Proving Immortality Starting with Hextech Runes

The sea breeze, carrying a salty and slightly cool scent, brushed against Lin Miaoyin's face.

She felt like she had a very long dream.

In her dream, she finally found the Great Teleportation Array that Senior Sister Xiao had mentioned and traveled to an unknown place.

The bizarre and fantastical scenes flashed by, finally settling on an endless expanse of sea...

"Uh..." A strong wave of dizziness suddenly swept over her, pulling Lin Miaoyin back to reality from her dream.

She subconsciously raised her hand to rub her throbbing temples, feeling an overwhelming heaviness in her mind.

Slowly opening my eyes, what came into view was an endless sea.

Lin Miaoyin was stunned.

Is this not a dream? How did I get here?

She struggled to her feet, looked around blankly, and soon spotted the gray-haired monk lying in the rocking chair behind her.

The gray-haired monk seemed to only then notice the commotion, slowly raising his head to examine her.

Upon seeing this, Lin Miaoyin quickly retreated several steps, circulating the little spiritual power she had left to protect her vital organs.

She quickly took out a longsword from her storage bag, held it horizontally in front of her, and said in a slightly hoarse voice:

"Who are you? And where is this?"

Upon hearing this, the gray-haired cultivator replied calmly, "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Lin Miaoyin's wary face, and then continued:

"I am a rogue cultivator from the outer seas. A few days ago, I hunted a sea beast in the nearby waters and tracked it here."

"Yesterday, when the tide went out, I found you unconscious, clinging to a piece of driftwood that had been swept nearby, so I just pulled you up with me."

"Why would you turn on your savior with a knife after waking up?"

"And...who are you? How did you end up in this state?"

Lin Miaoyin's breathing became rapid as she quickly processed the gray-haired cultivator's words.

A wandering cultivator from the outer seas?

She tried to recall, but her memory of the Great Teleportation Array after it was activated was blank. Could it be that the teleportation went wrong and that's why she fainted?

"I..." Lin Miaoyin opened her mouth, but her throat felt dry.

She dared not reveal her origins, suppressing her thoughts and trying to make her voice sound as steady as possible:

"My name is Lin Miaoyin. Thank you for saving me, fellow Daoist."

With that, she sheathed her longsword and bowed respectfully.

"I did indeed encounter an accident and ended up here. However, it seems my soul is damaged, and I have no memory of this outer sea..."

"Could you please answer this for me?"

The gray-haired cultivator... who was Chen Xu's clone, pondered upon hearing this.

After all, having swallowed so many Forgetfulness Pills, it would be strange if one's soul wasn't affected at all...

Then he deliberately feigned a look of surprise and doubt on his face: "Damaged soul? That's not easy to cure."

He changed the subject, looking at the boundless sea before him, and briefly introduced, "This sea before us is called the Meteorite Sea."

"The sea is vast, and it is divided into inland sea and outer sea. The place we are in now is a deserted island in the outer sea."

Chen Xu's gaze then fell on Lin Miaoyin, his tone somewhat tentative: "Fellow Daoist has no recollection of the Outer Sea, could it be... you come from the Inner Sea?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Miaoyin remained silent for a moment, then rubbed her temples again and said softly, "Thank you for your explanation, but I... really can't recall it."

At that moment, she suddenly remembered something, touched the storage bag at her waist, and realized that her ancient token was nowhere to be found.

She looked up at the gray-haired cultivator and asked, "By the way, when you saved me, did you see a bronze token?"

Chen Xu casually replied, "The bronze token? At that time, you were only holding a piece of rotten wood, and you had nothing else on you."

"This vast ocean is turbulent with undercurrents; if something is truly lost, it may never be found..."

Upon learning that the ancient talisman had been lost, Lin Miaoyin's expression turned solemn.

Losing the ancient command token means that she will probably have a hard time returning to Nanjiang.

He then asked Chen Xu where the cultivators gathered, and took out a flying boat artifact and headed towards the Storm Sea.

Chen Xu only warned of the danger involved and did not stop him.

After all, he couldn't wait for Lin Miaoyin to leave; her staying here would only hinder his actions.

After Lin Miaoyin's figure disappeared from the range of divine sense.

Chen Xu quickly set up multiple arrays around the deserted island.

After doing all this, he quickly walked into the makeshift cave dwelling.

He first took out the training dummy and placed it beside him, then sat cross-legged, focused his mind, and entered a state similar to "idling".

After all, all actions can only be taken after the main body has successfully established its foundation.

This clone should just stay here.

……

Meanwhile, in the Dark City Cave.

After retrieving the wisp of consciousness from his clone on the deserted island, Chen Xu no longer hesitated and used the last [Disposable Training Dummy].

With a thought, the scarecrow twisted and expanded, and a clone identical to Chen Xu's original body stood quietly in the cave.

The clone put on a bamboo hat and left the cave, heading towards the Cold Pine Gate.

After his clone left, Chen Xu sat quietly for a moment, then took out a pill bottle from his storage bag and fell into deep thought.

Inside the elixir bottle were three Foundation Establishment Pills, all bestowed by Qing Yi.

In fact, Qingyi gave four Foundation Establishment Pills, one of which Chen Xu sold at a high price through the Dark Pavilion's channels, in exchange for a lot of first-tier spiritual herbs.

The real purpose of this move was to use the Dark Pavilion's help in the identification process, in order to prevent Qing Yi from tampering with these Foundation Establishment Pills.

Having operated for many years, AnGe's appraisal results are still quite valuable for reference.

However, AnGe does not offer paid authentication services; authentication is only performed on goods during transactions.

After confirming that the pills were safe, Chen Xu took a Foundation Establishment Pill and began attempting a breakthrough, which, as expected, ended in failure.

After all, for someone with four spiritual roots, achieving Foundation Establishment is indeed extremely difficult.

Moreover, Foundation Establishment Pills can only increase the success rate to some extent. Their fundamental effect is to protect the meridians of cultivators after they fail to establish their foundation, so as to prevent damage to their foundation.

It's truly enviable to be able to hit the mark with a single shot like Wang Tiezhu.

……

Two months later, at Hansong Gate.

Not long after Chen Xu's clone arrived at Mo Fu Peak, a pressure from a Foundation Establishment cultivator suddenly descended.

Chen Xu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed deeply to the figure that had appeared out of nowhere, his tone respectful:

"Disciple Chen Xu greets Master!"

That old monster was indeed keeping an eye on his movements...

Qing Yi stood with his hands behind his back, sizing up Chen Xu before coldly asking, "You've been down the mountain for quite some time now. Where did you go, and what were your gains?"

Chen Xu maintained a respectful posture and quickly delivered his prepared remarks:

"Reporting to Master, the main purpose of this trip was to find some rare materials to cultivate my techniques. The gains were minimal, but I did make some progress in the art of talismans."

Upon hearing this, Qing Yi nodded slightly: "Yes, it's a good thing to make progress in the art of talismans."

"It's just one path of cultivation; cultivation level is the foundation."

As he spoke, he took out a bottle of pills and tossed it to Chen Xu: "This is another Foundation Establishment Pill that your master has found for you."

"Strive to establish a foundation as soon as possible and learn more advanced talismanic arts..."