“Hand it over.” Wang Yanfeng extended his hand, beckoning with a hook of his finger.

“What?”

“Spirit Stones! Don’t play dumb, kid! Your Eighth Uncle is counting on this little nest egg to find a Dao Companion. Are you trying to cheat me?”

Wang Hao was left speechless. Just a moment ago, he was the caring elder uncle, and now this face change? Was he practicing the art of face-changing?

He took out his storage pouch, counted out two hundred Spirit Stones, and produced four bottles of Gathering Spirit Pills. “That’s all I have. I’ll pay back the rest after your nephew refines some more pills.”

Wang Yanfeng snatched the Spirit Stones and pills, counting them twice like a miser before finally storing them away.

Clearing his throat, he resumed a solemn demeanor. “Speaking of which, kid, where did you get the materials for so many spirit pills?”

“This… In her early years, my mother often went into the mountains to hunt demonic beasts and left behind quite a few. She also left behind some connections. I traded with those seniors!” Wang Hao prevaricated, inwardly cursing himself for being careless. He had taken out fourteen bottles of Gathering Spirit Pills in front of Wang Yanfeng—no small amount. He couldn’t be so revealing of his wealth in the future!

When Wang Hao mentioned his mother, Wang Yanfeng’s expression darkened. When it came down to it, the Wang family was in the wrong in this matter. Not only did they play the role of the villain separating lovers, but they also let their own flesh and blood drift outside the clan. However, as it involved decisions made by elders, he couldn’t say much. He just looked at Wang Hao with a bit more affection, feeling that the boy had truly had a difficult time these past years.

When he first met Wang Hao, Wang Hao’s soul had already been replaced, so he didn’t know how much of a scoundrel the previous Wang Hao had been. This was why he didn’t dislike the boy.

Wang Yanfeng still had to hand over the Spirit Stones obtained from the auction to the family and didn’t stay long at the pill shop. After giving Wang Hao the Spirit Gathering Formation disk, he returned to the Wang family residence with some other clan members.

Wang Hao rested at the pill shop for one night and only returned to his own home the next day after disguising himself.

After returning home, he first checked on his farm, then took out the unknown spirit beast egg.

He took out ten Spirit Stones, piled them up, and placed the spirit beast egg on top.

He bit his finger and used his blood to draw an arcane crimson rune on the egg’s shell. The egg emitted a faint spiritual glow, and the crimson rune disappeared.

This was the basic method for establishing initial ownership of a spirit beast egg that Wang Yanfeng had taught him. Of course, it still required Wang Hao’s careful nurturing. Only when the spirit beast hatched and its first sight was of Wang Hao would the bond become intimate.

Afterward, Wang Hao began setting up the Spirit Gathering Formation.

With the formation disk, setting up the array was very simple. Wang Hao placed ten Spirit Stones into the disk’s slots. A blue curtain of spiritual energy rapidly formed, eventually creating a hemispherical Spirit Gathering space about two zhang in diameter.

Following the instructions, Wang Hao activated it. The array began operating, immediately drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The spiritual energy within the curtain visibly thickened, even forming wisps of mist on the ground.

Wang Hao sensed it; the density was at least twice that of the spiritual energy outside. Cultivating within it would naturally yield much faster progress.

Wang Hao quickly sat down cross-legged and began cultivating.

One month later, with the combined support of the Spirit Gathering Formation and Gathering Spirit Pills—both externally and internally—Wang Hao finally reached the peak of Qi Refining Layer 4. He was now just one step away from Layer 5.

Sensing his condition and drawing on his previous experience, Wang Hao felt it shouldn’t be a problem.

So, he replaced the Spirit Stones in the Spirit Gathering Formation with new ones and took out a Yellow Sprout Pill, preparing to break through.

He had kept this bottle of Yellow Sprout Pills for over a year precisely for breaking through bottlenecks.

Yellow Sprout Pills were notorious for their violent medicinal properties. Wang Hao wore a grave expression as he swallowed one.

The pill tasted slightly bitter upon entering his mouth before its medicinal power dispersed. Wang Hao felt the pressure in his Dantian and meridians skyrocket abruptly!

The concentration of spiritual energy in his meridians grew higher and higher. Gradually, Wang Hao began to feel a distending pain. Fortunately, with his previous experience, he didn’t panic. Moreover, compared to last time’s agony of torn meridians, this could be considered “gentle.”

“Success!”

Wang Hao tried his best to control his excitement, silently reciting his cultivation technique’s mantra to consolidate his realm. Cycle after cycle passed as this spiritual energy was continuously refined into pure Qi.

Guided by his technique, this Qi converged into his already full Dantian, causing it to continuously expand and increasing its capacity.

One day later, after increasing his Qi limit by another point, Wang Hao finally stopped cultivating.

“Open panel!”

Name: Wang Hao

Age: 20

Cultivation: Qi Refining Layer 5 (169 / 253)

Cultivation Technique: Red Lotus Illusory Wood True Scripture (Layer 2)

Qi: 167.5 / 167.5

Skills:

Alchemy: Tier 1 Mid-Grade

Talisman Crafting: Tier 1 Low-Grade (Not Initiated)

Spells: Fireball Technique (Not Mastered), Entangling Vine Technique (Not Mastered)

Divine Abilities: You have not mastered any divine abilities.

Taking a look at the panel—though it still looked rather meager—Wang Hao was quite satisfied nonetheless. This was the result of over two years of hard work!

With the boost from the Spirit Gathering Formation, his current cultivation speed was even faster than that of Dual Spiritual Root cultivators. He could reach Qi Refining Perfection before forty! What more could he ask for?

“Qi Refining Layer 5… It’s time to allocate some time to practicing spells!”

Since Wang Hao cultivated Fire and Wood attribute techniques, Fire and Wood attribute spells were naturally the best choice; they would be easier to wield effectively. As for other spells? He could buy talismans to solve that problem!

Specifically, the Fireball Technique and Entangling Vine Technique he had long since written on his panel.

As their names implied: Fireball Technique was a ranged attack—shooting a ball of fire at an enemy; Entangling Vine Technique was a binding spell—using wooden vines to lock down an enemy.

Additionally: Wood Shield Technique for defense; Light Body Technique for evasion and movement; Object Control Technique essential for controlling flying swords; and Earth Escape Technique indispensable for running away!

Although these were basic spells, for true rogue cultivators, obtaining them wasn’t exactly easy; at minimum, they’d have to spend some Spirit Stones to buy them. However, Wang Hao wasn’t truly a rogue cultivator in that sense—his mother had left behind resources, and Old Man Wang had also taught him quite a bit… Unfortunately, only these few types were available! Spells like Fire Rain Technique? Earthen Wall Technique? Earth Spike Technique? They simply weren’t in Wang Hao’s possession!

Wang Hao also set up panels for these spells:

Practice one hundred times to initiate; one thousand times to master; three thousand times to achieve proficiency; ten thousand times to reach Grandmaster level!

If talent isn’t enough? Diligence makes up for it!

“First, practice six spells to Grandmaster level before thinking about anything else,” Wang Hao set himself a small goal.

Three days later, after hundreds of attempts, he finally launched his first fireball! But glancing at his Qi consumption afterward, his face immediately darkened.

“Never expected reality would hit so fast!”

Activating the Fireball Technique consumed five points of Qi! With his current 167 Qi points, that only allowed thirty-three practice sessions per full pool… And refilling his Qi pool required at least two hours!

Without affecting his cultivation progress, his daily maximum practice time was maybe five or six hours tops—two cycles max—sixty-six attempts!

Ten thousand attempts would take one hundred and fifty-two days! Six spells reaching Grandmaster level would take nearly three years…

“Maybe just aim for proficiency first…” The thought barely formed before Wang Hao vigorously shook his head. “Wang Hao! Get a grip! Sure, your cultivation speed is faster now, but you’re taking shortcuts! Your aptitude and comprehension still lag far behind others! If you’re not diligent, do you plan on hiding inside this market your whole life?”

Scolding himself several times renewed his determination. He repeatedly blasted the ground until soon the “vegetable garden” in the courtyard lay utterly wrecked.

He had considered practicing outside the market in open areas, but without protection, what if danger struck when his Qi was depleted? He had to make do practicing at home. Fortunately, these low-level spells wouldn’t cause a big commotion.

In a few days, he would buy some Earthen Wall Talismans to modify the space, making it better suited for practice while avoiding damage to the buildings.

Eat, sleep, cultivate, practice spells… When pills run out, refine a batch… When low on Spirit Stones, quietly go out to sell a batch of goods… Life was tense, yet orderly.