Within the Myriad Stars Courtyard, the grand main hall held only slightly over twenty disciples from various factions.
Compared to the Qiankun Pavilion and the Treasure Pavilion, the scene here was undeniably somewhat desolate, with even the assigned disciples wearing expressions of boredom.
Initially, Ji Yuan felt a bit unaccustomed, but he quickly adjusted and found it unsurprising.
After all, elixirs, while of immense value, were consumables. Ordinary cultivators simply could not afford to take them long-term.
Only those with deep pockets could frequently afford such luxuries.
It was precisely for this reason that the Myriad Stars Courtyard had such a sparse attendance compared to the crowded other locations.
After a tour, Ji Yuan felt he had a good grasp of the place's functions.
Beyond selling elixirs, it also bought and sold various spiritual herbs and even rented out alchemy rooms for disciples to refine pills.
Furthermore, if a disciple managed to concoct an elixir marked with special requirements, they would receive not only generous compensation but also a significant amount of merit points.
As one of the few avenues within the Nine Profound Sect to earn merit points, if alchemy wasn't so difficult and costly—often requiring over a dozen attempts for a single successful batch—this place would undoubtedly be packed with disciples.
After about half an hour, Ji Yuan noted down more than ten types of elixirs that could be exchanged for merit points. He then purchased the relevant recipes and materials before swiftly leaving.
Afterward, he didn't visit any other locations, instead returning to the summit of Xuan Tian Peak as the sun began to set.
Over the course of the day, Liao Qiming and the other two had cleared a small open space, about the size of an ordinary courtyard, and erected three simple shelters.
Zhao Yuebai and Guo Tao were already meditating within their respective shelters. Meanwhile, Liao Qiming and his three companions lay on the ground, utterly exhausted, indifferent to the sweat and dirt on their bodies.
"Dinner's ready, hurry up and eat something!"
Zhang Zhiya, seated by the campfire, called out to Liao Qiming and the others while flipping two glistening roasted chickens on a rack.
Whether it was the call or the aroma of the roasted chickens, the four quickly scrambled to their feet, wiped themselves down casually, and began devouring the two birds.
"Master."
Ji Yuan called out and then sat down beside the old Daoist.
"Disciple, there's something you need to consider: our issue with food and drink."
Zhang Zhiya pondered, "You and your disciples can take辟谷丹 (bigu dan - grain-abstaining pills) and such, which is fine. But Tao'er, those four, and myself can't do without these essentials."
Ji Yuan was taken aback, realizing his oversight in not considering this aspect.
His master was a mortal and thus dependent on sustenance. His senior brother Guo Tao, and Liao Qiming and the others were true martial artists, requiring substantial food and drink daily to meet their physical needs.
Even辟谷丹 (bigu dan) or pills that strengthen the foundation and provide immense spiritual energy were insufficient for them.
After all, the core of early martial artist cultivation lay in the physical body's blood and qi. Pills alone could not provide sufficient qi and blood.
Only flesh and other foods could supply the necessary vital essence.
"Tomorrow, I will inform the Affairs Hall to provide sufficient meat and food for Xuan Tian Peak daily."
After some thought, Ji Yuan devised a solution.
Within the Nine Profound Sect, besides accomplished cultivators, there were many disciples who hadn't even reached the first realm. Their daily sustenance was a significant logistical challenge.
These matters were handled by disciples of the Affairs Hall.
"Wait!"
Ji Yuan suddenly paused, his gaze fixed on the two sets of chicken bones left by the four. He asked dazedly, "Where did these come from?"
He didn't recall anyone carrying live chickens with them on the way.
"I thought everyone might be hungry, so we picked up some wild game at the foot of the adjacent mountain on our way up," Guo Tao replied ingenuously after finishing his cultivation.
Adjacent... mountain foot... wild game...
Ji Yuan's lips twitched, a sense of foreboding rising within him.
However, after a sigh, he didn't press the matter further. Since the food was already consumed, if it turned out to be someone's domesticated animal, he would simply compensate them.
"Senior brothers, and all of you," he said earnestly, "from now on, please don't go around catching random 'wild game'!"
This was the Nine Profound Sect, a place of immortal cultivation. Within the scope of the sect's grand formation, how could there possibly be any true wild animals?
If his guess was correct, these were spirit beasts raised by cultivators from their respective peaks!
The group clearly realized their mistake, and their expressions immediately turned somewhat awkward.
However, Ji Yuan didn't dwell on it; after all, he couldn't let his people go hungry.
With a sigh, he took out several books, each several inches thick, and tossed them to Liao Qiming and the other four.
These were martial artist cultivation techniques he had purchased for several hundred taels of silver in the Treasure Pavilion. While not exceptionally precious, they were more than sufficient for individuals with no prior foundation.
Furthermore, their value was only relative to higher realms. In reality, these five or six cultivation manuals could all be cultivated to the peak of the third realm, making them quite rare.
It was just that martial artist cultivation techniques were consistently cheaper than those for cultivators, unless they were considered foundational heritage techniques.
Upon hearing this, Liao Qiming and the others were overjoyed. They eagerly snatched up the cultivation manuals and began studying them intently.
The techniques they had practiced before were incomplete methods passed down from the Zhao family, which could at most lead to the second realm. With the downfall of the Zhao family, the latter half of the methods was now unobtainable.
Now, possessing martial arts techniques that could lead directly to the peak of the third realm filled them with delight, and they were eager to switch.
Compared to cultivators, martial artists found changing their cultivation techniques to be not exactly as simple as eating and drinking, but certainly not as complex as for cultivators, who had to worry about compatibility between different techniques.
They simply needed to use the qi and blood cultivated by the new technique to absorb the qi and blood cultivated by their previous methods. This transformation was relatively straightforward, with only minor losses during the process.
Conversely, if a cultivator wished to change their fundamental cultivation technique, failure to find one that suited them could result in a damaged foundation and lost cultivation at best, or going berserk and losing their life at the other extreme.
As night fell, Ji Yuan sat cross-legged under a shelter. He took out the more than ten elixir recipes he had acquired that day and began to study them meticulously.
To attempt to reach the Golden Core realm within thirty years was an almost impossible feat. Even historically renowned prodigies were considered exceptionally talented if they could achieve the Golden Core within a century.
Cultivator's progress was not as swift as that of martial artists; it required meticulous, gradual effort, like water dripping on stone, to wear away the obstacles on the path of cultivation.
The so-called "Golden Core in a Century" didn't just refer to prodigies achieving the Golden Core within a hundred years; it also implied that at least a century of refinement was necessary to achieve the Golden Core.
No matter how astonishing one's talent, without this hundred years, it was impossible to form a Golden Core!
This was akin to an ironclad rule, barring countless cultivators. Unless one encountered incredibly fortuitous circumstances, it was absolutely impossible to break it.
Among all the methods to break this ironclad rule was using elixirs to shorten the century of refinement.
However, employing this method to overcome the requirement of a hundred years of refinement involved more than just a simple improvement in alchemy skills.
After all, besides himself, he had his master, senior brother, disciples, Liao Qiming and others, as well as friends like Zhao Yuansong.
Furthermore, in order to give it his best shot, many matters became complicated.
Fortunately, after pondering the previous night, he had a plan.
The first point was to establish a firm footing within the Nine Profound Sect, ideally at least getting Xuan Tian Peak operational at a minimal level.
As a crucial location within the Nine Profound Sect, Xuan Tian Peak was already protected by dozens of major formations, and it was also connected to the entire sect's formation network. Once it could operate preliminarily, it could attract a large amount of spiritual energy, thereby increasing everyone's cultivation speed.
The second point was to earn more wealth and merit points within the Nine Profound Sect.
Currently, his financial resources and the substantial annual offerings from Ming Xin Xuan were sufficient for him to cultivate to the third realm. His remaining fortune could even support one or two more second-realm cultivators.
But all of this was predicated on time for gradual accumulation. If he wanted to progress rapidly in cultivation, the resources consumed would increase exponentially.
In such a scenario, his current fortune would prove insufficient.
Simultaneously, to quickly impact the peak of the third realm, he would need to utilize some of the Nine Profound Sect's significant locations.
As a sect with nearly a thousand years of history, the Nine Profound Sect had accumulated considerable assets, including several key locations that were exceptionally effective for refining cultivation and advancing one's realm.
For instance, the Sword Tomb on Ling Xiao Peak not only refined one's sword qi and sword intent but also purified one's spiritual energy through cultivation within it.
Similarly, the Thunder Pool on Lei Ze Peak had remarkable effects in strengthening the physique and advancing spiritual energy.
And the Spiritual Spring and Pill Pool in the Myriad Stars Courtyard made one feel as if they were constantly consuming cultivation-advancing elixirs while also weakening bottlenecks.
There were as many as seven such unique and important locations within the Nine Profound Sect. If utilized effectively, reaching the third realm within a short period would not be impossible.
And only by reaching the third realm within ten to fifteen years would there be even a slim chance of attempting to condense a Golden Core!
However, these important locations required a significant amount of merit points even for the sect leader of the Nine Profound Sect to use. Therefore, earning enough merit points became the paramount concern.
Fortunately, where there's a will, there's a way. Ji Yuan had now found a viable method.
As long as he could refine the more than ten types of elixirs specifically marked by the Myriad Stars Courtyard, he could continuously acquire a large volume of merit points through this means.
He didn't even need to master many; mastering just two or three of them should be sufficient to earn enough merit points.
When he was at the Myriad Stars Courtyard, he learned that several alchemy grandmasters in the sect had consistently possessed an abundance of merit points, even more than they could use, for decades, simply by refining one or two special elixirs!
Ji Yuan refused to believe that with his talent and proficiency in alchemy, coupled with the Grand Dao Scripture he possessed, he couldn't master two or three elixir formulas.
However, as it turned out, he had indeed underestimated the situation.