chapter 173: "Three Years Later"

Though He Song thought this way in his heart, he knew it was just wishful thinking on his part.

To break through to the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation in one closed-door cultivation session seemed wonderful.

But it would cause him to miss out on many things.

For instance.

Three years later.

By now, He Song had already mastered the Mountain-Linking Earth Traveling Art to the point where he could use it freely without losing any of its power.

At the same time, during these three years, he had finally unraveled the secrets of the Dantian Settling Technique, allowing him to activate it at will and channel all the hidden spiritual energy from his limbs and bones back into his dantian.

In his spare time from cultivation, He Song hadn't forgotten about his grand farming plan.

Outside the cave residence where he had been in closed-door cultivation, the dozens of mu of spirit fields he had newly cultivated had fully transformed into spirit fields. He had even harvested one round, yielding tens of thousands of jin of spiritual rice.

Moreover, the medicinal gardens he had created were also filled with spirit herbs.

However, spirit herbs took a long time to mature, so none of them had ripened yet.

Seeing this, He Song could only wait patiently for the spirit herbs to mature.

He didn't have a small jade bottle that could instantly age freshly planted spirit herbs by hundreds or even thousands of years.

Fortunately, he had a long life ahead of him.

He didn't need to rush like other cultivators who lived day by day.

His cave residence was well-maintained and orderly.

Furthermore, He Song hadn't forgotten about the hundred mu of spirit fields he had cultivated elsewhere.

During these three years, He Song had harvested the spirit fields three times and sold spiritual rice twice, earning over thirty thousand spirit stones.

Aside from necessary expenses, He Song had saved all these spirit stones.

Now, He Song possessed six Foundation Establishment Pills.

At least for his first attempt at Foundation Establishment, he wouldn't need to exchange for more Foundation Establishment Pills.

Only after failing his first attempt at Foundation Establishment would He Wait need to return to the Earth Sect to exchange for the pills needed for a second attempt.

Thus, before attempting his first Foundation Establishment, He Song didn't plan to spend his spirit stones on exchanging for Foundation Establishment Pills.

Instead, he would save them.

If his first breakthrough to Foundation Establishment succeeded, the saved spirit stones could serve as starting capital for his Foundation Establishment stage.

At that time, high-grade magical tools and Foundation Establishment spells—all of these would require spirit stones.

By saving his spirit stones, He Song was preparing for the future.

Of course, if his first attempt at Foundation Establishment failed, the spirit stones he had saved could also be used to purchase more Foundation Establishment Pills.

After all, he now owned more than a hundred mu of spirit fields.

With so many spirit fields, he could earn over ten thousand spirit stones per year.

Almost one Foundation Establishment Pill per year.

Such a terrifying rate of earning spirit stones made even He Song marvel inwardly.

He had only mastered some basic formation techniques, yet he was able to earn so many spirit stones.

As for those sects and families.

Suddenly, He Song paused in his thoughts.

He was different from those sects and families.

The spirit stones he earned, aside from the cost of running formations, were entirely his own.

But for the people in sects and families, they had to calculate the cost of hiring formation masters to set up arrays, then factor in the cost of hiring people to guard the spirit fields, the annual operational costs of the formations, and the wages of the spirit plant caretakers.

After accounting for so many costs, the amount of spirit stones they could actually earn was surely much less than what He Song earned.

Moreover, most of the spirit stones they earned were likely used to sustain their sects and families.

Perhaps a large portion of their income even went toward paying protection fees to higher-level sects.

In this way, although they earned a lot, they also spent a lot.

Those sects and families might not live as freely as He Song did.

After all, He Song was someone who controlled the means of production and didn't have to worry about supporting a family.

No matter where he was, such an existence should allow him to live quite comfortably, right?

These thoughts flashed through He Song's mind.

But soon, he was startled awake by the light that appeared beside him.

Inside the quiet room, He Song, who had been cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes.

Glancing around, He Song let out a sigh of relief.

"A Message Talisman? Has Wei Fan's departure date arrived?"

Three years ago, before entering closed-door cultivation, He Song had anticipated that Wei Fan would leave the Earth Sect three years later to be stationed at Lianshan Immortal City on the front lines.

Now, three years later, upon seeing the Message Talisman light up, He Song naturally understood who was looking for him.

Picking up the Message Talisman, he opened it and took out a thin sheet of paper.

Glancing at it, understanding immediately flashed in He Song's eyes.

"Fellow Daoist He, it has been ten years since I broke through to Foundation Establishment, and I have now fully mastered the power of Foundation Establishment. It seems our time to part ways has come."

"Last night, the Sect Master sent me a message, assigning me to guard Lianshan Immortal City alongside Old Meng."

"Today, when I came looking for you, I found your place empty. Did something happen?"

"If anything happened, please speak frankly. As a Foundation Establishment True Person, I won't disappoint you."

"If nothing happened, I hope you can return to the Earth Sect soon. I want to bid you farewell in person."

"Wei Fan."

Putting the thin sheet of paper away into his storage pouch, He Song sighed deeply.

Although he had long known this day would come—

Even on the day Meng Guan left the sect, He Song had foreseen today's arrival.

But.

When Wei Fan was truly dispatched to the front lines of Lianshan Immortal City by the Sect Master, He Song still felt a sense of melancholy.

During these three years, though He Song spent most of his time in his cave residence, due to his extensive connections, he hadn't been completely cut off from news.

Over the past three years, the war between the Earth Sect and the Seven Stars Sect had gradually escalated.

From the initial skirmishes between Qi Condensation-stage cultivators,

It evolved into battles involving Foundation Establishment True Persons.

And now, several Foundation Establishment True Persons from both sides had already perished.

He Song didn't recognize any of the deceased Foundation Establishment True Persons from the Earth Sect.

But being outside the Earth Sect, He Song could clearly sense that the atmosphere within the sect had become increasingly oppressive.

Despite having the advantage of higher-level combat power on their side,

the Golden Core True Lords refrained from participating directly, instead sending their Foundation Establishment True Persons and Qi Condensation disciples into battle.

This strategy left He Song utterly baffled.

But.

He wasn't a Golden Core True Lord. Though he had doubts, he couldn't speculate further.

He could only conclude that the two Golden Core True Lords of the Earth Sect had their own considerations.

But what exactly those considerations were, He Song couldn't figure out.

Now, with Wei Fan also being sent to Lianshan Immortal City, He Song felt a trace of gloominess in his heart.

Meng Guan had lived a dangerous life even during the Qi Condensation stage.

His title, True Person Severing Soul, was earned through his deadly Soul Severing Blade during the Qi Condensation stage.

One could say that Meng Guan had extremely rich experience in dueling.

Even after reaching Foundation Establishment, he had lived quite comfortably in Lianshan Immortal2023

Wei Fan was different from Meng Guan.

Wei Fan had always been in safe environments.

Whether it was in the Earth Sect's branch courtyard, Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, Green Wall Immortal City, or later in the Earth Sect itself,

all these areas were very secure.

The number of life-and-death battles Wei Fan had experienced in his life was probably few and far between.

Under such circumstances, just ten years after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, he was being sent to guard Lianshan Immortal City.

One could imagine how dangerous Wei Fan's journey would be.

"Sigh, when I meet Brother Wei in person, I'll advise him to stay put in Lianshan Immortal City and avoid going out."

"There's nothing more I can do."

Standing up from the meditation cushion, He Song walked toward the entrance of the cave residence while inwardly sighing.

There was no helping it.

If Wei Fan wanted to survive this great war,

he had to play it safe.

Wei Fan wasn't Meng Guan, who had spent five years in Lianshan Immortal City living comfortably.

If he wasn't careful, Wei Fan's life might be forfeit.

Stepping out of the cave residence,

He Song took a step forward and immediately headed toward the direction of the Earth Sect's main gate.

At the same time,

he sensed the spiritual energy within his body.

Upon discovering that the spiritual energy in his body was becoming increasingly abundant and that he would soon reach the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation,

a flash of joy appeared in his eyes.

After three years of cultivation, He Song was now only one step away from the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation.

Perhaps in another month, or at most two months, He Song would take the final step to reach the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, making Foundation Establishment achievable.

Three years.

During these three years,

He Song had been in the Minor Spirit Gathering Formation, enjoying the spiritual energy gathered by the entire array all to himself.

Although his cultivation speed was relatively slow due to his current level, he was still cultivating at full speed.

Combined with other methods to increase his cultivation,

He Song's growth in spiritual energy over these three years was not slow at all—it was even faster than when he was in the Earth Sect.

Under these conditions,

He Song was able to raise his cultivation to the brink of the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation just five years after breaking through to the ninth layer of Qi Condensation.

This time, if it weren't for Wei Fan wanting to see him,

perhaps He Song's idea of directly breaking through to the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation in one closed-door cultivation session could have been realized.

But it didn't matter.

Meeting Wei Fan wouldn't take long.

At most, it would take one day to travel to and from the Earth Sect.

Once he returned to the cave residence, he could spend another month or two cultivating to reach the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation.

With these thoughts, He Song quickened his pace, eager to rush to the Earth Sect and meet Wei Fan as soon as possible.

Several hours later,

He Song returned to the Earth Sect.

Without stopping,

He Song's figure quickly appeared outside Wei Fan's cave residence.

At the same time,

the door to Wei Fan's cave residence slowly opened.

"It seems nothing happened. But, Fellow Daoist, you must be careful when traveling outside. The sect is currently at war with the Seven Stars Sect, and there may be rogue cultivators coming to our territory to cause destruction."

"You must be very cautious."

As soon as he saw He Song, Wei Fan immediately spoke up to remind him.

Previously, when Wei Fan went to He Song's courtyard to look for him, he found it empty.

Under such circumstances, Wei Fan searched for He Song within the sect but ultimately couldn't find him.

(End of Chapter)