A year and a half passed in the blink of an eye.

A clear whistle emanated from the secret chamber, containing waves of vigorous mana fluctuations that caused the ground and walls to tremble faintly.

A layer of yellow light flowed over the four walls of the cave mansion, blocking all sound and mana fluctuations from escaping.

Moments later, Yuan Ming emerged from the secret chamber, exuding a powerful aura, having reached the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

He had already been close to reaching the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, and after resolving the drawbacks of the Insect Pill through soul splitting, its medicinal power was exceptionally strong. Coupled with items like Spirit Incense, the cultivation of the Nine Elements Technique progressed as smoothly as water flows in a canal.

This time, Yuan Ming was not surprised by his breakthrough in cultivation—as a result of a year and a half of arduous practice, the most significant improvement was in his Divine Soul.

Because he had repeatedly come to the aid of Black Earth Square, as well as the ordinary people in the nearby area, and with Hu Ji managing things appropriately, the number of devout believers of the Nether Moon God had increased to more than three hundred people, with even more general believers, leading to a natural surge in collected Desire Power.

With the aid of the numerous Desire Powers, Yuan Ming's practice of the Moonlight Technique advanced rapidly, nearing perfection in the Fourth Level. After consolidating it for a while, he could consider breaking through to the Fifth Level.

Once he broke through the Fifth Level, his Soul Power would be close to the level required for condensing a Soul Pill.

In other words, his cultivation in Soul Power would completely surpass that in mana.

Within Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness, his soul splitting hovered quietly, having not only returned to the size it was before splitting but had also grown significantly larger.

Moreover, with the daily practice of the Heart Cleansing Technique during this period, the condensation of his Soul Power reached an astonishing degree, giving a sense of solidity like that of refined iron tempered a hundred times.

With such a soul splitting, the efficiency of refining the emotional thoughts in the Desire Power was far higher than before.

Yuan Ming walked slowly to another secret chamber and pushed the door open to enter.

Zuo Qinghui was meditating here with eyes closed, his aura quite robust, having also reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Speaking of which, Zuo Qinghui's talent was far superior to Yuan Ming's. With a sufficient supply of elixirs, he had reached the Qi Refining Peak half a year ago.

Afterward, Yuan Ming spent a considerable amount of Spirit Stones to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill in Xiansha City, aiding him to successfully establish his foundation.

Although elixirs from the Central Plains were scarce in Xiansha City, the place was a hive of scum and villainy where valuable items still emerged, all brought over by cultivators from thousands of miles away specifically to sell here.

Based on Yuan Ming's experience over the years, even here, as long as you could afford it, you could do many things that you couldn't do in the Central Plains.

With extraordinary talent, Zuo Qinghui began cultivating with Insect Pills after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, and his mana progressed by leaps and bounds, almost describable as sky-rocketing. It was believed that in a few years, he could catch up with Yuan Ming.

But there seemed to be something wrong with his Physical Body, perhaps due to being resurrected from death, or possibly due to the backlash from cultivating the Golden Shadow Sword Technique and Insect Pills, or some other reason. His skin turned a pale gold color, and the wrinkles on his face had dissipated quite a bit, now making him appear in the prime of his life.

Yuan Ming found this surprising but did not attempt to resolve it. Zuo Qinghui, being a Core Formation Cultivator from the Chang Chun Temple, was already worried about attracting attention when going out. With this transformation, it was actually less likely for him to be recognized.

The soul splitting within Zuo Qinghui's Sea of Consciousness had also grown much stronger, a result of Yuan Ming's deliberate cultivation using Desire Power.

The stronger the soul splitting's Soul Power, the more effortlessly he could control Zuo Qinghui.

This soul splitting refined the remnants of the demon beast's thoughts within the Insect Pill through the Heart Cleansing Technique over the years, and its Soul Power was also tempered to be quite condensed.

Yuan Ming did not awaken Zuo Qinghui but turned and left. Just as he stepped out of the secret chamber, his expression shifted slightly and he took out a Sound Transmission Talisman from his bosom, allowing his Divine Sense to enter it.

The Sound Transmission Talisman shattered, turning into a ball of white light, and a voice entered Yuan Ming's ears.

A glint of joy flashed in Yuan Ming's eyes as he rose to leave his dwelling and quickly arrived at a shop called "Earth Spirit Pavilion" in the inner city.

This was a shop that sold magical formation tools, and Yuan Ming had placed an order for a custom formation here two months ago, which was now finally completed.

Yuan Ming entered the shop, announced his name, and an attendant soon led him to the inner hall where an elder in green clothes had been waiting.

"Master Lu, you have labored hard," Yuan Ming said with cupped hands.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Yuan is too courteous. I am but doing my business; there is no labor too hard. The formation you ordered is inside; you can inspect it." The elder in green handed over a wooden box about the height of a ruler, which contained a set of black Array Flags and Array Plates radiating compelling Spiritual Energy.

"Master Lu, your personally refined formation could not possibly be flawed; there's no need to check." Yuan Ming chuckled and directly took the wooden box.

The elder before him, Master Lu, was one of Xiansha City's top-ranked Array Masters, highly skilled in refining formation tools as well. Yuan Ming had spent a considerable amount of Spirit Stones to commission him for a "Beidou Star Soul Array."

This formation itself had no effect in overcoming enemies; its sole purpose was to form a Star Soul Barrier within which Soul Power would not leak in the slightest, a prerequisite for condensing a Soul Pill. The method of refinement was also recorded in the Soul Pill Secret Technique, but of course, Yuan Ming could not refine it himself.

Master Lu was very satisfied with Yuan Ming's attitude and exchanged pleasantries for a moment before bidding farewell.

Yuan Ming was still in the early stages of fostering a relationship with Master Lu, planning to ask him to refine other formations for himself in the future, so he sensibly bid farewell and left.

After stepping out of Earth Spirit Pavilion, he activated his Divine Sense and delved into the Storage Ring to examine the Array within the wooden box, comparing it with the Soul Pill Secret Technique he had memorized. Realizing there was nothing wrong with the Array, he finally relaxed.

Now that everything was ready, all that was left was for the breakthrough in the Moonlight Technique.

Yuan Ming turned around to head home, but halfway there, he suddenly stopped, turned, and walked in a different direction, soon arriving at another side of the inner city.

Here, the shops began to thin out, and the buildings along the road became taller and broader. This area was the stronghold of various Scatter Alliances, with all the Scatter Alliances in Xiansha City located in this region.

Many Cultivators were entering and exiting the various Scatter Alliances' strongholds, most of them in a rush.

Yuan Ming went straight to the stronghold of a Scatter Alliance named "Huwei," where a tall, thin figure cloaked in a black robe stood—it was none other than Hua Zhi.

Seeing Yuan Ming approach, Hua Zhi came forward and handed over a Storage Bag.

"You haven't been gone long, yet your gains are quite substantial," Yuan Ming remarked, his eyebrows rising as his Divine Sense entered the Storage Bag.

Over the past year, Hua Zhi hunted Demon Insects near Xiansha City to improve his strength.

Yuan Ming figured that since he had to hunt Demon Insects anyway, he might as well take on some missions to collect materials and, in the process, earn some Spirit Stones.

However, the speed at which Hua Zhi hunted the Demon Insects was beyond his expectations. The demon beast materials in the Storage Bag were plentiful, and even if he sold them directly, he could exchange them for quite a sum of Spirit Stones.

"I've gained a few more subordinates recently, so the collection speed has naturally increased," Hua Zhi communicated telepathically, his voice filled with delight.

Yuan Ming had an epiphany and instructed Hua Zhi to return to his residence first, while Yuan Ming himself took the Storage Bag and entered the Huwei Scatter Alliance.

Though Hua Zhi was greatly intelligent, he could not speak. Hence, the task of turning in missions still had to be handled by Yuan Ming himself.

Entering through the main gate of the Huwei Scatter Alliance led to a large stone hall, where many mission scrolls were hanging around, with various tasks written on them.

Having close ties with the Magic Artifact shops within Xiansha City, the Huwei Scatter Alliance posted many tasks for collecting demon beast materials, which was why Yuan Ming came here. Moreover, the Huwei Scatter Alliance was welcoming, allowing non-members to take on tasks as well.

Quite a few Cultivators moved about the hall, looking through the list of tasks.

Yuan Ming headed straight to the longest table in the back, took out a Storage Bag filled with Demon Insect materials and two stone tablets, and passed them to a man in gray clothes behind the table.

The gray-clothed Cultivator dealt with countless mission transactions daily. His hands were efficient, and the business was concluded quickly. Yuan Ming's Storage Ring now contained several hundred more Spirit Stones.

As Yuan Ming was about to turn around and leave, a voice came from beside him:

"Eh, isn't that Fellow Daoist Yuan?"

Yuan Ming looked up to see a man in yellow robes approaching. It was Cui Wuran, whom he had encountered several times before.

"Fellow Daoist Cui, it's been a while. Are you here to take on tasks as well?" Yuan Ming greeted with a nod.

"Yes, the Huwei Scatter Alliance allows outsiders to come and go freely, so I just stopped by to have a look. Eh, Fellow Daoist Yuan, your cultivation has greatly advanced. That's truly joyous and congratulations are in order," Cui Wuran said, envying the noticeable change in Yuan Ming's aura while also being astonished.

"It was just a lucky breakthrough," Yuan Ming said with a chuckle, "And Fellow Daoist Cui's cultivation seems to have made no small progress either."

"How can mid-stage Foundation Establishment be compared with late Foundation Establishment? I'm just of mediocre talent, relying solely on external aids. I can't compare with you, Fellow Daoist Yuan," Cui Wuran said, shaking his head.

"Fellow Daoist Cui gives me too much credit," Yuan Ming replied with a light smile.

At that moment, a bearded man walked from the mission submission table, stopping about three feet away. After giving Yuan Ming a glance, he spoke to Cui Wuran, "Fellow Daoist Cui, our business here is done. Shall we leave?"

"It seems Fellow Daoist Cui has other matters to attend to. I won't keep the two of you. I'll take my leave now," said Yuan Ming, who had a good impression of Cui Wuran but had no desire to engage in extended conversation as he was preoccupied with his own matters and took the opportunity to excuse himself.

"It happens that I, along with a friend from the Fire Origin Sect, Fellow Daoist Shi, have invited a few friends to host a small exchange meeting. If you're not busy, Fellow Daoist Yuan, why not come along and have a look?" Cui Wuran then invited.

"An exchange meeting? That sounds good," Yuan Ming's expression shifted, showing interest.

Exchange meetings were common gatherings among Cultivators, where they discussed cultivation insights, debated the affairs of the Cultivation World, and sometimes traded items they no longer needed.

Since stepping into the Cultivation World, Yuan Ming had occasionally heard of such activities but had never attended anything similar. It seemed a good opportunity to experience one now.

The bearded man, upon hearing this, gave Yuan Ming a cold look, his expression somewhat haughty as if displeased by Cui Wuran's invitation to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming took no offense and made no move to greet the bearded man. Judging by the aura, this man also seemed to be at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment level.

Yuan Ming had heard tidbits about the Fire Origin Sect—it was the same Sect into which Wulu had been ordered to infiltrate to steal a Cultivation Technique, which later surfaced at an auction, wasn't it?

Seeing the situation, Cui Wuran quickly introduced the two men to each other and made soothing conversation before leaving the Huwei Scatter Alliance's stronghold with them.

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