More importantly, that place was rich in spiritual energy and neither Xiao Ran nor Yu Lin ever set foot there in the storyline.
Few other cultivators lingered there as well.
It was only discovered 74 years later by that pair of brothers.
It was safe, not involved in the main plot, and rich in spiritual energy, making it suitable for Xiao Shou to cultivate in peace and advance to Foundation Establishment before finding another base.
Although Azure Origin City was far from the central region, there were marketplaces there with teleportation arrays leading to Azure Origin City, Crimson Dusk City, and the Three Immortal Islands.
He could directly teleport over, though it would cost more spirit stones again.
In the cultivation world, without spirit stones, one truly could not take a single step.
Fortunately, his Absolute Fusion ability was powerful.
If only he could obtain a few top-grade spirit stones, he would be able to upgrade his ability to the fourth level.
At that time, he would have as many top-grade spirit stones as he wanted.
Unfortunately, the book stated that all top-grade spirit stones in the Heaven Origin Realm were in the hands of Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation cultivators.
Xiao Shou only briefly reflected on it, but his actions were very swift.
He took out many low-level storage bags he had purchased long ago and fuse them.
After three rounds of fusion, the originally crude storage bags, each with only about ten square meters of space, were upgraded into a delicate pouch the size of a baby's palm. Yet inside it contained a vast space of ten thousand square meters, comparable to a low-grade storage bracelet.
Satisfied with this, Xiao Shou stored all his belongings into the storage pouch, not even leaving a single strand of hair behind.
He clearly remembered that the book mentioned many strange tracking methods in the Heaven Origin Realm, most of which relied on hair, blood, or flesh as mediums.
After that, he went to the marketplace and exchanged all his mid-grade spirit stones for low-grade spirit stones.
As for high-grade spirit stones, with his current cultivation, he did not dare to take them out or use them casually.
After returning, he went through another round of fusion.
Then he went out again and purchased a large amount of spiritual rice, spiritual flour, spiritual vegetables, spiritual fruits, demonic beast meat, seasonings, and other supplies enough to sustain him for decades.
He also bought formation disks, various talismans, defensive and offensive magical artifacts, maps of different regions, and especially a large number of puppet wooden cranes.
These were flying puppets that could be powered by inserting spirit stones and he almost emptied the stock of the shops.
After returning to his residence, he took the original basic flying puppet that could be powered by one low-grade spirit stone, fly for one hour at a speed of one hundred miles per hour and fuse it three times in succession.
It was upgraded into a third-tier flying puppet that could be powered by one top-grade spirit stone, fly for eight hours, and reach a speed of eight hundred miles per hour.
This fusion also made him realize that the upgrade values of puppets were different from what he had previously assumed.
It was not based on a simple tenfold numerical progression.
Thinking again about the progression of spirit stones, he finally understood that fusion advancement had nothing to do with simple numbers.
Instead, it followed the hierarchical structure of this world's materials, such as low-grade spirit stones, mid-grade spirit stones, high-grade spirit stones, magical artifacts, treasure artifacts, dharma treasures, and spirit treasures.
Each tier in this world corresponded to a certain level, and the items he fuse would generally match the standards of that level.
Feeling that his ability was not as outrageously overpowered as he had first thought, Xiao Shou instead felt more at ease.
Moreover, the third-tier flying puppet, with a speed of eight hundred miles per hour, was more than enough for him since he had not yet reached Foundation Establishment and could not fly with his own power.
After making full preparations like this, early the next morning, he ended his lease on the small courtyard and stepped into the teleportation hall where the teleportation array was located.
He paid five hundred mid-grade spirit stones and was teleported to Azure Origin City.
Xiao Shou only felt a moment of dizziness and disorientation.
When he looked around again, everything had already changed.
He knew he had arrived at Azure Origin City. He quickly stepped out of the teleportation array, and following the instructions of the transmission attendant, paid the city entry fee and applied for a temporary entry identity token.
Thinking of the tyrannical behavior of aristocratic clan disciples described in the novel, and his own low cultivation level, he did not dare to linger.
After leaving the teleportation hall, he hired a spirit beast carriage and directly went to the west city gate.
After paying the gate fee as usual and leaving the city, he immediately moved away.
Only after traveling three miles from the gate did he take out the flying puppet, insert a top-grade spirit stone to activate it, and then leapt onto its back.
He opened the detailed map of Azure Origin City's surroundings and piloted the flying puppet toward Snowy Cave Mountain.
Snowy Cave Mountain was over four thousand miles away from Azure Origin City.
Even at a speed of eight hundred miles per hour, it would still take more than five hours to arrive.
Five hours, more than ten hours in total, from sunrise to sunset, from daylight to nightfall.
Along the way, streaks of escaping light occasionally passed by, each radiating increasingly powerful auras.
Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and even Nascent Soul cultivators appeared from time to time.
Xiao Shou remained on high alert the entire time and his heart constantly on guard.
Feeling the enormous gap in strength, where he could be crushed to death at any moment over the course of five full hours, Xiao Shou's desire to become stronger grew even more intense.