Yang Che stood up, suddenly feeling the Spiritual Qi in his Inner Cave Mansion was even richer than before.

He was overjoyed and immediately walked to the Spiritual Soil.

He found that the Spirit Eye Tree sapling had actually grown a bit.

The small leaves, which were previously less than an inch long, had now grown to about an inch, exuding vibrant vitality.

Fortunately, this Spirit Eye Tree was only a sapling; otherwise, with Yang Che's magical power cultivation, it would have been absolutely impossible to easily dig it up.

If a mature Spirit Eye Tree were forcibly moved without Heaven-Defying magical power, its effectiveness would suffer extremely severe damage.

At this moment, Yang Che suddenly remembered what was said in the “Controlling Beasts Scripture”: if Spirit Beast eggs were subjected to the Control Spirit Art and nourished on a spiritual object, it could not only accelerate hatching but also have a certain chance of causing them to evolve.

Thinking of this, he immediately took out the spirit beast bag he had obtained earlier and held the strange cloth containing the insect eggs in his hand.

According to the “Controlling Beasts Scripture,” Yang Che pricked his finger, cast the Control Spirit Art, and dripped a drop of his essence blood onto the insect egg.

With a flash of blood light, the essence blood merged, and the insect egg actually grew much larger, faintly turning red, and soon fell off the cloth.

Afterward, Yang Che carefully moved it to one of the Spirit Eye Tree's leaves.

After completing these tasks, Yang Che's face was somewhat pale.

It must be said that the Control Spirit Art consumed a great deal of magical power, and it was quite strenuous for Yang Che, who was only at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, to cast it.

After meditating to recover his magical power, Yang Che finally walked out of Tongyou Cave.

As soon as he exited the Immortal Cave and stepped into the forest, Yang Che heard dense rustling sounds all around him.

"Spotted Toad!"

A hint of solemnity flashed in Yang Che's eyes. He had originally intended to sprinkle toad-repelling medicinal powder around the outside of his Immortal Cave, but after thinking about it, he gave up.

If he really sprinkled the medicinal powder, wouldn't it be like declaring, “There is no silver here, but three hundred taels buried in the ground”?

Taking out his Sophora Leaf Magical Artifact for flight, Yang Che swiftly flew towards the Hundred Crafts Hall.

...

The Goatee Old Man Qin Shu, Deputy Hall Master of Hundred Crafts Hall, was a Foundation Establishment Stage Early Phase Cultivator.

Almost every time he came to Hundred Crafts Hall, Yang Che could see this Senior Martial Uncle Qin handling various affairs in an orderly manner.

Yang Che was very curious; did this Senior Martial Uncle Qin not need to Cultivate?

After Qin Shu finished handling the affairs of other Disciples, Yang Che stepped forward, cupped his hands in a salute, and explained his purpose to Qin Shu.

Qin Shu stroked his goatee and slowly said, “Yang Che, it's not that Junior Martial Uncle doesn't think highly of you. There are nearly ten thousand Qi Refinement Stage Disciples in this valley. Among those who have newly advanced to the eleventh level and above and signed up for this Foundation Establishment Pill competition, there are also several hundred, but there are only fifty Foundation Establishment Pills.”

“Although Cultivation reaching the eleventh level of Qi Refining allows one to participate, the competition is mostly among those at the twelfth level of Qi Refining. You have just Broken Through to the eleventh level of Qi Refining, so even if you sign up, there isn't much hope of winning a Foundation Establishment Pill. I think it would be better for you to focus all your efforts on Cultivating to the twelfth level, and then participate in the next Foundation Establishment Pill competition.”

Yang Che actually knew that this Junior Martial Uncle Qin's words made sense.

However, he already knew that every Qi Refinement Stage Disciple in Wulong Valley had two opportunities to participate in the Foundation Establishment Pill competition.

One was an unconditional participation, as long as one's Cultivation reached the eleventh level.

The other extra opportunity required exchanging a certain amount of Sect contribution points, and these contribution points were also a huge number.

Of course, if a Disciple like Wen Xingyao had made significant contributions to the Sect, they could directly obtain an additional Foundation Establishment Pill.

Yang Che was well aware of the uniqueness of his Immortal Root. He had long since made a 'Great Vow': if one Foundation Establishment Pill wasn't enough, then he would use two; if two weren't enough, then five; if five weren't enough, then ten... even a hundred.

Therefore, he would never miss any opportunity to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.

So, he would participate in both this time and the next.

“Junior Martial Uncle, please help me register. This Foundation Establishment emphasizes that the earlier one Establishes Foundation, the more beneficial it is for future Cultivation, so this Disciple is still prepared to go all out and contend for it.”

Yang Che's expression was incredibly firm.

Qin Shu naturally could not persuade him further. After helping Yang Che register, he handed him a small token and said, “This time is for unconditional participation. Two and a half months from now, remember to go to the Sect's 'Martial Arts Hall' in advance.”

“Thank you, Junior Martial Uncle Qin.”

...

Yang Che walked out of the Hundred Crafts Hall and then went to the library.

Junior Martial Uncle Feng Qing, who managed the library, was a thin, middle-aged scholar.

Yang Che only later learned that this Junior Martial Uncle Feng Qing and Senior Martial Uncle Sun An from the Spirit Medicine Garden were the two most famous money-grubbers in Wulong Valley.

“Greetings, Junior Martial Uncle Feng.”

After saluting, Yang Che skillfully took out two Low-Grade Spirit Stones and handed them over.

Feng Qing's face broke into a wide smile.

He had a deep impression of this young man.

After this young man had read through all the free texts, he would periodically enter the upper floor, which had a hefty fee, and stay for several hours at a time.

Such Disciples were the ones Feng Qing was most happy to receive.

Yang Che entered the library and came to the top floor.

He had almost finished reading all the texts and scrolls here, but there was still not a single clue about the legendary 'Heaven's Grace.'

“Do I really have to go find Grandmaster Mu?”

Yang Che thought with a bitter smile.

After staying on the top floor of the library for an hour, Yang Che descended the stairs in disappointment.

Although he still hadn't found any mention of 'Heaven's Grace,' he did find a damaged dark-attribute Cultivation Technique and a complete lightning-attribute Cultivation Technique on this top floor.

After paying Spirit Stones to copy the Cultivation Techniques, Yang Che went to the market again, bought some ordinary Materials for soaking Medicinal Pills, and also gathered two sets of Medicinal Materials for refining the 'Pseudo Overlord Pill.'

He originally had over 2,500 Spirit Stones, but after purchasing these two sets of Pseudo Overlord Pill Medicinal Materials, he directly spent nearly 2,000 Spirit Stones. Coupled with his previous purchases and copying Cultivation Techniques, he now only had over 100 Spirit Stones left.

Despite this, Yang Che, aside from feeling immense heartache every time, had already grown accustomed to it.

Cultivating Immortality was inherently a Heaven-Defying act; without Spirit Stones, it was impossible to make any progress.

After leaving the market, Yang Che prepared to return to Tongyou Cave to begin preparations for the Foundation Establishment Pill competition two and a half months later.

As soon as he stepped into Dragon Breath Mountain, Yang Che's hairs suddenly stood on end, and his heart skipped a beat.

Realizing something was wrong, Yang Che immediately flew backward.

However, a sickly female Cultivator appeared lightly, blocking his path.

This woman wore a dark red long robe and an eye-catching jade belt around her waist, her face faintly pale.

It was precisely that Foundation Establishment Stage female Cultivator who had seemed to be tracking someone in the market.

Yang Che could tell at a glance that this woman seemed to have been poisoned, with residual poison still lingering.

Noticing this, Yang Che immediately and without hesitation, placed a Qingxin Pill under his tongue.

Then, with an unperturbed expression, he said, “This Disciple greets Senior Martial Uncle. May I ask why Senior Martial Uncle has stopped this Disciple?”

The woman snorted twice, her eyes filled with extremely cold light: “How dare you kill Liu Yuan? Do you not know he is my Disciple, Liu Hanyan?”

Yang Che immediately said 'blankly', “Senior Martial Uncle Liu, who is Liu Yuan?”

He had already decided in his heart that no matter how Liu Hanyan threatened him, he would deny everything to the death. Otherwise, his life would be in danger.

Liu Hanyan did not speak, but directly extended her hand and condensed something.

Yang Che immediately felt a chill under his feet and had to leap into the air.

“Thud, thud, thud.”

Dozens of long blue ice cones with green mist shot out from the ground like venomous snakes, almost piercing Yang Che's crotch.

However, as soon as he leaped into mid-air, two more 'green mists' flew in from both sides, moving too quickly.

Yang Che had no time to dodge and was hit.

With a surge of Qi and blood, Yang Che flipped a few times in mid-air. After barely landing, he ran wildly into the dense forest without looking back.

At this moment, his heart was pounding, and his palms and back were covered in cold sweat.

Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators were too terrifying.

Just two casual Spells had almost taken his life.

“What should I do?”

Yang Che fled frantically, but he couldn't think of any solution.