A millennium slipped by in the blink of an eye, and the monstrous tide that once swept through the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks had long been forgotten by the major sects, its bloodiness faded into distant memory. The feuds born from that event thousands of years prior had dissipated with the relentless march of time, buried in some forgotten corner.

Now, most of the easily accessible spirit stone veins had been completely mined out. The great sects were increasingly plagued by the dwindling supply of spirit stones. Under these circumstances, the massive spirit stone mine, forced shut millennia ago due to the rampaging beasts, slowly re-entered the calculations of the higher-ups.

If this large mine could be reopened, it would, at the very least, resolve the spirit stone crisis for the various sects for hundreds of years. As for what happened centuries later, that was a problem for the future sect leaders to fret over.

Once this notion surfaced among the high command of the Azure Pill Sect, their eagerness flared immediately.

However, this was not a task Azure Pill Sect could undertake alone; they needed to cooperate with other sects. Sect Master Wu Ruiyang of the Azure Pill Sect specifically dispatched a trusted subordinate to approach the elders of the Great Luo Gate, inquiring about their willingness to join forces. The Great Luo Gate had announced their own mine exhaustion news years prior and were currently tearing their hair out over spirit stones. After secret deliberations, the two parties struck a deal instantly. The leaders of both major cultivation sects unanimously agreed to return to the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks, eradicate every beast infesting the mine tunnels, and reopen the passages once more.

With the Azure Pill Sect and Great Luo Gate making their move, the other five major sects among the Seven Great Sects caught wind of the development and immediately followed suit. Whether their own spirit stone mines were sufficient or not, no sect dared fall behind in this race to secure resources. Even the twelve smaller sects clamored to squeeze in, threatening to sabotage the entire endeavor if they were excluded.

The Seven Great Sects could not afford to gorge themselves, so they had no choice but to allow the smaller factions to join. In just one short year, within the millions of li surrounding the Spirit Mist Mountain Range, nineteen cultivation sects, large and small, had essentially linked up, deciding unanimously to re-establish operations in the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks spirit stone mine.

However, the perennial problem left over from thousands of years ago remained unresolved—the question of how to divide the spirit stones.

This was a massive issue. Back then, this very problem had led to widespread chaos, ultimately causing dozens of cultivation sects to shatter, resulting in countless casualties during the monstrous tide, forcing a devastating retreat and a disheartened withdrawal from the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks.

Now, with nineteen cultivation sects restarting the mine, they naturally intended to learn from the previous disaster.

They aimed to avoid another collapse born of internal strife. Losing face was a minor concern; failing to secure spirit stones was the true threat.

The high-ranking officials of the major sects spent an entire month just negotiating the terms of the spirit stone distribution. Every sect sought terms most favorable to its own interests, nearly leading to outright hostility.

Fortunately, Core Formation cultivators from sects like the Ancient Artifact Gate, Azure Pill Sect, and Great Luo Gate stepped in directly to mediate the discord, establishing a finalized spirit stone allocation scheme. This finally settled the matter that had brought them to the brink of collapse.

This scheme was then publicly announced across the nineteen cultivation sects of the Spirit Mist Mountain Range simultaneously, framed as the mission: "Ten Thousand Withered Peaks—Cave Trial."

Ye Qin had already sensed tremors of this development over the past few days while frequenting the small marketplace utilized by Azure Pill Sect disciples to gather various seeds. By the time he finished collecting the last few types of seeds, this Ten Thousand Withered Peaks Cave Trial mission had been posted by the menial service hall of the Azure Pill Sect and had instantly become the hottest topic among disciples. No matter where he went, the topic was everywhere.

The mission’s primary objective was the complete eradication of all demonic beasts entrenched within the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks mine.

Clearing out every beast in the mine was extremely perilous. While first and second-tier beasts were common in the outer reaches of the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks, the interior of the caves would certainly harbor numerous third-tier demonic beasts, equivalent in strength to high-level Qi Refining cultivators at the seventh to ninth layer.

As for the creatures lurking deep underground in the beast lair, nobody knew their true strength. This was, after all, information millennia old. But one thing was certain: this trial mission would almost certainly result in deaths.

Ye Qin did not pay much heed to the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks Cave Trial. For him, achieving Foundation Establishment was paramount. After gathering all the spiritual herb seeds required for the Foundation Establishment Elixir Formula, he returned to his bamboo hut on Azure Embroidery Mountain to cultivate in seclusion, planting the herbs within his Zifu to grow enough stock to refine the elixir.

“One third-tier Snow Glimpse Herb, maturing at one hundred years, requires seven Low-grade Wood Spirit Stones.”

“One fourth-tier Blazing Flame Tree, yielding Blazing Flame Fruit, maturing at two hundred years, requires twenty-three Low-grade Fire Spirit Stones.”

“One fifth-tier Three Treasures Fungus, maturing at five hundred years, requires thirty-four Low-grade Wood Spirit Stones.”

...

Ye Qin planted several spiritual herbs and calculated the required spirit stones for each. His expression dramatically shifted as he quickly tallied the numbers. He recalculated several times with stubborn disbelief, but the result remained the same. His face turned ashen, his eyes glazed over for a long moment before he listlessly let his hands drop.

It was within his expectations that higher-grade herbs would absorb more spiritual energy and thus consume more spirit stones. But he had never anticipated the cost would be this astronomical.

The Foundation Establishment Elixir Formula called for nearly a hundred types of medicinal materials: about sixty-plus were third-tier, thirty-plus were fourth-tier, and roughly eight were fifth-tier. Summing up the requirements for all these materials, the lowest estimate was over one thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones, possibly reaching fourteen or fifteen hundred in a higher estimate. Converting this to Mid-grade Spirit Stones, it amounted to roughly ten to fourteen or fifteen stones.

The problem was, he possessed barely a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones in total. That amount might barely cover cultivating enough materials for one dose of the Foundation Establishment Elixir, and it might even fall slightly short. Gathering the raw materials for a single batch would consume every spirit stone he possessed.

Furthermore, his current alchemy skill was not outstanding. Without any prior experience, the chance of successfully refining the Foundation Establishment Elixir would certainly not exceed one in ten, possibly even only one in twenty or thirty. Moreover, the chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment by consuming one elixir was also only about one in ten.

Combining these odds, his overall chance of successful Foundation Establishment was less than one in two or three hundred.

Ye Qin was utterly stunned into silence. People said achieving Foundation Establishment as a Qi Refining disciple was as difficult as ascending to heaven, yet even with the ability to gather the raw materials himself, he was still thwarted. This was to say nothing of ordinary Qi Refining disciples.

“The issue isn't the seeds, nor is it my alchemy skill. The problem lies with the spirit stones. Without enough stones, no matter how great my ability, I can barely rely on that minuscule fraction of luck to establish my foundation. If I had enough spirit stones, I could try alchemy a hundred times if ten failed, consume the elixir several more times—I refuse to believe I couldn't break through!”

To guarantee success in Foundation Establishment, the required quantity of elixirs would demand a colossal amount of spirit stones, an amount Ye Qin dared not even contemplate. Such terrifying quantities could never be acquired through trades with disciples within his own sect. If he tried to gather spirit stones by selling elixirs within the sect, the entire sect would undoubtedly learn of his desperate undertaking.

The spirit stone mine!

Only by going to the spirit stone mine could he avoid attracting attention and find enough spirit stones.

Ye Qin instantly sobered up, leaping to his feet. He left Azure Bamboo Mountain and sped toward Green Spring Peak. In his mind, he rapidly plotted his course. Upon reaching the main hall in the plaza of Green Spring Peak, he strode directly into the Menial Service Hall and informed a menial disciple at the sixth layer of Qi Refining that he wished to claim an assignment to mine spirit stones.

The disciple issuing assignments rolled his eyes and replied irritably, “Senior Brother, haven’t you heard? Assignments for mining spirit stones in our sect were halted three years ago. No one can enter the spirit stone caves now.”

Ye Qin was astonished. How could that be? Hadn’t he been there before?

He slipped a spirit stone to the disciple handling assignments and inquired carefully about the reason. He learned that shortly after he had claimed his mining assignment to the North Camp Mountain mine three years ago, the sect issued a notice canceling the arrangement and scaling back mining personnel.

By his reckoning, he was the last disciple to have visited his sect’s spirit stone mine.

Without the menial token for mining, one could not pass the mountain guards to enter the spirit stone caves and extract minerals. Ye Qin had personally witnessed the guards at North Camp Mountain—there were more than thirty cultivators at the ninth layer of Qi Refining alone, and the three Foundation Establishment Martial Uncles stationed there were far beyond his ability to even meet. Forcibly attempting entry would surely bring severe consequences.

The menial disciple, holding the spirit stone Ye Qin had given him, looked strangely at Ye Qin and chuckled in a low voice, “Senior Brother, you’re not planning to sneak into the spirit stone mine to steal stones, are you? Spirit stones are tight these days, and many of our brothers have had that idea, but no one dares try. If you truly have that thought, you might as well go to the Cave Trial in the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks. That’s a massive spirit stone vein. Quite a few high-level Qi Refining disciples have already signed up for it. Once you enter the cave, you don’t even have to do anything; just stirring up trouble, you can pry off dozens of spirit stones from the cave walls. If the sect hadn’t restricted participation to cultivators at the seventh, eighth, or ninth layer of Qi Refining, even I would have signed up. I’m only holding this choice assignment here because all those higher-level disciples are busy preparing for that trial.”

Ye Qin pondered for a moment, then, without hesitation, said immediately, “What exactly is this Cave Trial in the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks about?”

The menial disciple pulled out the mission details for the Cave Trial from the menial roster booklet and let Ye Qin read it himself.

Ye Qin scanned it quickly.

The rules announced by the Azure Pill Sect for the Ten Thousand Withered Peaks Cave Trial were surprisingly simple, consisting of only two points.

Restriction: Only disciples of the Azure Pill Sect at the seventh through ninth layer of Qi Refining are permitted to register for this trial.

Reward: The more demonic beasts killed, and the higher their tier, the greater the reward. The top one hundred Azure Pill Sect disciples who slay the most demonic beasts will each receive one Foundation Establishment Elixir as a reward. For those ranked below one hundred, rewards include spirit stones, high-grade Qi Refining elixirs, and high-grade spirit artifacts. (To be continued. For future developments, please log in to wwwidiancomm for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!) First publication