Chapter 248

Chapter 248: News

Over the next month.

Zhou Luo led a reclusive life every day, much like the Lin Family lived.

Only Yao Wu often visited to feed Little White.

During this period, Xu Tian also approached him many times, using alchemy as an excuse and repeatedly hinting that she had feelings for him.

However, Zhou Luo remained wary of this woman, especially after learning she was at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage; he was unwilling to form a deeper bond with her.

"This Second Level alchemy skill is truly not that easy to learn."

In the room, Zhou Luo looked at the incomplete potion in the furnace and said, sounding quite helpless.

After settling down, except for gathering news on Foundation Establishment materials, Zhou Luo spent most of his time confined to his room studying Second Level alchemy skill.

These skills were what he had specifically learned a year ago during his studies at the Immortal Sect.

In one year, he mastered all the theoretical knowledge of the entry-level Second Level skill; he occasionally experimented later, but the results never showed much improvement.

For the Foundation Establishment Dan, he had already made three preparations.

The first was to directly obtain either the Second Level alchemy skill or Foundation Establishment materials through lotteries; this was the most straightforward method.

But with his higher realm level, the probability of conception had decreased; lotteries were random too, so winning could take an unknown long time.

Thus, the second preparation was to self-learn the Second Level alchemy skill.

Over so many years, he had always been pondering it.

This skill, if studied with dedication and guided by a famed master, could potentially be mastered after a few decades of training.

But if one’s realm did not reach Foundation Establishment, even if one mastered Second Level alchemy, the mental strength of the Qi Refinement stage would not be sufficient to support refining Foundation Establishment Dan.

This was also the fundamental reason why, though he had mastered many Second Level skills, he could not fully utilize their potential.

The realm level was the true foundation!

Besides, Zhou Luo did not have that much time or energy to wait indefinitely, even though he could steadily ponder it over his long lifespan.

But he was not alone and adrift.

He had wives, concubines, and children.

His thought was that he should break through himself first, then completely master the method to refine Foundation Establishment Dan; only then could he seek a Foundation Establishment opportunity for his family.

Therefore, methods like waiting for lotteries or self-study were merely stopgap measures.

The most essential thing was still to improve his own realm.

Thus, Zhou Luo’s greatest hope now was actually Pill Master Sun, Geng Feng’s master.

Over the past month, Zhou Luo gradually revealed his intention to befriend Pill Master Sun.

Geng Feng was not opposed; he merely said his master was in the core area of the Immortal City and too busy each day for easy meetings.

But he stated that he would notify Zhou Luo immediately if an opportunity arose.

Zhou Luo did not push for it, as the Foundation Establishment materials were still incomplete anyway.

Originally, he had considered crowdsourcing for alchemy like Xu Tian, but he never found a suitable participant; he also had reservations about that approach, so he decided to just keep waiting like this for now.

Perhaps he could draw the alchemy skill?

If he could draw it, it would certainly fulfill his wish…

Although he couldn’t refine it alone, hiring someone with great mental strength to assist him in making pills was much easier than seeking a second level Pill Master!

A second level Pill Master was a highly respected figure during the Foundation Establishment period too.

However, to hope to draw rewards, the prerequisite was to have his wives and concubines pregnant.

Zhou Luo thought about it; since he was temporarily settled for now, he should bring Lin Xi and Li Ying to this Immortal City some time soon.

The childbearing effort still couldn’t stop.

Besides, he had to scout for new candidates for wives and concubines.

After all, giving birth also harmed female cultivators. Zhou Luo strongly suspected that his wives hadn’t conceived yet because they had given birth too many times.

On this point, Zhou Luo thought of Yao Chi Pavilion first.

After dumping the residue from the furnace, Zhou Luo removed the formation and came outside.

“Brother Zhou.”

Shortly after, Yao Wu arrived in the courtyard carrying a lunch box.

Lately, perhaps feeling embarrassed about coming empty-handed too often, Yao Wu always brought spirit food when it was mealtime.

Although Zhou Luo could now go without eating for long periods, enjoying tasty food was something he welcomed.

Placing the spirit food from the lunch box on the table, Yao Wu blinked her beautiful eyes and asked, “Brother Zhou, is the food I made delicious?”

“Mm, good,” Zhou Luo nodded.

Her skill surpassed many people’s; it was tasty and palatable.

Yao Wu beamed with a smile and deliberately said, “So, Brother Zhou, you should find a woman who can cook; that way, you can eat hot meals every day.”

Although cultivators could abstain from grains, spirit food was beneficial to the body and could delight the taste buds, bringing enjoyment.

So when conditions allowed for eating, cultivators didn’t refuse.

After interacting for over two months, Yao Wu’s fondness for Zhou Luo deepened; with these words, she was actually testing his attitude.

Zhou Luo didn’t know if he caught the hint. He picked up a piece of magical beast meat and said, “Mm, I plan to bring my wife over some time soon.”

There were many women who could cook in Zhou Garden. Just his main wife, Lin Xi, cooked superb dishes, which he enjoyed eating.

Hearing that Zhou Luo actually had a wife, Yao Wu froze, a gleam of glumness flashing in her beautiful eyes.

She pursed her lips, at a loss for what to say for a while.

After a long time, she smiled softly and said, “For an excellent person like Brother Zhou, your wife must be very fine too.”

“Pretty good,” Zhou Luo nodded.

Over the past twenty-plus years, because of The Fusion of Dragon and Phoenix Technique, his intimacy with Lin Xi far outweighed that with other Concubines. They achieved true mutual understanding.

“Then I must get to know her properly when there’s a chance,” Yao Wu kept smiling, but a hollowness filled her heart.

…

Five days later, Wang Lang came to visit.

“Brother Zhou, I’ve come for a drink,” he declared loudly, as if worrying others wouldn’t know he had arrived.

Zhou Luo exited the main hall, observed this guy’s unruly manner, and faintly shook his head.

Ever since he once presented his self-brewed spirit wine and this guy tasted it once, he became totally hooked.

Now and then, he came for a drink.

If not for this guy giving spiritual stones each time, Zhou Luo would have barred him from entering.

“If you keep drinking like this, the spirit wine I brought will run out,” Zhou Luo said indifferently.

He hadn’t carried much spirit wine when he came to this Immortal City.

After all, brewing spirit wine took time and years; without three or five years, it couldn’t reach top quality.

Originally, that spirit wine should’ve been enough.

He hadn’t expected Wang Lang and Geng Feng were both big drinkers, leaving him low on stock.

“What’s the big deal? I’m here to deliver good news,” Wang Lang laughed.

“What good news?” Zhou Luo asked puzzledly.

“The Foundation Establishment materials you want have come up,” Wang Lang declared with a confident grin.

After Brother Tiger conveyed the news today, Wang Lang reflected briefly and rushed over to inform him.

“So fast?” Zhou Luo couldn’t help being startled.

He’d braced to wait several years; he didn’t imagine word of those materials surfacing so quickly.

“Of course! Brother Tiger’s connections are wide,” Wang Lang replied.

To this, Zhou Luo neither affirmed nor denied.

So-called connections likely meant they’d coincidentally robbed a cultivator and found those Foundation Establishment materials on him.

But he didn’t mind that and said promptly, “No time to waste! Let’s check it out.”

“Sure, but don’t forget—after the affair, stand me a drink,” Wang Lang said with a wink.

His aim wasn’t just for wine; this time he’d done him a great favor, and he intended to opportunely put forth his own idea.

“No problem,” Zhou Luo didn’t know his thoughts; he just prayed for no mishaps now.