, Year, Ambush

The level-two monster materials brought Zhang Feng a considerable income of spirit stones, approximately one thousand low-grade spirit stones.

A typical Foundation Establishment cultivator's net worth is only a few thousand low-grade spirit stones.

This is only the outer area of ​​Red Coral Island where Han Li's Catalyst-Attracting Demon Grass is located. In the more central area, there are likely level three, level four, and even level five demon beasts.

It is evident from this that Han Li has hunted down countless high-level demonic beasts.

No wonder Han Li's monster materials alone in the anime could fill the gap in the goods supply of an entire merchant alliance.

Ultimately, it was because the little green bottle was too overpowered, but Zhang Feng was tempted but not envious, as his own proficiency panel was already an incredible stroke of luck.

Relying on the proficiency panel, Zhang Feng believed that as long as he improved his skills, he would not lack spirit stone resources.

Zhang Feng used all 1,000 spirit stones to buy pills that could increase his cultivation level. To prevent drug resistance and waste, he bought a wide variety of pills.

After buying the pills, Zhang Feng went straight to his cave, packed his bags, deactivated the formation, and moved away from Ningcui Island.

All in one go.

For the next five years, Zhang Feng relied on the demon-attracting pills given to him by Han Li to hunt demon beasts, hone his skills, sell demon beast materials, buy cultivation resources, and move various cave dwellings.

During this time, in order to prevent himself from being targeted by people with ulterior motives, Zhang Feng changed his appearance by refining his body, and even created a technique called Disguise.

Zhang Feng had sold monster materials on all four islands where the merchant alliances were located, and he had met all sorts of merchant alliance managers.

Tao Xiangqian of the Tao Zhu Business Alliance and Huang Cirang and Zhang Feng of the Feng Le Business Alliance are particularly memorable.

Perhaps due to the interference of Jiyin Island, the competition among the various business alliances is becoming increasingly fierce.

These two were the most reckless, lowering themselves to solicit customers on various islands, even resorting to physical fights over it.

Every time Zhang Feng visited the island where the Merchant Alliance was based, he would see the two of them fighting over it.

This was one of the few joys in Zhang Feng's arduous cultivation life.

Over the past decade, Zhang Feng has mastered the three skills of fishing, hunting, water escape, and object manipulation to perfection.

After perfecting his skills, Zhang Feng received some great news: the perfection of each skill would bring him an improvement in his spiritual roots.

【灵根天赋：水（42/100）、火（21/100）、土（25/100）、木（25/100）】

The perfection of fishing and hunting grants 1 point of talent to the water elemental root, the perfection of water escape technique grants 1 point of talent to the water elemental root, and the perfection of object manipulation technique grants 1 point of talent to the fire elemental root.

In other words, as long as Zhang Feng keeps learning skills and perfects them, he can continuously improve his spiritual root talent.

One day, I might even be able to grind my four pseudo-spiritual root talents into four single-elemental spiritual root talents.

If things continue like this, Zhang Feng will no longer need to take the Heaven-Mending Pill to cleanse his spiritual root when he breaks through to the Nascent Soul stage.

The goal is clear; all you need to do is work hard step by step.

Over the past five years, with the accumulation of a large amount of medicinal resources, Zhang Feng's cultivation level has successfully broken through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, reaching the same level as Body Refinement. However, due to the lack of Yin Qi, his Soul Refinement level has remained unchanged.

It's time to go to more remote islands and hunt level four monsters.

That's right, Zhang Feng still maintains his habit of killing monsters of "lower level" as possible.

Piloting the Lingyun Boat, Zhang Feng once again left Ningcui Island.

Not long after Zhang Feng left, two figures appeared where he had been.

"Are you sure it's him?"

One person asked.

"It's him, it's definitely him! My level-three mutated treasure-hunting rat is extremely sensitive to the aura of cultivators; even the most sophisticated disguise techniques can't fool it."

The other person was holding an adorable yellow monster.

"Sure?"

"affim!"

"Over the past five years, every few months, an unusually large quantity of demon beast materials has appeared at our Fengle Merchant Alliance's Ningcui Island outpost. Although they are sold in small batches and the cultivators selling them look different, the overall income of the Merchant Alliance is undeniable."

"The same applies to my Tao Zhu Merchant Alliance. In other words, someone has sold nearly a hundred level-three monster materials in the past five years."

"Let alone hunting hundreds of level-three demonic beasts in such a short time, just finding hundreds of demonic beasts would be difficult."

"In that case, this person must possess a treasure, one that can attract demonic beasts."

"If we could obtain this treasure, the resources for our Core Formation stage would be greatly increased..."

……

Zhang Feng steered the Lingyun Boat, carrying a large-capacity storage bag, and once again rushed towards the open sea.

Five more years passed. Zhang Feng focused on hunting low-level monsters, and the process went very smoothly until he ran out of a bottle of Temptation Pills that could lure level four monsters. Only then did Zhang Feng stop hunting.

As for the Demon-Attracting Pill, which can lure level-five demonic beasts, Zhang Feng did not plan to use it during his Foundation Establishment stage.

Before demonic beasts reach level six (equivalent to mid-stage Core Formation cultivators) and develop human-like intelligence, human cultivators can kill demonic beasts of higher levels. If they cooperate with each other, mid-to-late Foundation Establishment cultivators can easily kill ordinary level five demonic beasts.

However, Zhang Feng couldn't guarantee that the level 5 demonic beasts lured by the Demon-Attracting Pill would all be ordinary demonic beasts. If he encountered a relatively powerful one like the Infant Carp Beast, he would have no choice but to run away.

In the past five years, Zhang Feng has not returned to Ningcui Island once. This is because his storage bag can hold the level four demonic beasts he hunts, and also because his aura needs to remain dormant on Ningcui Island for a period of time.

After all, Zhang Feng had been selling level-three monsters quite frequently in the past five years. Even if he disguised himself well, he was still afraid of being investigated by someone with ulterior motives.

Those who kept an eye on him after five years of silence can be described as having perseverance.

After packing their bags, they set off again, carrying two sets of formations with them.

The high-level magical artifact, Firefly, was destroyed during a hunt for a level 3 Blue-backed Crab.

The top-tier magic weapon, the Shadow Sword, is still barely usable.

The defensive magical artifact, the Spirit Orb, was also destroyed, leaving only remnants. Because it contained some materials related to soul nourishment, Zhang Feng did not discard it directly.

That's all. He's not a treasure hunter; he relies entirely on his physical strength to hunt demons.

Once confirmed, conceal your cave dwelling and dispel any lingering aura.

Zhang Feng embarked on his return journey once again. His cultivation had already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and he had hunted enough demon beast materials. He only needed to exchange them all for spirit stone resources, find a safe place to grind experience, and break through to the Core Formation stage.

Zhang Feng planned to disguise himself and go to Ningcui Island to exchange for some spirit stones to use the teleportation array.

……

Outside Ningcui Island, Zhang Feng's fishing and hunting skills, which he had maxed out, greatly enhanced his keen sense of danger. Two slightly familiar figures appeared within his range of consciousness.

"Fellow Daoist, I am Huang Ci, one of the managers of the Fengle Merchant Alliance's Ningcui Island branch. I see you've returned from hunting on the outer islands; you must have had a good haul. Why not trade directly with me? I assure you you won't suffer any loss!"

As usual, Huang Ci arrived early outside the island to attract customers.

"Ahem, fellow Daoist, don't listen to Old Ghost Huang's nonsense. This old ghost is a master of sweet talk. I am the manager of Tao Zhu Merchant Alliance. Whenever you hunt monster materials, I can arrange for the price to be 10% higher than his."

As usual, Tao Xiangqian competed with Huang Ci for customers.

Zhang Feng had seen this scene many times in disguise, so he was quite familiar with it.

However, the two men's positions, one in front and one behind, blocked Zhang Feng's retreat.

Somewhat suspicious

This doesn't resemble the positioning the two would normally use when bidding.

"Fellow Daoists, I accidentally provoked a high-level demonic beast and was chased by it. I barely managed to escape. Where can I sell demonic beast materials? Please allow me to return to Ningcui Island to rest and recuperate. I will definitely sell any demonic beasts I hunt next time to you two."

Zhang Feng bowed respectfully and turned to leave the two men's encirclement.

"Hey~ Fellow Daoist, wait a moment."

Huang Ci reached out and blocked Zhang Feng's way.

"Fellow Daoist, if you are not satisfied with the price, I can raise it further. You are welcome to come with me to my cave dwelling on the island for a chat!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Feng's expression darkened. Oh no, he must be being watched.

In the past, Huang Ci would simply raise the price if they couldn't agree on a price; he would never send someone back to his cave.

"Oh dear, Old Ghost Huang, you're too hasty! In broad daylight, who would dare invite someone into their cave? Fellow Daoist, just sell this to me! I can raise the price by another ten percent!"

Tao Xiangqian gave Huang Ci of the previous dynasty a wink, his words carrying a double meaning.

Just then, a hunting party of several more people passed by the three of them.

The two stewards remained unmoved.

No, that's not right!

"In that case, let's sell it to Fellow Daoist Tao!"

As Zhang Feng spoke, he made a gesture as if preparing to take out the monster materials from his storage bag.

Tao and Huang exchanged a glance and smiled.

Zhang Feng quietly inflated his chest, transmitting his thoughts and voice simultaneously:

"Everyone, run! The Merchant Alliance is dishonest; they're robbing ordinary cultivators!"