Cultivation: From Menial Worker to Immortal Venerable Section 41

He then tossed the communication talisman into the air, where it transformed into a streak of fire and flew away.

After receiving the reply, Hong San felt five parts disappointed and five parts regretful.

Why had he gotten carried away and offended Alchemist Zhou back then?

If he were given another chance, he would certainly be respectful and courteous.

But there was no turning back in life.

Zhou Xun paid little attention to Hong San's matter.

He opened the spirit rice bin, scooped out a large spoonful, sliced some monster beast meat, and ate a hearty meal.

Zhou Xun re-entered his quiet room to begin his daily cultivation.

Although he hadn't broken through in the past few months, the cultivation during this period was not in vain; it had smoothed out his bottleneck while also solidifying his foundation.

The spiritual energy was refined, transforming into Mystic Force and merging into his dantian.

At this moment, Zhou Xun felt his Mystic Force surge, as if it were on the verge of a breakthrough.

"It seems the breakthrough will happen in the next few days!" Zhou Xun had a very strong premonition.

The next morning, Zhou Xun requested leave from Lin Xueying:

"Young Lady, I felt my bottleneck loosen during my cultivation yesterday, so I request leave for a week to enter seclusion and attempt to break through to the fourth level of Qi Condensation!" Zhou Xun's words were firm and brooks no refusal.

"Then I congratulate Alchemist Zhou in advance!" The young lady naturally wouldn't intentionally hinder Zhou Xun on such an important matter as cultivation, and readily agreed.

Without Zhou Xun's assistance, the refining of the Fire Barrier Pill could not be neglected, so Lin Xueying found Wang Erniu.

Their cooperation, however, was a disaster.

Wang Erniu either processed the spiritual herbs too quickly or too slowly.

He just couldn't match Lin Xueying's rhythm.

This made Lin Xueying miss Zhou Xun's presence dearly.

"If only he were here!"

For this breakthrough seclusion, Zhou Xun did not plan to return to Green Willow Lane.

Firstly, although Green Willow Lane was protected by formations, they were of the lowest grade and not as safe as the Danbao Pavilion.

Secondly, the spiritual energy concentration in the courtyard of the Danbao Pavilion was much higher than that of Green Willow Lane, which was beneficial for his breakthrough.

Before entering seclusion, Zhou Xun first purchased two bottles of Qi Purification Pills at the internal price.

Qi Purification Pills were commonly used by cultivators in the middle stage of Qi Condensation for strengthening their foundation and nurturing their essence. They were highly beneficial for cultivators at the third level of Qi Condensation when entering seclusion for a breakthrough.

Afterward, he took a bath before entering his room to begin his breakthrough seclusion.

He took out the calming incense and lit it.

As he inhaled the sandalwood scent, Zhou Xun's mind quickly became tranquil.

He then took out a Qi Purification Pill and consumed it.

Once the pill entered his stomach, he immediately circulated the Essence Cultivation Art to refine it.

The medicinal power transformed into spiritual energy, flowing through his meridians and into his dantian to become Mystic Force.

As the refining progressed, Zhou Xun's Mystic Force surged with increasing intensity.

However, soon the medicinal power of one Qi Purification Pill was depleted, and Zhou Xun continued to take more.

One pill, two pills...

Three days later, the door that had been closed for three days opened again.

From within emerged a handsome young man in a blue robe, his Mystic Force aura contained.

It was Zhou Xun, who had just broken through to the fourth level of Qi Condensation.

This breakthrough had been extremely smooth.

On the first day of seclusion, after consuming five Qi Purification Pills consecutively, Zhou Xun broke through to the middle stage of Qi Condensation.

The following two days were spent consolidating his cultivation.

During this breakthrough, his Mystic Force had greatly increased, not just in quantity but also in quality.

Using his middle-stage Qi Condensation Mystic Force to cast the Fireball Technique, its power would be doubled.

However, Zhou Xun's biggest change was in his Divine Sense.

His Divine Sense range had now reached fifteen zhang.

This was comparable to cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Condensation.

Zhou Xun estimated that with a mid-grade magic artifact, he could now barely contend with cultivators at the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

He finally possessed a sliver of self-preservation ability.

He cast a cleansing spell, and the stuffiness from his three-day seclusion was completely refreshed.

He went to Yuexiang Restaurant, ordered a table of spiritual delicacies, and feasted heartily before returning to his home in Green Willow Lane.

He rested well for a day.

The next morning, Zhou Xun changed his attire and, in a deserted corner, put on the "Thousand Faces Mask."

In an instant, Zhou Xun transformed from a dashing young gentleman into a middle-aged martial artist.

Even if Lin Xueying saw him face-to-face, she wouldn't have recognized him as Zhou Xun.

He exited the market gates and headed west.

After traveling about five hundred li, he arrived at a deserted mountain valley and finally stopped.

Zhou Xun's purpose for this trip was to familiarize himself with flying magical artifacts.

The last time he used a flying talisman, Zhou Xun had been wobbly and nearly fallen off several times.

He patted the storage pouch at his waist, and with a flash of light, a small, azure, shuttle-shaped boat appeared in his hand.

Mid-grade flying magical artifact—Azure Light Shuttle.

Zhou Xun had already imprinted his Divine Sense onto the Azure Light Shuttle back at home.

He slowly infused Mystic Force into it, and the small boat instantly grew to about ten feet in size.

Zhou Xun lightly leaped onto it. With a thought using his Divine Sense, the Azure Light Shuttle immediately shot forward.

Zhou Xun stumbled.

It wobbled a few times before he stabilized himself.

The Azure Light Shuttle also flew crookedly, lacking any grace.

An hour later, the flying shuttle slowly landed, and Zhou Xun jumped off.

After putting away the shuttle, he took a Qi Recovery Pill and began to meditate and adjust his breathing.

During this time, Zhou Xun's Mystic Force consumption had exceeded forty percent.

This meant that with his current Mystic Force, Zhou Xun could only maintain the Azure Light Shuttle's flight for two hours at full power.

However, those two hours were enough for Zhou Xun to travel thousands of li.

This was much faster than traveling on land.

After adjusting his breathing, Zhou Xun took out the Azure Light Shuttle again and began practicing.

He practiced for a full four days and finally mastered the flying magical artifact. Only then did he return to his home in Red Leaf Square.

Red Leaf Square, Wu Family stronghold.

After nearly two months of negotiations and discussions.

The Sun and Li families finally agreed to jointly attack the Lin family.

However, their conditions had changed slightly.

In addition to what they were to obtain from the Danbao Pavilion, the Sun family also demanded forty percent of the Fire Essence Stone mine and half of the Lin family's medicinal fields.

Furthermore, all the various treasures and cultivation resources captured after breaking through the Lin family would be divided into three portions. The Sun family would receive one portion, and the other two families would each receive one.

As for the Li family, due to their weaker strength and minimal contribution, they would receive two percent of the Fire Essence Stone mine and half of the Spirit Fields, in addition to the originally agreed-upon Longevity Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills.

The remaining Spirit Fields, medicinal fields, shops, cave dwellings, Spirit Mine shares, and so on, would all belong to the initiator, the Wu family.

Of course, the three families would each copy one set of all the captured classics, cultivation methods, and cultivation techniques.

With the distribution plan finalized, the next step was the attack plan.

They decided to divide their forces into three routes. The first route, with the strongest forces, would be handled by the Wu family to attack the Lin family stronghold.

The second route, with slightly weaker forces, would be handled by the Sun family to attack the Fire Essence Stone Spirit Mine.

The last route would be composed entirely of Li family cultivators and would attack the Danbao Pavilion.

All three families committed their forces, including direct descendants, collateral relatives, dependents, and son-in-laws. Except for a small portion of the very young or those with excessively low cultivation, all others were mobilized.