Chapter 290: Several Third-Grade Treasures, Waiting for the Wind to Rise

There were many scattered alchemists like Huang Kai who were unwilling to be enslaved by the Alchemy Hall. Naturally, they sought other methods, the simplest of which was to cooperate with the Holy Sect city lords stationed in various towns.

These city lords had stable channels for spiritual herbs, enough to meet the alchemists' various needs. If alchemists couldn't make a living within the mountain sect, going out and working with the Holy Sect city lords was also a clear path.

If this collective power could be united to re-establish an Alchemist Association, relevant channels would automatically emerge, fostering deeper ties of mutual interest with the Zuoqiu and Zhuo clans.

These ideas couldn't be implemented immediately; he could only lay the groundwork for now. He discreetly contacted those frustrated alchemists, introducing them all to Guiling City, which also generated income for him. Those eager for change would agree, driven by a "let's try" attitude. Even this initial group was quite substantial.

Thus, another month passed.

Yu Tangtang visited Hanxue Peak three times, bringing with her several spiritual items that made Wang Yu's eyes light up, as well as a new batch of spiritual elixir requests. After a quick look, he understood the hidden secret. Sure enough, these were the demands of the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon. Yu Tangtang was merely a messenger, and Tantai Chan also came along, looking at him eagerly.

Wang Yu: "..."

This batch of elixirs was in high demand and mostly consisted of pills used by demonic beasts. The Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon must have established contact and trade channels with them. After the last test confirmed his abilities, they were now scaling up.

Frankly, Wang Yu didn't believe the sect was unaware of this, perhaps even actively participating. He likely gained this opportunity thanks to Yu Tangtang, though his own formidable capabilities were also a major factor. As for whether selling to the demon race constituted aiding the enemy, that was laughable; he was a pure demonic cultivator, entirely devoid of racial prejudice. Moreover, both the Taihu and Chiyuan human races were dominant powers. Demonic creatures were confined to regions like the North-South Divide Mountains, the Barren Ancient Plains, and Vermilion Bird Divine Mountain.

"Tangtang, deliver this batch of elixirs within a year. Come once a month to collect them. Tantai Chan, come with me into the alchemy room."

"—Wait!"

Yu Tangtang puffed out her cheeks and flew to a position where she could look down at Wang Yu, the distance between them less than an inch. Her chubby face showed annoyance. "Wang Yu, you haven't called me Sister Tangtang recently!"

"Hahaha."

"Don't laugh! I'll hit you!"

Wang Yu had thought she intended to join them, but it turned out to be about this matter. His eyes quickly darted, and he softly said, "Sister Tangtang, Chan'er is right here. I am an elder, after all. How about I call you that privately? I need a little bit of dignity."

Yu Tangtang glanced suspiciously at Tantai Chan, which immediately made the latter blush. She also whispered, "Tangtang understands. Wang Yu, call me a few more times."

"Sister Tangtang, Sister Tangtang, Sister Tangtang..."

"Enough, enough."

The little shorty, now satisfied, moved out of the way. Her "big sister" personality, he wondered where she learned it from, was quite easy to please.

"Come in."

Tantai Chan followed closely. As soon as they entered the alchemy chamber, the restrictions activated, and two large hands wrapped around her from behind, hot breath pressing against the back of her neck. Their bodies perfectly aligned.

"Mmm... I... I'm here to learn alchemy, Elder... Elder Wang."

"Don't rush. You'll learn faster with a balance of work and rest."

Hearing this, Tantai Chan couldn't help but lean her head back, completely relaxing. Yet, in her mind, she wondered, "Is there truly such a thing as 'rest first' in a work-rest balance?" Now wasn't the time to ponder such things; she, too, was immersed in this gentle embrace, where she didn't need to think about external matters.

As the saying goes, "When men and women work together, the labor feels less tiring." This was precisely the case.

The next day.

Wang Yu rose from the ground and immediately ignited the furnace without a word. Ever since this special relationship developed with little Chan'er, he, Wang, had been inexplicably enchanted, having gotten a taste for it. It truly was quite improper.

"Today, I abstain from lust!"

Among the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon's requests, the Demonic Core Elixir was primary. Wang Yu, having experience refining this elixir, began with it. After Tantai Chan awoke, she also quietly came to Wang Yu's side, carefully observing his techniques and skills. Such an opportunity was rare in Chiyuan. With long-term accumulation, she would surely make a major breakthrough in alchemy, not to mention Wang Yu occasionally offering pointers and explaining the significance of certain actions during the alchemy process.

Half a month later, the furnace fires ceased.

Wang Yu, utilizing his divine sense splitting technique, simultaneously operated several furnaces. With the aid of the Ice Dragon Elixir Flame, his recent refining sessions had become increasingly effortless and pleasant. The first batch of delivered elixirs consisted of twenty-one pieces, all of superior quality.

What Wang Yu received was a rare spiritual item he had been seeking for quite some time: the vital essence of a third-tier dragon-blood demonic beast, the Dragon-Horned Earth Python. There were hundreds of drops, allowing him to refine more advanced dragon-blood secret medicines to accelerate his body cultivation. His cultivation progress at the third layer of Core Formation was already more than halfway, and he might reach the mid-stage bottleneck by the end of the year, yet his body cultivation remained at the early third-tier stage. It was indeed a bit slow. With this resource, the situation would greatly improve.

Besides that, there were two other third-tier spiritual items. One was the main ingredient for the 'Vast Cold Elixir,' a third-tier cultivation elixir from the 'Ice Soul Sacred Demonic Scripture' — the osmanthus leaf! This was convenient for him; refining a top-grade elixir from it would allow his cultivation speed to surge significantly again. Normally, he would keep consuming elixirs until he hit an elixir barrier, then switch formulas. However, third-tier cultivators couldn't afford to be so extravagant; they primarily used whatever was available. Collecting more cultivation elixir formulas suitable for him meant he could refine them later when he encountered the corresponding spiritual herbs. Most Core Formation cultivators consume a variety of cultivation elixirs precisely because the main ingredients are rare.

The other item was called 'Hundred Ghosts Soul Nourishing Liquid'! This precious soul-nourishing liquid, refined from the essence of a hundred ghosts, could significantly enhance the origin of the divine soul. This constituted the full compensation for this alchemy session. He had mentioned this to Yu Tangtang previously, so there was no need to worry that the treasures provided by the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon wouldn't suit his preferences. This batch of elixirs would take at least over a year to finish refining sequentially, so there was no need to consider a second commission for now.

After seeing them off, Wang Yu slowly absorbed and refined the soul-nourishing liquid. This substance looked like a puddle of black water, and the method of use was to apply it to the glabella (center of the forehead). Each application required several days, but the enhancement effect was significant, bringing clear benefits to his divine sense. This process continued for several days.

After the initial absorption and refinement, Wang Yu felt his third-tier mid-stage divine sense clearly increased by a significant margin, equivalent to a year of arduous cultivation of the 'Ancient Soul Art.' Using it all would certainly elevate him to another small level.

On this day, perhaps having finally received the news, Yan Ling and his neighbor Xue Ying proactively came to his cave abode.

"Fellow Daoist Wang Yu, I recently heard from Alchemist Tantai that you also possess alchemy skills. To what extent have you reached, and are you able to refine superior-grade third-tier spiritual elixirs?"

Yan Ling got straight to the point, likely having anticipated Wang Yu's intentions. After all, Wang Yu had intentionally allowed Tantai Chan to disclose the information to Yan Ling, so her guessing was not surprising. A single Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon simply couldn't provide enough third-tier resources. It wasn't that the dragon didn't have much, but rather that the amount it provided was exactly commensurate with his alchemy output. Simply put, the orders were too few! His production capacity hadn't reached a surplus; he was simply being greedy. Only by having resources in hand would he consider slowly digesting and reallocating them. He was both taking a cut and consuming the benefits. His conduct could be described as quite unsightly, but as long as he could refine superior-grade third-tier spiritual elixirs, everything else could be ignored. In Chiyuan, interests and ability were parallel. One takes as much as one is capable of handling – it was perfectly reasonable!

"Your Highness Yan Ling, please elaborate..."

From this day forward, time seemed to accelerate. Yan Ling, who had already intended to recruit Wang Yu and, through him, establish contact with the Zuoqiu and Zhuo families, invested even more upon discovering his alchemy talent. Following the transaction with the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon, Yan Ling also established an elixir refining partnership with him, one party providing raw materials and formulas, the other providing superior-grade third-tier alchemy techniques. His remuneration consisted of those relatively rare high-level resources.

He now possessed another spiritual item called 'Fangshan Jade Tree Fruit.' This item was effective for body cultivation and could be used by dissolving it in spiritual spring water for immersion. Combined with the third-tier dragon-blood demonic beast essence he had previously acquired, it would be enough for him to break through to the mid-stage of third-tier body cultivation; everything was simply a matter of time! Regarding divine sense, what he received this time was the main ingredient for refining 'Soul Dream Core Elixir.' He had already experienced the effect of this divine sense elixir. It might even allow his divine sense to reach the late third-tier.

These two consecutive transactions filled his pockets, but his time was also completely allocated. Aside from cultivation, he was either refining elixirs, and even the comprehension of divine abilities and secret arts had slowed down. Only every few days did he find time to immerse himself in comprehending divine abilities. Although the progress of the 'Aurora Escape Art,' 'Ice Soul Divine Light,' and 'Vast Cold Twelve Forms' was slow, it was steadily improving. He wished he could split himself into four. Feng Shui Secret Arts, Taiyin Ghost Eyes, Minor Asura Killing Fist... and so on, all fell into stagnation. Everything was prioritized for alchemy.

The frantic alchemy, coupled with the full operation of the four placement slots, made Wang Yu feel his progress was much faster, with new gains every day from alchemy. Occasionally guiding Tantai Chan, his life was peaceful and pleasant. This was completely different from the anxious days in Guiling City.

However, his cultivation progress was ridiculously fast. He also had no time to go out, so he naturally had no time to prepare the elixirs for breaking through minor bottlenecks. In less than half a year, on the 316th day of his elder tenure, his spiritual power accumulation reached the upper limit of three thousand wisps, meaning that in less than two years after forming his core, he had completed all the accumulation for the initial stage of Core Formation, thanks to the perpetual motion characteristic of the placement slots!

The bottleneck he now faced was called 'Core Strengthening.' This involved pouring all three thousand wisps of spiritual power into the Golden Core, allowing it to grow stronger while simultaneously refining the spiritual power, thereby transforming it from 'wisps' to 'strands'! Similar to the Qi Refining stage, ten wisps made one strand. But from the fourth layer of Core Formation onwards, one was required to cultivate two thousand strands of spiritual power to break through to the fifth layer of Core Formation, and then accumulate to four thousand strands to break through to the sixth layer of Core Formation. When the spiritual power limit broke through to six thousand strands, the second Core Strengthening required ensuring the Golden Core reached a diameter of five millimeters, otherwise, it would be impossible to complete the step of shattering the core to form a nascent soul in the future.