Chronicles of the Green Vine: A Mortal’s Path to Immortality

For the disciples of the Hao Yuan Sect, there are three ways to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills.

One is to participate in the sect's once-a-decade competition, where only the top ten disciples receive Foundation Establishment Pills as a reward.

The second is to exchange for them with sect contribution points, but a single Foundation Establishment Pill requires eight thousand sect contribution points, which very few disciples can accumulate.

Finally, there is the trip to the Burning Flame Valley once every thirty years. Around that time, the number of Foundation Establishment Pills will be slightly higher, but only a few will be distributed to Qi Refining disciples.

A certain number of Foundation Establishment Pills will be allocated to the sect elders.

These elders are all powerful figures in the sect, and more than half of them are Golden Core stage elders. Even these elders don't have many Foundation Establishment Pills; it's not even enough for their nephews and disciples, which shows how scarce the pills are.

Ultimately, a portion of the Foundation Establishment Pills is taken by the families affiliated with the sect. After all, these families are considered the sect's peripheral forces, and some resources must be given to them.

Overall, the Hao Yuan Sect can only rely on Foundation Establishment Pills to help about seven or eight disciples break through every ten years. Only when the Burning Flame Valley opens will there be a few more.

Although the Foundation Establishment stage is only the second realm of cultivation, Foundation Establishment cultivators are already the foundation of a sect. The number of Foundation Establishment cultivators also reflects the sect's development.

The operation of the sect relies on these Foundation Establishment cultivators. The Golden Core elders basically don't care about these trivial matters. Their purpose is to focus on cultivation. If someone can break through to the Nascent Soul stage, the entire sect's power will increase by more than half.

...

Since Wei Shen left, he had been in the small courtyard for three months. On this day, Zhang Ling stood in a corner of a medicine field, looking at a half-person-high sapling beside his feet.

The sapling was entirely cyan-black, growing straight and upright. The leaves on the branches were also a metallic cyan color, looking as if they were cast from pig iron, completely unlike spiritual plants.

This was an Iron Fir sapling, a second-grade spiritual wood. When it grows to a thousand years old, it can be used as a low-level magical treasure material.

Spiritual wood is also a type of spiritual plant, different from ordinary spiritual herbs. Spiritual wood can continue to grow as long as it is not destroyed.

The sapling under his feet was three years old and was exchanged from the sect for sixty contribution points.

Iron Fir, also known as Ironwood by cultivators, is a hard spiritual wood often used to refine magical artifacts. This is the spiritual wood he chose to cultivate his sword芒 (mang, ray/beam).

During this time, in addition to using the mysterious beads to catalyze two hundred-year-old Condensing Light Grasses, he also catalyzed other spiritual herbs needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. These spiritual herbs are mostly first-grade spiritual herbs, with two or three second-grade spiritual herbs.

Fortunately, the required age is mostly twenty to thirty years, and he used the mysterious beads three times to catalyze them all.

Of course, the Flame Yang Flower and Heavenly Star Grass were also catalyzed to the age suitable for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

After preparing these spiritual herbs, he was not in a hurry to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

Now that he had time, he planned to refine sword talismans. The power of sword talismans depends on the materials used.

Whether it's ore or spiritual wood, they are all common materials for sword talismans. Among them, rare ores are the most suitable. But he has the mysterious beads, and spiritual wood is more suitable for him.

After planting the Ironwood, Zhang Ling returned to his routine of cultivation. Day after day, he cultivated, improving his cultivation base while practicing the Nameless Soul Refining Art. As his divine soul power increased, the time he spent practicing this art each day gradually increased.

At the same time, he also discovered that his divine sense had increased by about half a zhang (approx. 1.67 meters), and now, with his divine sense fully expanded, he could detect everything within a thirty zhang (approx. 100 meters) radius.

Don't underestimate the small increase of half a zhang; he had only been practicing the Soul Refining Art for three months.

The Nameless Soul Refining Art on the black paper has only a little over a thousand words, divided into two layers of cultivation methods. He is currently practicing the first layer, which involves applying constant pressure to the divine soul through special breathing methods to achieve the effect of tempering the divine soul.

With the aid of the Spirit Concentration Incense, in a few years, his divine sense will be two to three times stronger than that of other cultivators of the same rank.

This amount of divine sense may not seem like much, but the enhancement of divine sense, whether in battles with cultivators or in using divine sense to detect danger, allows one to be one step ahead.

You can control one more magical artifact during a fight, and you can also detect other cultivators in advance, which is tantamount to gaining the upper hand, whether it's hiding secretly or launching a sneak attack. It provides a lot more reaction time.

...

On this day, outside Zhang Ling's small courtyard in Qing Mist Valley, a young man wearing Hao Yuan Sect disciple clothing arrived.

Inside the house, Zhang Ling tapped a red sound transmission talisman floating in front of him, and a clear, cold voice transmitted.

"Is Junior Brother Zhang Ling there? Ming Han has come to visit."

"Wu Minghan."

Zhang Ling frowned, thinking of this person. He had met this person once, a month ago, when he had come to find him once.

He knew the purpose clearly. This person wanted to exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill in his possession. However, he had refused this person at the time, and he didn't expect him to come again now.

Since he obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill, several cultivators had come to him to exchange for it, including two Foundation Establishment seniors.

These people mostly had some background, originating from cultivation families affiliated with the Hao Yuan Sect, and were mostly there for the sake of their younger generation.

However, after seeing the things they offered in exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill, some offered tens of thousands of spirit stones, and others offered several top-grade magical artifacts, but after thinking about it, he refused them all.

Tens of thousands of spirit stones are not a small amount, but the value of a Foundation Establishment Pill, even measured in spirit stones, is around twenty thousand spirit stones. He is not short of spirit stones now, so naturally he will not exchange.

The same goes for top-grade magical artifacts. His life and death are now in the hands of Wei Shen, this powerful cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Completion stage. Even if he had several top-grade magical artifacts, he would not be able to harm this person.

Two of the Foundation Establishment cultivators even threatened him because of this, but when he brought out Wei Shen, this master of his, the two of them wisely left.

Wu Minghan is only a Qi Refining peak cultivator and offered two top-grade magical artifacts and ten thousand spirit stones at the time, making him the highest bidder.

Such wealth is definitely not something a Qi Refining cultivator could have, so he also inquired about this person. This person comes from a small family, and the family currently only has one Foundation Establishment elder.

Could it be that this person is still unwilling to give up this time? Zhang Ling thought to himself, got up, and walked out of the wooden house.

"Junior Brother Zhang, we meet again."

Zhang Ling opened the restriction and allowed this person to enter. Wu Minghan cupped his fist and smiled as soon as he saw him.

Wu Minghan has delicate features and a fair complexion, with an air of a noble young master. He always has a smile on his face.

Zhang Ling only nodded to him, and then the two of them came to the wooden house and sat on either side of a black wooden table.

Wu Minghan looks a few years younger than him, but he has already cultivated to the peak of Qi Refining, which shows that his cultivation aptitude is also extraordinary.

"Senior Brother Wu, this junior brother is about to break through, so I really can't part with the Foundation Establishment Pill," Zhang Ling said straightforwardly, his tone cold, as if rejecting people from a thousand miles away.

He is not afraid of this person. Although this person has a Foundation Establishment elder, his cheap master is the best shield.

Even if there is real trouble, he has this person to bear it.

"Haha, Junior Brother Zhang. I naturally know the value of the Foundation Establishment Pill. It's just that I must obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill."

Wu Minghan said with a smile on his face, his tone not small. He looked determined to get it.

Zhang Ling's face darkened.