Chapter 57: Failure in Laying the Foundation

Chapter 57: Failure in Laying the Foundation

Lan Chang'an slowly concluded his daily cultivation routine.

At his side, the juvenile Profound Water Turtle the size of a water pitcher nuzzled affectionately against his robe, absorbing the lingering residual aura from Lan Chang'an's cultivation of the Evergreen Technique.

Over the years, Lan Chang'an made a surprising discovery: feeding the juvenile turtle the mana from the Evergreen Technique daily, as well as having it absorb the residual aura during his own cultivation, actually promoted the growth of the Profound Water Turtle's cultivation growth.

From his observations, the growth rate of the Profound Water Turtle's eggs was three to 30% to 40% faster than the records indicated.

This result was understandable to him. The Evergreen Technique was related to lifespan and the passing of years, while the Profound Water Turtle was a long-lived species that required an immensely long period to mature.

"At this rate, the Profound Water Turtle will reach the second-rank in a bit over a hundred years, and around three hundred years it could reach the third-rank, comparable to a Core Formation cultivator." Lan Chang'an did not intentionally increase the duration or dosage of feeding it Evergreen mana, otherwise it would be too obvious.

However, the physical growth of the Profound Water Turtle was normal, with the main acceleration being in its cultivation and bloodline talent. It would be difficult for a non spirit beast tamer cultivator to notice the abnormality.

Demonic beasts had sturdy bodies and bloodlines, naturally comprehending some spells and innate abilities. In this aspect, human cultivators were far inferior and still needed to cultivate diligently and use magical treasures to contend with them.

The Profound Water Turtle had just entered the Qi-Refining stage and was beginning to display some of its talents.

First was the ability to control its aura. It could reduce its presence, making it harder for enemies to detect it, improving its chances of survival.

Second was its water attribute spells. It could produce bubbles, waterballs, and ripples...

Its innate talent for water escape was also starting to show.

Finally, there was its turtle shell. Even as a juvenile Profound Water Turtle, its shell was extremely hard.

Lan Chang'an had tested it - low-grade magical weapons couldn't even scratch its shell.

If it grew for a few more decades, once the juvenile turtle retracted into its shell, cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm would have difficulty dealing with it.

...

*Squeak squeak!*

While Lan Chang'an was interacting with the juvenile turtle, the Earth Burrowing Rat came scurrying from the gatehouse carrying two letters, eagerly offering them up.

Over the years, as Lan Chang'an showed increasing care for the juvenile turtle, the Earth Burrowing Rat felt threatened and would often try to curry favor with him.

Low-ranked demonic beasts, though not as intelligent as humans, were still smarter than ordinary animals. However, the Earth Burrowing Rat only had a middle-grade bloodline, equivalent to a human with middle-grade spiritual roots, so it was not easy for it to advance to the second-rank.

Lan Chang'an took the two letters.

One was from Feiyue Lake.

The other was from Jin Yun Valley.

A year ago, at the post station in Huanglong Immortal City, Lan Chang'an had written letters to Li Erqing and Zhao Siyao to contact them.

However, with Huanglong Immortal City being so distant, even spirit pigeon flying letters would take at least half a year for a round trip.

Lan Chang'an opened Li Erqing's letter first.

Learning that Li Erqing had advanced smoothly to the seventh layer of Qi-Refining without using a Bottleneck-Breaking Pill, he felt relieved.

It was foreseeable that Li Erqing's cultivation would return to the right track and he would once again take the lead over Lan Chang'an.

It wasn't that Li Erqing's cultivation was much faster. Both of them used low-grade spiritual roots for their main cultivation techniques. But Lan Chang'an was limited by the constraints of time, unable to gain obvious benefits from pills.

Li Erqing's Earth Rock Scripture was also not outstanding in power, but as long as he cultivated diligently and was well-supplied with spirit pills and spiritual rice, he could steadily progress relatively quickly. Ignoring potential bottlenecks, his progress would always stay slightly ahead of Lan Chang'an's.

"A middle-grade spiritual root, Mu Jiuan?" Lan Chang'an's expression became odd.

Li Erqing's ninth child "Mu Jiuan" had a spiritual root quality close to the high-grade, so the Mu Family awarded Li Erqing generously with spirit stones, magical treasures, Qi-Refining late-stage pills, and so on.

All of this was due to giving birth to a child. The letter mentioned many matters regarding the Mu Family's internal affairs.

Including the eldest young lady, Mu Xiuyun.

"A year ago, Mu Xiuyun bought the 'Meridian Protecting Pill' at a high price but failed in her attempt to establish her Foundation, sustaining severe injuries and severely damaging her vitality." This unfavorable news made Lan Chang'an sigh deeply.

Failing to establish the Foundation carried the risk of losing one's life. The Meridian Protecting Pill could not increase the chances of establishing the Foundation, however, it retained the effect of strengthening the dantian and protecting the meridians, so there was less risk of losing one's life in failure.

With so many spoils, a demand naturally arose. There were shops with backing that would do business in fencing stolen goods.

"Talisman Master Lan." As Lan Chang'an exited Water Moon Residence, passing cultivators on the street would greet him.

Over these past two years, Lan Chang'an had gotten acquainted with his neighbors, and nearby cultivators would also come purchase talismans from him.

The talismans sold by Lan Chang'an were of excellent quality yet priced slightly lower than regular shops.

...

Huanglong Immortal City covered a vast area, with flying not prohibited in most residential areas within the city.

Lan Chang'an rode a magical weapon, flying out of Jinxiu Lane towards the commercial district in the city center.

The street stalls and most shops in the inner city were concentrated in this area.

Lan Chang'an did not go directly to the place for fencing stolen goods, first checking into an inn.

He disguised himself in his room. Then, seizing an opportunity when no one noticed, he slipped out of the room and blended into the crowd leaving the inn.

An hour later, he arrived at a shop that bought second-hand magical weapons.

This place overtly repaired magical weapons as its main business while also buying used ones, but in reality, it was for fencing stolen goods.

"What can I do for you, sir?" The shopkeeper gave him a once-over, noticing his disguise, and revealed a knowing smile.

"I have three magical weapons I have no use for, do you buy them?" The disguised middle-aged man Lan Chang'an took out the magical weapons from his storage pouch.

"We buy, of course we buy. But since these are second-hand magical weapons, the price will be thirty to fifty percent lower than normal magical weapons." After verifying them, the shopkeeper quoted a price for the three magical treasures.

"One middle-grade, two low-grade magical weapons, the condition is still decent. How about one hundred and sixty spirit stones?"

"Too low, at least two hundred." Lan Chang'an negotiated the price slightly, closing the deal at one hundred and eighty spirit stones.

The price was cheap, but it was worth it to avoid trouble.

Lan Chang'an strode boldly out of the shop, secretly probing with his spiritual sense to prevent being targeted.

The law enforcement in the inner city was decent, but not absolutely safe.

The formation arrays in the city could detect the fluctuations of battles, and enforcement cultivators would promptly arrive.

However, if it happened in a secluded area where one could instantly kill the target or poison them without causing too much of a disturbance, then theoretically murder and plunder were still possible.

It was just that the difficulty and risk would be much higher than outside, so hardly anyone attempted it.

This was the real world of cultivation, not a game's main city - there was no such thing as absolute safety anywhere in the cultivation world.

...

"No one's following me." Lan Chang'an blended into the crowd, not detecting any abnormalities.

Two or three magical weapons were not enough to provoke murderous intent within the city.

He returned to the inn.

Disguising himself again, he went to another shop that bought used magical weapons.

This time, Lan Chang'an was bolder.

He sold four magical weapons at once, obtaining over two hundred spirit stones.

"Still no one targeting me?" Lan Chang'an blended back into the crowd, feeling surprised that he had gone unnoticed.

Huanglong Immortal City truly deserved its reputation as a sanctuary for wandering cultivators!

It seemed that as long as it wasn't a greatly renowned treasure, there was little risk in fencing ordinary magical weapons.

This led him to speculate that an unknown number of evil and rogue cultivators must be lurking within the city, their identities obscured.

(End of chapter)