I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Little Spring Mountain.

Zhou Yi took out a bottle of Green Sun Pill and poured them all into his mouth.

The pills transformed into surging spiritual energy and, under the refining of the Five Spirits Scripture, turned into strands of mana.

The Green Sun Pill was a mid-grade spiritual medicine, slightly low in quality for a Foundation Establishment true person, but by consuming an entire bottle at a time, Zhou Yi's mana steadily increased every day.

"Cultivation is the foundation of everything. As long as there are enough pills, one can advance to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment within thirty to fifty years."

Zhou Yi slowly ended his practice session and instantly submerged twenty-odd zhang beneath the ground, diligently practiced the Five Elements Escape Technique, now able to activate it as he wished, though the rotation of the five elements still presented some hindrances.

Little Spring Mountain rose over forty zhang high, and Zhou Yi was approximately in the middle of the peak.

Several layers of minor Five Elements Formations overlapped to conceal, only the top Formation Masters could break through these prohibitions in a short time.

Within the Formation was a two-zhang-high and about forty to fifty zhang wide medicinal field with all kinds of wood-based spiritual medicines planted in it.

Zhou Yi, as usual, cast the Jade Dew Art, condensing Creation Dew to ripen them; in the field, there were already quite a few with ages over two hundred that could increase mana whether consumed raw or used in alchemy.

"There is a recipe for True Origin Pill in the jade slip, suitable for those at the Foundation Establishment stage, but the four arts of cultivating immortality are even more precious than cultivation techniques. Without handing over Foundation Establishment Pills, don't even think about it in the short term, but I could directly exchange for True Origin Pills to consume."

The Pill Cauldron Sect calculated merit points meticulously, and disciples like Zhou Yi, who skated by doing the minimum, found it very hard to obtain any precious heritages.

Back on the surface.

Zhou Yi opened his mouth and spat out the Mountain and River Cauldron, taking out the Soul Soothing Mirror from it.

The once dull and lusterless bronze mirror, nurtured by mana for over a hundred years, was now mottled with large patches of silvery white, and its power had reached that of a mid-grade magic artifact.

"Once it fully becomes a silver mirror, its power will be at least of a high-grade level. And as a special artifact targeting the soul, it will undoubtedly be indispensable in the future!"

Zhou Yi had refined the Mountain and River Cauldron for over thirty years, incorporating untold amounts of Five Metals Essence, yet its advancement was still slower than that of the treasure mirror. Indeed, as the Spiritual Treasure Scripture states, the growth of a spiritual treasure takes a long time and is not achieved overnight.

Golden Elixir True Monarchs choose to forge magic artifacts instead of refining spiritual treasures, which speaks volumes about the difficulty involved.

Having refined two magic artifacts, Zhou Yi then studied the Alchemy Scripture for two more hours. By the time he was done, the sky outside was already dawning light.

Cultivating, planting medicines, refining treasures, reciting scriptures, day in and day out in a cycle, the path of immortality is tedious and lonely, and that's all there is to it!

...

Reflection Cliff.

Zhou Yi entered his duty at Black Wind Cave, thinking it would be another dull day.

However, in the evening, the Law Enforcement Hall sent someone over—not exactly a prisoner, since after some time, he would still be a fellow sect brother.

The punished was a Foundation Establishment true person surnamed Jiang Kang, with an aged face and white hair.

Cultivators maintain their appearance once they break through the Foundation Establishment stage, aging rapidly only when close to death; Jiang Kang was in such a state.

His aura was withered, surrounded by the aura of death, looking like his lifespan was nearing its end.

Zhou Yi, when facing such cultivators, always maintained a respectful distance. The longer someone lived, the crazier their actions as death approached, especially since Jiang Kang's cultivation had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Junior brother, do you have any Spiritual Wine? This fire is making this old Daoist's throat dry."

During Jiang Kang's punishment, the Formation and Prohibition were reduced to their limits, with fierce Black Wind and surging Poisonous Fire filling the cave, continuously eroding and burning without end.

Zhou Yi, separated by a layer of Formation and Prohibition, could still feel the power of the wind and fire. A Foundation Establishment initial stage cultivator would probably get hurt just by touching it. Hearing the request, he immediately took out some Red Rainbow Wine.

"This is Spiritual Wine brewed by my own hand, please have a taste, senior brother."

Red Rainbow, though made from average ingredients, included a hundred-year-old Spirit Ginseng. Soul Soothing Intoxication could nourish the soul; however, Zhou Yi dared not bring out the latter two.

The sect rules of Dan Ding Sect and how much they restrict Jiang Kang is hard to say!

Jiang Kang gulped down a jar and wiped his mouth with a smile, "Not bad, not bad. The quality of this wine is ordinary, but it is over a hundred years old. Being able to drink it before death, I suppose it's good luck for an old cultivator like me."

"If senior brother likes it, there are a few more jars here."

Zhou Yi took out several more jars and placed them into the formation and prohibition.

The recipe for the Red Rainbow Wine was obtained the earliest, and it has been 130 years to date. Every time it was brewed, a few jars were kept in storage. There are quite a few hundred-year fine vintages by now.

"Junior brother need not be so, having the advantage of one jar is already shameless enough for an old cultivator like me." Jiang Kang said this, yet the bobbing of his Adam's apple obviously revealed some insincerity.

"It's just spiritual wine. After senior brother has drunk, I'll give junior brother some spirit stones when I get out."

Zhou Yi said with a smile, "Three hundred spirit stones for a jar, the price has increased tenfold, but senior brother must not blame junior brother for taking advantage."

Being punished at the Cliff of Reflection, disciples are forbidden from carrying storage bags. Aside from their lifebound magic artifacts, they aren't allowed to bring anything else in, to prevent someone from relying on a magic artifact to resist the Black Wind Poisonous Fire.

"Junior brother is a clever man, if only I were ten years younger, I'd definitely be able to become good friends with you."

Jiang Kang is not a person to play coy, he picked up another jar of wine to drink, but this time he sipped slowly.

Zhou Yi checked the jade slip left by the Law Enforcement Hall only after seeing that Jiang Kang seemed stable and did not appear to have a violent disposition.

Jiang Kang, dueled with True Monarch Yang Hua on the dueling platform, disregarded the fellowship of sect members, and dealt a lethal blow, causing a fellow sect member's death, with extremely bad influence. He is sentenced to ten years of confinement at the Cliff of Reflection.

"Ten years!"

Zhou Yi was surprised by both the sect rules Jiang Kang broke and the severity of the punishment.

The dueling platform mentioned in the jade slip is where the Dan Ding Sect resolves private disputes among sect members. It comes down to two people with a major grudge, agreeing to fight to the death. During the duel, both sides are bound to fight fiercely, only Yang Hua lost by a margin and lost his life.

This kind of incident is not common in Dan Ding Sect, but it also isn't unheard of. Since both parties agreed to duel, according to convention, they are usually imprisoned for two or three years.

Ten years of enduring the Black Wind Poisonous Fire day and night; even if one defends with spells, they can hardly avoid erosion, and cumulatively, it ruins one's foundation.

"The Law Enforcement Hall is personally overseen by Ancestor Fu Yao. Even True Monarchs can't interfere, and the sentencing is the most impartial."

Jiang Kang, as if guessing what Zhou Yi was thinking, explained, "I was given such a heavy sentence because of two reasons. To begin with, my lifespan is nearing its end, and there is no difference between three or ten years. Might as well have a heavy sentence to warn other disciples."

Zhou Yi suddenly understood, "So that's the case."

"Secondly, when I dueled this time, it wasn't due to any deep-seated hatred."

Jiang Kang said somberly, "That Yang Hua, a direct disciple of the sect, has a contrary nature, and he especially looks down on loose cultivator sect members. Taking advantage of his some power, he deliberately assigns tough and tedious chores to loose cultivator disciples, delaying their cultivation."

Zhou Yi silently pondered, not making any judgment on the right or wrong of the situation.

Since the Law Enforcement Hall governs the sect's regulations, and Yang Hua wasn't punished, it means his actions were detestable but did not violate the sect rules.

Just like the Zhang surnamed loose cultivator who bullied Lin Yushu, after several investigations by the Law Enforcement Hall, he was also not sentenced for wrongdoing.

"I came from a loose cultivator background and struggled in the marketplace for dozens of years before fortunately being accepted into the Dan Ding Sect. After Foundation Establishment, I dedicated myself to the sect for a hundred years and slew over twenty Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Heads, believing myself to be without guilt!"

Jiang Kang was either filled with resentment or simply wanted to speak before the end.

"That Yang Hua was as cowardly as a mouse - he never dared leave Cloud Continent for exterminating demons, even spent spirit stones to hire others for help, and yet had the audacity to loudly proclaim loose cultivators as inferior to direct disciples!"

"I've found him unpleasant for a long time, and as my lifespan was nearing its end, and Solidifying Pill was out of reach, I decided to have a go with him on the dueling platform."

"Had Yang Hua truly possessed half of my strength, out of respect for the sect, I would have spared his life. Who knew he was just a pillow of embroidery; he didn't even withstand three rounds of my Lightning Method and was reduced to ashes!"

Zhou Yi twitched at the corners of his mouth, realizing that the old man before him was indeed a killing star, but some of what Jiang Kang said sparked his interest.

One can hire fellow sect members for demon extermination tasks?