A Visit

The Du Household, Yang Fire Peak.

In a secluded little courtyard.

Father and daughter sat facing each other.

"Just hoarding them to profit later?"

Du Zhaowen, head of the Du Household, looked at his daughter.

He had been the one to approve Wu Song's request to use the Du Household to collect Great Yin Cultivation Methods.

He had wanted to see what Wu Song was really after.

"Brother Wu is confident he can achieve Foundation Establishment. He wants to stockpile some Great Yin Cultivation Methods and doesn't mind waiting two or three hundred years, in the hope that Great Yin Spiritual Qi will return."

Without hesitation, Du Qingluo told him everything they had discussed, concealing nothing.

"Very well."

"As long as Wu Song stays with the Du Household, there's no harm in collecting some Great Yin Cultivation Methods for him."

Du Zhaowen pondered briefly, giving the matter little concern.

His gaze fell on the two jade bottles. He picked one up, poured out a Divine Intent Pill, and carefully sensed it:

"A pill that strengthens Divine Sense to this extent actually came from a Rogue Cultivator Alchemist?"

"Incredible."

"With these pills, I have another ten percent chance of breaking through to Foundation Establishment in the future."

After marveling at them, he carefully put the Divine Intent Pills away and continued:

"Before long, the Fang and Li Households will go to Changxing Market to investigate the source of the pills. Warn him if you get the chance."

"Make sure Wu Song knows the dangers involved. It would be best if you could persuade him to join our Du Household. Hmm... Qingluo, it's time you found yourself a husband."

A Rogue Cultivator Alchemist who had yet to turn thirty was indeed a fine candidate, worthy of his daughter.

Besides, judging by Qingluo's expression when she returned, she evidently had a favorable impression of Wu Song.

"Father, I have my own thoughts on the matter."

A blush appeared on Du Qingluo's face, and she shot him a reproachful glance, though she did not explicitly refuse.

As for cultivation, she had already reached the sixth layer of Qi Refinement and would surely be able to attempt Foundation Establishment in the future.

Wu Song's alchemy was indeed impressive, but his cultivation was still at the early stage of Qi Refinement, no higher than the third layer.

If I'm going to marry him, he has to break through to Foundation Establishment first!

"All right, all right. Father won't meddle in this matter for now."

Seeing his daughter's shy expression and lack of resistance, he could not help laughing.

In any case, Wu Song currently had closer ties with the Du Household, and with Du Zhaowen adding outside pressure, those ties would only grow closer in the future.

The Fang and Li Households thought they could obtain the Du Household's secrets by cultivating hidden agents, little knowing that those agents would be used against them instead.

He went straight into seclusion for a month.

Only after mastering all three Techniques did Xu Fan emerge from seclusion. Looking at the faint light swirling around his hand, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Spiritual Radiance Essence Erosion comes from the Essentials of Spiritual Radiance and Plain Moon. A Technique paired with a third-grade Immortal Method really is extraordinary. It actually ignores the defenses of anyone at the same stage and acts directly on their essence, Qi, and spirit."

"Once touched by it, a person is effectively afflicted with a negative effect and suffers constant erosion."

Only someone with a higher cultivation realm than the caster could remain unaffected.

In other words, even someone at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement could not withstand it.

If a fight dragged on, he would have a chance to kill an enemy a minor realm above him.

Of course, unless he had no other choice, he would not take the initiative to fight a cultivator with a higher cultivation than his.

He figured there should be few people in the early stage of Qi Refinement who could match him now.

"It's a pity that, apart from Spiritual Radiance Essence Erosion, the Luminous Plain Moon Mirror, and four Secret Methods that can only be cultivated at Foundation Establishment, all that remains of the Essentials of Spiritual Radiance and Plain Moon is the Cultivation Method itself."

A third-grade Immortal Method like this surely contained more than Techniques and Secret Methods. At the very least, it would not have lacked a way to extend one's lifespan.

But there was no telling how many hands it had passed through. Those other parts that could be used by other Dao lineages had long since been taken, leaving no chance for a Qi Refinement cultivator like him to get them.

It was only because Great Yin Spiritual Qi had now vanished and Great Yin Cultivation Methods were useless. Otherwise, even obtaining a sixth-grade Great Yin Cultivation Method would have depended on luck, and he would have had to deduce one slowly.

He had long anticipated this situation. What he wanted were Techniques other cultivators could not practice, while also making preparations for deduction.

The Great Yin and Supreme Yang Dao Lineages were extremely powerful and domineering, and the same was true of their Techniques and Divine Abilities.

The Supreme Yang Dao Lineage's six-thousand-year rule showed that the other Dao lineages lacked the strength to overthrow it.

Even the Sword Ancestor, who had attained an enlightened fruit like that of the Sword Sect and was famed for his killing power, could only avoid its edge for the time being.

The Great Yin stood alongside the Supreme Yang, so it was naturally extremely powerful as well.

"As for this Luminous Plain Moon Mirror..."

Xu Fan's expression changed, and he raised a hand to tap lightly in front of him.

Great Yin Law Power circulated, condensing a spiritual mirror covered in profound patterns in midair.

The mirror's surface rippled like water, gradually becoming clear as Law Power flowed into it.

"These are... cultivators from the Li and Fang Households?"

"Leaving Changxing Market would bring me misfortune?"

Xu Fan frowned slightly as he watched the mirror dissolve.

This was not unexpected, but it had happened rather quickly.

After all, only the Du Household currently knew he was an Alchemist. So far, he had sold Minor Restoration Pills and Divine Intent Pills only to the Du Household, and the outside world did not yet know.

Is there a mole in the Du Household? Or...

Xu Fan's gaze grew shadowy. He had always assumed the worst of others, especially in this wretched place.

His years as a fisherman had taught him that human greed was the least trustworthy thing of all.

Though he did not quite understand what was happening, he grew more wary.

Perhaps it was because he was collecting Great Yin Cultivation Methods, and his earlier explanation had failed to convince others.

Or perhaps it was because of the alchemy inheritance he possessed.

The Luminous Plain Moon Mirror could divine fortune and misfortune, calamity and blessing.

The higher the level of the matter it touched upon, the less accurate it became, and it was more accurate when divining matters concerning oneself.

At Qi Refinement, it was more than adequate for divining matters concerning Qi Refinement cultivators. Even if Foundation Establishment cultivators were involved, it was still thirty percent accurate.

After all, it came from the third-grade Immortal Method, the Essentials of Spiritual Radiance and Plain Moon, which could originally be cultivated to the level of an immortal. Now, only the portion below the immortal level remained.

"In any case, with the Du Household here, Black Sea City's other two Foundation Establishment Aristocratic Clans can't touch me yet."

"When it comes to lying low, Master Xu knows his stuff."

"If they want to hook me, they'll have to use big bait. Master Xu won't bite if their investment is too small."

Xu Fan smiled faintly, withdrew the formation, and glanced at the sealed chamber, which had closed again.

"Hmm, I'll collect another set or two of concealment and screening formations later. Three sets are still a little too few. What if someone can't resist charging in?"

Having made up his mind, he opened the shop door.

His martial cultivation had now reached Innate Minor Accomplishment, and he had opened all twelve primary meridians.

Once he opened the eight extraordinary meridians, he would reach Great Accomplishment.

Finally, when all his meridians were open and Qi flowed throughout his body, he would reach Innate Perfection!

That posed no difficulty for him; it was merely a matter of accumulating enough over time.

Ordinary Innate Grandmasters found breakthroughs difficult because they first had to nourish all the meridians in their bodies with Innate True Qi, ensuring that the meridians would not be damaged when opened.

He, however, had undergone the baptism and tempering of Fetal Breathing Spiritual Qi and also possessed Qi Refinement cultivation, so the strength of his meridians could not be judged by ordinary standards.

With his martial cultivation and the Techniques he now commanded, anyone in the early stage of Qi Refinement who let him get close would have virtually no chance of survival.

As he thought this, he saw two middle-aged men in robes approaching from opposite ends of the street.

One had a sharp presence that revealed Metal Virtue Qi; he presumably came from the Fang Household.

The other had a deep presence, like a surging undercurrent. He was likely from the Li Household, which cultivated Water Virtue Cultivation Methods.

Of Black Sea City's three households, the Du Household mostly cultivated Fire Virtue. The three stood side by side, keeping one another in check.

"It seems you two have been waiting for quite some time."

"I, Wu, am truly flattered."