"In the first year of your secluded cultivation, after mother left the sect with a heavy heart, there has been no news of her since then, and we don't know where she has gone, whether she is alive or dead now."
Li Chaoge was Lu Ping's first wife, sixteen years his junior, and also a loose cultivator. The two met during humble beginnings, supported each other along the way, and established the Cyan Mountain Sect together.
Compared to Lu Ping, Li Chaoge possessed much greater talent. She was a Celestial Spirit Root Cultivator, and when she met Lu Ping, they were both at the Qi Cultivation Stage. Her strength was not much inferior to Lu Ping's.
Lu Ping was very fond of Li Chaoge, willing to give her magical treasures and spirit pills first. Li Chaoge herself was kind-hearted and had a gentle soul.
After giving birth to three children for Lu Ping, though it delayed her path for over a decade, her cultivation reached the late-stage Crystallization, with hopes of forming a Golden Core in the future.
In terms of time, Li Chaoge should have more than three hundred years of lifespan left. If she hadn't disappeared, she probably would have formed a Golden Core in the Cyan Mountain Sect, leading to a flourishing era of dual Golden Cores for the sect.
It can be said that the prosperity and strength of the Cyan Mountain Sect were entirely supported by Lu Ping and Li Chaoge.
But now that Lu Ping has fallen, leaving only a feeble consciousness behind, and Li Chaoge is missing, it's no surprise that the Cyan Mountain Sect has declined to its current state.
"She's the mother of several children, how could she go missing?"
Lu Ping didn't know what to say, worrying about Chaoge's disappearance.
Since the Cyan Mountain Sect was already tragic, and now with Li Chaoge missing, the sect has lost its only Crystallization Cultivator as well.
One can only imagine how difficult the sect's situation would be.
"I don't know either. Ever since mother disappeared without warning, I have been sending people to search for her, but there has been no result."
At this point, Lu Yuanshan felt a wave of sorrow, and he knelt down.
"I'm ashamed, ashamed to face father for not being able to protect mother!"
Listening quietly to Lu Yuanshan's sobbing, Lu Ping felt a twinge in his heart.
Over ten years have passed, and Li Chaoge has not returned. It seems likely that her fate is bleak, and she may never come back. All he could do was silently pray for her safety.
But no matter what, at least Li Chaoge still has a chance of survival compared to falling; she evaded the magic chaos in Lushan County all those years ago, not perishing there.
"Get up, aren't you a grown man by now? Crying like this is unbecoming of a Sect Leader."
Lu Ping couldn't bear to see his son crying in front of him; it made him quite uncomfortable.
After asking about some matters of Li Chaoge's life before her disappearance, and talking for a bit, Lu Ping changed the topic.
"Yuanshan, thank you for your hard work during the years I was in secluded cultivation."
"It is what I should do."
Lu Yuanshan calmed his emotions and slowly stood up.
"Since Chaoge's disappearance, hasn't the sect cultivated any new Foundation Establishment Cultivators?"
"We have tried, but the results have not been satisfactory."
"Since you went into secluded cultivation, after the sect experienced the magic chaos, it has been declining daily, and the opportunities to provide the Foundation Establishment Pill for disciples have become less and less..."
As the Cyan Mountain Sect declined, the eleven cultivation clans that had been affiliated with it broke free from its control.
This severed one of the sect's main sources of income, the tribute that the cultivation clans provided annually to the Cyan Mountain Sect.
Roughly calculated, this tribute could bring the sect an annual income of over fifteen thousand spirit stones.
This was a major source of income for the Cyan Mountain Sect.
As the sect's income drastically reduced, Lu Yuanshan gradually realized the importance of Foundation Establishment Cultivators to the sect. The sect urgently needed one to maintain its influence and prevent further decay.
From this point, Lu Yuanshan mentioned the Foundation Establishment Pill.
"Six years ago, the Sect Leader of the Heaven-Facing Sect in the Chu Kingdom broke through to Core Formation, calling himself the Heaven-Facing Celestial, becoming the fourth Golden Core Ancestor in the Chu Kingdom."
"That same spring, the Heaven-Facing Celestial refined several batches of Foundation Establishment Pills and held a small trade meeting at Qinghe Market, offering three Foundation Establishment Pills for trade, attracting competition from various loose cultivators and families."
"Understanding the rarity of Foundation Establishment Pills, seeing it as a priceless treasure, if used to cultivate a new Foundation Establishment Cultivator for the sect, it could improve the sect's predicament."
"To obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, the sect did not hesitate to sell its properties, offering some magical treasures and elixirs left by you, and finally raised enough spirit stones to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill for eleven thousand."
Lu Yuanshan recounted the past slowly.
Since there was only one Foundation Establishment Pill, the members of the sect voted on who should use it, considering the candidates within the sect.
Generally speaking, the best age to attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage is under sixty.
Cultivators over sixty may suffer from insufficient qi and blood, and declining physical functions may affect the result, reducing the success rate of Foundation Establishment by twenty percent.
The Foundation Establishment Pill itself could provide a fifty percent success rate for breakthrough. At that time, within the sect, there were only two people who met the age and cultivation requirements.
One was Lu Yuanshan, who possessed a Dual Spirit Root and was stuck at the Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation for over ten years, not daring to rashly establish the foundation.
The other was Lu Ping's youngest daughter, Lu Zhiwei.
Lu Zhiwei was younger than Lu Yuanshan, also possessed a Dual Spirit Root, and was a Tier One High-Grade Refiner. In terms of potential, she surpassed Lu Yuanshan.
In the comparison and weighing between the two, eventually Lu Zhiwei took the Foundation Establishment Pill. In this decision, Lu Yuanshan also practiced the principle of letting his younger sibling use the Pill first, hoping his younger sister would use it.
The sect also hoped that after Lu Zhiwei successfully established her foundation, she could leverage her identity as an Artifact Refiner to lead the sect out of its predicament.
Once the Foundation Establishment Pill candidate was decided, Lu Zhiwei went into secluded cultivation to break through Foundation Establishment.
"Little sister took the Foundation Establishment Pill and went into secluded cultivation for half a year. The entire sect prayed for her successful Foundation Establishment, hoping she would add a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to the sect."
"But the result was disappointing; little sister failed to establish her foundation during secluded cultivation."
"The failure this time hit her hard. Previously she was cheerful and unreserved, but after the failure, she fell into depression, becoming a shadow of her former self, feeling numb and withdrawn, silent day in and day out."
Towards the end, Lu Yuanshan's face was full of distress.
Looking at Lu Yuanshan's expression, Lu Ping felt a slight heaviness in his heart, understanding Lu Yuanshan's heartache, and imagining how significant the blow would be for Lu Zhiwei's failure at Foundation Establishment.
Because the Foundation Establishment Pill was acquired by the sect through exhausting resources, depleting years of savings, and even selling its property.
The sect had gone to great lengths to obtain that single Foundation Establishment Pill.
This failure dealt a heavy blow to an already not wealthy sect. For the next decade, the sect would not be able to obtain another Foundation Establishment Pill for disciples.
A Foundation Establishment Pill wasted, Lu Zhiwei felt guilty to the sect on one hand. On the other hand, her Dao Heart was shaken, making it hard for her to proceed on the path of cultivation.
The path of cultivation being cut off was not a major concern for Lu Ping; her being physically alright was enough.
But if Lu Zhiwei sank into depression or nihilism, it would not be a result Lu Ping wished to see.
It's no surprise, then, that the status information on Lu Zhiwei indicated "Dao Heart Lost, Mild Depression."
Her personality had become silent, reclusive, fragile, and sensitive, all due to the failure at Foundation Establishment.
Lu Ping felt a deep empathy for this youngest daughter.
After finishing the discussion about Lu Zhiwei, the father and son fell silent for a while. Eventually, Lu Yuanshan gathered his thoughts, summarized the current state of the sect, and reported it to Lu Ping.
Only then did Lu Ping understand just how dire the situation of the Cyan Mountain Sect had become.