Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The Last Wish of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator

In a crevice in the corner, a skeleton lay slumped over. Its dark blue Daoist Robe was torn open, completely devoid of Spiritual Qi.

The skeleton’s chest bones were all shattered. It must have suffered a fatal wound and fled into the cave to hide.

In the end, due to the severity of its injuries, it passed away in this deserted place.

Judging by the condition of the skeleton, this Cultivator had been dead for over a hundred years.

Bai Zichen didn’t approach hastily, instead glancing at Lu Songx.

"Senior Brother Bai, what’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing."

Bai Zichen suddenly felt, ’Lu Songx seems to have some good fortune about him.’

As a child playing in an antique market, he managed to find a key that opened a Secret Realm.

After embarking on the Immortal Path, he even came across a 500-year-old Yellow Spirit.

A Yellow Spirit of that age was enough to be the main ingredient for a Tier Two Spirit Pill, and it was also one of the important supplementary materials for refining a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Unfortunately, his strength was insufficient, and he couldn’t handle the Demon Beast guarding the Yellow Spirit. By the time he found help and returned, someone had already beaten him to it and picked the Yellow Spirit.

And now, he was the first to discover the Cultivator’s remains.

Bai Zichen didn’t get any closer. He used his Ink Bamboo Sword to poke the skeleton aside and retrieve a storage bag from its waist.

This storage bag was painted with large cloud patterns. It also felt different from his own—more delicate and supple.

Bai Zichen infused his Magical Power, washing over the storage bag twice. The weak ownership imprint on the bag, which had been masterless for a century, was immediately erased. The refining was a success.

The space inside was a zhang high, ten times larger than his other two storage bags. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

’This must be a Mid-Grade Storage Bag... Even if there’s nothing inside, the bag alone is worth four hundred Spirit Stones!’

Storage bags involved a rudimentary application of the Space Path. The refining cost doubled with each increase in tier.

A Top-Grade Storage Bag, in particular, could be considered a strategic-level item for a Sect.

A Top-Grade Storage Bag had nearly a thousand cubic units of storage space, comparable to a small warehouse.

He glanced at the items in the storage bag, picked out a Jade Scroll, and quickly read its contents.

"Dig a grave and bury this senior."

Bai Zichen put down the Jade Scroll thoughtfully and used his Ink Bamboo Sword to dig a large, square pit in the ground.

Cai Heng and Lu Songx carefully dragged the Cultivator’s remains into the pit and covered them with two layers of loose rocks and dirt.

The other passages in the cave were all clear. Supporting the still-unconscious Luo Qi, the group made it back to the surface without any trouble.

As the sunlight shone on them once more, Cai Heng and the others felt as if they had returned from another world.

They had spent several hours in the abandoned cave, walking the line between life and death.

Luo Qi was heavily injured and still unconscious. Cai Heng had lost a Defensive Magical Artifact and was covered in superficial wounds. Xun Shuang had overdrawn his Magical Power to activate his family’s Magical Artifact, damaging his foundation; even with the help of medicine, it would take him a year and a half to recover.

As for Lu Songx, he had escaped completely unscathed.

But their gains were equally substantial.

Sixteen spider limbs, worth at least three hundred and twenty Sect Contribution points.

Each point of Sect Contribution was worth at least one Spirit Stone, and they could also be exchanged for many resources not available in the outside world.

For the four servant disciples, such an income was an astronomical figure.

"I have other plans, so I won’t be returning to the Sect with you."

Bai Zichen was quite satisfied with Cai Heng and the others. Their Cultivation wasn’t high, but they had some potential worth nurturing.

He had already helped them and even gifted them extra spider limbs, so he might as well see it through to the end.

"When you submit the mission at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, you can mention my name. The Hall Steward shouldn’t give you any trouble."

A few servant disciples completing a highly sought-after Sect mission, and even bringing back the limbs of a Tier One Peak Mutated Ghost-Faced Jade Spider, would definitely attract envy and jealousy.

Even disciples from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall might try to find fault with them, lowball the reward, or question whether they completed the mission through proper channels.

According to Su Lie, a rumor had recently spread within the Sect that Bai Zichen had already advanced to Late-Stage Qi Refining, though no one knew where the news had leaked from.

In any case, it had become much more convenient for Su Lie and Peng Jinhua to get things done, as they could clearly feel a friendlier attitude from all sides.

For example, when Peng Jinhua went to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall last month to collect his living supplies, the Hall Steward personally exchanged a few words with him.

His attitude was affable, and he made it clear that Peng Jinhua could come to him with any trouble.

Therefore, Bai Zichen was confident that with his reputation, the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall would surely give them the green light.

"Thank you for your consideration, Senior Brother Bai. Although our Cultivation is low, we are willing to serve you faithfully."

Cai Heng and Xun Shuang exchanged a glance and bowed in unison to express their thanks.

’An Inner Sect Disciple who is powerful, has great prospects, acts righteously, and is generous... If we don’t pledge our allegiance to him now, where will our place be in a couple of years when he becomes a True Disciple?’

Bai Zichen waved his hand, his body transforming into a streak of Sword Light. In an instant, he became a small dot and vanished from sight.

"Junior Brother Lu, we should all get much closer from now on," Cai Heng grabbed Lu Songx’s arm and said enthusiastically.

...

’Great Li Country, Celestial Principle Sect... It seems there are several countries between it and Liang Country, separated by who knows how many thousands of li. I’ve never even heard of the Celestial Principle Sect.’

As he flew on his sword, Bai Zichen mulled over the contents of the Jade Scroll he had taken from the Cultivator’s remains.

The owner of the skeleton was Meng Zhaode, a Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Celestial Principle Sect in the Great Li Country. He had traveled thousands of li to Black Mountain, burdened with a secret Sect mission.

The specifics weren’t mentioned. It mainly recounted a summary of his life and why he had passed away here.

According to Meng Zhaode, the Celestial Principle Sect was a Nascent Soul Major Sect, with a Nascent Soul True Monarch presiding over every generation.

He himself had reached Foundation Establishment at fifty, and it took another 60-Year Cycle of Cultivation to reach Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation. The Great Dao was arduous.

In search of an opportunity, he accepted a lucrative secret mission from the Sect and spent several years just to reach the Black Mountain Range.

Who would have thought that just a few months after entering the mountains, he would run into a Kui Ox Demon King? He had to sacrifice two Spiritual Artifacts just to escape with his grievously injured body.

He barely managed to hide in this abandoned cave, only to discover that his injuries were beyond the help of medicine. The Kui Ox Demon King’s single strike had directly shattered his heart meridian.

Before passing away, he used his last breath to record this information into the Jade Scroll.

"I leave these few worldly possessions to the fellow Daoist who finds them. My only request is that you slay the Demon King for me and avenge my death!"

"I hate the stinginess of the heavens and the earth! I hate how difficult the Great Dao is to attain!"

"I truly wish I could have crossed that threshold and seen what lies beyond Core Formation!"

Even after a hundred years, Bai Zichen could still clearly feel the intense unwillingness and strong desire for the Dao from this Senior Meng Zhaode at the end of the Jade Scroll.

At the final moment of his life, Meng Zhaode did not regret coming to Black Mountain, even though it led to his demise.

"The Kui Ox Demon King of Cyan Bull Valley... If the day comes when I reach Core Formation, I will fulfill your wish and slay that beast for you!"

Bai Zichen let out a long sigh. Even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from a Nascent Soul Major Sect had to risk their life to fight for a sliver of opportunity.

’Foundation Establishment is only the true beginning of Cultivation.’ That saying was not wrong.

Of course, Bai Zichen knew about the herd of Single-Horned Kui Oxen in Cyan Bull Valley. They were one of the potential targets for the Qingfeng Sect’s reclamation war.

If the Sect set its sights on that area, avenging Meng Zhaode would be simple.

If not, waiting another hundred years would be fine too.

Demon Beasts naturally have longer lifespans than humans. A Tier Three Demon King has a lifespan of at least a thousand years. According to the Qingfeng Sect’s records, that Kui Ox Demon King was only about five hundred years old, in the prime of its life.