Two Years

Spring turned to autumn, and two years passed by.

In a secret chamber within the Martial Practice Garden.

Shen Long stood before a sand pit, which was riddled with white ice spikes.

A white light glowed on his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, a foot-long white Ice Spike flew out, striking deep into the sand pit.

"Ice Spike Technique, Great Perfection!"

Shen Long's face lit up with joy. After years of practice, he had finally pushed the Ice Spike Technique to the state of Great Perfection. With this, he had mastered four first-tier spells to the Great Perfection level.

Shen Long was still at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Over the past two years, they had gone into the mountains periodically to hunt demonic beasts. With Ye Yutang and Ye Yuqing setting up arrays to slaughter the beasts, first-tier demonic beasts were no match for them at all. Their efficiency in hunting had increased significantly, and the spirit stones they earned grew more numerous. Their hunting squad had made quite a name for itself in Thousand Bamboo Valley.

He flicked his sleeve, and a crimson fireball flew out, smashing into the sand pit and destroying all the ice spikes.

He opened the door to the secret chamber and happened to see Qin Qing and Qin Tianhe.

Qin Tianhe had already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, while Qin Qing remained stagnant. Most of the spirit stones earned from hunting demonic beasts were spent on Qin Tianhe.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, long time no see!"

Shen Long greeted them with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, I heard from my grandfather that you have cultivated three spells to the Great Perfection level?"

Qin Tianhe's face was full of envy.

He also spent two hours every day practicing spells, but so far, he had only managed to cultivate one spell to the Great Perfection level.

Shen Long nodded: "Heaven rewards the diligent; I have high hopes for you."

"Tianhe has more potential than I do, but compared to Fellow Daoist Shen, he is still far behind. This kid has only cultivated one spell to the Great Perfection level, unlike Fellow Daoist Shen, who has already reached Great Perfection in three."

Qin Qing said in an envious tone.

"If he practices more, he will certainly be able to do it too."

Shen Long said with a smile. He had leaked this information on purpose; his current trump cards were the Beast Soul Talisman, the Ice Spike Technique, and the Iron Tail Scorpion.

After chatting for a few moments, Shen Long left, and Qin Qing and Qin Tianhe walked inside.

"The temperature is so high; was he practicing the Fire Snake Technique just now?"

Qin Tianhe asked curiously.

"Perhaps! Hurry up and practice your spells so you can reach the Great Perfection of the Fireball Technique as soon as possible."

Qin Qing urged.

Qin Tianhe responded with an acknowledgment and began to chant under his breath.

Shen Long returned to his residence, activated the Soundproofing Array, and entered the Spirit Control Tower.

A joyful hissing sound rang out as the Iron Tail Scorpion crawled out of the Spirit Control Pool and scurried toward Shen Long.

Shen Long had named the pool the Spirit Control Pool, where the Iron Tail Scorpion usually stayed. It was still at the early stage of the first tier, but it had already grown to the size of a zhang.

Shen Long took out a red storage bag and shook it upside down. A red glow swept across, and a zhang-sized Iron Tail Scorpion appeared on the ground, its head missing.

According to Ye Yuqing, devouring the corpses of higher-tier kin was somewhat helpful for the advancement of spirit beasts and spirit insects.

This Iron Tail Scorpion was at the early stage of the first tier, which Shen Long had killed during their last trip into the mountains.

The Iron Tail Scorpion waved its giant pincers, tearing into the corpse of its kin and feasting heartily.

Shen Long exited the Spirit Control Tower, took out an earthenware pot and the Golden Pearl Spirit Rice, and cooked a pot of spirit rice.

After finishing the rice, he put away the spirit stones from the Spirit Control Tower and the Soundproofing Array, then walked out.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Long appeared at the entrance of the Treasure Pavilion and strode inside.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, long time no see."

A pot-bellied man in a red shirt walked over quickly and said enthusiastically.

Lin Dong, at the eighth level of Qi Refining, was Lin Yu's older brother.

Shen Long sold all the spirit herbs he obtained from hunting demonic beasts to the Treasure Pavilion. Over time, Shen Long and Lin Dong had become well-acquainted.

"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Lin. I have something to discuss with you."

Shen Long greeted him with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, please come with me."

Lin Dong made a gesture of invitation, led Shen Long to a guest room upstairs, closed the door, and activated a Soundproofing Array.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, I heard that you have pills specifically for feeding spirit beasts. How do you sell them?"

Shen Long asked.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, you must mean the Spirit Feeding Pill! These are hot commodities; the Chen Clan, the Han Clan, and the Li Clan have already placed their orders."

Lin Dong looked troubled.

"I don't need many, just a few will do. Fellow Daoist Lin, please make an exception. Every time I sell spirit herbs, I come to you; it's not too much to ask to take care of a regular customer, right?"

Shen Long said.

Lin Dong thought for a moment and said, "Fine, I'll sell you three, thirty spirit stones each. Just don't go telling anyone else."

"Thirty spirit stones each? That expensive?"

Shen Long frowned and said.

"You get what you pay for; there's a reason for the price."

Lin Dong said.

"Alright! Three it is, and I also want a bottle of Qi Accumulation Pill."

Shen Long said.

The effect of the Qi Nourishing Pill he had been taking was very poor, likely due to building up a tolerance, so he needed a better pill. One Qi Accumulation Pill cost five spirit stones, so a bottle was only fifty spirit stones; by comparison, the Spirit Feeding Pill was six times the price of a Qi Accumulation Pill.

"Good, wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Lin Dong stood up and left.

Not long after, he returned, took out a cyan porcelain bottle and a cyan wooden box, and handed them to Shen Long.

After checking that everything was correct, Shen Long paid the spirit stones and turned to leave.

He arrived at the Bluestone Square where stalls were set up, walking around to look.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, would you like to buy a pot of spirit wine?"

A sweet female voice rang out.

Shen Long looked toward the source of the voice and saw Huang Xiuyun, who had already reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Shen Long had asked Huang Xiuyun about it before; those two insect eggs had not yet hatched, and she had no intention of selling them, determined to hatch them.

"Fairy Huang, I'll take a pot of Jade Apricot Brew!"

Shen Long said with a smile, taking out twenty spirit stones.

He had a small fortune now, with over six hundred spirit stones in his storage bag.

In a few days, it would be Sun Huowang's birthday, and he planned to buy a pot of decent spirit wine to give to him.

Huang Xiuyun accepted the spirit stones and handed a yellow wine pot to Shen Long.

"How come I don't see Fairy Ye?"

Shen Long asked casually.

"They finished selling their talismans and went back to rest. Do you want to see them? I can help you contact them."

Huang Xiuyun said enthusiastically.

Ye Yuqing was proficient in the art of talismans and had a small reputation in the market. The first-grade talismans she crafted were relatively cheap and of decent quality, but she only sold a few at a time and never sold too many, clearly not wanting to offend the local talisman shops.

"No need, I was just asking."

Shen Long declined. Remembering something, he asked curiously, "Fairy Huang, those two insect eggs of yours still haven't hatched? They must be dead eggs, right!"

"It's impossible for them to be dead eggs. There is a fluctuation of life force, just very weak. I believe they can be hatched."

Huang Xiuyun said earnestly.

Shen Long smiled, chatted for a few more sentences, and then left.

He arrived at the Craftsman Hall. Business at the Craftsman Hall was quite good, and the shop assistant was introducing weapons to a customer.

He went up to the second floor and saw Sun Huowang talking to a tall, thin man in a yellow shirt. Sun Huowang's face was full of anger, and he seemed to be losing his temper.

Seeing Shen Long, Sun Huowang's expression softened, and he said, "Shen Long, you're here."