"Hehe… Daoist Qin, does my name sound a bit unusual?" Seeing Qin Wang in a daze, Li Qiye chuckled and continued, "I was born at night amidst a rare celestial phenomenon where the moon disappeared, so my father named me Li Qiye!"
"Unexpectedly, Daoist Li's name has such an origin. This name is extraordinary and suggests great fortune in the future!" Qin Wang immediately cupped his hands and praised without hesitation.
"Thanks for the kind words, Daoist Qin!" Li Qiye cupped his hands back with a look of gratitude, then glanced at the departing young man in the blue robe and said, "Daoist Qin, do you know who that powerful Daoist just now was?"
"No, but with such a strong aura, he must be at least at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, right?" Qin Wang shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
"That Daoist is none other than Tang Jianzhong, the leader of the Demon Slaying Alliance. It's said he is close to building his foundation!" Li Qiye looked at the distant back of the young man in the blue robe with envy in his eyes.
"So, he's the leader of the Demon Slaying Alliance, Tang Jianzhong? No wonder!" Upon hearing Li Qiye's words, Qin Wang immediately showed a thoughtful expression. According to his intelligence, Tang Jianzhong has a mysterious old man inside his ring!
"Daoist Li, who is that other burly youth with a formidable aura?" Qin Wang asked, looking at the tall, powerful youth who was also heading towards the edge of the formation around Xiaodan Mountain.
"That one seems to be called Yan Honghao. His strength is also extraordinary, and he reportedly doesn't get along with the Demon Slaying Alliance." Li Qiye frowned as he watched the tall youth and Tang Jianzhong. "Oddly, Tang Daoist usually has many members of the Demon Slaying Alliance with him. Could it be that they all perished in the beast tide?"
"Very likely!" Qin Wang agreed. Given such a beast tide, Tang Jianzhong might escape thanks to the old man, but his accompanying members wouldn't necessarily survive.
At this moment, Tang Jianzhong and Yan Honghao were heading towards the edge of the Xiaodan Mountain formation, trying to enter, but the formation didn't open. Meanwhile, more and more cultivators who had escaped the beast tide were gathering outside the formation, most of them injured and exhausted. Some daring cultivators, seeing the formation didn't open, ventured to collect the beast corpses between Xiaodan Mountain and Cuiyun Mountain.
"Daoist Qin, look, some are daring enough to collect the beast corpses. How about you and I go pick some up too? Selling them could make some money." Li Qiye invited Qin Wang to join him upon seeing the brave cultivators collecting the beast corpses.
"Exactly what I had in mind!" Qin Wang and Li Qiye immediately agreed and headed towards the area where the enchanting beast lure was placed.
Although Qin Wang's storage bags were full of beast materials and meat, he could still carry more. Any large beast he carried back could be worth dozens of spirit stones.
Qin Wang collected three beast rabbits and a black wild boar, all carried on his shoulders, and waited outside the Xiaodan Mountain formation. Li Qiye carried a rhino demon and three beast rabbits, standing beside Qin Wang.
Seeing Qin Wang and Li Qiye carrying back so many beast corpses, the hundred-plus cultivators who couldn't enter the formation also joined in collecting the beast corpses.
The mountain protection formation finally deactivated in the afternoon, allowing the outside cultivators to enter the market.
"They are really lucky! Look at all those beast corpses they picked up!"
"It's their reward for risking their lives. If the beast tide had come, they'd be dead."
"True…"
Seeing Qin Wang, Li Qiye, and the hundred-plus cultivators returning with so many beast corpses, the cultivators inside the formation were envious and had mixed feelings. Many ran out, hoping to collect some leftovers.
Qin Wang returned to cabin 88, where Gao Yuan and his daughter were shocked to see him carrying a black wild boar and several beast rabbits.
"Uncle Gao, this is for you." Qin Wang placed the black wild boar down and handed a plump beast rabbit to Gao Yuan.
"Little Qin, I can't accept this…" Gao Yuan declined repeatedly.
"Uncle Gao, didn't you also give me some before?" Qin Wang insisted, recalling how Gao Yuan had given him meat and broth before. He didn't want to always take without giving back.
Gao Yuan had suffered a loss in spirit stones from the beast python and black wild boar due to Zhao Xuanting's extortion.
"Little Qin, you're too kind!" Gao Yuan reluctantly accepted, feeling deeply grateful.
In the evening, Gao Wanjing brought over a large bowl of stewed beast rabbit broth.
For the next five days, Qin Wang carefully sold off the beast materials from his storage bags under different identities, totaling 1,780 spirit stones. Combined with the 750 spirit stones left from Qingyao Shangren and Zhao Xuanting, he had a total of 2,530 spirit stones!
During the day, he cautiously sold materials, and at other times, he absorbed and utilized the refined pills from the treasure bowl to enhance his cultivation proficiency. His cultivation advanced rapidly.
One afternoon at three o'clock, Qin Wang locked his room door, sat cross-legged on his bed, and continued absorbing two spirit stones while taking a refined Yun Ling pill, watching the proficiency bar of his realm.
"Boom!" After an unknown amount of time, Qin Wang felt a shock in his dantian, and a light sound echoed in his mind. Instantly, he felt his mental awareness become sharper, his divine sense suddenly expanding, able to 'see' two feet beyond his body!
His dantian expanded twice as large, accommodating more mana. His physical body also became more robust and full of energy!
Realm: Qi Refinement Level Five (1/5000)
"Qi Refinement Level Five!" Qin Wang looked at the display on the panel and the significantly increased strength with satisfaction.
In a short time, his cultivation had broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refinement. He activated the spirit-locking concealment technique to lock his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refinement. This way, other cultivators around would see his advancement from the second to the third level, which wouldn't attract much attention.
Just as Qin Wang concealed his cultivation to the third level, preparing to stabilize it, he heard a somewhat familiar voice outside the door.
"Hello, Steward Zhang!"
Qin Wang opened the door and saw Zhang Lingbu, who had come to collect spirit stones last time, standing at the door. He immediately cupped his hands in greeting.
"Little Qin, according to our records, you earned quite a bit from the beast tide five days ago, right?" Zhang Lingbu, holding a booklet in one hand and a spirit pen in the other, smiled at Qin Wang.
"I did carry back a black wild boar and two beast rabbits, earning dozens of spirit stones." Qin Wang admitted since the black wild boar carried publicly couldn't be hidden.
"It's like this. Master Zixia spent a lot of effort to dispel the beast tide. To compensate for his expenses, everyone who carried back beasts must contribute half of their earnings."
"We hope you understand."
Zhang Lingbu smiled as he spoke.
"Of course, Steward Zhang. I made 60 spirit stones in total, so here are 30." Qin Wang secretly cursed Master Zixia but outwardly respectfully handed over 30 spirit stones to Zhang Lingbu. Not giving wasn't an option. Staying in Xiaodan Mountain to cultivate required paying spirit stones, or he would be expelled, which would be a greater loss.
"Good!" Zhang Lingbu recorded the transaction in his booklet, collected the spirit stones, and left.
"The intelligence showed Master Zixia would find excuses to collect spirit stones to refine a top-tier spiritual weapon. And here it is. This despicable person!" Qin Wang thought angrily. "Forcing me to hand over my spirit stones? I'll send you a 'gift' first!"
Looking at the highest cave on Xiaodan Mountain, Qin Wang's eyes revealed a cold killing intent.
How shameless. Claiming to have driven away the beast tide? It was clearly the dissipating fragrance of the enchanting lure that caused the beasts to retreat!