Su Ping had broken through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation.
He had done nothing but sleep.
When he awoke, he was already at the Fourth Layer, officially entering the Middle Period of Qi Cultivation!
Su Ping was not surprised by this, as he had been accumulating strength and needed only one step to reach the Fourth Layer.
He had used Purification Spirit Medicine to cleanse the Pill Poison and repaired the hidden ailments in his body.
The advancement was simply a matter of course!
After greeting the morning sun and sitting for a while, he familiarized himself with the realm of Qi Cultivation's Fourth Layer, which he had sought for twenty years.
Su Ping took out the storage bag he carried with him.
This fist-sized storage bag, made from the fur of the demon beast Empty Rat, was fist-sized but had an internal space of one cubic meter and could store up to a thousand kilograms of heavy objects without causing discomfort to the carrier.
It was an essential item for the vast majority of cultivators who could not afford true spatial storage.
Thankfully, five hundred years ago, an elder from the Chi Yuan Immortal Sect solved the problem of scaling up the breeding of Empty Rats, which drastically drove down the price of storage bags.
This allowed Outer Sect disciples like Su Ping to save up and buy one.
Su Ping took out a map from the bag.
He quickly found the most suitable Immortal Cultivation Workshop near Golden Sparrow City—Nine Leaf Workshop!
The Nine Leaf Workshop, located three hundred kilometers away from Golden Sparrow City on Nine Leaf Mountain, was a semi-official workshop.
The workshop was managed by the Yun Family of the Nine Leaf, a Foundation Establishment family affiliated with the Immortal Sect.
This Yun Family had once produced an elder of the Immortal Sect.
Now, several of their family members were either Inner Sect disciples or deacons of the Immortal Sect.
Furthermore, since the Nine Leaf Workshop catered mainly to Cultivators like Su Ping who ventured voluntarily into the Mortal World, as well as those Loose Cultivators who couldn't enter the Immortal Sect but had acquired legacies for various reasons.
These Loose Cultivators were mostly equipped with Low Grade or fake Spirit Roots, with the very few exceptions who missed the Immortal Ascension Conference or had the fortune to improve their Spirit Roots through serendipity.
Poverty and desolation were their most defining characteristics.
This also meant they did not pose a significant conflict of interest to the official workshops.
Being a gargantuan entity in the territory, the Chi Yuan Immortal Sect had thus tacitly consented to its operation.
Over a hundred kilometers was not much of a distance for Su Ping in the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation.
After eating millet porridge carefully prepared by a maid, Su Ping set off and saw Nine Leaf Mountain shrouded in mists before noon.
Looking at the mists ahead, the advantages of being from the Immortal Sect became apparent.
Even as a lowly Outer Sect disciple, Su Ping raised his Identity Token upon entering the mist.
The mist immediately dispersed, revealing a path leading to Nine Leaf Mountain.
Following the path, as he was about to reach the mountaintop, Su Ping entered the range of the workshop and felt the pleasing Spiritual Energy refresh his body and mind.
Suddenly, the surrounding mists completely dissipated.
The Nine Leaf Workshop, surrounded by dozens of acres of Spirit Fields, then came into Su Ping's view.
Nine Leaf Mountain boasted a First Tier Low Grade Spirit Vein, upon which the workshop, Spirit Fields, and the surrounding fog Array were built.
After a brief check-in at the entrance, Su Ping was allowed into the Nine Leaf Workshop.
Then, Su Ping discovered that at the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation, he had unexpectedly become a prominent expert in the workshop!
Looking around, the pedestrians and vendors were mostly dressed as swordsmen or scholars.
Each of them looked quite impressive, possessing at least one-fifth of his charm.
On closer inspection, however, most were Loose Cultivators at the First Layer of Qi Cultivation with weak foundations.
Occasionally, one or two were at the Second Layer, those were rare existences indeed.
With fake Spirit Roots, even those who laboriously entered Qi Cultivation were mostly limited to the First and Second Layers.
Without some opportunity, it was nearly impossible for them to reach the Middle Period of Qi Cultivation.
Looking at the stalls, Su Ping noticed that many were selling everyday items from the Mortal World.
He decided not to waste time and headed straight for the most conspicuous Yunbao Tower, operated by the Yun Family themselves.
When he arrived here, Su Ping finally saw a cultivator of his own level, an elder safeguarding this place, his white hair telling of his old age.
With just one glance, Su Ping was able to confirm that the old cultivator's mindset was not much different from his own a month ago.
It's just that he had chosen to be an inspector in a mortal city.
As for this one, perhaps a family cultivator, he had chosen to come here to serve his family and contribute his remaining warmth.
When the old cultivator saw Su Ping, he was initially taken aback, then mistook him for a normal Immortal Sect disciple going down the mountain for training.
It couldn't be helped, although Su Ping's appearance seemed a bit older, after being washed with Purification Spirit Medicine, he now gave off a gentle and pure aura, and his age appeared, in the Immortal Cultivation World, to be at that stage where one could still make a struggle.
It was hard to believe he was an inspector from the Mortal World who had severed his future prospects.
Therefore, the old cultivator was quite enthusiastic about Su Ping, not only coming forward to meet him but also calling out to his attendants:
"We have a distinguished guest!"
"Hurry and serve some tea, the good tea!"
After resting for a while, the old cultivator began to introduce the treasures of Yunbao Tower to Su Ping.
Speaking of treasures, they were actually just a few magic artifacts or talismans that could be used in the early stages of Qi Cultivation.
The Nourishing Yuan Pill, which Su Ping had also taken, was considered a treasure here in Yunbao Tower.
"Shopkeeper, I wonder how you sell your waste pills?"
After scanning the collections that were twenty percent more expensive than the regular workshop market price, Su Ping asked aloud.
The old cultivator looked at Su Ping and felt a bit disappointed, but his face remained enthusiastic:
"Taoist friend, how many waste pills are you planning to buy?"
"We mainly have Nourishing Yuan Waste Pills and Qi Blood Waste Pills."
"Qi Blood Waste Pills can allow martial artists to quickly increase their cultivation to reach the Grandmaster realm."
"While the effects of Nourishing Yuan Waste Pills aren't as good for martial artists, they are superior in that their medicinal properties are milder; besides increasing martial artists' cultivation, they can also be used to strengthen and maintain the health of mortals... of course, they must not be consumed in excess!"
"Pill poison is only an obstacle in our cultivation and breakthroughs, but it can take the lives of those mortals."
Perhaps seeing that Su Ping was a newcomer who hadn't much contact with the Mortal World, and also to sell more Spirit Stones, the old cultivator continued to remind:
"Nourishing Yuan Waste Pills can also be used to feed those mortal beasts with plenty of spirit."
"My Yun Family has a spirit horse that was obtained by feeding waste pills to our herd."
"Once it becomes a Spiritual Beast, not to mention a spirit horse, even a Spirit Fish could sell for several Spirit Stones!"
Upon hearing this, Su Ping's mind was stirred, although he naturally did not believe these sales pitches; he only realized the key point.
Outwardly, Su Ping shook his head:
"It sounds wonderful, but what's the success rate?"
"And I believe that even if a spirit-imbued mortal beast is found, feeding it waste pills will likely not turn it into a Spiritual Beast, right?"
"And like mortals, these mortal beasts also have an accumulation of pill poison, so they can't consume too many waste pills, right?"
The old cultivator didn't argue upon hearing this, but nodded and said:
"Indeed, as the Taoist friend said, but after all, it gives these waste pills one more use."
"If you really have a spirit-imbued mortal beast, you can try it; even if it doesn't transform, such mortal beasts that have consumed waste pills can be used by mortal families to guard their homes and yards, and they won't be inferior to ordinary martial artists, and are even more loyal."
Su Ping pretended to be persuaded and nodded slightly.
However, in his mind, he thought of the Purification Spirit Medicine from the fishing business mall.
Relying on this neither Immortal Cultivation nor scientifically sound Purification Spirit Medicine, combined with the not inferior effects of Life Spirit Medicine to force life extension.
Mortal beasts can eat as much as they can as long as they don't die.
The success rate of himself cultivating a mortal beast into a Spiritual Beast...
One thousand percent!