He spent six hundred taels of silver buying a demon core, and now he only had a hundred taels left on him. But a single seventh-rank demon core cost a hundred taels—Logan Clark had to earn more money!

"It's just right for training my mental strength. A martial artist not only needs a strong body, but also an indomitable spirit! Grandpa once said that after reaching the tenth level of the Postnatal stage, a martial artist can release their own aura of oppression. If their will isn't firm, just that pressure alone is enough to crush their fighting spirit!"

Logan Clark went out again and again, each time buying twenty pieces of raw stone-root grass, and after five trips, he had spent all one hundred taels of silver.

He focused his mind and began to use forbidden characters to shatter the stone on the raw grass, which not only earned him money, but also served as a form of mental training.

"My head hurts so much!"

After the first two rounds of training, Logan Clark could now write seventeen forbidden characters in one go before needing to rest, but the feeling was like needles stabbing into his brain, making him retch uncontrollably.

"Again!"

……

"Keep going!"

……

With intermittent breaks, after half a day, all one hundred pieces of raw grass were completely stripped!

Although Logan Clark was drenched in sweat, a satisfied smile hung on his face. His mind had been tempered once again, becoming even more focused and resilient!

Dividing the hundred stalks of stone-root grass into five portions, Logan Clark sold them separately at five different pharmacies, and his purse immediately swelled!

But what annoyed Logan Clark was that the shop assistant in the first store was especially slow this time, turning the stone-root grass over and over for inspection, wasting nearly an hour of his time just at the first pharmacy!

And things got even better at the second pharmacy—he actually ran into a drunkard, who threw a punch at him right away. If he hadn't broken through to the sixth level of the Postnatal stage, he would have almost been caught off guard!

After making the rounds of the five pharmacies, Logan Clark successfully bought nine seventh-rank demon cores. But he had gone out in the afternoon, and now it was deep into the night, almost midnight, which showed just how slow the pharmacy assistants were!

But what really troubled Logan Clark wasn't this, but rather where to get demon cores above the ninth rank!

Ferocious beasts have powerful physiques, and generally, martial artists of the same rank are no match for them—unless they're truly outstanding! For fifth or seventh-rank beasts, it's not a big deal, as there are sixth or eighth-level martial artists who can take them down.

But ninth-level beasts require martial artists at the Gang Qi stage to subdue! And martial artists at the Gang Qi stage are top experts respected everywhere, who never have to worry about their livelihood or cultivation resources, so why would they need to hunt demon cores for money?

Therefore, eighth-rank demon cores were already rare in pharmacies, and ninth-rank ones were even more so—practically priceless, even though the price had already reached a thousand taels of silver!

Although Logan Clark was only at the sixth level of the Postnatal stage, with the wonders of the Chaos Furnace, his progress was advancing by leaps and bounds, and he wasn't far from the eighth or ninth level. This was a pressing problem he needed to solve!

"Looks like I'll have to go hunt in Qingmeng Mountain myself! Although ferocious beasts are harder to deal with than ordinary martial artists, I have Tiger Shadow Fist, so I should be able to protect myself! Besides, how can a martial artist truly grow without experiencing real life-and-death battles?"

"There's still more than a month until the family's New Year festival. All family juniors can participate in the martial contest. In past years, I was the butt of many jokes, and Grandpa would drop everything to try to break through to the Innate stage, all for my sake!"

"It's said that a strong practitioner at the Innate stage can seize the fortune of heaven and earth, gaining an extra hundred years of life! If Grandpa steps into the Innate stage, he can ensure I live a safe and peaceful life! I know all this, but I, Logan Clark, am a man—how can I live forever under Grandpa's protection?"

"Grandpa, I've let you down for so long. At this year's New Year festival, I will amaze everyone and never embarrass you again!"

Logan Clark clenched his fists tightly. Thinking of Nathan Clark's kindly gaze before he went into seclusion, his eyes couldn't help but grow moist! Breaking through to the Innate stage is extremely dangerous—if he fails, he could lose his cultivation or even die from serious injury!

"Hmm?"

Logan Clark suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to look behind him, faintly hearing a strange noise.

But the alley was pitch black, and he saw nothing.

Logan Clark kept walking forward, but soon heard the strange noise again, and this time he turned around.

The waning moon cast a dim light, and in the darkness, three figures appeared—all men in their early thirties: one skinny, one with a scarred face, and one with triangular eyes.

Logan Clark's gaze sharpened—he immediately recognized the skinny man as a pharmacy assistant, and the one with triangular eyes as the drunk who had ambushed him!

Although his natural talent wasn't great, he was extremely clever, and instantly realized that they must have discovered something and wanted to get the "secret method" for stripping raw stone-root grass from him!

"Why are you following me?" Logan Clark said calmly, but his true energy was already surging throughout his body. He had decided that if he made a move, he would take one of them out with thunderous force!

Judging by the brightness of the auras emanating from the three, their cultivation was about the sixth level of the Postnatal stage, with the skinny man already at the peak of the sixth level!