Had They Recognized Me?

Ye Han walked along a mountain path on Seven Mysteries Peak, looking left and right at the buildings around him...

The last time he had visited Seven Mysteries Peak, he had not dared wander around. He had skulked about, ducking and hiding, then left as soon as he bought what he needed.

Someone might recognize him at any moment as that Ye Han everyone talked about.

Things were different now. Not only had his cultivation advanced considerably, but he had also grown much taller, making him look much like some of the younger disciples.

At any rate, he no longer looked like a little brat.

Although many disciples found Ye Han unfamiliar and looked him over curiously...

Several months had passed, after all. Back then, plenty of people had wanted to make a move on Ye Han.

But Ye Han had stayed behind closed doors, so no one really knew what he looked like.

Besides, his features had changed somewhat as he grew taller. Anyone who did not know him very well would never recognize him.

Moreover, Ye Han was at the fourth layer of mid Qi Refining, nothing like the rumors of his extremely low cultivation.

There were also plenty of inner sect disciples at mid Qi Refining who had either connections or extraordinary talent.

Although Ye Han's cultivation was not high as he walked through the sect, he was not someone everyone could bully. Quite a few disciples were at the same level as him.

Ye Han had come out mainly to get something to eat. Since he had no spirit stones on him, he could only buy food with silver.

It was worth mentioning that the gold and silver used in the mortal world could buy things here too, though only everyday necessities, food, and the like.

Gold and silver could even be exchanged for spirit stones, but the exchange rate was staggering.

A single Low-Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for a thousand taels of silver or ten taels of gold...

A thousand taels of silver was already an astronomical sum in the mortal world, let alone gold.

Fortunately, of the two spirit stones Ye Han had tricked out of Jin Feng last time, he had exchanged one for silver. He had used that silver to buy several months' worth of food and still had five or six hundred taels left.

Now he carried the banknotes tucked inside his robe, ready to exchange them for food. Filling his stomach came first...

At the center of Seven Mysteries Peak stood a row of buildings. These housed workshops trading in various treasures, such as the Pill Workshop, Treasure Workshop, Magic Artifact Workshop, Mission Workshop, Spirit Herb Workshop, and so on...

Some cultivators had also set up stalls, displaying all sorts of strange things: spirit medicines resembling tree roots, glowing stones, and chunks of unusual metals.

There were also all kinds of tattered books, jade slips, treasures, magic artifacts, and more...

In any case, Ye Han recognized almost none of them. Even if he had, it would have been useless, since he did not have a single coin to spend on them.

Still, he looked around curiously. Although he could not afford anything, there was no harm in looking. If he encountered these things in the future and failed to recognize them, wouldn't he lose out terribly?

Strangely enough, compared with what he remembered of his last visit to Seven Mysteries Peak, there were far more cultivator disciples here now, both wandering around and running stalls...

He listened closely and heard quite a few cultivator disciples talking. Apparently, a selection contest for Foundation Establishment Pills would be held soon.

Ye Han did not quite understand the details. The gist was that the seven great peaks would hold a joint trial, and the top few performers would each receive a Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward.

Those competing for the Foundation Establishment Pills were all Qi Refining Realm disciples at the eleventh layer or the fully perfected twelfth layer...

In theory, these disciples could all attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. But without Foundation Establishment Pills, they were stuck at this crucial juncture, unable to break through the barrier between realms and become Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

The difference between Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and Qi Refining Realm cultivators was like heaven and earth.

Leaving everything else aside, their lifespans alone doubled. An ordinary cultivator at the peak Qi Refining Realm could live for more than two hundred years.

Even the weakest Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could live for four or five hundred years.

A person could actually live for two hundred, even five hundred years. That was the difference between cultivators and mortals. In Green Ox Village, an elder of seventy or eighty was already the oldest person in the village.

That was the oldest person Ye Han had ever heard of, too.

Now that he knew a person could live for two hundred or five hundred years, it was no wonder ordinary people yearned so deeply to become cultivators.

Of course, Foundation Establishment Pills were not easy to obtain. In his own case, he had only received one after bringing the Azure Mystic Token to the Azure Profound Sect, and even that pill had set two Golden Core Stage elders fighting over it.

According to them, one wanted to give the Foundation Establishment Pill to his disciple, while the other wanted to give it to his grandson.

Clearly, even high-level cultivators could not obtain Foundation Establishment Pills easily.

As for how long Golden Core Stage cultivators could live, their lifespans probably doubled again-at least a thousand years.

Didn't that make them thousand-year tortoises and ten-thousand-year turtles?

But Ye Han was still young, so lifespan was not something he paid much attention to...

Still, he knew that even emperors in the mortal world devoted themselves to seeking eternal life, let alone other people with power and influence.

He had only heard snatches of conversation and had no idea what this so-called trial actually involved. He did not ask about it either, since it was still far beyond his reach.

All he knew was that it took place once every five years. It would be at least five years before he could participate.

Given his current cultivation, however, he might not reach the peak Qi Refining Realm even in five years. He did not yet know whether he would need a Foundation Establishment Pill then.

Foundation Establishment Pills were indeed the best pills for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, but taking one did not guarantee success. There was a considerable chance of failure.

Moreover, it was not as though advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm was impossible without one. He had heard that some cultivators could break through on their own through fortuitous encounters, special natural treasures, cultivation techniques, or even sheer talent.

After all, the cultivation world was truly wondrous, filled with all manner of resources and extraordinary things...

As Ye Han wandered aimlessly around Seven Mysteries Peak, looking here and there, everything belonging to cultivators aroused his curiosity.

Someone was indeed watching him intently.

Ye Han did not notice at first. But as time passed and those brazen gazes kept looking him over, his keen senses eventually picked up on their presence.

He pretended to keep wandering around and casually glanced toward the people watching him.

When he saw their figures, his eyes tightened slightly and his pupils widened. An ominous feeling stirred in his heart.

Oh no! Why is it those three? Had they recognized me?