The middle-aged man staggered out of the door, the strong stench of alcohol wafting from him. His bleary eyes squinted as he grumbled, "Why is someone here again? What a bloody nuisance."

Wen Buhuo hurriedly stepped forward to bow, respectfully explaining that he was the disciple who had accepted the herb garden task. Upon hearing this, the man waved his hand even more impatiently. "I just kicked out a few little brats a few days ago! They knew absolutely nothing and nearly killed over half of my precious spirit herbs! Why did the sect send another one?"

Neither humble nor arrogant, Wen Buhuo bowed again. "Please calm your anger, Martial Uncle. Before joining the sect, I followed my elders and gained some knowledge of herbs; I know a thing or two about cultivation."

"Oh?" The man squinted at him skeptically. "Then I'll test you. What kind of spirit herb is this with the purple-tinged leaves? And how should you handle it if the soil becomes too damp?"

Wen Buhuo remained calm and composed, answering questions about the habits, medicinal properties, and cultivation methods of various spirit herbs under different climates with perfect fluency. After hearing this, the man's drunkenness dissipated slightly, replaced by a look of surprise. He nodded and said, "Not bad. You're not like those second-generation playboys who only know how to idle away their time. You may call me Martial Uncle Ma from now on. Take good care of this herb garden and don't be lazy, understood?"

With that, Martial Uncle Ma let out a yawn and wobbled back to his cave dwelling to continue drinking.

Wen Buhuo officially took over the herb garden and began to examine his surroundings carefully. A week later, he had completely adapted to the quiet life here. Knowing his aptitude was limited, he knew he had to make up for it with diligence. Thus, he formulated a rigorous cultivation plan:

• Technique Advancement: Circulate the Eternal Spring Art every day without fail to hone his magic power.

• Spell Combat: Practice the Fireball Technique and Wind-Swaying Art until they reached a level of mastery.

• Movement Integration: Study that peerless light-body technique, Smoke-Stepping Footwork, and attempt to combine it with the Wind-Swaying Art, driving it with spiritual energy to serve as an excellent escape and evasion move.

• Concealment and Sense: Most importantly, practice the Breath-Restraining Technique to hide his true cultivation level and continuously train the strength of his spiritual sense.

Seeing that Wen Buhuo kept the herb garden in perfect order and the herbs were thriving, Martial Uncle Ma was happy to be a hands-off manager. Aside from someone coming to collect herbs every morning, the garden essentially became Wen Buhuo's private domain.

Wen Buhuo found an extremely hidden corner and used the mysterious liquid produced by the small green bottle to secretly accelerate the growth of the medicinal ingredients needed to raise his cultivation and refine elixirs. Although the process required extreme caution and progress couldn't be rushed, through his hard work from dawn till dusk, he finally reached the Great Perfection of the tenth layer of the Qi Condensation stage three months later.

However, a bottleneck followed. No matter how many magic-enhancing pills he took, he felt that barrier was as steady as a mountain, impossible to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

One day, Martial Uncle Ma passed by the garden and inadvertently caught a glimpse of Wen Buhuo's aura. He exclaimed in surprise, "You kid, you've already reached the Great Perfection of the tenth layer? That's quite a fast cultivation speed."

He sighed and reminded him, "To break through, you must have a Foundation Establishment Pill. This is the only and necessary elixir for moving from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment. However, you have an Ascension Order in hand; according to the rules, you can claim one from the sect."

Wen Buhuo was overjoyed to hear this. But Martial Uncle Ma immediately doused him with cold water. "Don't get happy too soon. Monsters with 'Heavenly Roots' have no pressure breaking through; one pill is enough. But for a disciple with 'Pseudo-Roots' like you, one Foundation Establishment Pill... I'm afraid is far from enough."

Though his heart sank, Wen Buhuo nodded in thanks. Early the next morning, he rode his flying sword to the sect, intending to claim that life-saving Foundation Establishment Pill.

As fate would have it, he ran into Chen Qiaoqian's suitor—Senior Brother Lu—right at the distribution point.

Senior Brother Lu was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, standing there surrounded by a crowd like a moon among stars. Seeing Wen Buhuo, a sneer curled on his lips. "Yo, isn't this that Pseudo-Root? With such poor aptitude, you still want to claim a Foundation Establishment Pill? What a waste of sect resources!"

Knowing the disparity in their strength, Wen Buhuo lowered his head and tried to sidestep the conflict. However, Senior Brother Lu had no intention of letting him go. Seeing that Wen Buhuo had already received the jade bottle, a flash of greed and malice crossed his eyes. He lunged forward, reaching out to snatch it. "Hand it over! A good thing like this—you don't deserve to use it!"