Elian looked at the gathered people, his expression solemn as he gave instructions.
"I need to guard the Patriarch during his seclusion. During this time, the ten of you Foundation Establishment cultivators will stay behind and use the two third-rank treasure ships to defend Xuantie Mountain."
"Understood."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, fully aware of the importance of the third-rank vein.
After arranging everything, Elian and the Patriarch flew toward Linghu Isle. For the Patriarch to break through to the Purple Mansion stage, it was essential to use the third-rank spiritual vein to ensure a sufficient supply of spiritual energy.
As they approached this critical moment, both Elian and the Patriarch were filled with excitement. Although many matters required attention after ascending to the status of a Purple Mansion Immortal Clan, they could not focus on them now.
After Elian and the Patriarch departed, Chen Qinghao smiled at the remaining Foundation Establishment elders and said, "The spiritual vein at Xuantie Mountain is currently a low-grade second rank. To set up a third-rank grand formation, it must first be upgraded to a high-grade second rank."
"Upgrading the spiritual vein will cost about fifty thousand spirit stones. The family treasury doesn't have enough for this, so let's pool our resources for now and repay later."
Hearing this, the elders nodded. With the Patriarch and Elian absent, it was their responsibility to handle such affairs.
Tasks such as upgrading the spiritual vein at Xuantie Mountain and expanding the shops at Yuyang Market no longer required the direct involvement of the Patriarch or Elian.
Meanwhile, Elian and the Patriarch flew for half a day and soon arrived at Linghu Isle.
The Patriarch immediately entered the spiritual pool on Linghu Isle to begin his seclusion and attempt his breakthrough to the Purple Mansion stage. Elian, meanwhile, stood guard outside, practicing while keeping watch.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Elian was refining the Fiery Void Sword using Metal and Blazing Flame energy.
Years ago, the Chen family had stopped selling Five Elements Energy and had instead been stockpiling it. Over time, they had accumulated a considerable amount. Three months ago, Elian gathered the family's reserves of Metal and Blazing Flame energy to refine his natal sword continuously.
After three months of effort, the Fiery Void Sword finally reached the threshold of becoming a mid-grade third-rank artifact.
"Chime—"
As Elian infused another strand of Blazing Flame energy into the sword, the Fiery Void Sword suddenly emitted a clear hum. Its brilliant blue sword aura surged dramatically, advancing to the realm of mid-grade third rank.
Elian smiled as he admired the greatly enhanced sword. With his natal artifact advancing to mid-grade third rank, his offensive capabilities had significantly improved.
Although the Grand Plough Celestial Sword was incredibly powerful, it consumed far too much magical power to be used frequently, making it a trump card. Now, with the Fiery Void Sword at mid-grade third rank, his natal artifact was no weaker than that of a mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator.
"Hmm…"
Just as he felt joy, the surrounding void trembled slightly, and an immense amount of spiritual energy surged into the spiritual pool like water flowing into a whale's mouth.
Elian turned toward the spiritual pool with delight, realizing that the Patriarch had successfully broken through to the Purple Mansion stage.
The doors of the seclusion chamber opened, and the Patriarch emerged. His white hair and youthful face exuded an extraordinary presence.
Elian had always known the Patriarch as someone who appeared over sixty years old, but now he seemed rejuvenated, appearing more like a man in his late twenties, aside from his white hair.
Upon seeing Elian, the Patriarch burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha…"
"I never thought I would one day break through to the Purple Mansion stage!"
Elian also smiled and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Patriarch. Now that you have achieved the Purple Mansion stage, I am sure you will someday become a Golden Core Ancestor."
"Becoming a Golden Core cultivator is still far off. For now, I am content with reaching the Purple Mansion stage," the Patriarch said with a smile, shaking his head.
Despite his words, his eyes held a glimmer of hope. At 156 years old, breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage meant he could now expect to live for another 250 years.
Typically, dual-spirit-root cultivators who break through to the Purple Mansion stage advance one level of cultivation every 30 years. With diligent effort, this could be shortened to around 25 years.
Wealthy Purple Mansion cultivators, who could afford third-rank spiritual pills and treasures to accelerate their cultivation, could shorten this time further to 17 or 18 years, or even less.
Additionally, the Chen family possessed third-rank Spirit Peaches, supreme treasures for boosting cultivation. The Patriarch estimated that he could advance one level every ten years.
With this pace, barring extended stagnation at the mid- or late-stage Purple Mansion bottlenecks, he would have over 100 years of lifespan remaining upon reaching the peak of the Purple Mansion stage.
The bottleneck to Golden Core could typically be attempted every 30 to 40 years. This meant the Patriarch might have three to four chances to break through to the Golden Core stage, giving him better odds than most Purple Mansion cultivators.
Of course, this depended on overcoming the mid- and late-stage Purple Mansion bottlenecks efficiently.
These bottlenecks were notoriously challenging, often requiring 30 to 50 years of cultivation to refine one's magical power sufficiently. Without specific pills like the Cloud Pattern Transformation Pill or the Purple Qi Cloud Pattern Pill, advancing would take even longer.
The materials for these pills were extraordinarily rare, such as the Crystal of Blazing Flame and Metal Crystal for the former, and the even more precious Purple Sun Jade for the latter.
This scarcity explained why Chu Kingdom had over a hundred Purple Mansion cultivators but only a dozen late-stage Purple Mansion cultivators.
As the Patriarch contemplated the future, he suddenly coughed lightly, his face pale.
Elian quickly supported him, concern evident on his face. "Are you all right?"
"It's nothing," the Patriarch said calmly.
"During the breakthrough, I ran low on vital essence and had to burn some of my life force. With 20 to 30 years of rest, I will recover."
Elian's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew this was a sign of severe vital essence depletion. Without intervention, the Patriarch would indeed require decades to fully heal.
However, there was a solution. The recipe for the Vital Energy Restoration Pill, recorded in the Chen family's archives, was designed specifically for newly advanced Purple Mansion cultivators in such situations.
Thinking of this, Elian said, "There's no need for a prolonged recovery. The ginseng from the Spirit Medicine Garden is sufficient."
"I'll prepare a batch of Vital Energy Restoration Pills. They will replenish your vital essence quickly."
To craft the Vital Energy Restoration Pills, Elian traveled to Qingyuan Mountain to harvest the ginseng.
He also visited Yuyang Market and the family treasury to gather the supplementary ingredients. The pill required 29 different supplementary herbs. Elian managed to find 27 of them but discovered two were still missing.
...
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I need POWAAA! Gimme Power Stones :D