After acquiring more than fifty thousand Spirit Stones, Wang Hong returned to his small courtyard. He felt that earning Spirit Stones this way was too strenuous. It was better to focus on developing his shop and that somewhat mythical Immortal Way Trading Company. Having others help him earn Spirit Stones was the righteous path.
This time, in order to sell two hundred second-tier Elixirs, he invested countless efforts, considering every aspect, including the psychology of each person and their likely responses. He even took into account his own demeanor.
In the future, he decided to avoid such endeavors. It was too mentally taxing. Skinny Monkey effortlessly earned him this meager amount of Spirit Stones every month.
He only needed to enhance their strength at the right time to ensure their safety.
Wang Hong activated the Little Five Elements Formation. Originally, this formation required fifteen Spirit Stones per day, but after Old Taoist's modification, it now consumed twenty.
In a calm state, if someone broke through the formation or attacked it, the consumption of Spirit Stones would increase significantly, possibly reaching a hundred.
Fortunately, he wasn't lacking in Spirit Stones. Otherwise, despite setting up a powerful formation, he wouldn't be able to afford it.
Once the formation was activated, no one outside could see what was happening inside. Wang Hong first settled Little Peng, who had grown considerably and become more sensible. It didn't require much of his attention now.
He allowed it to roam freely in the courtyard and prepared an abundance of food for it to eat when hungry.
Entering the Cultivation Room, Wang Hong began inscribing a Transmutation Array on the floor. This formation was simple enough for an outsider like him to set up by following a pattern.
After spending half a day, he finally completed the formation, piling Spirit Stones like a small mountain within it.
Seated within the formation, he executed a technique toward it, and a radiant light flashed. The formation started operating.
As the formation rotated, chunks of Spirit Stones rapidly lost their Spirit Qi, turning into a small amount of powder.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Qi in the Cultivation Room became increasingly dense. When twenty thousand Spirit Stones were decomposed into Spirit Qi, the concentration in the room was on par with the secret realm's central region. At this point, Foundation Building was completely feasible.
After decomposing fifty thousand Spirit Stones, a white mist gradually filled the rooma phenomenon of Spirit Qi turning into mist, a rare occurrence only in Celestial Abodes with exceptionally rich Spirit Qi.
Once all hundred thousand Spirit Stones were decomposed, the mist in the Cultivation Room condensed into tiny droplets.
Controlled by the Little Five Elements Formation in the courtyard, all Spirit Qi was sealed within this small Cultivation Room.
Inside the room, it seemed as if a drizzle had started. Raindrops fell to the ground, only to be transformed back into Spirit Qi by the Transmutation Array, rising into the air and then turning into a drizzle again, repeating in a continuous cycle.
Wang Hong sat in meditation within the formation, took out an exquisite Jade vial, and poured out a Foundation Establishment Pill. He swallowed it.
The elixir melted upon entering, transforming into a surging Spiritual Energy that he ingested into his abdomen.
This Spiritual Energy entered his dantian, propelling the whirlpool of Spiritual Energy within it to spin rapidly.
After a quarter of an hour, the spinning gradually slowed down, and the excess Spiritual Energy flowed through his meridians, causing a slight swelling sensation.
"A single Foundation Establishment Pill is indeed not enough!"
He then stuffed another Foundation Establishment Pill into his mouth, and this time, the whirlpool of Spiritual Energy spun even faster.
However, after only spinning for another quarter of an hour, it slowed down again. The excess Spiritual Energy once again surged through the meridians, causing a faint pain throughout his body.
However, as a body cultivator, his physical strength was incredibly robust, and he easily withstood this level of impact.
For ordinary cultivators, a failed attempt at Foundation Building would result in damage to the dantian and meridians due to the massive impact of the Spiritual Energy transformed by the Foundation Establishment Pill. In some cases, it could even lead to a regression in cultivation level.
Therefore, if the attempt failed, one needed several years of recuperation and practice before attempting Foundation Building again.
Having consumed two Foundation Establishment Pills, Wang Hong only felt a slight swelling and pain in his meridians and dantian. It seemed that he wasn't injured. This was a benefit he had just discovered about body refining.
He then took a third Foundation Establishment Pill. After ingesting it, the pain in his dantian became more pronounced.
The Spiritual Energy vortex spun rapidly, but after a quarter of an hour, it started to slow down again.
Without waiting for it to come to a complete halt, Wang Hong swallowed the fourth Foundation Establishment Pill, accelerating the rotation of the Spiritual Energy vortex.
This time, with experience, he didn't wait for a quarter of an hour and immediately took the fifth Foundation Establishment Pill.
As this elixir transformed into Spiritual Energy and entered his abdomen, a sharp pain emanated from his dantian.
Checking with his Divine Sense, he discovered several cracks appearing on the dantian's surface. As the Spiritual Energy vortex spun faster, the cracks increased in both size and quantity.
At this point, signs of condensing into liquid appeared in the center of the Spiritual Energy vortex. However, the time had reached another quarter of an hour.
Seeing this, Wang Hong, disregarding the damage to his dantian, swallowed the sixth Foundation Establishment Pill.
After this elixir entered his abdomen, the cracks on his dantian intensified, spreading to the meridians throughout his body.
Wang Hong even felt as if his body was leaking energy.
Now, he felt intense pain all over, as if he were being torn apart. Large beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.
Simultaneously, a drop of liquid fell from the center of the Spiritual Energy vortex in his dantian. This was the more refined Spiritual Power compared to Spiritual Energy.
With the first drop, followed by the second, the third...
After the transformation of Spiritual Energy into liquid Spiritual Power, the pressure on his dantian and meridians finally reduced. No new cracks appeared.
At the same time, the dense Spirit Qi in the Cultivation Room began to surge into his body. The surging Spiritual Energy poured into the Spiritual Energy vortex.
Due to the continuous influx of rich Spirit Qi from the outside, the Spiritual Energy vortex expanded again, causing new cracks in the dantian and meridians.
Some of the incoming Spirit Qi even rushed directly through the cracks. Dantian couldn't accommodate so much, leading to its expansion and subsequent rupture.
Wang Hong now felt like his entire body was leaking energy. He watched as Spiritual Energy seeped in and out of the cracks, even the newly transformed Spiritual Power leaked.
At this rate, there was a possibility of his entire dantian and meridians being destroyed, resulting in the loss of cultivation.
In a flash, he entered his personal space, took out a Jade Marrow Mushroom over eight hundred years old, and returned to the Cultivation Room.
At the moment he entered the space, more cracks appeared in his dantian, nearing complete rupture.
Hastily, he brought the Jade Marrow Mushroom to his mouth, took a bite, and quickly swallowed it.
This was probably the first time in his life that he couldn't taste the food.
As the Jade Marrow Mushroom entered his stomach, it released a gentle, green Spiritual Energy. This energy, upon contact with the cracks, swiftly began repairing them.
However, the repair speed couldn't match the rate of dantian rupture. It continued to break apart.
Wang Hong consumed the remaining Jade Marrow Mushrooms in three gulps, unleashing numerous threads of green energy to rapidly mend each crack.
Due to the immense energy impact, although dantian and meridians continued to rupture, the repair speed temporarily balanced the situation.
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