Zhou Qingruo bowed to Xu Haijing, then simply smiled faintly and said she had something to attend to before flying towards Seven Peaks.
Xu Haijing stared at Zhou Qingruo's increasingly full waist and hips, secretly swallowing his saliva.
Ever since Zhou Qingruo failed in her challenge against Yang Che, she had been in seclusion until she successfully Foundation Established more than half a year ago, only then did she come out of seclusion.
After coming out of seclusion, Zhou Qingruo surprised many Disciples.
She no longer had her previous arrogance and haughtiness, and she was even very kind to many ordinary Disciples.
When Xu Haijing found Zhou Qingruo and discovered she had already Foundation Established, he immediately brought up the matter of becoming Dao Companions that they had discussed before.
To his surprise, Zhou Qingruo subtly refused.
She claimed that her previous considerations were not thorough and asked Senior Brother Xu Haijing for his understanding.
Xu Haijing saw that after Zhou Qingruo Foundation Established, she not only became intellectual and gentle, but her figure also became even more alluring.
Thus, his desire to become Dao Companions with Zhou Qingruo grew stronger.
However, Zhou Qingruo deliberately avoided him, becoming increasingly distant, which greatly angered Xu Haijing.
Stepping on his Magical Artifact, Xu Haijing pondered for a moment, then made up his mind, deciding to go to Seven Peaks to ask Senior Sister Yun for help.
Upon arriving at Seven Peaks, Xu Haijing met Yun Ning, the third seat Disciple of Seven Peaks, a beautiful older woman who was a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator.
After Yun Ning heard Xu Haijing's purpose, a troubled expression appeared on her face.
“Junior Brother Xu, this matter is difficult. You might not know, but our Seven Peaks Old Ancestor has already prepared to make it clear to Four Peaks Old Ancestor that he intends to arrange for my Junior Sister to become Dao Companions with Four Peaks's Great Disciple Yang Che. You probably won't have any chance.”
“What?”
Upon hearing this, Xu Haijing's face immediately turned ashen, somewhat disbelieving.
“It’s Yang Che again!”
As soon as Xu Haijing thought of the inhuman torment he endured when he was punished by Senior Brother Ji Mingfei after failing his last bet with Yang Che, he couldn't help but shiver, and then a hint of malice flashed in his eyes.
…
Yang Che naturally didn't know any of this.
Upon returning to Red Ripple Secret Realm, he immediately thoroughly watered the Tongyou Medicine Garden with Lingyan Spring water.
Afterward, looking at the Spiritual Soil that had largely completed its advancement, the suppression he had felt for days finally found some release.
The Spirit Eye Tree gradually seemed to stop growing after reaching a height of over one person, no matter what method Yang Che used, its growth rate became increasingly slow.
However, the Spiritual Qi in the entire Void Illusion Magic Stone Space seemed to subtly improve day by day.
Especially the entire Tongyou Medicine Garden, where the Spiritual Qi became increasingly abundant.
And the nine-leaf dark yang fruit had completely become the food of the Winged Fire Dragonfly.
Because its roots do not die, it can re-flower and bear fruit again and again, which has led to the evolution of the Winged Fire Dragonfly far exceeding Yang Che's expectations.
Leaving the Magic Stone Space, Yang Che came to his room by the Lingyan Spring and found a sandalwood brocade box on the table.
Opening it, he indeed found a Medicinal Pill inside, but it was not a Foundation Establishment Pill.
After careful identification, Yang Che immediately recognized that it was a ‘Qi Gathering Pill’ which could enhance the cultivation of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
As if he had thought of something, Yang Che immediately took out the golden Jade Slip that Peak Lord Zhang had given him earlier, and his Divine Sense instantly surged into it for careful examination.
“This…”
Yang Che was stunned.
This Jade Slip actually contained instructions on how to open a second Dantian and how to Foundation Establish.
Not only that, but Peak Lord Zhang also told him in this Jade Slip how to Core Form after successfully Foundation Establishing with Dual Dantians!
Crazy excitement surged in Yang Che's heart, completely shocking him.
Even Tianxie Ziyin was very troubled by his Core Formation, but he didn't expect that Peak Lord Zhang actually had a method?
However, after examining the subsequent content, Yang Che gradually calmed down.
Although there was a method for Core Formation, it was still extremely difficult to succeed.
According to Peak Lord Zhang's method, to resolve the Five Elements mutual restraint during Dual Dantian Core Formation, one must rely on a Heaven-Defying Medicinal Pill called the ‘Essence Stabilizing Pill’.
And the three main ingredients for refining the Essence Stabilizing Pill, ‘purple sky fungus’, ‘essence stabilizing fruit’, and ‘essence’, are all extremely difficult to find.
After imprinting the content of this golden Jade Slip into his mind, Yang Che immediately crushed the Jade Slip.
This was also specifically instructed by Peak Lord Zhang: after remembering the content, the Jade Slip must be destroyed immediately.
“It seems the Old Ancestor most likely already knows that I have successfully Foundation Established.”
Yang Che smiled helplessly, then immediately entered a Cultivation state.
Actually, he didn't need this ‘Qi Gathering Pill’; as long as he continued to refine and absorb the medicinal liquid made from the Level 5 Yao Beast inner core, he would be able to completely enter the Foundation Establishment Stage Middle Stage in another half a year.
However, with this ‘Qi Gathering Pill’, Yang Che was completely confident that he could enter the Foundation Establishment Stage Middle Stage within two months.
…
Two months later.
After taking the Qi Gathering Pill and thoroughly absorbing its medicinal power, Yang Che successfully entered the Foundation Establishment Stage Middle Stage.
Because he Cultivated the ancient Divine Concealment Art, a technique for concealing cultivation, he could easily control his displayed cultivation to be either the peak of Qi Refining Twelfth Layer or Foundation Establishment Stage Early Phase.
He remembered Tianxie Ziyin once saying that if anyone suspected he had successfully Foundation Established, he could directly kill them.
But Yang Che understood that it was impossible to do so in Qing Jian Sect.
However, if someone knew that he possessed Mutated Dual Immortal Roots and had successfully Foundation Established, he would definitely find a way to kill them.
So, after much deliberation, the Old Man's hint ultimately prevailed.
Yang Che decided to display his cultivation as Foundation Establishment Stage Early Phase within Qing Jian Sect.
He believed that since the Old Man dared to let him display ‘successful Foundation Establishment’, he must have his own considerations.
After making up his mind, Yang Che inexplicably felt an unprecedented sense of ease.
However, the Old Man's Jade Slip was not given for free; the Old Man wanted him to completely re-establish the Pill Refining Room, Artifact Refining Room, and Medicine Garden on Sword Four Peak after he ‘successfully Foundation Established’.
He even allowed him to directly recruit provisional Disciples.
Qing Jian Sect has a Sect rule: each of the Nine Peaks has nine official Disciple slots and nine provisional Disciple slots.
Clearly, to revitalize Sword Four Peak, he alone certainly wouldn't be enough.
However, before that, Yang Che certainly didn't forget to secretly and carefully investigate everything about ‘Jiang Wu’.
Counting it, it had been almost four years since Jiang Wu was killed by him.
Investigating this would indeed be somewhat difficult.
But Yang Che quickly thought of a person.
After careful consideration, Yang Che had an idea; he didn't even need to investigate secretly, he could directly and openly inquire about Jiang Wu's information.
Yang Che left Red Ripple Secret Realm and immediately stepped onto the Dunjxing Shuo, arriving at Ninth Peak.
Yang Che's arrival caused half of Ninth Peak to boil with excitement.
Especially upon discovering that Yang Che had successfully Foundation Established, some bolder provisional female Cultivators on Ninth Peak directly sent flirtatious glances to Yang Che, expressing their admiration.
Yang Che naturally chose to ignore them and went directly to Senior Brother Wei Yuhang.
The handsome, stout Wei Yuhang's face showed a strange expression when Yang Che asked about Jiang Wu.
However, he temporarily put aside the topic of Jiang Wu and instead brought up the fact that many people in the Sect now harbored hostility towards Yang Che.
Yang Che said, “I know. Wu Chan, the Devil Head of the Demonic Path Joyous Union Sect from Shura Country, has some personal grudge with me. This led to many Sect Disciples being killed by Wu Chan within Feng Country. However, allow Junior Brother to speak frankly, even if I didn't have this personal grudge with Wu Chan, would he not kill our Sect's Disciples?”
Wei Yuhang paused, finding Yang Che's words quite reasonable.
“However, Junior Brother Yang, it seems Wu Chan hates you to the bone. You must be extra careful if you encounter him in the future.”
Wei Yuhang reminded him with a sincere and benevolent expression.
“Understood. Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. Please tell me, where did Jiang Wu go? He made things difficult for me in every way back then. Now that I have successfully Foundation Established, I naturally want to find him to vent my anger.”
Yang Che shifted the topic to Jiang Wu.
Wei Yuhang shook his head and said, “Jiang Wu has been missing for three or four years, and many fellow Disciples say he's dead. So, I have no idea where Jiang Wu is.”
At this point, Wei Yuhang's face suddenly darkened, and he said in a low voice, “However, Junior Brother Yang can go to Eighth Peak and ask Junior Sister Jian Li. She knows quite a lot about Jiang Wu's affairs.”
Upon hearing Wei Yuhang mention ‘Jian Li’ so suddenly, Yang Che's eyes immediately lit up.