In the days that followed, Lü Zhong immersed himself in his cultivation.

With a sufficient supply of Spirit Stones, he no longer had to worry about running out of Pills to advance his cultivation. He went from taking one every three days back at Liuyun Mountain to one a day, resulting in a dramatic increase in his cultivation speed.

He had to admit, the effects of a Female Cultivator’s Yin Yuan were truly outstanding.

Lü Zhong had been worried that such a rapid increase in his cultivation would make his True Essence volatile and unstable. To his surprise, however, the results were similar to his previous periods of arduous training, leaving his True Essence only slightly superficial.

’I should be able to eliminate this potential issue as long as I refine it occasionally.’

At the same time, the effects of the Spirit Forging Fire also began to show.

Although the Golden Sun Insect Fire was merely a supplementary component, the Spirit Forging Fire refined using it as fuel could still purify his True Essence. Its effect was comparable to taking Pills specifically designed to purge Pill Poison.

Thanks to this, after a year of secluded cultivation, Lü Zhong finally broke through to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

Feeling the total volume of True Essence in his Dantian surge and expand like a spring, his face filled with joy. ’My investment of nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones has finally paid off,’ he thought.

However, Lü Zhong’s happy expression soon faded.

Compared to his progress in cultivation, the Talisman Shop he had opened was not generating the expected revenue. He was facing a situation similar to what Huang Shuyuan had experienced when she first arrived at the Yanling Mountain Market: the Talismans he made simply weren’t selling at a good price.

In a place as vast as Lingyue Immortal City, the level of competition in every trade and industry far exceeded Lü Zhong’s imagination.

In Immortal Intent Square alone, there were no fewer than three Talisman Shops, both large and small.

Under these circumstances, even though he could produce the relatively rare Flying Talisman, his competitiveness paled in comparison to the large Commerce Associations. He could only attract customers by lowering his prices and cutting into his profits.

As a result, a Flying Talisman that sold for thirty Spirit Stones only yielded a profit of twenty.

The low profit margin was bad enough, but he often struggled with slow sales on top of that.

This state of affairs left Lü Zhong thoroughly frustrated for some time.

He figured that for the Talisman Shop’s business to truly take off, he would have to learn how to make a rarer type of Talisman. Only then could he attract a large number of customers. Otherwise, business would remain stuck in this lukewarm state.

Fortunately, the income from his newly established printing workshop was decent.

Relying on his memory of the hundreds of classic novels he had read in his past life, the printing workshop was generating excellent returns—over a thousand Spirit Stones per month, which was just enough to cover his daily expenses.

Pushing aside his frustrations, Lü Zhong gently moved the sleeping Li Hejun and Bai Ling off of him. He rose from the damp bed, casually slapped a few Cleaning Talismans on himself, and prepared to visit a Foundation Establishment Cultivator he had recently met.

Since the path of Talisman Making wasn’t working out, he decided to try making money with the Array Dao instead.

Compared to Talisman Making, which was relatively easy to get into, it was nearly impossible to succeed in the Array Dao through self-study without a proper inheritance or the guidance of a master. Therefore, even though he was only a half-decent Tier Two Array Master, Lü Zhong still pinned his hopes on it.

In fact, his purpose for visiting this particular Foundation Establishment Cultivator was to take on a commission for an Array Formation.

At the same time, he also hoped to integrate into the Foundation Establishment circle of Lingyue Immortal City.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, Lü Zhong was increasingly feeling the hardships of going it alone.

Whenever a treasure was discovered, he was always the last to hear about it. He was nothing like the protagonists in novels, who had a constant stream of opportunities and benefits just waiting for them. He figured that if he didn’t make a change, he would be stuck making a living as a humble Talisman Maker for the rest of his days.

That might be a safe path, but his chances of acquiring a Core Formation Spiritual Object would become slim to none.

Besides, integrating into the circle would be a great help to his cultivation as well.

By occasionally participating in a gathering or two, he could not only get news and information, but also hear the insights shared by others. That was far better than hiding away in his Quiet Chamber, racking his brain over some ancient tome all by himself.

Soon, the Beast Vehicle stopped in front of a grand residence.

This was the residence of Xu the Cultivator, a man Lü Zhong had met while taking his Tier Two Array Master assessment.

His full name was Xu Tianqing, and he possessed a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation. Because he enjoyed mentoring junior cultivators, he was considered a well-known figure in the Foundation Establishment circles of Lingyue Immortal City.

Lü Zhong had chosen him to be his guide into this circle.

To that end, he had invested no less than a thousand Spirit Stones in gifts.

"Fellow Daoist Lü! Please, come in, come in!" said an older man with a short beard who was standing at the door. Sensing Lü Zhong’s cultivation as he disembarked from the vehicle, the man broke into a smile. "What a coincidence! We have other fellow Daoists visiting today. Allow me to introduce you all in a moment!"

This was Xu Tianqing, and his attitude today was much warmer than usual.

"I appreciate it," Lü Zhong said with a smile, cupping his hands in a salute.

He thought to himself, ’It seems my efforts are finally paying off.’

’Of course, my recent breakthrough in cultivation is probably a major reason for this, too.’

Thanks to the fact that Spiritual Objects that aid in Foundation Establishment were easier to obtain in Lingyue Immortal City, the number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators was not small—it was said there were nearly a thousand in total.

Most of them possessed only an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation, so it was perfectly normal that he hadn’t received much attention before.

They chatted as they walked, soon arriving in a large hall filled with the rich aroma of wine.

Many cultivators were already seated inside, nearly all of them with Foundation Establishment Cultivation. Among them were two Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. At that moment, a cultivator was seated on a Dharma Platform at the far end of the hall, sharing his Cultivation Insights. It was clear that Lü Zhong had stumbled upon a symposium.

Seeing the two of them enter, everyone rose to their feet.

"Allow me to introduce everyone," Xu Tianqing said cheerfully. "This is the newly arrived Fellow Daoist Lü, Lü Zhong. Now, don’t say this old man never looks out for you all—Fellow Daoist Lü is a Tier Two Array Master! If you have need of an Array Formation in the future, I suggest you consider him first!"

Hearing this, the crowd, which had initially been somewhat dismissive of Lü Zhong, had a drastic change of heart.

They had assumed he was just an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, never imagining he was an Array Master. The status of the former was far inferior to the latter. After all, cultivation was all about resources. It was incredibly difficult for an average Foundation Establishment cultivator to earn Spirit Stones; sometimes, six months of hard work wouldn’t earn as much as an Array Master made from setting up a single Array.

Lü Zhong responded to everyone’s gestures of goodwill with humility.

Then, Xu Tianqing began to introduce the cultivators present to Lü Zhong.

Setting aside the ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, Lü Zhong had already reaped new rewards from this trip. It turned out that the two Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators present both had extraordinary backgrounds. One was a famous adventuring Loose Cultivator named Xuu Yang, who often frequented dangerous lands and Secret Realms and was known for many famous exploits. The other was a celebrity in the Foundation Establishment circle, Dongfang Ling, who was often called the "Donglu Hermit." Successfully befriending him was considered the mark of having truly integrated into the Foundation Establishment circle of Lingyue Immortal City.

With one gain after another, Lü Zhong was inwardly blossoming with joy.

What’s more, the symposium was still to come, where he could glean even more Cultivation Insights.