Chapter 23: Secret Planning

"Brother Zhang, your son hasn't awakened yet? Why don't you send him to the Mu family on South Garden Street? He can help people enter a state of tranquility, greatly increasing the chances of awakening!"

"Brother, are you talking about that genius Ding Hao?"

"Exactly, he is not only a super-first-class genius but also a guide!"

"I know him, but my son can already enter a middle-level state of tranquility on his own, so he doesn't need him..."

"Brother Zhang, you really are out of touch! Do you know that the genius Ding Hao has already advanced to a first-level guide, capable of helping people enter a high-level state of tranquility! If your son can enter a high-level state of tranquility, he might awaken his immortal root!"

"What, he can help people enter a high-level state of tranquility? That's great, my son has hope!"

"Not just your son, you've been at the third stage of innate for many years, right? You can also accept his guidance, it costs one thousand taels each time!"

"I'll go get the money right away!"

Compared to the unawakened youths, there were even more innate-stage experts who had been stuck at the third stage!

When Ding Hao started offering high-level tranquility services, his business exploded. People came to his residence in a steady stream, from morning till night, almost wearing out his doorstep.

In response, Ding Hao converted all the empty rooms in his house into tranquility chambers, accepting all comers. Each room would be filled, and after collecting the silver notes, he would go from person to person, guiding them into tranquility, then move on to the next room!

Many people observed his actions.

In the City Lord's residence.

Ling Yunxiao frowned deeply.

Hearing the report from the young officer, he didn't know whether to be happy or angry.

Firstly, because Ding Hao had helped a large number of innate-stage experts in the city advance from the initial stage to the middle stage, which made Ling Yunxiao very happy. It raised the overall cultivation level of Wuzhou City, which was a great thing!

However, the key issue was that Ding Hao, this young man, was busy making money all day and night, completely neglecting his own cultivation. He had been helping people enter tranquility day and night, but he himself never cultivated. After awakening for a month, his cultivation was still at the first stage of innate!

"Never cultivating, what is this young man thinking?" Ling Yunxiao couldn't understand.

It was clear that Ding Hao was a meticulous and intelligent person, but he was only focused on making money, ignoring cultivation. What did a cultivator need so much silver for?

Ling Yunxiao sent the young officer to remind him several times, but the young man remained stubborn.

In the end, Ling Yunxiao had no choice but to give up, "Forget it, maybe he has his own plans. Let's not interfere, let him be."

Another person who was paying attention to Ding Hao was in a small courtyard on the other side of the City Lord's residence.

"Ding Juncai, in just one month, you have dissolved the first layer of the original core and entered the second stage of innate! Congratulations!" The young prince walked into the courtyard, laughing.

Ding Juncai's entire family had been killed, and he now lived with the young prince, who had given him his own small courtyard. He had no worries about food, drink, or medicinal pills, as long as he cultivated well.

Seeing the young prince walk in, Ding Juncai's eyes filled with hatred, "Every time I think of my parents and brother being killed, I feel a deep-seated hatred and a strong urge to cultivate!"

"You are doing well," the young prince nodded, then added, "I have some good news for you. That Ding Hao is still at the first stage of innate! After awakening his immortal root for a month, his cultivation hasn't advanced at all!"

"What, isn't he a super-first-class genius?" Ding Juncai found it hard to believe.

The young prince said, "This young man is acting like a madman, helping people enter tranquility non-stop every day, earning a lot of silver, but he himself never cultivates. I really doubt if he has given up."

"Given up?" Ding Juncai was initially pleased, but then slowly shook his head, "Young Prince, don't let your guard down. This young man is very strange! Before, he was buying a large amount of medicinal pills in the Heavenly Will Shelter, who knows what he was doing in there!"

"Could it be the medicinal pill flow? I'll go and find out if he is buying more medicinal pills..." The young prince, considering Ding Hao his top rival, turned and left, then added after a few steps, "Oh, Juncai, don't just focus on advancing your realm, you should also cultivate martial techniques! After you finish the medium-grade martial technique from the City Lord's residence, I will give you a high-grade innate martial technique, then you will have truly formidable combat power!"

"Thank you, Young Prince!"

...

Despite the attention from various parties and the City Lord's repeated reminders, even being summoned to the City Lord's residence for a stern warning, Ding Hao remained unchanged after returning home.

Ding Hao himself did not cultivate, only focused on making money, and in two months, he earned a staggering twenty million!

There was a reason for his frenzied money-making.

Two months ago, at night.

In the cultivation tranquility chamber.

Silver candles cast a red glow. Merchant Boss sat on a Bodhi cushion opposite the small table and smiled, "Young Master Ding, you have done a great favor for my family! Not only did you help my son awaken, but you also helped me break through my bottleneck and enter the middle stage of innate!"

Ding Hao nodded, "Merchant Boss, you are too kind. You also paid, so it's a fair exchange."

"Still, I am very grateful. Our lives have changed because of you, thank you." Merchant Boss stood up and bowed, then sat down again, "Actually, I am here to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Ding Hao was surprised.

"Yes, our Merchant Family is a chain business. Now that my cultivation has improved, the head of the Merchant Family has decided to promote me and transfer me to another place."

"I see." Ding Hao nodded and asked, "Where are you being transferred to? As a shopkeeper?"

"Not a shopkeeper, but a counter manager."

Counter manager was the level of a counter manager. Ding Hao frowned, "Merchant Boss, I think you would be better off staying here as a bookstore shopkeeper."

Merchant Boss smiled slightly, "The Outer Earth City, Merchant Family's business! You haven't been to the Outer Earth, you don't know. The Merchant Family's business there is several times larger than the Wuzhou City branch! The various goods they operate are piled up like mountains, unimaginable! Being a counter manager there is more prestigious than being a shopkeeper in Wuzhou City!"

"I see, then I wish you a promotion, Merchant Boss."

Merchant Boss smiled, "Young Master Ding, don't be too formal. As a manager there, I can help you get the medicinal pills you need more conveniently. Even banned medicines, I can get them for you at a low price."

Ding Hao frowned, "I am actually troubled by this matter."

The situation was as follows:

Before awakening, Ding Hao had always been absorbing ordinary pills to enhance himself. However, after awakening and entering the innate stage, he discovered an important issue.

The effects of ordinary pills had significantly weakened!

In other words, the grade of ordinary pills was too low, and the spiritual energy inside was no longer sufficient!

He needed a new, more potent type of pill!

Hearing Ding Hao's needs, Merchant Boss said, "There are three grades of ordinary pills. The ones you bought in large quantities before were just low-grade ordinary pills. These pills are abundant in the market, cheap and effective, suitable for both innate and post-natal stages."

Ding Hao said, "The key is that these pills are almost useless to me now. What I need are medium-grade and high-grade ordinary pills. But I've found out, they are not available."

"That's understandable," Merchant Boss analyzed, "You need to know, the higher the grade of the pill, the higher the level of the alchemist. There are so many low-grade ordinary pills in the market because there are many low-level alchemists, and their goal is silver notes!"

"As for the high-level alchemists, their goals are different. They also cultivate, so how can they have the time to produce a large number of pills? As for high-grade ordinary pills, they are even more impossible. Those are the works of master alchemists, and their pills are rare, not something that can be bought with silver!"

Ding Hao frowned, "That's true. I've also inquired about the market recently. High-grade ordinary pills are out of the question, and medium-grade ordinary pills are scarce. Not only are they expensive, but the supply is limited, not enough for my use!"

This matter had been troubling Ding Hao recently.

He needed a large amount of spiritual energy for cultivation. His Star Absorption Technique was currently only at the first level, capable of absorbing the spiritual energy from pills, which was relatively easy. So, without finding pills, he couldn't cultivate.

Merchant Boss said, "Young Master Ding, I can see that you are a pill flow practitioner."

The pill flow was a very specialized cultivation method in the Nine Provinces world. Practitioners not only consume a large number of pills but also use pill powder for bathing, eat pills, and drink pill-infused water, immersing themselves in pills all day.

Using the medicinal power in the pills to improve their constitution.

Ding Hao knew he was misunderstood but didn't bother to explain, nodding and grunting.

Merchant Boss advised, "Young Master Ding, I'm not trying to dissuade you, but these methods are not the true path. It's better to cultivate the Immortal Root Technique and refine the original core, which is the most practical method!"

Ding Hao shook his head at his words.

The Immortal Root Technique involved absorbing a small amount of spiritual energy from the air, converting it into spiritual power, and gradually refining the original core, turning it into a sea of spiritual liquid.

Ding Hao had tried it.

He couldn't cultivate it.

Perhaps because of his black vortex immortal root, whenever he absorbed a small amount of spiritual energy from the air, it immediately disappeared. The Immortal Root Technique in this world was not suitable for him! He couldn't absorb spiritual energy from the air, and his original core was particularly difficult to refine.

Following the methods of the Nine Provinces world, it would take an unknown amount of time to refine his original core.

He had to abandon the methods of the Nine Provinces world.

Take a shortcut, using the Star Absorption Technique!

The Star Absorption Technique was incredibly powerful. It didn't require converting spiritual energy into spiritual power; it directly absorbed spiritual power, using a large amount of spiritual power to refine the original core. This way, not only was the speed extremely fast, but the combination of the original core's spiritual power and the absorbed spiritual power would make his spiritual sea unprecedentedly vast when he achieved it.

Ding Hao said, "Merchant Boss, I don't want to use the traditional method. Can you think of something that contains more spiritual power than ordinary pills and is easy to convert?"

Merchant Boss said, "There are two methods now. One is for you to refine medium-grade ordinary pills yourself."

Ding Hao shook his head, "It's too late. The Wuzhou Examination is in six months, and I know nothing about alchemy. It's too late to start now."

Merchant Boss added, "Eat more spirit beast meat! Spiky beasts and even better, Plate Rhino."

"No, spirit beast meat won't work, it's not easy to convert." Ding Hao had tried it before. His current level of the Star Absorption Technique was not sufficient to absorb the spiritual power from meat.

"It needs to be easy to convert." Merchant Boss thought for a moment, then reached into his storage bag, rummaging for a while before pulling out a few small items from the bottom and placing them on the table, "Try this."

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