In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.
Over the past half month, aside from curing meat and stoking fires, Li Xiuchang had devoted all his spare time to cultivation.
He increasingly felt that his "Pay-to-Win Cultivation Method" was becoming a struggle. He had developed resistance to those pills, immortal brews, and spirit delicacies after eating too many of them, and their effects were growing weaker and weaker.
He could only vary what he ate, but that also meant spending more spirit stones.
This was only the Early Qi Condensation. It was easy to foresee that the further he progressed, the less effective this Pay-to-Win Cultivation Method would become.
This also showed that "Pay-to-Win Cultivation" was not a long-term solution. He had to put "Length Cultivation" on the agenda as soon as possible.
Li Xiuchang's daily cultivation expenses were growing larger and larger. On average, he had to spend over a hundred spirit stones a day, which made even Senior Brother Wang Long, who helped Li Xiuchang purchase cultivation supplies, break out in a cold sweat.
The spirit stones Li Xiuchang spent in a month were almost equal to Wang Long's expenses over several years!
It was only because Smoked Spirit Meat had successfully opened up the inner sect market that Li Xiuchang could afford such extravagant spending.
However, this also left Li Xiuchang with practically no savings.
Moreover, the inner sect market was nearing saturation. Spirit stones were becoming harder and harder to earn, and he was already on the verge of scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Fortunately, under Li Xiuchang's guidance, Wang Long found some Rogue Cultivator merchants in the outer market and reached agreements with several of them.
The Smoked Spirit Meat market of the Immortal Dust Sect had indeed reached saturation, but the Immortal Shade Realm contained countless cultivation sects of all sizes. They were all virgin territory waiting to be developed.
There was no way for Li Xiuchang and the others to extend their reach that far, nor did they have the time or energy. Thus, using these traveling merchants to sell Smoked Spirit Meat throughout the Immortal Shade Realm was the wisest choice.
To reach an agreement, they naturally had to leave enough room for those merchants to make a profit, so Li Xiuchang made appropriate concessions on the price.
Although the profit margin had grown thinner, these merchants bought in large quantities and paid readily. It still counted as making a small profit through high sales volume.
More and more merchants came to purchase goods, even including some merchant guilds. Li Xiuchang had only one requirement for them: they were forbidden from selling on the territory of the Immortal Dust Sect.
For a time, Smoked Spirit Meat was in short supply, and many merchants paid deposits to queue for their goods.
Li Xiuchang and Wang Long had no choice but to temporarily expand production. They rented several hundred more furnaces, hired dozens of Talisman Masters as fire tenders, and multiplied their output several times over.
The two had already discussed it. This time, they would stockpile a little more goods, then suspend Smoked Spirit Meat production.
Once this wave of wholesale fervor passed, they probably would not be able to open up any new markets for the time being. Demand for Smoked Spirit Meat would then stabilize, with repeat customers becoming the main source of business.
Smoked Spirit Meat could be stored for more than a decade without spoiling. They did not need to worry about being unable to sell their extra production; they could simply release it gradually later.
The advantage of doing this was that once the production line stopped, Li Xiuchang and Wang Long would both be completely freed up. They would no longer be shackled by the daily production of Smoked Spirit Meat and could devote themselves wholeheartedly to other matters.
Relying on the Smoked Spirit Meat business, Wang Long had already saved up a considerable number of spirit stones. He had long wanted to enter seclusion and break through to become a Tier 2 Talisman Master.
Li Xiuchang also had a pile of things to do: cultivate and practice all kinds of skills.
After the Smoked Spirit Meat production scale had multiplied several times, operations ceased after only half a month.
The output from that half month not only met the purchasing needs of all the merchants, but also left a considerable surplus—enough to sustain them for a long time.
Li Xiuchang had made a killing of six thousand spirit stones during that half month. However, money came in one side and went out the other, leaving him with only four thousand spirit stones in savings by the end.
After Senior Brother Wang Long finished wrapping up the final tasks, he formally entered seclusion to break through to become a Tier 2 Talisman Master.
Li Xiuchang also entered seclusion to break through to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation.
Two days later...
Red mist churned inside Li Xiuchang's cultivation chamber, like fiery clouds burning across the evening sky.
"It worked!"
In his excitement, Li Xiuchang sucked in a deep breath. Taking in too much spiritual energy made his chest burn and his head grow slightly dizzy, giving him a sensation like oxygen intoxication.
It had only been a little over a month since he broke through to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation, yet he had broken through to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation again!
Breaking through the minor thresholds of Early Qi Condensation was not difficult to begin with. With Li Xiuchang paving the way with spirit stones, the breakthrough was even smoother than water flowing down a channel, without the slightest twist or turn.
This increase in Cultivation Level was secondary. The crucial point was that after reaching the Third Layer of Qi Condensation, he could finally try using length to increase his Cultivation Level.
He quickly calmed his emotions and continued circulating his cultivation method to stabilize his Cultivation Level while absorbing the remaining spiritual energy in the cultivation chamber.
This spiritual energy had all been bought with spirit stones. He could not waste it.
After a while, Li Xiuchang had absorbed nearly all the spiritual energy in the cultivation chamber, and his Cultivation Level had fully stabilized. Only then did he close his eyes, calm his mind, and enter a state of inner vision.
After breaking through to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation, the greatest change was the birth of a faint Spiritual Sense.
With Spiritual Sense, Li Xiuchang no longer had to blindly draw items from his Storage Bag.
With Spiritual Sense, he could enter a state of inner vision at any time and clearly see the condition inside his body.
In the past, Li Xiuchang had relied entirely on his body's sensations of spiritual energy and magical power during cultivation. But now, he could use Spiritual Sense to see the magical power within his body.
He gathered all the magical power in his body into his dantian. In his state of inner vision, he could clearly see a small mass of black magical power.
At this point, he should spread the magical power flat, expand its area as much as possible, and then try adding length to maximize his gains.
But this was Li Xiuchang's first attempt, after all. With caution as his guiding principle, he did not do so.
Li Xiuchang could not help feeling a little nervous. Whether it succeeded or failed would all depend on this step.
He clenched a handful of healing pills in his hand, ready to save himself in time should anything go wrong.
Then he gritted his teeth. "Add it to me!"
Eastern Geng District No. 1, Zhang Wanzhi's residence.
Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu were seated opposite each other, playing chess by hand. Gui Wuyan's physical body had been tossed onto the floor by the two of them without the slightest regard for appearances, arranged into the shape of the character "square."
Suddenly, both of them turned their heads toward the direction of Eastern Geng District No. 18.
"He's already reached the Third Layer of Qi Condensation so quickly... Well, that makes sense. It can only be said that the spirit stones weren't wasted." Zhang Wanzhi shook his head and chuckled softly.
Even separated by several layers of formations, Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu instantly captured the faint fluctuation of spiritual energy produced when Li Xiuchang broke through.
The two did not pay it much attention and continued playing chess.
But before long, both of them suddenly shot to their feet, shock appearing on their faces as they once again looked toward Eastern Geng District No. 18.
Zhang Wanzhi was so agitated that he knocked over the chessboard, sending black and white pieces rolling across the floor.
A trace of killing intent surfaced in Mo Tu's eyes... He had only needed to place one more piece to form Five Stars in a Row!
Zhang Wanzhi acted as if he had not seen Mo Tu's gaze and muttered, "Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation? How is that possible?"
After Li Xiuchang broke through to the Third Layer of Qi Condensation, only a short while later, he had actually stepped into the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation!
Breaking through two minor realms in succession was extremely rare even during the Qi Condensation Stage. What was more, between the Third and Fourth Layers of Qi Condensation, there was also the small bottleneck of entering the Mid Qi Condensation.
The Spiritual Senses of Zhang Wanzhi and Mo Tu pierced through layer after layer of obstruction and settled upon Li Xiuchang.
The expressions of both men changed at once. Li Xiuchang's condition was not looking good!
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