"Fellow Daoist Xu, you've truly hidden yourself well!" Gong Yang sighed, with a hint of admiration in his tone.

Xu Ping had acted twice since arriving at Purple Bamboo Mountain, but each time had exceeded Gong Yang's expectations.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Xu, you'll surely be renowned throughout the Wanzhe Waters now!" Duan Shuang also laughed.

"It's all just empty fame," Xu Ping smiled slightly, modestly.

"However, we've offended the Song family quite severely this time. I'm worried whether they'll let this go without retaliation?" Duan Shuang's face showed a trace of concern.

After all, the Song family had a Fake Pill ancestor, and although Xu Ping was strong, he was still far from matching a Fake Pill cultivator.

"Fellow Daoist Duan, there's no need to worry about this matter!"

"If I'm not mistaken, your Mountain Protection Array probably isn't simple and might have reached a Quasi-Tier Three level, which should be able to block Fake Pill cultivators, right?"

Gong Yang's eyes shone sharply, revealing a touch of shrewdness.

Xu Ping smiled faintly, nodding in acknowledgement, "Fellow Daoist Gong sure has keen insight. If the Song family decides to break things off with us, you two can simply come to my Thousand Leaves Mountain, where I can protect you both thoroughly!"

"However, the chance of the Song family breaking ties with us is low, since Fellow Daoist Xu didn't strike lethally; he not only spared Song Fei's life but also didn't harm his foundation."

"Furthermore, with the array present, unless the Song family members are fools, they won't want to offend such a talented Sword Cultivator like Fellow Daoist Xu!"

Gong Yang stroked his beard with a smile, full of confidence.

"Gong Yang certainly has more confidence than myself!" Xu Ping teased.

But the other party was indeed correct; the chance of the Song family breaking ties is small. If something unpredictable happens, worst comes to worst, he can just flee.

As for Gong Yang and Duan Shuang, they would just have to wait for him to avenge them in the future.

Subsequently, Xu Ping turned to inquire about the relic.

"All factions heavily invested this time, even using several Third-rank Breaking Array Talismans to successfully breach a small portion of the core restrictions...."

Duan Shuang slowly recounted the events in the relics, also explaining how they competed with Song Fei for the Jade Longevity Fruit.

"So, does this mean the exploration of the relics has barely reached the inner circle?"

Xu Ping had asked the most crucial part.

Gong Yang and Duan Shuang exchanged glances: "That's right... even within the inner circle, quite a few Third-rank items have appeared. In the core building, while there might not be Spirit Objects like the Infant Devouring Fruit, there could very well be Nascent Soul Formation Spiritual Objects!"

"It's just puzzling that the Luoyun Sect has been going all out, with five or six Golden Core cultivators firmly occupying several core areas, seeming certain of some Nascent Soul Formation Spiritual Objects in the relic, while the Shuize Sect isn't all that interested, merely collecting various Spiritual Objects within the inner circle!"

"After all, the Luoyun Sect is a Nascent Soul sect; they certainly know more than us loose cultivators!" To this, Xu Ping smiled slightly, but bore it without much concern.

The power struggles between two major forces didn't concern him, as long as he wasn't caught in the crossfire.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Xu mentioned wanting to purchase a set of talisman inheritance previously, and during the relic exploration, I happened to find one."

Duan Shuang handed over a jade slip with a smiling face.

"Talisman Inheritance!"

Xu Ping's eyes lit up the moment he received the jade slip, and upon probing it with his Divine Sense, he was pleasantly surprised to find that this talisman inheritance recorded up to the Third-rank Middle Grade level.

"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Duan!" he cupped his hands in sincere gratitude.

This set of Third-rank Talisman Inheritance was invaluable and immensely useful to him.

"You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Xu; if not for your generosity in providing those talismans and puppets to both myself and Fellow Daoist Gong, we wouldn't have been able to acquire so many things."

"Moreover, Fellow Daoist Gong and I have already copied a set of the inheritance!" Duan Shuang smiled lightly.

...

...

After more casual chatter, Duan Shuang and Gong Yangling hurriedly departed, aiming to enter their secluded retreat for healing.

Xu Ping then made his way to the cultivation chamber alone.

Eagerly, he took out the Hundred-Year Fruit.

"Hundred-Year Fruit!"

Smelling the crystalline, fragrant spirit peach, Xu Ping couldn't help but reveal a smile.

A Quasi-Tier Three spirit fruit; an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator consuming it would at least gain an extension of over twenty years, and surely he would gain even more.

Without any hesitation, he swallowed it in several bites.

As he ingested it, the Hundred-Year Peach was continually refined in his stomach by Longevity Mana, turning into a continuous flow of essence, nourishing his being.

A small half-hour later, the Hundred-Year Peach was completely absorbed.

"Life extended by fifty years, proficiency increased by fifty points!"

Looking at the proficiency panel, Xu Ping felt elated; his lifespan had finally broken through four hundred, reaching four hundred forty-eight!

His lifespan was now double that of Foundation Establishment cultivators, not much less than Golden Core cultivators.

"Alas, such a long lifespan can be a kind of trouble at times!" Xu Ping couldn't help but smile wryly.

...

After admiring the panel for a bit, Xu Ping finally closed it.

Then, with a flip of his palm, the Third-rank Talisman Inheritance jade slip appeared in his hand. He immediately infused it with his Divine Sense to begin comprehending.

This set of Third-rank Talisman Inheritance was extremely beneficial to him; crafting a Third-rank talisman would undoubtedly increase his trump cards.

Throughout the Yue Country, Third-rank talismans were rare commodities.

Not even mentioning Foundation Establishment, even among Golden Core cultivators, there might not be many.

So far, he hadn't seen any Foundation Establishment cultivator with a Third-rank talisman.

...

...

Half a month later.

A yellow-robed Taoist quietly approached Thousand Leaves Mountain, without attracting anyone's attention.

"This array...?"

The yellow-robed Taoist's eyes emitted a green light, directly penetrating the barrier of the array to view the full landscape of Thousand Leaves Mountain. However, when he attempted to further explore Xu Ping's cave abode, he was blocked by a flash of the array's spirit light, and no matter how much mana he increased, it had no effect.

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