Currently, Chen Qingyuan was only thirty-six years old, but his foundation was already solid. If he could successfully establish his foundation with this Foundation Establishment Pill, his future would be limitless, with a real possibility of breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage one day.
"It seems that the Chen family's luck has finally turned around in recent years," said Fourth Elder Chen Qing Yuan with a bright laugh.
"Now that we've cleared our debts and eliminated the family deficit, once the patriarch recovers and we resume the Five Elements Spiritual Essence trade with Tianxu Mountain, we'll gradually repay the clan members what we owe them."
"If Qingyuan establishes his foundation successfully, having someone in the Qingyang Sect might also help us find a way to claim a share of the profits from the Yuyang Market tax revenues."
As Chen Qingyuan enthusiastically envisioned the family's future development, the Third Elder's expression remained grim.
Elian was highly observant and quickly noticed the change in the Third Elder's demeanor. His heart sank slightly, and he asked,
"Uncle Qinghao, do you have something more to say?"
"Sigh…" The Third Elder sighed heavily, handing a letter to Elian.
"Why don't you read this for yourself."
Elian took the letter and read it quickly, his expression growing serious.
Seeing his reaction, the Second Elder, sensing something amiss, snatched the letter and read it as well. When it had circulated among the elders, the usually fiery-tempered Fourth Elder erupted in anger.
"The Qingyang Sect is too much, absolutely too much!"
"Do they have no sense of shame?"
The expressions of everyone present turned sour. Fourth Elder's outburst was not unwarranted—Qingyang Sect had gone too far in abusing its power.
The letter from Chen Qingyuan did confirm the matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill, but it also revealed that Qingyang Sect had once again schemed against the Chen family.
As per Qingyang Sect's earlier promise, they were to compensate the Chen family for half of their losses, which equated to one Foundation Establishment Pill.
Under this arrangement, Chen Qingyuan should have directly received a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, the Qingyang Sect's Purple Mansion Elder, responsible for the distribution, had changed the terms. Instead of directly providing the pill, they converted its value into ten thousand sect contribution points.
While the sect had a long-standing rule allowing disciples to exchange ten thousand contribution points for one Foundation Establishment Pill, this system had significant caveats.
The issue was that, although a Foundation Establishment Pill was valued at ten thousand points, having the points didn't guarantee obtaining the pill.
Several years ago, when the Chen family bought a Foundation Establishment Pill from Tianxu Mountain at a steep markup, it cost over 30,000 spirit stones in an auction.
Meanwhile, within Qingyang Sect, one could theoretically obtain a pill for just ten thousand spirit stones worth of contribution points.
This lower price made the pill more accessible to many disciples, but the supply of Foundation Establishment Pills was limited.
To filter out weaker candidates and ensure the pills went to those with the highest potential for success, the sect had added an extra requirement:
Disciples wanting to exchange their contribution points for a pill needed to complete a task—slaying a Foundation Establishment-level demon beast.
"Enough with the outrage," said the Third Elder, shaking his head with a sigh. "It's clear that someone in Qingyang Sect has their eye on our Foundation Establishment Pill."
"Do they have no principles at all?" Chen Qingwan growled through gritted teeth, her eyes burning with fury. "Why not escalate this to Tianxu Mountain and ask Daoist Jiang to mediate on our behalf?"
"Daoist Jiang may be righteous, but she's still only a Purple Mansion cultivator," the Second Elder said with a bitter expression.
"We have no personal ties with her. How can we repeatedly trouble her to intervene for us?"
"Moreover, this matter happened sixty years ago. Who even remembers the details clearly anymore?"
"And with Qingyang Sect being so powerful, if we cause too much of a stir, who's to say anyone will help? What would happen to Qingyuan's standing within the sect?"
Elian listened quietly, a deep sense of frustration welling up inside him.
Looking around at the group, he suppressed his indignation and calmly said,
"They are powerful, and we lack the strength to oppose them. Our top priority now is to figure out a way to help Uncle Qingyuan complete the task."
He paused before turning to the Third Elder.
"Can we rely on the patriarch to intervene?"
Chen Qinghao shook his head.
"The patriarch entered closed-door cultivation to heal after taking the Yangmai Pill. Interrupting him now could ruin all his progress."
"Then we won't disturb him," Elian decided firmly.
"The rest of us will figure out how to help Uncle Qingyuan complete the task."
The group exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.
While Foundation Establishment-level demon beasts were formidable, they lacked the cunning and versatile methods of human cultivators. With multiple Qi Refining ninth-level cultivators working together and deploying a well-prepared formation, defeating one wasn't impossible.
Additionally, Elian's Crimson Iron Blade Embryo had the power to heavily injure Foundation Establishment-level demon beasts, potentially serving as a decisive weapon.
Having reached a decision, the Third Elder said resolutely,
"If we're going to take action, we need to plan carefully to maximize our chances of success."
"To start, I'll need to reacquire a weapon. I sold my Green Spirit Sword to raise funds earlier."
He turned to Elian with a smile. "And among us, you're the wealthiest, so I'll need to borrow some funds from you."
Elian nodded and retrieved three high-grade magic tools from his storage pouch: a Set of Mother-and-Child Flying Daggers, a Crimson Radiance Ruler, and a Green Spirit Sword.
These items were spoils from the ancient cultivator's cave, obtained after defeating the ambushing cultivators. All three were first-tier high-grade tools, with the Green Spirit Sword being the weakest and the other two being particularly exceptional.
Since Elian was already using multiple tools and couldn't effectively manage more due to limitations in spiritual energy and mental focus, he decided to share them with the group.
Seeing the tools, the Third Elder immediately picked up the Mother-and-Child Flying Daggers, as they perfectly complemented his gold spiritual root techniques.
The Fourth Elder, Chen Qingyuan, happily took the Crimson Radiance Ruler, while the Green Spirit Sword went to Chen Qingwan.
The Second Elder refrained from taking anything since he already possessed the Crimson Copper Demon-Slaying Dart, a powerful magic tool.
After equipping themselves, the Third Elder said, "We'll bring along the Fiery Sun Heavenly Fire Formation Flags and borrow the Nine Deflection Bell from the Great Elder. With these, we should stand a chance."
Elian nodded. The Fiery Sun Heavenly Fire Formation Flags were modeled after the protective city array of Pingyang City. It was a second-tier lower-grade formation tool consisting of six fire flags. When wielded by six Qi Refining ninth-level cultivators, it could barely contend with an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The family had originally commissioned two sets of these formation flags, but one set had been destroyed in the battle to escort a Foundation Establishment Pill.
The Nine Deflection Bell was a second-tier lower-grade defensive tool, capable of holding off a Foundation Establishment cultivator for a short period.
...
27+ chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
I need POWAAA!