My Optimized Immortal Life

Zhong Ning felt that he had very good luck this year. First, he accidentally entered the cave of a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage and obtained a legacy. Later, with the help of the information in the legacy, he found a black stone vein, and then found a lot of black jade essence from it.

By selling black jade essence, he successfully accumulated resources for himself to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining. Now his cultivation has reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, and there is still a lot of black jade essence in the black stone vein. With the help of these remaining black jade essences, Zhong Ning felt that the perfection of Qi Refining was beckoning to him.

Driving a mid-grade black cloud magic weapon, Zhong Ning carried the cultivation elixir he had just purchased from Hualian Valley, and prepared to return to the cave he had opened up to continue his cultivation.

He didn't expect that there was an uninvited guest behind him.

Zhong Ning was also a cultivator who was born and raised in Pingxiang Prefecture, so he knew Pingxiang Prefecture very well. He could name all the mountains and rivers, big and small, and his cave was located in a narrow crack in the mountain.

Standing on the black cloud, Zhong Ning looked around and found no traces of others left behind, so he flew into the crack in the ground with confidence.

Although he had accumulated some spirit stones with the help of the black jade essence, they were all consumed on elixirs and magic weapons. Besides, formations were not something a casual cultivator like him could afford.

Therefore, he did not set up any formation at this crack in the ground, and could only rely on his experience of living in the mountains and rivers for many years to judge whether other people had entered this crack in the ground.

Fortunately, since he moved his cave to this place, he has never encountered any mortals or monks accidentally entering his cave.

However, what Zhong Ning didn't notice was that the moment he flew into the crack in the ground, a beam of light quietly landed in a forest only two or three hundred meters away from here.

In Chen Qing's eyes, spiritual light kept flowing. Ever since he mastered the secret art of qi-gazing with the help of his innate ability, he liked to use it to observe the surrounding environment.

Before advancing to the foundation-building stage and possessing spiritual awareness, Qi Refining cultivators do not have a good means of observing the external situation and most of the time can only rely on their own experience to make judgments.

The art of looking at qi solves this problem very well.

In Chen Qing's eyes, although the concentration of spirit stones in this crack was acceptable, there was no trace of any formation, which surprised him a little.

However, Chen Qing could be sure that there was only that casual cultivator in this crevice.

A cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining. To be honest, Chen Qing was not afraid of cultivators of this level ten years ago, and it is naturally even more so now.

But just in case, he still has to make some arrangements.

Coming to the crack in the ground, Chen Qing waved his hand and took out a dozen formation flags from the storage bag, placing them in various places in the crack. Then he took out a formation plate, put a few spirit stones into it, and made a few spells with his hands. The magic power in Chen Qing's body was immediately injected into the formation plate.

After a moment, a light curtain of formation that was invisible to the naked eye covered the crack in the ground. Then Chen Qing changed the spell in his hand, and the light curtain of formation suddenly fluctuated like water, turning into a rock wall exactly the same as the surrounding one, completely covering the original crack in the ground.

Chen Qing nodded. This way, no one would discover this place.

After eliminating future troubles, Chen Qing turned his head to look at the crack in the ground and slowly walked into it.

At this time, Zhong Ning was walking in a tunnel that was just big enough for one person to pass through. There was a torch fixed on the rock wall next to it, and the pale yellow light made the dark tunnel quite bright.

From the time he entered the crack to now, Zhong Ning has walked at least a hundred meters, but seeing how familiar he is, it seems that he has become accustomed to walking in this tunnel.

After turning a corner, the view in front of Zhong Ning suddenly opened up.

A cave that was more than ten square meters in size appeared in his eyes. There were several luminous stones inlaid on the top of the cave, so it was much brighter than the tunnel just now. There were many things arranged in the cave. Obviously, this was where Zhong Ning's cave was.

When Zhong Ning returned to this place, he felt relieved. For cultivators, especially independent cultivators, caves are the places that can give them the most sense of security, and Zhong Ning was no exception.

After finding a cushion to sit on, Zhong Ning took out the pills he had purchased today and counted them.

"Three bottles of Condensation Pills, two pills in each, for a total of six. I need to wait until I'm close to the ninth level to take them, so as to reduce some of the stubbornness of the ninth-level bottleneck. Ten bottles of Qi Refining Pills, three pills in each, for a total of thirty. These are the main pills I take during daily cultivation. However, the quantity is still a bit small. If I want to advance to the ninth level of Qi Refining, I will need at least dozens of Qi Refining Pills or more than ten Condensation Pills."

Zhong Ning estimated and then couldn't help but smack his lips. Pills are always the most scarce thing for cultivators. If he didn't have the mine, he would not be able to cultivate to the eighth level of Qi Refining so quickly.

Thinking of this, Zhong Ning turned his head to look at a corner of the cave, and saw that there was a cave entrance there. With the help of the light of the night pearl in the cave, he could barely see that the rock wall of the cave entrance was dark brown.

That is the foundation of his current level of cultivation: a vein of black stone.

Although he was alone and could not mine the entire Black Nether Stone vein, he could earn enough spirit stones just by selling the black jade essence in the core.

With this mineral vein in his possession, why should he worry about not being able to cultivate to perfection in Qi Refining?

No, that's not right. Not only have I achieved perfection in Qi Refining, I also have the inheritance of a casual Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator is not impossible.

If I can achieve the foundation...

Just as Zhong Ning was immersed in his fantasy, a low voice suddenly woke him up.

"Fellow Daoist, you chose a really good cave. There's even a vein of Black Nether Stone."

"who!"

Zhong Ning exclaimed, his face full of shock. He had clearly observed the entrance carefully when he came in, and there was no sign of any cultivator entering?

This person actually followed me!

Thoughts in his mind suddenly flashed like lightning, and Zhong Ning was filled with horror.

This cultivator actually dared to follow him, and he hadn't discovered it yet. His cultivation must be far superior to his. The only place in Hualian Valley where he could get close to independent cultivators with higher cultivation than him was the black market.

"Are you the black market monk who bought the Black Jade Essence from me?!"

Zhong Ning said in surprise.

"That's pretty clever, but it's useless. I've got my eye on this vein of Black Nether Stone. If you know what's good for you, get out of here."

The deep voice echoed in the cave and resounded in Zhong Ning. At the same time, a wave of oppressive magic power suddenly came from all directions.

Qi refining is complete!

Zhong Ning's face suddenly showed horror. He really couldn't imagine why a cultivator of this level would be thinking about him. Could it be because of a piece of black jade essence?

Zhong Ning is now in a desperate situation. He faces a cultivator who has reached the perfect stage of Qi Refining and is still in the dark. He knows nothing about him and the probability of winning in a head-on confrontation is less than 30%. What should he do?

He smiled bitterly and spoke.

"Since Senior has set his sights on this vein of Black Nether Stone, I will naturally offer it to you."

After saying that, Zhong Ning stood up and slowly walked to the entrance. The moment he was about to step into the tunnel, his magic power suddenly surged. He shot out several wind-controlling talismans and added them to himself. Then he rushed into the tunnel at a high speed like a sharp sword.

Obviously, he wanted to run away.

However, the next moment, a burst of fire suddenly broke out at the entrance of the tunnel, accompanied by a group of flying fire crows, which rushed into the cave. Among the group of fire crows, a human figure rushed out with great difficulty.

"Senior, I will not expose this mineral vein after I leave this time. Please let me go."

Zhong Ning, who had rushed out of the flock of fire crows, had most of his clothes burned off, and his limbs were covered with black burn marks.

He knelt on the ground and begged.

"It's not that I don't want to let you go, but in this world, only the dead can be trusted, so, fellow Taoist, you can go without worry."

The words fell.

A dazzling sword light suddenly filled Zhong Ning's eyes, making him scared to death. He didn't have time to take out the defensive magic weapon from the storage bag, and the sword light completely enveloped Zhong Ning.

After a moment, the sword light dissipated, and a figure suddenly fell down without a sound.