Eternal Tale

Another few hours passed, and the alchemy room was filled with waste liquid—not a single success. Chen Xun remained calm and composed, starting to analyze.

”These spirit herbs of heaven and earth are truly peculiar. Different years make such a huge difference.”

Chen Xun thought to himself, ”For the same foundational assisting herbs, a mere difference of ten years in their age requires a completely different level of heat control and technique.”

This was completely different from when he used to refine Heavy Feather Pills and Vitality-Boosting Pills. He had already mastered the precise timing down to the year, which was why he couldn’t refine them in the Qi Refining stage.

This kind of spirit herb probably required legendary divine perception to completely control and significantly increase the success rate.

”But what I don’t lack the most are spirit, herbs, and time.” Chen Xun showed a faint smile, feeling intrigued and undisheartened by the failures.

Time passed as Chen Xun continued his daily alchemy practice, taking no more than five pills a month. If he failed, he would record his experiences and feelings, meditating to explore his sensations at that time.

...

Spring turned to autumn, and another year swiftly went by. Inside the Medicine Valley, the four seasons remained like spring, and time seemed to have left no mark on Chen Xun and the big black ox.

In their secret base, the big black ox stared intently at Chen Xun’s alchemy furnace. The aroma of medicinal herbs filled the air, and it kept sniffing with its cow’s nose.

”Moo!” The big black ox suddenly became excited. Chen Xun had worked hard this year, but it couldn’t help him; he was only able to cultivate spirit herbs on the side.

Finally, Chen Xun successfully refined a spirit herb, but he had a calm expression, lacking any sense of excitement.

”Everything is under my control,” Chen Xun thought, his eyes calm but with a hint of a smirk. ”Foundational spirit herbs are nothing. They are easy to handle.”

”Moo, moo!” The big black ox kept circling around Chen Xun, full of admiration. It truly lived up to its name—a real big brother!

”I’ve finally gotten the hang of it,” Chen Xun said, getting up slowly and letting out a deep breath. ”Old Ox, we’re on the path to Foundation Establishment.”

”Moo!” The big black ox, excited, pounced on Chen Xun, and the latter couldn’t hold back anymore, bursting into laughter.

The beginning of everything is always difficult, but they have finally taken the first step.

[Ding! You can now add points.]

”Old Ox, I can add points, I can add points!” Chen Xun patted the big black ox’s head. ”Now I can try improving my defense.”

”Moo,” the big black ox, stood by, keeping an eye on Chen Xun, ready to help.

Chen Xun allocated his points directly to defense. A dense force spread throughout their bodies, and they both felt as if their bodies had suddenly tightened.

”Not bad,” Chen Xun said, raising an eyebrow and looking at his arms. Although there was no visible change, he could clearly feel that they had become a lot tougher.

”Moo?” The big black ox tilted its head, seemingly puzzled.

”Old Ox, let’s not overdo it; let’s go with the flow.” Chen Xun was surprised, as the old ox seemed about to break his chest.

”Moo,” the big black ox grinned, actually having some thoughts.

”Let’s go to the sect’s main hall and claim our 200 contributions, then we can check out the sect’s grand competition. I heard there are some formidable junior brothers and sisters appearing. After that, we can return to refining pills.”

”Moo.”

Flying on their swords, the two of them descended from the waterfall, and Chen Xun brought along some roasted melon seeds from their cave. They headed toward the Medicine Valley.

In the following years, a person wearing a straw hat led a big black ox also wearing a straw hat to the grand competition venue annually. They never participated in the sect’s grand competition but just sat in the shade, enjoying melon seeds.

They appeared to be quite happy, as if they had no further ambitions regarding their strength. They would cheer on the strong competitors, and after the competition, they would silently leave the mountain, behaving quite amiably.

As long as someone looked at them, they would respond with warm smiles. When walking, they always made way for others, leaving a strong sense of goodwill in people’s hearts.

”No one knew his name, and he seemed to be unsociable. He had few friends in the sect and always walked alone, leading a black spiritual ox like an invisible person.

As the years passed by, turning back to look at the time, ten years had quietly gone by.

Chen Xun and the big black ox had been in the Five Elements Sect for over twenty years. Many significant events had occurred within the sect, and the clashes between the Qian Nation Immortal Sect and the Martial Kingdom Immortal Sect had become increasingly intense.

The path of cultivating immortality was like rowing against the current: if you didn’t move forward, you would regress. The Qian Nation had many resources needed by the Martial Kingdom’s cultivators, and vice versa.

Inside the Medicine Valley, in the cave behind the waterfall, Chen Xun and the big black ox were just ordinary individuals, unable to influence the bigger picture. They could only go with the flow and invest their ten years of longevity points into defense.

However, it was said that it was just a lot of noise for now, and they hadn’t yet reached the stage of taking action. But lower-level disciples didn’t see it that way; rumors were flying everywhere.

”Old Ox, why does it feel like a fight is about to break out?” Chen Xun furrowed his brows slightly, looking at the big black ox. ”If they come to the Five Elements Sect, what should we do?”

”Moo?” The big black ox felt somewhat anxious. These lower-level disciples were constantly fear-mongering, spreading rumors that every thousand years there might be a great war among cultivators.

”Dammit,” Chen Xun cursed softly. Competition for resources was a common issue in every world, but the key question was, what could they, as ordinary people, do about it?

Winning wouldn’t bring much benefit, and losing might result in the destruction of the sect. Moreover, this group of low-level disciples had no idea what kind of development the two Immortal Sects had reached.

”Moo!” The big black ox stomped its feet in panic. It was worried because these lower-level disciples were constantly exaggerating and spreading rumors, saying that a great war among cultivators might break out every thousand years.

”Old Ox, it seems we’ve got a bit ahead of ourselves,” Chen Xun slapped his forehead. He realized he had been biased. The big black ox’s point was that none of the prominent figures in the Qian Nation had started a conflict yet, so why were they worrying unnecessarily?

”Heh, it seems that’s the case. If a battle were to occur, it would likely start with the Ten Great Sects. We still have no news about the Five Elements Sect. Haha, hahaha.”

Chen Xun suddenly burst into laughter, feeling relieved. Rumors can be harmful; he almost thought the Five Elements Sect was the center of the world.

The big black ox rolled its eyes at Chen Xun. Sometimes, overthinking could lead to making wrong judgments.

”However, Old Ox, we should be prepared for anything,” Chen Xun cleared his throat. ”Regardless of how much we can contribute to the sect, we should at least have the strength to protect ourselves.”

”Moo!” The big black ox nodded heavily, its eyes becoming more serious. If a real fight broke out, they could only fight within their capabilities and never overestimate themselves; this was what Chen Xun had taught.

Chen Xun smiled slightly; he didn’t consider himself a saint. Accumulating anger and resorting to self-destruction to confront Foundation Establishment cultivators for the sake of the Five Elements Sect was something he couldn’t bring himself to do.

Their gaze suddenly turned to the alchemical furnace, inside which were five glistening pills, each with a green leaf-like pattern. After ten years of effort, Chen Xun had finally refined all the herbs for Foundation Establishment Pills. However, the most important thing was his advanced alchemical skills, which seemed to be more critical.

They didn’t understand what this leaf pattern was, and the Foundation Establishment Pills looked entirely different from the ones given to them by the elders. They were puzzled.

”Old Ox, get ready to establish the foundation.”

”Moo!”