txolops Chapter 151: 33 Years Later, the Curtain Falls
Chapter 151: 33 Years Later, the Curtain Falls
Upon arriving at the Immortal City, enter the Immortal City and proceed to Qinglong Mountain to present your visiting card.
Huang Yan was soon received by Meng Qingyi, the head of the General Affairs Department.
Meng Qingyi smiled and said, "I am Meng Qingyi, the current head of the Immortal City's General Affairs Department. I greet Fellow Daoist Huang."
Facing the sweet and lovely girl, Huang Yan remained calm and greeted her with a smile: "I am Huang Yan, greetings to Sect Leader Meng."
Guided by Meng Qingyi, the two sat down in the hall.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, and once the maidservant served the spiritual tea, Meng Qingyi asked with curiosity, "Fellow Daoist Huang, what brings you to the Immortal City?"
Huang Yan's visiting card only stated his own identity.
When Foundation Establishment cultivators from Ziyun Valley came to visit, Meng Qingyi naturally wouldn't be negligent.
However, she also didn't know Huang Yan's purpose in coming, which is why she asked him directly at this moment.
Huang Yan smiled and said solemnly, "To be honest, I came to Immortal City to meet your senior sister, Fairy Dai."
"See Senior Sister Dai?" Meng Qingyi's face showed a look of doubt. "Are Fellow Daoist Huang and Senior Sister Dai old friends?"
Huang Yan did not intend to answer his question, but instead smiled and said, "Fairy Dai knows the details very well, so please inform Sect Leader Meng for me."
Seeing his confident demeanor, Meng Qingyi knew that what he said was probably not a lie.
She shook her head with a wry smile: "If Fellow Daoist Huang wants to see Senior Sister Dai, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. In fact, Senior Sister Dai left Immortal City to travel last year, and I don't know her current location."
"You went out to travel?" Huang Yan was taken aback upon hearing this.
Meng Qing nodded and then said, "Although Senior Sister Dai is not in Immortal City, Master has been in seclusion there. If Fellow Daoist Huang's matter is truly urgent, may I report to Master on Fellow Daoist Huang's behalf?"
Huang Yan shook his head: "This matter is not urgent. I will wait for Fairy Dai to return in the Immortal City."
His intended Daoist partner is Dai Sangyu, as for meeting True Person Fenglan... that's the Ancestor's business.
After seeing Huang Yan off, Meng Qingyi looked suspicious. She couldn't figure out what he was up to.
"Could it be that Senior Sister Dai owed someone a favor in the past, so he's come to her now, asking for her help?" After thinking for a moment, she finally decided that she should report this matter to her master.
After all, Ziyun Valley is the overlord of the Western Wilderness and Western Regions. Even after Senior Sister Dai forms her core, the strength of the Immortal City is still far inferior.
When it comes to Ziyun Valley, she dares not be careless.
To her surprise, when she told her master that Huang Yan had come to find Senior Sister Dai, her master only sighed.
Aside from instructing her not to concern herself with the matter, he said nothing more, leaving Meng Qingyi completely bewildered.
"What exactly happened?"
……
Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng focused on managing their family business, Cheng Yao led the Wang family back on track, and Bai Qing diligently cultivated his spiritual practice.
Before we knew it, three years had quietly passed.
Each year, 630 spirit stones can be collected. After three years of gatherings, the total amount of the Foundation Building Fund has reached 4,270 spirit stones.
This amount actually exceeds the value of a Foundation Building Pill.
Therefore, at this year's gathering, Li Ping solemnly announced: The Foundation Building Fund has completed its mission, and from now on, no one will need to pay spirit stones every year!
At the same time, the gatherings were changed to be held irregularly, instead of annually.
Upon hearing Li Ping's words, the other four all showed expressions of relief.
The reason they felt relieved was not because they were reluctant to part with the spirit stones, but because of the sense of relief they felt after finally completing a task after a long period of perseverance.
Taking in the changes in their expressions, Li Ping smiled as well.
When the Tongzhou Society was first established 33 years ago, who could have guessed that they would actually be able to do what they promised in their oath?
Of the seven siblings, five, including Li Ping, have successfully established their foundations, except for Teng Feng, who tragically perished in the beast tide. Only the seventh brother, Bai Qing, remains.
Moreover, Bai Qing had recently reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and was only one Foundation Establishment Pill away from breaking through to Foundation Establishment!
A year later, Bai Qing will travel to the Qingyun Secret Realm in Jixia to collect spiritual herbs and earn military merits, which can be exchanged for Foundation Establishment Pills.
With these 4,270 spirit stones as a foundation, Li Ping could equip him with luxurious gear. As long as he didn't waste his time and his luck wasn't too bad, collecting enough military merits to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill shouldn't be a problem.
With his three spiritual roots and the aid of Foundation Establishment Pills, the probability of him achieving Foundation Establishment is not low.
……
From then on, everyone was free.
So everyone was very happy that night, and the banquet was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Everyone excitedly discussed what equipment to buy for Bai Qing with the funds, and also provided Bai Qing with guidance on combat techniques in various situations.
Talismans, magical artifacts, and elixirs that quickly restore mana...
The feast lasted until dawn. Zhang Tie and the other two took their leave, leaving only Bai Qing behind. They knew that their elder brother wanted to discuss the purchase of equipment with Bai Qing.
They trusted their eldest brother completely, believing he wouldn't tamper with the Foundation Fund.
After all, the eldest brother was the one who contributed the most to the Foundation Building Fund. The combined contributions of everyone else were barely comparable to his.
Even Cheng Yao, who successfully established her foundation without using the Foundation Establishment Fund by chance, was not treated unfairly by her elder brother, who gave her a lot of compensation.
They were completely convinced of their elder brother's character.
After watching the three leave, Li Ping smiled and looked at Bai Qing: "Bai Qing, we've been discussing this all night, what are your thoughts?"
Bai Qing shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Brother, don't ask me anymore. What ideas could a Qi Refining cultivator like me have? I'll listen to everyone else."
"Okay." Li Ping nodded.
After summarizing the results of the night's discussion, he listed out the equipment that Bai Qing planned to buy for this trip.
First, regarding magical artifacts, Li Ping's plan is to purchase three top-tier first-class offensive magical artifacts and three top-tier defensive magical artifacts for Bai Qing.
The reason for not purchasing second-tier magic artifacts is that it is extremely energy-consuming for a Qi Refining cultivator to drive a second-tier magic artifact, and the power that can be exerted is limited. It is better to directly use a first-tier top-grade magic artifact.
The same applies to talismans. Even with the magical power of a Qi Refining cultivator, activating a talisman would take a very long time, making it unsuitable as a regular means of combat.
Considering that magical artifacts may be damaged during battles in the secret realm, it is advisable to purchase three offensive and three defensive magical artifacts.
Secondly, there are talismans.
The power of a talisman is sealed within it during its creation. It can be released with just a little magical guidance, so there is no need to consider its grade. The greater the power, the better.
Li Ping planned to equip Bai Qing with twenty low-grade second-tier spirit talismans and ten mid-grade second-tier spirit talismans that he had drawn himself.
Of course, he couldn't draw a second-tier mid-grade spirit talisman yet. In his explanation, he would tell Bai Qing that he had bought it by chance from the black market.
With so many talismans at his disposal, Bai Qing even possessed the combat power to reverse the Foundation Establishment stage.
Finally, there was the pill for quickly restoring mana. Li Ping prepared a first-grade high-quality pill called "Qingyuan Pill" for Bai Qing.
A single Qingyuan Pill can restore about one-third of the mana of a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator in a short time, making it extremely effective in battle. Its value is much higher than that of pills that enhance cultivation.
Li Ping prepared five bottles of such pills for Bai Qing!
……
A few days later, the storage bag containing all the supplies was handed to Bai Qing.
Li Ping smiled and said, "Go ahead, I'll be waiting for the day you successfully establish your foundation!"
Bai Qing gratefully agreed: "Thank you, brother. I will definitely live up to everyone's expectations."
Although it will be almost a year before the Qingyun Secret Realm opens, the journey is long.
Soon, Bai Qing will set off under the guidance of the Foundation Establishment experts in the Immortal City.
Therefore, Li Ping gave him these items in advance.
……
Shortly after Bai Qing set off, a guest's visit surprised and delighted Li Ping.
Master Ji, with his full head of white hair, made a special trip to the Immortal City to visit him.
Looking at Master Ji, whose white eyebrows drooped almost to his cheeks and who looked old and frail, Li Ping couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
Master Ji is over 110 years old this year. According to Li Ping's estimate, his time will probably come in the next few years.
He originally planned to return to Jiang Kingdom soon to see his old friend one last time, but he never expected that Master Ji would come to the Immortal City to visit him in person.
He couldn't help but blame himself, saying, "Brother Ji, you're so old, why do you still have to trouble yourself to come to Immortal City? I should go back to Jiang Kingdom to visit you."
Upon hearing this, Master Ji remained calm and said with a smile, "Brother Li, you don't need to blame yourself. I was just bored at home, so I came out for a stroll while I still had some time."
After saying that, Master Ji waved his hand and gestured for a woman who had been standing next to him to come forward.
Li Ping had noticed the woman from the beginning, but he didn't pay much attention to her until he saw Master Ji's actions, at which point he turned his attention back to her.
This is a woman with a refreshing and elegant appearance and a slender figure. She is about twenty years old, which is the most beautiful age.
Actually, while Master Ji was exchanging pleasantries with Li Ping, she was secretly observing Li Ping.
At this moment, at Master Ji's invitation, she stepped forward and said confidently, "Ji Shuwen greets Senior!"
"No need to be polite, please sit down." Li Ping nodded with a smile.
The moment the woman spoke, he already knew her identity.
Master Ji once told him that he had a granddaughter with two spiritual roots who had joined the Crimson Flame Sect, a Core Formation sect in the Yun Kingdom, and that was none other than Ji Shuwen in front of him.
At the time, he also promised to lend Ji Shuwen a hand when she was building her foundation.
Thinking of this, he scanned Ji Shuwen with his divine sense and found that her cultivation had indeed reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.
"As expected of a cultivator with two spiritual roots in the sect, he has reached such a level at only twenty-eight years old."
Li Ping inwardly praised her, but immediately steered the conversation to this matter: "Brother Ji, is Shuwen already preparing to establish her foundation?"
Master Ji smiled and nodded: "I can't hide it from you, Brother Li. The reason I've come to see you is precisely because of Shuwen."
After saying that, he looked at his granddaughter: "Shuwen, you tell us."
"Okay, Grandpa." Ji Shuwen nodded in agreement and then began to explain in a crisp and efficient manner.
Li Ping listened patiently, nodding occasionally.