Chapter 143: Sixth Level of Foundation Establishment, Brewing a Massive Ultimate Move!

Floating Moon Island.

Inside an inn located in the eastern part of the city.

Within a seemingly ordinary and simple room, a second-tier mid-grade ordinary formation was operating.

Inside the formation, a middle-aged figure sat cross-legged in cultivation.

Meanwhile, a few zhang beneath the floorboards of the room lay a thick layer of reef rock.

If scanned by divine sense, this layer of reef rock was indistinguishable from the reef rock beneath any other soil on the island.

Yet deep within the reef, there was a small hidden dwelling, completely enveloped by a Thousand Illusions Shadow Array.

Once activated, this array could generate powerful concealment effects tailored to the surrounding environment.

After being modified by Shen Lian, even a false-core cultivator with a stronger divine sense than his own would find it extremely difficult to pierce through the array's concealment.

Inside this quasi-third-tier illusion array, a Five Elements Interception Array was also running, and it was only within this double-layered formation that Shen Lian practiced his cultivation.

The seas around Fuqiu frequently suffered sneak attacks from the Sea Clan, so he did this as a double insurance.

Having completed his defenses, Shen Lian began his closed-door breakthrough.

Back in the Sea Monster Archipelago, not only had his physical body suffered shocks, but his divine sense sea had also been impacted.

Even a fully prepared cultivator like him had managed to escape only with great difficulty; as for the remaining Foundation Establishment fellow cultivators, unless they possessed methods similar to Qi Yu's, they were likely all resting at the bottom of the sea.

In Shen Lian's divine sense sea, a rhombus-shaped jade talisman floated up and down—it was precisely the Lesser Soul-Suppressing Talisman he had inscribed, used to assist in stabilizing his own divine sense sea.

Currently, the power of this jade talisman had not yet reached its expected effect. Once all five elemental spiritual powers were blessed by the Power of Heavenly Derivation, the power of the jade talisman would rival a true third-tier magical treasure.

Of course, by that time, Shen Lian would also search for third-tier precious jade to inscribe the Soul-Suppressing Talisman, making its power definitively greater.

……

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Inside the small immortal cave, the aura surrounding Shen Lian slowly calmed down.

Sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.

For him, advancing in realm did not involve any bottlenecks; his two perfected spiritual roots had already suppressed the remaining three inferior spiritual roots, preventing them from holding him back.

Upon advancing to the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, his divine sense increased by nearly four hundred zhang once again.

Pushing Shen Lian's divine sense strength in one fell swoop past the two thousand five hundred zhang mark.

Sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, with a divine sense of two thousand five.

If word of this got out, he would undoubtedly be captured and thoroughly studied.

This was not the first time Shen Lian suspected whether this body of his possessed some kind of constitution related to the soul.

"Next, I still need to search for spiritual herbs related to body cultivation. After this breakthrough, I once again have the sensation of my soul wanting to leave my body."

"Could it be that my soul has mutated and is incompatible with my physical body, forcing me to seek out herbs to enhance my physical form?"

After pondering for a while without finding any answers, Shen Lian pulled his thoughts back.

"I still need to find a large immortal city, preferably one rich in resources and stable, so it's convenient to gather spiritual materials for forging my natal magical treasure."

"Right, spiritual herbs must also be relatively abundant; after reaching the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment, I'll need to switch to different pills to ensure the best cultivation efficiency."

"Previously at Cape Immortal City, continuously consuming pills also caused my body to develop a drug tolerance. This place is best located near areas with many demonic beasts, so that if a similar situation arises again, I can go hunt some beasts."

"Aside from collecting spiritual materials, the bloodline enhancement and advancement of Big Black and Sanqian must also be put on the agenda."

……

A scattering of various thoughts surfaced in Shen Lian's mind piece by piece, and he took out a blank jade slip, intending to record his ideas within it.

However, just as he was about to record them, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, recalling the Earth-Sovereign talismans from before, which had manifested dense strings of text within his divine sense sea.

Since he could divide his divine sense to inhabit puppet talismans, writing a few memos in his divine sense sea was surely a simple matter.

Before long, ripples stirred within Shen Lian's divine sense sea, and ghostly light projections emerged, each inscribed with various thoughts in the form of text.

With a single thought, the light projections vanished; with another thought, they reappeared.

A cultivator's divine sense was truly convenient.

"Use the Heavenly Derivation Fire Domain and Earth Domain to assist the bloodline evolution of Big Black and the Dark Phoenix egg; note this one down. Sanqian will have to wait until the Heavenly Derivation Water Domain appears."

Having completed his realm breakthrough, Shen Lian had no immediate plans to take out the Dark Phoenix egg for hatching; this region was still not stable enough. Only after finding a place for long-term residence would he hatch the Dark Phoenix egg.

"Tianzhu Mountain Mining Area."

As for the conditions he had set for his immortal cave, Shen Lian finally categorized them into one location.

The largest mining area in the southern regions of the Tiannan Continent.

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This region was vast and boundless, rumored to span millions of li, situated at the intersection of several major domains. In addition to bordering human territories, it also bordered the domains of the demon race.

As the primary production area for high-grade ores belonging to the several Nascent Soul sects in the southern Tiannan Continent, the Tianzhu Mountain region gathered an immense number of cultivators.

There were demon races and human cultivators; one could easily imagine how chaotic the order was here.

Yet precisely because it was a production area for Nascent Soul sect mines, numerous mining cities had been established along the mining district, with each sect dispatching powerful figures to hold down the fort and ensure the stability of the mining cities.

Just like Cape Immortal City.

Inside the city, everyone was peaceful and orderly; outside the city, everyone threw down, competing to boost the performance metrics of the Underworld King.

A truly peaceful cultivation world virtually did not exist; one could only say that whoever had the higher realm was the one who found peace.

Just like in the Sea Monster Island Chain, the white-robed cultivator entered the demon nest alone, slapping the Demon King across the face with a resounding *clack*, while other Demon Kings dared not speak out in anger, keeping their heads bowed from afar.

Who could say that the white-robed cultivator wasn't peaceful?

Having locked onto the Tianzhu Mountain mining area as his target, Shen Lian leaned against the rock wall of the immortal cave, narrowing his eyes in thought.

As the largest mining area in the southernmost part of the Tiannan Continent, apart from producing fourth-tier spiritual materials, this region also yielded seventy percent of the third-tier ores across the cultivation worlds of the southern domains.

One could say that most of the weapon-refining materials commonly used by cultivators could be found in Tianzhu Mountain.

At that moment, he suddenly realized a major problem: while there was nothing wrong with preparing spiritual materials to forge a third-tier natal magical treasure...

He currently didn't even have a concept in mind of what kind of natal magical treasure to forge.

Different magical treasures required different spiritual materials.

First of all, what could be ascertained was that the magical treasure to be forged would be a five-element magical treasure.

To conceal his appearance, it would be best if this magical treasure could also be disassembled for use, matching the appropriate attribute to the occasion, which would also make it convenient to hide his five elemental spiritual roots.

However, the sheer quantity of spiritual materials for forging a five-element magical treasure was too vast; he couldn't possibly collect one of every kind he laid eyes on.

Everyone else collected spiritual materials based on the weapon they intended to refine; he was doing it the other way around.

"I need to become a weapon refiner first so that I can collect spiritual materials with a purpose."

Shen Lian rubbed his temples. Tianzhu Mountain produced over seventy percent of third-tier spiritual materials, but he couldn't possibly collect every single one of them.

"As the mining area for all Nascent Soul sects in the southern continent, the Core Formation True Persons stationed in Tianzhu Mountain are far beyond those Core Formation cultivators in the Myriad Star Seas immortal cities. My Heavenly Derivation Jade Talisman has a fighting chance against early Core Formation, but any higher would be a bit..."

As an artisan, Shen Lian naturally didn't need to lick blood off blade edges to make a living like most cultivators, but some dangers were not things you could avoid simply by wanting to.

He had never seen anyone walk past an ant on the ground and deliberately walk around it.

Nor had anyone ever crushed an ant and then turned back to check on it.

Shen Lian also wanted to live a proper human life, but in the eyes of high-tier cultivators, he was still just that little ant.

Take the Sea Monster Island Chain crisis, for instance; a casual wave of a high-tier cultivator's hand had brought catastrophic disaster to the entire spirit vessel.

"The Tianzhu Mountain mining area boasts majestic terrain and towering mountain ranges; if I rely on the mountain terrain to set up formations, it will surely unleash even greater power."

……

Having finished his breakthrough, Shen Lian holed up in the immortal cave and pondered for a long time, eventually reaching a tentative decision.

He was going to brew a major move!

Head to Nanya Immortal City and open a shop.

This time, if he didn't accumulate enough comprehension points, he would stubbornly lock himself into Nanya Immortal City.

Third-tier arrays, third-tier weapon refining.

These were the primary targets of this major move.

A day later, a spirit vessel cut through the vast ocean outside Floating Moon Island, heading northward.

There were many cultivators making a living within the Fuqiu sea region, and one could frequently see many cultivators traveling across the sea aboard spirit vessels.

They maintained mutual vigilance, scattering at a wide berth from afar. Of course, there were also stubborn cultivators who trailed others halfway, all of whom were picking targets for unearned gains.

"Once I break through to the Core Formation realm, I really should purchase a small spirit vessel."

Watching everyone else travel by ordinary spirit vessel, Shen Lian couldn't help but ponder.

Even a large spirit vessel could not compare to a small spirit vessel. It was said that some spirit vessels possessed a spirit-detecting inhibition array; once activated, it could autonomously scan for hidden living qi near the vessel.

With this function, one could detect ambushes against the spirit vessel in advance.

The journey to Nanya Immortal City was not short, and Shen Lian was in no rush. When passing by certain islands along the way, he would go ashore to visit the local cities and selectively purchase various spiritual items.

As he transitioned from the Fuqiu sea region into the coastal sea waters, islands finally became more numerous, and islands inhabited by mortals began to appear.

The closer he got to Nanya Immortal City, the more spirit vessels and merchant fleets he encountered. Eventually, at regular intervals, Shen Lian could see massive fleets sailing past.

The entire Nanya Immortal City was like a lodestone, attracting cultivators trying to make a living in both inner and outer seas, gathering spiritual items obtained from all over into the city.

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Its prosperity surpassed even that of Cape Immortal City in the inner sea.

When Shen Lian stood upon the ocean and caught sight of the silhouette of Nanya Immortal City, war galleys crossed the sea before his eyes like a forest, with sails spread like curtains.

Fleets and spirit vessels converging from all directions gathered here, their bustling entry and departure into the harbor reaching a peak of prosperity.

Seeing Shen Lian pilot his spirit vessel forward, Qi cultivation practitioners aboard smaller treasure ships and spirit vessels hurriedly steered out of the way.

Although he had encountered quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators along this journey, looking across the sea regions both inside and out, Qi cultivation practitioners still constituted the very bottom tier.

It was simply that the outer sea possessed abundant resources and boundless crises, and only Foundation Establishment cultivators could venture deeper into it, which had created the illusion at the beginning that most people encountered were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Nanya Immortal City was a city half on land and half in the sea, presenting a rolling, terraced landscape from south to north.

The northern half of the city was built upon a flattened mountain foundation, while the southern half was constructed directly within the sea.

The city walls standing proudly in the sea reached a height of two hundred zhang, resembling a giant ridge spanning across the ocean.

At the center of the city walls, three colossal gates towering a hundred zhang high resembled the gaping mouths of deep-sea behemoths, swallowing and spitting out spirit vessels and treasure ships.

Outside the city, dozens of docks pierced straight into the sea like sharp swords, each of them a hundred li long.

Even so, the interior of the docks was packed tight with incoming and outgoing vessels.

"How prosperous."

Taking in the full scene of Nanya Immortal City, Shen Lian ruminated for a long time before coming up with these four words.

Along this journey, while roaming various islands along the route, he had also purchased some introductions and notes concerning the Southern Sea Region.

According to what he learned, Nanya Immortal City currently had three city lords, all of whom were Core Formation True Persons.

The First City Lord was Yunlong True Person, the sixth elder of the Cloud Ascendant Sect, an early-stage Core Formation cultivator.

The remaining two vice city lords, True Person Yunding and True Person Qingfeng, were both mid-stage Core Formation cultivators.

The first five de facto elders of the Cloud Ascendant Sect were all Core Formation perfected cultivators; True Person Yunlong was a small realm behind, yet his combat prowess was widely acknowledged to be no less than that of a Core Formation perfected cultivator.

Aside from his own battle prowess, this was also because True Person Yunlong possessed a third-tier Azure Water Mirage Dragon.

Man and dragon combined had once eliminated a third-tier perfected demon king in the Tianzhu Mountain mining area—a solid, hard-earned record of achievement.

It was rumored that in the eyes of many cultivators in the Southern Sea Region, True Person Yunlong's probability of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage was higher than that of the sect's first five Core Formation perfected cultivators.

As a late-stage Core Formation Great True Person, True Person Yunlong naturally would not personally manage the trivial administrative affairs of Nanya Immortal City.

In fact, he hadn't even come to Nanya Immortal City; he was busy striving for his breakthrough to the Core Formation perfected stage.

Normally, only the two vice city lords held down the fort in the immortal city, but even so, the prestigious name of True Person Yunlong still shrouded the immortal city, deterring all directions.

Having learned the achievements of the immortal city's lord, Shen Lian silently muttered "impressive" in his heart, after which he low-key entered the immortal city.

Sticking to his old trade, he would replicate the Black Whale model—find a place to open a pill shop, and hopefully live in peace for a few years under the shelter of True Person Yunlong.

……

A month slipped by in a flash.

On Clam Street, at the boundary where the land and water sections of Nanya Immortal City met, a pill shop named 'Original Heart' appeared.

The meaning of Original Heart was to follow one's original intention, keep firmly in mind the immortal virtue of an alchemist, and dedicate oneself to providing high-quality pills for cultivators.

This was Shen Lian's newly opened pill shop.

After multi-party investigations within the immortal city, he had selected this street.

Nanya Immortal City had a multitude of cultivators, and Qi cultivation practitioners formed an overwhelming ocean of people; opening a small pill shop was like a tiny wave in the sea, hardly capable of stirring up much of a commotion.

To say nothing else, just the number of pill shops within the city exceeded Shen Lian's expectations: various Zhang, Wang, Li, and Sun families, Hundred Refinements, Seeking Thousand... the names of various pill shops dazzled the eyes.

The sheer quantity of pill shops was staggering, luxurious decorations were everywhere, powerful entities established pill mansions and pill towers, and even some pill shops hung out signs claiming that a certain second-tier alchemist personally presided over the shop.

A certain alchemist had once refined a specific number of medium-grade pills in a single furnace.

There were even signs written in gilded characters outside shops proclaiming that the pill mansion could undertake commissions to refine Foundation Establishment Pills and the like.

Unable to compare with these large pill shops, the Original Heart Pill Shop had a storefront only two zhang and two chi long, with a double door and a small window on either side.

Shen Lian made his resolve clear through the shop's name, eschewing flashy gimmicks and focusing on refining good pills for fellow cultivators based on his 'original heart'.

In the corner of one of the small windows, a small sign was wedged, crookedly scribbled with the words: "Happy Pills, limited supply."

(End of this chapter)

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