A year and a half passed in the blink of an eye.

A clear cry echoed from the secret chamber, carrying powerful waves of magical energy that caused the ground and walls to tremble slightly.

The walls of the cave dwelling glowed with a yellow light, blocking all sound and energy waves from escaping.

Moments later, Yuan Ming emerged from the secret chamber, exuding a powerful aura that indicated he had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage.

He had already been close to the late Foundation Establishment stage, and after resolving the drawbacks of the Insect Elixirs with his split soul, the elixir’s potency became exceptionally strong. Coupled with the aid of spiritual incense and other items, his cultivation of the Nine Elements Formula progressed smoothly.

Yuan Ming was not surprised by his breakthrough after a year and a half of arduous cultivation. His greatest improvement was in his soul.

Previously, he had protected the Black Soil District and the nearby mortals multiple times. With Hu Ji’s proper management, the number of devout followers of the Dark Moon God had increased to over three hundred, and the number of ordinary followers was also significant, naturally boosting the collected wish power.

With the assistance of this wish power, Yuan Ming’s cultivation of the Death Moon method advanced rapidly. The fourth layer was now nearly complete, and after stabilizing for a while, he could consider breaking through to the fifth layer.

In Yuan Ming’s sea of consciousness, his split soul floated quietly. Its size had recovered to its original scale and even grown larger. Additionally, his cultivation of the Heart Cleansing Formula had refined his soul power to an astonishing degree, giving it the solidity of well-tempered iron.

Such a split soul was far more efficient at refining the emotional impurities in the wish power than before.

Yuan Ming walked slowly to another secret chamber and pushed the door open. Zuo Qinghui was meditating inside, his aura quite strong, having also reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Speaking of which, Zuo Qinghui’s aptitude was far superior to Yuan Ming’s. With ample elixirs, he had reached the peak of Qi refining half a year ago.

Subsequently, Yuan Ming spent a sum of spirit stones to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill from Quicksand City, allowing Zuo Qinghui to successfully establish his foundation.

Despite the scarcity of elixirs in the Central Plains, Quicksand City, with its mix of various characters, occasionally offered valuable items brought by cultivators from afar.

From Yuan Ming’s experience over the years, as long as you had the money, you could accomplish many things here that were impossible in the Central Plains.

Zuo Qinghui, with his exceptional aptitude, began using Insect Elixirs for cultivation after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. His progress in magical power was rapid, almost describable as advancing by leaps and bounds. Yuan Ming believed it wouldn’t take many years for Zuo Qinghui to catch up with him.

However, Zuo Qinghui’s body had some issues, possibly due to his resurrection or the backlash from cultivating the Golden Shadow Sword Art and using Insect Elixirs. His skin had turned a pale gold, and the wrinkles on his face had significantly reduced, making him look like a robust middle-aged man.

Yuan Ming was somewhat surprised by this but did not attempt to resolve it. As a Core Formation cultivator of Changchun Temple, Zuo Qinghui was already worried about attracting attention when acting outside, and this change made him less recognizable.

The split soul in Zuo Qinghui’s sea of consciousness had also strengthened considerably, thanks to Yuan Ming’s deliberate cultivation using wish power.

The stronger the split soul, the more effortlessly it could control Zuo Qinghui.

This split soul refined the residual thoughts of the demonic beasts in the Insect Elixirs through the Heart Cleansing Formula, and over time, its soul power became quite refined.

Yuan Ming did not wake Zuo Qinghui but turned and left. As he exited the secret chamber, his expression changed slightly, and he took out a communication talisman from his robe, inserting his spiritual consciousness into it.

The talisman shattered, turning into a ball of white light, and a voice reached his ears.

A hint of joy flashed in Yuan Ming’s eyes. He got up and left his residence, quickly arriving at a shop named Earth Spirit Pavilion in the inner city.

This shop sold formation tools, and two months ago, he had ordered a set of formations here, which was now finally completed.

Yuan Ming entered the shop and reported his name. He was soon led to the inner hall, where an old man in green robes was already waiting.

“Hehe, Daoist Yuan, you’re too polite. This is my business; there’s no such thing as hard work. The formation you ordered is inside, please check it.”

The old man in green robes took out a wooden box about a foot high and handed it over. Inside was a set of black formation flags and disks, brimming with spiritual energy.

“Master Lu, since you personally crafted this formation, there can’t be any mistakes. No need to check.” Yuan Ming chuckled and directly put the wooden box away.

Master Lu was one of the top formation masters in Quicksand City, also highly skilled in crafting formation tools. Yuan Ming had spent a considerable amount of spirit stones to commission him to create a Northern Dipper Star Soul Formation.

This formation did not have any offensive capabilities; its sole function was to form a star soul barrier. Within this barrier, soul power would not leak out, which was a prerequisite for condensing a Soul Pill. The method of crafting it was recorded in the Soul Pill secret technique, but Yuan Ming naturally could not craft it himself.

Master Lu was very pleased with Yuan Ming’s attitude and, after exchanging a few pleasantries, saw him off.

Yuan Ming, still in the stage of building a rapport with Master Lu for future commissions, took his leave tactfully.

After stepping out of the Earth Spirit Pavilion, he activated his spiritual consciousness and probed the formation inside the wooden box, comparing it with the records in the Soul Pill secret technique. Finding no issues, he felt completely at ease.

With everything ready, Yuan Ming only needed to break through the Death Moon method. He turned to head home but suddenly stopped and changed direction, heading to another part of the inner city.

Here, the shops became sparse, and the buildings grew taller and wider. This area was the base of various loose alliances in Quicksand City.

Many cultivators hurried in and out of these bases.

Yuan Ming walked straight to the base of an alliance named Tiger Might, where a tall, thin figure in a black robe stood—Hua Zhi.

Seeing Yuan Ming, Hua Zhi approached and handed over a storage bag.

“You’ve been away for a while, but your harvest is quite impressive.” Yuan Ming’s spiritual consciousness entered the storage bag, and his eyebrows raised.

Hua Zhi had been hunting demonic insects near Quicksand City to improve his strength.

Yuan Ming thought that since Hua Zhi was already hunting demonic insects, he might as well take on some tasks to collect materials and earn some spirit stones.

Hua Zhi’s speed in hunting demonic insects exceeded Yuan Ming’s expectations. The storage bag was filled with demonic beast materials, which could fetch a considerable amount of spirit stones if sold directly.

“Recently, I’ve added a few more subordinates, so the speed of collecting materials has naturally increased,” Hua Zhi transmitted, his voice tinged with joy.

Yuan Ming understood and instructed Hua Zhi to return home first. He then took the storage bag and walked into the Tiger Might alliance.

The entrance led to a large stone hall with many task boards hanging around, listing various tasks.

Tiger Might had close ties with the artifact shops in Quicksand City and posted many tasks for collecting demonic beast materials. This was why Yuan Ming came here, and Tiger Might was lenient, allowing even non-members to take on tasks.

Many cultivators moved around the hall, checking the task lists.

Yuan Ming walked straight to a long stone table at the back, took out the storage bag filled with demonic insect materials and two spirit stones, and handed them to a gray-robed man behind the table.

The gray-robed cultivator, who handled numerous tasks daily, quickly processed them. Yuan Ming’s storage ring now held an additional seven or eight hundred spirit stones.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to leave, a voice called out from the side, “Oh, isn’t this Daoist Yuan?”

Yuan Ming looked up to see a man in yellow robes approaching. It was Cui Wuran, whom he had met a few times before.

“Yes, Tiger Might allows outsiders to come and go. I’m just here to look around. Oh, Daoist Yuan, your cultivation has advanced significantly. Congratulations!” Cui Wuran sensed the change in Yuan Ming’s aura, feeling both envious and astonished.

“The mid and late Foundation Establishment stages are worlds apart. My aptitude is mediocre, and I rely heavily on external aids, unlike you, Daoist Cui.”

“You’re too kind, Daoist Yuan,” Yuan Ming replied with a slight smile.

At that moment, a burly man with a full beard walked over from the task table, stopped a few feet away, glanced at Yuan Ming, and said to Cui Wuran, “Daoist Cui, the matter is settled. Shall we go?”

“By the way, Daoist Yuan, I’m hosting a small exchange meeting with a few friends from the Fire Yuan Sect. If you’re free, why not join us?” Cui Wuran invited.

“An exchange meeting? Sure,” Yuan Ming said, showing interest.

Exchange meetings were common gatherings among cultivators to discuss cultivation insights, the state of the cultivation world, and sometimes trade items they didn’t need.

Although Yuan Ming had heard of such gatherings since entering the cultivation world, he had never attended one. It would be good to experience it now.

The burly man glanced coldly at Yuan Ming, seemingly displeased with Cui Wuran’s invitation.

Yuan Ming, noticing this, didn’t intend to greet the burly man. Judging by his aura, he seemed to be at the mid Foundation Establishment stage.

However, Yuan Ming had occasionally heard of the Fire Yuan Sect, the sect where Wu Lu had been ordered to steal techniques and later appeared at an auction.