Chen Ye, what he lacks are time and spirit stones!
As long as he has spirit stones, he can purchase enough Qi Recovery Pills to continue enhancing his proficiency.
Right now, the Geng Metal Technique requires eight hundred proficiency to advance to the next realm.
Eight hundred proficiency requires one hundred and sixty Qi Recovery Pills, an astronomical number!
The spirit stones obtained from the Stone Mirror Association are no longer enough to satisfy Chen Ye’s needs.
Thus, he set his sights on the Three Thousand Mountains.
Currently, his highest level skill is the Geng Metal Technique.
Its power rivals late-stage Qi Cultivation!
"I initially wanted to cautiously level up, but neither time, place, nor circumstances worked in my favor."
After shaking off the pursuers, Chen Ye walked out of the city gate, head down.
Compared to adventuring in the Three Thousand Mountains, Chen Ye would rather slowly level up.
Ever since achieving Perfection with the Evergreen Technique, he still has forty-two years of life, completely lacking no time.
But now, he faces the revenge of Kong Hongxuan and the impact of the Nascent Soul True Monarch’s tribulation.
Various factors forced Chen Ye to leave the market once again.
...
Stepping back onto the muddy roads of the shanty town,
Chen Ye lowered his hat and scanned the uneven residential area.
Occasionally, he could still see familiar loose cultivators from his past, strolling around casually.
These loose cultivators are relatively older, mostly having their fighting spirit worn out by life, living one day at a time.
But...
Once the celestial changes occur, many of these loose cultivators might not survive.
By then, the shanty town would be in an unimaginable chaos.
"Woof woof woof!"
Arriving at Granny Li’s courtyard,
Yuanyuan flared its canine nose, smelled the familiar scent, and arched its body, barking wildly at him.
"Yuanyuan, long time no see."
Chen Ye lifted his hat, smiling at the black dog.
The black dog, with a human-like expression, stared blankly. Seeing Chen Ye unafraid, it momentarily couldn’t muster a bark.
"Who?"
The wooden door creaked open, and the Dark Old Man poked his head out.
After half a month apart, the Dark Old Man’s muscles were robust and steaming, clearly having established himself in the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation.
"It’s... it’s you? Brother Chen? How come you’ve grown younger?"
Seeing the visitor clearly, he suddenly widened his eyes.
In half a month, not only did this person’s complexion become rosy, but even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes had faded a lot, looking a decade younger overall.
Seeing the black dog about to bark again, he hurriedly pressed its head down.
Chen Ye smiled and extended his hand for a fist bump with the Dark Old Man:
"I’ve made some cultivation accomplishments recently... This time, I come to ask Gen to accompany me to the Three Thousand Mountains for a trip, to hunt demon beasts and earn some spirit stones."
He had only hunted small animals in the outskirts of the Three Thousand Mountains.
He was completely unfamiliar with the inner structure.
Fortunately, the Dark Old Man had been hunting in the Three Thousand Mountains these past days, accumulating rich experience.
He is a body cultivator, a complement to Chen Ye.
Though Chen Ye practices the Heavy Body Technique, its Great Success only enhances his physique, not significantly boosting combat power.
While the Geng Metal Qi is effective for ranged attacks, it’s lacking in close combat.
The Dark Old Man paused in stroking the dog’s head, subconsciously glancing back inside the house:
"Brother Chen, why the sudden interest in demon hunting? But... the mountains have been restless these days. The demon beasts are agitated, and the loose cultivators dare not venture deep."
The Dark Old Man’s rejection was evident.
Chen Ye didn’t explain; a spot of golden light suddenly appeared at his fingertips.
The light, brilliant as stars, transformed into a streak of light in the Dark Old Man’s astonished gaze, shooting "whoosh" towards a distant dead tree, a hundred paces away.
"Pop!"
A thumb-thick hole immediately appeared in the trunk, its edges smooth as a mirror, actually pierced through.
"Brother Chen’s technique is so sharp!"
The Dark Old Man’s pupils narrowed into pinpricks under the gold light; this technique surely was a method only late-stage Qi cultivators could wield!
"You know the way and the demon beasts’ habits, and I will slay the demons. Once we succeed, we’ll divide the spoils. This deal won’t make us a loss!"
Golden stars flickered in Chen Ye’s palm, entwining around his fingertips like a swimming dragon.
The Dark Old Man’s Adam’s apple bobbed, as the hesitation in his eyes gradually transformed into excitement.
He had seen the world and recognized the value in Chen Ye’s display.
"Alright! Brother Chen, wait for me outside, I’ll inform my mother!"
Soon after,
The Dark Old Man emerged, fully armed.
He donned leather armor exuding spiritual light, with a Mountain-Cutting Saber at his waist, and carried a dark short crossbow.
In its arrow groove, three poisoned arrowheads glowed a ghostly blue.
This leather armor was surprisingly a Tier One Lower Grade magical artifact!
His family had more wealth than Chen Ye!
But considering the Dark Old Man’s family’s decades of frugal existence rooted in Yunxi District, not even renting housing in the market.
The accumulated wealth was understandably substantial.
Chen Ye, with empty pockets, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
"Recently, by Eagle Beak Cliff, I spotted a Red-tailed Bird, elusive as it came and went. But Brother Chen’s technique against it would be easy-peasy."
The Dark Old Man lowered his voice, straightforwardly revealing the location of the demon beast to Chen Ye.
The Red-tailed Bird was a demon bird at the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage.
Its tail feathers could be used to make talisman brushes.
An entire bird could sell for over thirty spirit stones.
But the Red-tailed Bird was rarely seen in the outskirts, being high and elusive, making ordinary loose cultivators helpless.
"If successful in hunting, how do we split the spoils?"
Chen Ye asked bluntly.
Even with close brothers, fairness in accounts is important, lest things turn sour.
The Dark Old Man laughed heartily upon hearing:
"Let’s talk afterwards! If Brother Chen short-changes me, I’ll just refuse future collaborations. Brother Chen, don’t look down on me just because I’m at the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation; my family has been rooted in Yunxi District since it was built, well aware of the situations within the mountains."
"My father... once was a demon hunter cultivator too, leaving behind many secrets. Otherwise, how would I dare venture into the Three Thousand Mountains while only at the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation?"
Li Dageng’s father was originally a body cultivator involved in constructing Yunxi District.
Once Yunxi District was completed, he went to the Three Thousand Mountains to hunt demons.
Unfortunately, he perished in the beast tide that destroyed Stone Mirror Town.
...
The deeper into the Three Thousand Mountains, the more numerous and higher quality the spirit veins.
It is said that in the deepest areas, there are Fifth Tier spirit veins!
Cultivators, based on threat levels, divided the Three Thousand Mountains into nine tiers.
Previously, the forest where Chen Ye hunted common animals didn’t even qualify as the ninth tier.
Eagle Beak Cliff was located on the ninth tier.
The snow in the Three Thousand Mountains fell more urgently than in the market, with the wind whipping icy shards painfully against faces.
Chen Ye’s blood circulation quickened; this was his first demon hunt!
The two squatted on a slope, as the Dark Old Man used his knife sheath to brush aside the snow, revealing a palm-wide three-toed claw mark: "With the wind and snow so strong these days, the Red-tailed Bird might not show. We’ll have to wait..."
Chen Ye nodded, and they followed the marks to the corner of a cliff.
Finding a recessed spot on the cliff, they sheltered from the wind and snow.
As the sky darkened, the Dark Old Man suddenly tugged on Chen Ye’s sleeve, using his coarse fingers to draw ragged writing on the snow:
"Northeast direction, eighty steps, forked pine branch."
Chen Ye understood, allowing the Geng Metal Qi to flow gently through his meridians, peering through the snow curtain.
Sure enough, he saw on the crooked pine tree by the cliff edge, a splash of red tail feathers rhythmically rising and falling with breaths.