Wang Hong sensed that this mysterious force wasn't specifically targeting him or the Qingxu Sect but rather all the major forces in Jin'an City.
In Jin'an City, representatives of various major forces from the East Zhou Cultivation Realm had their presence. The fact that this force dared to challenge them made him speculate.
At this moment, he felt a strong sense of unease. Although he was an Alchemist, usually exempt from direct combat, he believed in relying on himself rather than others.
His means of rapidly enhancing his strength were limited at the moment.
The factors comprising his combat prowess could be divided into several major aspects.
Firstly, there was the advancement of his cultivation levelRealm. Despite diligently consuming pills for years, his dantian's sea was vast, hindering breakthroughs to the second level of Foundation Building.
Days ago, he saw that Zhang Chunfeng had already reached Foundation Building Second Level, and he heard that even Elder Brother had achieved the same. Despite having a far greater total and purer Spiritual Power, he couldn't afford to remain stagnant in his realm, considering that Foundation Building cultivators only had a lifespan of two hundred years.
The second aspect was body refining. Despite possessing a strength of 150,000 jin, progress in the "Body Strengthening Invincible Golden Body Technique" was slow due to the lack of crucial Spiritual Herbs. It lingered at the entry-tier of the first level.
Though he researched medicinal formulas, hoping to adapt to the cultivation technique using herbs like the nine-leaf golden thread grass or Essence Core Pill, his efforts were in vain.
The third aspect was his Spirit Beasts. Currently, he only had Poisonous Bees and Little Peng. Little Peng, though, was not much help in battles yet. While Poisonous Bees were beneficial, their spatial enhancement was limited in the short term.
The fourth aspect was his poison skills, which had yielded some success, but unless he obtained other potent poisonous Spiritual Herbs, progress would be slow.
Lastly, there were items like Spiritual Weapons. The recently acquired large black club was convenient, but obtaining such items depended on luck.
Considering these aspects, Wang Hong pondered for a long time before entering his Space. He approached the first-planted Azure Spirit Peach Tree.
Now, the tree was seven to eight feet tall, bearing dozens of fuzzy young peaches. Two peaches, larger than adult fists, hung in the middle of the branches.
Though not fully ripe, Wang Hong decided to eat them first, prioritizing the enhancement of his strength. He could leave the next batch to ripen.
With determination, he plucked the two peaches and brought them out of the Space.
Holding the peaches, Wang Hong examined them, sniffing before decisively biting into one.
While it still had a slightly unripe taste, the bitterness was gone, indicating it was nearing maturity. Despite not being fully ripe, it tasted much better than the white crystal fruit. With only two peaches available, he finished one.
As he consumed it, the majestic energy released by the peach transformed into pure Spiritual Power, flowing into his dantian's sea, enhancing his cultivation.
If his dantian's sea were of ordinary size, the Spiritual Power from this Green Spirit Peach alone would have been enough to elevate him from Foundation Building First Level to Second Level.
However, he was just a bit short of breaking through. Without hesitation, he quickly devoured the second peach.
The infusion of Spiritual Power into his dantian's sea this time finally propelled him to Foundation Building Second Level.
Simultaneously, as he ascended to the second level, his dantian's sea expanded by two feet, from the initial six feet to eight feet.
Typically, when Foundation Building cultivators advanced in realms, their dantian's sea expanded accordingly, usually by one foot at a time. By the time they reached Foundation Building perfection, it would be about ten feet in size.
Wang Hong's initial six-foot size now increased by two feet, making further advancement even more challenging.
Due to the sudden influx of a substantial amount of Spiritual Power, his originally pure Spiritual Power became somewhat impure. This would need gradual refinement and purification in the future.
After stabilizing his newly attained realm, he secluded himself for several days. Following that, he concealed his cultivation level back to Foundation Building First Level.
Upon emerging, he took a stroll outside to get some fresh air. During this time in Jin'an City, he learned that several cultivators who had been forced into signing slave Blood Contracts were captured.
From what he gathered, their experiences mirrored Wang Hong's own. Coerced into signing slave Blood Contracts outside, they lacked Wang Hong's strength and had no choice but to submit.
This matter, for the time being, concluded.
Back in his solitary residence, Wang Hong resumed his alchemical activities, this time crafting Essence Core Pills.
The numerous Demonic Beast corpses he obtained from Zhang Chunfeng were fed to the demon-hunting tree, transforming into golden demon-hunting tree seeds. When combined with the nine-leaf golden thread grass, they could refine Essence Core Pills, each pill increasing strength by a hundred jin.
With materials for three hundred Essence Core Pills, given his current Pill Success Rate, he could produce over a thousand Essence Core Pills.
While Demonic Beast corpses were abundant in Jin'an City, his supply of nine-leaf golden thread grass was slightly insufficient.
He saw this opportunity as a chance to gather more demon-hunting tree seeds, realizing that such opportunities might not come again.
After some consideration, he left his residence and entered an inn. Inside, he transformed into an old man with wrinkled skin, darkening it further before donning the Misty Illusion Mask, taking on the appearance of a middle-aged cultivator.
Exiting the inn, he casually wandered through the four major districts.
After two days of exploration, he finally selected a target and headed towards a moderately-sized general store.
This was one of the targets he had identified in the past two days. For a long-term partnership, he needed collaborators with some strength but not too overpowering.
Those too weak would struggle to protect themselves, while dealing with someone too strong might lead to being swallowed up if the transaction volume increased.
Upon entering the store, a clerk approached. Without waiting for the clerk to speak, Wang Hong straightforwardly said, "I'm looking for your shopkeeper or your East Master."
"Our East Master is currently out. Please have some tea, esteemed senior. I will go fetch the shopkeeper. Kindly wait for a moment," the clerk responded.
The clerk settled Wang Hong in a secluded room, served tea, and then left.
Having previously investigated, Wang Hong knew that the store's owner was a Foundation Building mid-stage cultivator who rarely managed store affairs. He had hired a Qi Cultivation late-stage cultivator as the shopkeeper to handle the day-to-day operations.
[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]