Chapter 45

Eighteen people at the late Foundation Establishment stage, twenty-five at the middle Foundation Establishment stage, and thirty at the early Foundation Establishment stage.

These young geniuses, with their extraordinary talents, have achieved such cultivation before the age of eighteen. If they don't fall, they will at least become Core Formation experts in the future.

No wonder these young people are full of pride; they truly have the capital to be proud.

If it were the old Jiang Anping, he indeed wouldn't have a chance to compete for a top ten spot.

But the appearance of the "Earth Accumulation Technique" has changed everything.

Perhaps there is still a chance to fight for it.

Jiang Anping tasted the meat of a late Foundation Establishment stage beast. The flavor was average, but the energy it contained was indeed abundant.

Each bite was like consuming a Blood Qi Pill and a Qi Gathering Pill.

Meng Jing was eating sweets in large bites, her little face full of smiles.

The sweets here are really delicious.

After a while, a servant girl in white suddenly walked over and respectfully said to Meng Jing:

"Miss Meng, the princess has called you to practice martial arts."

"Ah, is it already time?"

Meng Jing quickly stuffed another piece of cake into her mouth and turned to Jiang Anping, saying:

"Princess sister has called me to practice martial arts. I will come to find you during meal times every day."

Meng Jing quickly wiped her mouth with her small hand and skipped away.

After her talent awakened, to quickly improve her strength, Xia Qing will personally guide her.

Jiang Anping finished eating the beast meat and was about to return to practice, but suddenly remembered he hadn't given Xiaobai his pills yet.

He asked someone about the location where mounts were kept and went to the stable next to the governor's residence.

Although the other horses were handsome, they were far inferior to Xiaobai.

Xiaobai is definitely not a horse, just a bit similar.

When feeding Xiaobai the pills, Xiaobai happily shook his head, his white hair flying.

"Boy, is this strange beast yours?"

Jiang Anping was about to return to practice when a voice suddenly sounded, startling him.

Jiang Anping turned around sharply and saw an old man with a hunched back.

The old man was a bit stooped, wearing plain black clothes, and holding hay, which he was probably feeding the horses.

"Yes, sir," Jiang Anping replied.

Jiang Anping didn't act arrogantly because of the other person's status; he came from the bottom and didn't consider himself superior to others.

"Buy this strange beast from me, for 300,000 spirit stones, how about it?" The old man put the hay in the stable and said indifferently.

"300,000!" Jiang Anping was slightly stunned.

"Yes." The old man looked at Xiaobai with fondness.

Jiang Anping was a bit shocked. Could a stable hand in the governor's residence be so wealthy?

Even a Golden Core expert would rarely have that many spirit stones on hand.

Jiang Anping felt his understanding of this world was still too limited.

"Sorry, sir, I don't want to sell."

Jiang Anping directly refused. He wasn't short of money, and he liked Xiaobai very much, who was fast and could serve as transportation.

The old man looked deeply at Jiang Anping, seeing that he wasn't trying to raise the price but genuinely didn't want to sell, and sighed silently.

It seems he and this strange beast were not meant to be.

The old man raised his hand, and a blue bag appeared, with extremely complex runes carved on it.

"I'll give you a beast storage bag, which can hold beasts and is convenient to carry."

"Is there such a storage bag in the world?" Jiang Anping was somewhat shocked.

He had never heard of a storage bag that could hold living beasts before.

"How much does this storage bag cost?" Jiang Anping guessed it must be very expensive.

Other storage bags couldn't hold living strange beasts, but this one could.

"It's a gift."

The old man casually threw the storage bag to Jiang Anping and continued feeding the horses with the hay.

"Thank you, sir."

Jiang Anping needed this storage bag very much and bowed deeply to the old man.

The storage bag had no mental imprint, so Jiang Anping left his own mental imprint on it.

The space inside was very large, capable of holding tens of thousands of horses just on the flat surface!

Even without the function of storing living beings, the storage capacity alone would cost tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Jiang Anping wanted to thank the old man again, but he had disappeared.

Jiang Anping silently remembered this favor and tried to put Xiaobai into the beast storage bag.

With a swoosh, Xiaobai disappeared.

After confirming that Xiaobai could be stored and wouldn't suffocate, Jiang Anping was relieved.

"I'm going to practice next, and sometimes I won't be able to take care of you. I'll put some pills in here, five a day, don't eat too many."

Jiang Anping placed several bottles of pills in the storage bag and reminded Xiaobai.

Xiaobai was very smart and nodded vigorously.

Jiang Anping tied the storage bag to his waist and returned to his residence to practice.

The gap between him and those geniuses was too large, and he needed to practice quickly to catch up.

Activating the barrier, the surrounding spiritual energy gathered into the room.

Sitting on the practice platform, he used the energy from the late Foundation Establishment stage beast meat to break through to the second level of Qi Condensation.

If those geniuses knew that someone among them was just breaking through to the second level of Qi Condensation, they would be surprised.

"Crack~"

After a large amount of spiritual energy and beast meat energy, the realm barrier was broken again, returning to the second level of Qi Condensation.

Jiang Anping didn't stop, took three Spirit Gathering Pills, and broke through the realm again.

Spirit Gathering Pills are used by Foundation Establishment cultivators, worth 100 spirit stones each.

An ordinary cultivator at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Condensation could break through to the tenth level with one Spirit Gathering Pill.

However, Jiang Anping, at the second level of Qi Condensation, took three at once.

If a normal cultivator dared to do this, the result would only be one: death by explosion.

Lower-level cultivators have limited energy storage and can't store much.

Because of the "Earth Accumulation Technique," Jiang Anping had no meridians but instead channeled spiritual energy into his blood.

The higher his body cultivation realm, the more spiritual energy his blood could store.

After taking three Spirit Gathering Pills, Jiang Anping didn't feel the impact of the realm barrier, so he took seven more.

Taking seven at once, even an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't dare to do this, fearing an explosion.

As the Spirit Gathering Pills transformed into energy and integrated into his body, Jiang Anping felt the presence of the realm barrier again.

"Crack~"

Third level of Qi Condensation.

Jiang Anping broke through again, and the energy in the room surged towards him like a vortex, absorbing energy.

Ten Spirit Gathering Pills, worth 1,000 spirit stones, cost several times more resources than his previous breakthrough.

Jiang Anping wasn't worried about the increased resource cost; instead, he was very happy.

Because these resources weren't wasted but stored in his body.

Continue.

Jiang Anping didn't rest and swallowed ten Spirit Gathering Pills at once.

After half an hour, he didn't break through, so he took another ten.

This time, he touched the realm barrier.

Breaking through below the Foundation Establishment stage doesn't require particularly high talent; sufficient resources are enough.

However, the resources Jiang Anping needed were quite a bit more.

Twenty-two Spirit Gathering Pills to break through to the fourth level of Qi Condensation.

Forty-five Spirit Gathering Pills to break through to the fifth level of Qi Condensation.

This was almost the price of half a Foundation Establishment Pill!

Many Foundation Establishment cultivators don't have so many resources to use.

Fortunately, Jiang Anping had a Treasure Basin, which could replicate Foundation Establishment Pills daily, and he could exchange them for Spirit Gathering Pills. Otherwise, even if he had the "Earth Accumulation Technique," he wouldn't have the means to practice it.

Elder Li often said that "wealth, companions, methods, and land" are important resources for cultivators, and placing wealth first is reasonable.

One hundred Spirit Gathering Pills, successfully breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Condensation!

This breakthrough was equivalent to consuming one Foundation Establishment Pill.

If other cultivators saw this, they would be envious to tears.

In the adjacent pavilion, Ma Wei, who was practicing, suddenly opened his eyes, looking puzzled.

"What's going on? Why has the spiritual energy in the room suddenly decreased?"

Not just him, nearby cultivators also felt the decrease in spiritual energy.

They guessed that a genius must be breaking through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, as it wouldn't be possible to absorb so much spiritual energy otherwise.

In Xia Qing's separate living courtyard.

A small bridge over flowing water, surrounded by misty spiritual energy, with colorful flowers blooming and strange white beasts lying lazily around.

"Boom~"

A sudden thunderclap startled the white beast, which quickly hid in Xia Qing's arms.

Meng Jing opened her eyes excitedly, "Princess sister, I feel the power of thunder!"

The strange phenomenon just now was caused by her communicating with the power of thunder.

Xia Qing, sitting at a tea table reading a book, raised her beautiful eyes and smiled.

"Of course, the Thunder Spirit Body naturally resonates with thunder. When you reach a high level, a single thought will summon countless thunders."

"Hehe, I'll show that wooden head, he'll definitely be shocked." Meng Jing said with a smile, looking forward to Jiang Anping's shocked expression.

Hearing this and seeing Meng Jing's expression, Xia Qing's smile suddenly disappeared.

"Jiang Anping has good body cultivation talent and, with good luck, might become a Core Formation expert in the future, but the gap between him and you is too large."

Meng Jing's smile faded, "Princess sister, what do you want to say?"

"Your mother made the wrong choice back then, falling in love with your father, an ordinary person, which led to her having to endure much and being unable to see you."

Xia Qing paused and said directly, "Jiang Anping is not worthy of you. Don't let a fleeting fondness delay your lifelong cultivation."

"I... I don't have much to do with him." Meng Jing lowered her head, her expression unclear.

Xia Qing looked at the sky, "There are countless geniuses in this world. When you officially start practicing the day after tomorrow, you will see more outstanding young men."

"These geniuses, in terms of appearance, talent, and background, are all top-notch. Soon, you will realize how ordinary Jiang Anping is. You are from two different worlds, and keeping your distance from him will be good for both of you."

After saying this, Meng Jing didn't respond, lowering her head, lost in thought.