Chapter 426: Out of the Pass

Wang Qiuming cultivated the metal-attribute "Golden Sun Art," a name that immediately suggested its lack of potency. It was a Profound-grade cultivation method, allowing cultivation up to the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

Wang Qiuming thanked him and accepted the two Hundred Sword Talismans.

"Your Eighteenth Uncle and the others aren't back yet. Go back and cultivate for now; if he returns, I'll let you know."

"Alright, Father, Mother, I'm going back to my room to cultivate."

Wang Qiuming assented, then turned and left.

Qi Shanshan's beautiful eyes were filled with worry as she said, "Husband, why did you agree to let Qiuming go out and hunt demonic beasts? We aren't short on a few spirit stones."

"Flowers in a greenhouse can't grow strong. Our son is grown; he has his own ideas. Can you manage him his whole life?"

Qi Shanshan sighed and said nothing more.

In a secret chamber, Wang Qingqi sat cross-legged on a futon, enveloped in a layer of red spiritual light. Inside the stone chamber, numerous red light points floated, incredibly brilliant, like shooting stars. The red light points in the room continuously surged into his body. A quarter of an hour later, all of them had been absorbed. He opened his eyes, a red glow flickering within them.

He had finally cultivated the "Heavenly Flame Tome" to the fifth layer, reaching the third layer of Foundation Establishment after more than a decade. Wang Qingqi was already eighty-two years old; reaching the third layer of Foundation Establishment at that age was considered quite poor. Switching his cultivation method took over a decade, and learning alchemy caused another decade of delay. Combined with his relatively late Foundation Establishment, these factors led to his current situation.

Wang Qingqi bore a heavy burden; he was the clan's only second-rank low-grade alchemist, responsible for refining all the second-rank elixirs produced by the Wang family. He stood up, stretched, and walked out. Dozens of transmission talismans floated in mid-air. Wang Qingqi patiently read their contents, all of which were requests for alchemy.

Walking out of his residential pavilion, Wang Qingqi saw Wang Qingling sitting by the door. Wang Qingling was forty-five years old and had reached the eighth layer of Qi Refining.

"Tenth Sister, why are you waiting here?" Wang Qingqi asked with a touch of surprise and curiosity.

"Fourth Brother, didn't I send you a transmission talisman? It's about the Spirit-Feeding Elixirs! Oh, and these are the alchemy materials the Patriarch asked me to deliver to you. Please check them, and if everything's in order, sign for them!" As Wang Qingling spoke, she took out a cyan storage pouch and handed it to Wang Qingqi.

Wang Qingqi carefully inspected the contents, confirmed everything was in order, and then signed his name to acknowledge receipt of the alchemy materials. He handed Wang Qingling four bottles of Spirit-Feeding Elixirs and, in turn, received a heavy storage pouch from her.

"Hehe, Fourth Brother, I'll be going now. I won't disturb your alchemy." Wang Qingling put away the Spirit-Feeding Elixirs and departed with a beaming smile.

Wang Qingqi shook his head, then turned and returned to his room. Back in his secluded cultivation chamber, he patted his storage pouch. A small red cauldron flew out, expanding dozens of times in size before settling in front of him. He took out the alchemy materials and began refining elixirs.

While he was in seclusion, the clan had accumulated a considerable amount of alchemy materials, mostly for refining second-rank low-grade elixirs. The sheer quantity was enough to keep him busy for some time. Since there was no other second-rank alchemist in the clan, all second-rank elixirs sold depended on him, which inevitably impacted his cultivation. This was unavoidable; the clan had few Foundation Establishment cultivators, even fewer who specialized, and the number of second-rank formation masters and alchemists was the lowest.

The Wang family also wished to cultivate such talents, but to upgrade their spiritual vein, they had incurred a large, unrepaid debt. They had no spare spirit stones to train alchemists and formation masters. Moreover, second-rank alchemists and formation masters needed to be at least Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the Wang family already had few of those, making it difficult to foster such specialists.

Once the cauldron was sufficiently preheated, Wang Qingqi began adding the alchemy materials and sealed the lid. Half a quarter of an hour later, a strong medicinal fragrance filled the stone chamber.

In another secret chamber, Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on a futon, his body shimmering with blue electrical arcs, like a god of thunder. After a while, the blue electrical arcs around Wang Changsheng dissipated. He opened his eyes, a hint of joy appearing in them. He raised a hand, and with a resounding clap of thunder, numerous blue electrical arcs suddenly appeared in his palm, rapidly condensing into an egg-sized blue lightning orb that emanated a terrifying energy fluctuation.

"True Guishui Lightning!" Wang Changsheng murmured to himself, his face alight with delight. He had originally expected it would take him ten years to cultivate the True Guishui Lightning, so he was surprised to have done so in only seven. This might be related to his water spirit root's affinity reaching ninety.

While the True Guiyuan Fiend had slowly improved his physique to its limit, the Gengjin Heavenly Gang was steadily strengthening Wang Changsheng's physical body. His current punch could now exert a force of two thousand catties. With twenty-one years remaining until the Heavenly Wolf Secret Realm opened, Wang Changsheng knew he needed to make preparations. The Black Moon Cold Water he possessed wasn't enough to reach the second layer of Core Formation. Cultivating only at the first layer of Core Formation, even with a magic treasure and the True Guishui Lightning, combined with Qingmingzi's roadmap, was still quite dangerous.

Guangdong Ren had helped the Wang family significantly, particularly with the Vajra Bracelet magic treasure, which Wang Changsheng could not possibly return. After reaching Core Formation, the clan's ability to assist him diminished. To acquire Heaven and Earth Spiritual Water, he couldn't solely rely on his clan members; he had to exert effort himself. With the True Guishui Lightning and the Vajra Bracelet, he finally possessed a degree of self-preservation. He planned to travel abroad to search for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Water.

The "True Guishui Scripture" originated from the South Sea, making the chances of finding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Water there relatively high. Furthermore, he hoped to locate the subsequent cultivation methods for the "True Guishui Scripture."

As soon as he walked out of his seclusion chamber, he happened to see Wang Ruyan also walking out of her chamber. In this seclusion, Wang Ruyan successfully advanced to the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.

"Husband, you've come out of seclusion." Wang Ruyan smiled charmingly.

Wang Changsheng smiled and nodded, then informed Wang Ruyan of his intentions. Upon hearing Wang Changsheng's plan to travel to the South Sea, Wang Ruyan expressed her desire to accompany him, and Wang Changsheng naturally did not refuse. Without alarming anyone else, they bid farewell to Wang Qingkai and Wang Qingzhi, then departed from Qinglian Mountain Villa.

Wang Changsheng and his wife's destination was Chongyang Market City, which possessed a large teleportation array connecting to the South Sea. When Wang Changsheng last spoke with Wang Mingren, he inquired about Wang Mingren's trip to the South Sea. Wang Mingren provided a truthful account, giving Wang Changsheng a solid understanding of the region.

Six months later, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan arrived at Chongyang Market City. They purchased some ancient texts about the South Sea and headed directly to the Teleportation Hall. Teleporting to the South Sea cost a staggering three thousand spirit stones per person. Despite the exorbitant price, Wang Changsheng paid for both of them, and he and Wang Ruyan stepped onto the teleportation array.

A dazzling white light lit up, enveloping the figures of Wang Changsheng and his wife. Wang Changsheng regained his senses to find himself in a spacious hall containing over a dozen teleportation arrays. People were constantly teleporting both in and out.