Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 317 The fourth floor of foundation building
The sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in the sky.

In the dim alchemy room in the market town of Xijiang County, Ji Yue stood in front of the fiery red alchemy cauldron with great concentration, his burning eyes watching the changes inside through the lens on the cauldron. His spiritual power adjusted the size of the flame, and his spiritual consciousness guided the fusion of the main medicine in the cauldron.

Song Xian sat upright behind him, not daring to breathe, for fear of disturbing him.

There are two main reasons why this pill has to be refined in the alchemy room in Xijiang County Market. First, the fire veins here are of high quality and can meet the requirements for refining the Yellow Dragon Pill. The fire veins in general markets are not of sufficient quality. For example, the alchemy halls in Bianxi City Market and Humen City Market only have second-grade medium-quality fire veins, while the Xijiang County Market has fire veins of third-grade low quality.

Secondly, the market town in Xijiang County is relatively safe, so there is no need to worry about gangs robbing each other.

Originally, Ji Yue proposed to use the Mingyue Sect's alchemy room, which also had a third-grade low-grade fire vein. He had a very good relationship with the Mingyue Sect, and this time he returned to Humen City at the invitation of the Mingyue Sect's leader to attend his son's wedding banquet.

But Song Xian was worried about complications, so he insisted on going to the market in Xijiang County to refine it. After all, he and Ji Yue were just casual acquaintances, and although the other party had a good reputation, it was inevitable that he had to be on guard against him.

The Yellow Dragon Pill is not an ordinary pill. It is of great significance to cultivators in the early stage of foundation building. To some extent, it is more precious than the second-level Soul-Replenishing Pill, especially for cultivators who have encountered a bottleneck in the third level of foundation building. It represents the hope of cultivation and may make people snatch it at all costs.

If the Mingyue Sect also happens to have a cultivator who has reached a bottleneck in the early stage of foundation building, and knows the news, there is no guarantee that he will not try to snatch it away. Moreover, it is on someone else's territory, so wouldn't that be like a sheep walking into the tiger's mouth?

Therefore, Song Xian insisted on going to the market in Xijiang County to refine it. For this, he even paid another 10,000 spirit stones as compensation for the hard work.

Of course, he also had to watch the entire process of refining the pill to prevent the other party from tampering with it and stealing the pill.

At this time, nearly a day had passed since he started refining the pill, and even some tiny beads of sweat appeared on Ji Yue's forehead, which showed that he had consumed a lot of spiritual energy, and his expression became more and more serious.

Song Xian was even more nervous and kept praying in his heart. Finally, after another half an hour, Ji Yue shouted softly and slapped his palm on the alchemy cauldron. With a dull sound, a bright yellow pill spit out from the dragon's mouth under the cauldron and fell into the corresponding box.

This pill is about half the size of an egg, much larger than ordinary pills. It is orange-yellow in appearance and round all over. After the pill flows out of the cauldron, a fresh fragrance immediately bursts out.

Song Xian immediately rushed to the alchemy furnace, full of joy, and carefully picked up the white and smooth pill. This was the Yellow Dragon Pill. Although he did not know the recipe of the pill, he had done some research and knew what the Yellow Dragon Pill looked like.

"Fellow Daoist Song, I'm glad to have fulfilled my mission. I have finally succeeded in refining the Yellow Dragon Pill." Ji Yue wiped the sweat from his forehead with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ji. You have worked so hard. I will always remember this kindness."

"I don't deserve your kindness. It's just a favor. Besides, you have already paid me spirit stones. I should be loyal to those who trust me. This is the way I conduct myself in the world."

Song Xian finally reacted and immediately took out the prepared cloth bag of spirit stones from his storage bag and handed it to him: "Daoyou, your skills are outstanding. I admire you. Here are 40,000 spirit stones. Please take a look."

Ji Yue took the bag with a smile, glanced at it and put it in his pocket: "I hope this Yellow Dragon Pill can help fellow Daoist break through the bottleneck."

"Then I'll take advantage of Brother Ji Dao's good words."

The pill was successfully refined and both of them were in a good mood. Ji Yue was tired after a day of work, so he went to the inn to rest after chatting for a while.

At night, Song Xian invited him to a banquet again and bought a lot of second-level spirit wine in the market as a gift to show his appreciation. He did not hide his intention to win over such a skilled alchemist. At least he could build a friendship with him. If he needed alchemy in the future, he could continue to ask for help.

The next day, Ji Yue left the market town, but Song Xian did not return to Bianxi City. Since he had already arrived in Xijiang County, he must visit the disciples who had joined the Beast Taming Sect.

.........

Niutouling is located in the southwest of Xijiang County. It is named after its shape which resembles an ox's head. It was originally a second-grade medium-grade spiritual vein under the name of the Beast Taming Sect. Due to the war, it was deployed as the camp of the Beast Taming Sect and many monks were stationed here to guard it. Now the entire sky above Niutouling is covered by red clouds and surrounded by red smoke. It is obvious that it is a powerful formation.

Before Song Xian approached the formation, he was discovered by the monks guarding the outer perimeter. After confirming that he was heading towards Niutou Ridge, the guard's secret sentry immediately launched a firework. A huge firework shape rose in the air. The next moment, layers of red clouds began to surge above Niutou Ridge.

Seeing this, Song Xian was slightly shocked. It seemed that the guard team here regarded him as an invading enemy. This was too cautious. After all, he was alone.

It seems that the wars in the past two years have frightened both sides and made them see enemies everywhere.

But this is understandable. War is a matter of life and death. One careless move could lead to the annihilation of the entire army. Although he is alone on the surface, the sentries and guards in the dark cannot be sure whether there are other hidden monks following him. It is always right to be cautious.

Seeing that he had aroused the other party's vigilance, Song Xian did not continue to approach Niutouling, but stopped and waited for the defenders inside to send someone to make contact. If he approached without caring, it would be bad if he was really mistaken for an invading enemy.

Sure enough, not long after, a figure was seen rushing out from the inside of the formation on a flying magic weapon. The person was a cultivator in the late Qi Refining stage of the Beast Taming Sect, and he was standing opposite him at a distance of a hundred feet.

"This is our sect's key defense area. No outsiders are allowed to approach. Who are you, senior? What are you doing here?" The man looked alert and shouted loudly.

"I am Song Xian, the headmaster of the Hunyuan Sect in Bianxia City. My disciples serve your sect and are stationed in Niutou Ridge. I am here to visit them. Please inform your captain of the group."

"Senior Song, this is a strategically located area guarded by the coalition forces. Outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering. Since you are not a monk from the coalition forces, you are not allowed to enter. Please forgive me. If you have anything to convey, please let me know and I will inform them."

"Since your department has discipline, I won't go in. Could you please ask Lin Zixiang, who is stationed here, to come out for a while?"

"I'm truly sorry, Senior. Our cultivators are not allowed to leave the formation without special circumstances. I'll inform Fellow Daoist Lin of your arrival. If you have anything to say, please say it right here! I'll convey it to you."

"In that case, then that's all. Please tell the disciples of this sect that Song has been here."

Seeing this, Song Xian no longer insisted on meeting. He just came to visit and comfort everyone. There was nothing special or important. The other party was guarded so strictly that he couldn't see anyone. There was no point in saying those empty words, so he left here in a flash.

.........

Inside the secret room of Tianshan Mountain in Bianxi City, Song Xian sat cross-legged. He flipped his hand and took out the Yellow Dragon Pill. A look of determination flashed through his eyes. He took a few deep breaths to regulate his breathing, and once his mind had calmed, he swallowed the pill in one gulp. Although the Yellow Dragon Pill was specifically designed to break through the bottleneck of foundation building, it wasn't a 100% guarantee of success; it only offered a certain chance.

When the pill went down his throat and intestines into his stomach, Song Xian immediately felt a hot breath bursting out in his body. His body immediately became hot, as if he was in a furnace. Then the breath wandered along the eight extraordinary meridians in his body.

Song Xian was already feeling a little uneasy. It felt like ants were crawling around in his body, making him extremely uncomfortable.

The hot air kept rampaging in the body, as if it wanted to destroy all the bones and meridians. It was unknown how long it wandered before it gradually calmed down and became regular. The heat also slowly cooled down, and then became colder and colder, turning from molten lava into ice, making people feel like they were in an ice cellar.

The breath in the body kept changing between hot and cold, over and over again, day after day. After a whole day, the alternating hot and cold breath finally disappeared and turned into a warm current that rushed straight to the Linghai acupoint.

This feeling is hard to describe, just like the sludge in a blocked pipe has been cleared. There is no need to go to the practice room to verify it, Song Xian already knows that the bottleneck of his practice has disappeared.

He suddenly opened his eyes and felt indescribably refreshed. He even couldn't help but let out a clear whistle.

Half a month later, his cultivation level broke through to the middle stage of foundation building as expected. Before that, the spiritual power in his body was stuck at 1149 points. After breaking through the bottleneck, after half a month of cultivation, his spiritual power naturally reached 1150 points, reaching the fourth level of foundation building.

.........

Time passed quickly, and several months passed. Life in Tianshan was still as peaceful as water. On this day, Song Xian returned to his mansion after finishing a day of practice as usual. His disciples came to report that Zhong Wenyuan wanted to see him.

The two met in the waiting room.

"Master, Junior Brother Lin has sent a message. His cultivation has now reached the great perfection. He hopes that you can communicate with the Beast Taming Sect and borrow their spiritual veins to build the foundation. He sent this through our disciples in Xijiang County, and his words are quite sincere." After Zhong Wenyuan saluted, he flipped his hand and handed him a letter.

Song Xian took it, unfolded it and took a look. The content was exactly the same as what he said. In the letter, Lin Zixiang repeatedly mentioned that he had cultivated to the great perfection of Qi Refining and urgently needed a place with spiritual veins to build his foundation. He also said that if he did not seize this opportunity, he would probably die on the battlefield when the next war broke out.

The words in the letter were very humble, almost begging Song Xian to go to the Beast Taming Sect to negotiate. It can be seen how strong his desire was to go to the Beast Taming Sect to build his foundation.

When George Lam set out for Xijiang County, he had already reached the tenth level of Qi training and was almost at the point of great perfection.

During the years of war, he used all means to practice hard. Although he was in a state of war, the fighting time was very rare. There were only one or two battles a year at most, and he usually stayed in the camp.

After the Anyuan City independence incident, the Beastmaster Sect realized that the recruited monks must be given corresponding treatment. Not only did they pay the spirit stone salaries and rewards on time, but in order to win over the recruited monks and reduce the number of deserters, the Beastmaster Sect also gave the recruited monks some training rooms.

For example, Niutouling, where George Lam was stationed before, was a second-grade medium-quality spiritual vein with many training rooms, some of which were allocated for use by recruited monks.

As a result, George Lam was able to practice there. Of course, the practice room was used in turns. When there was no practice room, he would absorb spiritual power through spirit stones to practice. After several years, he finally reached the state of great perfection in Qi Refining.

"Okay, in a few days, I will go find Jiang Feng and try to get the Beastmaster Sect to approve him to build his foundation." Song Xian was more than happy to have another foundation-building cultivator in the sect, so naturally he agreed.

The two discussed for a while and decided on a plan on how to get the Beastmaster Sect to agree to allow Lin Zixiang to build his foundation at their mountain gate.

The next day, he left Tianshan and headed to Bianxi City.

.........

In the brightly lit hall of Qiyuan Mountain, seeing Jiang Feng coming in, Song Xian stood up and bowed, "Greetings, Chief Jiang."

Jiang Feng looked him up and down, then said calmly, "It seems the rumors are true. You have indeed broken through to the middle stage of foundation building."

Bianxi City is not big, but not small either. Song Xian is also a well-known figure. Although he has not met with outsiders in the past few months, the news of his breakthrough to the fourth level of foundation building has already spread throughout Bianxi City.

"It's all thanks to you and your clan. Without your care, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Forget the polite words! What brings you here today?"

Jiang Feng walked straight to the main seat and sat down with an expressionless face. Song Xian's breakthrough to the middle stage of foundation building was at least not bad news for him, because the Hunyuan Sect was promoted by him, and so far it was still loyal and showed no signs of rebellion. It could be regarded as an important external aid for him in Bianxi City.

In the current chaotic situation, the improvement of his strength will be beneficial for him to control Bianxi City.

"To be honest, I've come here to ask for a favor. I've mentioned to you before about our sect's Senior Brother Lin Zixiang's foundation-building efforts. I wonder if you still remember him? Yesterday, he sent another letter. He said that during the three years he's been helping your sect fight against the Yun Xuan Sect in Xijiang County, his cultivation has improved, and he's now reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. He hopes to borrow your sect's spiritual veins to build his foundation."

"Let's talk about it after the war is over. Now the war is at a stalemate and he is serving in the coalition forces. We can't let him leave the coalition forces and build his foundation alone, don't you think?" Jiang Feng felt a little annoyed when he heard this matter again, so he said perfunctorily.

Song Xian had already thought of his excuse: "Here's what I think. There are several advantages to having my disciple Lin Zixiang go to your sect's mountain gate to build his foundation. First, it can set an example for all the recruited monks who join your sect and increase their sense of identity with your sect."

"Secondly, it can demonstrate your sect's equal treatment of all contributing disciples."

"Third, if our disciple Lin Zixiang can successfully establish his foundation and then return to the coalition to fight for your sect, he can also increase the coalition's combat effectiveness. Although one foundation-building cultivator can't change much, he is still a considerable force for his troops."

"You only need to report this matter to the responsible person in your sect. Whether your sect agrees or not, our sect will be grateful."

"This is a document written by our sect. If you don't want to do it yourself, you can just submit this file. All you need to do is sign and stamp it."

After Song Xian finished speaking, he took out a file and handed it to him with both hands.

(End of this chapter)