The old man surnamed Zhou stroked his beard and said, "Since you're renting short-term, the price is a bit higher. And with the trade fair coming up and more high-tier cultivators arriving, we've adjusted the prices upward. It's 150,000 a month, and you'll need to renew at the management office at the end of each month. If you choose a long-term lease, with a minimum of ten years, we can lower it to 120,000 a month."

What daylight robbery! The business was absurdly profitable; even Luo Chen felt envious. No wonder high-level cultivators liked to dominate entire regions. Whether or not they established sects, they secured control of the land. Just collecting rent alone would bring in staggering profits. Even so, Luo Chen still decided to rent the place. Both he and Heavenjade needed a cave residence with third-tier spirit energy for cultivation.

Advancing in cultivation took time and steady effort. Now, he was simply trading spirit stones for time. It was worth it. After Luo Chen paid, the old man handed a jade token to Heavenjade.

"What is this?" Heavenjade asked.

The old man smiled. "Any Adept new to Jadecold City gets one of these. Our three families leave messages on it and hold gatherings for high-level cultivators from time to time. You can exchange cultivation insights or trade items. Either way, you'll get something out of it. Of course, whether you go is up to you."

He turned and left. Heavenjade held out the jade token and looked at Luo Chen. He shook his head.

"Keep it for now. We can check it out later."

After that, Luo Chen began setting up within the valley. He buried the Divine Seal Compass and activated the Surging Cloudmist Formation. He drew on the earth vein's spirit energy, and a layer of rainclouds formed overhead. Mist spread in all directions and covered the entire valley.

With the formation in place, the valley gained solid defense. It also concealed divine consciousness and blocked outside probing. Under Han Zhan's control, it could even block Sages.

"Sorry to trouble you, Senior."

"It's nothing. Helping you helps me as well," Han Zhan said casually after adjusting the formation.

Luo Chen entered the wooden house in the valley. He set up his own spirit-gathering formation over the Zhou family's, and the spirit energy density rose noticeably. He wondered if this increase would reduce the spirit energy elsewhere.

Luo Chen chuckled and began taking items out of his storage ring. There were all kinds of crab pincers, legs, and demon cores. Over the years in the Profound Rock Sea Region, Luo Chen, Black King, and Heavenjade had captured thousands of demonic crabs. Almost all of them were second-tier. Luo Chen had refined their shells into Black Sovereign Paste and either consumed the flesh as bloodfood or fed it to Black King. What remained were the parts Black King didn't like.

These resources were not very useful to Luo Chen, but they were far from worthless. The Northern Sea was rich in demonic beasts, but alchemists and artisans could never have enough demon cores. Thus, the thousands of second-tier cores were highly valuable. The sturdy crab pincers could also be made into enchanted artifacts. Altogether, these resources could fetch several million spirit stones.

Then, Luo Chen took out another batch of similar items from his storage ring. They were larger and far tougher, and the demonic energy clinging to them was exceptionally dense. These were clearly Crab King remnants he had gathered in his final year there. After refining as much fourth-tier Black Sovereign Paste as he could, he had kept all of them.

"Once I sell this batch, things should ease up a bit. I won't be so strapped for spirit stones anymore."

Luo Chen had once been extremely rich. Through alchemy, the Luo Tian Sect's profits, and battle spoils, his assets had exceeded ten million. Even by Adept standards, he was considered quite wealthy. But after Core Formation, the Frontier War, the mountain-moving plan, and daily cultivation, his wealth was nearly drained. With his funds running low, he had begun exploiting low-tier cultivator families after arriving at the Flying Swallow Archipelago. If he were to be honest, that was not exactly honorable.

"Once I sell these materials, the spirit stones should be enough for me to make some good gains at this trade fair."

After sorting everything, Luo Chen packed the materials by grade into storage pouches and handed them all to Heavenjade.

"You remember the shops I mentioned on the way, right?"

"Yes, Master."

"There's quite a lot here. One shop probably won't take it all. Go to a few different shops and sell it off in parts. Even if the price is a bit lower, it's fine. The priority is to turn everything into spirit stones."

Luo Chen gave his instructions. After more than half a year of guidance, Heavenjade had gained some good proficiency in Spirit Suppression. Luo Chen had also engraved a concealment formation for her, and Han Zhan added a few things of his own. Unless a Sage appeared for some reason, few could see through her. With that, Heavenjade could move about outside and handle minor matters for Luo Chen. As for Luo Chen, he planned to continue refining his self-created demonic cultivation technique.

***

The next day, Heavenjade took the demon crab pieces out to trade. In truth, the Jadecold City master only organized the high-tier auction, and the trade fair was actually organized by others. It might be a grand event for low-tier cultivators, but Luo Chen paid it no mind and had no intention of attending. All he cared about was that this trade fair provided him with an excellent opportunity to sell some things he didn't need and make money.

After she left, Luo Chen took out a pile of high-quality white jade from his storage ring and sat down in concentration.

After a moment of focus, he summoned a bit of mana and used his finger as a brush to write on the first jade slip. He began with the name. It was tailored for Heavenjade and drew from the Ascension True Scripture, Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, and other such. The name came easily: Heavenspan Wing Codex

With the title set, the rest came easily. He wrote with confidence, each line flowing in order. This refined version was far more detailed than the first. He filled in gaps with careful thought. He drew on Myriad Path Convergence for physique strengthening, used Ninety Thousand Li to improve speed, and added Fine Dust Primordial Art to refine mana...

Bit by bit, the Heavenspan Wing Codex became more complete, even taking on an all-encompassing nature. As he refined it, Luo Chen compared it against his own cultivation techniques for qi and physique. At its core, the principle of power remained the same. Everything ultimately drew from heaven and earth's spirit energy. What changed was the direction of cultivation and the way power was used. Those limits could now be bridged and transformed. Clinging to form was the lesser path; grasping the principle was the way.

Without noticing it, Luo Chen began sorting through everything he had learned, discarding the excess and keeping the principle. The path ahead grew clear.

In the spirit-rich wooden house, the red-faced man in white robes sat in silence. At times he frowned and, at others, he relaxed. A subtle aura lingered around him.

The white banner rested in a corner. Han Zhan's aged face slowly appeared on it. He watched in silence, and his heart remained unsettled for a long time. Enlightenment...

A quiet sigh went unheard, yet the admiration was clear. With his long centuries of experience, Han Zhan knew what was going on. After countless rounds of cultivation, Luo Chen had finally achieved a qualitative leap. As he wrote down the technique, he entered a state of enlightenment. This state was a rare opportunity. It had to be sought, yet it could not be found; it could only be chanced upon. Most would never experience it even once in their lifetime. Even Sages longed to enter such a state to perceive the laws of heaven and earth. Yet Luo Chen had just entered it at the Golden Core Realm! In some ways, it was a bit of a waste. But even so, if Luo Chen gained something from it, his strength would surge, or his path forward would turn far smoother. Either outcome would be immensely beneficial.

With a sigh, Han Zhan leapt out of the Myriad Soul Banner. He reached the center of the valley and released a strand of mana. The clouds and mist thickened at once, even condensing into dew. The Surging Cloudmist Formation was pushed to its limit.