Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

Time flies, and ten days later...

Since Lu Zaian rejected Zixiao Temple and Demon Spear Sect, no force has been able to bother him anymore.

Lu Zaian's secluded cultivation life in the desolate city has officially entered the right track.

Outer City West District 1.

At a street corner with good pedestrian traffic, a new store grandly opened.

It is named "Youjian Dange".

On the opening day of Youjian Dange, Lu Zai'an personally went to the site to cut the ribbon.

The aura of the Foundation Establishment cultivator caused a stir among the surrounding Qi Refining cultivators.

At the same time, they also learned that behind this Dan Pavilion was a Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge.

Currently, Dan Pavilion only has two floors.

The first floor sells first-grade low-grade and mid-grade pills.

The second floor sells first-grade high-quality pills.

All of them were refined by Lu Zaian in his spare time.

The task of purchasing spiritual materials and selling elixirs was entirely entrusted to Xu Yan'er.

Lu Zai'an appointed Xu Yan'er as the manager because he absolutely trusted her.

With a soul-binding restriction in place, how can one not trust it?

They also hired two female cultivators at the Qi Refining stage to help out at the shop.

In this way, Lu Zaian can confidently become a hands-off manager.

In the first month, the net profit was 1,500 low-grade spirit stones.

Of course, the more regular customers you have, the better the business will become...

However, Lu Zaian would sometimes go into seclusion to cultivate for ten days or half a month.

If he were the only one refining pills, it would affect the shop's operations, potentially leading to a situation where there are no pills to sell.

In response, Lu Zaian instructed Xu Yan'er to recruit some mid-to-low-grade alchemists in the Qi Refining stage.

After being personally assessed by Lu Zaian, they will be able to leverage the reputation of Youjian Dange and Lu Zaian to sell pills.

This method is much more profitable than selling the pills themselves.

It's a win-win situation for both sides.

Lu Zaian only needed to sit and collect spirit stones...

Cultivation takes no time.

Before we knew it, half a year had passed since Youjian Dange opened...

This day.

Spring and Autumn Pavilion, Lakeside Pavilion.

Lu Zaian stopped meditating and slowly opened his eyes, muttering to himself.

"With this month's income, I have more than enough to buy a second-tier cultivation technique."

For the past six months, I've been cultivating the "Azure Wave Water Source Inscription," but my magical power hasn't increased by a single drop. I simply can't stand it anymore.

That's how it is for independent cultivators; if their cultivation methods can't keep up, they have to change them.

You can only acquire anything through your own efforts.

Lu Zaian had previously spent a large amount of spirit stones renting out cave dwellings and shops.

The spiritual items in the storage bag were all too precious to be shown off.

This has made it so that Lu Zaian has to save up spirit stones before he can change his cultivation technique...

"When I went to Miaofaxuan last time, I saw that most of the techniques were second-tier, low-grade."

There are very few water-based cultivation techniques suitable for me to practice...

This is normal, since Foundation Establishment cultivators are very rare in the Northern Sky Domain.

Second-tier cultivation techniques are already enough to be heirlooms for some cultivation families…

Lu Zaian pinched his chin, stroking his white stubble, pondering where to obtain the cultivation technique.

"I've got it... the Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild!"

Although the next auction is still seven or eight years away.

But the Hundred Flowers Chamber of Commerce is, after all, a large chamber of commerce that can do business across two regions.

There should still be some good stuff.

Lu Zaian suddenly thought of something.

The large chambers of commerce that have settled in Huangze City must be quite powerful.

Unlike the local forces in the northern airspace.

Chambers of commerce like Haitian and Baihua...

Their real headquarters are located in Maple Leaf Domain.

It can be considered a truly powerful force in the region.

Even if it's just a branch in the Wasteland City.

What they can offer should be better than what the Northern Airspace forces are hiding.

Once Lu Zaian made up his mind, he immediately headed to the shops operated by the Baihua Chamber of Commerce.

Since it's called a chamber of commerce, the things it sells are naturally a mixed bag.

However, Lu Zaian was, after all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, which still attracted the attention of the Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild.

After Lu Zaian explained his purpose.

A curvaceous maid immediately led him to the area where martial arts techniques were sold.

"Please take a moment to observe, Master. This servant cannot explain the second-tier cultivation method clearly."

A fairy will soon come to personally receive you, Shangxiu.

The maid brewed a pot of tea for Lu Zaian and then stood quietly to the side, waiting.

Lu Zaian nodded, not in a hurry, and while sipping his tea, he scanned the cultivation technique jade slips with his divine sense.

The cultivation techniques on the jade slips all contain restrictions placed by powerful members of the Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild.

Outsiders can only see the name and the general outline.

"The Green Vine Wood Transformation Technique," "The Taiyin Profound Poison Force," "The Primordial Mountain-Shaking Palm," "The Four Symbols Heavenly Guidance Record"...

It even contained cultivation techniques and secret manuals of the second-tier low-grade and even second-tier mid-grade, as well as magical spells and supernatural abilities.

It seems the Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild truly has a deep foundation…

Just as Lu Zaian was scanning the cultivation technique, a fragrant breeze wafted in from outside the door.

Immediately, a charming and seductive voice rang out.

"Hey... what brings our newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivator from Wasteland City here today?"

The newcomer was dressed in a pale yellow palace gown, with a graceful figure, a voluptuous body, and a charming face. She was none other than the Bee and Flower Fairy, who had once hosted an auction.

Lu Zaian frowned slightly; why did this tone make it sound like he was visiting a brothel?

"Ahem... I've come to purchase a cultivation technique."

Does the Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild possess any suitable second-tier water-based cultivation techniques?

"Yes, of course!"

With a wave of her jade hand, the Bee Flower Fairy selected seven manuals from the jade slips containing cultivation techniques.

As the person in charge here, she was naturally very familiar with the location of all the cultivation technique jade slips.

The Bee Flower Fairy still had a pretty good impression of Lu Zaian.

She has an excellent memory and remembered that Lu Zaian had bid for the blood essence of a second-tier demon beast at an auction two and a half years ago.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Lu Zaian also became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Master Lu, please take a look. This is the 'Shattering Waves Technique,' a second-tier, low-grade technique."

When cultivated to its fullest potential, its magical power is unparalleled, capable of shattering waves hundreds of feet high and drawing in torrents of water.

This is the "Water Moon Sword Manual", a mid-grade second-tier manual.

Water can be used to condense swords, which can be arranged into sword formations. The Great Sword Manual can condense thousands of water swords to kill enemies of higher ranks.

There is also the "Boundless Ocean Sutra", a mid-grade second-level text.

This technique is rather strange; it originated from the Maple Blossom Domain.

The cultivation technique itself doesn't have any accompanying spells, yet it's claimed that the higher one's talent, the stronger it becomes, and the longer one cultivates it, the stronger it becomes.

Upon hearing what the Bee Fairy said, Lu Zaian raised an eyebrow, showing some interest in the "Boundless Ocean Sutra".

"Oh, fairy, could you please give me a detailed explanation of this cultivation technique?"

"Of course, the essence of this technique is to expand the capacity of a cultivator's dantian."

We all know that one hundred drops of liquid mana is a sign of the early stages of foundation building.

Two hundred drops is a sign of the middle stage of Foundation Building.

The "Boundless Ocean Sutra" can increase a cultivator's mana to over two hundred drops, yet he is still in the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Simply put, the higher your talent, the faster you absorb spiritual energy, and the more liquid mana you can condense compared to other cultivators of the same level.

Or, the longer you cultivate, the more liquid mana you will condense compared to others of the same level.

However... its drawbacks and shortcomings are also obvious.

That would increase the difficulty of breaking through to the Core Formation stage.

Those geniuses who truly have a chance to break through to the Core Formation stage advance rapidly, completely disregarding the small amount of liquid mana they condense.

Once they gathered five hundred drops of liquid mana and had the assistance of a Core Formation artifact, they directly formed their Core.

Or perhaps those cultivators who originally had a slight chance of forming their core rashly practiced this technique.

In the end, it turned out that 500 drops were not the limit for forming a core, so it would truly be impossible to form a core...