Longevity starts from having a daughter in old age

Friend Hou, I’ve always been puzzled, why does the sect strictly control the allocation of Foundation Establishment Pills?” Xu Mu questioned, expressing his confusion.

Friend Xu, as a loose cultivator by origin and a recent initiate to the Foundation Establishment Stage, your lack of understanding is understandable!” Hou Quan laughed, “Let me give you an example, and you’ll easily understand!”

Friend Hou, please do share!

Let’s say there are two people, one with exceptional talent, one with ordinary talent, but you only have one Foundation Establishment Pill!” After sipping his tea, Hou Quan continued to speak with a smile: “May I ask, Friend Xu, who would you give the Foundation Establishment Pill?”

Xu Mu remained silent, he now understood Hou’s point.

Concerning the investigation, Hou Quan was not too informed. According to Hou Quan’s words, he had grown old and lost interest in such matters. Even the news he got now was just occasionally heard from few close friends within the sect.

After chatting casually with Hou Quan for a while longer, Hou advised Xu Mu to visit in few days when he would take him to meet Ancestor Xuan Guang.

Xuan Guang, Lei Ji, and Yun Xiao are the three Golden Core elders of the Liyang Sect, representing three factions within.

Ancestor Xuan Guang is Hou Quan’s master, and since Xu Mu was brought into the sect by Hou Quan, he naturally belonged to the lineage of Xuan Guang.

Actually, Xu Mu should have paid his respects when he first joined, but since Ancestor Xuan Guang had been called away to the Tianhe Sect to suppress ghost cultivators at that time, the visit had been delayed until now.

After Xu Mu agreed, he bid farewell, taking several pounds of spiritual tea from Hou Quan as a parting gift.

After leaving the Liyang Sect, Xu Mu sent a message to Chi Feiyan, sharing the news he had discovered and advising her to be cautious in her activities.

Although the Liyang Sect had started to investigate, and clearly had dispatched experts, Xu Mu had no intention to halt his actions.

Risk it for the biscuit!

Without the harsh crackdown of the Liyang Sect, there wouldn’t be such high profits.

Furthermore, Chi Feiyan was the one undertaking the risks, not him.

If it really became untenable, he could hide in the Cang Ming Ocean Territory, where even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators could not reach him.

However, before that, I must increase my strength, particularly my Divine Skills for escaping, to avoid any unforeseen accidents!”

Three days later, Xu Mu accompanied Hou Quan to meet the venerable Ancestor Xuan Guang, who looked like an elderly man with benevolent brows and kind eyes, without any aura of menace, just like a caring grandfather next door.

Upon seeing Xu Mu, he greeted him like an elder welcoming a younger relative, exchanged a few words, and then dismissed him.

Initially, Xu Mu was quite apprehensive about meeting him, especially because Ancestor Xuan Guang was the real power controlling the Liyang Sect — a top grade Golden Core Stage cultivator and he was currently in the process of poaching from him.

However, after the meeting, he found that the Ancestor was clearly near the end of his life cycle and in a retirement phase, showing no serious concern for sect affairs.

These findings confirmed what Hou Quan had previously said.

The apparent administration of the Liyang Sect is now headed by Sect Master Xiao Bufan, whereas the actual control is wielded by Ancestor Lei Ji, who recently advanced to the Golden Core Middle Stage.

This person was the same Golden Core elder who the Luo Family had once chosen to serve.

According to Hou Quan, not only is he in his prime, but he also cultivates both his body and laws. He is a once-in-500-years genius of the Liyang Sect.

Apparently, his smooth advancement to the Golden Core Middle Stage was largely thanks to the tribulation vine gift from the Luo Family.

After learning about Elder Lei Ji’s strength, only one thought coursed through Xu Mu’s mind — I mustn’t let him discover that I am responsible for exterminating the Luo Family.

In the following days, Xu Mu visited a few acquaintances, ensuring his presence was felt, before getting on the Jade Green Boat and setting off for the Tianhe Sect.

After flying for over ten days and crossing the territories of three Golden Core sects, he finally arrived safely at Tianhe City where the Tianhe Sect was located.

In the sky hundreds of meters above, nine gigantic islands floated among the clouds, surrounded by divine lights and celestial music, with flocks of celestial birds flying around.

A river of hundreds of meters wide began at the ground, winding its way up through the misty islands, before returning and extending towards the horizon.

Liyang Sect’s headquarters on a volcanic mouth was already a grand sight, but it paled in comparison to the sight of Tianhe City.

This is truly a celestial sect and immortal residence!

As expected of the Nascent Soul Sect! As expected of the Tianhe Sect!

Xu Mu couldn’t help but express his awe at the scene in front of him.

The islands in the sky are the location of the Tianhe Sect, inaccessible to outsiders. The Tianhe City that Xu Mu was visiting is located on the ground beneath the islands.

Tianhe City covers an area of nearly a hundred miles in length and width, divided into an outer city, inner city, and a core area.

The outer city area is surrounded by a circular city wall. There is an inner city area towards the center where a formation stands tall, enveloping everything several miles towards the center. At the core, a giant formation tower acts as protector.

Xu Mu descended from the sky, followed the crowd through the city gate of Tianhe City, and entered the outer city area. He looked up at the floating island above his head, the sight making him fear that it might fall.

Such a large island falling down would likely trigger a magnitude ten earthquake!

But considering Tianhe City has existed for a thousand years without any such incidents, there should be no need to worry.

Xu Mu reassured himself with a silent comment and decided not to look up anymore.

The outer district of Tianhe City was filled with low-tier cultivators. Xu Mu didn’t stop, swiftly crossed through the outer city, and after paying a lower- grade spirit stone as the entrance fee, entered the inner city.

Upon entering the inner city, Xu Mu immediately noticed the difference. The spiritual energy was denser by several times compared to the outer city, and the caliber of cultivators was noticeably higher. Qi Cultivators in the late stage were shuttling back and forth, Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators were in endless streams.

On the sides of the streets were high-end stores, which looked impressively superior.

Overall, it appeared more vibrant than Pursuing Wind City.

It was indeed worth being the main city of the Nascent Soul Sect.

After a round in the streets, he bought some interesting small items to take back as gifts for the ladies, and also got more than ten bottles of the Grass Renewal Pill. However, he did not see the Condensing Yuan Pill.

But he was lucky enough to buy a bottle of Fire Lotus Pill.

The Fire Lotus Pill is a tier five pill, the main ingredients are Earth Fire Lotus seeds and Green Spirit Grass. It can assist in cultivation while strengthening the meridians to help break the cultivation bottleneck.

It was a great pill, whether for him to use or for the ladies.

This is indeed a good start!

After resting for a day in an inn, Xu Mu began to participate in various auctions in the city on the second day.

The token given to him by Chi Feiyan represented an annual large-scale auction. Apart from this one, there were also many small auctions in the city, held every three or five days or half a month. The items in these auctions might not be precious, but occasionally there were some rare items.

After attending more than a dozen of them, and getting a recipe for the Stay Age Pill, Xu Mu wasn’t interested in attending anymore.

Simply put, the levels of these auctions were too low; a fourth-tier seal magic artifact and a fifth-tier pill could be considered the finale items.

It was a step down compared to the auction he attended in Liyang City.

In the following days, he collected some geographical books and stayed in the inn, reading and waiting for the start of the large auction.

Ten days later!

The large auction in Tianhe City officially began.

The entire auction hall was divided into three layers, around the central stage in a ring shape. There were ordinary seats on the lower level, one next to the other, capable of seating two to three thousand people. The middle level had private rooms, about one to two hundred, the upper level was for VIPs, with only twenty to thirty rooms.

The middle and upper-level rooms were all shielded against Divine Intent scrutiny with a special Formation.

Xu Mu showed his token and spent a medium-grade Spirit Stone to be led by a maid into a small private room.

The token just allowed him to participate and gave him an ordinary seat on the lower level. If he wanted to enter a private room, he had to pay extra.

In order to hide his identity, and as a cautious measure, Xu Mu had to be a little extravagant.

As for the VIP rooms on the upper level, besides paying Spirit Stones, one also needed a certain status.

Xu Mu guessed that only experts at the Golden Core stage or characters like the Sect Master of Liyang Sect would be able to enter the VIP rooms on the upper level.

As more guests arrived and filled all the seats, the auctioneer walked onto the high platform. The auction officially began with his arrival.

I am Li Xianyin, a representative of the Tianhe City Commerce Association, and I welcome everyone’s arrival!”

Without further ado, let us introduce the first item for auction!

As her voice fell, a majestic white beast, resembling a combination of a lion, deer, and horse, was released from her magical beast bag.

It is a tier three mount! The Snow White Qilin Beast! It has three divine skills: Cloud Stepping, Wind Chasing, and Water Resisting. Moreover, it has a trace of divine Qilin bloodline, and it has the potential to advance to tier four!”

The starting price is a hundred medium-grade Spirit Stones! Each increase in price must not be less than ten medium-grade Spirit Stones!”

One hundred fifty!

One hundred eighty!

One hundred ninety!”

Eventually, the mount sold for two hundred thirty medium-grade Spirit Stones to a guest in one of the rooms.

When he saw the Snow White Qilin Beast, Xu Mu was momentarily tempted. Its power was secondary; the main point was it was cool to ride.

But thinking about having to care for it every day, he decided to pass. He might as well devote that time to looking after another concubine who could also serve as a mount.

After the first item was sold, the woman on the stage took out a seed the size of a walnut and put it on a red silk thread made of spirit silk.

The seed was yellowish in color, emitting a faint spirit light, which made it obvious that it was no ordinary seed.

This is a tier five Spirit Apricot Seed! It only takes a hundred years to grow. It will flower every decade and bear fruit every decade. Each fruit is comparable to a tier four Spirit Pill!”

The starting price is eighty medium-grade Spirit Stones! Each increase in price must not be less than ten medium-grade Spirit Stones!”

As her voice fell, prices were called from the private booths.

One hundred thirty medium-grade Spirit Stones!

One hundred forty medium-grade Spirit Stones!

This Spirit Apricot Seed also lit up Xu Mu’s eyes.

Unlike ordinary spirit flowers and spirit grasses, once it matures, it will be a constant source of money.

But a hundred years… that’s too long!

Xu Mu shook his head and did not bid.

Ultimately, the Spirit Apricot Seed was auctioned off for two hundred medium-grade Spirit Stones.

Following this, a complete set of tier four defensive magic artifacts, several tier four spirit-sealing magic artifacts, and two medium-grade Foundation Establishment Pills appeared, which were fiercely competed for and sold at a price of three hundred eighty medium-grade Spirit Stones.

Xu Mu couldn’t help but wonder if someone was reselling the pills he had bought here.

Just the profit of nearly two high-grade Spirit Stones is almost catching up with me, the manufacturer.

One item after another was auctioned, and Xu Mu was dazzled by all kinds of treasures. Luckily, he resisted the temptation and didn’t spend Spirit Stones carelessly.

It was not until a thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine appeared that he finally couldn’t resist the temptation and made a bid.