"One hundred and fifty-five years old, eight floors of foundation building."

Lu Changan felt that the powerful lake of mana in his body had expanded by approximately 30%.

Since it is not a breakthrough in a small realm, the "quality" of mana has not changed significantly, and the improvement in strength is not significant.

It's just a step further in the later stages of foundation building.

"Based on the current progress of cultivation, reaching the ninth level of foundation building will probably make you around one hundred and seventy years old."

Lu Changan speculated.

With nine levels of foundation building, you can theoretically reach the core formation stage.

However, in order to increase their confidence, most alchemy practitioners will try their best to reach the peak of the ninth level of foundation building. Even if they fail, they will still have to consolidate for two or three years.

At that time, Fu Xuemei first entered the ninth level of foundation building and began to form elixirs not long after they were consolidated. Due to insufficient foundation, the quality of the final elixirs was affected.

Even so, Fu Xuemei's aptitude for the spiritual root, and after understanding his mind, he managed to form a true elixir.

Lu Changan's situation is different.

He wants to take the route of "turning the elixir back into liquid and reshaping the condensed elixir", which is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

When forming a pill for the first time, there is no need to pursue the peak of the ninth level of foundation building.

If the quality of the finished elixir is higher, the difficulty and risk of crushing the inner elixir will be greatly increased.

This is my first time to convert elixirs into liquid, so I don’t have enough experience. To be on the safe side, it’s best to form a fake elixir like Zhang Tieshan did first.

…

A few days later, Lu Changan left the customs and followed the underground tunnel to the bottom of the deep pool behind the mansion.

First check the growth status of the blackwood gourd vine.

There are almost no signs of growth on this gourd vine, and the small fruits on it are withered, yellow, black, and lifeless.

"It seems that the 'Xuantian Gourd' in the records of Tinghai Pavilion has completely failed to condense..."

Not even Lu Changan's Evergreen Secret Technique can do anything about it.

He once spent his longevity to nourish the dead fruit, but the result was like a stone sinking into the sea, without any reaction.

Fortunately, the vitality of the gourd vine has been stabilized, and the small green patch on the vine is more conspicuous than before.

Compared with the dying situation in the ancient ruins back then, it is much better.

Lu Changan looked at the Xuan Shui Turtle aside and injected Evergreen mana into it to promote its growth.

Over the years, since the Blackwater Turtle has been guarding the Blackwood Gourd Vine and irrigating it, it rarely takes the initiative to suck the residual aura from Lu Changan's cultivation.

Lu Changan guessed that some kind of benefits brought by Xuanmu Gourd Vine were more popular in Xuanshui Turtle's mind than his own Evergreen Skill.

With the boost of evergreen mana and black wood gourd vine, the black water turtle's growth rate is far faster than that of its kind.

It usually takes four to five hundred years for a normal Xuan Shui Turtle to reach the level of true elixir.

Lu Changan's Xuan Shui Turtle probably won't be used half the time.

"As an earth-grade bloodline, this turtle has the qualifications to defeat rock rats far away, and it also has the unknown benefits of black wood gourd and vine. In the future, I wonder what kind of inner elixir it will form?"

Lu Changan was looking forward to and curious about this.

Return to the above-ground mansion.

Xia Wenyue was waiting outside the door, asking to see something.

"Come in." Lu Changan waved his sleeves and opened the door.

Xia Wenyue bowed her sleeves and said sternly: "Mr. Lu, there was a message from the tribe just now, saying that a foundation-building monk outside Qingshawan is visiting you."

"Does that person have a registration number?"

"No, he concealed his appearance." Xia Wenyue replied.

Lu Changan was about to refuse.

"That man claimed to be your old friend in Liang State." Xia Wenyue quickly added.

"Old friend of Liang Guo?"

Lu Changan pondered for a moment, then finally nodded and ordered Xia Wenyue to bring the man over.

For a brief moment just now, he let the rock rat go over to explore and smell a familiar scent.

The visitor is indeed an old friend, with whom we have a close friendship.

…

A quarter of an hour later.

Xia Wenyue left and came back, followed by a toga-robed monk wearing a bamboo hat and a green gauze.

The whole body of the man was wrapped in robes, and neither man nor woman could be distinguished.

Xia Wenyue retreated tacitly and closed the door to the side hall.

Through the green gauze of his bamboo hat, Lu Changan looked hazily into a pair of dark eyes and smiled slightly:

"Miss Shen, I haven't seen you for twenty years. How are you?"

Hearing this, the toga-robed monk stiffened for a moment and immediately took off his bamboo hat and green veil.

It was the face of a woman, about thirty-seven or eighteen years old.

The facial features are beautiful, but the crow's feet are obvious, the fair skin has slightly dull spots, and the dark eyes are no longer bright, but there is a calmness and depth that has passed through the years.

Lu Changan couldn't help but be startled, as if he couldn't associate the gentle, quiet, beautiful lady with skin as white as snow back then with the "half-aged lady" in front of him.

"It makes Master Lu Fu laugh. I am old and old, married and have children. I cannot afford to be called a 'girl'."

Shen Bixin's voice was calm, but her charm could not conceal her bitterness and loneliness.

"You don't have to worry about it, fellow Daoist Shen! As cultivators like us, our appearance is not important, it's just a layer of skin."

Lu Changan spoke in a gentle tone, smiled and raised his hand, asking Shen Bixin to take a seat.

Shen Bixin is the eldest lady of the Tengxing Chamber of Commerce in the Liang Kingdom, and she once had business dealings and cooperation with Lu Changan.

We first met when Jiang Yechen came to Wu Qi Mountain for medical treatment while carrying her unconscious.

Shen Bixin originally fell in love with Jiang Yechen, but was opposed by the elders of the Chamber of Commerce.

In the end, she married Song Wenshu, who had a good background and a promising future in Lihuo Palace.

When he sat down, Lu Changan looked at Shen Bixin calmly and found that her cultivation level had stagnated at the peak of the late foundation building stage.

"The spirit has faded and the magic power has become stagnant."

Lu Changan judged that this woman should have failed to form the elixir and suffered a backlash, resulting in severe damage to her vitality and damage to her body's foundation.

Otherwise, with Shen Bixin's rich net worth, taking beauty-preserving elixirs would prevent her appearance from fading so quickly.

This is not the worst outcome.

It is not unusual for some losers of the elixir formation to die on the spot, or to fall into a state of decline.

In fact, Shen Bixin has good qualifications and her background is better than that of ordinary monks.

Logically speaking, the hope of forming a fake elixir is not small.

At least in Lu Changan's opinion, he has more hope than Shi Xianzi who has not been promoted to the third level formation master.

However, things in the world of cultivating immortals are unpredictable and it is difficult to be absolutely sure. It is normal to fail.

"I wonder how fellow Taoist Song is doing?"

Lu Changan didn't want to expose Shen Bixin's shortcomings, so he changed the subject.

As an elite member of the Lihuo Palace, Song Wenshu had a good background and had some friendship with Lu Changan.

"Wen Shu... was unfortunately killed in the battle to cultivate immortals a few years ago."

Shen Bixin's eyes were dim and her face was sad.

"Song Wenshu died in battle?"

Lu Changan's expression was stagnant, but he didn't expect to change the subject and reveal the scars of Shen Bixin, the widow.

The war of cultivating immortals in the Liang Kingdom resulted in heavy deaths.

True elixirs, fake elixirs, and real people all died in battle.

Death in battle during the foundation building period is naturally not that noticeable, unless it is a friend who pays special attention to it.

Therefore, Lu Changan only learned about the death of Song Wenshu at this time.

"When did Fellow Daoist Shen come to Jing Country?"

"The Tengxing Chamber of Commerce where I am located has transferred part of its direct lineage and property before the war started in Liang Kingdom... Three years ago, I brought my husband's flesh and blood heirs and came to Jingguo with the direct lineage members of the Chamber of Commerce. develop."

Shen Bixin recounted the past a few years ago.

Lu Changan secretly sighed that the Tengxing Chamber of Commerce had prepared for a rainy day and even deployed manpower and industry in Jing Kingdom in advance.
To be continued...