Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

"That won't do," the burly man shook his head.

"That's more like it." The leading cultivator leisurely walked to the bear paw, tore off a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth.

"If we need resources, we'll send people to take risks; if the other side needs to test the Hou family's strength, we'll provide intelligence."

"Even if we're just a pawn in their game, so what? Fortune favors the bold."

Swallowing the bear meat in his mouth, the leading cultivator spat out a mouthful of blood and used magic to intensify the fire.

"You've seen the situation yourself. Just like the information that person provided, there are very few Hou family disciples left searching."

"Who would have thought we'd launch a surprise attack at this moment?"

After listening, the burly man understood some of the leading cultivator's considerations and then asked:

"I understand, brother. Let's steal it again this time..."

The leading cultivator waved his hand, interrupting the burly man, and looked at the distant mountain range with a smile in his eyes.

"No, it's too risky to steal again. If it weren't for the fact that the person behind us had such a powerful and well-hidden presence that we could have been secretly covered up, we would have really been in trouble last time."

"Remember those spirit contract workers from the Hou family? Let's specifically target those who work alone. They probably have spirit taxes to pay the Hou family, so the profits will definitely be substantial..."

After saying that, he turned to look at the burly man and said, "Got it? You blockhead."

"Hehe, bro, why didn't you just say that earlier? Why did you have to act like some kind of expert... Ouch!"

"Stop talking nonsense and come eat the meat. After we finish, we'll go scout out the place."

"Alright!"

The campfire burned slowly, and the sound of chewing meat came from inside the cave.

.........

The perspective shifts back to Yumen Market.

Inside the cultivation room, Qu Ye frowned, his body drenched in sweat, and the surrounding spiritual energy was constantly being absorbed.

We have clearly reached a critical stage for a breakthrough!

The spiritual energy within his body surged like a tide into his dantian, then flowed to his limbs and bones, repeating this process endlessly.

The golden elixir in his abdomen had completely transformed into immense medicinal power, which combined with spiritual energy to continuously challenge the bottleneck.

As the cultivation technique circulated, strands of spiritual energy emitted a pale yellow glow, constantly merging and intertwining to form a small sphere of light in Qu Ye's dantian.

From a distance, Qu Ye looked as if he were in a golden pool.

Now!

Qu Ye's eyes were resolute. He grabbed a spirit stone beside him and began to fully activate his Gold-Refining Technique.

The vast and mighty magical power suddenly launched a final assault on that invisible bottleneck!

As the magical power continued to surge, the already fragmented bottleneck emitted a barely audible cracking sound before suddenly dissipating.

In an instant.

The magical power within his dantian transformed from three streams to four.

Qu Ye felt his meridians transform into rivers, and the newly generated magical power continuously nourished his body and soul.

The quality of the magic power is also different from the initial stage, becoming more profound and refined.

Qi Refining Level 4, done!

Qu Ye suppressed his inner joy, because he still needed to guide the newly generated magical power to circulate according to the cultivation method, otherwise it would lead to damage to the meridians.

So he quickly continued to circulate his energy and regulate his magical power.

After a night, having initially stabilized his new realm, he ended his seclusion.

Qu Ye stood up, stretched his limbs, and felt much lighter.

The area covered by the divine sense has doubled compared to before.

"Is this the mid-stage of Qi Refining..." he muttered to himself, trying to circulate his magic power. A sword light appeared in his palm, its sharpness and stability much stronger than before.

"The power of the spell has also increased by about 30%."

He nodded in satisfaction; this was pretty much as expected.

"After three years of cultivation, at the age of twenty-one, I've broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. That's not slow at all."

At the same time, he was also somewhat glad that he made that choice.

"Fortunately, I chose to come to the Hou family to form a bond with the Jade Spirit Bee. If I didn't have the talent to gather spiritual energy, I would have been delayed for at least four or five years."

He stood up, deactivated the restrictions on his residence, put away the remaining four spirit stones, and walked out of the cultivation room.

Upon entering the guest room, Qu Ye opened the window.

It was midday, and the sound of bustling voices could be heard outside the courtyard.

The late autumn air was already a bit chilly, and he took a deep breath of the cool air.

Now that I've broken through to a higher level, I should start planning what I need to do next.

The first thing to consider is choosing the right monster to form a bond with.

Now that he has the ability to gather spiritual energy, which can be considered a resource-based talent, for safety's sake, he can consider escaping or defending next.

He actually preferred to escape.

Thinking back, there are quite a few monsters in Yumenfang City that have unique speed advantages.

Cultivators in the mountains have witnessed packs of wind wolves; the Hou family raises the Fiery Cloud Steed; and Moonlight Rabbit meat is occasionally sold in the market... Oh no, Moonlight Rabbits have the talent for jumping.

Apart from Moonlight Rabbit, none of them are currently within Qu Ye's reach.

"We can only take it one step at a time."

Qu Ye sighed softly.

There's no use thinking too much now, and if all else fails, we can always choose other types of monsters to form a bond with.

"Oh, right..."

Qu Ye remembered something quite important.

"Given my aptitude for having four spiritual roots, breaking through too quickly might arouse suspicion and bring disaster..."

Breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining now can be considered lucky. What if one were to quickly break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining, or even the later stage?

We can't avoid making breakthroughs just to avoid being exposed.

"We still need to find a method to conceal our inner energy."

However, he does have some connections in this area.

Just like when he exchanged the Gengjin Sword Manual at the Hou family, he could spend some spirit stones to look for it at the Hou family's cultivation hall.

The Hou family is a prominent clan that has been established for over three hundred years, and their lineage should be included in the records.

Even if you can't get the premium items, the regular ones will be enough.

Having made up her mind, Qu Ye closed the window and stepped out of the yard.

It took me at least five days to break through, so it's time to check on the bee colony's condition.

With his breakthrough to the mid-stage of Qi Refining and the strengthening of his divine soul, he also wanted to see how many Jade Spirit Bees he could control at the same time.

Qu Ye had just stepped out of the courtyard when she bumped into Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming was sitting at the entrance of his courtyard, holding a string of spirit fruits in his hand, biting into them and squirting juice everywhere.

When he saw Qu Ye come out, he grinned and was about to greet him when he suddenly froze. He looked Qu Ye up and down and stopped eating the spiritual fruit in his hand.

"Brother Qu, you've broken through?"

"Just lucky, just lucky."

Zhou Ming quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Congratulations, Brother Qu, on breaking through to the next realm. You have taken another step forward on your path to immortality."

Qu Ye waved his hand: "You flatter me. It's just breaking through a small bottleneck. It's nothing."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Zhou Ming gave Qu Ye a rather resentful look: "Brother Qu, you're being too modest. I'm still struggling at the second level of Qi Refining."

Qu Ye knew that Zhou Ming was just joking and not really complaining, so she smiled and replied:

"Brother Zhou, don't underestimate yourself. I think you are very talented, but you are only impaired because of the fairies."

Zhou Ming choked for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly, "That's just about balancing work and rest. Besides, I don't go every day, it's only every few days..."

Qu Ye gave him a strange look but didn't reply.

"Ahem..." Zhou Ming coughed and changed the subject: "Brother Qu, I have some things to take care of, so I'll head back to my room first. See you later."

"Okay, see you later."

Watching Zhou Ming sneak into the courtyard like a thief, Qu Ye shook his head and turned to walk out of the market.

Inside the courtyard, Zhou Ming lay supine on the stone bed, his eyes lifeless.

Remembering what Qu Ye had just said, he sat up abruptly, his fists clenched, as if he had made up his mind.

"Goodbye, Fairy Feiyu, Fairy Cuiwei, Fairy Yunling..."

"Starting tomorrow, I will abstain from pornography!"