Yang Wenqing returned to Dongning Community with Xiao Liang. They chatted for a long time at the entrance before heading their separate ways.
Back in the familiar quiet of Apartment 305 in Building Three after so long, Yang Wenqing shut out the clamor of the outside world and his own complex thoughts, letting out a long sigh of relief.
He sat alone on the sofa for over ten minutes before getting up and walking to his desk. He took out some paper and a pen and, after a moment of thought, began to write a letter home.
He summarized his discussion with Wang Jianchao and the others about establishing the Four Seas Trading Company, emphasizing the potential benefits for the family. He asked his father to select a few reliable clan members to come to the county seat as soon as possible. Their purpose would be to assist with the formalities of appointing a public representative for the company and to discuss the specifics of how the Yang Family Village could participate.
This kind of business venture wasn’t particularly significant. Even the great Clans behind the Inspectorate ran their own businesses. In fact, roughly forty percent of Wanxuan’s entire economy was driven by various Clans, with the remaining sixty percent being state-run. The Inspectorate’s primary focus was monitoring that sixty percent and ensuring that policies were being implemented correctly at the local level.
Of course, there were still basic lines one couldn’t cross. If a business caused problems for the common people, no one would be safe from punishment. This was the fundamental principle that allowed villages to develop small-scale agrarian economies, using simple agricultural Magic to feed countless people.
Finally, their most important duty was to monitor the three critical systems—government affairs, city defense, and the Government Soldiers—for any infiltration by demonic cultivators.
With that done, Yang Wenqing felt a wave of relief. The joy of his promotion, the tangible sense of power, and his plans for the future all coalesced into a grounded feeling of fulfillment.
Afterward, a whim struck him. He went into the kitchen and made himself a simple bowl of noodle soup. He ate it quietly, watching the scattered lights outside his window. He’d done nothing but drink at the banquet earlier and hadn’t eaten a bite. Now, thinking back on all the dishes, he couldn’t help but feel it was a waste.
After cleaning up, Yang Wenqing walked to the center of the living room and retrieved the details of the Nine Refining Secret Skill’s Third Refinement, ’Essence from Blood and Flesh,’ from his badge.
As the name implied, the focus of this refinement was to temper one’s flesh and blood, unlocking life’s potential and highly condensing one’s qi and blood. This served as the foundation for the subsequent stage of nourishing the internal organs. Once mastered, not only would his physical strength, endurance, and recovery abilities take a qualitative leap, but the very circulation of his qi and blood would also automatically nourish his Spiritual Veins and solidify his foundation.
Unlike the Second Refinement, ’Drum-Tight Skin,’ which focused on external defense, ’Essence from Blood and Flesh’ leaned more toward internal refinement and nourishment. The process, however, was no less arduous. In fact, it required even greater caution, as it touched upon the very source of life.
The auxiliary Array for this refinement was called the Wood Transformation Array. The name invoked the concept of Yi Wood’s endless vitality and its ability to nourish all things. The Array Base had to be laid with ’hundred-year-old green jade powder’ mixed with Vital Soil, with silver powder used to trace the intricate circulation runes.
The array’s focal points required at least three high-quality energy cores of the wood or water attribute to provide a gentle, continuous stream of vital Spiritual Qi. The core of the Array itself had to be a complete piece of Warm Yang Jade or ’thousand-year-old agarwood heart.’ Its gentle, long-lasting nourishing power would stabilize the flow of vitality within the Array and mitigate the discomfort and energy drain caused by the restructuring of flesh and blood during the refinement process.
The cultivation process also called for an auxiliary Spiritual Medicine known as ’Crimson Blood Ganoderma.’ This herb grew on the edge of subterranean lava flows. It was shaped like a ganoderma mushroom, had the crimson color of blood, and its medicinal properties were both potent and pure. It contained a vast amount of blood-qi essence and a trace of pure life force.
It served as both a catalyst and fuel. Aided by the Wood Transformation Array, its violent medicinal power would be converted into a steady stream of pure life energy. This energy would then permeate every inch of flesh and blood, stimulating metabolism and awakening latent potential.
Additionally, the process required supplementary gentle pills, such as ’Blood-Nourishing Pills’ and Guiyuan Pills, to replenish energy and balance the medicinal properties, ensuring a smooth refinement. However, since Yang Wenqing had his Golden Core World, he likely wouldn’t need them.
Reading over the requirements, Yang Wenqing took a deep breath. He had already anticipated the rarity and cost of the ’Crimson Blood Ganoderma,’ but the materials for the Array were just as expensive. The Warm Yang Jade and ’thousand-year-old agarwood heart,’ in particular, were rare spiritual materials that couldn’t be obtained through ordinary channels.
The Wood Transformation Array wasn’t as overtly aggressive as the Geng Metal Bone Forging Array, but it demanded extremely high precision and energy balance. The Array had to operate like a gentle spring rain nurturing the earth; the slightest deviation could obstruct the flow of vitality or even cause chaotic, uncontrolled tissue growth.
’As expected, it only gets harder from here on out,’ Yang Wenqing thought with a sigh. The preparations for the Third Refinement—in terms of money, effort, and access to special materials—were on a completely different level than the first two.
However, Yang Wenqing wasn’t in a hurry anymore. With the power of his Golden Core World, he could reach the peak of the Third Refinement within three years even without any auxiliary materials, simply by following the Secret Technique’s cultivation path and slowly refining his blood with Spiritual Qi. Moreover, while he was practicing the Third Refinement, his Golden Core World could simultaneously be practicing the Fourth Refinement.
At this rate, reaching the Fifth Refinement within ten years was highly probable.
More importantly, he didn’t want to relive the painful struggle of the final stages of the Second Refinement. He decided to follow Vice Director Gao’s advice and take a more balanced approach to his cultivation.
His mind made up, Yang Wenqing no longer hesitated. He took out the alloy base inscribed with the Zhenyuan Nourishing Vein Array and placed it in the center of the living room. While this Array was mainly for stabilizing Spiritual Power and guarding the mind—and its auxiliary effects on the ’Essence from Blood and Flesh’ refinement were inferior to the specialized Wood Transformation Array—the stable environment and protection it provided were still quite good.