As for defensive treasures—

With 211 Fire Bud Crystals in hand, and his physique reaching straight to the sixth rank, Yan Chuan wasn’t in urgent need; it could be deferred. As long as his physique could steadily rise to the sixth-rank level, fourth and fifth-rank defensive exotic treasures were of no use to Yan Chuan, as they couldn’t harm him. Even sixth-rank exotic treasures didn’t seem to measure up to Yan Chuan’s sixth-rank physique.

Defensive exotic treasures.

Not needed for now.

...

Yan Chuan was very busy, using every possible means to exert himself to improve.

From cultivation to absolute skills and equipment, he aimed to enhance everything, striving to achieve the best—

"Since the ’Star Transformation Original Stone Shop’ stabilized, it’s been bringing in 1 Primordial Pill daily, almost pure profit, providing me with an unlimited cash flow."

Primordial Pill in hand.

The world is mine.

"Innate Third Layer!"

"Eighth Realm ’Nine Yang Divine Skill’!"

A few days ago, on March 20th, Yan Chuan made further progress, finally advancing from Innate Second Layer to Innate Third Layer, elevating his cultivation to a higher level. Based on the Eighth Realm ’Nine Yang Divine Skill,’ he could refine 500 catties of Essence Energy daily, with 80% loss in the Divine General’s Courtyard, totaling 625 catties of Essence Stone!

Efficiency greatly increased!

Swallowing Gold Demon Cave!

There was also Wang Zhengyi’s ’Monkey King Avatar’—

"I do 625 a day."

"Old Wang’s Monkey King Avatar 140."

A total of 765 catties of Essence Stone.

At first glance, that’s a lot.

For an ordinary first-rank Divine General, their monthly income for the upper middle tier is only 3000 catties of Essence Stone. At Yan Chuan’s speed, he wouldn’t last four days.

But Yan Chuan didn’t lack money; just the ’Star Transformation Original Stone Shop’ brought in 1 Primordial Pill daily, and 765 catties of Essence Stone wasn’t even worth mentioning.

Moreover, Yan Chuan received 13 Primordial Pills from selling information related to the ’Fire Bud Crystals’ through Situ Fei at the Blood Shadow Temple, and today he obtained another 10 Primordial Pills from Tan Yunqing. Adding these pieces together, Yan Chuan had a cash flow of as much as 38 Primordial Pills.

Too much!

Yan Chuan was too rich!

"Money is just a piece of crap." Even if there are countless Primordial Pills, not knowing how to utilize them is a waste. Daily cultivation cannot consume much Essence Stone, nor many Primordial Pills.

He can’t use it all up.

Yan Chuan’s current problem was no longer ’how to earn Primordial Pills,’ but ’how to spend Primordial Pills,’ and he couldn’t just squander them; he had to use them wisely.

"Treasure land."

"Array."

"Elixir Pills."

"Exotic Treasures."

"With so many Primordial Pills, I can maximize the intensity of all kinds of cultivation resources!"

Yan Chuan thought, stepping out of the ’Divine General’s Courtyard,’ releasing Situ Fei from the ’North Mansion’ in a quiet corner of the bustling city, giving her no less than 30 Primordial Pills: "I need to trouble Fairy Situ to run to the two large trading houses for me—"

...

"Suspended Pot Pill."

"World-saving Pill."

"Awakening God Fragrance."

"Mysterious Machine Wine."

"Red Phoenix Facing the Sun Powder."

"Eight Spirit Sky Filling Glue."

Yan Chuan took one by one of the Elixir Pills and exotic treasures from Situ Fei, feeling extremely pleased.

In recent days, Yan Chuan, on one hand, flipped through books recording various Elixir Pills and exotic treasures beneficial to Innate Realm cultivation. On the other, he consulted wealthy friends like Zhang Tao in Heavenly Ladder City about what resources they used during their cultivation, and then cross-referenced these with offerings from the ’Wanshan’ and ’Feiyu’ two trading houses.

Combining all aspects.

And considering the Primordial Pills at hand, along with the earning forecasts of the ’Original Stone Paving’ and ’Heavenly Ladder City,’ eventually, Yan Chuan formulated the ’Suspended Pot Pill + World-saving Pill + Awakening God Fragrance + Mysterious Machine Wine + Red Phoenix Facing the Sun Powder + Eight Spirit Sky Filling Glue’ luxurious combo package—

"This set costs exactly 30 Primordial Pills but only suffices for a month’s cultivation for me."

One month.

Primordial Pills.

Yan Chuan could be said to be extravagant.

But spending these 30 Primordial Pills, Yan Chuan, though newly entering the Innate Third Layer, could be sure to ascend to the Innate Fourth Layer within the next month.

Innate Realm—

Initially stepping into the first meridian.

Completing the first meridian would be the Innate First Layer.

Following that, Yan Chuan began the first round of nourishing ’Sinew, Bone, Skin, and Membrane’—

Innate First Layer ’Bone Tempering.’

Innate Second Layer ’Quenching Tendons.’

Innate Third Layer ’Quenching Meat.’

Innate Fourth Layer ’Quenching Skin.’

This was Yan Chuan’s cultivation sequence, and he was currently in the third-level ’first round of Quenching Meat.’

At this stage—

"I must cultivate more True Qi, fully immersing the foundation of the Dan Tian Qi Sea and simultaneously dispersing the already tempered ’Sinew’ and ’Bone,’ while also preparing for the soon-to-be-tempered ’Meat.’

The ’Mysterious Machine Wine’ and ’Red Phoenix Facing the Sun Powder’ Yan Chuan purchased were top-grade resources for rapidly enhancing True Qi and power—

Two pots of Mysterious Machine Wine (two catties): 2.6 Primordial Pills.

Ten sets of Red Phoenix Facing the Sun Powder: 4.2 Primordial Pills.

This alone was enough to cultivate to the third-layer of True Qi.

Afterward—

"My emphasis in the Innate Third Layer is on ’Quenching Meat.’

’Suspended Pot Pill’ and ’World-saving Pill’ were the best Elixir Pills for the first round of ’Quenching Meat.’

Suspended Pot Pills: 3.6 Primordial Pills.

World-saving Pills: 8.5 Primordial Pills.

This alone was enough to complete a round of ’Quenching Meat,’ with all muscle tissue enfolding enough Spiritual Qi for a perfect transformation.

Moreover—

"Lighting the ’Awakening God Fragrance’ would keep me in a profound state, making True Qi cultivation even smoother, muscle nourishment more seamless, allowing me to fully maximize the effects of ’Mysterious Machine Wine,’ ’Red Phoenix Facing the Sun Powder,’ ’Suspended Pot Pill,’ and ’World-saving Pill.’

Awakening God Fragrance sticks: 1.9 Primordial Pills.

Finally.

"The ’Eight Spirit Sky Filling Glue’ is an excellent treasure medicine for lubricating the ’Sinew,’ ’Bone,’ and ’Meat.’ To advance from Innate Third Layer to Fourth Layer, one needs not only to complete ’Quenching Meat’ but also perfectly link the previous three. Based on this, one can break through to the Fourth Layer and start the first round of ’Skin and Flesh’ training and nourishment."

One portion of Eight Spirit Sky Filling Glue: 9.2 Primordial Pills.

Summing up, all these exotic treasures tallied precisely at 30 Primordial Pills.

"City Lord Yan is too extravagant!" Even Situ Fei felt Yan Chuan’s extravagance reaching its extremity. He expended 30 Primordial Pills, all just to accomplish the Innate Third Layer ’Quenching Meat’ cultivation within a month.

Using his method—

Fourth Layer.

Fifth Layer.

Sixth Layer.

Continuing through the Innate realms up to the Twentieth Layer, how many Primordial Pills would it consume?

It was an astronomical number!

Yan Chuan’s package was the fastest plan to become Innate Third Layer under current conditions, but it wasn’t the most cost-effective option. Without an abundance of funds, designing such a plan was impossible.

Situ Fei found Yan Chuan extravagant, yet couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy at heart—

Spending money!

Scattering gold like rain!

Gaining three layers in one month!

Who wouldn’t want that?

Situ Fei did too, but she had no money.

...

"Following me doesn’t benefit you much, yet I often trouble you, and it’s not right without a gesture." Yan Chuan knew that Situ Fei was poor. This ’Flying Bodhisattva’ completely had a love-centric mind and yearned to be with Ding Xiang but almost had no income source, only holding a one-time bonus of 4 Primordial Pills recently settled by the court, but even that had to be shared with her former teammates, which meant she probably had less than 3 Primordial Pills left.

Situ Fei wasn’t dirt poor, but her resources were diminishing by the day.

Yan Chuan noticed this and considering that in the future, he would still require Situ Fei’s assistance frequently, he couldn’t just mooch off her. "In the Mountain and Sea Realm, a first-rank Divine General’s mid-upstream monthly income is about 3000 catties of Essence Stone, and Fairy Situ has helped so much recently and won’t have fewer troubles in the future. Treat it as me employing the fairy, with a monthly wage of 0.3 Primordial Pills, which I hope you’ll not find too little."

At 0.3 Primordial Pills monthly, it totaled 3.6 annually, enough for Situ Fei to use at her rank without matching Yan Chuan’s extravagance.

"Thank you, Brother Yan!" Situ Fei expressed her gratitude.

After Situ Fei was Ding Xiang: "I use Ding Xiang as a ’human-shaped external device’ to aid my cultivation of the Lightweight Body Technique. Although I have ’Mutual Teaching and Learning,’ benefiting her too, ultimately, she helped me, augmenting the progress of ’Wave Riding Micro Steps’ and ’Ladder Cloud Jump’ far beyond other Martial Arts, and I must show gratitude."

Thus—

"Since Fairy Situ later gets 3000 catties of Essence Stone monthly, I shouldn’t be partial." Yan Chuan summoned Ding Xiang. Facing her surprised little face, Yan Chuan grinned: "From now on, monthly payroll settled on the 25th of every month. Junior Sister Ding too gets 3000 catties of Essence Stone."

"Thanks, Senior Brother!"

Ding Xiang beamed with joy, her smile sweet.

Ding Xiang 3000.

Situ Fei 3000.

Since Lu Yuru hadn’t yet proven the Dao, there was no need to distribute salary.

Additionally.

Wang Zhengyi’s Monkey King Avatar consumed 4200 monthly for cultivation.

And Chen Ze, Jiang Bianliu, Granny Huang, stationed at Tan Valley Royal City, Yan Chuan, as the city lord, couldn’t expect these three to work for free, thus—

Chen Ze 3000.

Jiang Bianliu 3000.

Granny Huang 3000.

These were base salaries, with additional pay for extraordinary tasks.

Add it up—

"19200."

"Salary alone costs nearly 2 Primordial Pills monthly."

That’s a lot.

But not too much.

"When I give martial arts lectures in Heavenly Ladder City, just Zhang Tao’s monthly fee is enough to cover the expense." Yan Chuan had a steady flow of income; he truly was not short on money.

At least, not at present.

...

The turmoil within Hunxi Territory continued, and with time, as the news of ’Fire Bud Crystals’ and ’Moth Vine’ spread, it wasn’t just Hunxi that was in motion; the other five king cities in the Jinze Region were also stirred—

Moth Vine!

At least a War God level plant life.

Fire Bud Crystal!

Enabling a first-rank Divine General to possess a sixth-rank physique.

A decade’s cycle of Fire Bud Crystals could create at least five ’Meat Balls’ possessing sixth-rank physiques, and even for powers like the Hunxi Four Families and Three Sects, a sixth-rank Divine General held substantial weight. Each sixth-rank Divine General had the potential to breakthrough to War God. They often roamed about seeking opportunities, joined by their fortuitous encounters, and having a sixth-rank physique along with their sixth-rank cultivation granted them greater assurance on ventures, amplifying their power, with a higher hope of breaking through to War God.

Thus, the ’Fire Bud Crystal’ was of significant importance.

The appearance of such a plant life and a treasure like the ’Fire Bud Crystal’ in the Jinze Region drove everyone crazed.

Hunxi Territory.

Nanyue Lake.

From then on, it became a hotspot.

However, that was entirely a battle among powers at the War God level, such as the Four Families and Three Sects. Loose cultivator Divine Generals could only try their luck picking up scraps at Nanyue Lake, and as for the ’Moth Vine,’ there was no chance of getting their hands on it.

Yan Chuan knew his place, seated steadily in Golden Talisman City; through Wang Zhengyi’s Soul Channel, he traveled daily between Golden Talisman City and Tan Valley Royal City, intent on focused cultivation without stepping out.

This state fostered rapid progress.

Time flew by.

March concluded, and April arrived.

On this day.

April 1st.

The ’Wanxiang Pavilion’ in Golden Talisman City, which had been open for a month and a half without any visible activities and remained a mystery, finally came with a big move—

...