Trials and Hardships Abound in the Immortal-Cultivation Lineage

"Young master, Third Elder is calling for you."

A maidservant called softly from not far away, her demeanor carrying a trace of restraint.

Chen Nianzhi sat cross-legged on a boulder beside a cliff, closing his eyes to inhale and exhale the morning mist while continuously nurturing that single breath of Primordial Creation Purple Qi within his chest.

Has the hour of Chen already arrived?

He whispered to himself, then said, "Go tell Third Elder I will be right there."

Once the maidservant departed, Chen Nianzhi continued to swallow the very last wisps of the morning mist before slowly withdrawing his technique.

Having transmigrated into this realm for fifteen years, every morning and evening he came to this spot to absorb the Sun-Moon Essence, transforming it into Primordial Creation Purple Qi.

This cultivation method for inhaling and exhaling the morning mist was called the Primordial Scripture, a supreme art he had inadvertently found at a street stall in his past life and subsequently brought across the worlds to become the catalyst that changed his destiny.

The Primordial Scripture could transform the power of morning mist and moonlight into Primordial Creation Purple Qi. This breath of purple qi possessed supreme miraculous uses; solely through his own exploration, he had already unlocked its ability to elevate one's spirit root aptitude.

He possessed a five-element spirit root, an aptitude that could be considered utterly abyssal, but at birth he had naturally carried a breath of Primordial Creation Purple Qi, raising his aptitude to the level of rivaling a three-element spirit root.

Chen Nianzhi knew deeply that this cultivation art was his greatest fortuitous encounter in this lifetime. Therefore, for over a decade he had practiced it unceasingly, painstakingly swallowing the morning and evening mists to accumulate purple qi while never revealing it before a single soul.

He was even unwilling to let others know his true spirit root, claiming only to possess a two-element spirit root talent.

In this life his family background was fairly decent; the Chen Clan was a small cultivation lineage with over a hundred cultivators in the clan and even a Patriarch at the Foundation Establishment Realm anchoring them.

Although it might not be worth mentioning when looking at the world at large, within the radius of tens of thousands of li in Yu Commandery, they still held some weight.

As the most outstanding and brilliant member of the younger generation of the Chen Clan, he had borne great expectations since childhood. Nor had he failed those expectations, breaking through to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining at the tender age of fifteen—a feat that already rivaled many veteran cultivators who had cultivated for decades.

In comparison, the vast majority of cultivators his age barely managed to reach the first or second layer of Qi Refining by this point.

Most cultivators laid their foundations before the age of ten, only beginning official cultivation around eleven or twelve, and had to rely on the grinding effort of decades to break through to the middle or late stages of Qi Refining by their forties or fifties.

Yet because of his carried-over memories from his past life, he began practicing Qi Refining at the age of three, gaining eight or nine years of the most precious cultivation time over others. His cultivation advanced in leaps and bounds, allowing him to reach the Late Stage of Qi Refining three months ago.

Only after breaking through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining had he drawn the clan's heavy regard. Now his status within the Chen Clan had risen considerably, counting as having initially stepped into the ranks of the lineage's upper echelon.

Pulling back his stray thoughts, Chen Nianzhi stood up and walked toward Third Elder's Clan Affairs Hall.

The Cangyuan Mountains spanned thousands of li, and its main peak, Qingyuan Peak, was all the more one of the few renowned spirit mountains in the entire Yu Commandery. Within the mountain lay a Tier 2 Mid-grade spirit vein, and it was said that centuries ago this place was the territory of Tier 2 demonic beasts, Azure Apes.

Later, the ancestors of the Chen Clan slew them, seized this prized spirit vein territory, and subsequently took wives and concubines to establish this cultivation lineage.

Across the entire Qingyuan Peak spirit vein, the spiritual Qi at the foot of the mountain was relatively sparse, while the further one ascended toward the summit, the richer the spiritual Qi became. Cultivators of the Chen Clan below the sixth layer of Qi Refining mostly carved out cultivation abodes on the mountainside to practice immortality.

Further up lay the seventeen mu of spirit fields cleared by the Chen Clan, as well as the Clan Main Hall, while the location of the spirit vein spring at the back mountain served as the place of practice for the Patriarch.

Third Elder Chen Qinghao was responsible for presiding over clan affairs, and the Clan Affairs Hall where he resided was located right at the mountaintop.

The moment Chen Nianzhi stepped into the Clan Affairs Hall, he found the atmosphere somewhat amiss. The entire hall was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere, with a dozen-odd figures seated inside.

"Greetings, Uncles and Senior Uncles."

The several individuals seated were all high-ranking members of the Chen Clan: Third Elder Chen Qinghao, Fourth Elder Chen Qingyuan, Fifth Elder Chen Qingwan, and the remaining few were Uncles of the Chang generation. As for the Nian generation, apart from him, there was only a single elder brother.

Pursuing the Dao and ensuring eternity, remembering the sages and reflecting on ancestors, supporting one another to invigorate the lineage, ascending to immortality and never decaying.

The sixteen-character genealogy of the Chen Clan had been passed down to the present day, leaving only six or seven members of the Chang generation apart from the Patriarch.

The Chen Clan possessed a total of seven elders, all of whom were Ninth Layer of Qi Refining cultivators of the Qing generation. Among them, First Elder Chen Qingxu anchored Pingyang County Town.

Pingyang County Town held a population of over one hundred thousand, all of whom were the bloodline descendants of the Chen Clan. These mortals produced one or two Chen Clan progeny with spirit roots every year, serving as the foundational bedrock for the lineage's heritage.

Mortals were an extremely nourishing substance for both demonic cultivators and the Demon Race. Therefore, to protect these clansmen, First Elder would not lightly leave Pingyang County Town unless there were pressing matters.

Second Elder Chen Qinghe, on the other hand, was stationed within Yuyang Market, managing the lineage's several storefronts and even more unable to spare himself.

Seventh Elder Chen Qingyuan was only thirty-one and possessed exceptionally extraordinary innate talent, but having entered the Azure Sun Sect, he could now only be counted as half a person of the lineage and was unable to look after the family.

Seeing that apart from the Patriarch who was in closed-door seclusion healing his injuries at the back mountain, all three elders of the lineage who could attend had arrived, Chen Nianzhi vaguely sensed that something must have happened.

As soon as they saw Chen Nianzhi enter, several elders nodded. Chen Nianzhi's ability to break through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining at fifteen meant this innate talent fell not the least bit short of a variant spirit root; he harbored a significant possibility of achieving Foundation Establishment in the future and was heavily anticipated within the lineage.

Chen Qinghao, who presided over the clan meeting, nodded as well, rarely revealing a trace of warm expression.

"Nianzhi, you have arrived."

"Since everyone has arrived, I will explain the matter to everyone."

Seeing that the dozen-odd Late Stage of Qi Refining cultivators who could attend had all arrived, Chen Qinghao reined in his smile and revealed a countenance of bitter worry.

The moment Chen Nianzhi saw his expression, his heart sank slightly, and he roughly guessed the subject to be discussed at this clan assembly. A year ago, Jiang Daoist of Heavenly Ruins Mountain refined a furnace of Foundation Establishment Pills, and this time four medicinal pills were successfully formed, prompting him to bring out two of them for auction.

Foundation Establishment Pills were treasures that could only be encountered by chance and never sought. At the time, the Chen Clan liquidated a great deal of ancestral property and even shouldowed heavy outside debts, ultimately spending over thirty thousand spirit stones to purchase this Foundation Establishment Pill.

Patriarch Chen Changxuan had also been ambushed by adversaries because of this Foundation Establishment Pill. Fortunately, the Patriarch was a Seventh Layer of Foundation Establishment cultivator and managed to slaughter his way out of the encirclement carrying the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Although Chen Changxuan had also slain a Foundation Establishment cultivator in that battle, unfortunately he suffered not-light injuries himself. Ever since returning to Qingyuan Peak, he had been in closed-door seclusion at the back mountain spirit spring, and to this day the state of his injuries remained unknown.

After the lineage obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill, the candidate ultimately chosen to use the Foundation Establishment Pill to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm preferably could not exceed sixty years of age. Cultivators exceeding this age possessed insufficient blood-qi, and even if they utilized a Foundation Establishment Pill, the success rate would often not exceed twenty percent.

Among the lineage, seven Ninth Layer of Qi Refining cultivators remained. Setting aside Chen Qingyuan who had entered the sect, the First Elder was already past seventy, and Second Elder Chen Qinghe was well over sixty, while Third Elder had injured his foundation during spell battles in his early years and possessed no hope of breaking through.

Among the remaining individuals, Sixth Elder Chen Qingmeng was an alchemist, and his status and net worth within the lineage surpassed Fourth and Fifth Elders. In the end, he borrowed a massive amount of merit points and secured the Foundation Establishment Pill.

For the past three months, Chen Qingmeng had been in closed-door seclusion breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Logic dictated that regardless of whether he succeeded or failed, results ought to emerge by now. Once again witnessing Third Elder display a look of bitter worry, Chen Nianzhi could not help but feel his throat grow somewhat dry.