Yan Qianghu also understood that all of this was brought about by Zhang Fan. Without Zhang Fan's existence, their Black Tiger Gang would still be a mere speck in the face of giants like the Green Gang and the Hongmen.
Even though his strength had reached the mid-Xiantian realm, possessing the combat power of a late Xiantian Grandmaster, and even with Yi Feicheng, an invincible Grandmaster...
Yet, in front of the Green Gang and Hongmen, who had Saint Domain powerhouses, they were still vulnerable.
Therefore, Yan Qianghu naturally wished for Zhang Fan to be as powerful as possible.
"Breakthrough to the Golden Core Earth Immortal realm?" Yan Qianghu stared at Zhang Fan with anticipation.
"No, it's just a moment of realization," Zhang Fan shook his head, not elaborating.
Although he possessed the combat power of a peak Divine Realm, his current true cultivation was only at the peak of the Divine Sea realm. Even if he entered seclusion and broke through, it would only be to the Heavenly Human realm, still a long way from the Golden Core stage.
"Oh." Yi Feicheng nodded, finding it quite normal. After all, the martial arts world of Huaxia had not seen a new Golden Core Earth Immortal born in several hundred years, which showed how difficult it was to reach such a realm.
Afterward, Zhang Fan offered some guidance on cultivation to Yi Feicheng and Guangtou Qiang, briefed his parents, made arrangements, and then descended to the basement beneath the villa to begin his seclusion, preparing to enter the Heavenly Human realm.
During Zhang Fan's absence from the lake island, Ailebella had been watering the spirit herbs daily with a catalyst solution, cultivating many high-grade spirit herbs. They were piled up before Zhang Fan, like a small mountain.
However, for Zhang Fan now, the high-grade spirit elixirs refined from these high-grade spirit herbs had little effect. The only use was to extract the spirit liquid from the high-grade spirit herbs for cultivation.
This method was rather extravagant, but it was the most effective way for Zhang Fan to cultivate at present.
Of course, beneath the immortal's cave of the Half-Moon Immortal, there was a small spirit vein. If Zhang Fan were to cultivate using that small spirit vein, the effect would naturally be even better.
However, the last time Zhang Fan cultivated there, he had consumed a considerable amount of spirit crystals. If he were to continue cultivating, he might damage that spirit vein.
Zhang Fan made a casual gesture, summoning a cluster of golden flames. The temperature of the flames was extremely high, and the moment they appeared, the temperature of the underground secret chamber surged dramatically, as if it were inside a volcano.
If not for the defensive formation Zhang Fan had set up in this underground secret chamber, the steel plates around the basement might have melted. After all, this was the divine fire that even peak Saint Domain powerhouses would find difficult to resist.
After summoning the golden flames, Zhang Fan did not delay further and began the first step of his secluded cultivation: extracting spirit liquid.
The energy required to break through to the Heavenly Human realm was enormous. Without a special cultivation environment or the aid of elixirs and precious medicines, relying solely on one's own accumulation...
On this Earth, where spiritual energy was scarce, it would likely take a considerable amount of time to accumulate enough to take this step.
It was like the Dan Ancestor of the past, who had remained at the peak Saint Domain realm for decades before finally taking this step with the assistance of a peak-quality Saint Elixir.
Compared to the Dan Ancestor, the energy Zhang Fan required to break through to the Heavenly Human realm was likely tens of times greater. After all, the dharma power cultivated by Zhang Fan was countless times purer than the true qi cultivated by the Dan Ancestor.
A blood-red spirit herb, under Zhang Fan's mental control, merged into the golden flames. A high-grade spirit herb, enough to make Saint Domain powerhouses' hearts pound, was continuously refined by the golden flames, shedding impurities until only a drop of spirit liquid the size of a fingernail remained.
The spirit liquid was crystalline like amber, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance that, upon a gentle inhale, invigorated the mind and spirit.
Zhang Fan flicked his finger, and the refined spirit liquid fell into an iron bucket that Zhang Fan had prepared beforehand.
While the extraction of spirit liquid was not as complex as refining spirit elixirs, it was still incredibly demanding due to the sheer quantity. Even with Zhang Fan's mental strength, which was comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator, continuously extracting from thousands of spirit herbs would leave him mentally exhausted.
After nearly two weeks of spirit herb extraction, all thousands of high-grade spirit herbs were extracted by Zhang Fan. What remained were piles of residue and a bucket of incredibly pure spirit liquid, while the small mountain of high-grade spirit herbs had vanished.
"It's still not full..." Looking at the iron bucket, which was the size of a water vat, the spirit liquid inside was still about a third away from filling it.
"Although it hasn't reached my expectations, it's more or less enough." Zhang Fan had initially thought that after extracting thousands of spirit herbs, the bucket would be full, but it seemed to be a little short.
After the spirit herb extraction was complete, Zhang Fan spent a day to restore his mental state to its peak.
"Let's begin!" As his spirit reached its zenith, Zhang Fan, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. His dark pupils were exceptionally bright.
Zhang Fan opened his mouth and inhaled. The spirit liquid in the iron bucket transformed into a slender stream, flowing continuously into Zhang Fan's mouth.
Zhang Fan's body was like a bottomless pit. The spirit liquid, weighing hundreds of pounds, was continuously swallowed and absorbed, diminishing bit by bit.
In less than half an hour, the spirit liquid that Zhang Fan had spent nearly two weeks extracting was completely consumed, not a drop remaining.
"Ten Ultimate Heavenly God Record!" After swallowing the spirit liquid, Zhang Fan immediately circulated his cultivation technique, beginning to refine it continuously, distributing it to all parts of his body to strengthen his meridians and physique.
As Zhang Fan circulated the Ten Ultimate Heavenly God Record, a colossal phantom of a ferocious beast appeared above his head. It was the exotic beast from the first diagram of Zhang Fan's cultivation, the Chaos Fierce Beast, the Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros!
The Ten Ultimate Heavenly God Record had corresponding diagrams for each cultivation stage. To break through to the Heavenly Human realm and enter the Golden Core stage, one had to cultivate the Sky-Splitting diagram to great mastery.
For other cultivators, breaking through to the Heavenly Human realm was a troublesome matter. Besides the breakthrough in cultivation realm, they also had to convert their mental power into divine consciousness and communicate with the power of heaven and earth to completely enter the Heavenly Human realm.
This was also why, every time a cultivator broke through to the Heavenly Human realm, it would cause a localized phenomenon in the natural world.
However, Zhang Fan did not have to go through such trouble, as his mental power had long since been completely converted into divine consciousness, which was even more powerful than that of an ordinary Heavenly Human realm cultivator.
As Zhang Fan refined the spirit liquid within his body, the dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth on the lake island was also affected, converging towards Zhang Fan incessantly. This caused the spiritual energy on the lake island to become extremely thin for a time.