’A senior brother aged out of his True Disciple position this year, and Junior Sister Tan was brought in to replace him... The Sect still has seven True Disciples.’

Bai Zichen tossed aside the files. He now had Cai Heng gathering intelligence for him in addition to Su Lie.

This was to avoid being reliant on a single source of information.

’So Junior Sister Tan is a junior of the Alchemy Hall’s Hall Master Tan. That explains how she managed to come from behind and beat the other two.’

Bai Zichen recalled the withered old man he had seen years ago in the Ancestor Hall, one so frail his deathly aura could no longer be suppressed.

Tan Changkong was over two hundred years old. As a Tier Two Top-Grade Alchemist, he had already consumed every common type of Life-Extending Elixir.

If not for the Desolate God Stealing Sun Technique, Tan Changkong would most likely have already passed away.

Among the younger generation of the Tan Family, Tan Qin was the most outstanding. As the Foundation Establishment Elder with the most seniority, when Hall Master Tan wanted to promote a descendant capable of upholding the family’s honor, the other Elders would grant him the courtesy.

Fueled by a mountain of Miracle Elixirs, Tan Qin also broke through to the Late-Stage Qi Refining realm, and she certainly didn’t lack for powerful Magical Artifacts.

Just like Bai Zichen, she had managed to leapfrog the competition, becoming a True Disciple ahead of two Inner Sect senior brothers who were already in the Late-Stage Qi Refining realm.

"The month before last, Junior Martial Uncle Ming discovered a Spirit Stone Ore Vein. Preliminary surveys estimate the reserves exceed three hundred thousand Spirit Stones!"

Below that was a piece of information, bolded and eye-catching.

This Junior Martial Uncle, Mingluan, had been traveling when she pursued a group of Tribulation Cultivators and discovered a large cache of Spirit Stones in their lair.

Noticing a mismatch between the number of Spirit Stones and the strength of the Tribulation Cultivators, Mingluan investigated further and discovered that they had been excavating a Spirit Stone Ore Vein.

Furthermore, the Ore Vein wasn’t located deep in some remote wilderness, but was actually close to a mortal town.

The shallow layer of the vein was a Mortal Iron mine that had already been completely excavated.

Only by breaking through the bottom layer and digging down more than a hundred feet did a whole new world reveal itself: traces of the Spirit Stone Ore Vein.

That band of Tribulation Cultivators had been using the abandoned iron mine as a hideout. Intending to dig a few extra escape tunnels, they never imagined they would dig straight into a Spirit Stone Ore Vein.

Once they found the Ore Vein, they stopped their plundering ways entirely and focused solely on mining.

After all, how could life as a Tribulation Cultivator compare to the fast money of mining a Spirit Stone ore vein directly?

Unfortunately for them, Mingluan tracked them to their doorstep, following a lead from a case years ago involving the massacre of a group of Loose Cultivators, and turned them all to ash.

The only concern was that the Spirit Stone Ore Vein was located near the border between Black Mountain County and Hejian County. News of it would inevitably leak once mining began.

Upon her return, Mingluan reported the matter to the Sect, and the Qingfeng Sect immediately dispatched an elite team of several Elders to set up an Array and secure the Ore Vein.

But before they could even begin formal excavation, furtive figures of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators appeared near the Spirit Stone Ore Vein.

Minor skirmishes have already occurred, and the atmosphere is electric with tension.

The Law Enforcement Hall dispatched a patrol team early in the month and is currently organizing reserve Cultivators to be ready as reinforcements.

That was why news of the Spirit Stone Ore Vein had created such a stir, to the point that even the lowest-level disciples were gossiping about it.

’No one would give up on an Ore Vein with three hundred thousand Spirit Stones... Besides, the Ghost Spirit Sect has always been an enemy of our Sect. This conflict is likely unavoidable.’

Bai Zichen clicked his tongue in envy. Three hundred thousand Spirit Stones! If all of that were spent on a single Cultivator, it would be enough to buy a complete set of powerful Magical Treasures for a Core Formation True Man.

Even for a Core Formation Sect, this was a sum of Spirit Stones that could not be overlooked.

’No matter how fierce the fighting gets, it has nothing to do with me. The Sect would never deploy a True Disciple for this kind of incident... Still, if we can secure the Spirit Stone Ore Vein, the resources allocated to True Disciples will probably increase next year.’

Having reviewed all the major Sect events of the past six months, Bai Zichen rose and walked toward the edge of the pool.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Bai."

Peng Jinhua and Luo Qi, who were tending to the Dancing Princess Lotus, hastily put down their tools to greet him.

"Inform Cai Heng. Starting tomorrow, you all can move to the Moon-Locking Pool."

Bai Zichen glanced over at them. Peng Jinhua had been with him for several years, yet he only had a Third-Layer Qi Refining Cultivation. ’Such terrible aptitude,’ he thought.

As for Luo Qi, he had suffered an irreversible injury in that abandoned cave, and his Cultivation had remained stagnant ever since.

Cai Heng and the others had worked diligently over the past two years, meticulously completing every task he assigned them. Allowing them to move a year ahead of schedule was a small reward for their efforts.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Bai! Thank you so much..."

Luo Qi was moved to tears. Even though his own path of cultivation was severed, he was genuinely happy that his companions would have a better environment for their Cultivation.

As Bai Zichen flew on his sword toward the Transmission Hall, his thoughts turned to another matter.

After he had become a True Disciple, Lu Song had approached him again about the Secret Realm, hinting that he wanted to know when they could finally make the trip.

’Fortunately, thanks to the Sect Contribution points from killing the Ghost-Faced Jade Spider, Lu Song doesn’t lack Cultivation Resources and can afford to be patient for now. But in a few more years, as he gets older and more desperate to advance his Realm, he definitely won’t be able to put it off any longer...’

Last time, Bai Zichen had put him off with the excuse that he needed to consolidate his Realm. The main reason was his own apprehension about this supposedly famous, yet unknown, Secret Realm.

’It would be far safer to go after I reach the Foundation Establishment Realm,’ he reasoned.

He had also considered reporting the Secret Realm to the Sect. From what he had seen, the Qingfeng Sect prided itself on its Righteous Dao ways and didn’t seem like the type to seize opportunities from its own disciples.

But the risk was too great; that could only be a last resort.

For one, a Secret Realm was a significant find. If it truly contained a great treasure, there was no guarantee that an accompanying Elder wouldn’t be tempted by greed.

For another, if the Sect got involved, the lion’s share of the benefits would naturally go to them, leaving him with nothing but scraps.

When he arrived at the Transmission Hall, he flashed his True Disciple Jade Pendant and, under the admiring gazes of the ordinary disciples, Bai Zichen proceeded directly to the third floor.

On the third floor, the collection of texts and inheritances was divided into a few rows, so few they could be counted on one’s fingers.

Bai Zichen walked directly to the shelf for Body Refining Techniques. Two inheritances were laid out, one on the left and one on the right: the Nine Revolutions Condensing Evil Scripture and the Five Crystal Glaze Body.

Beneath the Jade Scroll for the former were only two thin scrolls of commentary. The latter, however, was a different story. It was accompanied by a huge pile of various "true interpretations," "general explanations," and "short commentaries"—dozens of paper scrolls and several additional Jade Scrolls, all containing the accumulated wisdom and experience of countless Sect predecessors.

To overcome the Foundation Establishment Barrier, one must pass through the three gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Not one can be neglected.

There were hundreds of books in the Transmission Hall detailing insights and precautions for Foundation Establishment. Bai Zichen picked out and read more than ten of the most important ones.

Simply put, a Qi Refining Cultivator’s physical body, Magical Power, and Divine Sense must all reach a certain standard. The three are then combined, causing a sublimation of one’s life essence to achieve Foundation Establishment.

The Divine Sense gate, which other Cultivators dreaded most, was ironically the one Bai Zichen was least concerned about.

Thanks to the Divine Casting Technique, his Divine Sense had developed early and had been growing steadily ever since. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

During the True Inheritance Trial, he had reached the sixtieth step of the Celestial Ladder on the Heart Inquiry Path, which had given his Divine Sense another significant boost.

From what he read in the notes of newly advanced Foundation Establishment Cultivators, their Divine Sense range was typically within two hundred feet—not even as good as his was now.

As for the Magical Power gate, his Chang Chun Skill might be lacking compared to Top-Level Cultivation Techniques, but Bai Zichen was already set on acquiring a Foundation Establishment Pill.

With the immense medicinal power contained within a Foundation Establishment Pill, the Magical Power gate would be no cause for concern.

When he laid it all out, it turned out his physical body had become the weakest link among his Foundation Establishment Three Gates.

That was why he had thought of Bone Marrow Cleansing: to temper his physical body and make his preparations for Foundation Establishment as perfect as possible. It was the reason he had come straight to the Body Refining Techniques section upon arriving at the Transmission Hall.