Nanyazhou, Lushan, Yu State.
Lushan is high and densely forested, surrounded by clouds and mist, and full of flying birds. It is one of the most famous holy places of immortals in Taicheng County, Yu State.
This mountain range stretches over 3,000 miles and is the largest spiritual mountain in the three southeastern counties of Yu State.
The mountain is rich in spiritual energy and is full of various rare and hard-to-find immortal spiritual medicines.
Even the immortal birds and beasts that are rarely seen in the mortal world are bred in this immortal spiritual mountain, adding a bit of fireworks to this desolate and remote immortal mountain spiritual land.
The peak with the most abundant spiritual energy on Lushan is Tiantai Peak.
This peak is more than 3,000 feet high. There is a spirit protection formation on the mountain to lock the spirit. It has cultivated a third-level spiritual vein, and the spiritual energy is far more abundant than outside the mountain.
A family of cultivators lives on Tiantai Peak, which is the overlord Zhang family near Lushan.
Zhang Zhixuan sat upright under the Moon-Watching Pavilion, a spiritual spring continuously emitting streams of white spiritual energy, and a stream of green light gathered the spiritual energy and gathered it on the stone platform three feet above the spiritual spring.
There was an old futon on the stone platform, which exuded streams of cool air, making people feel pure and free from desire.
Zhang Zhixuan sat upright on the futon, calmly practicing the spiritual spell, his chest rising and falling, and a three-foot-long icy air constantly spurting out of his mouth.
His face was blue and white, and the blue and white air kept switching, gradually gathering on the three major acupoints of Shenting, Meichong, and Chengguang on the top of his head, turning into streams of purple and green clouds, floating into the sea of clouds.
Zhang Zhixuan smiled in his heart. Today he was practicing beside the spiritual spring, and his heart was throbbing and he couldn't help but use the abundant spiritual energy in the spiritual spring to break through the gate of the world.
His cultivation went smoothly this time. Although he spent a lot of effort, he still broke through the gate safely.
Although Zhang Zhixuan has opened the gate now, he still needs to slowly warm up his true essence.
If he is not careful, all his previous efforts may be wasted, and his cultivation will be greatly damaged, and even his meridians will be damaged.
If the acupoints are blocked again, it will be more difficult to open them next time.
"The purple qi rushing through the acupoints must be a person with a deep foundation. Xuan'er has such a vision, and he must be able to successfully build a foundation. In another ten years, the family may have another foundation-building elder."
The person who spoke was a middle-aged Taoist priest. He was wearing a green Taoist robe and looked a bit like an immortal. He was walking towards the Moon-Watching Pavilion step by step.
Zhang Zhixuan closed his eyes tightly. Just by hearing the voice, he knew that it was his seventeenth uncle Zhang Menglan who came.
The Zhang family has moved to Lushan for more than 400 years. After three generations of cultivators, they have cultivated a third-grade lower-grade spiritual vein on Tiantai Peak, which is enough for three foundation-building cultivators to practice.
The cultivation of cultivators is divided into nine realms: Xiantian, Qi training, foundation building, Zifu, Jindan, Yuanying, Yuanshen, Fanxu, and Hedao, also known as the nine levels of seeking the Tao.
In this world of cultivating immortals, cultivating Yuanshen can ascend to the upper realm and become an enviable immortal.
If cultivators want to practice, it is best to practice in a spiritual vein, otherwise they will not be able to absorb sufficient spiritual energy, their mana will gradually decrease, their physical body will slowly decay, and finally transform into a mortal.
For example, foundation-building cultivators must practice in a spiritual vein above the third level to improve their mana and increase their cultivation. If they practice in a low-level spiritual vein, the spiritual energy will be insufficient, and they can only refine spirit stones every day, consuming a lot of immortal resources.
A third-grade lower-grade spiritual vein is generally enough for three cultivators in the early stage of foundation building to practice.
The same is true for Jindan and Yuanying stage cultivators. Yuanshen stage cultivators must enter the cave paradise to practice.
There is no cave paradise in the lower world, so Yuanshen cultivators cannot stay in the lower world for a long time and must find a way to ascend as soon as possible.
The Zhang family now has only one foundation-building cultivator, the clan leader Zhang Leqian.
Zhang Leqian had already built his foundation a decade ago, but unfortunately he was injured in a fight with others thirty years ago. Not only did his cultivation decline greatly, but even his dantian was damaged. He could no longer fight with others easily. He could only sit by the spiritual spring every day to survive and recover his vitality.
Because the clan leader was seriously injured, the prestige of the Zhang family has been greatly reduced in the past thirty years, and the sphere of influence has also declined seriously.
Their shops in the market have been reduced from 24 to 8.
Even the second third-level spiritual vein Jiuhua Mountain, which they occupied two hundred years ago, has long been handed over to others.
Most of the clan members retreated to the ancestral land Lushan, and gathered with the seriously injured clan leader for warmth, barely maintaining the dignity of a foundation-building family.
If no one in the family builds a foundation in the next sixty years, once the clan leader passes away, they may not even be able to keep the ancestral spiritual vein.
The family will also be on the verge of disaster. Even if someone can barely survive, they will probably become the most helpless casual cultivator in the world of immortal cultivation.
There are three spiritual springs on the third-grade lower-grade spiritual vein of Tiantai Peak that can be used for cultivation. There is a spring under the Moon-Watching Pavilion.
Although the spiritual springs are constantly gushing spiritual energy, any one of them cannot be used for a long time.
If the spiritual springs are overused and damaged, they will dry up. It will take a lot of manpower and material resources to restore them, which is obviously not worth the loss.
In addition to the spiritual spring occupied by clan leader Zhang Leqian, the remaining two spiritual springs are used to support the cultivation of more than a hundred cultivators in the family.
Therefore, each spiritual spring must be given a rest time. When the spiritual springs are resting, the cultivators will use formations to collect the spiritual energy and use them to cultivate and nourish the spiritual veins.
The spiritual spring under the Moon-Watching Pavilion has sufficient spiritual power, but it can only be used for six hours a day, and it takes four days to rest after using it for six consecutive days.
The Zhang family now has a total of 37 mid-to-late stage Qi training cultivators. In addition to the five people over 80 years old, there are as many as 32 Qi training cultivators who are qualified to use the spiritual spring for cultivation.
So within a month, even if the family rules give preferential treatment to underage Qi training cultivators like Zhang Zhixuan, they can only use the spiritual spring for cultivation three times, which is less than three days in total.
Seeing Zhang Zhixuan break through the realm, the middle-aged Taoist Zhang Mengjian had a look of relief on his face, feeling that the family has successors and is gradually returning to its former prosperity.
Zhang Zhixuan gradually faded the purple and green on his face, and while slowly finishing his practice, he said, "Uncle Seventeen, you are too kind. With the current situation of the family, it is already extremely difficult to save ourselves, and it is impossible to provide foundation-building pills for the cultivators in the family. Even if my nephew can cultivate to the ninth level of Qi training, without foundation-building pills, the probability of building a foundation is one in ten thousand."
After hearing what Zhang Zhixuan said, the middle-aged Taoist priest sighed and said with a bitter smile, "It has come to this point, what can we do! If you want to achieve something in the Tao, I am afraid you have to rely on yourselves."
Zhang Zhixuan said with self-mockery on his face, "Uncle Seventeen, what are you doing here?"
The middle-aged Taoist priest said with an unchanged expression, "According to your age, you can still practice at home for two years, until you become an adult at the age of eighteen and contribute to the family. But now the family is short of manpower, I am following the order of my nineteenth brother to discuss with you whether you can go down the mountain in advance and contribute to the family."
According to the rules of the family, cultivators do not have to bear chores before they become adults at the age of eighteen, and can continue to practice in the mountains.
Only when they reach the age of eighteen and have achieved academic success will they go down the mountain to contribute to the family.
The reason for this rule is that before the age of eighteen, not only are the cultivation bases low, but the knowledge, character, and experience are often insufficient. Even if they reluctantly go out of the mountain, they are of little use and can easily become prey to hostile cultivators.
They also have no ability to face the various threats in the world of immortal cultivation.
The Zhang family has always had strict clan rules.
Zhang Zhixuan is only sixteen this year and has not yet reached adulthood, so Zhang Mengjian's tone is very gentle and he did not force him to leave the mountain gate.