Two Years

Time quietly slipped away amid cultivation and study. Two months later, under the combined effects of pills and Spirit Grains, Wang Hong broke through to Qi Refining Layer Two.

Over those two months, what Wang Hong had not expected was that his spirit wine had made a name for itself. At first, the nearby neighbors tried the spirit wine he had given away and thought it was decent enough.

But when they learned it cost only ten Spirit Stones, "decent enough" no longer began to describe it. It was simply wonderful. Word quickly spread through the surrounding area, drawing many people into lines to buy it.

The spirit wine's main effect was to rapidly replenish spiritual power. Especially in battle, where spiritual power was depleted at an alarming rate, possessing something that could swiftly restore one's power was equivalent to having an extra life. One bottle could at least fully replenish the spiritual power of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Spirit wines with the same effect were sold by the tael, and a single tael cost roughly ten Spirit Stones.

When Wang Hong realized something was off, he raised the price to twenty Spirit Stones per bottle. He also sneaked off to the mortal market and bought tens of thousands of jin of strong liquor, then steeped it with Ginseng and ganoderma.

Wang Hong did not know why the Medicinal Wine he made had such excellent effects. Perhaps the spatial environment was unusual and rich in spiritual energy; perhaps it was because it had been stored long enough; perhaps it was both.

Even after the price rose to twenty, everyone's enthusiasm for buying it did not diminish. In the end, he had no choice but to impose a purchase limit: each person could buy only one bottle per day.

He also spread word that stocks of this spirit wine were limited and that the price would rise a year later. This only brought even more people into line, and the other goods in his shop were sold in much greater quantities as well.

After handling these matters, Wang Hong once more devoted himself to cultivation and study.

Two years later...

Wang Hong squatted before Skinny Stick's bookstall and turned his pile of books upside down, only to find that there were no longer any books that interested him. Over the past two years, Wang Hong had bought and read every cultivation-related book at this stall.

He casually picked up a book of cultivation gossip and idly flipped through it as he said, "Say, Skinny Stick, why are you always peddling the same few books back and forth? Can't you get something fresh?"

Skinny Stick grinned with shifty eyes. "I do have one, actually. It's a family heirloom, part of my old man's treasured collection."

With that, he furtively pulled a book out from beneath the stall and handed it to Wang Hong. The entire book had an exceedingly ancient binding and was somewhat yellowed. The edges of its pages had been thumbed to tatters. Wang Hong opened the cover, and several clear characters leaped into his eyes: "Newly Compiled Spring Palace Illustrations." Wang Hong flipped through a few pages and immediately blushed scarlet. He glanced around, saw that no one had noticed, and hurriedly returned it to him, drawing a burst of laughter from Skinny Stick.

After spending so much time with Skinny Stick, Wang Hong had learned that this fellow's nickname was Skinny Stick. As for his real name, Wang Hong had never heard anyone call him by it and did not know it either. He was the descendant of a small cultivation family and had now reached Qi Refining Layer Six.

Small families did not have many resources. Each person received only one Qi Gathering Pill and two Spirit Stones per month. Even such treatment was enough to make countless Rogue Cultivators green with envy.

"Haven't you always wanted to learn alchemy? Tonight, a Foundation Establishment senior will personally explain the Dao of alchemy at the Wan Family Preaching Hall. It only costs ten Spirit Stones. Are you going?" Skinny Stick asked after hiding away that book of Spring Palace Illustrations.

Qingxu Immortal City contained countless cultivation families, large and small. The larger families all had their own preaching halls, dedicated to teaching their own descendants.

At some point, they began allowing Rogue Cultivators to sit in and charging them Spirit Stones. Later, it gradually developed into a business that earned a great many Spirit Stones. Rogue Cultivators in the city were as numerous as the hairs of an ox, with no one to teach them. They could only grope their way forward on their own, making things naturally difficult beyond measure. So long as they had a chance to hear a senior's teachings, they were naturally willing to spend Spirit Stones.

"Of course I'm going. Are you? Let's go together?" Wang Hong invited. Over the past year, Wang Hong had not missed a single lecture involving alchemy, talisman-making, or the cultivation of spells.

"Of course I'm... not going! Our family already has an alchemist. Without family support, I can't afford to squander resources like that. Unlike a little tycoon like you, who can spend money like dirt."

Wang Hong immediately put on a woeful expression. "You know perfectly well that after deducting purchase costs, I'm lucky to earn a difference of two Spirit Stones from selling a single spirit herb. How many spirit medicines can that half-dead little shop of mine sell in a day? At least you get one Qi Gathering Pill every month. I haven't even seen what a Qi Gathering Pill looks like yet."

As Wang Hong cried poverty, he secretly reveled inside. I'm a wealthy man among Qi Refining cultivators, but I'm not telling any of you. I just like walking at night in brocade clothes. He truly did not dare flaunt his wealth. The city might be safe, but he would not remain inside it forever.

Over these two years, the spirit wine had sold extremely well. Spirit wine alone brought Wang Hong forty to fifty thousand Spirit Stones in direct income. Unfortunately, the original stock had already sold out. The newly made spirit wine was perhaps still lacking in age, so he planned to leave it for another year or two and sell it once it had matured sufficiently.

He had also earned tens of thousands of Spirit Stones by selling spirit medicines. The Ginseng that had mutated earlier had completed its mutation and truly become Crimson Blood Ginseng. Wang Hong planted these Crimson Blood Ginseng separately on one fen of land.

Of the remaining Ginseng that had not mutated, Wang Hong kept only a small number of the older plants and pulled up and sold all the rest. Wang Hong guessed that spirit medicines such as Purple Ganoderma, White Jade Ganoderma, and Solomon's Seal might also mutate in the future.

Altogether, he had earned more than a hundred thousand Spirit Stones over these two years. Among Qi Refining cultivators, he was absolutely considered wealthy. Yet Wang Hong remained low-key, making a fortune in silence.

While wildly earning Spirit Stones, he had not neglected his cultivation either. He had already reached the peak of Qi Refining Layer Three and had also cultivated several very basic spells, such as the Qi Gazing Technique, Wind Riding Technique, and Object Manipulation Technique.

Most of the Spirit Stones Wang Hong earned had been devoured by the space. By now, the area of land within it had expanded to eight fen.

Wang Hong used four fen of it to grow the spirit herbs required for Qi Gathering Pills. He sold part of the harvest and kept enough materials for two hundred batches. Since he intended to learn alchemy, he naturally needed a large quantity of materials for practice.

Besides the space, raising his forty-five soldiers had also cost him quite a few Spirit Stones. After all, their aptitudes were too poor—some even had no aptitude at all—so the resources required naturally increased severalfold.

Ever since he announced the reward system, everyone had put forward quite a few suggestions as well.

The most mature plan at present was to use Cultivation Techniques to transform Internal Energy into spiritual power.

Several people were already cultivating according to this method. They first cultivated Internal Energy through internal cultivation manuals, then converted it into spiritual power and used Cultivation Techniques to cultivate that spiritual power.

It was simply that this method was extremely inefficient. The soldiers cultivating this way were still only at Qi Refining Layer One.

After all, roads were made by people walking them. Perhaps they might find a better method in the future.

Perhaps recruiting another group of Rogue Cultivators with spiritual roots would have made them easier to train, but their loyalty could not compare. These soldiers were comrades who had faced life and death with him on the battlefield. No one knew how long it would take for outsiders to truly integrate.

Besides, since they trusted him and had entrusted their lives to him on the battlefield, how could Wang Hong betray that trust and casually abandon them?

Even if they could not cultivate and there was no road ahead, Wang Hong would still ensure that they lived the rest of their lives free from worry over food and clothing.

The Wan Family was on a street not far from the market. The family possessed several Foundation Establishment cultivators, three alchemists, and a pill shop. In Qingxu City, it could be considered a force in the middle to upper ranks.

Wang Hong paid ten Spirit Stones to the cultivator guarding the gate, then stepped into the preaching hall. He had already come here several times.

Twenty or thirty people were already seated around the main hall. Wang Hong casually found a cushion and sat down.

More than ten seats in the center were still empty. No one dared sit there, as they had been reserved specifically for Wan Family descendants.

A moment later, a group of young people entered, all dressed in fine clothes. Leading them was a tall, slender man in white robes with fair skin and fairly handsome features. The only problem was that he liked looking at the sky with his eyes and looking down on people through his nostrils. This man was Wan Da, a direct descendant of the Wan Family.

Several more Rogue Cultivators arrived one after another. Then the sound of a bell rang out, and the somewhat noisy hall instantly fell silent.

A refined middle-aged man slowly emerged from the rear hall, and everyone rose to salute him.

The refined man gave a slight nod in return, then flicked his sleeve and took his seat in the place of honor.