Chapter 111: Harvest and Recruitment

A green jade slip appeared in Qin Ming's hand.

"Divine Formulas of the Wine Immortal."

Qin Ming immersed his mind, taking in all the contents at a glance.

A long while passed.

He discovered with delight that this was actually a book concerning the brewing of various spiritual wines.

It not only recorded the brewing methods for numerous spiritual wines, but also offered different types of spiritual wines to enhance cultivation, tailored to different stages of practice.

Like the 'Foundation Establishment Wine' Luo Rong had just mentioned, also known as 'Spirit Fire Wine,' once brewed, it could enhance the magic power cultivation of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Its effect was not much inferior to that of medicinal pills.

Ordinary cultivators could brew it themselves, unlike alchemy which demanded such high requirements.

Moreover, some of the spiritual materials adopted in this wine recipe coincided unexpectedly with those used in refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

Its greatest advantage was this:

The age requirement for the spiritual materials used to brew Spirit Fire Wine was far lower than that for Foundation Establishment Pills.

One of the main ingredients was Jade Marrow Ganoderma, requiring a medicinal potency age of merely fifty years or more.

Compared to refining pills, the cost was relatively low.

Presumably, this classic on winemaking was created by some senior expert who had devoted many years to this path.

No wonder Luo Rong had tried every possible means to snatch this Jade Marrow Ganoderma from him.

Qin Ming happily put away the jade slip; from now on, he could also attempt to brew spiritual wine on the island.

However, just at that moment.

In the section of Luo Rong's storage bag where spiritual materials were kept, two spiritual herbs caught his attention.

He took them out for a careful look, and instantly the expression on his face turned extremely joyful.

"Night Jade Flower and Heart-Leaving Grass!"

Were these not precisely the final two missing spiritual ingredients he had been desperately searching for to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill?

Truly, one searches in vain despite wearing out iron shoes, yet finds it without any effort! With this.

All the spiritual materials required to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill had now been fully collected by Qin Ming.

Next.

It was time to return and revive those spiritual materials and herbs that needed reviving, and accelerate the growth of those that needed ripening.

Excitement surged in Qin Ming's eyes; the path to Foundation Establishment lay right before him!

Besides this.

As a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, Luo Rong's storage bag also contained quite a few good items.

The spirit stones alone totaled over twenty thousand pieces, and there was also a top-grade defensive magical tool, namely the black spiritual umbrella that had just blocked the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame.

If not for this defensive magical tool.

Luo Rong would likely have been burned to ash by the Spirit-Devouring Poison Flame in the very first instant.

Furthermore, judging by appearances, this magical tool was very likely something Luo Rong had picked up together from that cave dwelling.

After all, Qin Ming had roughly rummaged through his storage bag, and apart from those two items, everything else was quite ordinary.

Presumably, among Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, Luo Rong's wealth belonged to the most ordinary category.

Of course, there were also various cultivation techniques, medicinal pills, talismans, and artifacts.

Qin Ming could be considered to have gained a small windfall.

He cast a fireball at the corpse to destroy the body and erase all traces.

Subsequently, he piloted his spiritual light shuttle and flew toward Moon-Gazing Island.

One day later.

Qin Ming pressed on without stopping and returned to his old nest.

Inside the island, everything was as usual.

Upon seeing Qin Ming's return, Wu Jiang greeted him and reported on the situation within the island over the past few days.

After Qin Ming returned to his cave dwelling.

He first went out to make a round of inspection of the planted spiritual flora.

Then he approached his innate spiritual plant, the Longevity Vine, and took out that blood pearl.

He threw it over directly.

Rustle, rustle, rustle! In an instant, vines danced across the sky.

All the accumulated snow was shaken off; Qin Ming formed a seal with his fingers and flung the snow that had just fallen halfway through the air far away, lest it crush the spiritual plants in the spirit fields.

Gulp! Gulp! The eerie sound of a heartbeat rang out once again.

After absorbing this blood pearl transformed from a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, many purple runes erupted around the Longevity Tree.

They spun rapidly around this giant tree.

The dozens of skull-shaped demonic flowers upon it instantly withered and slowly began to bear black fruits, which were likewise skull-shaped.

The Longevity Vine grew taller by another section.

The entry statuses above also updated: 【Name】: Longevity Vine 【Entry】: Faint Lifespan x5 (Maturity 84%)

【Name】: Longevity Vine 【Entry】: Space-Time Leaves x5 (Maturity 83%)

【Name】: Longevity Vine 【Entry】: Essence of Qi and Blood x1 (Maturity 85%)

【Name】: Longevity Vine 【Entry】: Great Five Elements Art (Maturity 86%)

Following this came.

A surging torrent of essence of vegetation and trees, which flowed back to nourish Qin Ming.

Qin Ming immediately sat down and began cultivating the Ancient Wood Longevity Art. After a long while, the Wooden Dharma Body spirit behind him had grown considerably.

Only one final step remained before reaching true perfection.

Once winter arrived.

Qin Ming spent most of his time in a state of cultivation.

His magic power settled in an orderly fashion, on the verge of breaking through to the tenth layer of Qi Refining, also known as Great Perfection.

The crops in the spiritual fields on the island were also growing quite well.

The Purple-Gold Bamboo and the Shen Shen Cha, after more than two years, had also grown taller.

The Spirit-Perching Rice had also begun to bear ears of spiritual rice.

The Rice-Flower Spirit Fish in the spiritual water fields had also been successfully bred initially, each one looking plump and beautiful.

They constantly darted back and forth in the water fields, splashing about.

On this day.

Inside his cave dwelling, Qin Ming, amidst his cultivation, was studying the Wine Immortal Divine Formula.

The protective formation outside transmitted a sensation.

Someone had come to visit.

Qin Ming put away the jade slip, then exited the cave dwelling and came outside.

He deactivated the formation and raised his eyes to look.

He saw that it was Li Yuanqing, the Fu Alliance leader of the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance, who had arrived with two others.

They were currently down below, conversing with Wu Jiang about something.

Seeing Qin Ming come out.

A smile spread across Li Yuanqing's face as he walked toward Qin Ming, saying with great emotion, "Aiya! I truly never expected this!"

"Under Daoist Qin's management, this Moon-Gazing Island has changed so drastically."

"Just a moment ago, this old man nearly thought I had gone to the wrong place, hahaha!"

"Alliance Leader Li overpraises me; I wonder what important matter brings you here today?" Qin Ming said, cupping his fists.

As the saying goes, no one visits the Three Treasures Hall without a reason; for people from the San Alliance to suddenly seek him out.

Qin Ming had a rather ominous premonition.

Li Yuanqing also got straight to the point regarding his purpose: "Daoist Qin, the reason for coming this time is to invite your Moon-Gazing Island to join the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance."

"Cough! Although... Moon-Gazing Island has a sparse population, Daoist Qin's strength is evident to all."

"We scattered cultivators in this region have it hard; we ought to huddle together for warmth."

"I wonder... what is Daoist Qin's opinion on this?"

Afterwards, Li Yuanqing explained to Qin Ming the various conveniences and benefits of joining the San Alliance.

Having finished speaking, he quietly gazed at him, awaiting his decision.

"I appreciate the Alliance Leader's kind intentions, but this junior currently has no plans to join any faction; I only wish to cultivate in seclusion on the island," Qin Ming said, cupping his fists to politely decline.

Li Yuanqing had not expected Qin Ming to refuse directly.

Before he could speak, a burly middle-aged man beside him said with an unpleasant expression, "How many spiritual islands have wanted to join our Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance without the Alliance Leader agreeing? Today he specially comes to invite you, yet you actually have the audacity to not know your place?"

"Shut your mouth!" Li Yuanqing fiercely glared at the middle-aged man beside him.

The burly middle-aged man immediately fell silent.

"Hehehe, Daoist Qin, please do not take offense; my subordinate is ignorant," Li Yuanqing said, plastering a smile back on his face and apologizing to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming furrowed his brows, unsure what purpose the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance had in suddenly recruiting members.

"It is of no consequence; thank you, Alliance Leader Li, for making this special trip."

The intention to bid them farewell in his words was also quite obvious.

Li Yuanqing also saw that Qin Ming's willingness was not strong, so he could only say his goodbyes and depart.

Qin Ming watched the few individuals leave, his gaze filled with contemplation.

In mid-air.

That burly middle-aged man from the Shiersan Alliance said with some resentment, "Not inviting us into the cave dwelling to sit is one thing, but to directly slight the Alliance Leader's face is another."

"He won a few magical battles and truly thinks he is somebody?"

"I investigated clearly long ago; that kid originated as a spiritual farmer within the Lingyu Sect, his spiritual root aptitude is very ordinary, and he probably won't break through to Foundation Establishment in this lifetime."

"Yet he puts on the airs of an ascetic cultivator."

"This Moon-Gazing Island might get wiped out by someone one of these days."

Hearing this, Li Yuanqing scolded, "Have you finished speaking?"

"If you are so capable, then break through to become a second-tier spiritual planter for me to see?!"

As soon as the words fell.

That burly middle-aged man immediately closed his mouth and said nothing more.

"The Zhao family, one of the seven major powers, has become increasingly restless since defecting to the Lingyu Sect; even if we cannot recruit allies, we cannot push people toward the opposing side."

At this moment.

The other person said with some worry, "Alliance Leader Li, I heard that the Yu family of Blue King Island, the Yan family of Flying Lingdao, and several other islands have secretly begun cooperating with the Zhao family."

"Should we...?"

Li Yuanqing shook his head and said indifferently, "They are merely clowns leaping on a beam, not worth worrying about; let us first wait and see how things develop."

(End of Chapter)