A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Wang Yu’s Rebirth as the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor - Chapter 91

Chapter 90: Building a Foundation with Loans, Forging Good Relationships, and Exploring the Path Through Mining

With the invasion of the Six Demonic Sects imminent, Han Li still hoped that more outstanding Qi Refining disciples of Huangfeng Valley could become Foundation Establishment cultivators, thus giving those aspiring cultivators more strength to protect themselves. After all, in large-scale wars, Foundation Establishment cultivators are more useful than Qi Refining cultivators, and have a greater chance of survival.

“The rules for distributing Foundation Establishment Pills haven’t changed.”

Dong Xuan’er shook her head:

“Junior brother, you know that there are many families joining Huangfeng Valley, and they are deeply intertwined. If the Foundation Establishment Pills are concentrated in the hands of a few people, it’s impossible to treat everyone fairly. This would cut off the path to advancement for many cultivators. Although Master persuaded Uncle Chen, Uncle Li and Uncle Lei remained neutral, and Uncle Du, Uncle Huang, and several other uncles directly refused. Moreover, many cultivation families also disagreed. So, this matter can only be left unresolved.”

Han Li sighed inwardly upon hearing this.

It turned out that just three years ago, before his seclusion, he had asked Dong Xuan’er to deliver some messages to Master Hong Fu.

He explained the difference between distributing Foundation Establishment Pills one to each of hundreds of people and distributing them two to each of fifty or sixty people.

His suggestion was to distribute the Foundation Establishment Pills obtained by the sect in pairs, prioritizing a small group of disciples with high overall abilities to achieve Foundation Establishment first.

The success rate of a single Foundation Establishment Pill was simply too low.

With over a hundred people each taking one pill, only about ten would achieve Foundation Establishment each time. In other words, Huangfeng Valley would only gain about ten new Foundation Establishment cultivators every five years. That’s twenty-odd every ten years, and only about five hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators in two hundred years. And Huangfeng Valley would indeed only have about five hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators in total.

Was this reasonable?

In Han Li’s view, it was very unreasonable.

Huangfeng Valley would distribute over a hundred Foundation Establishment Pills every five years.

That’s over two hundred every ten years.

That’s over four thousand every two hundred years.

What if the 4,000+ Foundation Establishment Pills were concentrated on over 1,000 outstanding disciples with at least three spiritual roots, each taking three or four pills to attempt Foundation Establishment? The result would be

far more than 500 Foundation Establishment cultivators in Huangfeng Valley.

More than double.

Of course, Huangfeng Valley couldn’t truly cut off all disciples’ escape routes; they couldn’t be too greedy. Therefore, Han Li proposed increasing the number of Foundation Establishment Pills an outstanding disciple received from one to two. Two pills would be given to a cultivator with three spiritual roots, allowing them to reach the peak of the twelfth level of Qi Refining or even the thirteenth level before consuming two more pills. At that point, there would be at least a 60% chance of successfully establishing their foundation.

In this way, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in Huangfeng Valley might surge to three or four times its current number.

With more Foundation Establishment cultivators, the share of Yue Kingdom’s profits would naturally increase significantly.

More Foundation Establishment cultivators meant a larger share of profits, naturally increasing the probability of new Core Formation cultivators emerging. And

with more Core Formation cultivators, the share of profits would be even greater.

Then, with the sect and many others supporting one person, the probability of producing a new Nascent Soul cultivator should increase.

Then, more geniuses with excellent spiritual roots can be recruited.

Let the snowball grow bigger and bigger until it reaches a resource bottleneck.

This is the snowball effect.

The Hidden Moon Sect, to some extent, did just that.

As for Han Li, he certainly didn’t let outstanding disciples take two Foundation Establishment Pills for free. His rule was that one Foundation Establishment Pill was free, while the other was on credit. These people owed the sect something that needed to be repaid. It was

handled at the internal price of 3,600 spirit stones per pill.

Anyone who established their foundation with two Foundation Establishment Pills would need to do free tasks for the sect for a certain period afterward, and do certain tasks. It was equivalent to “establishing a foundation with a loan.” The sect’s management would figure out the details themselves.

The profits from the loan would be distributed to the top-ranked Qi Refining elites who didn’t receive a Foundation Establishment Pill. They would use this wealth to improve themselves and strive to stand out in the next competition. This would provide appeasement and also have a positive incentive effect.

Those like Wu Feng, who were sentenced to death after failing to establish their foundation with just one Foundation Establishment Pill and were left to fend for themselves, could be saved.

Those who could establish their foundation with just one pill would have the extra one returned immediately, without incurring the sect’s loan.

Thus,

if each batch of a hundred or so Foundation Establishment Pills only affected sixty-odd people, it could potentially help at least thirty achieve foundation establishment. With good luck, it was entirely possible for a hundred or so pills to help forty people.

Unfortunately,

Han Li’s plan was flawed.

The various powerful families, deeply rooted in Huangfeng Valley and draining its resources, were mutually restraining, and none were willing to suffer the loss first.

Therefore, Master Hongfu’s first attempt ended in failure.

“By the way, Junior Brother, this is for you.” Before parting, Dong Xuan’er handed over a sizable storage bag.

“What?” Han Li asked.

“Didn’t you make a deal with Uncle Dong before your seclusion, asking the Dong family to help create some giant wolf puppets for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators?”

He remembered; that was indeed the case.

“There are fifteen here. We haven’t collected enough materials for the remaining thirty-five, so you’ll probably have to wait a few more years.”

These Foundation Establishment stage puppets were crafted by a master craftsman from the Dong family a few years ago, before he went into seclusion, for over 20,000 spirit stones. He didn’t have many materials to forge Foundation Establishment stage puppets, but he could seek help from the various families of Huangfeng Valley.

These families would share resources.

If he could influence one of these families, it would be equivalent to influencing most of the cultivation families in Huangfeng Valley.

The Dong family was a good choice.

Although the Dong family had some disagreements with Master Hongfu and their relationship with Dong Xuan’er was strained, the fact that Master Hongfu was still looking after the Dong family at the Hongying Mountain cave meant they were still connected. He naturally wanted to be closer to them.

Of course,

there would be a price.

Spirit stones were only one price; the two Foundation Establishment puppet crafting methods from the Puppet True Manual were another. The

Soul-Trapping Technique, Soul-Gathering Technique, and Soul-Refining Technique—the three auxiliary techniques—were also part of the price.

However, these techniques are fragmented, and without the assistance of the Great Evolution Technique, even if the Dong family obtains the Puppet True Explanation, they cannot fully utilize it. The most crucial elements are still in his hands.

This price is entirely acceptable.

And his overtures are also welcomed by the Dong family.

The two sides quickly reached an agreement.

The three-zhang giant wolf puppet is comparable to a level 3 puppet in the early to mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The cost of one is over a thousand spirit stones.

Compared to a level 2 puppet at the late Qi Refining stage, it was more than ten times more expensive.

However, it was well worth the price.

Activated with mid-grade spirit stones, its power was considerable. With his current mastery of the Great Evolution Technique, he could easily control twenty or thirty puppets simultaneously.

Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators in front of him…

heh.

…

Back at the Spirit Spring Cave,

Han Li tossed the two live eggs that his master Hong Fu hadn’t chosen, along with the four that Dong Xuan’er and the other two women had returned to him, into the Spirit Eye Spring.

The Spirit Eye Spring was the best incubation ground for spirit insect and spirit beast eggs, continuously enhancing the spiritual power and activity of the young eggs, allowing them to develop healthily. He figured it wouldn’t be more than a year or two before several little mantises hatched.

Later, he went to the Qilin Pavilion to find more than a dozen mid-level level 1 Iron-Armed Beasts, essentially pangolins that would become demon beasts.

In the future, professional miners would be indispensable for mining spirit stone ore.

After all, he couldn’t possibly do all the mining himself, could he?

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Han Li obtained the top-tier magic weapon he desired:

a set of crescent-shaped throwing knives with patterns of gold, green, white, and gray.

Gray was the dominant color, the very color of the Golden-backed Demon Mantis.

The gold, green, and white represented the essence of gold, copper, and tin, respectively.

These two crescent-shaped throwing knives were crafted from the forelimbs of the Golden-backed Demon Mantis, making them incredibly sharp. They were several times sharper than the Silver Radiance Sword, almost comparable to a true magic weapon. In terms of hardness, they were truly at the level of a magic weapon. When Master Hong Fu gave him the item, she was amazed by the quality of the copper essence.

The two crescent-shaped throwing knives were practically two magic weapons without the power of a Core Formation stage cultivator.

In addition, he also received a flying boat.

“Master is so generous! Knowing that I lacked a suitable flying vehicle, he gave me this flying boat.” Flying swords were fine for one person, but with three or five people, they were not only crowded but also slowed down considerably. Unlike flying boats, the speed did not decrease significantly with the addition of one or two people.

This Flowing Cloud Boat is quite small, a striking blue-green color, only about ten feet long, perfectly accommodating four or five people.

Two pairs of oars, crafted from the fore and hind limbs of some kind of demonic beast, are embedded in its sides. The hull is forged from the carapace of another level-three flying demonic beast that Master Hongfu hunted in a dangerous wilderness during his travels years ago. The combination of these two elements creates the Flowing Cloud Boat.

Even before the oars are activated, its speed is comparable to that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator flying on a sword—approximately 240 feet per second.

With both oars operating simultaneously, constantly vibrating and accelerating, the speed can even reach 360 feet per second.

Crucially, it doesn’t require much mana;

the spiritual energy of spirit stones is sufficient to power it.

However, in Han Li’s view, the Flowing Cloud Boat is merely a bonus. Master Hongfu’s true masterpiece is the armor she bestowed upon him: the Golden-Backed Cloud Armor.

“That Golden-Backed Mantis must have suffered terribly these past few days.”

Above a body of water in Huangfeng Valley, Han Li, with two pairs of thin wings on his back, whizzed through the air. As he intentionally lowered himself to a low altitude, the air currents swirled and surged, his clothes and trousers rustled, and the water’s surface was parted with a whoosh, creating two beautiful white splashes on the emerald lake.

These two pairs of wings, as thin as cicada wings, were indeed the wings of the Golden-Backed Mantis.

That’s right, the giant mantis’s wings had been forcibly removed by Master Hongfu.

Combined with the giant mantis’s breastplate, they were forged into this Golden-Backed Cloud Armor, a top-grade flying magic weapon and a precious defensive armor.

Hmm, a large piece of the breastplate and backplate were also torn off…

“Hiss…!”

Just thinking about it made me feel excruciating pain for the Golden-Backed Mantis.

“Buzz buzz buzz…”

Behind the armor, the cicada wings connecting to the spine vibrated rapidly, his speed far exceeding when he was piloting a flying sword and the Flowing Cloud Boat. Not only was his speed faster, but he was also more agile.

“With this armor and the escape technique that burns my essence blood, who below the Core Formation stage can catch me?”

The cool lake breeze felt wonderful on his face.

In this way, regarding top-tier magical artifacts, he had everything—attack, defense, control, long-distance flight, and short-distance agility.

He also had a level four giant tiger puppet and numerous level two and three puppets providing support and cover.

“The Six Demonic Sects are invading? Come on.”

…

In the sect’s council hall.

Han Li met Zhong Lingdao.

“Sect Leader, did you summon me with good news?”

“I’ve found you a good buyer; he’s willing to pay a high price for the strange insects you possess,” Zhong Lingdao said with a smile.

“Really?”

Han Li’s eyes lit up.

“It’s true,” Zhong Lingdao stroked his beard and nodded.

“Is his background clean? I don’t want to aid the enemy,” Han Li said cautiously.

“Junior brother, don’t worry, he comes from a family in my Yellow Maple Valley, and he’s definitely one of us.”

“Oh? Which family’s senior brother is he?”

“Junior brother, do you know which three super families our sect has?”

“The Chen family, the Lei family, and… the Linghu family!” Han Li replied, his eyes flickering thoughtfully, “Could it be that the one who wants my batch of spirit insects is someone from one of these three families?”

“That’s right, just as you guessed, junior brother, the other party is indeed a junior brother from the Linghu family.” Zhong Lingdao nodded in affirmation.

It’s actually someone from the Linghu family who wants to buy his spirit insects?

Does the Linghu family also have cultivators who play with spirit beasts and insects?

“If it’s a senior brother from the Linghu family, I have no objection, but I wonder what price that senior brother is asking?” Han Li asked seriously, “The price can’t be too low.” “

Junior brother, don’t worry, the price that Junior Brother Guang offered is even above the market price, you definitely won’t lose out.”

“So rich? Wait, what’s his relationship with the ancestor or Uncle Huiming? Could he be a direct descendant of the Linghu family?” Han Li asked nervously.

“Junior Brother Han, do you also know about Junior Brother Guang’s matter?”

“No, not at all.” Han Li shook his head.

Everyone knows about the Nascent Soul stage pillar of Huangfeng Valley, “Ancestor Linghu.”

But many people overlook the Linghu family under Ancestor Linghu’s protection.

The eight Core Formation cultivators of Huangfeng Valley are: Li Huayuan, who first started as a rogue cultivator and later joined the sect; Hong Fu of the Dong family; Uncle Du of the Du family; Uncle Feng of the Feng family; Uncle Huang Nie of the Huang family; Uncle Lei Wanhe of the Lei family; Ancestor Chen of the Chen family; and finally, Linghu Huiming of the Linghu family.

This person, like Master Hongfu, is another powerful figure in Huangfeng Valley who possesses a title even at the Core Formation stage. Although only at the mid-Core Formation stage, his strength and methods are almost on par with ordinary late-Core Formation cultivators.

He is the second-in-command of the Linghu family.

To this day, he is still using a certain pill bestowed by the Linghu Patriarch to break through his bottleneck, hoping to quickly advance to the late-Core Formation stage.

However, he is several decades older than Master Hongfu, belonging to the same generation as Old Monster Qiong. Therefore, even if he eventually reaches the late-Core Formation stage, even with the strong support of the Linghu Patriarch, the Nascent Soul stage will be extremely difficult.

Chen Qiaoqian has become his disciple.

If the Foundation Establishment stage senior brother of the Linghu family who wants to buy his spirit insect has no connection with these two, he probably won’t be able to afford it.

“Sect Leader, could you tell me about Senior Brother Guang from the Linghu family?” Han Li chose a seat and sat down.

Zhong Lingdao didn’t hide anything:

“Junior Brother Guang’s second uncle is none other than Senior Uncle Huiming. Junior Brother Guang’s master is Senior Uncle Du.”

Senior Uncle Du, as taught by Headmaster Zhong, was actually much younger than Master Hongfu, about twenty years younger.

He should address him as Senior Uncle.

“Junior Brother Guang is almost a hundred years old. Although he’s not a Core Formation seed of the Linghu family this generation, only possessing three spiritual roots, two of the best Core Formation seeds in the Linghu family this generation are his offspring. Furthermore, the one with the best aptitude and a special physique is his eldest daughter.” “

This woman reached the late Foundation Establishment stage before she was sixty. Crucially, she rarely took medicine before, only starting to take it to help purify her mana after reaching the late Foundation Establishment stage (thus maximizing the medicinal effects). It’s estimated that she’ll reach the Pseudo-Core stage in another twenty or thirty years.” “

Therefore, Junior Brother Guang’s identity is very special. Junior Brother should befriend him, lest you lose sight of the bigger picture.”

Han Li nodded repeatedly upon hearing this:

“Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother.”

He was truly grateful for the information provided by Zhong Lingdao.

“Junior Brother Guang doesn’t have any other hobbies, he just likes raising spirit beasts and insects, especially rare ones. Junior Brother probably doesn’t know, but about 20% of the spirit beasts in the sect’s Qilin Pavilion were collected and bred by Junior Brother Guang.”

“Then shouldn’t I thank Senior Brother Guang? My spirit pets all come from the Qilin Pavilion,” Han Li said with a smile.

Zhong Lingdao stroked his beard and smiled in return.

“Junior Brother Han, Junior Brother Guang once had a vision: to learn from Spirit Beast Mountain and enhance the foundation of our Yellow Maple Valley through the inheritance of spirit beasts. If the sect could have several more high-level spirit beasts like Spirit Beast Mountain, the sect’s status in Yue Kingdom would naturally rise. However, it has never been recognized, and it hasn’t produced any real results. Junior Brother, please don’t mention this in front of Junior Brother Guang, lest it cause unpleasantness.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful.”

Clearly, Senior Brother Guang’s idea was good.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to realize.

After all, the sect’s resources are limited; they’re barely enough to train tens of thousands of disciples, let alone spare enough to train spirit beasts.

Without resources, relying solely on time, the advancement speed of spirit beasts is far too slow, several times slower than that of ordinary human cultivators. The growth of spirit beasts is difficult to demonstrate in a short time, and cultivating high-level inheritance spirit beasts within decades is simply a pipe dream. As a result, the sect sees no tangible results and naturally won’t proceed according to Linghu Guang’s plan.

Thus ,

Senior Brother Guang toiled for decades without making a ripple.

“Alright, Junior Brother, how do you plan to trade? When will the trade take place?” Zhong Lingdao asked.

Han Li was direct, simply taking out several bottles and jars from his spirit beast pouch:

“Senior brother, I have five kinds of spirit insects here: Thousand-Jointed Insect, Crystal Jade Flying Beetle, Black Blood Fierce Mosquito, Moon Shadow Moth, and Ironclad Army Ant. Among them, the Thousand-Jointed Insect ranks over 180 on the list of rare insects at Spirit Beast Mountain. Larvae without blood pact marks usually sell for 300 spirit stones each. Is it okay if I ask for 200 spirit stones each?”

“Sure.”

Just then, a voice came from outside the hall.

A middle-aged man wearing black goggles, his entire body shrouded in a large overcoat with only his face visible, entered. His cultivation aura indicated late-stage Foundation Establishment.

“Junior Brother Guang?” Zhong Lingdao stood up.

“Senior Brother Zhong.” The middle-aged man nodded, then looked at Han Li, who had also stood up: “Junior Brother Han from Hongying Mountain, right? We’ve finally met.”

“Greetings, Senior Brother Guang.” Han Li clasped his hands in greeting.

“Hmm.” The middle-aged man sat down and readily took out a storage bag: “I heard from Senior Brother Zhong that you have a batch of spirit insect larvae that have been bound by blood pacts? Among them are fifty Thousand-Jointed Insects, fifty Crystal Jade Flying Beetles, seventy Black Blood Fierce Mosquito larvae, eighty Moon Shadow Moth larvae, and one hundred Ironclad Army Ants. Is that correct?”

Han Li nodded: “Just as you two senior brothers said, there are indeed that many.”

Han Li pointed to the five bottles and jars on the table.

Originally, if he could gradually remove those blood pact marks over several years or even decades, he could sell them for a higher price. But time was running out; he needed to stockpile resources quickly and then resell them during wartime to make a quick buck. Spirit insects with potential but lacking the time to nurture should be left to those with the time. He wouldn’t delay their future.

“Junior brother is so generous! Here, according to market prices, each Thousand-Jointed Insect is worth 200 spirit stones, each Crystal Jade Flying Beetle 180 spirit stones, each Black Blood Fierce Mosquito 240 spirit stones, each Moon Shadow Moth 150 spirit stones, and each Ironclad Army Ant 120 spirit stones. That’s a total of 59,800 spirit stones. I’ll round it up to 60,000 spirit stones. What do you think, junior brother?” Linghu Guang said generously.

“Senior Brother Guang is destined for great things,”

Han Li praised.

He had no intention of refusing this sum of spirit stones.

If he were a Foundation Establishment cultivator without any background, he wouldn’t dare touch these spirit stones; they would be too hot to handle.

But he was from the Red Tassel Mountain lineage, so these spirit stones were nothing to him.

He had seen much bigger scenes before.

Linghu Guang, seeing Han Li’s completely nonchalant attitude towards the 60,000 spirit stones, couldn’t help but twitch: Sure enough, as rumored, this junior brother was highly regarded by his senior sister, Hong Fu, and his wealth was probably no less than that of the second or third generation of the sect.

Seven Foundation Establishment Pills were given away so easily, and his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years, reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment in just a few years. It was said that Senior Sister Hong Fu used most of the spiritual herbs she harvested in the forbidden area on this junior brother, forcing him to rely on pills to reach his current cultivation level.

This junior brother was no ordinary person; he was not to be trifled with.

“By the way, Senior Brother, spirit insects alone aren’t enough. I’ll give you the spirit grains and demon beast meat that feed them. Please don’t refuse.”

As Han Li spoke, he took out some bottles and jars from the storage bag of a Core Formation cultivator from the Spirit Control Sect.

He also took out some demon beast meat from the forbidden area.

This demon beast meat would be harmful to human cultivators because it was mixed with impure demonic energy. Even after some processing, it would damage a cultivator’s foundation. However, some of it would be beneficial to the spirit insects and demon beasts, and even greatly beneficial to the demon beasts. If given to wild beasts, it might even cause ordinary beasts to transform, increasing their spiritual power and evolving into demon beasts.

It was worth some spirit stones, but not much.

Linghu Guang’s eyes lit up when he saw Han Li’s goodwill:

“Alright, alright, then I won’t be polite, Senior Brother.”

Each bottle and jar clearly indicated which type of demon beast it contained. Along with it came a jade slip containing some insights into raising insects and beasts.

This junior brother is truly generous.

This jade slip alone is of great research value.

“Senior brother, I heard that you want to strengthen the sect’s foundation by inheriting spirit beasts?” Just as Linghu Guang was happily accepting the gifts, Han Li suddenly said this.

These words made Zhong Lingdao’s heart skip a beat.

Linghu Guang’s smile gradually faded.

He hated it when people brought this up in front of him.

“What’s your opinion, junior brother?”

Suppressing his anxiety, Linghu Guang forced a smile.

“Junior brother believes that senior brother’s idea is feasible.” Han Li looked serious and then presented a successful example: “Whether it’s the Spirit Control Sect, one of the six major sects of the demonic path, or the Spirit Beast Mountain, one of the seven major sects of my Yue Kingdom, they all rely on the power of spirit beasts and spirit insects. This shows that senior brother’s proposal is feasible, and very promising.”

Han Li’s words made Linghu Guang frown slightly, feeling confused.

He simply couldn’t tell whether Han Li’s words were sincere or feigned.

Seeing this, Han Li’s smile widened:

“Senior Brother, I do think your idea is very good and will bring benefits to the sect in the future. But in my opinion, Senior Brother has gone astray. Senior Brother shouldn’t have focused so much energy on those spirit insects ranked too low on the rare insect list or those demonic beasts with low bloodline quality. Instead, you should have targeted those demonic beasts with good bloodlines and potential. Rare insects ranked in the two or three hundred, such as the Thousand-Jointed Insect, the Crystal Jade Flying Beetle, the Black Blood Fierce Mosquito, the Moon Shadow Moth, and the Ironclad Army Ant, are still a bit lacking.”

After saying this in one breath, Han Li said no more.

On the other side, Zhong Lingdao’s tension turned into a strange expression.

Linghu Guang’s displeasure a second ago turned into relief and helplessness:

“I didn’t expect that there would be someone in the sect who shares my thoughts.”

“Eh? Senior Brother thinks so too? Then why does Senior Brother still spend so much effort collecting some spirit insects with not much potential?” Han Li pretended to be puzzled.

“Junior brother, naturally I want to collect those spirit beasts and insects with powerful bloodlines and great potential to cultivate, but Yue Kingdom is only so big, and the surrounding countries are not places I can reach. Spirit beasts and insects with some potential simply cannot be found on the market, how can I collect them? The five kinds of rare insects you provided are already the best quality spirit insects I have seen in recent years.”

The few precious varieties he had collected earlier would only be ranked outside the top seven or eight hundred on the rare insect list.

Being able to see rare insects ranked two or three hundred was already far beyond his expectations, and he was already very happy and satisfied.

“Senior brother Guang, if you are so easily satisfied, then your path will not work.”

Han Li poured cold water on him.

Zhong Lingdao’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and the heart that had just been put down was raised again: What’s the situation with this junior brother Han?

Linghu Guang was not angry at this time, because he understood that what his fellow cultivator said was true. He then looked at Han Li expectantly:

“Junior brother, you specifically told me all this, is there anything you want to teach me?”

If he didn’t have anything to teach him, he certainly wouldn’t have rambled on like this.

“Senior brother, have you ever heard of the Golden-backed Demon Mantis?”

“Of course I’ve heard of it. The renowned Golden-backed Demon Mantis is a powerful and rare insect that can grow to the level of a high-level demon beast. It’s far superior to the Thousand-jointed Insect and the other five spirit insects.”

“Then, Senior Brother, are you interested in the Golden-backed Demon Mantis eggs that haven’t yet formed a blood pact?”

Han Li’s true intentions were revealed.

It was rare to encounter a fellow cultivator who loved collecting spirit beasts and insects, so he naturally wanted to strongly support the other’s dream and career, and earn some spirit stones along the way.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

“Junior Brother has Golden-backed Demon Mantis eggs?”

Linghu Guang suddenly stood up, his face filled with shock and joy.

“Not many, just two, both alive. I obtained them from a level four Golden-backed Demon Mantis I captured earlier,” Han Li said calmly, toying with his teacup. “I was just about to form a blood pact with the two eggs to make them recognize their master sooner, and then nurture them a little more later. If you need them, Senior Brother…”

“Yes, yes! Three thousand spirit stones each, I’ll offer six thousand!” Linghu Guang grabbed Han Li’s right hand, his excited eyes pleading and yearning.

Entrusting such precious insects to this junior brother who didn’t seem to care much about raising them was a complete waste.

It was better to give them to Linghu Guang.

“Senior Brother…”

“Junior Brother, four thousand spirit stones each!”

Four thousand?

“No, no, no, three thousand, just three thousand. I’ll earn some spirit stones to support your career and dreams, Senior Brother. We’ll each get what we need.”

If it really was four thousand spirit stones per egg, some people from the Linghu family would probably come knocking on our door.

“Alright, alright, thank you, junior brother, thank you so much.”

Others might think that buying an egg with an unknown hatching time and whether it would hatch successfully for three or four thousand spirit stones is expensive, but in Linghu Guang’s eyes, it’s not expensive at all; in fact, he’s making a huge profit.

Admittedly, under normal circumstances, even a Core Formation cultivator might not be able to obtain a healthy Golden-backed Demon Mantis after hatching.

But he’s different.

His ancestor is Ancestor Linghu.

He possesses a Spirit Eye Stone and a Spirit Eye Spring of considerable size.

The Spirit Eye Spring is the best incubation ground for spirit beast eggs and spirit insect eggs.

The two little guys will definitely grow up smoothly.

Reaching a high level in the future will not be difficult at all.

With the help of the Spirit Eye Spring, and with his ancestor’s care and the bestowal of some pills and spirit herbs suitable for the Golden-backed Demon Mantis, he might even be able to see the two peak level four demon beasts he raised in his lifetime! He might

even see two level five demon beasts as his beloved daughter’s spirit pets and future!

If that happens, he will be completely satisfied.

“Senior Brother Guang, I need a docile and obedient double-eyed rat. Do you have any connections?” Han Li hadn’t forgotten about the double-eyed rats.

“Junior Brother, you want to buy a double-eyed rat that hasn’t been bound by a blood pact or restriction, right?”

“Yes.”

Although the Qilin Pavilion sells double-eyed rats, they are extremely valuable, and every single one has a blood pact within it. Removing those blood pact restrictions one by one would take too much time, so it would be best to find one that has never been bound by a contract.

“Hmm…”

Linghu Guang frowned, his knuckles tapping lightly on the table.

Han Li assumed that he would have to pay a high price for spirit stones.

But the next moment, Linghu Guang smiled:

“If it were anyone else, I would definitely refuse to trade a double-eyed rat without hesitation. That little thing is incredibly useful, a great tool for finding spirit veins. The sect has cultivated them for hundreds of years, and they are extremely rare. But if it’s Junior Brother Han…”

This was a kindred spirit.

A junior brother who rarely agreed with his beliefs. “

We have to win them over no matter what.

” Linghu Guang said, “Junior brother, I have a high-level double-eyed rat here. It’s obedient and has never been contracted with anyone. It was originally a little gift I left for my grandchildren, but unfortunately, my eldest daughter and two sons are all useless and haven’t been able to add any descendants to the Linghu family. If you’re interested, I’ll give this little guy to you.”

“Give it to me? No, no, no.” Han Li quickly waved his hand: “Senior brother, name your price in spirit stones…”

“Junior brother, don’t worry about that. Compared to the two golden-backed mantis eggs you sold me, what is a double-eyed rat that can’t enhance the sect’s foundation?” One more or one less won’t make a difference. As

Linghu Guang spoke, he placed a spirit beast pouch in Han Li’s palm.

“Senior brother, this…”

“Take it, don’t be stingy.”

“…”

“By the way, Junior Brother Han, are you going to sell that level four golden-backed mantis you caught?”

Han Li smiled but didn’t say anything.

That giant mantis is a cash cow now, how could he possibly sell it? As long as there’s enough Rainbow Grass, how many surviving demon beast eggs will there be? How many baby mantises he wants depends on the amount of Rainbow Grass he has.

Instead of killing the Golden-backed Demon Mantis, he captured it alive. The giant mantis is grateful for his mercy, so what’s wrong with having more offspring? Animals should act like animals.

The three then chatted about various interesting things.

Just as they were about to part, Han Li looked at Linghu Guang and suddenly asked, “Senior Brother Guang, I heard you have a daughter who is already in the late Foundation Establishment stage?”

“Junior Brother Han, you…”

This kid wouldn’t be thinking of taking advantage of his daughter, would he?

Dual spiritual roots or other special physiques would be fine.

But if it’s just a pseudo-spiritual root, even if she manages to reach Foundation Establishment, the Core Formation stage will be incredibly difficult. How could he push his daughter into this fire pit?

No, no,

absolutely not.

“Senior brother, I have a Youth-Preserving Pill here to give to your daughter. It will help her reach the Core Formation stage soon and become an elder-level member of our sect. I also wish her eternal youth,” Han Li sincerely wished.

A Youth-Preserving Pill was a token of reciprocity. It

wasn’t like he got the Twin-Pupil Rat for nothing.

With his abundant spirit stone reserves, he no longer had any problems with the sustainability of his newly acquired Foundation Establishment puppets.

He had no intention of selling the two kinds of spirit insects, including the Golden-Backed Demon Mantis.

Those two strange insects were ranked in the top 100 of the Strange Insect Ranking.

Currently, they were all eggs,

not yet hatched.

They must have been recently seized by the Spirit Control Sect cultivators.

Because there were only a few, he was reluctant to sell them.

Let the future Gold-Eating Insects devour it.

…

Two months passed in a flash.

After the matter of selling spirit insects subsided, and after thoroughly understanding and skillfully controlling the abilities of more than a dozen Foundation Establishment stage puppets, Han Li immediately left his cave through the underground secret passage and arrived in Xizhou, more than a hundred miles away. He entered a vast Gobi Desert stretching for thousands of miles.

His direction was directly towards the mine guarded by Yu Xing, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator from the Yu family of Tianque Fortress.

This spirit stone vein was originally one of the more than a dozen large veins shared by the seven sects. It

was originally a medium-sized, low-grade vein that stretched for more than a hundred miles.

However, after thousands or even tens of thousands of years of sustainable mining, it had shrunk to a small-to-medium-grade vein of only seventy or eighty miles, with an annual output reduced to sixty or seventy thousand low-grade spirit stones, and only occasionally could one find medium-grade spirit stones.

However, since the environment in Tiannan was still deteriorating compared to thousands of years ago, and the nearby spirit veins were gradually withering, the downward trend in production here was bound to continue.

It seemed that in another two or three hundred years, this vein would be completely abandoned.

Spirit stone veins are, in fact, originally spirit veins. They are companion veins that gradually crystallize and form from spirit veins over tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. As long as cultivators do not destroy the main spirit vein and the companion veins, spirit stones can be re-condensed at new nodes within the original veins over hundreds or thousands of years.

Furthermore, spirit stones are influenced by the rules of heaven and earth, and can only be condensed into four grades: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade.

The quality differs by a factor of a hundred within each grade.

And there is no difference between 1 and 100, only between 2 and 99.

The seven sects of Yue Kingdom possess four large-scale original mines, each over a hundred miles long, all of which are mid-grade rich mines with an annual output exceeding 300,000 spirit stones, each producing over 2,000 mid-grade spirit stones. They also have eighteen larger mines, each producing between 50,000 and 300,000 spirit stones, primarily low-grade spirit stones, with a small amount of mid-grade spirit stones. There are also over three hundred small mines, some producing a few thousand, others twenty or thirty thousand annually.

The seven sects of Yue Kingdom maintained their economic development through these numerous mines.

The one Han Li wanted to explore now, due to the passage of time, was only the lowest of the eighteen larger mines. It wasn’t particularly remarkable.

He had come uninvited.

The mine area was protected by the Four Fiends Array set up by the array masters of the seven sects, which was difficult for ordinary Foundation Establishment stage techniques to break through. In addition, the law enforcement team came to check regularly, so he couldn’t make too much noise to avoid complications. In other words, he couldn’t force his way in; it was best to sneak in quietly.

“If this mine were guarded by the disciples of my Yellow Maple Valley, there wouldn’t be so much trouble.”

Without a suitable identity, there was no reasonable excuse to go in and take a look. Therefore, after studying the routes of several abandoned mines in advance, he simply came and

dug his own tunnel. He started from dozens of miles away.

In a canyon a hundred feet deep, he used the Silver Radiance Sword, which could cut through iron like mud, to carve out a passage. While digging through the rocks, he used two large-capacity storage bags he had prepared beforehand to transport the materials. Under the cover of night, he buried all the excavated rock fragments in a desolate area hundreds of miles away to avoid alerting the patrolling cultivators.

After more than half a month and over ten trips, he finally dug a passage several hundred feet deep.

This hidden passage connected to an abandoned underground mine and a stalactite cave, and the ancient teleportation array he was looking for was located within these spiderweb-like network of abandoned mine tunnels.

To be precise, it was located at the edge of one of the long-abandoned original ore veins, inside a huge stalactite cave.

Top-tier, top-grade magic artifacts: Azure Condensation Mirror x2, Silver Radiance Sword x1, Crescent Moon Flying Knife x2.

Top-tier, rare items: Azure Dragon Chain, Fine Steel Bracelet, Cloud-Stepping Boots.

Top-tier, fine items: Yellow Jade Robe.

Other flying magic artifacts include: Flowing Cloud Boat, Golden Back Cloud Armor.

The flying magic sword from before is currently stored away; he can sell it at the Wanbao Pavilion later.

—By

the way, brothers, votes, votes! I love votes!

(End of this chapter)