"Everyone, the seven days have passed!"

Elder Tian's voice startled Zhou Xun and the others awake.

"Such a wonderful place for cultivation, it's a pity we can only stay for seven days!" the young man named Wu said reluctantly.

"Be content with what you have! Just this one time is enough to save you years of arduous training!" Liu Feng scolded with a smile.

At this moment, he had completely retracted his mana, clearly at the Peak Qi Refining cultivation.

It seemed that within no more than a year, White Cloud Immortal City would add another Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

However, Zhou Xun himself had also broken through to the Eighth-Layer Qi Refining.

And his progress in the Eighth Layer had advanced considerably.

"These 3,000 Spirit Stones were well spent!"

Although the price was quite high, Zhou Xun possessed a large number of spirit stones, making it worth it.

They left White Cloud Mountain through another exit.

Looking back towards the direction of White Cloud Mountain, the towering peaks were suddenly out of sight.

"A Tier Three Array already touches upon forbidden fields; concealing a towering mountain is naturally not a problem!"

Walking along the road, Zhou Xun quietly contemplated the changes in his mana.

Now his mana had increased by at least a third compared to the Seventh-Layer Qi Refining, with mana strength also having improved by about one-sixth.

Unfortunately, this place was not suitable for testing magical artifacts.

Otherwise, Zhou Xun really wanted to see how much his strength had improved.

Besides that, there was also his Divine Sense.

When fully expanded, he could sense over a hundred and sixty zhang around him.

This exceeded even the standard range for Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

It was known that most middle-stage cultivators had a Divine Sense range of only one hundred and fifty zhang.

"With such Divine Sense, could I perhaps wield a top-grade spiritual artifact?"

Zhou Xun speculated, feeling a thrill.

He had acquired a top-grade spiritual artifact from a Gao Family Foundation Establishment cultivator. While the attributes weren't a perfect match, its power certainly surpassed the high-grade artifacts he possessed.

"If I can wield the top-grade artifact, with my Divine Sense at the middle-stage Foundation Establishment level, and donning that Thousand Faces Mask, if I claim I'm not a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I'm afraid no one would believe it!" Considering his strength, Zhou Xun now belonged to the Foundation Establishment level.

"Eh?"

As he thought about this, a man in a brocade robe, with a sinister expression, passed by him.

"That man just now gave me a peculiar look!"

Having trained in the divination technique, Zhou Xun was extremely alert to ill-intentioned individuals.

Watching the man's retreating back, Zhou Xun pondered deeply.

"His appearance is unfamiliar, yet why does he give me a faint sense of danger?"

He thought about this for a long time without finding an answer.

Shaking his head, he decided to stop dwelling on it.

With his current cultivation, he need not fear those weaker than him, and for those stronger,

given his current status and position, he could not afford to offend them, nor would he be able to touch them even if he wanted to.

Thus, he headed home.

...

Turning the corner, Zhou Xun saw several familiar figures standing at the entrance of his house.

"Erniu!"

Zhou Xun exclaimed with surprise.

"When did you arrive?"

A few months ago, when Zhou Xun decided to settle in White Cloud Immortal City, he sent two letters to Wang Erniu and Lin Xueying.

He explained his relocation to White Cloud Immortal City.

Unexpectedly, Wang Erniu had arrived today.

"Big brother!" Seeing Zhou Xun, Wang Erniu was equally overjoyed.

Beside him were his wife Lin Xue'e and their elder daughter Lin Xiuyin, who was only three or four years old back then.

Now she was already eleven.

She inherited Lin Xue'e's looks, becoming a budding beauty.

"Greetings, big brother!" Lin Xue'e greeted with a curtsey.

Lin Xiuyin shyly uttered, "Uncle Zhou!" looking a bit embarrassed.

"I received your letter, big brother mentioned settling in White Cloud Immortal City. It so happened I had to escort a batch of ores to the city, so I brought Xue'e and Yinyin along to visit!" Wang Erniu explained excitedly.

He also had two sons, one named Lin Youhe and another named Wang Shun, but because they were still young, they were not brought along.

"Come, come, come in and talk!" Zhou Xun opened the gate to warmly welcome Wang Erniu's family inside.

Sitting in the hall,

Wang Erniu scrutinized Zhou Xun carefully, somewhat uncertain:

"Big brother, you're already at the Eighth Layer?"

Hearing this, Zhou Xun smiled softly and immediately recounted the story of the White Cloud Spirit Pool.

"Big brother is truly lucky, the usage tokens for the White Cloud Spirit Pool are usually consumed internally by the city and may only be released once every several years!"

"I did not expect that you managed to compete for one, truly remarkable!"

Wang Erniu genuinely congratulated, his joy sincere as if he truly celebrated for Zhou Xun.

At this time, he had just broken through to the Eighth-Layer Qi Refining too.

He remembered that Zhou Xun's Spiritual Root was only twenty-one points back then, less than half of his own.

Yet, his cultivation now seemed to surpass his own.

Truly, a big brother is always a big brother.

"You mentioned in the letter that you've become a Sword Cultivator?" Zhou Xun asked.

Sword Cultivators and Thunder Cultivators were recognized in the Cultivation Realm as the two strongest combat cultivators. Sword Cultivators' hearts are devoted to the sword.

Unlike other cultivation techniques with various spiritual artifacts and spells,

Sword Cultivators focus on a single sword, their life linked to it, moving forward unimpeded with one strike, many even able to fight above their level.

Even though Wang Erniu was now only at the Eighth-Layer Qi Refining, his real combat strength would make ordinary peak Qi Refining cultivators keep their distance.

It's said that at the highest level, Sword Cultivators can achieve "One strike opens the Celestial Gate".

"Yes, it was Elder Fengyue's suggestion. One day, Elder Fengyue personally visited the Lin Family, taking the young lady as a direct disciple. Originally, he wanted to recommend me to join the Cloud Light Sect, "

"But considering Xue'e, Yinyin and others, I refused, and then Master Fengyue taught me a Sword Cultivation Technique."

"He said my Gold Attribute Spirit Root was outstanding, making me a great candidate for Sword Cultivation!"

"Master Fengyue is a True Pill Cultivator, her guidance is naturally insightful and high-reaching, so of course, I listened!" Wang Erniu recounted the events slowly.

Listening to Wang Erniu, Zhou Xun praised in his heart.

"Erniu indeed has great wisdom!"

"Unfortunately, after cultivation, I realized that Sword Cultivation advancement is also difficult!" Erniu sighed.

"For us Sword Cultivators to achieve Foundation Establishment, the best is to use oneself as a guide and with the Immortal Sword Heart to establish the Sword Foundation, the next best is to use three types of Essence Qi as a guide, grinding for several years to establish the Sword Foundation, while the last is to use Foundation Establishment Pills and Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects!"

"But these can only be considered as a Fake Sword Cultivator!"

"The family has promised to prepare one type of Essence Qi for me, the remaining two I must rely on myself!"

The "Black Cloud Evil Qi" Zhou Xun possessed was such a type of Essence Qi.

If in the future he could obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully achieve Foundation Establishment, he planned to sell the Black Cloud Evil Qi to Wang Erniu.

Having a close friend who was a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator would be greatly beneficial to him as well.

"Erniu has always had good fortune, obtaining three types of Essence Qi should be no problem!"

Zhou Xun reassured him.

Over the next five days, Wang Erniu stayed at Zhou Xun's home.

Ultimately, because he needed to return to Red Leaf Square, he had to bid farewell.

After Wang Erniu left, Zhou Xun pondered the matter of the black-robed middle-aged man he encountered that day.

For several days, Zhou Xun was surrounded by a vague sense of danger, causing him some unease.

He proceeded to perform a divination for himself.

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