Piaomiao Peak.

Inside a quiet, elegant little courtyard.

"Brother Lin, you must stay safe and sound!"

"You must be hiding somewhere, secretly cultivating right now, aren't you?"

Dressed in purple, Gao Ziyue stood beneath a weeping willow, gazing off into the distance, her beautiful eyes filled with deep worry.

More than half a year had passed.

Throughout the entire Southern Realm Cultivation Realm, the Five Great Righteous Sects, countless smaller sects, even Demonic Cultivators—all were searching for Brother Lin. Even her master had gone to search for him and hadn't returned yet.

It could be said, Brother Lin was in a very tough spot.

All Gao Ziyue could do now was pray for Lin Chang'sheng.

Pray that he was quietly cultivating in hiding, safe and sound.

.......

Liuyun Immortal Sect.

Outer sect disciples' quarters.

"It's been over half a year and still no word about that brat. Looks like he was either caught by Demonic Cultivators or just died out there! Ha, serves him right!"

"So what if his cultivation was higher than mine? He's still not living as long as me, Yu Xiaochang!"

"I guess you could say I've been doubly blessed!"

Yu Xiaochang gazed into the distance, a smug look in his eyes.

Also—

His cultivation had broken through to Qi Refining Fourth Layer after he found a reishi on a certain cliff and ate it!

.......

Liuyun Immortal Sect.

Three hundred miles away.

"Where the hell did that guy go?"

"Even both the Righteous and Demon Dao can't find him?!"

Zhuge Buping stood atop a lush mountain peak, his hands clasped behind his back, regret flashed in his eyes as he muttered, "I thought I'd be able to get a wisp of Heaven and Earth Qi. Looks like that's out of the question."

"Even without Heaven and Earth Qi, I, Zhuge Buping, won't lose out to anyone!"

Staring into the distance, Zhuge Buping's gaze turned steely with resolve.

......

Three thousand miles from the Demon Evil Sea.

On a Thousand-Foot Cliff.

"That bastard!"

"There's still not a single bit of news! Where exactly did he go?"

A woman of stunning beauty in purple stood under a green pine, gazing at the distant clouds, a look of frustration in her lovely eyes.

Wan Wushuang stomped her foot in annoyance. With a wave of her hand, a flying sword materialized. She leapt onto it and soared away with sword control.

........

The next day, afternoon.

Celestial Lake City.

West Garden Elixir Shop.

"Almost got all the ingredients for the Divine Essence Pill; once I've got five-hundred-year-old Blood Red Reishi and Dragon Blood Grass, I can start refining!"

Lin Chang'sheng sat on the second floor, divine sense sweeping over the storage bag in his hand, a thoughtful look on his face.

Over these past few days—

He'd not only been taking on alchemy commissions, but had almost gathered all the materials for the Divine Essence Pill. He just needed two main ingredients now.

"Wonder what this Divine Essence Pill will actually do?"

Lin Chang'sheng's heart was filled with anticipation.

Still—

He didn't forget his current identity: in Celestial Lake City, at West Garden Elixir Shop, he was Alchemist Zhang Han, Master Zhang!

"Okay, I'm already at Qi Refining Ninth Layer. Guess it's time to try refining a Foundation Establishment Pill too."

Lin Chang'sheng's eyes flashed. He pulled out a yellowed pill formula from his storage bag.

It was the Foundation Establishment Pill formula he got from Murong Tian.

[Foundation Establishment Pill formula detected. You can spend 20 Spirit Stones to simplify it. Simplify now?]

After Lin Chang'sheng examined the pill formula twenty times, a red notification popped up on his panel.

"Simplify it!"

Lin Chang'sheng immediately tapped confirm.

[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Foundation Establishment Pill formula... Simplified successfully... Foundation Establishment Pill == Digging Foundation with Eggs!]

Three breaths after Lin Chang'sheng hit confirm, a red notification popped up on the panel.

"Huh? The Foundation Establishment Pill was simplified into Digging Foundation with Eggs?"

"What the..."

Seeing the simplified result, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes went wide with confusion.

I'm a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator and you want me to dig a foundation?

And I've gotta bring eggs too?

"Does that mean I need to buy some chicken eggs? Bird eggs or something?"

Suddenly Lin Chang'sheng had a spark of inspiration. "Wait, it doesn't specify chicken eggs, bird eggs, any eggs. I'm already carrying two myself, aren't I? Why buy any? I'll just go and try digging a foundation!"

With that, Lin Chang'sheng grabbed his stuff and left the house.

Soon enough, at another market outside the main bazaar, he bought a digging hoe. Then he made a beeline for the outskirts of Celestial Lake City, found an empty, run-down three-courtyard residence, and started hacking away at the base of the walls.

Foundation Establishment Pill Experience Points +1!

Foundation Establishment Pill Experience Points! +1!

.......

As Lin Chang'sheng swung the hoe again and again, notification after notification popped up on his panel.

"Oh, so it does work, and I didn't even need to buy eggs!"

Lin Chang'sheng watched his experience points climb higher and couldn't help but feel satisfied.

........

"You bastard, stop right there or I'll chop you to death!"

Just as Lin Chang'sheng was having the time of his life digging, an angry shout broke out.

A stocky guy in his thirties with a short beard came running by, hiking up his trousers as he sprinted. The guy was fast—he flashed past Lin Chang'sheng, then disappeared a dozen yards away.

"Uh... Cao De?"

Lin Chang'sheng stared blankly at the man. How did I run into this guy again in Celestial Lake City?

And just then—

Trailing behind Cao De was a skinny young man in his late twenties, waving a chopper and cursing non-stop. But Cao De was just too fast, and was gone in an instant. The skinny guy threw the knife aside, slumped to the ground, and looked like he'd lost his soul.

"Hey kid, are these gold ingots yours?"

Lin Chang'sheng pointed at a clump of grass not far away, speaking to the skinny guy.

Cao De had tossed those away in his escape just now.

"Huh?"

"Gold ingots? Wait... bro, these aren't mine... I..."

The skinny guy's eyes lit up, but he still waved his hands no.

"I didn't drop them either. They're yours, man, just take them!"

Lin Chang'sheng shook his head, silently turned, and went back to digging. He was really speechless about Cao De: if he wasn't hanging around a brothel, he was hooking up with someone else's wife. This was the second time he'd seen a guy chasing after him for it.

Pants not even pulled up—why bother?

"Ah... okay! Thank you, big brother!"

The skinny guy's worries vanished in a flash.

He hurriedly took off his jacket, wrapped the gold ingots up, and ran off, thanking Lin Chang'sheng the whole way.

........

"Huh? Why isn't Alchemist Zhang Han opening shop today?"

"I've been waiting for him to help me refine a Spirit Storage Pill!"

"Don't bother waiting here; Alchemist Zhang Han's outside the city digging at walls! If you're in a rush, just find someone else for your pills!"

"Wait, digging at the walls? Why's he doing that?"

"The pills Alchemist Zhang refines are top-notch. I only trust him to refine my medicine! Let's go check it out!"

"...."

Outside West Garden Elixir Shop,

More than twenty low tier cultivators had gathered, debating loudly. Once they heard Alchemist Zhang Han was out of town digging at the base of walls, they all hurried toward the outskirts of the city.

........

Celestial Lake City.

The Wang Family—one of the city's four great clans.

Though, among the four, their power was pretty much at the bottom.

The family patriarch, Wang Lin, was the clan's only Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator.

Right now, Wang Lin sat in the main hall, across from his steward, Wang Bo.

"You say that Alchemist Zhang is out digging walls? Why on earth would he do that?"

Wang Lin frowned at his steward, puzzled.

Soon his eldest son, Wang Teng, would be betrothed to the Jiang Family. Alchemist Zhang had been invited as a guest. On the surface, it was about marriage—and strengthening ties with the Jiangs—but really, they wanted to win over Alchemist Zhang for the Wang clan.

If they could secure Alchemist Zhang as their exclusive alchemist, their family power would skyrocket overnight.

But now, hearing from the steward, Alchemist Zhang was digging at walls.

This was just… too bizarre!

"Patriarch, I have no idea either. I only heard about it and went to look—with my own eyes, he's out there at some run-down courtyard, just digging away! But I didn't see him find any treasure."

Wang Bo remembered Alchemist Zhang's actions and still couldn't make sense of it all.

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