What Wang Hao didn't know was that everything he had done in the Wang family shop had been watched from the second floor… by Wang Yanzhao!
"Second Brother, you can rest easier now, right?" asked a young man seated before him. His name was Wang Yanfeng, a three-root cultivator currently at the Seventh Level of Qi Refinement. He was also an alchemist, but far less talented than Wang Yanzhao.
Whereas Wang Yanzhao had hit a bottleneck at the Ninth Refinement Level and then devoted himself to alchemy—rising to a low-rank Second-Grade Alchemist six months ago—Wang Yanfeng still only refined First-Grade pills.
This time, Wang Yanfeng had come to cover the family shop in the market, since Second Brother was returning to the main residence to prepare to take a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Wang Yanzhao sighed.
"Ah… I hope this time he endures it. Eighth Brother, I won't hide it: that boy tried secluded cultivation before, but it never lasted more than half a year."
Wang Yanfeng laughed.
"Second Brother, you saw it yourself: Nephew Hao is already at Fourth Level Qi Refinement, and he came here to buy pills with his own money. He must have learned his lesson. Besides, I'm here to look after him. It'll be fine!"
Wang Yanzhao nodded, resigned.
He knew he couldn't protect the boy forever. Though Wang Hao seemed more mature now, Wang Yanfeng didn't realize that the old man had left only one hundred spirit stones for his son—and that all had been spent on pills.
After spending everything, how would he break through to the Fifth Level? Without pills, and with the sluggish pace of a Five-Root cultivator, could he endure the rigors of cultivation?
"I trust you with everything, Eighth Brother. Don't spoil him—just **don't let him cause trouble or lose his life…
"You're too harsh, Second Brother. After all, he's Wang blood. How could I, as his uncle, let anyone take his life?"
They bid each other farewell, and Wang Yanzhao cast one last glance at his son before departing Qingniu City with other family members.
After reaching the intermediate stage of Qi Refinement, Wang Hao noticed his pill-refining speed had increased dramatically.
Those three bottles of pills he'd bought would last at most five months. But fortunately, he had gathered many free seeds in the square—one of them White Jade Watermelon.
This fruit drained massive earth energy. In ordinary spirit fields, after one harvest, the soil would need a full year to recover. Hence, few farmers grew it, despite its cultivation benefits.
But Wang Hao's virtual farm had no such limitations.
White Jade Watermelon had a one-year cycle. Its effect was about 80% that of a Spirit-Condensing Pill, and each plant yielded only one melon—up to twenty plants per acre.
The yield was low, its medicinal power weaker than pills, and its market price lower. Even with its "taste bonus," an acre's annual profit topped out around fifty spirit stones.
Spirit rice, by contrast, produced thirty stones per acre per year with no soil fatigue—making rice still the best choice.
But profit wasn't his priority. His goal was to minimize outside purchases, keep a low profile, and—above all—survive to the advanced stage of Qi Refinement.
Even if watermelon cultivation was slower, he estimated he could hit the Fifth Level within a year. Not as fast as a heavenly-root cultivator, but faster than most dual-rooters without resources. Still, his talent remained the bottleneck.
Back in his courtyard, he planted the herbs and seeds he'd purchased in the garden.
The soil there was also spirit-infused—though small—and sat unused. Best to make use of it.
In the virtual farm, however, he couldn't use real-world seeds—he had to buy the system's versions, true to Penguin-Game predatory style…
He opened the system store: Golden Silk Spirit Damask Tree seeds cost thirty spirit stones apiece—a true robbery!
But this was a perennial. One planting yielded multiple harvests. First-order trees lived up to a hundred years—and in his farm, at least ten years.
The tree matured in fifteen years and fruited every five thereafter. In ten years, he could harvest at least twice.
Each family-grade tree bore five or six fruits; on his farm—with maximum yield—he estimated up to ten per tree!
When planting, he saw the system allocated three seeds per plot in a triangular pattern. Three trees per acre would more than meet his needs in later stages!
In his three remaining plots, Wang Hao planted:
One with White Jade Watermelon
Two with Spirit Talisman Herb, which had strong financial returns—ideal for unlocking more land!
After organizing everything, he cultivated for another month. But he noticed the pills' effect had diminished.
At Level 3, one Spirit-Condensing Pill expanded his dantian in under three days; at Level 4, the same progress now took five days.
On the other hand, his body refined pills more quickly—formerly six days per vial, now five.
This threw all his previous calculations into chaos. He'd need far more pills to break the Fifth Level!
The watermelon was ripe, but the result disappointed him.
The solution? Alchemy!
He couldn't withdraw farm stones; the spirit damasks wouldn't ripen for over a year; and even then, he'd need stones for magical tools, talismans, and, of course, the Foundation Pill.
Selling a lot of rice or herbs at once would be dangerous—suspicious. But selling pills was another matter.
Pills had high turnover. Everyone needed them, and if he sold just below the shop price, he'd profit easily—without arousing suspicion.
So Wang Hao retrieved the jade slip left by Wang Yanzhao and began to study it intently.
Old Wang had left formulas for three First-Grade pills:
Entry Pill – the most basic, for beginners.
Spirit-Condensing Pill – low grade, the most common for early and intermediate cultivators.
Yellow-Sprout Pill – mid grade, used by intermediate cultivators.
These recipes weren't rare. Wang Yanzhao had likely chosen them for their simplicity. Even the mid-grade Yellow-Sprout Pill required only three ingredients.
Alchemy divides into three stages:
Ingredient Extraction (usually liquefying them)
Essence Fusion
Condensing into Pills
The fewer the ingredients, the easier the first two steps.
The jade slip contained not only the formulas but also Wang Yanzhao's personal notes and tips—priceless insight!
Among the Entry Pills, Wang Hao chose the simplest: made solely from spirit rice.
Realizing watermelon was unsuitable, he stopped planting it and reverted that plot to spirit rice. Harvests of 100 jins every ten days—perfect for pill-making.
With moderate usage, it would suffice.
Moreover, Spirit Talisman Herb was paying off. In another month, he'd unlock another plot. With more land, ingredients would never be a problem!
Qi Refinement-stage alchemists often used earth fire to refine—but none existed in Qingniu City. The only nearby source was the Azure Origin Sect, and renting space there was expensive.
Wang Hao's solution: use spirit coal.