As soon as Lin He returned to his residence after arriving back at the sect, a graceful figure threw herself into his arms. It was Senior Sister Chen!
"You rascal! You made me worry for days, and now you finally deigned to come back."
Lin He patted her back and smiled. "Didn't I tell you? There's no need to worry about me. You're always afraid the sky will fall."
"With all those terrifying stories about the Forbidden Land Trial, how could I not worry? Besides, twenty-five people from our Yellow Maple Valley went this time, and more than ten disciples never came back. They stayed there forever."
"All right, I'm back now, so let's not spoil the mood with that. Next, I'll be going into seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment, but before that, I need your help with something."
Lin He finally brought up his real business, but Senior Sister Chen's hands kept wandering as she teased him.
"What do you need?"
"During the Forbidden Land Trial, I killed some disciples from other sects and acquired some magical artifacts. I want to sell them quickly and exchange them for medium-grade spirit stones."
As he spoke, Lin He handed her several Storage Bags, each packed with high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade magical artifacts. After examining them, Senior Sister Chen looked incredulous and hurriedly asked,
"Junior Brother, how many disciples from other sects did you kill to get so many magical artifacts?"
"You're wronging me there. The Forbidden Land Trial was so dangerous that plenty of people went in planning to kill others and seize their treasures. I was just lucky enough to reap the benefits after two groups battered each other into ruin."
Only after this explanation did Senior Sister Chen find it believable. After all, merely surviving the trial was no easy feat for a cultivator at the eleventh layer of Qi Refining, let alone killing so many disciples from other sects.
"This has to be handled discreetly. Don't attract the attention of anyone with ulterior motives. It's best to sell them in batches. Selling too many at once would easily arouse suspicion."
Senior Sister Chen considered it and said, "You've certainly come to the right person. Our Chen Family is perfectly capable of helping you sell these things. But my father is in charge of the family now. If I were in charge, you wouldn't have to pay anything, but as things stand... you'll need to pay a twenty-percent handling fee."
Senior Sister Chen looked at Lin He anxiously, afraid he would blame her. To her surprise, he did not bargain in the slightest.
"I'm already satisfied that you can sell this batch of items. The handling fee isn't a problem, but everything must be exchanged for medium-grade spirit stones. That's my only requirement."
"No problem." Senior Sister Chen was delighted by his response and hurriedly added, "See? Your senior sister isn't just a pretty vase with no abilities. I can help you too. Now, how are you going to thank me?"
"It seems you won't let me go easily unless I give you a little something today, Senior Sister."
Senior Sister Chen let out a startled cry, then realized he had scooped her up in his arms.
Three days later, in an Earthfire Chamber at Yuelu Hall.
With a wave of his hand, Lin He took a large quantity of spirit medicine out of his personal space. There were six or seven varieties of millennium spirit medicine alone, along with dozens of plants aged four or five hundred years.
Lin He then took out the two Pill Recipes he had copied from Martial Uncle Xu at Yuelu Hall: the recipes for the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Youth-Preserving Pill. After comparing their requirements earlier, he had discovered that he had actually gathered all the ingredients for both pills, which was why he had come to this Earthfire Chamber.
"Although I already have two Foundation Establishment Pills, there's no harm in preparing a few more. Even if I have extras, I can keep them for later. As for Youth-Preserving Pills, I definitely need those too. If I ever run short of spirit stones, I can sell them to female cultivators for a high price. The only thing to worry about is my skill in pill refinement."
Thus, Lin He did not rush to refine pills with these precious spirit medicines. Instead, he took out some low-level ingredients and low-level Pill Recipes he had purchased beforehand and began improving his pill-refining skills. For this purpose, he had even bought a Silver-Thread Cauldron from Martial Uncle Xu.
Time flowed like water, and three months passed in the blink of an eye. Looking at the eight Foundation Establishment Pills and eight Youth-Preserving Pills brimming with spiritual energy before him, Lin He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At first, his proficiency had been lacking, and he had failed several times in succession. Fortunately, as his experience accumulated, his chances of success rose rapidly, and he finally succeeded in refining a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills.
There was naturally no need to work through the medicinal power of a Youth-Preserving Pill, so Lin He simply swallowed one.
"Now I can take a Foundation Establishment Pill!"
Once he swallowed a Foundation Establishment Pill, a warm current appeared, just as expected, and began surging through the meridians in his body. The process of remolding his meridians and cleansing his marrow was excruciating. Half a month later, Lin He finally managed to endure it, but layers of gray matter had crusted over his body, giving off a foul, rank stench.
"So these are the so-called impurities."
After removing the impurities, he indeed felt much lighter. Absorbing this portion of the pill's medicinal power had also brought his cultivation to the thirteenth layer.
He believed that fully absorbing the remaining medicinal power would easily bring him to the peak of the thirteenth layer, but Lin He could not be bothered to wait. After all, he still had nine Foundation Establishment Pills, so he immediately swallowed another.
After taking this pill, he reached the peak of the thirteenth layer in just a few days. Without further hesitation, Lin He seized the opportunity to begin Foundation Establishment.
Time flowed like water, and another three months passed in the blink of an eye. The doors of the Earthfire Chamber remained tightly shut. The Ugly Man guarding it grew somewhat anxious, afraid Lin He had died inside. After all, such things had happened before.
That day, the Ugly Man was hesitating over whether to report the matter. It was not that he cared whether Lin He lived or died; he was afraid the steward above him would hold him responsible.
Just then, the doors of the Earthfire Chamber finally opened. The Ugly Man jumped in fright, then saw a handsome young man in yellow walking toward him. It was Lin He.
"Junior Brother, you've finally come out! I was about to call someone."
Lin He smiled faintly. "Thank you for your trouble, Martial Nephew. I originally only intended to refine some magical artifacts, but suddenly felt this was quite a good place, so I took a Foundation Establishment Pill. By a stroke of luck, I somehow succeeded in Foundation Establishment just like that."
"Foundation Establishment?" The Ugly Man looked incredulous and hurriedly examined him with the Heavenly Eye Technique. Lin He made no attempt to conceal anything, openly displaying his cultivation. The sight frightened the other man into hastily saying with great respect,
"Junior Brother... no, Martial Uncle, congratulations on succeeding in Foundation Establishment!"
The Ugly Man had always treated Lin He coldly before, but now that he saw Lin He had reached Foundation Establishment, his attitude immediately took a complete turn, becoming exceptionally respectful.
Now that he had reached Foundation Establishment, however, Lin He naturally would not hold it against him. He merely waved a hand, then departed aboard the Flying Spirit Boat.
After returning to his residence and gathering his belongings, Lin He prepared to visit Sect Leader Zhong to collect his sect rewards, choose a cave residence, and attend to the other arrangements.
Just as he was about to leave, a graceful figure walked in. At this point,
Senior Sister Chen had actually reached early Foundation Establishment, but she did not seem happy. Instead, she looked rather dejected. As soon as she saw Lin He, she threw herself into his arms.
"Junior Brother, congratulations on reaching Foundation Establishment!"
"What's wrong? From the look of you, something must have happened."
At his question, Senior Sister Chen grew despondent. "My eldest brother failed at Foundation Establishment. The family is preparing to have him handle its affairs. He's always treated me very well, and he did his utmost to help with the task you entrusted to me. I never thought his path of immortal cultivation would end here."
"Really? I don't think so." Seeing Senior Sister Chen's puzzled expression, Lin He took out a Blue Pill brimming with spiritual energy, making her gaze freeze.