"Found it, found it! That took me a good while to locate."

  Perhaps because too few people bought this kind of technique with no attribute requirements, it took a good while before the clerk slapped a book covered in quite a bit of dust with an ancient-looking cover, saying with a delighted expression.

  "Oh? Really found it?" A hint of joy also flashed across Leo's face. He stepped forward, took the manual, and looked—it was indeed 'The Primordial Chaos Scripture.'

  Having searched for so long without success, obtaining the late-stage Qi Refining technique now was truly unexpected. Leo opened the first page and asked, "Does your shop have the Foundation Establishment part of this technique?"

  "Immortal Master jests. In the entire Moonwatch Immortal City, there are probably only a few Foundation Establishment techniques, and they're usually not publicly available. Naturally, we don't have them here. However, a few years ago, nearly three years back, there were some rumors regarding 'The Primordial Chaos Scripture.'" The clerk deliberately lowered his voice mysteriously.

  Leo was taken aback. "Rumors about 'The Primordial Chaos Scripture'? Related to the later parts of this technique?"

  "Yes. I heard it involved the Palace of the Heavenly Apex. Back then, several disciples of the Palace of the Heavenly Apex stumbled into an ancient cultivator's ruins and obtained some treasures. However, before they could return to their sect, most of the Palace of the Heavenly Apex disciples were ambushed and killed by several powerful loose cultivators. Those cultivators stole some of the treasures, which included part of a cultivation technique."

  Several loose cultivators? His technique was given by the black-robed old man. Could it be that the black-robed old man and his group were those loose cultivators? Leo's heart stirred. Asgard was a relatively barren, remote mortal kingdom with limited spiritual materials. Although many cultivation families had long resided in Asgard, most were at the early stage of Qi Refining; there probably weren't many at the middle stage. The black-robed old man and his companions were almost all at the late stage or Great Perfection of Qi Refining. If not to evade pursuit from the Palace of the Heavenly Apex, why would they go to such a remote place?

  The clerk continued, "Later, the Palace of the Heavenly Apex sent disciples to hunt down those loose cultivators everywhere. They soon lost track of them. Perhaps the other parts of 'The Primordial Chaos Scripture' are with those loose cultivators, or maybe within the Palace of the Heavenly Apex. As for the specific details, outsiders wouldn't know. Several years have passed, and the matter was almost forgotten. If Immortal Master hadn't come to buy this technique today, I would have nearly forgotten myself."

  "Thank you. This is for you." After paying for the technique, Leo directly gave the clerk a low-grade spirit stone.

  "Thank you, thank you, Immortal Master!" The clerk was extremely excited, bowing repeatedly. Although he was around thirty, he was a mortal. Usually, cultivators mostly didn't look him in the eye, let alone give such a reward. His boss certainly wouldn't give him spirit stones. One low-grade spirit stone was enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. By the time he stood up straight, Leo had already left the shop.

  "It seems I need to find a way to open the black-robed old man's storage pouch. However, these people likely stole treasures from the Palace of the Heavenly Apex. If word gets out, it might quickly bring fatal disaster."

  Leo considered this as he walked, soon arriving at Immortal Sect Street according to Moonwatch Immortal City's map. According to loose cultivators, this street wasn't originally called this, but because major immortal sects set up posts here to announce disciple recruitment tasks, over time, everyone got used to the name.

  With only a few months left until the annual sect disciple recruitment, loose cultivators from all over would come to Moonwatch Immortal City. At this time, thousands of people gathered at the reception points of various sects, discussing the announced tasks.

  Leo also squeezed to the stone tablet listing sect tasks. The recruitment conditions of major immortal sects varied.

  Ranked first was the number one major sect in the cultivation world, Ancient Sword Sect, skilled in artifact forging. Spirit artifacts, or the level of magic weapons used in the Foundation Establishment stage, directly related to a cultivator's combat power. Therefore, Ancient Sword Sect cultivators' combat power often surpassed other sects.

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  Ancient Sword Sect's requirements were the strictest: actually requiring the acquisition of a fourth-grade demon core, equivalent to early Foundation Establishment strength. For Qi Refining cultivators, this was undoubtedly as difficult as ascending to heaven. Considering loose cultivators desperately tried to join sects precisely to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills—over a hundred Great Perfection Qi Refining cultivators would have a hard time threatening a single Foundation Establishment expert—this essentially barred most ordinary, mediocre loose cultivators.

  Next was the second-ranked Verdant Pill Palace, where pill refining was its foundation. Because they had more pills compared to other sects, cultivation often improved faster, making the sect's overall strength extremely formidable.

  Verdant Pill Palace's requirements weren't low either: requiring the collection of no less than fifty types of spiritual herbs. For a high-grade alchemist, the quota could be reduced by half; for a mid-grade alchemist, by one-fifth.

  Alchemists were already rare among loose cultivators. Leo estimated his current level was that of a mid-grade alchemist; reaching high-grade would require some more time and experience.

  Aside from the top-ranked sects, the requirements for later ones were slightly lower, but completing the tasks was certainly not easy.

  Some sects had rather unique requirements. For example, Demonic Sun Sect only required a spiritual root value exceeding thirty-five, but males had to be handsome, females beautiful, and age not exceeding twenty.

  Or the Earth Fire Sect's task read: "Our sect's Third Elder has contracted a strange illness, remaining comatose in an ice coffin year-round, with a thread of life remaining. Anyone who can cure him or provide information about this illness can join our sect."

  Leo couldn't help but smile. Even an immortal sect was helpless against such a severe illness; how would these loose cultivators have a solution? Truly desperate times call for desperate measures. A sect elder was at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It seemed even at higher realms, one wasn't entirely worry-free.

  Leo also carefully examined the Palace of the Heavenly Apex's sect task. It also involved collecting spiritual herbs, though mostly different from Verdant Pill Palace's requirements, and added several types of ores. The Palace of the Heavenly Apex ranked seventeenth among the sects, upper-middle tier, also quite powerful.

  After comparing the major sects, Leo set his sights on Verdant Pill Palace and the Palace of the Heavenly Apex. Verdant Pill Palace was especially skilled in the pill refining; entering it likely offered a greater chance of obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill.

  The Palace of the Heavenly Apex could also refine pills, though not as excellently as Verdant Pill Palace, so the chance of obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill was naturally lower. Currently, the biggest goal was achieving successful Foundation Establishment. However, the Palace of the Heavenly Apex had information about 'The Primordial Chaos Scripture.' Techniques suitable for five-element spiritual roots weren't many. If he could obtain 'The Primordial Chaos Scripture,' he didn't want to easily switch to another technique.

  Soon, Leo shook his head with a bitter smile. Completing the task for any sect wasn't easy, let alone two simultaneously. If other loose cultivators knew his thoughts, they'd probably laugh their heads off. Later, it would depend on fate and which sect he could enter.

  After preliminarily selecting the sect tasks and buying almost everything needed, Leo returned to his small courtyard. Just arriving at the gate, he saw Morana already waiting there. Judging by her expression, she'd probably been waiting for a while.

  "Brother Leo, you're finally back." Seeing Leo, the anxious look on Morana's face turned somewhat joyful.

  "What's so urgent that you need to find me?" Leo asked.

  Morana said, "The other sixth-layer Qi Refining expert in our team, who's the captain of this group, decided to enter the Moonwatch Mountain Range earlier. My brother can't make up his mind now and asked me to come ask for your opinion."

  "Weren't we agreed on a time? Why advance it for no reason?" Leo frowned. If this team was entirely dictated by the captain alone, then perhaps it wasn't worth joining.

  Morana explained, "Perhaps he received news related to his own sect's task, worried someone else might get ahead, so he made this decision. However, that person holds the recipe for Essence Energy Pills. That's why my brother asked me to seek your opinion."

  Leo's expression shifted. "Essence Energy Pills? Where are they now?"

  "They're at our small courtyard. I'll take you there right away." Seeing Leo's interest, Morana breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Brother, I'm back." Soon, the two arrived at Sasha's small courtyard. From several meters away, Morana called out loudly.

  "Brother Leo, you're here too. Come, let me introduce you to the team members."

  Sasha was very pleased to see Leo could come. He pointed at a fair-skinned, middle-aged Daoist priest, "This is our leader for this trip, Daoist Kai, the strongest among us."

  Through Sasha's introduction, Leo got to know the team members.

  A voluptuous woman in her thirties, Iris, with cultivation similar to his at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

  Two men in their forties. One with a shiny, bald head was Soren. The middle-aged scholar beside him holding a fan was Pax. According to Sasha's introduction, Soren was a great general from a mortal kingdom called Aurea, previously commanding thousands of troops. One could sense a fierce, martial aura from him even from a distance. Pax was formerly Soren's military strategist. It was quite a marvel that both could embark on the immortal path. Their cultivation was slightly lower than Leo's, at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. Both lived in this courtyard with Sasha, and they got along well.

  "Haha! I've long heard Brother Sasha say he knew a highly skilled alchemist, but you lived in seclusion and I never had the chance to meet. I didn't expect such a young man! Not only an alchemist, but your cultivation is even a layer higher than mine. I really don't know how you cultivate."

  Soren was very forthright, his thick palm landing on Leo's shoulder, fingers like iron hooks. It hurt so much Leo grimaced.

  "Brother Soren, you used too much strength there." Pax reminded him. Back in the mortal kingdom, Soren's straightforward temper and fiery nature had offended many in official circles. If not for Pax's constant reminders and later stepping onto the immortal path, he might have long perished in the cutthroat world of officials.

  "Apologies, apologies. Practiced Iron Sand Palm before, so the grip is a bit strong." Soren smiled apologetically, quickly explaining.

  "A bit stronger? Any more and my bones would break." Leo grimaced, rubbing his shoulder. Although he was at the fifth layer of Qi Refining, his physical strength was naturally far inferior to Soren, who had practiced external martial arts before.