Xiao Fei's hunger this time was extremely intense. To satisfy it, he consumed all the dry rations stored in his space at once.
These rations, under normal circumstances, would have lasted him over half a year, but he devoured them all in one sitting.
Even after finishing them, he was still not satisfied. He pulled out a thousand-year-old ginseng from his space and ate it raw, crunching on it like a radish.
The immense medicinal power of the thousand-year-old ginseng was rapidly digested, transforming into a continuous stream of energy that continued to nourish his muscles.
Only after the thousand-year-old spiritual herb was consumed did he finally cease to feel unbearable hunger.
Xiao Fei stood up, clenched his fists, and swung them a few times, feeling the surging power within him.
He took out the pair of great hammers from his space to test them.
The primary reason he had decided to cultivate the "Golden Body Arhat Technique" was for these very hammers.
In the past, a Black Scaled Demon, wielding this pair of great hammers, fought three human Nascent Soul cultivators without being at a disadvantage, even pushing the three ancestors into perilous situations.
Had it not been for Ancestor Shangguan's sneak attack with poison, the three ancestors might have been defeated.
With his greatly increased strength, Xiao Fei could now wield one great hammer with a single hand, though his strength was still a bit lacking, making the movements less agile.
After playing with the great hammers for a while, Xiao Fei planted the seed of the Dragon Blood Lychee into his space.
Such a valuable item necessitated him owning a fruit tree.
His space contained many high-grade spiritual herbs, but few high-grade spiritual fruits, with most being common spiritual peaches.
The higher-grade item was the Wood Spirit Fruit Tree, which bore only four fruits. It was estimated that it would take several hundred more years for them to mature.
Additionally, there was the red spiritual fruit tree he had obtained from the Jade Stone Plaza in the small world, which he had successfully cultivated from its branches.
Xiao Fei had not found any information about this tree, so he named it the Bursting Fruit.
The Bursting Fruit tree was now bearing its first batch of fruits. The green fruits had a small blush of red, indicating they were close to ripening.
He had witnessed the power of this spiritual fruit; even Nascent Soul cultivators had to retreat, and Golden Core cultivators would face certain death.
Once he cultivated a large number of these spiritual fruits in his space, he could unleash a barrage of red spiritual fruits, turning any troublesome spirits or demons into dust.
His space also housed a Sacred Luo Fruit Tree, acquired at the East Sea Black Flood Dragon City auction. Its flesh, a healing sacred medicine, had been used for alchemy.
This was a deep-sea aquatic spiritual plant. He had planted its seeds at the bottom of his lotus pond, and they had surprisingly taken root and sprouted, thriving.
He then went to check on the Moon Radiance Grass that had been transplanted into his space.
As he had expected, the Moon Radiance Grass, which required absorbing moonlight and was notoriously delicate and difficult to care for,
had shed all its fussiness after being transplanted into his space. It now behaved like common roadside weeds, possessing tenacious vitality and excellent adaptability; it wouldn't die even if stepped on a couple of times.
This Moon Radiance Grass was only six to seven hundred years old, still a long way from its thousand-year maturity period.
Even with the 40-fold time acceleration in his space, it would still take over a decade to mature.
During this waiting period of over ten years, Xiao Fei planned to acquire some spirit stones from the outside world.
The broken disc hidden within his body was covered in cracks, its state so dilapidated that no one would bother picking it up if dropped on the ground.
Every time he cultivated and advanced, this jade disc would absorb a large amount of spiritual energy to repair its cracks.
Moreover, its appetite was insatiable. The last time he broke through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, it had consumed millions of spirit stones from him, only managing to repair one tiny crack.
He had no idea how many spirit stones this thing would devour this time as he advanced from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, but the quantity would undoubtedly be staggering.
In any case, he needed to prepare a large quantity of spirit stones in advance; the more, the better.
With the current operational capacity of the Treasure Pavilion, it could only earn him two to three million at most in ten years, which was far from enough.
He sometimes even wondered if, given the disc's consumption rate, it might eventually drain all the spiritual energy in this world.
At least, to his knowledge, the entire spirit stone reserves of the Eastern Continent would not be enough for the disc to consume.
Would he, in the future, have to play the role of a world-destroying demon?
Xiao Fei was startled by his future self just by casually thinking about it.
Before preparing to leave to acquire spirit stones, Xiao Fei made a special visit to several Nascent Soul ancestors of the Luomen.
He used ten precious thousand-year-old spiritual herbs and enlisted Zhu Yu's help to whisper persuasive words, finally obtaining a pill recipe from Ancestor Shangguan.
This recipe contained the formula for the very poison that Ancestor Shangguan had used to poison the Black Scaled Demon, forcing its eventual retreat.
Xiao Fei had long coveted this poison formula, but Ancestor Shangguan guarded it closely, considering it his ultimate trump card and refusing to share it.
As a last resort, Xiao Fei adopted an indirect strategy, enlisting Zhu Yu's help to constantly whisper persuasive words.
No matter how stubborn a person might be, they have a soft spot at certain moments. With persistent persuasion, their stance can gradually change.
However, to persuade Zhu Yu to work so diligently, Xiao Fei had also promised him the reward of a Nascent Soul Pill.
For Zhu Yu, even if he worked himself to exhaustion, Ancestor Shangguan would never give him a Nascent Soul Pill.
Ancestor Shangguan was currently penniless, with insufficient resources for his own cultivation, so how could he spend a large sum to find a Nascent Soul Pill for him?
Moreover, what if Zhu Yu, after advancing to Nascent Soul, became fickle and stopped working diligently?
Therefore, he was extremely attentive to Xiao Fei's promise and worked with exceptional effort every day.
Xiao Fei finally obtained the poison formula as he wished, only to discover that he lacked most of the poisons listed in the recipe.
In particular, one key ingredient required the root of a three-thousand-year-old Wulong Vine.
Wulong Vine was nearly extinct in the cultivation world; where would he find it anytime soon?
For now, he had to set this matter aside and wait for an opportunity to gather these poisons in the future.
After obtaining Ancestor Shangguan's poison formula, Xiao Fei visited Elder Jiang of the Ziwei Hall.
The former Ziwei Sect excelled in talisman crafting, and the Thousand Mile Teleportation Talismans produced by the Ziwei Sect enjoyed a high reputation in the cultivation world.
Xiao Fei had also used two of them. Although they contained a lot of "water," falling far short of their "thousand mile" claim, they were indeed useful for escaping in critical moments.
Upon understanding Xiao Fei's intention, Elder Jiang shook his head.
"My apologies, Daoist Xiao. The method for refining this talisman has always been a secret of the Ziwei Sect. Even among Ziwei Sect disciples, very few are qualified to learn it."
"Daoist Jiang, you are too formal. We all belong to the Luomen now, as one family. Why should we distinguish between ourselves!"
Before Elder Jiang could continue his refusal, Xiao Fei quickly added,
"Everything in the world has its corresponding value. Let me make an offer first. Daoist Jiang, consider it. If you feel the value is insufficient, we can negotiate further."
As Xiao Fei spoke, he produced an exquisitely crafted jade box.
Opening the box, ten Peiying Pills were neatly arranged inside.
Elder Jiang of the Ziwei Hall did not know how to refine pills. Compared to thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, ready-made pills held greater appeal for him.
Elder Jiang glanced at them; it was indeed a significant fortune, but he remained unmoved.
"Daoist Xiao, there's no need to trouble yourself. Our sect's ancestral talismans are never to be passed on!"
Xiao Fei ignored him and took out two more identical jade boxes, placing them down.
Elder Jiang still wanted to refuse, but his mouth opened, and no sound came out; his throat felt a bit dry.
Seeing this, Xiao Fei continued to take out two more jade boxes and placed them on the table.
A total of five jade boxes, containing fifty Peiying Pills, were laid out together. The visual and psychological impact was immense.
As a result, Elder Jiang harbored wicked thoughts several times, but quickly dismissed them.
Elder Jiang still instinctively wanted to refuse, but no matter what, he couldn't utter a single word. The temptation was too great.
With the accumulation from his years of arduous cultivation, if he were to consume these pills, he might have a chance to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage.
It was important to note that the entire Luomen, and even the Wu Kingdom, currently had no mid-Nascent Soul experts.
The former Eagle Mountain Kingdom did have two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, but they were unfortunately killed by the Great General of the Qin Kingdom.
If he could be the first to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, he would become the foremost expert in several surrounding countries.
Seeing Elder Jiang still hesitating, Xiao Fei took out another jade box and opened it.
"This is actually a mid-grade Peiying Pill!"
Elder Jiang exclaimed in surprise. With the assistance of this mid-grade Peiying Pill, his advancement to the mid-Nascent Soul stage would be a certainty.
Once he possessed the strength, he might be able to fight his way back to the Lu Kingdom, reclaim the Ziwei Sect's mountain gate, and restore his ancestral heritage.
"Deal!"