Cultivation begins with earning spirit stones

Chapter 82 Rising Fame

As soon as the stall was set up, disciples surrounded it.

"Senior brother, I heard you can refine a top-grade first-rank Mind-Concentrating Pill?"

Zhang Lin looked up and saw a young disciple in the late stage of Qi Refining, with a fair complexion and eager eyes.

"It can be refined."

"Then... could you help me refine a batch? I'll provide the herbs myself, and the payment is negotiable."

Zhang Lin said calmly, "Bring the medicinal herbs at this time tomorrow."

The disciple was overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, and turned to leave.

Half an hour later, most of the pills were sold, bringing in more than two hundred spirit stones.

Suddenly a figure stepped out from the crowd and went straight to the stall.

The man was about forty years old, with a thin face, slightly closed eyes, and a restrained aura, indicating unfathomable cultivation.

Zhang Lin's gaze narrowed slightly; this person was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The man glanced down at the jade bottle on the stall, picked up a bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills, uncorked it, and sniffed it.

"Top-grade, perfectly cooked, and full of medicinal properties." He put down the jade bottle and looked at Zhang Lin. "Did you refine this pill?"

Zhang Lin stood up and cupped his hands in greeting: "Replying to Senior, it is indeed what I have refined."

The man nodded slightly, took out a token from his sleeve, and handed it over.

"I am Lu Yuanshan, the peak master of Cuiping Peak. If you are interested, you may come and find me. I am currently short of a disciple who can refine pills."

Zhang Lin took the token and saw that the front was engraved with the three characters "Cuiping Peak" and the back with the character "Lu".

"Thank you for your kind offer, Senior Lu. I will definitely visit you another day."

Lu Yuanshan nodded, turned and left, his steps unhurried, disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

The disciples watching looked at each other and whispered among themselves.

"Peak Master Lu? He's a powerful figure in the entire outer sect's eighteen peaks, with a cultivation level in the late Foundation Establishment stage."

"Is this junior brother about to achieve great success?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let anyone hear."

Zhang Lin put the token into his storage bag, his expression unchanged, but he already had a plan in mind.

Lu Yuanshan, the peak master of Cuiping Peak, is in the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

If we can get on this line, the threat from the Zhou family will be nothing to fear.

But now is not the time.

He needs to establish himself in the outer circle first, let more people know his name, and make more people owe him favors.

At that time, visiting Lu Yuanshan would be a natural progression, and he would not just be a disciple of alchemy.

Zhang Lin packed up his stall and returned along the mountain road.

------

Inner Gate, Crimson Cloud Peak.

Deep in the bamboo forest, in Zhou Mingxuan's cave dwelling.

Afu stood outside the door with his hands hanging down. His gray Taoist robe was damp with dew, and his shoes were covered in mud, indicating that he had traveled a long way.

"Come in."

Zhou Mingxuan's indifferent voice echoed from inside the cave.

Afu pushed open the door and entered, bowing respectfully.

"Young master, the investigation is complete."

Zhou Mingxuan sat behind a rosewood table, holding a scroll of alchemical texts in his hands. Hearing this, he looked up at him.

"explain."

"That Zhang Lin, seventeen years old, is a member of the Zhang family in Chuzhou, Huainan Circuit. He is not included in the family register of commoners and can only be considered a member of a poor but noble family."

Ah Fu speaks slowly and clearly.

"I left home last summer to cultivate at Shangqing Temple in Qingyun Town. I was at the early stage of Qi Refining. Later, I joined Danxia Sect and now my cultivation is at the late stage of Qi Refining."

Zhou Mingxuan put down the alchemy manual: "Less than a year, from the early stage to the late stage of Qi Refining?"

"Yes," Afu said. "Moreover, this person's alchemy skills are truly remarkable. There are already rumors among the outer disciples that he can refine a top-grade first-rank Concentration Pill with a 100% success rate."

Zhou Mingxuan's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Afu added, "Today he set up a stall at Thousand-Foot Cliff, and Lu Yuanshan, the peak master of Emerald Screen Peak, went there in person and gave him a token, saying that he needed a disciple who could refine pills."

"Lu Yuanshan?" Zhou Mingxuan's voice deepened slightly. "The one in the late Foundation Establishment stage?"

"Exactly."

There was a moment of silence inside the cave.

Zhou Mingxuan picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.

"Anything else?"

"This person is extremely cautious in his actions," Afu said. "He never goes out alone, only operates within the sect, and doesn't even rely much on sect resources. He has no weaknesses whatsoever."

"My accommodation was assigned to No. 72 Courtyard in the East District of Waishan, which was not far from Yunshuitang, Fashuotai, and Zangjinglou. I only went to and from these crowded places every day."

"Even when I set up a stall at Qianzhangyan, I always chose a time when there were many people, and I was never alone."

"He is only on good terms with one disciple named Yu Youwei, who is at the early stage of Qi Refining and lives in courtyard number eighty-three."

"The two traveled together every day, one refining pills during the day and the other tending to the spirit field, and they returned to their respective courtyards in the evening without exception."

"Has this person ever had contact with Mingyuan?"

"Although Young Master Mingyuan had a conflict with Zhang Lin in Qingxuan City, they never broke off relations face to face, and the two have not had any contact since joining the sect."

"Zhang Lin knew that Young Master Mingyuan was in the Danxia Sect, but he never took the initiative to approach him or inquire about him." Afu paused, "I believe that he is aware of the situation."

Zhou Mingxuan put down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

"How many?"

A slight smile appeared at the corner of his lips, but the smile did not reach his eyes.

"A seventeen-year-old boy from a poor family, who went from the early to the late stage of Qi Refining in less than a year, whose alchemy skills were among the best in the outer sect, who was cautious in his actions, never revealed any flaws, never gave anyone any leverage, and even managed to get Lu Yuanshan to personally hand him a token..."

He paused.

"That's not called knowing what you're doing, that's called being experienced."

Afu lowered his head and remained silent.

"Mingyuan said he killed the Zhou family's Qi Refining Perfection Master and seized the spiritual artifact Blood Fiend Banner," Zhou Mingxuan said calmly. "It's unusual for someone in the late Qi Refining stage to kill someone in the Qi Refining Perfection stage. Now it seems this person is even more secretive than I thought."

"What are your plans, young master?"

Zhou Mingxuan did not answer. After a moment of silence, he said, "Keep watching, but don't get close or disturb him. Just observe where he goes each day and who he meets."

"Understood."

"And another thing," Zhou Mingxuan said, "Go investigate Lu Yuanshan. Why does he value Zhang Lin so much? Is he genuinely interested in taking him as a disciple, or does he have ulterior motives?"

Afu bowed: "Yes."

He turned and left the cave, his footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

Zhou Mingxuan sat behind the table, his gaze fixed on the alchemical text, but he didn't turn the page for a long time.

He recalled a line from Zhou Mingxuan's letter: "This person is no ordinary person; if we don't get rid of him as soon as possible, he will surely become a great threat."

He initially thought Mingxuan was making a mountain out of a molehill.

What kind of waves can a rogue cultivator from a poor family make?

In retrospect, he had underestimated this person.

But precisely because of this, we must not act rashly; once we make a move, we must strike decisively.

The name Lu Yuanshan weighed heavily on his heart like a stone.

The peak master of Cuiping Peak, a member of the same lineage as his master and disciple, is one of the powerful figures among the eighteen outer peaks, with a cultivation level in the late Foundation Establishment stage.

If Zhang Linzhen manages to get on this side, it won't be so easy for the Zhou family to touch him again.

Zhou Mingxuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Not urgent.

Everyone has a weakness, and perhaps the girl beside him will be a breakthrough.

He was in the shadows, while Zhang Lin was in the light.

He didn't believe this person would never leave the mountain gate or accept missions outside, unless he didn't want to establish his foundation.

Now is not the time to take action.

(Thanks to Baozi and Ye Yiyi for the monthly tickets.)