As he walked along the streets of the Black Mountain Market, Zhou Qing did not reveal his Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation.
This was not the Azure Moon Immortal City.
Foundation Establishment cultivators were rare in Market Districts like Black Mountain and Listening Rain.
Whenever a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared in the Market District, they caused quite a stir.
In his second simulation, Zhou Qing had joined the Market District's Pill Alliance as a mid-grade alchemist because, in the context of the entire Black Mountain Market, a mid-grade alchemist...
Was nothing particularly remarkable.
A mid-grade alchemist could, at most, cause a small ripple in certain circles.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator was another matter entirely.
Zhou Qing did not want his presence to trigger a butterfly effect and bring about unforeseen changes.
Although his later plans involved moving permanently to the Azure Moon Immortal City and using its spiritual energy environment to shorten his simulation cooldown...
That did not mean he would abandon the Black Mountain Market altogether.
On the contrary, the Black Mountain Market was quite important to Zhou Qing.
Whether in his next simulation, the one after that, or many more to come, he would need to return to the Black Mountain Market.
There was that Dark Demon Eagle egg, for instance, as well as the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm, Ye Feng, Blood-Sea True Person, and so on. Then, more than sixty years later, Ouyang Shen, the master of the Black Mountain Market District, would secretly "short" the market and reap its cultivators...
Zhou Qing still valued the Black Mountain Market greatly. It was tied to numerous opportunities and a vast quantity of spirit stones.
Before long...
Zhou Qing arrived at the Market District's exit with Dachun.
Zhou Qing had joined the Market District's Pill Alliance over half a year ago.
But unlike a sect, the Pill Alliance imposed very few restrictions on its alchemists. Zhou Qing had accepted several pill-refining assignments over the past eight or nine months, and now that he wanted to leave, there were no complicated procedures to follow.
He only needed to notify one of the Pill Alliance's stewards.
And just before leaving his cave abode, Zhou Qing had already contacted a steward so they could free up the abode.
"The Mountain-Sea Secret Realm?"
Standing at the Market District's exit, Zhou Qing gazed in the direction of the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm.
During his second simulation, Zhou Qing had visited the site of the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm ahead of time.
But he had found no way to open its entrance early and enter.
The Mountain-Sea Secret Realm would appear because, over two hundred years ago, the Mountain Sea Sect's True Person sect master had expended too much power wearing away Blood-Sea True Person's flesh and golden core.
As a result, the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm had not been completely isolated from the outside world, leading to its emergence more than two hundred years later.
Until then, unless a Core Formation True Person of the same level intervened specifically, there was no way to make the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm emerge ahead of time.
"A Core Formation True Person..."
Yearning stirred in Zhou Qing's heart. Every Core Formation True Person was a true favorite of heaven, a figure who could stride unchallenged through an era.
Foundation Establishment cultivators enjoyed a lifespan of two hundred years.
Core Formation True Persons, however, enjoyed five hundred years.
Blood-Sea True Person had remained alive despite being sealed inside the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm for over two hundred years. That alone spoke volumes.
"I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to become a Core Formation True Person..."
Zhou Qing sighed.
The further he cultivated, the more keenly he felt the difficulty of the path.
Especially since Zhou Qing only had a low-grade spiritual root. Even reaching the late Qi Refining period was exceptionally rare for someone with his aptitude.
"Oh, right... I can run simulations?"
"Then there's no problem."
Zhou Qing's mind settled. For other cultivators, the road to Core Formation was harder than ascending to heaven.
But for Zhou Qing? If one attempt failed, he could try again.
If ten attempts failed, he could try a hundred more.
With unlimited opportunities to simulate, even if he had to grind his way forward, he could eventually grind his way to the Core Formation Stage.
Before long...
Zhou Qing reached the foot of Black Mountain with Dachun.
Zhou Qing swept the area with his divine sense, revealing every detail within a thirty-zhang radius around him.
Combined with his perception as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it allowed him to confirm that there were no other cultivators nearby.
"Dachun, don't be afraid."
Zhou Qing glanced at Dachun, then condensed Sky-Blue Escape Light beneath his feet. Taking Dachun with him, he swiftly rose into the air and flew toward the mortal lands.
Qi Refining cultivators needed magic tools to fly, and the expenditure was considerable.
For Foundation Establishment cultivators, however, ordinary flight was as routine as eating a meal.
Even without relying on any external aid, Foundation Establishment cultivators could fly through the sky and burrow through the earth with their physical bodies.
"We're flying!?"
Dachun's eyes went wide, but seeing Zhou Qing standing in front of him eased his heart a little.
Foundation Establishment cultivators flew extremely fast. Standing amid the clouds, Zhou Qing looked down at the mountains, rivers, grass, and trees below, feeling utterly at ease.
Several hours later...
Deep within a dense forest...
A fight to the death was underway.
Three cultivators in the middle and late Qi Refining periods were surrounding and attacking a man and a woman.
"You damned rogue cultivators! I'll take you down with me!"
A ruthless gleam crossed the surrounded male cultivator's face as he prepared to detonate himself and perish with his attackers.
But one of the rogue cultivators attacking the pair immediately controlled a needle-shaped magic tool, driving it straight through the man's brow and then through the brow of the female cultivator beside him.
Both cultivators collapsed on the spot.
"Hmph! I'd meant to wear you down slowly until you died..."
Among the three middle- and late-period Qi Refining rogue cultivators, the one wielding the needle-shaped magic tool was a young man dressed in purple.
The purple-robed youth's face was pale. Clearly, activating that needle-shaped magic tool had taken a heavy toll on him.
Before the three rogue cultivators could sort through their spoils, a gentle voice suddenly reached them.
"You three young friends are so young. Why have you fallen onto an evil path, robbing other cultivators for a living?"
A streak of Sky-Blue Escape Light descended from the sky.
The purple-robed youth's brow twitched as he looked up toward that streak of Sky-Blue Escape Light.
A white-robed man stood upon the escape light with his hands behind his back, and behind him stood a burly, powerfully built man.
"Who are you?"
The purple-robed youth's heart raced. He could not gauge the white-robed man's strength, but the burly man standing behind him probably was not a cultivator...
"You have no need to know who I am..."
With a slight stir of Zhou Qing's thoughts, vast magical power surged like mountains and seas, condensing into a giant hand that pressed down upon the purple-robed youth and the other two rogue cultivators.
"This is... Foundation Establishment magical power! Senior, spare us! We're willing to offer all our treasures..."
Terror appeared on the purple-robed youth's face. Beneath that giant hand formed entirely from mountain-and-sea magical power, he felt strangely immobilized, unable to dodge at all.
Bang-
In the next instant, the purple-robed youth sank into utter darkness.
The two rogue cultivators behind him were likewise reduced to puddles of mangled flesh.
"Once I kill you, all your treasures are mine anyway." Zhou Qing extended his right hand, and several storage bags flew toward him.
"Four mid-grade magic tools, five low-grade magic tools. This needle... its quality is close to a high-grade magic tool. Not bad, not bad."
A smile appeared on Zhou Qing's face.
These three rogue cultivators had clearly robbed and murdered many cultivators, and their possessions were plentiful.
Although Zhou Qing was exceptionally wealthy in his simulations, in reality, he was still rather poor.
Thus, on his way back to the Mortal Qian Kingdom, Zhou Qing deliberately watched the ground. Whenever he encountered rogue cultivators, he dealt with them along the way.
Zhou Qing felt no qualms about killing rogue cultivators. After all, their trade was murder.
"...Crushing weaklings really is satisfying."
Zhou Qing quickly cleaned up the battlefield. Had he still been in the Qi Refining Stage, even at its peak, he would have needed to go all out to ensure none of these three rogue cultivators escaped.
In his second simulation, aside from his own strength, Zhou Qing's ability to drive more than ten rogue cultivators into slaughtering the Qian Kingdom's imperial household had also depended on the intimidation of wielding a high-grade magic tool.
But now? With Foundation Establishment strength, dealing with a few Qi Refining rogue cultivators required nothing more than crushing them directly with his vast magical power. There was no difficulty whatsoever.