But compared to before, he now seemed to have aged a lot, completely losing the heroic aura he had when bantering with the child, Tang Ran.

"Ji... Daoist Ji, hello."

Pi Fangzhi forced a greeting, then pushed open the door and entered the room.

Ji Yuan hadn't expected him to actually come back alive.

The fact that the Law Enforcement Hall allowed him to return meant he probably didn't have much to do with Tang Ran; at least, he definitely didn't know that Tang Ran was a Demon Dao spy.

If not, he would most likely never have made it back today.

Ji Yuan didn't give it much thought, he'd just been curious and called out.

After calling out, he summoned the Scarlet Skies Skiff and left Chulong Island.

On the other side, after entering the house, Pi Fangzhi's miserable look disappeared. His downcast eyes turned somewhat sinister, and his already thin body looked even more hunched.

He sensed his broken body, muttering in his heart:

"This body, seems useless again... What a pity for that child... Sigh, too hasty."

"..."

When Ji Yuan returned to Mist Island, it was already deep into the night.

He woke up the Big Toad who was napping.

"Croak, croak——"

Big Toad was naturally overjoyed to see Ji Yuan come back.

Ji Yuan didn't disappoint his loyal Brother Ha either; with three Spirit Pigs tossed over, Big Toad called out even more flatteringly.

"Get ready, we're heading out... to grab some food!"

Amid Big Toad's puzzled gaze, Ji Yuan sat down on the spot, absorbed a few Spirit Stones to restore himself to peak condition, then summoned his Purple Lightning Flying Sword.

His sword pointed towards Cloud Rain Marsh.

This time, Big Toad understood.

"Croak——"

It gave a cry, its hind legs springing with force as it leaped right through the rolling clouds, plunging into the lake and sending water splashing everywhere.

Since he was diving in to hunt demon beasts, Ji Yuan didn't bother with disguises now, and directly summoned his Thunder Falcon Boat,

leaning in and charging into the icy lake water.

He didn't need to venture far; right in this vast mist area lay plenty of Tier Two Demon Beasts. When Ji Yuan first arrived, he was cautious and careful.

But now with Big Toad backing him, there was nothing to fear.

If he could handle it, he fought. If not... Big Toad, go!

Ever since he killed the Snake Demon, and with Big Toad breaking into Late Stage Second Rank, here in the mist area, it was the undisputed king.

So in the month that followed, aside from the occasional trip back to Mist Island to rest, Ji Yuan spent all his time hunting Tier Two Demon Beasts underwater.

While refining his new Magical Artifact, he also desperately gathered up Spirit Stones.

As for his home, that was left to Tu Yue.

Early morning, somewhere near an island in the mist zone.

The water's surface looked calm, but beneath it, currents surged fiercely.

Ji Yuan's Purple Lightning Flying Sword flashed by, slicing through nine layers of waves and carving a deep, bone-deep wound on a loach-like demon beast. But not only did it not retreat, it instead flicked its tail, slamming it heavily at him.

The Vine Shield guarded his side, blocking most of the attack, but Ji Yuan's figure was still sent flying.

"Go!"

With a thought, blood surged around him, and the hidden Blood Serpent churned up countless waves, lunging forward.

The Mud-swallowing Spirit Loach spat another mouthful of mud, manipulating the surrounding waters to fend off the serpent's assault.

But at that moment, seeing Ji Yuan charging at it again, it quickly shrank back.

"Sss——"

The apparition before its eyes vanished, suddenly replaced by a Silver Needle piercing through its skull.

The needle paused briefly in its mind, Spiritual Qi erupted, instantly shredding it to death.

Only then did Ji Yuan, shield in hand, approach and with a casual sword slash, chopped off the beast's head and retrieved its Demon Pill from its brain.

With the battle over, Big Toad's figure finally bounded over from afar.

For this hunt, he hadn't needed its help at all.

With so many means, Ji Yuan could successfully hunt a Tier Two early-stage demon beast even underwater.

Of course, talismans, spells, physique, elixirs, Magical and Spiritual Artifacts—none could be omitted.

Ji Yuan looked at the five round Demon Pills newly added to his Storage Bag. Over the past month, he'd slain four Tier Two early-stage demon beasts.

And one mid-stage demon beast, which Big Toad killed somewhere else.

He checked another Storage Bag, packed with demon beast corpses.

Selling these should be enough to upgrade the [Alchemy Room].

With that, he didn't wait any longer and summoned the Thunder Falcon Boat.

"Pi Pi Ha, let's go!"

Big Toad had no clue what Pi Pi Ha meant, but it definitely knew 'going home'—because once home, there was tasty meat to eat.

One man and one toad returned to Mist Island, and Ji Yuan collected recent gains from Tu Yue.

After a short rest, restoring his Spiritual Qi and calming his slightly chaotic circulation, he summoned the Scarlet Skies Skiff and returned to the Water Dragon Sect.

This time, he skipped Chulong Island and headed straight for All Things Island.

He first visited his usual spot to deal with the demon beast corpses.

One mid-stage Tier Two demon beast, the other four were early-stage Tier Two.

Since the early-stage corpses had no Demon Pill, each only sold for 10 Spirit Stones, totaling 40 altogether.

The mid-stage beast fetched more, 20 pieces.

In all, that was 60 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

After selling those, Ji Yuan also sold off his accumulated basic goods.

As for Talismanic Elixir, he'd already sold out last time.

Altogether, with what he already had, his stash of Spirit Stones soared back up to 79 pieces.

Then he headed to the Hundred Treasures Tower to ask about Illusion Spirit Grass and Blackwater Snake-patterned Grass.

Maybe all the bad luck had been spent on that Illusion Spirit Grass last time.

This time, all the materials needed to upgrade [Alchemy Room] were available.

Three Blackwater Mist Grass, five Blackwater Snake-patterned Grass, costing Ji Yuan eight Mid-grade Spirit Stones in total.

That price was far from cheap.

Having secured the herbs, his game panel refreshed.

[Alchemy Room] changed to "Upgradeable."

Keen to learn, Ji Yuan didn't even plan to return to Mist Island, instead heading straight to his place on Chulong Island.

By the time Ji Yuan got home, it was already dusk. He went inside and immediately activated the [Alchemy Room] function, then placed the prepared herbs and Spirit Stones into the [Alchemy Room].

With a thought, he chose to upgrade.

The panel refreshed, but nothing odd happened in the room.

Yet in Ji Yuan's mind, memories appeared out of nowhere... the technique for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.

"First, soak the thousand-year Illusion Spirit Grass and thousand-year Green Spike Grass in Earth Vein Spiritual Spring for seven days to purge their impurities..."

The memory repeated itself over and over, and Ji Yuan sank into it.

At first, he felt unfamiliar with the alchemy technique, but after it replayed a few times, it grew wholly familiar.

As if he'd already refined dozens, even a hundred batches of Foundation Establishment Pills.

He even considered going straight to Four Directions Island now, open a Fire Channel-enabled Alchemy Room, and give the first batch a shot.

Of course, he couldn't risk it just yet; Ji Yuan wanted to wait until he'd gained more experience and gathered more materials.

Once he was ready to Foundation Establish, he'd strike while the iron was hot and succeed in one go!

While thinking, he summoned his game panel.

At a glance, he suddenly noticed that when [Alchemy Room] refreshed just now, another line of text appeared.

[Host has learned the "Foundation Establishment Pill" alchemy technique with Pseudo Spirit Root aptitude, Foundation Establishment possible; can unlock Foundation Establishment Stage core building "Meditation Room" (enhances Divine Sense).]

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