For the next two hours.

This Evergreen Vine grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Its aura grew stronger and stronger, surging from Tier One Early Stage to Tier One Middle Stage. It then quickly broke through to Tier One Late Stage and soon reached Tier One Peak.

Another fifteen minutes passed, and a slight disturbance occurred in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power.

’Is it about to advance?’

Li Chang’an’s heart leaped with joy.

He immediately shot to his feet. Moving like a blur, he swiftly laid out a Tier Two Spirit Gathering Array. Sparing no expense, he used all his remaining Spirit Stones to power the Array at full force.

Dense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power gathered frantically, transforming into a Spiritual Mist that instantly enveloped the entire Spirit Field. In the end, it even began to pour down as Spirit Rain.

About an hour later.

The last Spirit Stone in Li Chang’an’s Storage Pouch was completely consumed.

At that same moment, the Evergreen Vine successfully advanced. The vine grew to a size of ten zhang, resembling a great green python as it emanated a Tier Two aura.

At that moment, Li Chang’an noticed something.

A wonderfully strange wisp of power flowed from the Evergreen Vine back into his body.

He immediately used the Spirit Testing Technique to inspect himself, checking the amount of his Spirit Charm.

’Twelve wisps!’

Li Chang’an was overcome with pleasant surprise.

His natural Spirit Charm was only eleven wisps, just barely above the threshold for a Low Grade Spirit Root.

Without some kind of miracle, he would have been stuck at eleven wisps for the rest of his life.

But now...

He had actually gained another wisp!

’My Spiritual Root has improved!’

Li Chang’an was thrilled.

Years ago, when it was determined before the Immortal Sect that he had a Low Grade Spirit Root, he had begun to yearn for a way to improve it.

That desire had persisted for decades, and now, it was finally being realized!

Li Chang’an immediately circulated his Cultivation Technique, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power to cultivate.

He could clearly feel it.

His cultivation speed was slightly faster than before!

Although the increase was less than ten percent, it was an improvement nonetheless!

Moreover,

the Evergreen Vine’s growth wasn’t over.

Its root system was wrapped around the numerous cultivation Treasures, continuously devouring their Essence.

An instant later.

A second vine appeared!

This vine sprouted from the base of the original one. It started as a tender shoot, but it grew rapidly with the passage of time.

About four hours later, this vine had also grown to a size of ten zhang!

Immediately after,

it once again fed back a wisp of Spirit Charm to him.

Li Chang’an used the Spirit Testing Technique to look within himself and found that his Spirit Charm had increased to thirteen wisps!

He circulated his Cultivation Technique again.

This time, his efficiency in absorbing Spiritual Power had improved significantly.

"Well done, little guy!"

Li Chang’an was all smiles, in high spirits.

From now on, he would no longer be limited by his Spiritual Root.

The long Immortal Path before him was now stretching endlessly into the distance.

A while later.

A third vine appeared.

However, it didn’t grow to ten zhang. It stopped at about five zhang.

The Treasures Li Chang’an had thrown out had been completely devoured.

If there were no more Treasures,

it could only absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power to grow, and its growth rate would be incredibly slow.

’I’ll have to get some more Treasures to cultivate the Evergreen Vine.’

’But I can’t invest all my Spirit Stones in it. I need to save some for my own cultivation and Body Refinement, and I can’t slow down the nurturing of the Ten Thousand Poison Gu either.’

Li Chang’an silently contemplated his future use of Spirit Stones.

Gradually,

a feeling of poverty welled up inside him.

’Sigh... how great would it be if I could just rob the Treasure Vault of Yellow Crane Immortal City?’

He gazed toward Yellow Crane Immortal City and sighed.

The Treasure Vault of a Golden Core Influence was bound to have plenty of good things inside, but unfortunately, he completely lacked the ability to rob it.

...

Two days later.

Li Chang’an changed his identity multiple times, moving between the Black Market and Yellow Crane Immortal City.

He sold off the Treasures from the Storage Pouches of Cao Shaolong, Tang Yuan, and the others in batches.

During this time,

he learned of the Five Poison Wanderer’s earlier message.

’The Five Poison Wanderer wants me to see him?’

Li Chang’an shook his head slightly. He had no desire to meet that old poison master.

That old coot was already at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, and might even be close to breaking through to the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment. His Poison Techniques were at their peak and impossible to guard against.

His Tier Two Early Stage Ten Thousand Poison Gu alone was simply not enough to defend against him!

Wu Ming asked worriedly, "Daoist Li, are you really not going?"

"If I go, I most likely won’t be coming back."

"That’s true."

The power gap between them was just too great.

Besides, the Five Poison Wanderer’s reputation wasn’t exactly sterling.

If Li Chang’an went alone, the outcome was easy to imagine.

He put the matter to the back of his mind and continued selling his Treasures.

In the end,

all the Spiritual Artifacts, Elixir Pills, Talismans, and other Treasures he had accumulated over the years were sold off.

The Low Grade Spirit Stones in Li Chang’an’s Storage Pouch were piled up like a mountain, numbering over two hundred thousand.

He directly spent one hundred fifty thousand Spirit Stones, changing his identity to visit various shops and purchase a large quantity of Treasures for cultivating Spirit Plants, leaving only fifty thousand in reserve.

After completing his purchases,

Li Chang’an returned to Changqing Mountain.

He took out all the Treasures and threw them to the Evergreen Vine.

Over the next day, the Evergreen Vine grew frantically, and the third vine quickly grew to a size of ten zhang.

Then came a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth vine...

The growth only stopped after the seventh vine appeared.

Due to the lack of Treasures, this seventh vine only grew about halfway.

At this point,

the Spirit Charm in Li Chang’an’s body had reached seventeen wisps!

Among Low Grade Spirit Roots, this was already considered quite good.

He circulated his Cultivation Technique again, and the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power rushed toward him. His efficiency at absorbing Spiritual Power far surpassed what it was before.

’So this is what it feels like to have an excellent Spiritual Root.’

Li Chang’an closed his eyes slightly, savoring this hard-won feeling.

Compared to now,

his past days of cultivation had been far too bitter.

If he had been born with this much Spirit Charm, perhaps he would have reached Foundation Establishment long ago, instead of only breaking through to this realm in his fifties.