He took out a piece of Blood Essence and swallowed it, then activated the building's effects, releasing Tu Yue to let her handle the rest—his whole set of actions were smooth and practiced.

As for himself, he sat in the main hall, deep in thought.

It's been nearly half a month since he joined the Water Dragon Sect. He'd met almost everyone he should, understood almost everything he needed to.

There didn't seem to be much else left to do. Anyway, Ji Yuan didn't plan on heading to the front lines, and this year's contribution points were already enough. In that case... it seemed he could just return to Mist Island and focus on his cultivation.

But before going back, there was still one more thing to do.

It was still about the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Azuregrass and Illusion Spirit Grass had to wait, but the other supplementary herbs could be prepared in advance.

Since he already had the Azuregrass and Illusion Spirit Grass, if he prepared one more set of auxiliary herbs... then all the ingredients for a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills would be complete!

It was just a pity that his Alchemy hadn't reached a high enough level yet.

Otherwise, he could've already started refining a batch.

After resting lightly for a few hours, Ji Yuan headed out again.

As for the supplementary herbs for Foundation Establishment, it was best to go to the Hundred Treasures Tower—everything he needed could be found there. They just didn't sell the main ingredients, but the other side herbs were all available.

For a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills, you needed 3 stalks of Centennial Gentian, 5 stalks of Centennial Dewgrass, and 2 bottles of Three-flower Jade Dew.

The medicinal guide required 1 Tier Two Demon Pill and 1 jar of Earth Vein Spiritual Spring.

Demon Pills were pretty common, so Ji Yuan wasn't in a rush to buy those.

He could always check later for other sources, or wait until he had more Spirit Stones saved up to buy some better quality Demon Pills.

Even so, aside from the Demon Pill, the other auxiliary herbs alone for a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills cost nearly 50 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

If he added in the other main ingredients... shit, Foundation Establishment Pills were really fucking expensive.

Even with Ji Yuan's current wealth, he could only purchase enough supplementary herbs for two batches of Foundation Establishment Pills.

Which matched up perfectly with his two stalks of Millennial Illusion Spirit Grass.

He was still short one stalk of Azuregrass.

After buying these things, Ji Yuan's previously bulging Storage Bag immediately deflated—of his Mid-grade Spirit Stones, only five remained.

He felt a bit like he'd gone broke overnight.

In that case, it was about time to go back and develop for a while... After finishing up at All Things Island, Ji Yuan didn't even stop at Chulong Island. He flew the Scarlet Skies Skiff and headed straight south.

He spent a leisurely half-day flying, and after getting some distance from the Water Dragon Sect, finally swapped his skiff for his supreme Magical Artifact—Thunder Falcon Boat!

Isle Master Tie Chui said it needed a few hammerings, and it really did seem he'd hammered it a couple times.

Ji Yuan felt the Flying Boat didn't look as flat as before; it had become a bit sleeker instead.

Or rather, its whole form now had much nicer lines.

He gave it a gentle nudge, and the Thunder Falcon Boat shot off like an arrow, instantly vanishing into the distance—up in the sky, it became but a flash of flowing light.

Now this is what you call a Flying Boat!

Ji Yuan sensed everything around him flickering by like a stream of floating images.

After being upgraded to a supreme Magical Artifact, the Thunder Falcon Boat's regular speed had already increased by at least thirty percent!

But what about its top speed?!

Ji Yuan activated the Thunder Falcon Essence within the boat, and in a flash, a barrage of sonic booms rang out. Ji Yuan couldn't even make out the world around him anymore.

Under this supreme velocity, he felt... a glimmer of hope for survival.

Damn, with this thing, even if he didn't use his Talisman Treasure, even most Foundation Establishment cultivators probably couldn't catch up to him.

Compared to before, its extreme speed had increased by around fifty percent.

After experiencing all the effects of the Thunder Falcon Boat, Ji Yuan packed it up, switched back to the Scarlet Skies Skiff issued by his sect, and continued cruising slowly.

After a day had passed—

A streak of purple light shot down from above the clouds, diving back into the mists once more.

Ji Yuan spent quite a while before finally finding his own Mist Island.

He'd been gone for nearly a month this time, and now it was spring. Wild grass and shrubs had grown rampant, and as Ji Yuan looked at his overgrown abode, he couldn't help but feel like the territory he'd conquered had all gone to waste.

As for the Big Toad... where was the Big Toad?

Ji Yuan circled Mist Island twice aboard the Thunder Falcon Boat but couldn't spot it anywhere.

"Shit, did it die?"

The thought had barely surfaced in Ji Yuan's mind before he dismissed it himself.

Not likely. The Big Toad was already a mid-stage Tier Two Demon Beast, and had eaten so many strong-bodied Spirit Pigs with him... even if it ran into a late-stage Tier Two Demon Beast, it should at least be able to save its own life.

If that's the case, had it gone out for a snack?

While Ji Yuan was pondering, a blood-curdling scream suddenly echoed from deep within the mist.

"Gwa—"

An instant later, a surge of demon energy erupted.

This was... the Big Toad?!

Was it fighting another demon beast?

Ji Yuan hesitated for a second but still guided the Thunder Falcon Boat straight into the depths of the mist.

The Big Toad was his capable subordinate, and after raising it for so long, he'd grown rather attached. Ji Yuan would never let it die!

The Thunder Falcon Boat arrived in a flash.

As he drew close, Ji Yuan finally saw clearly what was going on.

On the shore of an island about half the size of Mist Island, chaos reigned. The Big Toad was struggling desperately to leap onto land, but a huge serpent was coiled tightly around it, dragging it down toward the deep water.

Not only that, but the Big Toad had two bleeding holes in its head.

Its original Stone Armor was also badly peeling.

This wasn't caused by fighting, but rather by its flesh starting to rot... Ji Yuan could tell in a glance.

The serpent in the water was venomous, and it had bitten the Big Toad again.

Otherwise, with the Big Toad's strength, there was no way it would be unable to even escape.

Should he help?

Definitely had to rescue it somehow.

If he didn't, the Big Toad would probably lose its life right here.

As soon as that thought hit him, Ji Yuan drove the boat upward, reached out, and pointed downward.

The Spiritual Qi in the surroundings rushed away, a droplet of black water appearing out of thin air, shooting straight down to land on the huge serpent coiled around the Big Toad.

The droplet exploded with a bang.

Countless Water Blades slashed back and forth across the serpent's scales.

Even though this serpent was a mid-stage Tier Two Demon Beast, such a dense barrage made it clearly feel a jolt of pain.

Its grip on the Big Toad instinctively loosened.

The Big Toad seized the opportunity, its hind legs pushing off hard as it leapt up onto land.

Once on land, the Big Toad finally saw Ji Yuan's figure—and spotting that familiar flying boat, it shuddered and opened its mouth.

"Gwa gwa—"

The cry was utterly miserable.

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