Not long after, the communication disk dimmed.

Chen Xun and Black Bull found another reef to stand quietly on, their eyes gazing into the distance as they communicated through divine sense.

Then they fell completely silent, listening to the roar of the sea and beginning to consolidate their cultivation.

Chen Xun glanced slightly at Black Bull and took out a small booklet that shimmered with white light. It was the Five Elements Transformation Technique he had created back then.

A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind. Over the past century, he had purchased many Void Refinement phase techniques for the Five Elements spiritual roots.

He even spent a hefty sum to buy an Image Stone of a Unity phase cultivator lecturing on the Void Refinement phase. The Void Refinement phase heavily emphasizes understanding the world, as can be seen from the need for various worldly experiences to break through bottlenecks.

In this realm, absorbing spiritual qi is secondary; having good aptitude is merely the icing on the cake, not a necessity.

But if one comes from a wealthy family, they can invite various elders to personally lecture, buy Image Stones of lectures, and have all sorts of cultivating immortality resources delivered to them, making it hard not to cultivate quickly.

"Falling Sun Green Immortal Nectar, harvested from the secret realm atop the Falling Sun Immortal Mountain on the Southern Yu Continent, enhances understanding of the world. One drop costs a thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

"Heaven-Guarding White Elixir, collected by the Great Spirit Clan from the innate secret land—True Water of Heaven-Guarding Cave, refined nine times using racial talent. Applying it to the eyes can reveal a trace of the world's energy patterns. One drop costs two thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

"Flying Crossing Pill, a low-grade fourth-tier pill, fuses the world's energy and spiritual qi. It's greatly beneficial for early Void Refinement phase cultivators. One bottle costs 250 mid-grade spirit stones, and one furnace of pills requires thirty low-grade fourth-tier spiritual herbs."

"Damn it..."

Chen Xun pondered silently, holding a mid-grade spirit stone in his hand. "If I could absorb spirit stones to cultivate, I would have been a rich man long ago."

Understanding the world takes time, but spiritual qi is a hard requirement.

No matter how profound your understanding is, if you don't absorb spiritual qi, your realm remains unchanged.

And these spirit stones can greatly shorten that time. Wealthy individuals, once their understanding is in place, will pour spirit stones like rain.

Absorbing both the world's spiritual qi and spirit stones, supplemented by Qi-Enhancing Pills, makes it hard not to advance in realm.

It's no wonder that whenever a rich mine is discovered, even Void Refinement experts personally get involved.

Being stuck at a bottleneck is something only prodigies can afford; ninety-nine percent of the world's cultivators are ordinary people, and realm suppression is the true path.

They don't have strong elders to protect them, so naturally, they want to cultivate faster if they can. Everyone wants to become stronger and live longer, to see more of the road ahead.

The sea breeze continued to blow gently, waves leaping layer by layer, the air filled with the dampness of memories.

Chen Xun had already taken out another small booklet and began to write and draw, having already planned his Void Refinement phase path. However, to cultivate peacefully, the cost in spirit stones would be enormous.

Otherwise, he would have to resort to fighting and fleeing, living a life of being hunted, either dying nine times out of ten or surviving by sheer luck. He wasn't so desperate for longevity to do such things.

There are many secret realms in the world, filled with all sorts of celestial treasures. Not to mention other places, even Xuanwei Heaven has a Tower of Babel, which even he knows about, showing its great fame.

Sometimes, one could even hear about new species discovered by the Nine Heavens Immortal Sound Array Disk, or some celestial realm opening, filled with countless precious herbs and fierce spiritual beasts...

Especially in this Three Thousand Great Worlds, he truly feared accidentally offending someone.

Then, someone might rally eight million subordinates through a spatial channel in a fit of rage, and they would all greet the Young Master and mercilessly gang up on them.

There are too many ways to lock onto a location in this world; his previous methods are somewhat outdated. He was still researching how to break these grand methods, never allowing himself to become complacent.

"It seems that earning spirit stones is the true path."

Chen Xun's eyes still carried a contemplative look. "Techniques are no longer a problem; with top-grade spirit stones, even Great Ascension techniques can be bought. With supreme-grade spirit stones, a Tribulation Crossing Venerable would come to your door to lecture."

A faint smile gradually appeared on his lips as he looked at the vast, boundless sea, feeling his heart open, the world within him infinitely vast.

Time passed bit by bit, and they quietly consolidated their cultivation on the reef, neither arrogant nor impatient.

...

Half a year later, on the coast of Trash Island.

A young man with black hair looked hesitant and wary. He had bought a ticket to come here a year ago, but the situation was clearly different from what other cultivators had told him.

It was supposed to be self-tempering, earning about fifty mid-grade spirit stones a year, with everyone minding their own business, not interfering with each other.

And indeed, no one came to disturb him, but in the trash sea, there were heaps of cultivators everywhere, claiming to be... people from the garbage recycling plant.

They seemed to have no need to refine the trash themselves, only needing to find fragments containing the Great Desolate Black God Crystal, and spirit stones would come pouring in.

He hadn't believed it at first; how could there be such a good deal?

But after a year of seeing his companions holding hundreds or even thousands of mid-grade spirit stones, he clutched some small fragments of the Great Desolate Black God Crystal and shed two lines of tears. Comparing oneself to others was truly infuriating.

Everywhere was bustling with activity, working together to sift through the trash, their efficiency several times faster than individual people from the Online Store. There were even cultivators maintaining order around them, with strict rules.

He finally couldn't hold back anymore and looked towards a fat Daoist standing atop a trash mountain, mid-Nascent Soul phase...

"Fellow Daoist."

The young man with black hair flew over, landing on the trash mountain and cupping his hands in greeting.

Song Heng glanced him up and down, his right hand's compass still spinning rapidly, and asked lightly, "New here?"

"No... no, Fellow Daoist, I'm a lone Online Store person."

"Oh, then continue being a lone wolf. Our garbage recycling plant doesn't restrict anyone. If you need to sell something, go to the largest desolate mountain in the back; you can't miss it."

Song Heng nodded slightly, his gaze shifting elsewhere. "Fellow Daoists, at the Li position, beneath that broken ship, dig!"

"Yes, Master Dao!"

"Yes, Master Dao!"

...

Hundreds of cultivators in the distance shouted, unleashing various magical artifacts to disassemble the ship and dig deeper.

A surge of foul air erupted from below, but these people didn't mind at all; instead, their eyes were filled with excitement.

"Master Dao, there are so many magical artifact fragments below, really a lot!"

"Master Dao is generous!"

...

Many cultivators in the distance cupped their hands and shouted, carefully cleaning up the filth. Brother Lion had already given them enough face; how could they let him personally clean up this filth?

They had already saved a lot of time and earned plenty of spirit stones, so they naturally didn't lack time to clean up this filth.

Even after their actions, Brother Lion's attitude towards them had noticeably improved.

They were all people from the garbage recycling plant, not those ordinary people from the Online Store, so they naturally couldn't lack social skills.

The young man with black hair suddenly felt like he had a lump in his throat, speechless: "..."

So many discarded materials, who knows how many spirit stones they could sell for. His eyes turned a bit bloodshot, and he joined the other cultivators in shouting, "Master Dao!"