Face Turned Green

Zhang Zhengyi was completely fooled, genuinely believing the fabricated identity Qin Yang had made up. After leaving, he scurried off like he'd been injected with stimulants, heading out to gather intelligence...

Qin Yang rubbed his chin, actually puzzled himself—what was this little fatty thinking? Could he be trying to trap him?

After mulling it over, even if he was being set up, it was still beneficial for him at this stage. The little fatty definitely had no idea he possessed a much more detailed and complete map.

So, having obtained news of the Purple Firmament Dao Lord and the Purple Firmament Dao Scripture, he'd already gotten his money's worth.

Cooperating with the little fatty to fish in troubled waters wasn't unacceptable either.

Holed up in "Brother Wang's" residence, Qin Yang shut himself in without eating, taking Yellow Sprout Pills every day to boost his cultivation.

Among the pills usable in the Qi Cultivation Stage, the only one that could truly be called a pill was the Qi Nurturing Pill. Anything worse wasn't even a pill—just a pellet.

And the best Qi Cultivation pill was the Yellow Sprout Pill, which could greatly shorten the Qi Cultivation process.

For real major sects, or those with deep pockets, the process from Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishment was called Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment—meaning from Qi Cultivation Layer One to forging a Dao Foundation took only a hundred days.

There had always been a debate in the cultivation world: should the Qi Cultivation Stage before forging a Dao Foundation even count as a realm? In ancient times, cultivators' first realm was forging a Dao Foundation; only after that did cultivation truly begin.

But later, for some unknown reason, people's physiques declined, and now most were ordinary mortals, so the Qi Cultivation Stage was added.

Unfortunately, most rogue cultivators spent a very long time in the Qi Cultivation Stage. Without decent techniques, forging a Dao Foundation was extremely difficult and required pill assistance.

This bottle of Yellow Sprout Pills had thirty pills. If he rationed them at one a day, that was one bottle a month. One bottle cost forty Third Grade Spirit Stones, which converted to four thousand First Grade Spirit Stones.

Qin Yang's previous exclusive Worry-Free Business had high technical requirements and was one of a kind, yet each session only earned two or three hundred First Grade Spirit Stones.

Now, Qin Yang was consuming Yellow Sprout Pills freely—one bottle lasted at most three days. Three to four days cost four thousand spirit stones, tens of thousands a month. Which rogue cultivator dared to eat like that?

This was why everyone was desperate to squeeze into sects. Even the worst sect provided at least some free pill supply...

Having finally earned money, Qin Yang couldn't bear to begrudge the cost and freely consumed the Yellow Sprout Pills.

The effect was naturally outstanding. In just one day, he finally advanced to Qi Cultivation Layer Seven...

"With or without resources, the gap is really no joke..."

Ten days passed in a flash. Qin Yang stared at the empty bottle before him, sighing with emotion.

In ten days, the little fatty had disappeared somewhere. The Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce's actions had shifted from open to covert, but these past few days, he'd heard that Boundless Dao Academy's disciples had suddenly increased.

And in ten days, he himself had finally advanced to Qi Cultivation Layer Nine. The next step was forging a Dao Foundation.

Foundation Establishment left no room for regret. Choosing which technique to use for Foundation Establishment determined one's future direction. Even if he switched techniques later, if they weren't compatible, practicing them would not only be useless but harmful, and in severe cases, could lead to Qi deviation.

More importantly, the quality of the forged Dao Foundation directly affected how far one could go. This was directly tied to the Foundation Establishment technique.

Why were major sects always teeming with talent? Because they had vast collections of high-grade techniques. The Dao Foundations their disciples forged were far superior to those of rogue cultivators. The stronger the sect, the greater the probability of producing prodigies.

If he hadn't known before, it was fine. But now that he knew a Dao Scripture existed, if he didn't take a gamble, he'd regret it for the rest of his life...

Since his cultivation couldn't advance for now, Qin Yang continued studying talismans.

He had bought plenty of materials. This time, he made all thirty-six talismans he'd learned in one go, producing as many as possible. Without magical artifacts, good techniques, or powerful secret arts, he'd have to rely on the talisman-overwhelming strategy—burying his enemies in money.

After finishing the talismans, Qin Yang began studying Ink Talismans.

Ink Talismans were a deepening method within the talisman path. Ordinary talismans mostly had only a single use. Even talismans like the Wind Travel Talisman could only be used once and had limited duration.

Ink Talismans were more powerful, lasted longer, and some could even transform into restrictions that lasted indefinitely. Although restriction power couldn't compare to formations, the advantage was that no formation materials were needed. Some experts could set up restrictions with bare hands.

Making Ink Talismans was at least a hundred times harder than ordinary talismans. Each Ink Talisman was dozens of times larger than a regular talisman, and its internal structure was even more complex and refined.

Qin Yang worked continuously for a day and only managed to produce one Ink Talisman scroll.

Before he could test its power, a knock came at the door...

Zhang Zhengyi, the little fatty, had finally returned.

"Senior Brother, I finally overheard it!" The little fatty was very excited, rushing in to report the good news.

"What overheard? It's gathered." Qin Yang scolded him, then asked, "What news did you gather?"

"Senior Brother is right!" The little fatty gave a thumbs up, beaming. "I found out where the Purple Firmament Dao Lord's Seated Transcendence Land is!"

"Tell me..."

"It's deep in the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb in West City, Green Forest City!"

"Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb?" Qin Yang's voice suddenly rose...

"Yeah, after thinking it over, it had to be there. I was wondering before why there was no mountain like the one on the map near Green Forest City. Turns out it's inside there. I'd heard before that the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb's formation was very peculiar—if you enter from anywhere other than the front, it's not the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb anymore. So it's because the Purple Firmament Dao Lord's Seated Transcendence Land is there..."

"Heh..." Qin Yang's smile was strained...

"These past few days, people from Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce and Boundless Dao Academy have made probing entries. But somehow, they provoked the ghost creatures inside. I heard a true disciple from Boundless Dao Academy, already at the Three Yuan Stage, entered the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb but soon fled severely injured. They say it was one of the Dole Ghost King's generals who acted..."

"What happened? How did they end up in conflict with the Dole Ghost King?"

"Who knows? But I overheard something before—apparently the Dole Ghost King has an agreement with Boundless Dao Academy. Experts from Boundless Dao Academy can't casually step into the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb's territory. Small disciples they can turn a blind eye to. But this time, the Dole Ghost King's daughter was abandoned by someone, and the Ghost King is being pestered by his daughter, already furious. They just happened to run into it..."

"Explain clearly..."

"Uh, Senior Brother, don't rush. What I heard is that they've now reached an agreement. If they find the person who abandoned the Ghost King's daughter, the Ghost King will let them pass. Otherwise, any cultivator above Foundation Establishment who enters will be crushed on sight. But honestly, even if the Ghost King doesn't act, a Foundation Establishment cultivator trying to cross to the depths of the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb would still be in deep trouble..."

"Do you know what the Ghost King's daughter is called?" Qin Yang's face grew increasingly stiff as he probed...

"How would I know her name? But I heard her title is Imperial Concubine De..."

"Shouldn't Imperial Concubine De be the Ghost King's consort?" Qin Yang's face was turning green...

"What consort? 'Imperial Concubine' is a title, like an official rank—it represents noble status. Senior Brother, what if we find that Heartless Man and deliver him to the Dole Ghost King? Wouldn't that... Huh? Senior Brother? What's wrong? Your face looks terrible!"

Please collect and recommend! Haven't you seen my face is already turning green?