Qi Ping estimated that due to his solid foundation in spiritual power, physical form, and the understanding of the true meaning of the Law, breaking through to the Ninth-Layer of Qi Refining was merely a natural progression.

The so-called difficulty of each layer of the late-stage Qi Refining is simply due to a weak foundation and insufficient talent.

Step by step, Qi Ping accumulated his physical form, spirit, law comprehension, and talent to an immensely profound level. What was once an unattainable late-stage Qi Refining was now, for Qi Ping, as easy to traverse as flat ground.

Therefore, Qi Ping increasingly disbelieved the claims that one must fight and find an opportunity for a breakthrough amidst life and death struggles.

As long as he lays a solid foundation, he can always find the right timing for a breakthrough, and even the most elusive Dao Heart can be refined within the mortal world, without actively experiencing life and death.

If possible, Qi Ping wishes to never experience a single life-and-death crisis.

After breaking through to the Ninth-Layer of Qi Refining, Qi Ping clearly felt a significant increase in life force, far more than any previous breakthrough.

Moreover, he felt his body gradually reaching a state of perfection, and once perfected, it could be the time for him to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After this period of effort, Qi Ping could ascertain that the Foundation Establishment Stage was no longer a bottleneck for him. As long as he fully understood the Dao Heart Realm, the bottleneck to the Foundation Establishment Stage would not be able to hold him back.

The only troublesome thing is, based on his current cultivation speed, even with enough honey support, Qi Ping estimated it would take six months to a year to cultivate to Qi Refining Perfection.

The further into the cultivation realm one progresses, the more it emphasizes comprehension and accumulation, not a simple matter of consuming one or two high-level Spiritual Medicines for a breakthrough; otherwise, wouldn't the juniors of Nascent Soul cultivators break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage in a few months...

...

The only thing that caught Qi Ping's attention during this period was a terrifying war that broke out among the three great families.

In the conflict among the Liu, Zhu, and Murong families, the Murong family unexpectedly allied with a sect power opposing the Cyan Origin Sect to launch a surprise attack on the other two families.

In addition, a group of black-robed cultivators controlling demonic insects also joined the Murong family's formation.

A bloody battle unfolded in an instant.

In Meng Yan's account, the battle could be described in two words: mountains of corpses, rivers of blood...

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators were killed, not to mention the cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage.

However, the Cyan Origin Sect had also prepared a backup plan. After the Murong family's forces launched their attack, they immediately implemented countermeasures.

The ultimate outcome was the complete annihilation of the Murong family, with even the most hidden family members being unearthed and split in half, leaving none behind.

Yet, the victorious Zhu and Liu families also suffered a pyrrhic victory, with sixty to seventy percent of their clan members annihilated; only some family members in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range remained relatively unharmed.

It seemed like the Cyan Origin Sect had won, but the three major families it relied on to control Qingshi County were now in such dire straits, significantly reducing its control.

This might have been the true intention of those opposing sects.

After this battle, the situation in Qingshi County became even more unpredictable.

...

After listening to Meng Yan's account, Qi Ping couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The three once lofty and unattainable families that seemed like colossal giants had unexpectedly turned into one destroyed and two severely damaged in the blink of an eye.

In response, Qi Ping could only lament the unpredictability of the world.

He also felt that the closer one is connected to the Immortal Cultivation Realm, the more likely one is to become a pawn, carelessly turned into cannon fodder, and fall to their death...

Sect disciples are cannon fodder...

The three major Immortal Cultivation clans are cannon fodder...

Loose cultivators fare even worse than cannon fodder...

This made Qi Ping increasingly aware of the danger in the Immortal Cultivation Realm; in the eyes of those high and mighty powerful cultivators, everything is just a pawn...

Once involved, it's impossible to escape the fate of becoming a pawn.

Those powerful cultivators can develop prosperity for Spirit Stone tax revenue and can also manipulate life and death for their own purposes.

Even in Qingshi County, so many people died, not to mention the colossal Qingtian Realm!

Even "bodies of a million" might underestimate the situation.

Meanwhile, this further solidified Qi Ping's determination to create a secret, private haven of his own!

For the sake of a peaceful life and continued cultivation, he must stay away from the vortex and hide himself.

Because once he is in the vortex, no matter how careful, he might still fall victim to the manipulations of those powerful cultivators.

Even though Qi Ping has lived two lifetimes, he doesn't consider his intelligence and strategy to match those creatures that have lived for thousands of years, or even longer.

This is evident from the previous prosperity of Qingshi County and Qingtian Realm; the mode of economic governance and management level even surpasses what Qi Ping experienced in his past life!

A single county was this prosperous, not to mention the entire Qingtian Realm.

Solely from this matter, it could be described as those ancient monsters having strategies near demonic levels.

And the only way Qi Ping thought of to escape such calculations was to conceal his existence!

Because no one can plot against something they don't know exists.

Furthermore, he should ultimately harbor no hostility or develop a mindset of opposition because the Immortal Cultivation Realm has the art of calculating celestial secrets and destiny.

Once enmity arises, the cause-and-effect might be calculated, and they might find him and eliminate him. Although the possibility is low, he dare not ignore it.

The more Qi Ping learned about the Immortal Cultivation Realm, the more he perceived its inherent horror!

This danger is limited for ordinary people and somewhat manageable for average talents, but for those hiding big secrets, they are absolutely under the watch of countless eyes, particularly for someone like Qi Ping, whose existence defies common sense.

...

Regarding the war among the three families, Qi Ping specially went to see his elder brother Wang Mountain of the Zhu Family to see if there was any opportunity to help.

To Qi Ping's surprise, not only was Wang Mountain alive and well, but occasionally, in solitude, he even showed expressions of delight.

Apparently, during the battle, Wang Mountain not only survived unscathed but also made considerable gains, securing a significant amount of cultivation resources for his offspring's future.

This made Qi Ping both grateful and impressed with Wang Mountain's adeptness.

So many people from the three major families perished, yet Wang Mountain not only survived but also reaped considerable benefits, demonstrating significant survival prowess.

...

Upon returning to the mountain peak, Qi Ping distanced himself from the chaos of the outside world and devoted all his heart to the study of array formations.

After successfully researching a Tier One low-level Celestial Fire Array, Qi Ping subsequently developed the Sea of Fire Array, Nine Flames Array... and other fire attribute arrays, rapidly advancing his array skills.

Qi Ping's biggest goal now is to create a secluded territory far from chaos.

Initially, a Tier One intermediate Illusion Array and Concealment Array would suffice, as these arrays, without careful inspection, might remain unnoticed even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator passed by.

This should be sufficient; after all, which Foundation Establishment cultivator, well fed, would travel to a barren place to meticulously search using divine sense? Unless Qi Ping actively provokes those big shots, leading them to search the mountain.

Qi Ping plans to slowly perfect the array setup on his territory once his array skills improve. His ideal is that his territory will be fortified with multiple Illusion Arrays, Concealing Arrays, Killing Arrays, Defense Arrays, Interference Arrays... to create an impregnable fortress.

Nearly forty days later, Qi Ping's array skills improved again, successfully setting up a set of Tier One intermediate arrays.

By standard, Qi Ping can currently be considered a Tier One intermediate Array Master, although for now, he only knows how to set up fire element arrays.

This, however, is not what excites Qi Ping the most. What truly exhilarates him is that, after over half a year of effort, his Druid Level finally advanced to Level 5!

"After months of grinding, my level finally increased!"

"I can choose the Druid's advancement now!"

[Druid Level: lv4 (289/800)] → [Druid Level: lv5 (1/1600)].

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