Chapter 143: The middle stage of foundation building, the Hu family wedding

That night, as the night deepened and the lights came on, Ji Chang and Master Lu Dan arrived at the venue of the trade fair.

The trade fair was held in a valley outside the Sun family's land, which was quite close to Xiaodan Mountain.

At this time, the valley was already bustling with noise and noise.

The stalls around are full of all kinds of rare treasures.

The monks either gathered in groups of three or five, talking in low voices, or wandered alone, carefully selecting.

From time to time, bursts of exclamations were heard. It was obvious that someone had found a treasure, which aroused the envy of everyone.

Ji Chang and Master Lu Dan also stepped into the bustle and began to carefully browse the items on the stalls.

Both of them were knowledgeable people with unique vision. They quickly discovered some rare spiritual medicines and materials, which were very exciting.

After some selection, Ji Chang bought two sets of golden spiritual objects needed to refine the iron corpse.

He was secretly happy in his heart. With these spiritual objects, the two new corpses could be refined into iron corpses.

After buying the golden spiritual items he needed, Ji Chang was about to turn around and leave, but he stopped in front of an inconspicuous corner stall.

His eyes were fixed on the quietly lying corpse of a demon snake.

Ji Chang walked forward slowly and looked carefully.

I saw a faint cloud-like glow flowing on the scales of the demon snake, like clouds and mist.

When the stall owner saw Ji Chang stop by, he introduced him enthusiastically: "My fellow Taoist, you have good taste!"

"This is the body of the Yunyan Python, a second-level intermediate demon snake that I hunted with great effort."

"Whether it's for refining pills or refining equipment, using it to refine Gu worms is definitely the best choice."

Ji Chang's heart moved when he heard this. He had heard of the name of the Yunyan Python a long time ago and knew that it was an extremely rare monster.

As for Ji Chang, he can use his corpse to refine the Cloud Python Gu.

The Cloud Python Gu can transform into a cloud python, which not only has amazing combat power, but also has amazing speed, and is best at escaping.

Although Ji Chang has mastered the second-level escape technique, the Poisonous Mist Escape, he does not mind the lack of means of escape.

Ji Chang asked the stall owner about the price.

Although the price was high, he took out enough spirit stones without hesitation and bought the corpse of the Yunyan Python.

……

A few days later, the Danshan event kicked off as scheduled.

Although there were only a few alchemists attending the meeting, Sun Yihai, the president of the Danshan Society, did not slack off at all. He spoke eloquently over the past few days and talked about the subtleties of alchemy.

After Sun Yihai, two second-level top-grade alchemists took the stage one after another, each displaying what they had learned, either exploring in depth or explaining in simple terms, which benefited all the alchemists greatly.

Ji Chang was always there, listening attentively and understanding what was being said.

Whenever he gained some understanding, he would feel suddenly enlightened, and his joy would be beyond words, as if he was one step closer to becoming a second-level intermediate alchemist.

Half a month passed in a flash, but it felt like a year to Ji Chang.

He secretly estimated that if he could concentrate on studying alchemy for two or three years after returning this time, it would be no problem for him to be promoted to a second-level intermediate-grade alchemist.

However, Ji Chang planned to focus on cultivation, first improving his cultivation to the middle stage of foundation building, and then seek other ways.

At the end of the meeting, Ji Chang bowed deeply to all the preaching alchemy masters to express his sincere respect and gratitude.

When leaving Xiaodan Mountain, Ji Chang glanced back and saw that the mountain peaks looked even more majestic in the afterglow of the setting sun, as if seeing him off.

Ji Chang turned around and set out on his journey back to Baishuixian City.

Along the way, Ji Chang's heart was surging and his thoughts were full of thoughts.

He was thinking about the realm-breaking elixir that Master Lu had refined for him, and his heart was full of expectations for the future.

When Ji Chang returned to the cave residence in Baishuixian City, he did not immediately set out to study alchemy or refine corpses.

He first gave some instructions to concubines and maids such as Liu Xuexuan, sent messages to several Taoist friends he was familiar with, and then concentrated on practicing in seclusion to improve his cultivation.

Ji Chang went deep into the cave and set up the formations and restrictions needed for his retreat to ensure that he would not be disturbed in any way during his practice.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, began to adjust his breathing, and gradually entered a state of cultivation.

During the days of retreat, Ji Chang forgot the passage of time and devoted himself to cultivation.

He constantly practiced his skills, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, increasing his magic power, and tempering his soul.

About two years later, when Ji Chang woke up from his retreat, he felt as if he had been reborn and his cultivation had made a qualitative leap.

“The peak of the initial stage of foundation building.”

He was secretly happy in his heart, knowing that he was only one step away from the middle stage of foundation building.

While he was happy, Ji Chang did not forget the realm-breaking elixir that Master Lu Dan had carefully prepared for him.

He knew very well that now was the best time to take this pill.

So he carefully took the pill out of the pill bottle. He saw that it was bright in color, had clear texture, and exuded a faint medicinal fragrance. He knew at a glance that it was not an ordinary pill.

Ji Chang put the pill into his mouth and immediately felt a warm current flowing into his body along his throat.

He immediately started practicing his martial arts skills, guiding the medicinal power to flow through his body, nourishing his meridians and enhancing his magical powers.

As the medicinal power continued to be refined, Ji Chang felt that his cultivation was also improving at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He did not dare to slack off at all, and continued to practice hard in seclusion, trying his best to break through to the middle stage of foundation building.

During this period, he seemed to be isolated from the world and devoted himself to cultivation.

Whenever he encountered a bottleneck, Ji Chang would use the vigorous power of medicine to break through the constraints time and time again and move towards a higher level.

Finally, after spending half a year, Ji Chang felt that the magic power in his body had reached a new level.

He opened his eyes and an expression of joy that was difficult to conceal appeared on his face.

"Middle stage of foundation building!"

Twenty years ago, Ji Chang first entered the foundation-building stage.

Now, in just twenty years, he has successfully broken through to the middle stage of foundation building.

Normally, even if one possesses superior spiritual roots, it would take at least thirty years to cultivate from the early stage of foundation building to the middle stage of foundation building.

If there is a lack of elixirs to break through the bottleneck, one will be trapped in the bottleneck of the middle stage of foundation building, and linger for more than ten years or even dozens of years.

If one's spiritual roots are only of middle quality, it would be difficult to reach the peak of the initial stage of foundation building without forty to fifty years, let alone step into the middle stage of foundation building.

However, Ji Chang not only possesses top-grade spiritual roots, but is also a second-rank lower-grade alchemist who can refine elixirs to assist in spiritual practice.

In addition, Baishuixian City has a unique spiritual vein environment, and the "Five Poisons Fragments" he practiced is actually the foundation-building chapter of the third-level "Five Poisons Sutra".

With such multiple supports, he was able to successfully break through to the middle stage of foundation building in just twenty years.

After breaking through to the middle stage of foundation building, Ji Chang did not come out, but continued to retreat to consolidate his cultivation.

It was not until half a year later that Ji Chang finally broke through.

Soon after coming out of retreat, Ji Chang summoned Liu Xuexuan to ask if there were any important events that happened inside or outside the cave during his retreat. Liu Xuexuan bowed and replied, "Master, two years ago, the Hu family sent someone to send an invitation to invite you to attend the wedding of Hu Qingyun, the Hu family's foundation-building senior."

"But since you are in seclusion practicing, how dare I disturb you easily, so I took the initiative to prepare a generous gift and go to the Hu family to congratulate you on behalf of the master."

Upon hearing this, Ji Chang nodded slightly to show his approval.

He did not blame Liu Xuexuan for acting on her own initiative. Instead, he felt that she handled the situation very appropriately.

He knew very well that although Liu Xuexuan was called a concubine, she was very different from the ordinary concubines sent by those foundation-building families. To some extent, she was not much different from his Taoist partner.

It is reasonable for him to go to celebrate the Hu family's wedding on his behalf.

After all, how can you lose the big picture for the sake of small matters and miss the opportunity to break through to the middle stage of foundation building because of some trivial matters?

I can't just not attend the Hu family wedding. The Hu family wedding is a happy event. If I fail to go to congratulate, it may damage my friendship with the Hu family.

"You did a very good job this time." Ji Chang said gently.

Liu Xuexuan was secretly happy when she heard Ji Chang's praise.

She knew very well that as Ji Chang's concubine, she not only had to take care of his daily life, but also had to help him solve problems at critical moments.

Being able to attend the Hu family's wedding celebration on behalf of Ji Chang and receiving his praise was undoubtedly a great affirmation for her.

Ji Changfu asked Liu Xuexuan again, "Who is the woman that Hu Qingyun married?"

Liu Xuexuan responded respectfully: "My Lord, I am the guest elder of the Hu family, my name is Shen Yaoyu."

Ji Chang was slightly stunned when he heard this.

"It turned out to be her." He said lightly, and his expression immediately returned to calm, without showing too much emotion on his face.

The name Shen Yaoyu was not unfamiliar to him.

It can even be said that in the past years, there had been considerable disputes between the two of them.

He never expected that the Taoist partner Hu Qingyun would marry would be her.

He secretly thought that if he had not been in seclusion to practice at that time, he would not have taken the initiative to attend the wedding after learning that Hu Qingyun's Taoist partner was Shen Yaoyu.

After all, there were some grudges between him and Shen Yaoyu, and he really had no intention of witnessing their happy marriage.

However, at this moment Ji Chang suddenly remembered that when he used the peeping Tao seed to spy on the ancestor of the Hu family, Hu Rending, he had learned a secret.

Shen Yaoyu became a guest elder of the Hu family not voluntarily, but was enslaved by Hu Rending with magical tools.

Now Shen Yaoyu and Hu Qingyun’s marriage must have been an act they were forced to do.

After Shen Yaoyu gives birth to a child for the Hu family and has a blood bond with them, she will completely become a member of the Hu family even if the slavery ban is lifted.

Ji Chang had heard some rumors that some foundation-building families had adopted this practice.

But today is the first time I see it with my own eyes.

Ji Chang no longer paid too much attention to these complicated things. He turned his gaze to Liu Xuexuan beside him.

As early as when he came out of retreat, he had already discovered that Liu Xuexuan's cultivation had reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining and was only one step away from building a foundation.

He secretly praised in his heart that this girl really lived up to his expectations and her cultivation speed was quite good.

So, he asked, "Xuexuan, have you studied in depth the foundation-building experience I taught you in the past?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xuexuan immediately replied respectfully, "My Lord, I have repeatedly studied the foundation-building experience you gave me and have thoroughly understood it. I feel that I have grasped the essence of it."

Upon hearing this, Ji Chang nodded slightly, a look of satisfaction on his face.

He reached into his storage bag and took out a foundation-building pill, then gently handed it to Liu Xuexuan.

"Since you have everything ready, I will give you this foundation-building pill. After some time, I will personally help you build your foundation and help you cross this threshold."

Liu Xuexuan took the Foundation Establishment Pill with both hands, her heart filled with indescribable gratitude and joy.

She was well aware of the preciousness and importance of the Foundation Establishment Pill, and she also understood that this was Ji Chang's great trust and gift to her.

She quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to express her gratitude: "Thank you for your gift, Master! I will do my best to live up to your high expectations and swear to succeed in building my foundation!"

Ji Chang smiled slightly and reached out to help Liu Xuexuan up.

"You don't need to do this. As long as you can successfully build your foundation, it will be the greatest reward for me."

Ji Chang looked at Liu Xuexuan and continued, "During this retreat, I have successfully broken through to the middle stage of foundation building. This is a happy event."

"I intend to hold a celebration and invite all of you fellow foundation builders to celebrate together and join in the celebration."

When Liu Xuexuan heard this, a look of surprise and joy suddenly appeared on her face. She bowed and spoke excitedly.

"Congratulations, Master, on your great progress! I will do my best to organize this celebration and live up to your trust."

Ji Chang nodded with satisfaction, a gentle smile on his face: "That's great, I will leave this matter to you."

"Hurry up and prepare the invitations to all the fellow foundation builders. Make sure they can come to the celebration as scheduled."

Liu Xuexuan took the order and left, secretly excited.

……

In the quiet room, Ji Chang carefully sorted out the storage bag he had obtained from the black-robed cultivator and the white-robed female cultivator who had previously ambushed him.

His expression was calm, but there was a shrewd gleam in his eyes, as if he was evaluating the value of these spoils.

He first took out the things in the two storage bags one by one and put them into categories.

Spirit stones, elixirs, magic weapons, talismans...

All treasures are in good order.

Ji Chang was very skilled and quickly put these things in order.
In addition, all the stolen goods that needed to be sold were put into a new storage bag.

He planned to go to the black market outside Baishuixian City after some time and sell the stolen goods in exchange for what he needed.

Afterwards, he took out the bodies of the black-robed cultivator and the white-robed female cultivator.

Although several years have passed, the two bodies are still well preserved and not damaged.

Ji Chang planned to refine these two corpses into iron corpses.

Among them, the white-robed female cultivator is a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building, so naturally she can be refined into a second-level medium-grade iron corpse.

Although the black-robed cultivator was only in the initial stage of foundation building during his lifetime, he was also a cultivator with a strong physique, which was the perfect material for refining the iron corpse.

It can also be refined by Ji Chang into a second-grade medium-quality iron corpse.

As for the golden spiritual objects needed for corpse refining, they had already been bought at the trade fair when I participated in the Danshan gathering.

A month later, two iron corpses suddenly appeared in front of Ji Chang.

They are as black as ink, emitting a cold and hard chill.

Although it has lost the agility it had in life, it has gained a bit of powerful majesty.

Ji Chang looked at the situation, nodded with satisfaction, and put the two iron corpses into the storage bag.

(End of this chapter)