It turns out Lin Xueying sent out her last letter, after which, under the request of her master Master Fengyue, she entered seclusion.

This lasted a full five years.

When she emerged from seclusion, she had successfully advanced to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

At the same time, she received Zhou Xun's reply and learned that Zhou Xun had returned to settle in White Cloud Immortal City.

She wrote to Zhou Xun immediately and invited him to Cloud Light Sect to attend her small Foundation Establishment celebration.

In the letter, she also mentioned that she had invited members of the Lin Family and Wang Erniu, and Zhou Xun could go with them.

Inside the jade box was an elixir.

It's called the Broken Mirror Pill.

It's the most coveted elixir by Qi Refining Cultivators besides the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Its greatest efficacy is that it bypasses bottlenecks, unconditionally increasing a Qi Refining Cultivator's cultivation level by one layer, but each cultivator can only take it once in their lifetime, with no effect on a second intake.

Even so, the value of the Broken Mirror Pill remains extremely high, second only to the Foundation Establishment Pill.

If taken to market, it equates to a third of a Foundation Establishment Pill's price.

More importantly, it's not available for purchase even if one wants to buy it.

The one Lin Xueying sent him was obtained from Master Fengyue.

"With this elixir, I can advance to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining in a short time!"

Zhou Xun looked at the milky white elixir inside the jade box, feeling a trace of excitement rising in his heart.

...

In the Cultivation Room,

after taking a bath, Zhou Xun lit the High-Grade Calming Incense.

Calming his mind, when his mental state was adjusted to its best condition, he took out the Barrier-Breaking Pill and slowly ingested it.

The elixir entered his stomach, and a strong medicinal power rose, surging into his meridians, continuously.

His Nourishing Essence Technique unconsciously began to operate, converting this medicinal power into spiritual power, and then integrating it into the gaseous spiritual power in his Dantian.

Unknowingly, three days passed just like that.

During these three days, Zhou Xun constantly repeated the process of refining medicinal power into spiritual power.

His cultivation also grew rapidly.

Suddenly, the spiritual power in the Dantian seemed to reach a critical point.

Instantly, a qualitative change occurred, and the overall mana strength increased again.

Ninth-Layer Qi Refining!

Zhou Xun slowly opened his eyes, his gaze extremely bright.

Now he is only thirty-three years old.

"At this rate, I can reach the peak of the Qi Cultivation Stage before forty and begin to strive for Foundation Establishment!"

Then he got up and walked out of the Cultivation Room.

...

The largest elixir shop in White Cloud Immortal City is the White Cloud Pill Workshop, officially affiliated with White Cloud Immortal City. Its chief Alchemy Master, Master Hongyu, is a Tier Two High-Grade Alchemist.

This day, Zhou Xun came to White Cloud Pill Workshop.

He was here to purchase a Foundation Establishment gift for Lin Xueying.

After much thought, Zhou Xun finally decided to buy a Tier Two High-Grade Beauty Pill for her.

On one hand, Lin Xueying, as Master Fengyue's disciple, lacks no treasures, whether top-grade spiritual artifacts or Tier Two talismans, she doesn't lack at all.

Cultivation techniques, secret techniques—given her backing from the entire Lin Family and Cloud Light Sect, she has no shortage.

Thinking it over, giving a Tier Two High-Grade Beauty Pill seemed most fitting.

The Tier Two Beauty Pill, unlike the Foundation Establishment Pill, isn't strategically restricted treasure and is freely sold.

White Cloud Pill Workshop has them for sale.

However, this pill, which keeps one's appearance unchanged for thirty years, isn't cheap in price.

It requires four thousand Spirit Stones.

This price is the livelihood of some Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Few are willing and able to buy it.

Upon entering the workshop, a servant greeted him.

"What elixir does the customer wish to buy?"

"Beauty Pill!" Zhou Xun spoke succinctly, directly stating his need.

Upon hearing it was the Beauty Pill, the servant instantly knew the person before him wasn't someone he could attend to, so he led Zhou Xun to a Quiet Chamber.

"Please wait here, the shopkeeper will be here shortly!" After saying this, the servant offered Zhou Xun tea and tactfully withdrew.

Sitting in the Quiet Chamber, Zhou Xun surveyed his surroundings.

The entire chamber exuded a mature and grand aura, with tables and benches all crafted from Spirit Wood, quite extravagant.

Truly befitting an official elixir shop of White Cloud Immortal City.

Less than half a tea's time later, a scholarly middle-aged man in a white robe entered.

"Ah, it's Alchemist Zhou, I'm Zhao Minghan!" The middle-aged man greeted with cupped hands, acting quite familiar.

"Does the shopkeeper know Zhou Mou?"

Zhou Xun asked puzzledly, for he had never been to White Cloud Pill Workshop nor met this shopkeeper before.

"As the largest elixir merchant in the Immortal City, White Cloud Pill Workshop naturally keeps tabs on all alchemists above the Tier One High-Grade level!"

"Of course, it's limited to basic information like name, appearance, and level in alchemy craftsmanship!" The white-robed man explained.

"I see!" Zhou Xun nodded, not probing deeper.

As a young High-Grade Alchemist, his status was akin to an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, so having his information recorded in the city was quite normal.

"I came to purchase a Tier Two High-Grade Beauty Pill!"

Without wasting words, Zhou Xun straightforwardly stated his purpose.

"We have two of those in stock, priced at 4000 Spirit Stones, but for Alchemist Zhou, we can offer a ten-percent discount, at 3600 Spirit Stones!" The white-robed man said with a smile.

"Thank you, Shopkeeper Zhao, I'll take it!"

Zhou Xun nodded, promptly taking out thirty-six Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and handing them to the white-robed man.

Seeing Zhou Xun so readily hand over the Spirit Stones, Zhao Minghan was quite surprised.

This is 3600 Spirit Stones—even a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would feel the pinch from such an expenditure.

Yet he said nothing more, handing the elixir to Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun took the elixir, ready to leave.

"Please wait, Alchemist Zhou!" Zhao Minghan called after him.

"Does the shopkeeper have more to say?" Zhou Xun paused, puzzled.

"I know Alchemist Zhou hasn't joined any faction yet; why not consider our White Cloud Pill Workshop?"

"Our workshop is part of White Cloud Immortal City, with Master Hongyu at its helm, boasting strong capabilities!"

"With Alchemist Zhou's talent and flair, joining our workshop would surely earn direct guidance from Master Hongyu, effortlessly paving the way to becoming a Tier Two Alchemist!"

Zhao Minghan candidly offered his terms.

"Guidance from Master Hongyu?" Zhou Xun felt a bit tempted, but not much.

If it were before he broke through to the Tier Two Alchemist, he might have considered, but now as a Tier Two Low-Grade Alchemist, Master Hongyu's guidance wouldn't have as significant an impact.

"Thank you for your generosity, Shopkeeper Zhao. To tell you the truth, just a few days ago, I had the heavenly fortune to advance to Tier Two Low-Grade Alchemist!" Zhou Xun spoke plainly.

Taking the opportunity to let the news spread, as it was common for his information to be recorded in the Immortal City, since it's needed to prepare a Foundation Establishment Pill for himself.

Whether through auction or collecting materials for refining on his own, it's something he must prepare for urgently.

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