Eight Years

When one cultivated, time passes indefinitely.

In a blink of an eye, Zhou Yang had been stationed at the spiritual vein of Haoyang Cave for eight years. After almost non-stop cultivation, he has successfully advanced to Qi Refinement Level 8. Now, he was just one step away from Qi Refinement Level 9.

But time was relative. Eight years might feel like a short time for one person, and a long time for another.

For Zhou Yang, eight years was only enough to raise his cultivation from Level 7 to Level 8 of Qi Refinement. But many great changes had occurred in the Zhou clan within the same period of time.

First of all, Zhou Quan and Zhou Dan who were stationed together with Zhou Yang to guard the spiritual vein of Haoyang Cave had passed away. Their lifespans were already close to the limit of a Qi Refinement cultivator. With the internal injuries that they had suffered from the battle with the Venomous Fire Scorpion King, it was only a matter of time before they passed.

Since they were stationed together, Zhou Yang was there to witness the slow passing of the two elders. He had seen the two men's mana dissipate overnight, their originally rosy and healthy faces instantly covered with wrinkles, and their white hair and teeth fall off. He was shaken when he witnessed these events.

He thought that he would be more immune to witnessing the life and death of a person with his history of having a past life. Perhaps that would be true if he had witnessed the passing of someone more distant from him, relationship-wise and logistically. It was not true for those whom he was familiar with - men who had been brimming with powerful mana, chatting and laughing with him just the day before, and dying the night after. How could he not be shaken?!

The great power of immortal cultivators came from within themselves. Even if a cultivator at Qi Refinement Level 9 was empty-handed, he could easily slaughter an army of tens of thousands of mortals.

However, death was fair to everyone, regardless of one's status as an immortal cultivator or a mere mortal. No one could resist the power of time.

Without reaching the realm of Foundation Establishment, the lifespan of an immortal cultivator at the realm of Qi Refinement was limited to 120 years. If he did not achieve immortality, even a Core Foundation Grandmaster with a Golden Core and a thousand-year lifespan would die in meditation at the end of his life!

Immortality!

Immortality!

Immortality!

After witnessing the deaths of the two elders in meditation, Zhou Yang started to have an unprecedented desire for immortality.

He wanted to live forever. He didn't want to one day be like the two clan elders and have all his efforts in developing his hundred-year-old cultivation base dissipate in an instant. He didn't want to die with regret.

The two elders might still have some regrets even as they met their end.

Zhou Quan and Zhou Dan had the opportunity to attempt a breakthrough to the realm of Foundation Establishment, but they were both afraid of the extremely high risk of death that came with failure. No one dared to take the risk of cutting off their own path to immortality.

It was also possible that Zhou Quan and Zhou Dan did not regret their choice. After all, the two elders were able to live twice as long as the countless cultivators who died attempting to reach the realm of Foundation Establishment in their fifties and sixties.

But Zhou Yang still remembered the look in their eyes as they faced death's door. It was the look of regret, even ever so slightly.

Zhou Yang didn't want to end up like them!

Therefore, he made up his mind at that moment. As long as he had the chance to improve his cultivation in this life, he would never give it up no matter how difficult and dangerous the road ahead was.

And it was precisely because of this newly-established firm belief that allowed him to advance smoothly on the cultivation path from Level 7 to Level 8 of Qi Refinement in less than five years. Three years later, he had reached the cusp of Qi Refinement Level 9.

His newly-established firm belief wasn't the only thing that allowed Zhou Yang's cultivation to increase so quickly. Other than his own hard work and the highly-compatible spiritual vein of Haoyang Cave, there were also the medicinal pills that his father had given him before he left.

Zhou Xuanhao had given Zhou Yang three different types of Advanced Grade 2 spiritual pills. The effect of taking one of each type was equivalent to the effect of his own meditative cultivation for half a year. Zhou Yang had taken twelve pills over the eight years.

This was also the first time that Zhou Yang had taken pills so frequently to increase his cultivation.

Before, he would simply listen to his father's and clan leader's instructions to cultivate. He would never consume medicinal pills until he was just about to break through.

Although medicinal pills could greatly increase the cultivation of an immortal cultivator's mana, they would also leave behind some residue of pill poison. If too much pill poison had accumulated in one's body, it would take too long for it to dissipate and would not only fill the immortal cultivator's mana with impurities but also affect future breakthroughs. It would also damage the body of the immortal cultivator and reduce their lifespan.

Pill poison was particularly damaging to Qi Refinement cultivators. If they consumed too many spiritual pills to increase their cultivation before they reached the realm of Foundation Establishment, they would not be able to remove the poison in time and the success rate of reaching the realm of Foundation Establishment through the consumption of the Foundation Establishment Pill would be much lower.

Therefore, seniors of immortal cultivation sects or clans with great heritage in the immortal cultivation world would be sure to explain the dangers of pill poison to their juniors early on and strictly control the distribution of medicinal pills to prevent people from being addicted to the temptation of rapid cultivation with no regards for the risks that entailed.

Only rogue cultivators who were lucky enough to make a fortune without the reminder of their masters would happily buy a large number of spiritual pills to increase their cultivation with little regard for the dangers of accumulating pill poison. They simply thought that this was the only way they would be able to catch up with those cultivation geniuses who had better aptitudes than them.

Little did they know that they were doing the opposite.

Zhou Yang had taken very few spiritual pills in the past. Thus, the small amount of pill poison that had accumulated in his body had long been refined to nothing after years of bitter cultivation. That was why Zhou Xuanhao dared to give him spiritual pills without worry.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yang had accumulated a considerable amount of pill poison in his body from consuming all the medicinal pills within eight years. As a result, he was now facing a cultivation barrier. He would not be able to break through to Qi Refinement Level 9 any time soon.

Fortunately, Zhou Yang had foreseen that this little bit of pill poison would not affect his future path. As long as he did not take any more of these kinds of spiritual pills to improve his cultivation in the next eight to ten years, the remaining pill poison in his body would naturally be washed away by the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth once he had reached the realm of Foundation Establishment.

'It's been eight years. The Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence should be refined by now. I wonder how Father has been feeling about this!'

Zhou Yang stood in Haoyang Cave and looked at the cream-colored stalactite pillar with mixed feelings.

The cream-colored stalactite pillar was akin to a top-grade jade. It looked as ethereal as jade and emitted a faint glow. Zhou Yang had been in the stone room for many days and nights and could sense that there was a familiar energy gathering and strengthening inside the pillar. It was the Spiritual Qi of Earth Veins that he had once absorbed.

According to the records of Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence that he had seen in the 'Book of the World's Treasures' that his father had given him last time, once the Spiritual Qi of Earth Veins in the stalactite pillar had gathered and strengthened to a certain threshold, the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence would overflow from the tip of the stalactite pillar.

Apart from the benefits previously mentioned by the clan leader, the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence was also a kind of rare spiritual item for demon beasts to increase their cultivation. The reason that Venomous Fire Scorpion King was able to become a Grade 3 demon beast was most likely because it had swallowed a large amount of Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence.

Zhou Yang had been undecided on whether he should persuade his father to consume the Spiritual Milk of Earth Essence to break through to the realm of Foundation Establishment. However, after witnessing the deaths of the two elders of the Zhou family, he now wanted his father to take the risk.

Of course, as his son, he still did not dare to say it out loud. He simply secretly hoped that his father could think it through.

Zhou Yang decided to put his concern about his father aside for now and started to wonder about the oasis construction above.

'I wonder how Second Uncle and the others are doing with the construction of the oasis. Since I can't make a breakthrough in my cultivation right now, I'll work on my Artifact Refinement Technique and help them build the oasis.'

Although the three Light generation elders, Zhou Qian, Zhou Quan, and Zhou Dan, had passed away, Zhou Xuantai, Zhou Xuanbin, Zhou Xuanlin, and Zhou Xuanyan had also broken through to Qi Refinement Level 9 and replaced the three elders who had passed away. As a result, the number of elders in the Zhou clan had increased to nine.

During the time Zhou Yang was in Closed Door Cultivation, the elders of the Zhou clan had discovered the reserves of the red flame iron vein near Haoyang Cave's spiritual vein. They quickly realized that the vein was massive.

This discovery made the Zhou clan cultivators who knew the inside story overjoyed. If it weren't for the fact that the Zhou clan lacked Foundation Establishment cultivators who could guard the spiritual vein of Haoyang Cave, the clan leader would have immediately organized a large number of their people to develop their cultivation at the spiritual vein.

Still, the Zhou clan elders discussed among themselves and ultimately decided to migrate thousands of mortals from Yuquan Lake Oasis to the aboveground area of Haoyang Cave's spiritual vein to build a huge earth city.

Of course, this was insider news. For outsiders, they were simply told that the Zhou clan's mortals were moving to Qingping Mountain Oasis because the Zhou clan wanted to increase the mining of refined iron.

With the arrival of the mortals, the spiritual vein of Haoyang Cave finally became more populated. Zhou clan's two new elders, Zhou Xuantai and Zhou Xuanyan, mortals, and cultivators worked together to redirect the water from the underground river to a low-lying area in the desert to artificially create a desert lake - thus an oasis - that spanned an area of hundreds of square meters.

With the artificial lake as the starting point of the oasis, Zhou Xuantai and the others began to organize the mortals of the Zhou clan to carry water on their shoulders to irrigate the sandy land and plant drought-resistant plants. Then, they used a growth-inducing spell to accelerate the growth of these ordinary plants.

It was worth mentioning that ordinary plants enhanced by immortal cultivators' spells could not survive long. The fruits and grains produced by these plants could not be eaten by mortals either.

Their main benefit was to act as fertilizers once they have withered and died.

After many years of experiments, the immortal cultivators of the Boundless Sand Sea had long developed a complete plan for the construction of an oasis. As long as the geographical environment was suitable and they were willing to invest manpower and material resources, it was not a pipe dream for the desert to become an oasis.

Zhou Yang was deep in thought when he left the stone room where he had been in Closed Door Cultivation. He came upon his fifth uncle, Zhou Xuanbin who had been tasked with guarding him and was now meditating with his eyes closed.

Of the four Zhou clan cultivators in Haoyang Cave, the other three were already at Qi Refinement Level 9, and their mana could not be increased any further.

Therefore, in order not to disturb Zhou Yang's cultivation, they would cultivate in the cave outside. Every day, they would take turns to guard Zhou Yang who was in Closed Door Cultivation.

And Zhou Yang was the only person in the history of the Zhou clan who had received such treatment.

Because of this, Zhou Yang also felt an immense weight of expectation on his shoulders. He knew that he had to reach the realm of Foundation Establishment to be worthy of his clan's elders' sacrifices.