Three Years of Change

Wang Hong took one of the freshly baked Body Tempering Pills and then circulated the Body Tempering Art cultivation technique. The medicinal power of the Body Tempering Pill transformed into wisps of spiritual energy, nourishing his muscles and bones.

The medicinal power of one Body Tempering Pill was more effective for body tempering than taking two Qi Gathering Pills. It seemed the Body Tempering Art was close to another breakthrough.

Wang Hong summoned Wen Lan and Luo Zhongjie. Both of them practiced cultivation techniques modified from the Body Tempering Art, called "Immortal Mortal Transformation." The Body Tempering Pill should also be effective for them.

He gave each of them one Body Tempering Pill and had them consume it on the spot.

Wang Hong observed closely with his Spiritual Sense. The spiritual energy from the pills, circulated through the cultivation technique, slowly dispersed into their muscles and bones, gradually improving their tissues.

It took them five days to completely absorb and refine the medicinal power. This meant they could refine at most six Body Tempering Pills in a month.

However, Wang Hong only needed two hours to refine one pill, allowing him to refine up to two pills a day.

Yet, the effect of one Body Tempering Pill for them was stronger than taking five Qi Gathering Pills.

Practicing with Qi Gathering Pills wasted a lot of medicinal power. Although the medicinal power of the Body Tempering Pill was slow, it was still fully absorbed.

It seemed that for those without spiritual roots, the path of cultivating the physical body was not wrong. It was just slow to refine.

However, they were still in the initial exploratory phase, and many aspects needed improvement. After all, their group's cultivation level and horizons were still too low.

As they were leaving, he told them that this type of pill could be exchanged for contribution points in the future, with a value equivalent to two Qi Gathering Pills.

Upon hearing this news, the two excitedly took their leave.

Last time, Wang Hong obtained a secret technique called "Shifting Form and Changing Position" from Cultivator Ding's storage bag.

His current body tempering made him powerful in close combat, but most immortal cultivation duels involved fighting at a distance of several feet, exchanging blows with spells, Magic Artifacts, and talismans.

If the enemy didn't give him a chance to get close, no matter how strong his body tempering was, he would only become a target, unable to leverage his physical advantages.

He vividly remembered the ghost-like speed of Cultivator Ding.

"Shifting Form and Changing Position" was divided into three layers. The first layer allowed instant movement of one to ten feet, but one could still see the direction and trace of the movement, and it was easy to interrupt.

Upon cultivating to the second layer, one could move instantly ten to forty-nine feet. During the movement, only afterimages could be seen, making it difficult to discern the movement trajectory, appearing even more unpredictable.

Cultivating to the third layer allowed instant movement of fifty feet or more. As for anything else, the jade slip did not provide detailed explanations.

Wang Hong decided to cultivate this secret technique diligently. Just the ability to cultivate the first layer made him envious. Not to mention the even more miraculous and heaven-defying second and third layers.

He decided to spend some time in the Mysterious Space to thoroughly grasp the cultivation technique of the first layer.

Wang Hong stood in the secret chamber and circulated the "Shifting Form and Changing Position" cultivation technique. After a breath, his body flickered forward, moving only a little over five feet before stopping.

At this moment, Wang Hong's face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat. That single breath had completely depleted all his spiritual energy.

Wang Hong hadn't expected this secret technique to be so difficult to practice in reality. It took a breath to activate the secret technique, and in a battle, a breath was enough for others to chop him into meat paste.

He took out the Spirit Wine and took a big gulp. Once his spiritual energy recovered, he continued practicing.

Three days later, the time it took to activate the technique decreased by an instant, and the movement distance increased by an inch.

Three months later, he finally recovered to the fifth level of Qi Refining, and his movement distance finally reached ten feet. However, activating the technique still required half a breath.

Six months later, he finally achieved instant activation and a movement of ten feet. Only then could the first layer of his "Shifting Form and Changing Position" be considered initiated.

Wang Hong walked out of the cultivation room and, once again in the guise of Wang Kun, went to the Elixir Pavilion to replenish a batch of elixirs.

After leaving, he sensed someone following him. Wang Hong walked unhurriedly to a secluded spot and stopped.

"Fellow Daoist! Aren't you tired of following me for so long? If you have something to say, just say it."

A thin middle-aged man with a small mustache emerged from the alley behind him.

"Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist. I have no ill intentions. I wanted to discuss something with you, so I resorted to this."

The man with the mustache glanced around and added, "This is not a place to talk. I have prepared some light refreshments at the VIP Tower. Shall we move to the VIP Tower?"

Wang Hong considered it for a moment and agreed. Within Qingxu City, he wasn't afraid of the other party playing any tricks.

In a private room at the VIP Tower, the middle-aged man with the mustache had already prepared a table of food and drinks.

Stir-fried Spirit Bamboo Shoots, Phoenix Tail Spirit Chicken stewed with century-old Ginseng soup, braised Ironclad Spirit Turtle...

Looking at the spread, it was worth at least one to two hundred Spirit Stones, clearly prepared with great care.

"I am Qian Gui. Please forgive my previous presumption. I will punish myself with a drink first." Saying this, he picked up a cup of Spirit Wine and drank it in one gulp.

"I am Wang Kun. May I ask why you invited me?" Wang Hong asked, though he had already guessed part of it.

"I run a small elixir shop. Although my ancestors passed down a few acres of spiritual fields, it's slightly insufficient to supply a shop, often leading to stockouts. Do you happen to have a source of goods?" he asked, looking at Wang Hong expectantly.

Since the purpose was clear, Wang Hong saw no need to beat around the bush. After a moment of thought, he said, "I do have goods."

Qian Gui's face lit up with joy. He hadn't been confident of convincing the other party on the first try. He hadn't expected him to admit it so frankly.

Wang Hong took a sip of Spirit Wine and added, "However, I can't make the decision myself. I need to apply to the merchant guild first."

Hearing this, Qian Gui wasn't disappointed. Someone who could supply so many elixirs and spiritual herbs was clearly not a minor force. Naturally, a Qi Refining cultivator couldn't make the decisions.

"May I know the name of your esteemed merchant guild?"

"You don't need to know that for now. Our merchant guild has agents in every cultivator city, and I am merely the lowest-ranked agent. Currently, I can only provide some first-tier spiritual items," Wang Hong said calmly.

Qian Gui was shocked. These few simple words from Wang Hong contained a great deal of information.

The business reached every city, something only a major power could achieve.

Moreover, this organization could provide not only first-tier spiritual items but also items above the first tier.

Qian Gui suppressed the excitement in his heart, "How can I get you to supply me?"

"I can help you apply for a supply. For the types of goods, you can refer to Zhao Ning's Elixir Pavilion."

"Including the Barrier Breaking Pill?" Qian Gui asked cautiously.

"We have Barrier Breaking Pills too, but not in large quantities. Perhaps only one per month."

Qian Gui's heart settled. Getting one a month was already very good. His elixir shop had never sold a Barrier Breaking Pill before.

"However, the price for the spiritual items we provide is 10% off, no bargaining," Wang Hong added.

Qian Gui only pondered for a moment before understanding. It was slightly more expensive than general suppliers, differing by half a discount to a full discount.

But as long as there was a stable supply, he could still earn a considerable profit.

Getting just one Barrier Breaking Pill each month would allow him to earn thousands of Spirit Stones more than usual.

Ten days later, Wang Hong provided Qian Gui with a batch of elixirs and spirit herbs worth twenty thousand Spirit Stones. This included a Barrier Breaking Pill that Qian Gui couldn't stop thinking about.

He also promised to provide a long-term supply in the future, making Qian Gui tremble with excitement.

Wang Hong found that although his pill refinement success rate was high, he was still struggling to keep up with demand.

So, he gave Zhang Chunfeng materials for a thousand Qi Gathering Pills to practice his pill refining, which greatly surprised Zhang Chunfeng. He had never seen anyone practice with so many materials.

Wang Hong had no choice. Only Zhang Chunfeng and Skinny Monkey had the cultivation base to refine pills. Skinny Monkey managed the Spirit Wine Pavilion and was responsible for brewing.

He could only push this task onto Zhang Chunfeng. Although pill refining required talent, with a large amount of materials, even someone without talent could be trained into a master.

After this period, the Spirit Bee King in his Mysterious Space had already successfully hatched. It could communicate with him, and he could issue commands to the Spirit Bee King through his consciousness.

Now, over ten thousand Spirit Bees had been bred. Due to the current limited space in the Mysterious Space.

The various spirit flowers he transplanted from Hundred Flowers Valley had not yet bloomed, and the spirit fruit trees he planted were still saplings, far from their flowering season.

Currently, only some spirit grasses that could bloom were available, providing a limited amount of spirit flower nectar. When the number reached ten thousand, Wang Hong ordered the Bee King to stop laying eggs. This was the maximum number the Mysterious Space could sustain at the moment.

At this time, another batch of Spirit Gathering Grass in the Mysterious Space had matured. It took another three months to refine them into Qi Gathering Pills, which were then handed over to the Elixir Pavilion for sale. His success rate for refining Qi Gathering Pills finally reached fifty percent.

During these past few months, the area of the Mysterious Space had increased by more than two mu, reaching six mu. The passage of time was accelerated to thirty-five times that of the outside world.

He took the time to change his appearance several times and collected second-tier spirit herbs and spirit fruits from various shops, planting them in the Mysterious Space.

After finishing these tasks, he changed his appearance again and found a team composed of cultivators in the middle stage of Qi Refining who were heading to Black Dragon Marsh for training. He joined them.

Although he was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining this time, his strength was incomparable to when he entered Black Dragon Marsh previously.

He was equipped with both offensive and defensive Magic Artifacts, and his body-tempering cultivation had advanced by one level. He had also mastered the first level of "Shifting Form and Changing Position."

This training expedition did not encounter any major troubles. It took over a month, during which he familiarized himself with a certain area and harvested over a hundred spirit grasses.

Thus, Wang Hong went to Black Dragon Marsh for training every few months. In three years, except for some extremely dangerous areas, he had explored almost every corner of Black Dragon Marsh.

Before, he used to team up with others for training. Since breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining last year, along with significant advancements in body tempering and other aspects, he began to act alone.

Now, the area of his Mysterious Space had reached fifteen mu, and the time flow speed had increased to forty-four times that of the outside world.

Wang Hong sorted the spiritual items in his Mysterious Space. The spirit fruit orchard occupied a total of five mu, with three mu dedicated to first-tier spirit fruits, which had been harvested several times. He distributed some to his subordinate soldiers to eat, and the rest were refined into high-grade first-tier Spirit Wine.

Now, the Spirit Wine Pavilion sells one hundred jin of high-grade first-tier Spirit Wine monthly. Each bottle is one liang and sells for thirty Spirit Stones. This brings him an additional thirty thousand Spirit Stones in income each month.

The two mu of second-tier spirit fruits have a longer growth cycle and had just begun to bear fruit. It would take several decades to harvest them.

The fifteen White Crystal Fruit trees were only slightly taller than a person, with several small white fruits hanging on each tree.

The Azure Spirit Peaches planted previously had only grown to five feet tall after so many years, with three pink flowers blooming on them. These three flowers had been blooming in the Mysterious Space for over a decade and showed no signs of bearing fruit yet.

Legends say some spirit fruits take hundreds of years to bloom, hundreds of years to bear fruit, and hundreds of years to mature; it was probably like this.

The various spirit herbs collected from Black Dragon Marsh occupied five mu, with only three to five stalks of each type. This showed the wide variety of spirit herbs in Black Dragon Marsh. If the Mysterious Space couldn't grow any spirit herb, no matter how picky, he wouldn't have been able to do this.

Spirit Gathering Grass and its auxiliary herbs occupied two mu, mainly supplying the Elixir Pavilion for sale. Now, his success rate for refining Qi Gathering Pills had reached eighty percent, with about ten percent of them being mid-grade pills.

Wang Hong himself always consumed mid-grade Qi Gathering Pills. There was also a small amount of mid-grade pills supplied to the Elixir Pavilion.

Through continuous pill refining over the years, Zhang Chunfeng's success rate had now reached forty percent, greatly alleviating Wang Hong's pressure.

The medicinal herbs for Body Tempering Pills occupied one mu, mainly for his own cultivation and for his subordinate soldiers. With his high Spirit Stone income now, the treatment for his subordinate soldiers had also improved.

Each soldier could exchange for at least two Body Tempering Pills per month, along with a large supply of demonic beast meat. Besides being rich in spiritual energy, the demonic beast meat also contained a large amount of vital blood, which was very beneficial for body tempering.

Now, all soldiers had converted their internal energy into spiritual energy cultivation, with some already reaching the second level of Qi Refining.

The main purpose of converting to spiritual energy was to facilitate the use of talismans, Magic Artifacts, and other items. The soldiers' primary cultivation direction remained body tempering, practicing the "Immortal Mortal Transformation," which was currently the most suitable cultivation technique discovered for them.

The remaining two mu of land were occupied by mutated spirit grains and spirit wheat, covering two fen. The plants were as tall as a zhang, with many branches, looking more like spirit grain trees. The spirit grains produced were as large as a fist, and the concentration of spiritual energy contained was several times that before mutation. They matured once every five years, which was enough for his own consumption.

The Solomon's Seal from before had also mutated, turning completely golden yellow. He had consulted many resources but did not know what variety it was. Anyway, he tried it, and it was non-toxic and edible, with excellent effects on replenishing vital energy, blood, and essence.

He added a small amount to the spirit meals he prepared for himself each time, greatly enhancing their efficacy. The broth was no longer milky white but turned golden yellow and emitted a golden luster.

Although he didn't know the specifics, he felt the effects were quite good. He planted this Solomon's Seal on three fen of land.

The remaining more than one mu of land was filled with various other spirit herbs.