A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

"Phew, finally out!"

The moment Luo Ming stepped out of the forbidden area's exit, he let out a long sigh of relief, feeling his tense nerves suddenly relax, and the invisible pressure within the forbidden area completely disappear.

Although the spiritual energy there was rich and pure, it was always shrouded in an indescribable sense of confinement. Luo Ming secretly guessed that this might be the reason why no level-five demonic beasts had ever appeared in the forbidden area.

"Junior Nephew Luo, what are you standing there for? Quickly hand over the spiritual herbs!"

A slightly hurried voice came from beside him; it was the Foundation Establishment deacon leading the Spirit Beast Mountain team. Seeing Luo Ming standing there in a daze after coming out, he immediately called out to him.

Luo Ming snapped out of his daze and quickly walked towards the Spirit Beast Mountain group. His gaze swept over the Qi Refining stage cultivators in the group, and a thought struck him: including himself, there were only ten people left, which meant that more than half of the Spirit Beast Mountain's Qi Refining disciples had been lost in this trial.

"Brother Luo!"

In the group, Han Yunzhi spotted him immediately, her face lighting up with joy as she called out softly. Luo Ming smiled gently at her and nodded slightly in response. It seemed his presence hadn't changed the woman's fate in the trial, which relieved him slightly.

At this moment, the Foundation Establishment deacon who had greeted him earlier stepped forward, his gaze fixed intently on him: "Nephew Luo, you should know the sect's rules—all spiritual herbs related to the Foundation Establishment Pill must be taken out and not kept for yourself."

"Disciple understands." Luo Ming respectfully replied, and immediately took out his storage bag, taking out the spiritual herbs related to the Foundation Establishment Pill refining one by one, and neatly arranging them in front of the steward.

He was naturally aware of the sect's rules—to prevent disciples from secretly keeping Foundation Establishment Pills and other spiritual medicines, Spirit Beast Mountain had specially trained spirit monkeys that could accurately identify whether prohibited spiritual medicines were hidden in storage bags by the residual aura. Once it was discovered that someone had secretly kept such medicines, not only would they be stripped of all the rewards from this trial, but they would also be severely punished by the sect. No one dared to take that risk.

At first, the Foundation Establishment deacon was nonchalant, but as Luo Ming continued to take out one spiritual medicine after another that exuded spiritual energy, his eyes gradually changed, from casual to surprised, and finally full of shock, and his gaze towards Luo Ming became more inquisitive.

"This...so many!" The steward's voice trembled with surprise, then he looked at Luo Ming with interest, thinking, "Could this junior disciple have...ambushed and killed quite a few cultivators from other sects?"

In his view, it was impossible to obtain such a rich harvest by picking alone; only by intercepting and killing cultivators from other sects could such an income be obtained.

Little did the steward know that Luo Ming had not only targeted disciples from other sects, but had also quietly eliminated several fellow disciples with ulterior motives. These secrets naturally couldn't be revealed, so Luo Ming, seeing the steward's gaze, quickly chuckled and made up an excuse: "It was all by chance. Yesterday, I happened to witness two cultivators from other sects fighting to the death, ultimately perishing together. I just happened to get the freebies and obtained these spiritual herbs."

The Foundation Establishment Elder neither confirmed nor denied this statement. In his eyes, life and death within the forbidden area were determined by fate, and wealth was a matter of destiny. The fact that Luo Ming could obtain so many spiritual herbs showed that he was capable and ruthless. The lives of outer sect cultivators were none of his concern; if Spirit Beast Mountain could produce such a ruthless character, he would actually be happy to see it happen.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad!" The steward suppressed his surprise, his tone becoming much gentler, even carrying a hint of a smile. "These spiritual herbs are enough to exchange for three Foundation Establishment Pills, and they've already been registered for you. Once this batch of pills is refined, they'll be sent directly to your cave dwelling. If nothing unexpected happens, it won't be long before I have to call you 'Junior Brother'."

Previously, Luo Ming was just an insignificant Qi Refining cultivator, naturally not worthy of his attention; but now Luo Ming possesses three Foundation Establishment Pills, the probability of him advancing to Foundation Establishment is not small, and he will become a peer cultivator in the future. Moreover, he sees Luo Ming as having a deep mind and ruthless methods, definitely not someone to be underestimated, so he naturally wants to establish a good relationship with him in advance.

Before long, the leaders of each sect finished handling the handover of their disciples' spiritual herbs and led their teams away. Before leaving, Luo Ming subconsciously glanced in the direction of Yellow Maple Valley and saw that Old Demon Han was staring blankly in the direction of the Hidden Moon Sect's team, his expression complicated. Luo Ming found it amusing and withdrew his gaze.

After ten days of travel, Luo Ming and his companions finally returned to Spirit Beast Mountain.

The scenario he had feared along the way—that he would be favored by a Golden Core cultivator due to the abundance of spiritual herbs and forcibly taken as a disciple—did not occur. Back in his cave, Luo Ming breathed a sigh of relief, secretly rejoicing. It seemed that not all Golden Core cultivators paid excessive attention to these Foundation Establishment Pills and spiritual herbs.

His spiritual root aptitude wasn't very good. If half of it were taken away, his chances of advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage would be greatly reduced, which was not what he wanted to see.

Moreover, he never wanted to get too involved with Spirit Beast Mountain. After all, the demonic path would soon launch a large-scale invasion, and Spirit Beast Mountain would become a fence-sitter, siding with the demonic path and ultimately suffering heavy losses. More importantly, Spirit Beast Mountain would eventually return to the Yu Ling Sect's control, and as a former disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain, he would inevitably be looked down upon and suppressed by the Yu Ling Sect's native disciples, putting him in an awkward position. Therefore, he had already made up his mind that once he successfully established his foundation, he would find an opportunity to leave Spirit Beast Mountain and seek another way out. He had no intention of risking his life for such a sect.

Having just returned to his sect and settled in, Luo Ming went to pay his respects to Deacon Qin. When he presented Deacon Qin with a crystal-clear Blood Spirit Fruit that resembled a red agate, Deacon Qin was overjoyed and immediately took out several precious magical artifacts, spirit stones, pills, and other items for him to choose from.

Luo Ming now has no shortage of spirit stones, pills, and magical artifacts. He politely declined these and earnestly requested, "I am about to establish my foundation, but I do not know much about it. I only ask that you bestow some insights and guidance on how to break through to the foundation."

The breakthrough insights of cultivators are always extremely precious, and only their direct disciples or those with very close relationships will impart them without reservation. Although everyone's breakthrough path is different, the insights of others can provide valuable references and help people avoid many detours.

Upon hearing this, Deacon Qin did not hesitate and immediately nodded in agreement. He took out a jade slip and handed it to Luo Ming, solemnly instructing him: "This jade slip records my personal insights and details of on-the-spot responses during my Foundation Establishment stage. Although it largely conforms to the sect's standard methods, it contains many more detailed descriptions. Remember, whether it's the sect's methods or my insights, you can only use them as a reference; you must never blindly apply them. Only by finding the path that suits you can you go far. Do you understand?"

"I will remember your teachings, and I am deeply grateful!" Luo Ming accepted the jade slip with both hands, bowed solemnly, and then rose to take his leave.

Watching Luo Ming's departing figure, Deacon Qin slowly withdrew his gaze, nodded to himself, and showed a hint of approval on his face.

Looking at the Blood Spirit Fruit, a gleam of eagerness flashed in Deacon Qin's eyes. He figured that if his spirit beast consumed this fruit, its chances of advancing to the second level would increase by 20%. Combined with the other methods he had prepared, the probability would essentially reach 50%. Thinking of this, Deacon Qin immediately summoned his Azure Eagle spirit beast…