Chapter 141: Chapter 141: The Immortal City is Mine

Outside the secret room.

Knowing Gumu Sheng had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment, Zhang Tie smiled and began to wait quietly.

Having succeeded in his Foundation Establishment, Gumu Sheng was now a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. His status and position were no less than Zhang Tie’s own.

In the future, the two brothers would need to support each other and strive together within the Immortal City.

As fellow Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they had even greater goals ahead of them.

Naturally, the slight estrangement from before no longer mattered. He wasn’t that petty, and he figured Gumu Sheng probably had similar thoughts.

It was just as the saying goes: ’Brothers who endure tribulations together will find that a smile at their reunion erases all grievances.’

Of course, if Gumu Sheng had failed to break through, then as the gap in their status continued to widen, estrangement would have been inevitable.

Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators weren’t in the same circle. What was there to talk about?

Without common ground, how could they possibly maintain their close bond?

After another ten days or so, Gumu Sheng finally stabilized his cultivation level, deactivated the Array, and walked out of the secret room.

The first thing Zhang Tie said upon seeing him was, "Third Brother, congratulations on your successful Foundation Establishment. You can now enjoy a lifespan of two hundred and forty years and have taken another step on the immortal path."

Gumu Sheng, no longer bearing his former sycophantic air, simply smiled and nodded. "Thank you for your auspicious words, Second Brother. I will have to ask for your guidance in the future."

The two exchanged a smile, everything understood without a word.

"Let’s go, Third Brother. I’ll take you to see our Master," Zhang Tie said with a smile. "If Master isn’t in seclusion, she should already know about your successful Foundation Establishment. If she happens to be in seclusion, then you might have to wait on the mountain for a while."

Gumu Sheng smiled and nodded. "That’s only to be expected. Thank you for your trouble, Second Brother."

Next, the two of them flew up the mountain together, landing before a palace on the mountainside.

This palace was the residence of the Sect Leader of General Affairs. Dai Sangyu originally lived here, but due to the incident with Ye Chen, Fenglan Master had taken her to the summit to reflect on her mistakes in seclusion.

With Meng Qingyi now serving as the Sect Leader of General Affairs, this palace naturally became her residence.

After Zhang Tie announced their arrival, Meng Qingyi enthusiastically led the two junior brothers into the hall.

"Senior Sister Meng, this is my third brother, Gumu Sheng. He successfully achieved Foundation Establishment after winning a Foundation Establishment Pill at an auction." After introducing Gumu Sheng, Zhang Tie smiled and continued, "I am here under Master’s orders to bring my third brother to pay his respects. I was wondering if Master is available now?"

Meng Qingyi nodded. "I’ll ask Master."

With that, she took out a special Sound Transmission Talisman, respectfully spoke a few words into it, and then threw it directly towards the mountain peak.

Once she had done this, she looked at the two of them in surprise. "Junior Brother Zhang and Junior Brother Gu, I never would have guessed you two had such a connection. Fellow Daoist Li is truly fortunate to have such good brothers."

Her surprise was not feigned.

In her eyes, Li Ping was not only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator but also a Tier Two Lower Grade Talisman Maker. In terms of both status and standing, he surpassed the average Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Now, his two sworn brothers had also broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

A group of three Foundation Establishment Cultivators was a considerable force in a place like Fenglan Immortal City.

And all three were still very young, with great potential for the future.

When Meng Qingyi mentioned their eldest brother, Zhang Tie’s expression immediately grew solemn. "We are the fortunate ones to have such a good eldest brother. If not for his wholehearted support, we would never have had the chance to achieve Foundation Establishment."

As he spoke, his respect was plain to see.

Beside him, Gumu Sheng also nodded with a solemn expression. "Second Brother is right. Without Eldest Brother’s help, it would have been very difficult for me to have a chance at Foundation Establishment in this lifetime."

Hearing this, Meng Qingyi smiled and nodded, though she was thinking to herself, ’It seems Fellow Daoist Li’s status in the hearts of his two sworn brothers is even higher than outsiders imagine. Given their ages, the three of them are worth the Meng family’s further investment in winning them over.’

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but nod slightly.

All along, the relationship between Li Ping and the Meng family had been quite good; he was still living on the Meng family’s Immortal Peach Mountain.

At the same time, Meng Qingyi was also very curious why Li Ping would help Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng achieve Foundation Establishment at any cost.

’Even if it’s an investment, how can he be so sure it won’t go down the drain?’ She couldn’t help but admire Li Ping’s boldness.

Just then, Fenglan Master’s voice reached her ears.

After listening respectfully, Meng Qingyi smiled at the two men. "Junior Brothers, Master happens to be free right now. You may go up the mountain to pay your respects."

...

Zhang Tie led Gumu Sheng up the mountain and met Fenglan Master without any issue.

As was customary, Fenglan Master accepted Gumu Sheng as her disciple. After offering some words of encouragement, she bestowed upon him three bottles of Cultivation Elixirs.

She mentioned that she would hold an initiation ceremony for Gumu Sheng in a while, and then dismissed them.

The three bottles of Pills were Fenglan Master’s gift for accepting him as a disciple, roughly equivalent in value to the dead Fierce Arrowhead Eagle egg she had given Zhang Tie.

As they left Fenglan Master’s palace, Zhang Tie smiled and reminded Gumu Sheng, "Third Brother, according to Master’s instructions, you can choose a location at the foot of Cyan Dragon Mountain to establish your cave residence. You can also go to the Secret Skill Pavilion and select two items, be they Cultivation Techniques, legacies, or Secret Techniques. Do you want to go choose them now?"

Gumu Sheng shook his head. "I want to go see Eldest Brother first and tell him about my successful Foundation Establishment."

Several years had passed, and through his own information channels, he had learned about the matter of He Yunyi being possessed by a Demon Cultivator, and why it was ultimately dropped.

According to what his internal contact told him, Immortal City cultivators had discovered traces of a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Dao cultivator near He Yunyi’s village.

Furthermore, that Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Dao cultivator had fought a major battle with someone and was killed on the spot. The attacker was suspected to be a Core Formation Cultivator.

Because it involved a Core Formation Cultivator, the Immortal City did not investigate further.

But Gumu Sheng knew that, in reality, his eldest brother had obtained the Storage Bag of the Demon Cultivator who had performed the Possession.

In other words, either his eldest brother had killed that Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Dao cultivator, or his eldest brother had a Core Formation Cultivator backing him.

It was unbelievable, but no matter how many times Gumu Sheng went over the possibilities, this was the only conclusion he could reach.

He believed that back on Immortal Peach Mountain, the reason his eldest brother had dared to confront the arrogant and domineering Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Xiong Pohai, wasn’t because he was just putting on a brave front from a position of safety.

Rather, his eldest brother simply didn’t see him as a threat. His eldest brother was no ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator; he was far more powerful than they imagined!

Therefore, he couldn’t let success go to his head just because he’d achieved Foundation Establishment and think he was now on equal footing with his eldest brother. ’I must latch onto Eldest Brother and never let go!’

After becoming a disciple, he had to report the news of his successful Foundation Establishment to his eldest brother at the first opportunity.

’Loyalty!’

Hearing Gumu Sheng’s words, Zhang Tie was stunned for a moment, but then he nodded. "Telling Eldest Brother about this first is the right thing to do. Let’s go together."

"Alright."

...

The two arrived at Immortal Peach Mountain, and after being announced by Bai Lin, they finally met Li Ping.

As soon as Li Ping saw the two, his gaze couldn’t help but fall on Gumu Sheng. The aura emanating from him was still a bit unstable, but it was undoubtedly that of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Gumu Sheng had also successfully achieved Foundation Establishment.

Thinking of this, he smiled. "Congratulations, Musheng."

Gumu Sheng quickly replied, "Without your help, Eldest Brother, I never would have been able to achieve Foundation Establishment."

Li Ping smiled and didn’t say much more. Instead, he led him and Zhang Tie to sit down in a pavilion. The three of them chatted briefly about Gumu Sheng’s Foundation Establishment process and the matter of him taking Fenglan Master as his master.

Afterward, Li Ping asked him about his plans after Foundation Establishment.

At Li Ping’s question, a flicker of excitement crossed Gumu Sheng’s face. He immediately said, "Eldest Brother, now that I’m a disciple of a Master, I obviously won’t go back to running a small general store. But the Master hasn’t given me any tasks for now... so I expect to have quite a bit of free time."

Speaking of this, Gumu Sheng glanced at Li Ping again, and seeing no change in his expression, he continued, "So I plan to open a comprehensive shop in the Inner City, similar to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. But on my own, I lack both the financial resources and the personal strength to support such a shop."

"So I’d like to ask Eldest Brother and Second Brother to invest for a stake, and I’ll be in charge of management. If all goes well, perhaps your little brother can earn a yearly profit for you both." As Gumu Sheng said this, a look of pride appeared on his face, clearly extremely confident in his business abilities.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tie couldn’t help but show a look of interest.

Li Ping, however, shook his head, rejecting his proposal. "Don’t be hasty. You’ve just broken through to Foundation Establishment. Your priority should be your own Cultivation. We can talk about the shop in a few years."

He, too, hoped to have a large shop like the Spirit Treasure Pavilion under his control.

With such a shop, earning Spirit Stones would be secondary. The main purpose would be to gather resources, legacies, and other such things for him.

It would save him from wasting precious cultivation time running around everywhere.

The reason he rejected Gumu Sheng’s suggestion wasn’t because he didn’t believe in his business skills, but because the strength of the three of them was still too weak.

Large shops like the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Jade Cliff Palace, and the Ten Thousand Laws Tower were all backed by Core Formation powers. ’The three of us, mere Foundation Establishment Cultivators, are going to compete with them?’

’No matter how strong your business skills, can they withstand a single blow from a Magical Treasure?’

Besides, Gumu Sheng had already become Fenglan Master’s disciple. ’Why would he need to start his own business?’

Li Ping felt it was completely unnecessary.

’Wouldn’t it be better to just poach from the Immortal City itself?’

"Eldest Brother, I..." Gumu Sheng began to explain, seeing that Li Ping had rejected his idea.

He was halfway through his sentence when Li Ping cut him off. "I understand your eagerness to use your talents, but have you forgotten that the Ten Thousand Laws Tower is owned by the Immortal City? Zhang Tie is now a logistics manager. Later, we can find a way to get you appointed as a manager of the Ten Thousand Laws Tower as well. With your sincere cooperation then, it will be better than opening your own shop."

Hearing this, Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng both looked thoughtful.

But there was something else Li Ping hadn’t said.

Fenglan Master had less than a century of life left. Once her time was up and she passed away, Li Ping would achieve Core Formation. With Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng coordinating from within, the entire Immortal City would be his for the taking.

The Immortal City would be his.

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