In the vicinity of the Black Mountain's Panshi Ridge, in the humid and oppressive forest.

Once again, it was dusk.

"Whoosh—crack~~" The burning wood crackled.

Liu Feihu and Zhang Xiu sat beside the fire, devouring the hind legs of a Tier 4 demon beast. The aroma of the roasted meat wafted in the air. A Tier 3 demon beast's strength was already comparable to the innate realm, with the strongest even rivaling the mid-stage of the innate realm. Meanwhile, a Tier 4 demon beast, even the weakest, had the strength of an innate late stage. The "Iron Barbarian Thunder Rhinoceros" they had slain today was as strong as the perfect innate realm.

"This horn, at the very least, is worth thirty thousand liang of gold. If we could exchange it directly for Yuan Crystals, three hundred mid-grade Yuan Crystals should be its worth. At the very least, it’s worth two hundred sixty or seventy," Zhang Xiu said as he sliced off some meat from the hind leg, which was taller than a person, using his knife. At the same time, he played with a rhinoceros horn the size of a human leg with his left hand.

This was the most valuable item on the "Iron Barbarian Thunder Rhinoceros."

The currency used in the Great Qian Empire was vast, with more than a dozen types of official currencies. Common folk used copper, iron, and silver coins, while gold was more common in commercial transactions. Cultivators in the innate realm would begin to use Yuan Crystals for trade. As one advanced beyond the innate realm, there were even higher-level currencies.

The exchange rates between these currencies were not fixed but depended on market conditions.

"Normally, cultivating a practitioner to the perfect innate realm, from the initial stages of innate to perfect innate, would take decades. In total, spending about a thousand mid-grade Yuan Crystals would be enough," Liu Feihu said, "In the past six months, just by hunting demon beasts, we’ve earned no less than three thousand Yuan Crystals each, not to mention the wealth from selling the demon beast parts—we must’ve earned over ten thousand mid-grade Yuan Crystals."

"Indeed."

Zhang Xiu sighed with emotion, "Who would have thought we’d get rich from all this! Little Brother Jiang is truly a genius!"

As they spoke, the two of them turned their heads at the same time to look at the figure sitting cross-legged under the tree in the distance with his eyes closed.

In the past six months, Jiang Xuan had found mines, ancient tomb ruins, and other treasures in the mountains. Everything he could handle, he kept for himself, while things he couldn’t manage were split 80-20 with Lei Hong. As for encounters with demon beasts, this was agreed upon on the first day they entered the mountains—profits would be shared equally.

Not all demon beasts had valuable materials.

However, Jiang Xuan always seemed to find valuable demon beasts during his expeditions into the Black Mountain.

The fact that Jiang Xuan possessed some powerful sensing technique was something Liu Feihu, Zhang Xiu, and even Lei Hong tacitly understood.

"This Black Xuan Art, according to what Elder Qi said, is an ancient foundation-building technique that’s been improved. It naturally absorbs the world's spiritual energy to complete the foundation, taking about nine years to go from the initial innate stage to perfect innate. This is the natural cultivation growth speed. But if a massive amount of resources is used in cultivation, even though the body’s energy refining speed is limited and it can’t be done instantly, the growth speed could increase several times..."

Jiang Xuan sat cross-legged under a towering tree, holding a perfect-grade Yuan Crystal in each hand, devouring them at an alarming rate. The perfect-grade Yuan Crystals were not suitable for Jiang Xuan’s current cultivation level. They were too advanced, making them difficult to refine, and would easily dissipate and waste energy... but that was not a problem for him!

The Black Xuan Art could even directly absorb materials more advanced than perfect-grade Yuan Crystals without wasting anything.

The two men beside the fire looked at Jiang Xuan for a while.

"What a waste! Truly a waste!" Liu Feihu shook his head with a sigh. "He’s only in the mid-innate stage! Using perfect-grade Yuan Crystals for cultivation, sure, progress is fast, but even the top four families in Feixue City wouldn’t do this. The resources Little Brother Jiang has consumed over these six months would be enough to cultivate a hundred late-innate experts."

"Jiang Clan’s safety and survival rely entirely on him. What else can he do?"

Zhang Xiu replied, "And Jiang Xuan hasn’t squandered the clan’s foundation. Everything he’s using for his cultivation comes from the treasures he’s discovered, the minerals, and the demon beasts he’s hunted in these six months. Just the amount he’s used in cultivation alone must have surpassed fifty thousand mid-grade Yuan Crystals."

"Ugh!" Although Liu Feihu had an idea, he still sucked in a cold breath.

Fifty thousand mid-grade Yuan Crystals could be roughly converted into fifty million liang of gold or five billion liang of silver.

"I doubt the entire Jiang Clan is worth fifty thousand mid-grade Yuan Crystals right now," Liu Feihu remarked.

"Considering the innate experts who’ve returned to the clan over the past six months, the Jiang Clan only has a few dozen left..." Zhang Xiu thought aloud.

"Fifty thousand mid-grade Yuan Crystals—how many could actually be consumed and refined into innate power? Maybe five hundred?" Liu Feihu doubted that Jiang Xuan had truly used up ninety-nine percent of the resources, but on the other hand, he couldn’t say it was a waste. After all, his growth speed had increased dramatically, though it was unclear if this method would damage his talent.

Even though Jiang Xuan was focused solely on cultivating, his perception was so sharp that he clearly heard Liu Feihu and Zhang Xiu’s conversation.

"What waste of ninety-nine percent? There’s not a single bit wasted! This is the terrifying part of the Black Xuan Art. It only requires massive amounts of resources to cultivate, otherwise growth would actually slow down. It’s the one flaw—everything else is an advantage. I’ve been in the mid-innate stage for only four and a half months, and my total innate strength is a hundred times greater than those at the same level! Even compared to the late-innate stage, I’m twenty to thirty times stronger!"

"And once I break through to the late-innate stage, my innate power will increase several times again! It will still be a hundred times greater than the same level, and even thirty times greater than the perfect innate stage!"

"You tell me, what level is Little Brother Jiang at now?" Liu Feihu asked while cutting the roasted meat.

"He was able to kill a mid-innate stage expert without using the ninth form of the Chasing Wind Blade when he was in the initial innate stage. Now that he’s in the mid-innate stage, his normal strength should be comparable to the late-innate stage or even close to perfect innate. And if we factor in the ninth form of the Chasing Wind Blade..." Zhang Xiu dragged out his words.

"I’ll remind you, in these six months, he’s mastered the entire Chasing Wind Blade and even perfected the ninth form. His swordsmanship talent definitely matches his ancestor, Jiang Zhengwu. After mastering the sword, he can use it at any time. This is something only the two of us and Lei Hong know. No one else does."

"Yeah, I know, but you have to consider that the ninth form of the Chasing Wind Blade consumes an enormous amount of innate power."

Zhang Xiu continued, "And he hasn’t perfected his realm yet. Without merging man and sword, and unable to understand the power of the Dao, he can’t truly unleash the full power of the eighth and ninth forms of the Chasing Wind Blade."

"But even without using its full power, he still killed Shentu Lie! It’s been six months now, and the Shentu Clan still hasn’t been able to do anything but send thirty people to die each month. I heard some have already fled the Shentu Clan... they were terrified!"

"Shentu Lie was killed because he was limited by the arena and was careless," Zhang Xiu said, pausing. "If it was an outdoor battle... even a normal perfect innate expert probably wouldn’t be able to match Little Brother Jiang. If it was someone with our strength..."

Boom~~~

A tremor that sounded like thunder erupted from Jiang Xuan’s body.

Liu Feihu and Zhang Xiu jumped to their feet.

"He’s broken through!"

"Late-innate stage!"