Xu Mu stir-fried a plate of Yao Beast meat and prepared a bowl of Spirit Rice; the savory scent of rice and meat soon filled every room. To prevent the aroma from wafting out and causing unnecessary trouble, Xu Mu had long ago added sealing strips to all the windows.
Xu Mu sat at the table and began to feast.
"Yao Beast meat is tender and delicious, an absolute delicacy."
"The only small problem is that in this plate of Yao Beast meat, aside from the meat itself, the other ingredients aren't spiritual objects, nor was it cooked with spiritual fire; it's missing a little something."
Xu Mu knew that among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, there was also the profession of Spirit Chef. Normal Spirit Chefs have seasonings made from various spiritual objects, and their side dishes are Spiritual Plants grown in a Cave Abode. When cooking, they use special flames similar to Departing Fire, and even have kitchenware that are Magic Treasures.
Combined with exquisite culinary skills, every dish a Spirit Chef makes can be called a true delicacy. Because they contain Spiritual Qi and are free of the impurities of mundane food, they are more suitable for Cultivators.
Of course, the meals made by Spirit Chefs are also more expensive. In restaurants where a Spirit Chef is in residence, the per-person consumption is terrifyingly high; some powerful Spirit Chefs even charge only Spirit Stones for their cooking.
As for those large forces and families, they basically have dedicated Spirit Chefs to cook whatever delicacies they desire at any time.
After a full meal, Xu Mu lay on the sofa, picked up his phone, and opened the Immortal Alliance Network. This website can only be accessed by Cultivators, and all accounts are verified. Some accounts have tags like 'Alchemist', 'Artifact Refiner', or 'Academy Student' after their names. All content on the website is naturally related to Cultivators.
On this website, one can create chat rooms, post to exchange experiences, or buy and sell items related to Cultivators. During his first and second years, Xu Mu would browse this website whenever he was free. Since entering the Cave Abode World, he spent most of his time there and had rarely visited the site. This time, he was too full to move and suddenly remembered the website, so he clicked in to take a look. Sometimes, one could find some useful things here.
After browsing for about ten minutes, Xu Mu got up and returned to the Cave Abode World. He first circulated his power to absorb and digest the Spiritual Qi from the meal before beginning to cultivate and study Formations.
Currently, Xu Mu's Cave Abode was relatively safe, and with plenty of medicinal pills and Spirit Rice, he could peacefully strive for the Qi Refining Third Layer. Xu Mu cultivated for 6 hours a day, practiced spells for 4 hours, and delved into the path of Formations for 8 hours.
Day after day. Two months later.
Boom!!
When the mana in Xu Mu's body reached a critical point, his cultivation naturally rose to the Qi Refining Third Layer, and every aspect of his strength saw a significant improvement.
"Sigh..."
Although he successfully achieved a Breakthrough, Xu Mu still couldn't help but sigh. Because he once again realized deeply that the cultivation speed of a Low-grade Spiritual Root was simply too slow!! It took Xu Mu a full four months to go from the Qi Refining Second Layer to the Qi Refining Third Layer.
One must keep in mind that during these four months, Xu Mu hadn't stopped for a single day, cultivating until he reached his physical limit every day. Moreover, every few days, he would take a Qi Gathering Pill to assist his cultivation. Under such conditions, it still took this long to achieve a Breakthrough.
It was easy to imagine that if Xu Mu didn't have Qi Gathering Pills and his Cave Abode was breached by monsters, relying only on the two hours of cultivation per week at school... He would likely still be at the Qi Refining Second Layer even by the eve of the Grand Exam, unable to meet even the basic requirements to enter the Immortal Dao Academy.
No wonder the Class Vice-Monitor lost hope and jumped off a building after his Cave Abode was breached. Because he simply couldn't see any hope of getting into the academy.
Spiritual Roots are far too important for Cultivators. Going from the Qi Refining Second Layer to the third took four months; I dread to think how long each subsequent Breakthrough will take.
But fortunately, Spiritual Roots can be improved with Azure Moon Stones, and I have the Critical Hit Augmentation System. As long as I can kill a member of the Demon Race and get an Azure Moon Stone from a treasure chest, I can first raise my Spiritual Root to Medium-grade.
At the same level of cultivation, the Demon Race is much stronger than Yao Beasts. At the Qi Refining Third Layer, having cultivated the Blazing Sun Departing Fire Art and possessing many talismans, Xu Mu could slay an Early Stage Qi Refining Yao Beast even without relying on Formations. But against the stronger and more intelligent Demon Race, it wasn't a certainty.
This was mainly because although Xu Mu now had a Magic Treasure, he didn't have Divine Sense yet, so he couldn't control the artifact flexibly to unleash its full power. Once Xu Mu broke through to the Qi Refining Mid-stage, opened his Sea of Consciousness, and gained Divine Sense, he would be able to control Magic Treasures in battle at will, and his strength would increase significantly.
Currently, if Xu Mu wanted to use the Golden Flame Ring, he could only swing it around to smash things, just like using a saber or sword to hack.
However, I still have my Formations. If I can lure a member of the Demon Race into a Formation, my chances of winning will be very high.
Over these two months, in addition to breaking through to the Qi Refining Third Layer, Xu Mu's gains included mastering three Formations: the Sound Insulation Formation, the Illusion Formation, and the Boundary Formation. He had also successively completed the setup of these three Formations.
The Boundary Formation was at the outermost perimeter, about a hundred meters from the Cave Abode; Xu Mu would notice any slight disturbance immediately. Next was the Illusion Formation, which almost overlapped with the Mist Formation. Once inside, one would lose their sense of direction and fall into an illusion. The strength of an intruder's Divine Soul determined how long they would remain trapped. Even if their soul was strong enough to make the duration short, they would still be trapped within a mist so thick they couldn't see their own hands.
Finally, there was the Sound Insulation Formation, set up inside the Cave Abode. No matter what noise Xu Mu made inside the Cave Abode, it could not be heard outside.
Unfortunately, Xu Mu's luck was a bit poor these two months; not a single Yao Beast had come to his door. If his classmates at school heard this, they would likely cough up blood in frustration. After all, they prayed all day that no Yao Beast would discover their Cave Abodes. Xu Mu, on the other hand, actually felt his luck was poor because no beasts came. This was the kind of comparison that could drive a person mad with envy.
During these two months, Xu Mu also mastered the Fire Snake Technique, one of the two fire-element spells included in the Blazing Sun Departing Fire Art. This spell was very powerful and had a large attack range, far exceeding the Fireball Technique. However, its consumption was greater, and it was generally used during the Qi Refining Mid-stage. If the current Xu Mu were to use it, a single cast would consume most of his mana.