"Greetings, Elder Feng. Your presence here truly brings splendor to this place!"

Even Zhou Jimin, with his steadfast mind, couldn't help but flush with excitement.

His son, Zhou Jingsong, had followed his master's example and established a cave mansion in Golden Spring Lane, which is why he recognized Elder Feng.

Having a respected elder of the Immortal City attend his son's celebration was certainly a matter of great pride.

"Congratulations, young Zhou!"

Feng Tingli, with the demeanor of a kind elder, exuded a warmth that was truly comforting.

Immediately, Zhou Jimin led Feng Tingli into an elegant room in the building.

Inside the elegant room, there were only Zhou Xun, Old Daoist Chuyun, and Wang Erniu present.

"Big Brother, who would have thought even our younger generation has started marrying!"

"We have become grandfathers now!"

Wang Erniu lamented.

His son had just married last year, taking the Legitimate Daughter of the Li Family as a daoist partner.

Now she was visibly pregnant, and in a few months, Wang Erniu would become a grandfather.

"Indeed!" Zhou Xun revealed a look of nostalgia; unconsciously, he too was nearly fifty years old.

The youth from Red Leaf Square back in those days would now be addressed as grandfather.

"Oh, by the way, Big Brother, concerning the high-grade spirit stones you requested, our Lin Family does have a few in our collection. However, some need to be reserved for emergencies, so we can only spare two!"

The reason Wang Erniu came to attend the celebration was chiefly to meet Zhou Xun and trade these two high-grade spirit stones.

With Zhou Xun's current standing, the Lin Family naturally wanted to maintain good relations with him.

"Two will suffice!"

Zhou Xun was delighted upon hearing this.

Two high-grade spirit stones were enough to sustain that quasi-third tier puppet in a great battle.

Wang Erniu immediately took out two jade boxes, sealed with sealing spirit talismans.

"Big Brother, the two spirit stones are inside these boxes!" Wang Erniu placed the boxes in front of Zhou Xun.

"I wonder how many spirit stones Patriarch Lin intends to ask for?" Zhou Xun inquired.

While the nominal exchange rate for middle-grade spirit stones to high-grade was one to a hundred, high-grade spirit stones were rare treasures and couldn't be traded strictly by this ratio.

In general, a premium of 30% was common; often, they were priceless without a set market value.

After all, high-grade spirit stones were only produced in small quantities from middle-tier spirit stone mines.

"The Patriarch specifically instructed that, as a friend of the Lin Family, for you, Big Brother, two thousand spirit stones will do!" Wang Erniu said with a cheerful smile.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xun nodded, accepting the offer.

He naturally couldn't refuse the Lin Family's goodwill, otherwise, it would affect relations between the two families.

Just as friends mutually helping each other can deepen their relationship, being overly meticulous and polite can distance people.

So he counted out two hundred middle-grade spirit stones and handed them to Wang Erniu.

Wang Erniu received them without even looking and put them into his storage bag.

Zhou Xun turned his gaze back to the two jade boxes in front.

He gently removed the sealing spirit talisman and opened the box lid.

Instantly, a pure wave of spiritual qi surged out from the box, invigorating the three present, making the spiritual power circulate threefold faster in their veins.

They then looked into the box and saw two goose egg-sized, crystal-clear green stones lying quietly inside.

"As expected of high-grade spirit stones, the purity of their spiritual qi is indeed well-reputed!"

Old Daoist Chuyun was full of admiration. It was his first time seeing such high-grade spirit stones.

...

Upon entering the elegant room, Feng Tingli saw Zhou Xun and the other two seated inside.

"Daoist Feng is here too!"

Zhou Xun immediately greeted Feng Tingli politely upon seeing him.

"Daoist Zhou, your two disciples forming their daoist bonds is truly a cause for celebration!" Feng Tingli entered with a smile.

"Ah, Daoist Chuyun is here too, along with Daoist Wang!"

During the journey to Golden Cloud Valley back then, Wang Erniu and Zhou Xun were together, so Feng Tingli naturally recognized him.

"Matters concerning the younger generation, yet they trouble Daoist Feng to come personally, it truly is too considerate!"

After Feng Tingli sat down, they began chatting leisurely.

After another hour, all the guests had arrived, and the daoist partner bonding ceremony commenced.

Zhou Xun, as an elder, personally presided over it.

Thereafter, under the witness of everyone, his two disciples officially became daoist partners.

After the ceremony, he also visited the treasure vault of White Cloud Mountain and exchanged for two high-grade spirit stones.

This was originally one of his purposes for visiting.

Adding the two from the Lin Family, he now had four high-grade spirit stones, allowing him to fearlessly pilot the quasi-third tier puppet.

...

Wangchuan Lake, Lake Heart Island.

In the cultivation room, Zhou Xun sat cross-legged upon the cushion.

One month after returning from White Cloud Immortal City, Zhou Xun had cultivated to the peak of Fourth-Layer Foundation Establishment, reaching fifty-nine drops of liquid magical power in his dantian.

Thus, he began closed-door training, intending to focus his efforts and condense the sixtieth drop of liquid magical power, aiming to break through to Fifth-Layer Foundation Establishment.

Zhou Xun took out a Yuan Gathering Pill and swallowed it.

The Yuan Gathering Pill is the most commonly used Foundation Strengthening and Essence Nourishing Elixir among middle-stage cultivators.

Although its potency isn't strong, it is balanced and mild, and as the Yuan Gathering Pill has been around for a long time, it rarely causes issues.

The ones Zhou Xun consumed were all of super-grade quality, strengthened by spirit medicine essence.

Its medicinal power was thus longer-lasting.

Once the elixir entered his stomach, a wave of medicinal power arose immediately, entering the meridians.

Zhou Xun then operated the Spirit Wood True Technique to refine this wave of medicinal power into mana, which then fused into his dantian.

Initially, at the breakthrough threshold to Fifth-Layer Foundation Establishment, the sixtieth drop of liquid magical power was slow to condense.

The mana entering his dantian scattered in all directions.

But as time passed, more and more mana poured into the dantian.

One day

Two days

...

After approximately three months, the scattered mana gradually came together.

Suddenly, quantity triggered a qualitative change; the sixtieth drop of liquid magical power formed instantly, and all the liquid magical power was sublimated, increasing in strength by a small margin.

"Fifth-Layer Foundation Establishment, achieved!"

Sensing the sixty drops of liquid magical power in his dantian, Zhou Xun smiled slightly.

With the breakthrough to Fifth-Layer Foundation Establishment, his mana and divine sense advanced further.

Zhou Xun retrieved a top-grade magical artifact and infused it with mana to carefully perceive it.

Mana strength increased by approximately a fifth.

This was a breakthrough of a small realm, so the improvement wasn't vast.

He then extended his divine sense outward, stretching it as far as possible, covering around nine hundred and fifty zhang, a hundred and fifty zhang more.

The enhancement was akin to his mana, also a fifth more.

With this level of mana strength, he would maneuver the quasi-third tier puppet more adeptly.

Feeling content, Zhou Xun cast a Dust-Removal Technique on himself, refreshing his robes.

He then opened the restriction of the cultivation room and stepped out.

"Husband, you broke through!" Song Yiqing's face lit with joy, as Zhou Xun had explained to her before his retreat.

She hadn't expected his closed-door training to last over three months, making her miss him greatly.

Zhou Xun smiled subtly and nodded:

"Progressed slightly!"

It had been approximately seven years since his last breakthrough.

This pace was within Zhou Xun's expectations.

Looking at the graceful and curvaceous lady before him, Zhou Xun felt his throat go dry.

As they say, three months of seclusion leaves one longing for companionship!

Zhou Xun ardently indulged the whole night.

The next day, the satisfied couple cuddled together to chat.

"By the way, Husband, I almost forgot one thing. During your seclusion, the spirit fish on Qiuxin's side encountered a problem!"

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