Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Chapter 275 Returning to the Clouds and Mist, Changes in the Immortal City

Enjoy reading "Immortality Begins with Inheriting the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation".

The speed of a Core Formation cultivator is far superior to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Even with his unhurried flight, Li Ping still only spent less than four days traversing several countries and arriving at the edge of the Cloud and Mist Mountains.

Then, the pale blue rainbow light plunged into the misty mountains.

……

Outside the towering gates of Fenglan Immortal City, the pale blue rainbow light dissipated, revealing a graceful figure within.

Li Ping looked up at the city gate in front of him, and at the endless stream of cultivators and mortals coming and going, and a smile appeared in his eyes.

I haven't been back for nearly seventy years, but this immortal city is still the same as I remember.

Thinking back to his youth, he spent nearly twenty years working hard in the Immortal City before finally succeeding in Foundation Establishment, thus awakening his own talent and embarking on a different path in life.

So if we're talking about his "white moonlight"... actually, the Immortal City is his white moonlight, where his twenty years of struggle are preserved.

With a slight smile, Li Ping shook his head and followed the crowd toward the city gate.

Unlike Tianshang Immortal City, Fenglan Immortal City is open to all cultivators regardless of their origin.

Cultivators entering the city must present their identity tokens, and Li Ping was no exception.

However, he had lived in the Immortal City in his early years, and his Immortal City identity token was still in his storage bag, so there was no need to apply for a new token now.

According to his identity token, he is a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

At this moment, Li Ping's own aura was also reduced to about the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Showing his token, Li Ping slowly walked into the immortal city under the respectful gaze of the Qi Refining cultivators guarding the city.

……

His main purpose in coming to Xiancheng was to revisit his old haunts and reminisce about his youth, and also to see his old friends and brothers, including Zhang Tie, again.

Along the wide street, Li Ping arrived at Zhuque Lane, where he used to live. Looking at the Qi Refining cultivators coming and going nearby, he couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

When the Qi Refining cultivators saw a Foundation Establishment stage senior appear here, they speculated about his purpose and made way for him.

Only a few bold individuals, seemingly sensing an opportunity, cautiously approached Li Ping, fawningly inquiring if he needed anything, offering their services.

Li Ping smiled and shook his head.

But just as those people were about to leave in disappointment, Li Ping casually took out a pile of low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and rewarded them.

"this?"

When the group woke up, they discovered that the small pile of spirit stones actually contained more than twenty stones. After dividing them equally, each person could get five or six stones.

The other cultivators who had deliberately avoided the area were all filled with envy upon witnessing this scene.

But when they tried to ask their senior for a red envelope again, they found that the senior had already left.

Only a few daring cultivators remained, stunned and seemingly unable to believe what had just happened, having unexpectedly received a "large sum" of spirit stones.

……

I strolled around the outer city, revisiting familiar places and catching a glimpse of the old scenery.

With a sigh, Li Ping then stepped into the inner city.

The inner city mainly consists of markets formed by shops opened by sects from nearby countries, as well as offices of the major Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan under the jurisdiction of the Immortal City.

Besides these two, the remaining options are cave dwellings for rent and resource-producing areas such as herb gardens and spirit beast gardens.

In fact, Li Ping lived in the inner city for a longer period of time.

He lived in the outer city for less than twenty years, but in the inner city for more than thirty years.

However, by the time he moved to the inner city, he had already achieved great success, becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a second-tier talisman maker.

So, with almost no effort, he enjoyed the preferential treatment of the Meng family and successfully moved into the Immortal Peach Mountain cave dwelling, which possessed a second-tier superior spiritual vein.

It's strange, really.

Mingming had suffered a lot in the outer city before finally gaining a foothold and no longer had to worry about being kicked out of the city for not being able to pay the rent for his cave dwelling.

After arriving in the inner city, thanks to his second-tier talisman-making skills, he easily lived a life of luxury. He had no shortage of spiritual lands and resources, and was warmly received wherever he went. Everyone would politely call him "Talisman Master Li" when they met.

But what he truly misses and feels nostalgic about now is the difficult struggle he endured in the outer city. As for Mount Xiantao, he doesn't feel anything for it.

"Human nature is just base, and I'm no exception."

Li Ping shook his head inwardly and ultimately did not visit Xiantao Mountain.

He went directly to the Myriad Laws Pavilion, revealing the aura of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and then instructed the pavilion's steward to inform the person in charge of the Myriad Laws Pavilion to come out and meet him.

Wanfa Pavilion is an official shop run by the Immortal City, responsible for collecting and purchasing spiritual materials and selling finished spiritual artifacts, pills, and other products.

When Li Ping left the Immortal City, the person in charge of the Myriad Laws Pavilion was his third brother, Gu Musheng.

The steward respectfully led Li Ping to a private room on the second floor, served him spiritual tea, and then left him there to wait. He quietly left to ask the manager to entertain the Foundation Establishment senior.

……

In a magnificent study of Wanfa Tower, a middle-aged man with dark skin and an ordinary appearance, dressed in a gorgeous robe like a wealthy official, was patiently handling the accounts of Wanfa Tower.

This person was none other than Gu Musheng.

As he processed the accounts, he secretly sighed at the hardships his senior sister, the sect leader, had endured.

In name, Meng Qingyi is the head of Fenglan Immortal City, and she is the highest authority in the city.

But what's the reality?

Gu Musheng knew very well that the division of interests in Fenglan Immortal City was as follows: Ziyun Valley got 45%, Xijianchi and Qingmu Sect each got 25%, and the Meng family got only 5%.

In other words, the true masters of the Immortal City are actually the three sects, including Ziyun Valley. Meng Qingyi is only responsible for management, and as the sect leader, she is accountable to the three sects.

At the beginning, we considered that the Defenders of Morality Alliance might intervene.

The three sects are merely hiding behind the scenes, ruling the Immortal City through the Meng family.

But gradually, as time went by, and after the destruction of the Azure Cloud Secret Realm, more and more cultivators began to venture deep into the Cloud Mist Mountains to obtain cultivation resources, and the Immortal City benefited from this, becoming more and more prosperous.

The three sects were no longer satisfied with merely dividing up the profits of the Immortal City; they wanted to take the Immortal City directly into their own hands.

The reason he is dealing with the accounts so urgently is because a while ago, Ziyun Valley sent an inspector to represent the three sects and be stationed in the Immortal City.

The first thing that person did upon arrival was to check the accounts.

Gu Musheng was worried that if the other party found out the problem, it would implicate him, so he hurriedly dealt with the accounts.

After all, that person had embarrassed the sect leader several times.

He couldn't fight city hall, so he didn't object to the three sects taking over the Immortal City.

Anyway, he has made enough money over the years. At worst, he can give up his position and, like his seventh brother, take his family to a second-tier spiritual land outside the city to manage the family business.

Just as he was busy, a subordinate's voice suddenly came from outside: "Sect Master, a Foundation Establishment stage senior has specifically requested to see you. I have led him to the private room to wait."

"Foundation Establishment cultivator." Gu Musheng nodded.

As a businessman, he deeply understands the importance of personal connections, and his shrewd and adaptable personality makes him extremely adept at handling such interpersonal relationships.

Although he had many important matters to attend to, out of a desire not to offend anyone, he quickly put away the accounts in his hands, put on a smiling face, and walked towards the private room his subordinate had told him about.

Stepping outside the private room, Gu Musheng pushed open the door and said with a smile, "May I ask which fellow Daoist is this..."

When he finally recognized the familiar face in the private room, his words stopped abruptly, replaced by a look of surprise and excitement on his face: "Brother, you're back!"

Li Ping smiled and nodded: "It's me."

……

Compared to when he left, nearly seventy years have passed, and Gu Musheng looks much more mature, with a more commanding presence.

Clearly, over the years he has become accustomed to his status as a Foundation Establishment senior and manager of the Myriad Laws Pavilion, and is no longer the smiling merchant he used to be.

They were all engaged in business.

Before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, he was essentially a self-employed individual, but after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, he became the leader of the Immortal City Grand Chamber of Commerce, a completely different situation.

Their identities and statuses are also worlds apart.

The only thing that remained unchanged was his cultivation level.

Having spent nearly ninety years in the Foundation Establishment stage, Gu Musheng's cultivation had improved considerably, but he had not broken through to the next level and remained at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Although he successfully established his foundation, his four spiritual roots made his cultivation extremely difficult afterward.

Of course, Li Ping believes that this is also related to the fact that he himself did not focus on cultivation.

Otherwise, given his business acumen, he wouldn't have lacked resources for cultivation.

It's unlikely that after so many years, he would still only have the cultivation level of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

However, this was his personal choice, and Li Ping couldn't say much about it.

After all, not everyone is like him, able to activate their unparalleled talent after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

If there is no hope of achieving immortality, living a comfortable life as a Foundation Establishment cultivator is also a kind of happiness.

……

Having not seen each other for nearly seventy years, Gu Musheng was both excited and curious: "Brother, where have you been all these years?"

Back then, before his elder brother left the Immortal City to go into seclusion in the secret cave, he specifically told him and made it clear that he would be leaving the Immortal City for a period of time.

But he never expected that his elder brother would disappear for nearly seventy years.

He and Zhang Tie were once worried that something might have happened to their elder brother. So when Bai Lin adopted some orphans to carry on the family line, they not only did not stop her, but also secretly provided some support.

If something truly happens to my elder brother, the Li family of Wuyuntan will be his last trace in this world.

Li Ping smiled and shook his head, briefly recounting his experiences over the years.

Upon hearing that his elder brother had gone to the far north, Gu Musheng was secretly astonished.

He guessed that his older brother had left to escape the war, but he never expected that his brother would go to such a far place.

Under his observation, his elder brother's appearance had hardly changed, as if he were immortal. His cultivation level, on the other hand, had not changed much since he left, remaining at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

"Brother, Zhang Tie and Cheng Yao must really want to see you, but Cheng Yao and Bai Qing aren't in Immortal City either," Gu Musheng said with a smile. "I'll send someone to inform them right now and tell them to come to Immortal City as soon as possible. How about we all get together when they arrive?"

The reason Li Ping came to see Gu Musheng first was because he was good at organizing things.

Upon hearing Gu Musheng's suggestion, he smiled and nodded, "Okay, you make the arrangements."