Azure Mystic's Response, Changying Rises Again

Above the medicinal herb garden.

Zhou Ning laughed and said, "You're quite interesting."

Lin Qing was horrified, but his smile didn't falter; it even became obsequious. "During my time in the herb garden, I was repeatedly beaten and verbally abused by Su Baoqing, and I hate him to the core!"

"Thank you, Senior Zhou, for giving me the opportunity to personally slay this fiend!"

He sensed Zhou Ning's formidable skills from the moment Zhou Ning broke the formation, so he never offered any help to Su Baoqing.

Finally, seeing that he couldn't hold on any longer, he launched a surprise attack, offering himself as a pledge of allegiance to save his life.

Zhou Ning glanced at him. "Aren't you afraid the Su Household will hold you accountable?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qing looked dejected and said bitterly, "Senior Zhou has been with the Su Household for so many years, he should know the Su Household's ways, right? Su Baoqing is dead, I will definitely be severely punished."

Zhou Ning nodded and accepted the Storage Bag: "In that case, show me the spirit medicine here."

"This way, senior!" Lin Qing acted as the guide.

The Spirit Plant girls who had been busy in the herb garden had long since scattered.

Zhou Ning killed Su Baoqing with swift and decisive action, so the herb garden wasn't damaged much; only the wooden fence was somewhat broken.

The Spirit Plant girl trampled it when she fled.

A thin mist floated in the garden, and as soon as Zhou Ning stepped inside, he immediately smelled a sweet and bitter fragrance.

The stream flows along the ditch, and all kinds of plants and trees bloom in vibrant colors, emitting a soft, shimmering light.

"Senior Zhou, the most valuable thing is here, the True Essence Fruit Tree!" Lin Qing knew this very well and led Zhou Ning to a tree.

The trunk of this tree is different from the vigorous and ancient trunks of ordinary spiritual trees; instead, it is jade-colored and extremely exquisite in appearance.

There were seven or eight fruits on the tree, shaped like small mangoes, covered with a layer of white frost, and the flesh had a faint golden sheen, looking unripe.

Zhou Ning smelled the spiritual fragrance and nodded slightly. This fruit was the main ingredient for refining the True Essence Pill, a cultivation pill for the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He used his spiritual power to scoop it out, placed it in a large wooden box, wrapped it with Chen Earth, and sealed it tightly.

Lin Qing assumed it was just ordinary spiritual soil and didn't pay it any mind.

Zhou Ning then picked all the spiritual herbs, including Thick Earth Ganoderma, Ling Root, and Weak Vein Flower, filling his Storage Bag more than halfway.

Afterwards, Lin Qing first offered nine Spirit Stone to express his gratitude to Senior Zhou Ning for saving him from suffering.

Zhou Ning left satisfied.

The herb garden returned to its deathly silence. A cold wind blew by, and Lin Qing felt a chill run through him. Only then did he realize that his robes were soaked with sweat.

"Phew, I escaped with my life!"

Facing a hostile Foundation Establishment cultivator head-on is truly terrifying, even more chilling than an unarmed person encountering a tiger!

Lin Qing gazed into the distance and murmured, "He actually reached the Foundation Establishment— "

He seemed somewhat lost.

Moreover, Zhou Ning not only reached the Foundation Establishment, but his combat power was also incredibly strong. With just a few moves, he killed the arrogant Su Baoqing.

The wind blew again, carrying the smell of blood.

Lin Qing regained his senses, and he suddenly realized that Su Baoqing was the one who delivered the final blow.

"I killed Foundation Establishment?"

"This Foundation Establishment is nothing special, huh?" Lin Qing stomped on Su Baoqing a couple of times, enjoying himself for a while, before flying away in his flying boat.

One month later.

The news of Zhou Ning, who had just reached the Foundation Establishment, waging war against the Su Household, began to spread throughout the surrounding counties, thanks to the deliberate instigation of the Bai Household, Han Household, Chen Household, and Su Household.

On this day, in Lanling City, a city under the jurisdiction of Longxi Commandery, a secular tavern.

The two were having a small gathering. Xu Qinghou was thirty-seven years old and had a cultivation level of Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

He wore a blue robe, and his face looked much more weathered. Due to years of fishing and fleeing, he was not much different from ordinary people of the same age, and had become a middle-aged pedantic scholar.

Li Ji, however, still looked young. He grabbed a chicken leg from the table and started gnawing on it, his gaze greedily sweeping over the women on the street, his eyes gleaming with a special light.

Xu Qinghou glanced at him, sometimes envying his mindset; even in such a messy state of life, the other man still had the mind to think about matters between men and women.

They were initially summoned to South Qian Mountain to resist the Bai Household, but after less than a year of fighting, most of them had died.

Mo Tianci, who had taken away Qingqing, whom Li Ji secretly loved, died in front of Xu Qinghou, and Qingqing also died.

Xu Qinghou nearly died several times. They felt that this couldn't go on and they definitely wouldn't last three years. In the end, after discussing it, they simply ran away.

There were eight people in the group at the time. After several years of fleeing, three of them died and two others got separated.

Only he, Li Ji, Yuan Dahu remain.

Yuan Dahu seemed to be hiding a secret, insisting on coming to Longxi Commandery, even willing to cross the battlefield between the Lei Household and the Jade Countenance Sect.

But every time I ask him, he always acts all mysterious.

"Is it a secret?" Xu Qinghou didn't have much hope. He spent his days in the mortal world, without Spirit Vein, and could only cultivate by eating spiritual rice, making his life extremely difficult.

I wonder how Brother Zhou and the others are doing. I hope Yuan Dahu can gather some information this time.

Zhou Ning is Alchemist, but he is being targeted by the Su Household. Xu Qinghou estimates that he is in a similarly difficult situation.

It's a pity the routes were different at the time, otherwise he would have definitely called Zhou Ning to run together.

The Su Household is truly hateful. If Brother Zhou were in the Azure Mystic Sect—

The thought of the Azure Mystic Sect caused Xu Qinghou a pang of pain in his heart, the scene of being humiliated by that aloof woman that day still vivid in his mind.

He was proud and arrogant, and could not tolerate this kind of humiliation.

When Li Ji saw Xu Qinghou clutching his chest, he asked with concern, "Scholar Xu, are you injured?"

Xu Qinghou took a sip of wine. "It's nothing, just a little pain."

Li Ji said, "I have also thought about some painful memories."

Xu Qinghou asked, "Was it when you were pricked in the foot by a cultivator from the Bai Household on the battlefield?"

Li Ji shook his head, a look of recollection on his face. "I witnessed it with my own eyes that night when Qingqing walked into Tianci's room, and the pain I felt as I tore her away from my heart was excruciating!"

Xu Qinghou was speechless.

Just then, a man dressed in hemp clothing pushed open the door and entered, his face bearing a peculiar expression.

He closed the door behind him, stared straight at Xu Qinghou, and said, "Scholar, your Brother Zhou has struck it rich!"

Xu Qinghou asked in surprise, "Successful?"

Yuan Dahu tossed the Jade Slip slip aside. "Read it yourself!"

A few breaths later, Xu Qinghou's fingers trembled, his weathered face filled with indescribable shock. "Zhou Ning has reached Foundation Establishment? He's killed three Foundation Establishment from the Su Household?"

"Is this all made up?" The message he saw sounded like a joke!

How old is Brother Zhou? He's only two years older than him, right? Not even forty, and he's already at the Foundation Establishment!

Li Ji was equally stunned. "Alchemist Zhou Foundation Establishment?"

They were all fishermen on the lake back then, and he was still saving up for a bride price for a female cultivator, while Zhou Ning had already Foundation Establishment?

Wouldn't that mean he could marry any female Qi Refining stage? Li Ji longed for it.

Yuan Dahu took a sip of his drink and said, "How could the news from the Nine Nations Chamber of Commerce be false?"

Back then, when the True Person of Purple Palace Immortal City broke through to the Late Stage of Core Formation, none of the sects and Aristocratic Clan knew it and were still plotting to seize the Immortal City. Then the Nine Nations Chamber of Commerce released the news, and sure enough, a few days later, the True Person made a high-profile appearance, shocking all sides.

"This is wonderful!" Xu Qinghou's face lit up with excitement.

However, he sighed inwardly, thinking of the scene when a group of immortal seedlings went to the Azure Mystic Sect back then.

Jiang Xiaohua, Gu Xiangning, Young Master Luo, Tao Lengyue, and even that aloof woman, should have Foundation Establishment by now.

Xu Qinghou forced a smile, raised his wine cup, and exclaimed, "How delightful! Today we shall drink to our hearts' content!"

Yuan Dahu was a shrewd man, and he was able to see through Scholar Xu's unusual behavior.

He admired him in his heart; he was neither jealous nor resentful, and had endured so many hardships—this person was capable.

He thought of that secret realm, and then of his own cultivation level and age; the time had come!

Yuan Dahu tossed out a disc, shielding those around him, and said, "Brothers, if I were to say that I, Yuan, have a fortuitous opportunity to Foundation Establishment, would you believe me?"

Li Ji spoke up, "Hahaha, did you drink fake alcohol, brother?"

The bell rang at the Martial Arts Hall of the Azure Mystic Sect.

Dozens of disciples stood on the spacious stone platform, surrounded by spiritual Spiritual Qi, assuming the starting stance of secular martial arts.

The leader was a girl with an oval face. She held a long spear, her ponytail flying, and she looked heroic and dashing.

It was Guo Changying, a remnant of the Guo Household from back then, who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

A figure sat on a high platform, seemingly dozing, while ten feet in front of him, a solidified magical image made of pure Law Power rippled with spiritual energy with every move it made.

A resounding voice echoed from within the magical shadow, "Warfare is based on deception; the art of war lies in its ever-changing tactics and unexpected attacks."

The disciples below stared intently at the Dharma Shadow, for this was a lecture given by True Person Chang to his disciples only once a year.

At one moment, a cyan flying sword shot in from afar, accompanied by a series of sword cries.

Chang Zhaoyang suddenly opened his eyes. "Huh, Linghu wants to discuss something with me? Is it related to the sect's prestige?"

"Does it involve Su Yanghao, who works under me?"

"Let's go."

With that thought, his figure vanished instantly, while the magical figure in the sky transformed into a ball of golden light and soared into the heavens.