It has some ability to nourish the body. You may drink some regularly; it will be greatly beneficial to you."
Xie Linghua answered somewhat surprised:
"Green Vine Intoxication? Could it be the Green Vine Intoxication sold by the shop beneath that Azurewood Sect True Inheritor?"
Wei Zhong touched her nose.
"Precisely. Speaking of which, that wine recipe was obtained from me by Shen Zhenchuan."
"So the Li Lineage's claim that Master had connections to an Azurewood Sect True Inheritor was actually true."
Wei Zhong shook his head.
"It is merely a bond of mutual benefit."
As they spoke, Wei Zhong suddenly caught sight of her fair calf. Stirred by the sight, he spent another tender while with her.
That tenderness lasted two days.
Afterward, Wei Zhong sat alone in the cultivation room, feeling somewhat annoyed.
"In the end, food and sex are human nature. One woman alone made me neglect cultivation for two days. And there are still so many warblers and swallows waiting—how can this go on?"
Wei Zhong shook his head and examined himself inwardly.
The Nourishing Body Art had not only healed the damage to his foundation and replenished his lifespan, but also kept this body at its peak condition.
After two and a half days of indulgence, Wei Zhong did not feel the slightest fatigue. Instead, he felt as though the more he fought, the braver he became. If Xie Linghua had not been unable to endure any longer, he could have kept going.
This has truly nourished me to the core.
Wei Zhong condensed a water mirror, which reflected the image of a middle-aged man. After Foundation Establishment, Wei Zhong's age was roughly equivalent to that of a mortal in his forties, and he looked much the same.
His face had sharply defined contours, his pale yellow skin carried a hint of fairness, and especially those deep eyes seemed to contain the flavor of passing years.
For this face, Wei Zhong would give himself six points, plus another two for his Foundation Establishment cultivation.
The water mirror shattered, and Wei Zhong entered cultivation.
Yet after cultivating for only two months, Wei Zhong received a message and left his grotto-heaven, arriving in an antique cultivation room.
Leaving the cultivation room led directly outside. Behind him stood an antique little tower—the new residence Wei Zhong had ordered his subordinates to build during this time. It stood atop a node of a mid-grade second-tier spirit vein, where the spiritual energy was no weaker than in that gloomy cave abode.
Wei Zhong cupped his hands and said to the white-robed cultivator before him:
"So it is Senior Luo who has honored this place with his presence. I was at a critical point in cultivation, so please forgive this nephew for failing to welcome you from afar."
This white-robed Daoist was none other than Luo Mingyan, the Azurewood Sect's Eighth True Disciple.
Compared to the high spirits he had displayed when he had just advanced to Foundation Establishment, Luo Mingyan's aura was now deep and restrained, hidden without being revealed. His entire state was completely different from before.
Was he taught a lesson in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range?
"Haha, Chu Zhong, now that you have advanced to Foundation Establishment, it would be better for us to address one another as equals."
"Then I shall shamelessly call you Brother Luo. Would that be acceptable?"
"Very good, very good."
Wei Zhong promptly had Xie Linghua set out a table and stools for them, along with Spirit Wine and spirit food. Against the Black Lake Island's distinctive scenery, the two began to converse at length.
"Now that little brother Chu has successfully reached Foundation Establishment, if Fellow Daoist Chu He knows in the underworld, he will surely find great comfort."
Luo Mingyan looked at Wei Zhong with some emotion as he spoke.
Wei Zhong did not know how to ridicule this inwardly. He thought that one day, when he let Chu He reappear in the cultivation world, it would surely give Luo Mingyan quite a fright.
"Yes. It was entirely thanks to my uncle's support. Otherwise, how could I possibly have cultivated to this day? Now that I have achieved some success in cultivation, I wish to repay my uncle, but no longer have the chance..."
At the mention of Chu He's passing, Luo Mingyan was also filled with emotion. In the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, he too had witnessed the deaths of far too many fellow sect members.
Qi Refining cultivators were like insignificant firewood thrown into that blazing campaign of development. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators struggled to preserve themselves. Even he, a True Inheritor Disciple, had faced the threat of death on numerous occasions.
After several decades of tempering, he cherished his own life even more. He valued his fortune and life far above opportunities, and could no longer maintain the same sharp, enterprising spirit he once had.
"Speaking of which, little brother Chu, killing Candle Daoren as a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator caused quite a stir among cultivators."
So he had indeed come for this. The matter of him killing Candle Daoren and becoming the Li Lineage's Guest Elder had long been publicized by the Li Lineage. Wei Zhong was not at all surprised that Luo Mingyan, as an Azurewood Sect disciple, knew of it.
Hearing this, Wei Zhong revealed a faint trace of self-satisfaction.
"Not at all, not at all. Candle Daoren was severely injured. I merely took advantage of his misfortune and picked up a bargain."
Luo Mingyan shook his head.
"Fellow Daoist Chu need not belittle yourself. Previously, two Rogue Cultivators faced Candle Daoren and both retreated in disgrace. Now that Candle Daoren fell at little brother's hands, it is enough to show that Fellow Daoist possesses some skill."
Wei Zhong merely smiled without speaking, as though he had already immersed himself in Luo Mingyan's praise.
No one knew the details of his battle with Candle Daoren. Only those two senior masters could infer a thing or two from the traces of the fight. Given their lofty status, they had no leisure to tell a mere Golden Core minor sect like the Azurewood Sect the details of their deductions.
"With such ability, little brother could go even further. Why are you unwilling to come to my Azurewood Sect and become a Foundation Establishment Guest Elder?" Luo Mingyan asked, somewhat puzzled.
Wei Zhong understood that Luo Mingyan was genuinely puzzled. With his status as a True Inheritor Disciple, he had no need to come here and pressure him.
"Alas." Wei Zhong sighed. "Others may not know, but does Brother Luo not know? With aptitude as poor as my Low-Grade Spirit Root, reaching Foundation Establishment was already a stroke of immense fortune. As for higher realms afterward, I would not even dare to dream of them.
Rather than cultivating bitterly for a hundred years in vain, it would be better to enjoy what days remain. Marry wives, have children, and establish my own cultivation Lineage—why can that not be another choice?"
Luo Mingyan fell silent. As an Azurewood Sect True Inheritor, he had plenty of time and a bright future ahead of him. He truly could not empathize with Wei Zhong's mindset.
But failing to empathize did not mean he rejected or resisted it.
"Then I wish little brother a household full of wives and concubines, with harmony and happiness in the family."
The two clinked cups.
"Thank you for your auspicious words, Brother Luo."
Luo Mingyan drained the Spirit Wine in his cup in one gulp, and his eyes brightened slightly.
"Could this be Green Vine Intoxication?"
Wei Zhong nodded and smiled.
"Precisely. I gained some inspiration from Fellow Daoist Hu Yang and have already improved the Green Vine Intoxication. Unfortunately, it can only reach the peak of the first tier and cannot advance to the second tier."
Luo Mingyan shook his head.
"Such Spirit Wine is already exceedingly rare. I never expected little brother Chu's winemaking skill to be so superb. Back then, giving the wine recipe to my good friend without charge truly was..."
Wei Zhong asked in puzzlement:
"Hm? Is there some story behind this?"
"Little brother does not know—my good brother made quite a few spirit stones from that wine recipe in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range."
Before you continue