Volume 5 Chapter 26

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Volume 5 Chapter 26: Preparation (Part 1)

Actually, after battling Feng Qingtian, Xu Qingfan unintentionally broke through to the early stage of the Real Golden Core Stage and gained the third divine power, he should have immediately gone into seclusion to stabilize his realm. Moreover, when he returned to Jiuhua Mountain, he set himself five goals to achieve before officially establishing the Jiuhua sect, none of which have been accomplished so far.

Firstly, as Ting’er was approaching Core Formation at that time, Xu Qingfan was worried about any mishaps, and secluding himself would make him oblivious. Secondly, having just taken on Bai Yu and Zhang Ningmei as disciples, going into seclusion without teaching them anything seemed irresponsible.

So despite having many reasons to enter seclusion, Xu Qingfan had not taken any action these past days.

At this moment, Ting’er had already successfully reached Core Formation stage, with a smooth process despite some thrills. Meanwhile, Bai Yu and Zhang Ningmei’s training was progressing well, allowing Xu Qingfan to focus on his own retreat without worries.

In fact, according to Jiuhua’s rules, whenever a cultivator reaches the Condensed Core Stage, regardless of their talent or seniority, they should be granted the position of Jiuhua elder. However, after Ting’er secluded herself, none of the other elders mentioned this matter at all. Moreover, Zhang Hualing showed no intention of summoning Ting’er to assign her the position, nor did he arrange a separate residence for her, likely considering the opinions of the current Jiuhua elders.

The cultivation world was in turmoil at this time, and the end of Jiuhua’s shut down was approaching. Zhang Hualing did not want to provoke internal conflicts within Jiuhua regarding Ting’er’s issue, as the existing tension between the new and old generations of elders was already causing headaches for both Xu Qingfan and Zhang Hualing.

Xu Qingfan understood the elders’ opinions about Ting’er. He knew that making Ting’er an elder would be extremely difficult, and even some of the younger elders who had supported Xu Qingfan might oppose it. Therefore, the chances of getting approval were slim. However, both Xu Qingfan and Ting’er were not particularly concerned about the elder position, so when the other elders didn’t bring it up, Xu Qingfan chose not to mention it either.

Preparing an individual residence for Ting’er was even less of a concern for Xu Qingfan and Ting’er. In fact, they had grown accustomed to living together, and each time they left their room, seeing each other became a routine. Separating them would feel unfamiliar instead.

Although Xu Qingfan decided to prepare for a secluded retreat, he still had many things to organize. For instance, he had used up all his spirit stones to create two external avatars previously, so now he needed to find more spirit stones to give some to Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu. He also required a significant amount of spirit stones to restore his two external avatars.

Additionally, he needed to prepare the spiritual medicine that would help Zhang Ningmei and Bai Yu grow their Spirit Qi after he went into seclusion.

During his last journey down the mountain, Xu Qingfan killed six cultivators from the "Ming" organization and over ten cultivators who were enslaved by the "Ming" organization. Although most of the spirit stones he gained were used up during the refining of his avatars, he exchanged most of the high-level artifacts from the "Ming" cultivators at the "Treasure Pavilion" for two pieces of "Yellow Jade." However, he still had a large amount of various spiritual medicines and some low-level artifacts, which he obtained from the ten-plus enslaved cultivators under "Lie Three."

Even though there were many spiritual medicines, Xu Qingfan did not understand the effects of most of them, especially the pills taken from the cultivators of the "Ming" organization. Despite having read many books, Xu Qingfan could not tell whether these pills helped with cultivation or harmed people’s lives, and he was unable to experiment with them, leaving him unable to use them at all.

Those low-level magical tools are not suitable for the three of them. Ting’er has trained in the "Magic Fire Technique," which has very strong attack power and has already reached the Condensed Core Stage. If Zhang Ningmei continues to grow, she’ll surely train in the "Art of Annihilation," with just one defensive tool needed. Bai Yu’s attack and defense abilities are already extremely powerful, so he doesn’t need any magical tools. Xu Qingfan’s plan is to leave the "Azure Scale Armguard" and "Nimbus Cloud" from Ting’er with Zhang Ningmei, find an auxiliary tool for Bai Yu, and get two higher-level tools for Ting’er. Therefore, these low-level tools are of no use to them.

So, before going into seclusion, Xu Qingfan decided to secretly go down the mountain again to trade these unknown pills and tools at the cultivator market for some spirit stones and high-level elixirs suitable for Zhang Ningmei and Bai Yu.

With this in mind, Xu Qingfan turned to Ting’er with a gentle smile and softly said, "You’ve just reached the Condensed Core Stage, it’s best for you to go back and sit quietly to stabilize your level."

Watching Ting’er nod and obediently walk to her room, disappearing once the door closed, Xu Qingfan also made his way to his own room.

Entering the room, Xu Qingfan sat down at the desk, took out two blank green slips, and slowly infused them with Divine Sense, recording information into them.

※※※※

Three days later, Xu Qingfan greeted Ting’er and the others, ignoring Bai Yu’s request to go down the mountain with him for some adventures. He secretly went down the mountain again.

Putting on the half-black mask, Xu Qingfan once more transformed into the Southern Wasteland rogue cultivator, Xu Fan. However, after breaking through to the Condensed Core Stage, his aura became more ethereal, and although his appearance remained the same, he seemed like a different person.

By now, Xu Qingfan had reached the Real Golden Core Stage, with Spirit Qi within him more than twice that of the late stage of the Fake Golden Core Stage. His Divine Sense was even stronger. By employing the "Cloud Riding Technique" with full effort, his speed was more than twice as fast as before. Even so, it still took him over five days to reach the cultivator market he had visited before.

In fact, the cultivator markets are spread all over the Shenzhou Continent. It is said that there’s one not far from Jiuhua Mountain, only about two days away. However, Xu Qingfan did not know the exact location and was too lazy to search for it, so he simply went to the one he often visited before.

Perhaps because the Righteous Alliance was established and quickly took action to eliminate the "Ming" organization’s "Tian Sha," the activities of the "Ming" organization have lessened considerably over the years. Although the cultivation world is still chaotic, most conflicts are among small sects or involve larger sects annexing smaller ones, making things much more stable than before. At least there’s no longer a situation where cultivators disappear without a trace. Warfare in the mortal world has gradually subsided as well.

Because of this, when Xu Qingfan returned to this marketplace, it was much more bustling. At least around the outside, the temple saw many mortals coming and going, creating a lively scene of people worshiping.

Over the years, Xu Qingfan had become something of a regular at this marketplace. Especially in the past three to four years, he had been there four or five times. Xu Qingfan’s "Purple Shine Jade Pendant" at his waist, Little Black perched on his shoulder, his mask, and his own cultivation level made him quite noticeable. Thus, the Taoist attendants had a strong impression of him. Upon seeing Xu Qingfan arrive, they immediately greeted him respectfully, calling him "senior," and led him into the secret market.

However, every other time Xu Qingfan visited this cultivator market, it was to buy things. This time, it was to sell.

After asking the attending Taoists about the rules and paying the market several dozen spirit stones, Xu Qingfan sat down in a corner of the marketplace. He arranged some low-level magical artifacts and elixirs unused by him or his disciples in front of him, then closed his eyes to rest, patiently waiting for buyers to approach.

In Xu Qingfan’s possession were many elixirs whose purposes were unknown to him. He was reluctant to sell them to others or price them, so he decided to keep them for another time.

Although these artifacts and elixirs were useless to Xu Qingfan, they were quite precious, collected over a lifetime by a Lingji Stage cultivator. Since Xu Qingfan wasn’t interested in bargaining and had no leisure time, he sold them at prices slightly below market rate.

For this reason, Xu Qingfan’s items sold very quickly. In less than two days, everything was gone. Through these transactions, he gained nearly two thousand high-level spirit stones.

Afterwards, Xu Qingfan handed over some of the commission to the cultivator market, and then found a cultivator from "Medicine King Valley" in the market. He bought a large number of spiritual pills, such as "Golden Spirit Pill" and "Kui Water Elixir," which were helpful for Zhang Ningmei and Bai Yu’s progress. These were the highest level of pills available for cultivators before reaching the Condensed Core Stage.

Consequently, the nearly two thousand spirit stones Xu Qingfan had just acquired were quickly reduced to less than two hundred. This made Xu Qingfan sigh inwardly, realizing how enormous the investment of spirit stones in cultivating accomplishments was. With just two disciples, it was already challenging. He couldn’t imagine how those elders in Jiuhua managed with so many disciples, explaining the frequent conflicts with younger elders over offerings every few decades.

What Xu Qingfan didn’t expect was that other elders were reluctant to invest so heavily in each disciple. Although the expenses were significant, they weren’t as dire as Xu Qingfan had imagined.

After completing all these tasks and hesitating for a moment, Xu Qingfan left the cultivator market and flew towards "Treasure Pavilion."