At this moment, Shen Xiang increasingly wanted to visit those sects to see the world. However, even those at the eighth or ninth level of the Mortal Martial Realm were merely outer disciples there. The competition within those sects was fierce, especially in the Taiwu Gate.
"The requirements for the Taiwu Gate are really stringent. Can I become a core disciple?" Shen Xiang muttered to himself.
"Of course, you can! You possess the Yin-Yang Divine Veins, and you also have us sisters personally guiding you. As long as you work hard, you'll undoubtedly become a powerful figure in the future," Bai Youyou said firmly. She had great confidence in Shen Xiang.
After waiting for a while, Hua Yueyun returned, now dressed in a purple dress. She no longer had the seductive attire that revealed so much, which left Shen Xiang feeling slightly disappointed.
"These are the items and the spirit money you wanted," Hua Yueyun said as she placed spirit money vouchers and some paper-wrapped medicinal herbs on the table.
Shen Xiang didn't even bother to check. He simply placed them in his storage pouch. He had complete trust in Hua Yueyun, which made her secretly happy.
"Are you still planning to participate in the King City Martial Arts Tournament? After all, the Southern Martial Nation is under the jurisdiction of the True Martial Sect," Hua Yueyun asked, her concern for Shen Xiang evident.
Shen Xiang thought for a moment and replied, "I will participate, but I won't be joining the True Martial Sect. I'm only going there for the True Essence Dan!"
As she watched Shen Xiang leave, Hua Yueyun shook her head and sighed, her beautiful eyes filled with disappointment. In the past, a few words from her would have been enough to make a young man like Shen Xiang obediently follow her. Yet now, after speaking so much and dressing seductively, she still couldn't sway him.
Shen Xiang sold the thousand-year Blood Spirit Ginseng for four hundred thousand large spirit coins, then spent a hundred thousand to buy a large number of mature spirit herbs. Among them, the most valuable was the core of the Golden Spirit Fruit!
The Golden Spirit Fruit is a top-grade profound-level spirit fruit, as rare and precious as the Millennium Fruit. It is said to bear fruit only once every thousand years. Both the flesh and peel are extremely valuable, especially when used in high-level pill refinement. Adding even a small amount increases the pill's quality and improves the chances of forming the pill successfully.
Shen Xiang bought the Golden Spirit Fruit core specifically to plant the tree. Normally, people would use the core for pill refinement and wouldn't even consider trying to grow the tree, as it would take far too long. Even if one managed to plant the tree, it would take another thousand years for it to bear fruit.
However, this wasn't a concern for Shen Xiang. Recently, he had accumulated a lot of Dragon Saliva. By continuously watering the plant with it, he could quickly grow a Golden Spirit Fruit tree.
In his small courtyard, Shen Xiang buried the seed, then took out a jade bottle filled with Dragon Saliva. Since he was only cultivating one seed, there was no need to dilute it with water. He directly dripped it onto the soil where the Golden Spirit Fruit core was buried.
After just a single drop, an abundance of spiritual energy surged forth, seeping into the soil. Soon, a small sprout emerged from the ground. Seeing the effect, Shen Xiang carefully dripped more Dragon Saliva onto the sprout.
Each drop of Dragon Saliva caused a surge of spiritual energy, and the underground energy also rushed into the Golden Spirit Fruit seed, accelerating its growth. Dragon Saliva inherently contains potent life force, enabling the small plant to absorb vast amounts of spiritual energy to speed up its growth.
At this point, Shen Xiang finally understood why Su Meiyao had repeatedly warned him not to reveal the secret of Dragon Saliva. Now, he deeply appreciated the power of this godly skill and grew even more excited. Given enough time, even ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs wouldn't be a problem for him!
After using up an entire bottle of Dragon Saliva, the Golden Spirit Fruit seed had grown into a small tree about a person's height, and it had only taken half a day!
"Sigh, it hasn't borne fruit yet!" Shen Xiang complained, still feeling unsatisfied.
Su Meiyao huffed, "Be content with what you have! Under normal circumstances, it would take at least five hundred years to grow this much. You'll need to collect Dragon Saliva for at least a month to make it bear fruit."
Once the tree starts bearing fruit, Shen Xiang would have several Golden Spirit Fruits. He could then announce it to the entire country, using the fruits as rewards to recruit alchemists. They would flock to him in droves, perhaps even fighting each other to join him.
"Kid, you should start collecting the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill. While your Yin-Yang Divine Veins and the skills we taught you will help you reach the True Martial Realm, if you want to advance both quickly and steadily, you'll need the help of pills," Bai Youyou advised.
The Foundation Establishment Pill, a lower-grade profound-level pill, is primarily used to stabilize one's foundation, enhance the physical body, and purify true energy. Taking it before advancing to the True Martial Realm makes the breakthrough much smoother.
Shen Xiang frowned and said, "I can only refine middle-grade Mortal-level pills at the moment. That's a profound-level pill! Even when I break through to the Mortal Martial Realm, I doubt I'll be able to refine it."
"You ignorant kid! Once you can refine top-grade Spirit-level pills, you'll be able to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill! The pill is only classified as profound-level because of the rarity of its ingredients. Its difficulty is not that high," Bai Youyou scolded him coldly.
Shen Xiang already had Millennium Fruit and a thousand-year-old beast core, but he still lacked three rare spirit herbs to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill. However, with his Dragon Saliva Technique, as long as he had the seeds, he could grow the herbs indefinitely. This meant he could produce as many Foundation Establishment Pills as he wanted, which would bring him a fortune!
This thought excited Shen Xiang. Of course, he knew he still needed to improve his strength first. The stronger he became, the better his Dragon Saliva Technique would work, and the more powerful pills he could refine.
At night, Shen Xiang disguised himself and left the royal city, heading into a distant forest where the true energy was richer. This allowed him to cultivate at a faster pace.
With his Yin-Yang Divine Veins, Shen Xiang could sense the dense spiritual energy within a ten-mile radius. As soon as he activated the Taiji Divine Skill, the energy surged into his body and was quickly refined into five-element true energy, which was then compressed and stored in five distinct locations in his dantian.
Before dawn, Shen Xiang woke up. Training in a place rich in spiritual energy not only allowed him to produce more true energy but also helped him condense more Dragon Saliva, which was why he chose to practice in the wilderness.
Feeling vigorous and full of energy, Shen Xiang began practicing his punches in the forest. In the dim light, flashes of green and red light intertwined, forming tiger heads that howled through the air, releasing shockwaves. Each punch sent powerful gusts of wind, and the ground beneath him rolled like waves. When his fists struck the trees, they exploded with a loud crack, shattering the trunks of massive trees that required two people to wrap their arms around.
This was the high-grade Spirit-level martial technique, *Heavenly Tiger Violent Killing Fist*. Shen Xiang had the Four Symbols Divine Art, but at his current level, he could only learn some of its basic techniques. While powerful, they weren't enough to satisfy him.
Only by becoming thoroughly familiar with martial techniques could he wield them skillfully in battle. Right now, Shen Xiang was enjoying the feeling of releasing vast amounts of true energy from his body and using martial techniques to transform it into powerful, precise attacks. The sensation was exhilarating.
Looking at the trees he had shattered and the craters he had punched into the ground, Shen Xiang marveled at his own strength. Even though he was only at the sixth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, he already possessed such power. To him, ordinary people were like ants. Even those at his own level would struggle to withstand his *Heavenly Tiger Violent Killing Fist*.
"If I can reach the True Martial Realm, how much stronger will I become?" The thought filled Shen Xiang with excitement, igniting an even greater desire for strength. His fighting spirit soared.