Chapter 99

Zhuo Menzhu stood in front of the viewing platform, his face flushed, his smile somewhat forced, and he loudly addressed the disciples of various sects on the martial arts field:

"The competition for the mine has now concluded. After more than five hours of competition, the final rankings have been determined. They are: Luoxia Sect, Xuelian Sect, Qulinfen Sect, Wohu Mountain, and Taixu Sect. Disciples of each sect can now return to Dufeng Peak to rest. The time to return to your sects will be decided by the elders of each sect."

Upon hearing this, everyone knew that the subsequent distribution of the mine would be negotiated by the elders of each sect, and it no longer concerned them. The Luoxia Sect disciples, led by Qin Fengming and two others, returned to Dufeng Peak in high spirits.

Back at their quarters, Qin Fengming bid farewell to his fellow disciples and did not join in the celebration. Instead, he returned to his residence. He opened his storage ring and carefully counted the talismans inside.

He discovered that the competition in the illusionary array had consumed over three thousand talismans of various types. At the time, he had not felt the depletion, but now, knowing the exact number, he felt a deep pain.

However, the thought of obtaining another foundation-establishing pill made him feel that the consumption was not in vain.

A foundation-establishing pill meant that his success rate in establishing his foundation would increase by two points. Even with a large number of spirit stones, there was no place to buy one.

Although foundation-establishing pills sometimes appeared in the market, most of them were obtained by the various cultivator families, and very few fell into the hands of others. Each foundation-establishing pill was also very expensive, and even smaller cultivator families could not afford to buy them.

The materials used to refine foundation-establishing pills included several types of herbs that needed to be over a hundred years old. Ordinary wandering cultivators or small cultivator families could not cultivate them, only the various cultivator sects or large cultivator families had the ability to do so. This was the main reason why foundation-establishing pills were so precious.

Qin Fengming put away the talismans and began to meditate.

During the illusionary array, he felt that his spiritual sense had grown. He carefully released his spiritual sense, avoiding the various restrictions of the Xuelian Sect, and slowly extended it outward.

Suddenly, he was overjoyed. His current spiritual sense had greatly improved compared to when he was at the Luoxia Sect, reaching a distance of forty to fifty miles. Such a long distance was enough to rival a foundation-establishing stage cultivator.

It turned out that controlling a large number of talismans for a long time was also a form of training for the spiritual sense. In fact, the significant growth of his spiritual sense was also closely related to the large number of talismans he had refined. Although Senior Sister Zeng and Senior Brother Lin also drove dozens of talismans for a long time in the illusionary array, the benefits they gained were far less than those of Qin Fengming.

The next day, Senior Uncle Zeng and Senior Uncle Ximen came to the Luoxia Sect's quarters, gathered all the disciples, and said:

"Luoxia Sect disciples, you performed very well in this mine competition, especially Zeng Yi, Lin Hao, and Qin Fengming, who stood out the most. This has allowed our sect to win the top spot after thirty years, securing three mines for the next thirty years, which is a great contribution to the sect. When we return to the sect, those who performed well will be rewarded. Now, go and prepare. In the afternoon, we will all return to the Luoxia Sect."

Everyone bowed and replied, "We will follow the arrangements of Senior Uncle."

In this competition, besides Qin Fengming, Senior Sister Zeng, and Senior Brother Lin, four other disciples entered the top fifty among all the disciples of the five sects. Among them, Qin Fengming only knew Feng Lang from the Feng family.

According to what Sect Master Wang of the Luoxia Sect had said before the competition, Feng Lang and the other four could obtain twenty yellow essence pills. Although they did not have foundation-establishing pills, twenty yellow essence pills were still a significant boost for their foundation-establishing process. The four were very pleased.

Qin Fengming did not know if he could successfully establish his foundation with the help of two foundation-establishing pills. However, with dozens of yellow essence pills and two foundation-establishing pills, he felt he had a good chance of success.

While Qin Fengming was meditating in his quarters, two figures suddenly appeared in the pavilion. Qin Fengming was startled and, upon seeing that it was Senior Uncle Zeng and Senior Uncle Ximen, he quickly got up and knelt down, saying, "I did not know that the two Senior Uncles had arrived, and I did not have time to welcome you. Please forgive me."

Senior Uncle Zeng smiled slightly and said, "No need for formalities. We came suddenly and did not have time to notify you. What sin do you have?" As he spoke, he lightly waved his hand, and a powerful force lifted Qin Fengming up.

"May I ask what the two Senior Uncles need? If there is any task, I will do my best to complete it," Qin Fengming said respectfully as he stood up.

"You performed exceptionally well in this competition. With the three of you, you managed to hold out until the end, which surprised both of us. I heard that your performance in this competition was due to the many talismans you had. Is this true?"

Senior Uncle Zeng finished speaking and fixed his eyes on Qin Fengming.

Qin Fengming was slightly taken aback, then his face showed a look of sorrow as he replied, "Senior Uncle Zeng, what you said is true. I originally had about three thousand low and mid-level talismans. However, in the illusionary array, to resist the attacks of the many beasts, I gave most of them to Senior Sister Zeng and Senior Brother Lin, which allowed us to hold out for so long."

Senior Uncle Zeng's expression was calm, and he nodded, seemingly completely convinced by Qin Fengming's words. He might have already learned everything that happened in the illusionary array from Zeng Yi.

In the illusionary array, Qin Fengming indeed gave over a thousand and five hundred talismans to Senior Sister Zeng and Senior Brother Lin, which was why he said this.

"Um, we are not interested in your talismans, but we would like to know how you obtained so many. Can you tell us a little about it?" Senior Uncle Ximen interjected.

Qin Fengming answered without hesitation, his face serious:

"These talismans were all refined by me. I have always been very curious about talisman refinement, so I went to the sect's Mechanism Pavilion to find some books on talisman refinement and sought advice from my fellow disciples. I then tried to refine talismans myself. After consuming hundreds of thousands of talisman papers, I managed to refine over three thousand talismans."

He knew that to avoid suspicion, his words should be mostly true with a bit of falsehood. If everything was a lie, the two Senior Uncles would surely find out the truth upon asking, which would be very detrimental to him.

He had indeed sought advice from other disciples about talisman refinement and had gone to the Mechanism Pavilion to find books on the subject.

Senior Uncle Ximen was taken aback and asked in disbelief:

"You refined the talismans yourself and consumed hundreds of thousands of talisman papers. Where did you get so many spirit stones to buy hundreds of thousands of talisman papers? That would require thousands of spirit stones. As a Qi Gathering stage cultivator with no family support, you could not possibly have so many spirit stones."

"I originally studied alchemy at the Alchemy Hall under Senior Uncle Fei. Unexpectedly, I had a good understanding of alchemy and can now successfully refine top-grade magical weapons. I used the discarded materials from Senior Uncle Fei's alchemy to refine many high-grade magical weapons, about twenty to thirty in total. I then gradually sold them in the market, earning a considerable amount of spirit stones, which allowed me to buy so many talisman papers to try refining talismans."

Qin Fengming answered without hesitation after hearing Senior Uncle Ximen's words.