Chapter 12 The Situation Outside
Shangguan Yi left his room after consolidating his cultivation. As a 2nd level Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he could clearly feel that his essence had increased by one fold. Moreover, its density was purer. This meant he could refine pills at a much higher efficiency and quantity due to the increased density of his essence.
At first, when he advanced to the 2nd level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he expected that he would be able to refine 20 batches of low-grade essence pills each time.
But now, due to the increased density of his essence, his previous calculations were no longer accurate. He might be able to refine more than 20 batches of low-grade essence pills, and the same would apply to mid and high-grade pills.
This was definitely good news for him. At the same time, it would be harder for him to cultivate as it would take more time than at the 1st level.
After sitting there for a while, Shuang'er returned from delivering the pills. However, she was walking two steps behind an old man. This old man was none other than Old Wang.
Shangguan Yi wasn't surprised by Old Wang's arrival. Considering it had been a long time since they last met, Old Wang would naturally come to visit him; this was the value of their relationship. Additionally, the batches of pills Shangguan Yi sent this time included two batches of mid-grade essence pills. This indicated that Shangguan Yi had stepped into the realm of mid-grade pill refinement, giving Old Wang more than enough reason to come.
"Greetings, Old Wang. How have you been?" Shangguan Yi stood up and cupped his fists.
"Xiaoyi, there's no need for courtesy between us." Old Wang waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to be polite and sat down on the seat.
Both of them sat down, and Shuang'er helped pour the tea. After being here for a period of time, she had indeed learned a lot from Old Wang, so she could handle the matter appropriately.
Shangguan Yi might not like drinking tea, but when it's necessary, he didn't reject it.
"Haha, Xiaoyi, it's only been a year since you broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Now you've already advanced to the 2nd level. Your talent is not inferior to the geniuses of those ten great families and three great sects at all. In fact, you might be slightly better than them, considering you devote most of your time to refining pills. If you focused solely on cultivation, you'd progress even faster than them." Old Wang commented, genuinely and sincerely glad for Shangguan Yi's success.
"Old Wang, you praise me too much. I know my abilities, and I still couldn't compare to them. If not for the help of the pills, I might not have been able to progress this fast. So I have to disagree with you on this aspect." Shangguan Yi shook his head slightly.
Hearing this, Old Wang seemed to realize it and nodded slightly. "That's right. Just now, I thought you couldn't compare to them in terms of resources. However, as a pill refiner yourself, you would have a better advantage in this aspect."
"Let's not dwell on that. Now that I've advanced to a mid-grade pill refiner, I might refine fewer low-grade essence pills and focus my time on studying mid-grade pills. Naturally, I will encounter troubles regarding pill ingredients. After all, from what I've concluded, to progress further, I need to study more about other kinds of pills," Shangguan Yi explained. He took this opportunity to search for the materials he needed to upgrade his cultivation techniques. With various types of pills and refining methods, he could easily mix in the items he wanted with the pill ingredients.
Shangguan Yi had to be cautious in every step. He might not have enemies targeting him now, but he never knew what would happen in the future. Some powerful entities might take notice of his existence if something unusual occurred. Therefore, it was never too much to be cautious.
"Of course, it naturally takes harder efforts to progress from mid-grade to a higher grade. I fully support you. You don't need to worry; whatever you need, I'll try my best to find it," Old Wang assured. He was well aware of the challenges faced by pill refiners in each step of their progression. While he might not be a pill refiner himself, his understanding of the craft surpassed that of an average level 2 pill refiner.
"I trust your arrangement. I'll inform you through Shuang'er later about what I need. Of course, I won't let you suffer; I just need 30% of the income, and the rest will be under your management," Shangguan Yi stated. Despite being an inexperienced young man, his understanding of human nature was unparalleled. While he might not know exactly what Old Wang was thinking, he understood the age-old adage that a bird dies for food, and a person dies for wealth. His pill incomes were not a small sum, and Old Wang naturally wouldn't reject such an arrangement given the current circumstances.
And it was just as he expected; Old Wang had a big smile at Shangguan Yi's decision. He grew fonder of Shangguan Yi more and more due to his personality. Shangguan Yi wasn't too greedy; he knew how to share the benefits, and that's what Old Wang loved. Despite being a shopkeeper for years, his essence stone accumulation was never enough. He was more than pleased to get a share from Shangguan Yi; even if this share was used to buy ingredients, it was still enough for him.
The pavilion couldn't support all the ingredients for the pill refiners. It was very normal for the pill refiners to use their own essence stones to buy more ingredients.
"Rest assured, Xiaoyi. I won't let you suffer either. I will discuss the matter with Manager Li after this." Old Wang secretly planned that he would discuss with Manager Li for more benefits. He would raise more conditions for additional salary, shares, and ingredients for Shangguan Yi.
"That's right, I've been in seclusion for quite a long time. How's the situation outside?" Calculating the time, the Xuan World might have closed three months ago. Shangguan Yi was quite interested in this topic.
Hearing his questions, Old Wang wore a grave expression and remained silent for a while before sighing, "It's truly an unexpected situation for everyone regarding the abnormality of the Xuan World this time. Normally, it should have closed three months ago. However, until now, it hasn't made an appearance or closed yet. Many experts have tried to find the cause, but to their disappointment, none of them know the exact reason. Some speculate that it's due to the significant opportunities inside, while others suggest that the Xuan World is too old and may have lost too much essence, needing more time to recover. There are also those who speculate that the Xuan World is on the verge of evolving to a higher level, and some even suggest that it's encountering unexpected situations. There are various theories circulating about it."
Shangguan Yi expressed his thoughts, "Oh, such a huge matter must be affecting every powerful cultivation family in the world." The Xuan World opened for every Foundation Establishment Cultivator globally, not limited to specific areas. Just the number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators entering that world was much higher than the population of Shanxi County. Therefore, this would definitely cause commotion throughout the world. If it was a scheme by someone or some group of people, it would undoubtedly be a major event capable of causing chaos worldwide.
"Exactly! The ten great families and three great sects are very anxious about this matter. All the top geniuses of their forces entered that world, which naturally made them anxious. Normally, after every time the Xuan World closes, there will be competitions held by the great sects from the provinces to select the geniuses. But this time, with the situation as it is, I'm not sure if this competition will happen." Old Wang shook his head slightly. He had been quite hopeful for the competition to take place, as many top geniuses were still in the Xuan World, meaning there would be fewer competitors and a chance for his lineages to gain the attention of the great sects.
Shangguan Yi listened carefully and nodded. They then talked about other matters that had occurred during the past half year for a few hours before Old Wang left.
After Old Wang left, Shangguan Yi cast a glance at Shuang'er. This girl had grown more beautiful and her cultivation had also progressed to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Shangguan Yi wasn't surprised by her improvement. The first time he met her, he could feel that she was on the verge of breaking through; what she lacked was just the time to accumulate the foundation. After a year of accumulation, her cultivation naturally progressed. It could be said that her ambition was not small. If it were the norm, people might just break through when the opportunity arose, like Shangguan Yi; he didn't accumulate more foundation before breaking through. But Shuang'er had accumulated a great foundation before breaking through, which naturally granted her a deep foundation and great potential in cultivation.
"Shuang'er, I'll enter seclusion, and of course, the resources I need will be much more. So, you will come to receive the pills and hand over the ingredients often, as I need to collect the ingredients very frequently," Shangguan Yi spoke in a calm voice.
"Don't worry, Young Master, I'll be here every day to check for updates," Shuang'er replied.
"That's good. I won't let you suffer; you'll get every single pill for each delivery," Shangguan Yi said as he stood and prepared to leave.
It might seem that he was stingy to her, but one must know that a single low-grade pill cost 10 essence stones, and it was not something that you have 10 essence stones and just could buy it. Not every Cultivator could buy it in time because the pill was very limited each day. So, a single pill was precious enough for Shuang'er's situation.
"Thank you, Young Master," Shuang'er bowed. She was, of course, pleased with this condition. After all, her work was just to deliver. It was a light job compared to those who were struggling for a single pill outside.
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Cultivation Realm:
-Body Refining Realm (mortals / practitioners)
-Foundation Establishment Realm ( genuine Cultivators)
-Core Formation Realm
Technique/Pill/Artifact/Array/Beast/Herb/Talisman Level
-Warrior (level 1)
-Elite (level 2)
-Master (level 3)
Each level divided to 4 grades: low, mid, high and supreme.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone