Chapter 12. Pingyang Town (Location)

"20-Sixth Uncle was an upright man. After failing his Foundation Establishment, he must have been tormented by guilt for years."

'If he could not fortify his Dao Heart, he would likely succumb to despondency.'

At this thought, Eldrin felt a pang of regret, but there was nothing more he could say. He simply asked, "Uncle Qing Meng, may I ask why you've sought me out?"

Chen Qingmeng snapped back to reality, his weary gaze sweeping over Eldrin (Person Name) once more.

After a long moment, he sighed inwardly and drew out a thick tome from his sleeve.

"Throughout the Chen family's several-100-year history, your cultivation talent ranks among the very best. Most likely, the family will eventually be entrusted to your hands."

"I have little to teach you, but here are my lifelong insights into alchemy. May they offer you some measure of enlightenment."

"Uncle, this..."

Eldrin's tone carried a hint of hesitation. These alchemy insights represented the lifelong dedication of an alchemist—they were Chen Qingmeng's most precious skills.

He handed this object to him, giving Eldrin a sense that he was putting his affairs in order.

"Ask no more."

Chen Qingmeng placed the pill refining notes into Eldrin's hand, gave him a profound look, then turned and left the grand hall.

Somehow, Eldrin vaguely perceived an aura of domineering resolve from his retreating figure.

"This 20-Sixth Uncle is probably attempting Foundation Establishment again!"

In the blink of an eye, a thought flashed through Eldrin's mind.

In fact, his guess was correct—Chen Qingmeng, overwhelmed by guilt and pressure toward his clan, had resolved to attempt another breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Without the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object), the success rate for most cultivators to establish their foundation does not exceed 10 percent. Moreover, those who fail often suffer from shattered meridians and perish.

Chen Qingmeng was now preparing to assault the Foundation Establishment realm, a final desperate gamble where survival was measured 1 in 10. Success would reverse his clan's decline; failure would mean annihilation of both body and dao.

As for handing the alchemy insights to Eldrin, it was merely to leave a seed of a pill refiner for the clan.

"Uncle 20-6…"

Eldrin's throat felt parched. He wanted to say something to dissuade her, but no words would come out.

Now, even his own chance at Foundation Establishment seemed distant and uncertain, let alone having the ability to change anything.

All he could do was pray and hope that his breakthrough would succeed, making him the family's second Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In the end, only 2 words escaped his lips.

"Take care."

The Sixth Elder paused his steps in the distance. With his back still turned, a faint smile graced the corners of his lips.

The path to immortality is long and arduous, with the Way beset by hardships; we can only press forward in solitude.

"If I fall, and if you have the strength, then see that scenery at the end for me."

He said nothing more, merely waving a hand over his shoulder without turning around as he continued his descent down the mountain.

After parting with the Sixth Elder, Eldrin did not immediately descend the mountain. Instead, he waited 5 days, only setting out for Pingyang Town after the New Year celebrations had concluded.

Pingyang Town (Location) lay over 3 1000 li from Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location). Even with Eldrin (Person Name)'s current cultivation level, the journey took him 2 full days to complete.

This city was built upon the Ancient Plain of Pingyang, from which its name was derived.

From a great distance, Eldrin could already make out Pingyang Town, for high above this city, a fiery red orb floated suspended in the void.

This world was different from his previous life—mortal cities could not be established arbitrarily.

In this world, the flesh and blood of mortals are supreme nourishment for demonic beasts, while their souls are coveted treasures for demonic cultivators. Thus, any city established in the untamed wilderness would inevitably become prey for evil spirits within a few years.

Thus, all cities in this world are built upon spiritual veins and must be integrated with a City Protection Array to barely safeguard the lives of ordinary mortals.

Take Pingyang Town (Location), for instance. It was established atop a second-grade, low-tier spirit vein and protected by the Mid-Grade 2 Yang-Fire Divine Flame Array.

Above the city, that fiery red orb was known as the Blazing Sunfire Pearl, a second-tier, medium-grade formation artifact. It could unleash the Scorching Sun Divine Flame, capable of incinerating demons and monsters.

With the Great Elder’s cultivation at the peak of Qi Refining stage, activating this city-protecting grand formation designed to suppress demons and monsters, even those at the middle or late Foundation Establishment stage would often find it difficult to gain any advantage.

It was precisely because of this that the dozen or so branches of the Chen family, numbering over 100,000 descendants, could thrive and multiply in this merciless world of cultivation.

"Brother Eldrin, you've finally arrived."

"Hurry inside."

Before Eldrin even entered the city, he heard a hearty laughter.

He looked up and saw a middle-aged man approaching with a smile.

He glanced over and recognized the man’s identity—Chen Nianyang. As the eldest son of the Grand Elder, he was 50-5 years old and ranked first in seniority among the "Nian" generation. Unfortunately, his cultivation aptitude was lacking, and even now, he had only reached the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Chen Nianyang stepped forward and examined Eldrin carefully, then could not help but sighing, "It seems I shall have to address you as Elder from now on."

"There is no need for such formality between us."

Eldrin smiled and said, As the 2 walked into the city, he asked along the way, "Where is the Grand Elder?"

"He asked me to invite you over."

The 2 journeyed onward, and soon Eldrin laid eyes upon the Grand Elder, Chen Qingxu.

As the Grand Elder of the Chen Family, Chen Qingxu had just turned 70-5. Yet relative to the Qi Refinement Stage's lifespan limit of 1 100 and 20 years, his current strength remained at its absolute peak.

The Chen Clan had a scarcity of cultivators at the 9th level of Qi Refining. Guarding Pingyang City required seasoned and steady veteran cultivators like him, so this heavy responsibility inevitably fell upon his shoulders.

However, in just 20 more years, Chen Qingxu’s true essence would gradually wane. Once he passed 1 100 years of age, his strength would decline sharply, and by then, it would likely be necessary to seek a new elder to take his place.

"You have come."

Within the great hall, the Grand Elder regarded Eldrin with an unsmiling countenance, giving a slight nod of approval.

"Since you have arrived, we shall begin testing spiritual roots tomorrow."

Determining spiritual roots was a matter of paramount importance, both for the Chen Immortal Clan and for all descendants of the Chen family within Pingyang City.

According to the regulations of the Chen Immortal Clan (Organization), the first month following each Lunar New Year would see an appointed day for testing the spiritual roots of the clan's young children. Any child who had reached the age of 6 was required to participate in this spiritual root examination assembly.

To prevent any oversight, every child would have the opportunity to undergo a spiritual root examination once a year until the age of 9.

Although the Chen Clan lacked a Spirit Testing Plate and had to rely on a crude method performed by a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator to detect spiritual roots, they were over 80 percent confident they could identify the indistinct spiritual roots.

With such a detection probability, if a child with spiritual roots fails to be identified after 3 consecutive attempts, it can only be deemed as ill-fated—destined to lack sufficient affinity for the immortal path.

Even so, Pingyang City had a population of 120,000 people. Every year, 5 to 6 1000 individuals underwent spiritual root testing, which remained a substantial workload.

In fact, this did not even account for the 6 surrounding townships. Beyond Pingyang City lay 6 additional towns, each with an average population of nearly 10 1000 people.

"So many people."

On the plaza of the Spirit Measurement Assembly, Eldrin watched the bustling crowd of young children arriving to register and couldn't help but frown slightly.