As time passed, Guo Feilong now had over two hundred and forty wives.
Most of them were wives and concubines with spiritual roots, with over a hundred being inner disciples of the Spirit Creek Sect. The daily consumption of cultivation resources was truly terrifying.
When the number of wives and concubines reached two hundred and fifty-one, Guo Feilong dared not marry any more. He was already feeling the pressure on cultivation resources.
It's important to note that he now had a total of one hundred and sixty-eight children with spiritual roots and nearly two hundred wives and concubines with spiritual roots.
The spirit stones he earned from alchemy were just enough to balance his expenses.
The main issue was that within a year, more than half of those wives and concubines at the ninth-level Qi Refining stage would break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
By then, his cultivation resources wouldn't just be tight; they would be completely insufficient.
"No, I need to find a way to get my hands on an alchemy recipe for seventh-grade or higher elixirs."
Because seventh, eighth, and ninth-grade elixirs are meant for Golden Elixir stage grand cultivators.
That day, Guo Feilong arrived at the Heavenly Abode of the Spirit Creek Sect headquarters, seeking out Liu Feiyu and Shangguan Mingyue. He asked them to take him to their Senior Sister, Yuwen Yanhong.
"Fellow Daoist Guo, running low on cultivation resources, aren't you? That's what you get for being so indulgent, marrying so many wives and having so many children. Now you know it's tough, right?" Shangguan Mingyue teased him along with Liu Feiyu.
A cultivation family or sect isn't incapable of having more cultivators; it's just a matter of having more children and recruiting more disciples.
The problem is, whether it's marrying female cultivators to have children with spiritual roots or recruiting disciples, it all requires cultivation resources.
Without sufficient cultivation resources, it's impossible.
This is why one can afford to give birth but not raise them, and can only control the number of cultivators in a family or sect.
After being teased by the two, Guo Feilong could only smile awkwardly.
In his heart, he thought, "You two can tease me now, but when I refine the Shenyang Elixir that helps Foundation Establishment stage cultivators break through to the Golden Elixir stage, you'll both end up marrying me eventually."
As the three of them chatted, they arrived outside Yuwen Yanhong's cave abode.
Shangguan Mingyue took out a jade slip for voice transmission, infused it with mystic power, and said, "Senior Sister, I've brought Elder Guo Feilong to see you."
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After she finished speaking, about five or six seconds later, the defensive barrier at the entrance of the cave abode split open like a curtain, forming a portal.
Shangguan Mingyue, with her lively personality, was the first to enter.
Guo Feilong and Liu Feiyu followed behind her.
Soon, the three of them met Yuwen Yanhong.
Though she appeared to be a beautiful young girl of eighteen or nineteen, Yuwen Yanhong was actually three hundred and fifty to sixty years old. Having managed Alchemy Peak for fifty to sixty years, she exuded a noble aura like that of an empress, with a particularly calm and composed demeanor.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Yuwen," Guo Feilong said with a slight bow.
"Fellow Daoist Guo, no need for formalities. Please, all of you, have a seat," Yuwen Yanhong's voice was clear and pleasant, like the tinkling of a mountain stream, delightful to hear.
The three of them sat down.
After some casual conversation, Yuwen Yanhong asked if there was something he needed.
Guo Feilong didn't hold back and explained that he had recently gained new insights into alchemy.
He felt that his alchemy skills had improved significantly and wanted a seventh-grade alchemy recipe to refine seventh-grade elixirs.
He hoped the sect could provide him with a seventh-grade alchemy recipe and the spirit herbs and medicines needed for refining seventh-grade elixirs.
A seventh-grade alchemy recipe was no small matter. Yuwen Yanhong furrowed her brow slightly and said, "I can authorize you to have a seventh-grade alchemy recipe.
But claiming you can refine seventh-grade elixirs without seeing it firsthand doesn't prove you can actually do it.
Every ingredient for a seventh-grade elixir is hard to come by and expensive.
If you fail in refining, it would be a significant loss for the sect.
Therefore, you'll need to acquire the spirit herbs and medicines for refining seventh-grade elixirs yourself.
Once you truly manage to refine a seventh-grade elixir, the sect will naturally provide you with the spirit herbs and medicines for further refinement."
After she finished speaking, Guo Feilong immediately nodded and said, "Agreed."
Getting a seventh-grade alchemy recipe for free was certainly something he was willing to accept.
As for the Spirit Creek Sect not providing the spirit herbs and medicines for refining seventh-grade elixirs, Guo Feilong understood. After all, those ingredients were genuinely expensive and hard to come by.
Even he wouldn't easily hand over such costly and rare spirit herbs and medicines to an alchemist who wasn't yet a high-level alchemist.
After obtaining a seventh-grade alchemy recipe from Yuwen Yanhong, Guo Feilong left.
In the Arctic Continent's cultivation world, it was nearly impossible to buy the spirit herbs and medicines needed for refining seventh-grade elixirs. Such high-level ingredients weren't available in ordinary cultivation markets.
Therefore, Guo Feilong planned to leave the Arctic Continent's cultivation world and head to the Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world.
The Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world was larger, with more major cultivation powers, and the quality of spirit herbs and medicines sold in its cultivation markets was higher.
Before rushing to the Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world, Guo Feilong returned to the Guo family's Heavenly Abode small world, where he refined a large quantity of cultivation elixirs for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, distributing them to his wives, concubines, and children.
Only then did he set off for the Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world, avoiding the water port of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.
Instead, he chose to take a boat from the Treasure Instrument Sect's water port to the Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world for safety.
In the absence of Golden Elixir stage grand cultivators, Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were the pinnacle of the Arctic Continent's cultivation world.
The journey was smooth, without any incidents of robbery, and he arrived safely at the Treasure Instrument Sect's water port.
After paying the fare and boarding the ship, Guo Feilong settled into a luxurious room, occasionally stepping onto the deck to watch the waves of the Endless River, but mostly spending his time sleeping in his room.
Occasionally, when he felt bored and wanted to chat, he would visit the theater on the ship, where he would find a couple of young and pretty female cultivator entertainers to chat about life and dreams, while also enjoying some flirtation.
After five days and nights on the ship, Guo Feilong finally set foot on the Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world at the Tianxuan Sect's water port.
This was his second visit to the Northern Borders Continent, and he was much more familiar with it now, unlike his first visit when he knew nothing.
Upon arriving in the Northern Borders Continent's cultivation world, the first thing Guo Feilong did wasn't to purchase the spirit herbs and medicines for refining seventh-grade elixirs but to buy a large quantity of spirit herbs and medicines for refining Beauty Retaining Pills.
Beauty Retaining Pills were every woman's favorite, and their price remained consistently high.
After spending half a month, he managed to refine over four thousand Beauty Retaining Pills, which he began selling in batches at various large cultivation markets.
Once all the Beauty Retaining Pills were sold, his storage bag was filled with over fifty million low-quality spirit stones, ready to purchase the materials for refining seventh-grade elixirs.
At noon that day, Guo Feilong walked into a pharmacy called Qi Family Elixir Shop.