Three years have passed since Ryan subdued the bandits and bought the castle in the valley from the village chief. Since then, every month for three years, Ryan has supplied the village chief with spells sealed in spirit seeds to sell to the outer world, and both of them have earned a substantial amount of money.
During that time, Ryan once visited the town, found nothing interesting, and returned to the village in disappointment.
The village quickly flourished as the chief constructed taverns, hotels, restaurants, blacksmith shops, and various other establishments. He enabled the villagers to prosper by offering them loans to kickstart their businesses in the village.
Now, even if sudden droughts occur, the villagers won't die of hunger as the village has become a popular destination for hunters from nearby villages and townspeople to come and rest, sell, or buy items after their hunt.
The nearby towns and cities were supplied with the pelts of the beasts to make luxury coats or carpets. Village merchants started flocking here after learning the village was selling the pelts directly to shops.
The village population has grown by around 300 to 500 members, bringing the total population to nearly 1,500.
The arrival of new members in the village initially caused various problems due to disputes. However, the chief appointed his eldest son as the security officer, and several retired hunters who had learned martial arts were given jobs to earn a substantial amount of money. This allowed them to live peacefully by maintaining order in the village without having to hunt animals in the wild.
Ryan, who once looked like an immature kid, has now grown into a tall teenager with a handsome face, long hair reaching his shoulders, and gem-like eyes that attract any passerby. Unlike in the past, when he wore patched clothes due to poverty, he now wears proper clothing made from cotton, and everyone knows Ryan is a wealthy young man in the village.
Only the village chief and his family know that Ryan is a cultivator, aside from Ryan's grandfather.
So, everyone in the village thinks the source of the funds was the village chief's loan, which he used to invent a strong liquor using Rice and various spices.
Ryan himself supplied wine to the entire village. Many merchants visited just to purchase it, as drinking the wine could make martial artists' blood boil and reach higher levels during their bottleneck period.
Ryan, who began cultivating just three years ago, is now at the peak of the early-stage Qi refiner. He is on the verge of advancing to the 4th stage refiner in a few days and becoming a mid-stage Qi refiner.
Initially, he thought he could reach mid mid-stage of the Qi realm, but the chaotic Qi extracted by the fortune cauldron after absorbing the doom's fate in the castle was not like the furnace that fed him to reach the qi state cultivator from the mortal stage.
It needs to be digested slowly by performing the exercise repeatedly and making it his spirit Qi, or it will escape from the body and get wasted instead of increasing his realm.
Despite being busy with various tasks, Ryan never neglected his spelling practice. He could now perform them in one or two seconds and unleash a continuous barrage that could kill higher realm monks in a few minutes.
Today, Ryan sat alone in his room and started to perform his exercise of refining spirit energy into his spirit qi one last time before impacting the barrier mid-level qi refining stage.
After calming his mind with meditation and ensuring he was ready to break through the barrier, Ryan signaled the fortune cauldron to send the chaotic energy slowly into his body. As the chaotic qi entered his body, he began refining it gradually, then picked up momentum and filled his veins with more qi. When he felt he could handle no more energy, Ryan pushed through the barrier to the mid-stage qi refining realm, increasing his energy levels and becoming a mid-stage qi practitioner.
No one in the village knew that a cultivator living among them had quietly crossed a small barrier in his cultivation. Unlike the other cultivators, Ryan didn't need to absorb any spirit energy from the surroundings to break through the barrier.
So, no commotion occurred in the village due to his breakthrough in the realm.
Ryan then took out the storage bag, which he had been keeping with him ever since he opened the box three years ago. He began to send his qi into it to refine the items, as they needed to be imprinted with his seal and refined by his spirit qi to work properly. These items would automatically absorb energy from the body of the cultivators who possessed them to function properly when needed.
The rest of the time, they will absorb the surrounding energy to sustain until they get damaged.
Then he opened the storage bag and saw various array plates and flags with instructions on how to arrange them at the site.
Ryan considered his options for the formations and decided to transform the valley where the villa was located into a cultivation paradise. By arranging the array in the valley, he planned to convert it into blessed land.
After arranging the formations and placing the spirit stones to make it run for years, Ryan can slowly convert the land into a blessed land where he can stay as he has no interest in joining sects and other forces to fight for supremacy or resources to reach a higher realm.
After setting up the array, he plans to leave the village for a few years. When he feels ready to protect himself, he'll explore the cultivation world and nearby cultivation cities to learn more about the world. Once he's tired, he'll return to the village, aim to reach a greater realm, and then venture into the broader world again.
As he was dreaming about his future, his eyes were immediately drawn to a jade bracelet that was placed next to the table, This jade bracelet was the one he brought from the bandit helper who sold the trinkets in the village.
At that time, he just bought it as he felt slight spirit energy from it, but as he couldn't refine any spirit items until he reached mid-level qi stage, he placed it here and there.
He took it into his hand and placed it into the spirit bag as he heard several commotions from the house front door, which disturbed his cultivation process.