Chapter 713 - 497: Breaking Through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, Failure as the Outcome_2

"This dual cultivation technique was exchanged from the Wang Family. When you and I cultivate together, the effects will naturally far exceed the past."

Zheng Yi slowly explained.

Zhang Qingmiao gently leaned against Zheng Yi’s chest.

That night, the two of them experienced a cultivation session like a stormy tempest.

As Zheng Yi dressed and prepared to leave, Zhang Qingmiao gazed at his back with bewitching eyes, unwilling to look away for a long time.

With this kind of cultivation technique, along with my husband’s affection,

she was confident she could successfully break through to the fourth-layer Qi Refining before turning thirty, becoming a middle-stage Qi Refining cultivator, and would be content with that.

Even if she could obtain something to repair her spirit root in the future,

she wasn’t too confident about cultivating to the late-stage Qi Refining.

If she didn’t consider the difficult threshold of the late-stage Qi Refining, progressing from the fourth-layer to the sixth-layer of Qi Refining was merely a matter of time, accumulated slowly with resources.

In Zhang Qingmiao’s life plan, after breaking through to the fourth-layer Qi Refining,

she would focus most of her energy on family affairs.

The Foundation Establishment Realm was the lifelong pursuit of most people on Piaomiao Mountain, and the matter of longevity was too elusive and ephemeral; even if spoken of, few would believe it.

...

Spring passed and winter came. In a blink of an eye, it was the harshest of the winter days, with the wind howling outside and temperatures plummeting.

Many of the Wang Family members no longer ventured out. After exchanging for some cultivation resources, they intended to rest temporarily in their cave mansions, as most clan members chose to do. Zheng Yi was no exception.

After fulfilling the orders from those two clans, the opposing parties didn’t continue to deliberately target the Wang Family. After all, if other families imitated such behavior, it would only create a bad cycle.

It wouldn’t benefit anyone.

Yet at this frigid time, the Wang Family’s patriarch and former young family head returned safely with a group of clan members.

Upon their return, the Wang Family immediately activated the Mountain Protection Array.

Many clan members were injured, but this was not something that an alchemist could resolve; it required the family’s healers, while the alchemist could only provide some assistance through alchemy skills.

This incident made many Wang Family members anxious, and Zheng Yi couldn’t help but feel a sense of crisis.

Zheng Yi arrived at Master Zhang’s residence.

Master Zhang glanced at him and continued tending to the flowers and plants in the courtyard, softly saying, "Don’t worry, the family head is fine. It’s just that the young family head is preparing to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. The family has successfully obtained a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill."

"Master Zhang, are you envious?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi felt reassured and had the leisure to joke.

This time, Zheng Yi didn’t come alone; he brought his wife Zhang Qingmiao along.

Returning to the residence was also about observing proper decorum.

Though the two families weren’t far apart, the ordinary rules still needed to be adhered to.

In the past, they turned a blind eye to each other when visiting, but although cultivators aren’t bound by many worldly rules, basic etiquette still holds meaning.

"Looks like you’re asking for trouble!"

Master Zhang rolled his eyes at Zheng Yi. When he got closer, he noticed the spiritual energy emanating from Zheng Yi had thickened even further.

Such cultivation speed,

even considering he used the centennial stalactite to upgrade his lower-grade spirit root to a mid-grade one, and even among the mid-grade, it was superior, it was still beyond Master Zhang’s expectations.

He suddenly recalled the steward’s mention of the spirit body.

He couldn’t help but ponder: Does my son-in-law truly have a special constitution?

In the cultivation realm, constitutions vary; some benefit cultivation, while others aid in alchemy and artifact refining. The Great Thousand Worlds are full of wonders.

Master Zhang shook his head, dismissing the notion of the spirit body as too enigmatic.

Even his former family had only slightly touched upon it with limited understanding, so he set the matter aside for now.

Anyway, it seemed to be a good thing for Zheng Yi at present.

Zhang Qingmiao went with her mother to the Tingxie Water Pavilion.

The elegant woman took her daughter’s small hand, asking with concern, "How is life after marriage?

Has Zheng Yi bullied you?

I’ve heard that the third wife had another child with a spirit root recently."

"So what?"

Zhang Qingmiao responded to her mother’s words with a calm expression, "Your daughter is now at the third-layer Qi Refining, and in two or three years, I will break through to the mid-stage Qi Refining."

The elegant woman also had a spirit root, but her spirit root’s aptitude was low.

So she didn’t pay much attention to cultivation matters, but that didn’t mean she didn’t understand the path of cultivation.

Under her mother’s persistent inquiries, Zhang Qingmiao blushed, like a quail, and explained her intimate matters in detail.

"This Zheng Yi seems to have good fortune; it’s also good for you,"

the elegant woman nodded and said.

Zhang Qingmiao bashfully nodded again, her voice like a mosquito’s buzz.

On the other side, Zheng Yi and Master Zhang were conversing.

"You’ve already broken through to the fourth-layer Qi Refining. Once you reach the sixth-layer, you can start attempting to become a third-grade alchemist.

With your alchemy talent, you’re completely capable,"

Master Zhang said.

Zheng Yi respectfully followed behind him as they organized the spirit grass in the courtyard together.

When sunset came, they finished tidying up, and Zheng Yi stayed in the courtyard that night, not engaging in anything frivolous.

He was naturally not a licentious person.

Zheng Yi stayed at Master Zhang’s for a few days before returning home.

After that, he didn’t leave home until winter passed. During the spring equinox, as many clan members were gradually released from the Skill Transmission Hall,

the atmosphere in the clan became much more lively.

In front of the Alchemy Pavilion, Zheng Yi saw Wang Miaomiao again.

She looked troubled, her usual bright eyes now clouded with worry as she wore a gloomy expression.

Seeing this, Zheng Yi thought to himself that the young family head’s breakthrough to Foundation Establishment might not be going well.

...

The Wang Family’s secret location is at the rear mountain, the site of the spirit vein.

Here, there’s a waterfall, like "downdropping three thousand feet, seeming the Milky Way descending from the heavens," cascading down from high above.

The waterfall is surrounded by arrays that conceal it. This is the core area where the spiritual Qi is densest, known to very few in the Wang Family.

At this moment, the Wang Family patriarch, several elders, and many guards were gathered here.

They frowned slightly, all eyes fixed on a secluded chamber within the waterfall, where the young family head Wang Xingyin was in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment.

"Patriarch, it’s been three months now, what is the situation of the young family head?"

Elder Wang wore gloves and asked worriedly.

The other elders beside him sighed in unison.

Three months have passed, yet the young family head had not broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even if taking a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, under normal circumstances, even a failed breakthrough should not result in dangerous side effects.

But this outcome was undeniably disappointing.

Another month passed. With a "boom," the spiritual Qi inside the waterfall’s chamber suddenly went rampant.

All the Wang Family elders held their breath, knowing the critical moment had arrived.

Zheng Yi looked up, and many immortal seedlings in the Immortal Seedling Area also turned their gaze towards the commotion at Wang Family’s rear mountain.

Yet, the surge of spiritual Qi came swiftly and dissipated just as quickly.

Observing this, Zheng Yi sighed inwardly and gently shook his head.

Using his Golden Core Realm divine sense, he could discern the outcome,

If the Foundation Establishment had succeeded, the Wang Family would have already been celebrating, everyone cheering with joy, rather than this current calm.

At this moment, Zheng Yi was not the only one aware of this.

Around the valley of Piaomiao belonging to the Wang family,

people from the Qingshui Pool Li Family and Chiyan Valley Zhang Family had also arrived at some point.

Seeing the spiritual Qi in the Wang Family’s rear mountain churning but not culminating in a green light piercing the sky, the Li Family’s leading elder breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he laughed, "The Wang Family wants another Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it’s not so easy. Even if the young family head is just a step away from a top-grade spirit root, he still failed, didn’t he?"

The people from Chiyan Valley Zhang Family also sneered, "This Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment ancestor might be seriously injured this time, perhaps only able to hold on for another twenty years. Twenty years later, who knows who will control Piaomiao Mountain."

The Chiyan Valley Zhang Family’s leading elder Muu Manor had eyes filled with greed.

Piaomiao Mountain is the best Feng Shui treasure land among the surrounding third-tier clans, but the spiritual veins will deplete. Among the nearby third-tier clans, the spiritual vein depletion of Chiyan Valley Zhang Family is the most severe.

It is estimated to last less than fifty years, so they are the most anxious internally.