Chapter 81 Unresolvable Conflict

It turned out that breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm without using the Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object) was the norm, as the vast majority of rogue cultivators and minor clan practitioners did so. However, 9 out of 10 of these individuals ultimately fell at the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, achieving Foundation Establishment on 1's own does not guarantee the ability to advance further. Even after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, rogue cultivators and those from minor clans often struggle to secure their footing.

To gain recognition from the 6 Great Clans of Yu County and be permitted to share in the county's interests, a clan must possess at least 2 second-order spirit veins. 1 vein must sustain mortal populations, ensuring a continuous supply of cultivators, while the other must provide spiritual energy for the clan's cultivators to pursue immortality.

Even if these minor immortal clan cultivators managed to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, without access to the stipends and benefits afforded to established Foundation Establishment clans, and lacking Foundation Establishment-level cultivation techniques to enhance their spiritual energy absorption rate, their cultivation journey would become arduous. Most of their lives would be wasted in the relentless pursuit of cultivation resources.

Most of these individuals would remain trapped in the early or middle stages of Foundation Establishment until their dying breath. Only a fortunate few, through sheer perseverance and rare opportunities, managed to arduously cultivate their way to Foundation Establishment, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm).

However, when facing the breakthrough to the Violet Mansion realm, without treasures like the Violet Sun Jade and Li Fire Crystal (Spiritual Object) to assist in the breakthrough, their chances of success were merely 10 to 20 percent.

Even those itinerant cultivators from Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location), such as Elara (Person Name) with her Ice Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root), only managed to break through to the Zifu Realm under the support of Patriarch Jiang.

In comparison, the Chen Clan and other cultivation families with centuries of heritage possessed several second-order spirit veins and stable income sources. Freed from the uncertainty of feast or famine, their prospects of breaking through to the Violet Mansion realm were significantly greater.

"Path of immortality is truly arduous."

"We, the 6 great immortal clans of Yu County, are no different before those from the Eldrin clans."

Without a third-order earth vein, without a third-order spirit vein, without a third-order cultivation method, what difference does it make if a Purple Mansion cultivator occasionally emerges? Even basic cultivation becomes an arduous struggle, and advancing further is an endeavor of unimaginable difficulty.

Hundreds of years later, the demise of the Purple Mansion was but a fleeting bloom, unable to preserve the legacy of the Purple Mansion Celestial Clan.

The old clan leader spoke with a sigh, his expression tinged with regret.

Eldrin listened quietly, a slight frown creasing his brow. "With the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root, our Chen Clan will undoubtedly possess a third-order spirit vein in the future. The real challenge lies in obtaining a Purple Mansion cultivation method."

"This time at the Exchange Assembly, the Yang Clan of Ling Province did bring out a Core Formation Realm cultivation technique, but unfortunately, the terms of exchange were far too demanding."

"These Violet Mansion immortal clans would almost never allow a third-tier cultivation method to fall into our hands." The old clan leader shook his head, then smiled wryly:

"No 1 can predict what the future holds. Should we break through to the Violet Mansion realm someday and possess sufficiently valuable third-stage treasures, a trade would not be entirely out of reach."

After all, even Purple Mansion cultivators needed to exchange resources among themselves.

Eldrin's eyes flickered slightly as he remarked with pointed meaning, "My Chen Clan's Blazing Sun Ascendant Art and Li Fire Soul Incineration Art are both exceptionally supreme. When I cultivated them, I sensed they seemed to share complementary qualities."

"If properly refined in the future—retaining the essence while discarding the dross—it might evolve to an even higher level, at the very least surpassing its current state."

The old clan leader’s pupils contracted, yet he laughed heartily and said, "If you could ever reach such heights, your talent would likely rival even that of Eldrin Jiang (Person Name)."

"Patriarch Jiang is a heaven-sent prodigy," he remarked. "He has mastered alchemy, formations, artifact forging, and talismans—each elevated to the realm of creation. I fall far short of his prowess."

Eldrin spoke calmly as he continued to gently tap Lin Baixi's storage pouch.

As the second most influential figure in the Lin Family, Lin Baixi possessed no shortage of treasures. Within his storage pouch lay over 2,000 spirit stones.

In addition, the Lin family's foundational treasures—the Purple Sun Furnace and the Azurefall 1000 Stars Needle, both high-grade Tier 2 magical instruments—fell into Eldrin's hands.

Moreover, both the Barrier-Breaking Heart-Lock Awl and the cyan flying sword were mid-grade, rank-2 magical instruments. With these artifacts alone, the liquid assets of Lin Baixi were enough to make countless Foundation Establishment, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm) cultivators covet them endlessly.

"The Lin family truly lives up to being the foremost clan in Yu County." The old clan leader's wrinkled face brimmed with a delighted smile as he remarked with some surprise, "With their backing from Mordecai (Person Name), a Purple Mansion cultivator, it seems they've managed to reap quite substantial benefits."

Soon, the 2 had finished distributing these treasures. Eldrin now possessed rather too many magical artifacts; adding any more would exceed the limits of his spiritual sense and primordial energy.

Thus, he simply replaced the Green Ape Pearl (Magic Treasure) with the Violet Sun Crucible, placing this artifact that had accompanied him for years into the clan treasury.

In addition, he deposited all magical instruments such as the Cyan Flying Sword and the Barrier-Breaking Heart-Lock Awl into the clan treasury, intending to distribute them to Chen Qingwan and the Third Elder.

In truth, both of them were running low on spiritual energy, capable of wielding at most 3 second-tier magical artifacts.

Therefore, the surplus Eldrin would remain untouched in the clan vault, to be used either for future trades of magical treasures with others or reserved for newly ascended Foundation Establishment cultivators within the clan in the years to come.

After dealing with Lin Baixi's storage pouch, Third Elder arrived upon receiving the message.

No sooner had he arrived in Pingyang City than he couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened?"

Eldrin recounted the entire sequence of events. After listening, the Third Elder’s expression grew solemn as he spoke.

"The death of Lin Baixi (Person Name) will surely not be taken lying down by the Lin Family (Organization)."

"They will not relent, and this old man shall not let the matter rest either."

The old clan leader declared with murderous intent radiating from him, "Lin Baixi and Lin Moqin laid tracking artifacts to hunt them down. If not for Eldrin's formidable strength, even an ordinary Foundation Establishment, Late Stage cultivator might not have escaped with their life."

"This karmic debt shall certainly be repaid." Lior (Person Name) furrowed his brow and couldn't refrain from remarking, "But the Lin Family is backed by the second-order spirit vein, the Inkblack Mountain. There's little we can truly do to them."

"No matter. Though we cannot take Moqing Mountain, we can still seize Spiritual Apricot Mountain (Location)."

Spiritual Apricot Mountain (Location) was 1 of the 3 second-order spirit veins occupied by the Lin Family. Nearly 70 years ago, this very Spiritual Apricot Mountain (Location) had belonged to the Mo Clan, a prominent Foundation Establishment family of Yu County.

However, over 70 years ago, when the beast tide struck, both of the Mo Clan’s Foundation Establishment cultivators perished in battle, and the clan has been in decline ever since.

At that time, the Mo family's 2 second-order spirit veins—1 was taken by the newly-established Foundation Establishment clan, the Suns, to serve as their family stronghold, while the other fell into the hands of the Lin family.

The Lin family occupied the very mountain known as Spiritual Apricot Mountain (Location). Though this mountain was only of the second-grade, lower-tier, and yielded no special local products, it was home to an ancient spirit apricot tree.

That ancient spirit apricot tree had grown for several 100 years, reaching a grade as high as upper-tier first rank, and could bear a dozen or so spirit apricots each year.

Although this spirit apricot offered no wondrous effects for increasing cultivation, it could extend a cultivator's lifespan. It was said that consuming 1 of these spirit apricots could add 1 year to 1's longevity. The only limitation was that a person could only ingest 3 of them in their entire lifetime.

Although the increase in lifespan was modest, since this item was ultimately a treasure that extended 1's years, each Spirit Apricot was valued as high as 50,000 spirit stones.

Over the years, the Lin family had relied on this ancient spirit apricot tree to generate an additional 700 to 800 spirit stones in annual revenue, a steady windfall that had long been the envy of the other major clans in Yu County.

Chen Changxuan sneered coldly, "Inform the 6 great families of the situation. Eldrin and I will launch a surprise attack on Spiritual Apricot Mountain while their guard is down."

Chapter 1 The Azure Cloud Sect's outer gate examination had just concluded. Lin Xuan clutched the jade token in his hand, his knuckles whitening. "Ninth-grade spiritual roots... is this my limit?" he murmured, his voice barely audible amidst the bustling crowd of aspiring cultivators. A sneer echoed from beside him. "Trash like you should've stayed in that mortal village." Eldrin (Person Name), a young master from the prominent Zhao family, flicked his sleeve dismissively. "The outer sect isn't a charity for waste." Lin Xuan's gaze fell upon the shimmering Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss (Magic Treasure) at Eldrin's waist—a high-grade magical treasure that could easily purchase 10 outer sect disciples' lives. He remained silent, storing every nuance of this humiliation deep within his heart. That night, beneath the crescent moon, Lin Xuan bit his finger and dripped blood onto a rusty bronze mirror he'd inherited from his ancestors. The artifact suddenly glowed, projecting ancient scriptures into his mind: "The Heavenly Devouring Art—devour all creation to forge the supreme dao foundation!" His eyes snapped open, blazing with renewed determination. --- Chapter 2 3 months passed in the blink of an eye. Lin Xuan swept his spiritual sense across the storage pouch, counting precisely 1,280 spirit stones—his entire savings from completing dozens of sect missions. "Senior Brother Lin, the herb collection mission at the Fierce Beast Ridge requires at least Qi Refinement level 4 cultivation," reminded a round-faced junior sister with concern. "You've just reached level 3..." Lin Xuan smiled faintly, his hand unconsciously touching the bronze mirror hidden against his chest. "Some risks are worth taking." In the depths of the jungle, he faced a rampaging Scarlet-Tailed Panther. Just as the beast pounced, Lin Xuan's mirror emitted a faint glow. The monster's spiritual energy flowed into him like a surging tide, and his cultivation skyrocketed from early Qi Refinement level 3 straight to peak level 4! --- Chapter 3 The Annual Outer Sect Competition arrived. On the dueling platform, Eldrin brandished his Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss (Magic Treasure), leaving charred marks across the stone floor. "How did trash like you reach the semifinals? You must have stolen some secret technique!" Lin Xuan stood calmly amidst the swirling sword energy. "The dao provides opportunities to all. Can't a humble disciple have his own serendipity?" "Arrogant!" Eldrin executed the Zhao family's signature Flowing Cloud Sword Technique. Dozens of sword shadows converged into a deadly net. At that critical moment, Lin Xuan's hands formed esoteric seals. "Heavenly Devouring Art, first layer—unleash!" A vortex of spiritual power materialized, devouring the sword energy entirely. The audience gasped collectively. --- Chapter 4 In the silent cultivation room, Lin Xuan examined the newly formed golden patterns on the bronze mirror. After devouring over a 100 demon beasts and several cultivators' spiritual energy, the artifact finally showed new transformations. The mirror surface now displayed a map leading to the legendary Fallen Star Abyss, with a crimson mark pulsing at the location marked "Supreme Dao Foundation Pill." His heart raced. This pill could reconstruct 1's spiritual roots—exactly what he needed to overcome his innate limitations. Suddenly, the mirror projected a new line of text: "Blood sacrifice required: 3 Core Formation cultivators' essence blood." Lin Xuan's expression turned grim. The path of cultivation truly was paved with bones and blood. --- Chapter 5 The Fallen Star Abyss lived up to its reputation as a forbidden zone. Yin energy permeated the air, and the anguished wails of deceased cultivators echoed endlessly. "Fellow Daoist, since we've all come for the ancient ruins, why not join forces?" A woman in snow-white robes emerged from the mist, her forehead adorned with a phoenix pattern. Her cultivation level—late Qi Refinement—was clearly suppressed by some artifact. Lin Xuan's spiritual sense detected 3 powerful auras hiding in the shadows. He smiled coldly. "3 Core Formation elders as your guardians? What a generous configuration for someone supposedly 'exploring ruins'." The woman's expression shifted slightly. Before she could react, Lin Xuan's bronze mirror had already activated. The hunt had begun.