Five Elements Sect, Zhang Shuhua's residence
Wei Yunshen and about ten other golden core cultivators gathered together, including Lin Jiang. Ever since Zhang Shuhua reached the Foundation Building stage, Lin Jiang had gathered these people in Zhang Shuhua's name. Among them, some were Zhang Wanjing's old friends, like Wei Yunshen and the other two, whom they had known for many years. The others were intentionally getting closer after Zhang Wanjing advanced to the Nascent Soul stage.
Through gatherings and discussions, they formed an alliance based on mutual interests and cooperation.
"I heard about what Junior Brother Xiao did in the Internal Affairs Hall a few days ago. It was impressive!"
"I heard that Jin Yu is near the Internal Affairs Hall. I heard everything clearly, but I'm not sure about his expression. It must have been exciting!"
"After this incident, Jin Yu realized that he had no chance of getting his position back unless he surpasses Nascent Soul."
"Jin Yu is almost five hundred years old. He looks young because he takes longevity treasures and Appearance Fixing Pills. But in reality, his vitality is declining rapidly. He doesn't have a chance to surpass Nascent Soul."
Everyone is discussing the events of the past few days. Here, Lin Jiang and their status are equal. Everyone believes that it's not difficult for Lin Jiang to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
"Junior brother, this time we vented our frustrations, but we also made too many enemies. It's not good."
Zhang Shuhua said. I also hate Jin Yu and his group, but we have to admit that their background in the Five Elements Sect is strong. They have many Nascent Soul elders, while Zhang Wanjing is alone.
"Senior brother, there's nothing wrong with that. I want to make enemies. Without enemies, how can we unite more people? Then our interests will become even more different. It's better to fight for even a tiny benefit than to avoid conflict altogether. Isn't that better?"
"Um..."
"Senior brother, you need to change your mindset. Don't be like our master. We need people to help us. Nascent Soul and Golden Core are important, but so are Building Foundation and Qi Refining. The more people, the better."
Lin Jiang explained that Jin Yu willingly made himself a target, so he shouldn't blame Lin Jiang for it.
The rest of the people listened and thought it made a lot of sense. If they were in the sect, they would be the dominant ones, but then they would definitely fight amongst themselves. It's good to have external pressure now, at least this way they won't easily fight each other. Instead, they will join forces to fight against Jin Yu and his group.
"Junior brother, I don't mean anything else, it's just that, I feel a bit, you know..."
"Unjust."
"I guess so."
Senior brother, when have I ever said that what we do is just, even with Master's reforms? I always emphasize the distribution of benefits. There is fundamentally no difference between us and Jin Yu's group. The only difference is our methods.
Jin Yu and his group have become accustomed to enjoying themselves and not giving hope to those beneath them. But we will give hope, and still make money. That's how the rules of the world work, revolving around interests.
It will be the same in the future. We have never said we would give opportunities to everyone at the bottom, but we will always give an opening. As long as we can do this, there will be fewer people opposing us compared to those opposing Jin Yu. That's all.
We must set aside our pride and moral issues. If we don't even have these tactics, how will we compete with fate? This is cultivation, not child's play."
Lin Jiang said seriously, justice and morals are only for the lower class. Once you reach a certain level, it's a bit ridiculous to still talk about these things.
Lin Jiang never thought of himself as a good person, even though he sometimes did bad things. But deep down, his heart was a little dark.
Zhang Shuhua looked at Wei Yunshen and the others, who all had expressions of agreement. Zhang Shuhua sighed, knowing that Lin Jiang had always been helping him become Zhang Wanjing's representative, the leader among these people. But he also understood that he couldn't do it.
In terms of cultivation, Lin Jiang was superior to everyone in terms of methods, strategy, eloquence, and ruthlessness.
"When Junior Brother Xiao achieves pill formation, I will step back and focus on my cultivation."
Zhang Shuhua thought to himself, he really couldn't handle this complicated situation. The power struggle, scheming, and plots were not his strong suit.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed. Lin Jiang received the Spirit Integrating Pill and a fourth-order Demon Core from the Lin family. But he still owed money for the Demon Core. It couldn't be paid all at once, it had to be done gradually.
The Five Elements Sect was the sect with the most spiritual medicine in the Yun State. Lin Jiang planned to help the Lin family in the aspect of medicinal herbs, which wouldn't violate the sect's rules.
For example, high-level spiritual medicine. The Five Elements Sect often sold seeds or seedlings at a discounted price or even gave them away for free. Why could the Five Elements Sect do this? Because regular forces or independent cultivators spent hundreds or even thousands of years cultivating the medicine, but they didn't have the means to refine it.
In the end, they either sold the medicines or asked the Alchemist from the main sect to help. The main sect would make the most profit, so they didn't lose anything.
If it weren't for Li Ruoxu causing trouble in Yun State, the three sects could earn countless spirit stones using this method. But Li Ruoxu is cunning, he knows the bottom line of the three sects and never crosses it. Otherwise, they would have killed him long ago.
After obtaining the treasure, Lin Jiang quietly left the sect before officially entering seclusion. He contacted Lin Die and handed over the Small Shadiao and the fourth-order Demon Core, asking her to take care of them, especially if the Small Shadiao successfully advanced and needed to undergo tribulation. It was inconvenient for Lin Jiang to stay in the sect.
Lin Die agreed and fed the fourth-order Demon Core to the Small Shadiao. As a result, the Small Shadiao fell into a deep sleep, and Lin Die didn't need to worry. At most, she would help during its tribulation.
After making sufficient preparations, Lin Jiang entered seclusion at Zhang Wanjing's cave. By breaking through here, Lin Jiang could save money by not using the Spirit Gathering Formation to gather spiritual energy. However, during this time, Zhang Wanjing wouldn't be able to cultivate because if he did, he would have to compete with Lin Jiang for spiritual energy, which would be deadly for Lin Jiang.
"From Qi Refining to Building Foundation, it compresses the spiritual energy from a gaseous state to liquid. From Building Foundation to Golden Core, it compresses the spiritual energy from a liquid state to solid. The most difficult moment is the transformation of liquid spiritual energy, which is very mysterious, and everyone's situation is different."
Sitting in the quiet room, Lin Jiang recalled the key points of Foundation Building. There were plenty of cultivation experiences from predecessors in the sect, and he had read them many times.
However, everyone's situation is different, so it cannot be blindly followed. It still needs to be combined with one's own circumstances.
After careful recollection, Lin Jiang began to break through. He had already reached the peak of the Building Foundation stage for many years, and the spiritual energy in his body had become extremely viscous, like rice porridge. It couldn't grow any further, so if he continued to cultivate, it would solidify.
"First, use the Pill of Spirit Integration. If it fails, you can try again. Finally, use the Pill of Five Elements Golden Fruit."
Lin Jiang made a decision. The Pill of Spirit Integration is very magical, and the Pill of Five Elements Golden Fruit is a precious item for condensing the inner energy, but they are different from each other. The Pill of Five Elements Golden Fruit is more suitable for him, but he doesn't dare to take it hastily. He will use the Pill of Spirit Integration to explore the path first.
After taking the medicine, following the previous experiences of others, Lin Jiang began seclusion.
"Puff"
Half a year later, Lin Jiang coughed up blood, looking weak and defeated at the critical moment.
Crawling out of the quiet room with great difficulty, Zhang Wanjing had already sensed it and was waiting at the door.
"Are you okay, Xiao Yi?"
"I didn't injure my main energy channel. Give me some time to recover."
"Don't be too hasty."
"No, I have to rush up in one breath."
Lin Jiang shook his head, took out a healing pill and swallowed it. Yunzhong City Centennial Celebration, he bought many healing pills, ranging from fifth to sixth grade. He prepared them specifically for this moment. Previously, he also took high-grade pills to protect his meridians. Otherwise, he would have been severely injured like Zhang Shuhua, and it would have taken a long time to recover.
One year later, Lin Jiang closed himself off again, still taking the Spirit Integrating Pill, because he still wasn't confident.
"Why can't I save some spirit stones?"
Another eight months passed, and Lin Jiang cursed loudly while lying on the ground. If he used one less pill, he could have saved two million spirit stones. But he still failed.
Crawling out of the quiet room, Zhang Wanjing was still waiting for him. This time, Zhang Wanjing didn't waste words and directly stuffed a pill into Lin Jiang's mouth.
"Master, how did you know that I still had pill for forming a core?"
"Guessed."
"Master is incredibly wise, I admire you."
"You still look full of energy, definitely won't die."
"Poor people rely on mutations, rich people rely on spending money. Does Master know how many spirit stones I spent?"
"What is spending money?"
"Just spending money."
"That's almost right. You're quite wealthy, even wealthier than me. I've collected your dividends for the past two years."
"Oh my gosh, Master, how could you do this?"
Lin Jiang was shocked, wanting to Pounce on Zhang Wanjing. The dividends from the past two years exceeded one million spirit stones.
"Previously in Yunzhong City, I asked you how much you could earn in a year and you said four hundred thousand spirit stones. You lied to me. This is punishment."
"Master, that money isn't just for me. I have to share it. You took it all, which means I still have to pay out of my own pocket. Master, you can't treat me like this."
"That has nothing to do with me. You made so much money under my name, what's wrong with me taking your share of profits for two years? I'm saving this money for Zhang Wenchen's training. Even if it's a red envelope from you, Martial Uncle, for Zhang Wenchen, you have been absent for these two years."
"What kind of red envelope needs a million spirit stones? No, I can't bear it. Let me take a break."
Lin Jiang wanted to cry but had no tears. Zhang Wanjing's attack hurt him more than his failed breakthrough. He couldn't take it anymore.
Zhang Wanjing laughed loudly. He didn't feel any pain. After knowing Lin Jiang's exact income, he had been angry for a long time. This little disciple of his made so much money but didn't show any respect to his master. He deserved to be punished.
After another year of recuperation, Lin Jiang walked into the quiet room once again.
"If I don't make a breakthrough this time, I will have to leave."
Lin Jiang gritted his teeth. Although he publicly claimed to be in his early 100s, Zhang Wanjing knew about his relationship with the Lin family and knew that Lin Jiang had already built his foundation before joining the Five Elements Sect. Based on Lin Jiang's talent evaluation, Lin Jiang felt like he appeared to be around 170-180 years old in Zhang Wanjing's eyes.
If he failed this time, he would have to leave the Five Elements Sect. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to keep the secret of immortality. This secret was something he had to keep forever.

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