Jianzhou is located in the northern part of Yue Nation, ranking second in size among the thirteen provinces. Its territory is mostly hills and mountains, sparsely populated, and borders the neighboring country of Yuanwu.
The Taiyue Mountain Range is located in the western part of Jianzhou, stretching for thousands of miles. It is not only home to various wild beasts and fierce birds of prey but also a primitive mountain forest rarely visited by humans. Occasionally, rumors of encountering immortals and monsters by woodcutters and hunters add a layer of mystery to the area.
Ordinary people naturally cannot imagine that the central part of the entire mountain range has long been occupied by one of the seven major cultivation sects, the Huangfeng Valley, for thousands of years.
From above, this place looks no different from other mountain ranges, with steep hills and lush trees. However, it is actually covered by a huge magical formation, all mere illusions. Beneath it, countless pavilions and halls have been built densely, and some cultivators with leaf-shaped magical instruments fly back and forth in the low air, constantly busy.
The current head of Huangfeng Valley, Master Zhong Lingdao, is over a hundred years old, but he still looks like a middle-aged man with three strands of long beard. He is in the later stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, with a calm temperament and good organizational skills. He is highly respected within the sect, and the elders and senior brothers in the sect all have great respect for him.
However, this calm and confident Master Zhong Lingdao is now frowning and sitting on the main seat of the hall, looking somewhat helpless as he watches the intense argument between a middle-aged man and an old man in front of him. On both sides of the hall, there are also more than a dozen cultivators with different expressions. These people are all managers of Huangfeng Valley.
"Senior Murong! Several months ago, the consumption of Foundation Establishment Pills had already been allocated, but now my nephew's pill has been revoked and given to a wandering cultivator. Isn't this too unfair?" The old man, with a white beard and no mustache, shouted angrily at the middle-aged scholar in front of him.
It's really surprising. This old man is much older than the middle-aged man, but he insists on calling the other party "senior brother"!
"Junior Ye, there was an accident! It's rare for something like this to happen every few hundred years, someone using an Ascension Token to enter the sect. How can we not intervene in this matter and give the newcomer a Foundation Establishment Pill?" The middle-aged scholar remained calm and rational.
"But this person is not from a cultivation family at all, just a wandering cultivator. Do we still need to give him a Foundation Establishment Pill? I think just letting him enter the sect is enough. This is really unreasonable!" The old man argued with flushed face.
"Junior Ye, you can't put it this way! How do you know that this person's ancestors are not from a cultivation family? Maybe their family has declined, and they became wandering cultivators! Besides, who can guarantee that their own family will never decline? Maybe one day, when the descendants of Junior Ye's Ye family come with an Ascension Token, should we of Huangfeng Valley also not give them a Foundation Establishment Pill and just let them enter the sect? If Junior Brother dares to make such a poisonous oath in front of everyone, I, Murong Shan, will turn around and leave, never mentioning the matter of Foundation Establishment Pills again." The middle-aged man spoke calmly, causing the old man to become speechless.
How could the old man dare to make such a pledge with endless consequences! Even if he really did, it would only mean that the person he didn't like in front of him would let go, who knows if there are others?
"But why does it have to be my nephew's pill that has to be given away? Can't it be someone else?" The old man was unwilling and asked loudly.
"This has to do with how incompetent your nephew is! He ranked so low in the test." The middle-aged man shook his head with regret.
Seeing the person opposite behaving like this, the old man was itching with anger! But because it involved the interests of his nephew, he couldn't care about anything else, and still tried to argue: "My nephew did rank a bit low, but he is not the last in the consumption of Foundation Establishment Pills! There are still two other people, right?"
"Junior Brother is right. There are indeed two other people who ranked behind your nephew during the test, but the situation of these two people is special! Only Junior Brother's nephew has to give way to them!" The middle-aged man said with a tone of regret.
"What's so special about them? If my nephew's Foundation Establishment Pill is taken away, shouldn't it be given to someone else?" The old man persisted, unwilling to give up.
"These two people are indeed special. Skipping over them and selecting Junior Brother's nephew directly was also my approval. As for the reasons! If Junior Brother doesn't ask, I will still explain it to you." Master Zhong Lingdao frowned slightly and hinted to the person on the left to speak.
"Yes, Master Brother! A middle-aged man in pale green stood up and said lightly:
"This person is not very young, about eighteen or nineteen years old. He is at the initial stage of the ninth layer of the basic wood attribute technique, and his spiritual root attribute lacks gold, making him a pseudo spiritual root. From an overall perspective, this person should have low talent, but he must have had some adventures and worked hard. Otherwise, he wouldn't have reached his current level. If he doesn't have any other opportunities, he can basically only practice to the eleventh or twelfth layer of the basic technique in his lifetime and may not be able to enter the Foundation Establishment stage. Even if he takes a Foundation Establishment Pill, the probability of success is only one in a hundred..."
"Good!" Before the middle-aged man Wang Shidi finished speaking, the old man interrupted loudly.
"What's good?" Junior Brother couldn't help asking.
Others also looked at the middle-aged man with doubts, only Master Zhong Lingdao frowned slightly, guessing something in his heart.
"Please rest assured, Master Brother! If the newcomer voluntarily gives up taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, it doesn't count as us breaking our promise!" The middle-aged man said.
"Of course, but no one is allowed to use threats and coercion to do this, otherwise the reputation of our Huangfeng Valley will be ruined!" Master Zhong Lingdao reminded lightly.
"Hehe! Master Brother, please rest assured, of course not!" The middle-aged man smiled slightly and then turned his head to the old man and said, "Junior Brother Ye, if you don't mind spending a little, why not buy his Foundation Establishment Pill? You know, with his talent being so low, the probability of success in Foundation Establishment is pitifully small. He should have a great chance of giving up the Foundation Establishment Pill in exchange for something more practical!" The middle-aged man looked confident.
