Chapter 187: Ed’s Advice

Returning to his temporary residence, Ye Feng frowned slightly. By killing those three, he had gained over a hundred thousand domain points and also taken their storage rings. Yet, he couldn’t feel any joy.
He was well aware that his cultivation level was too low—even a cultivator at the Outward Emergence stage could easily tell he was only at the Nascent Soul stage.
Although Ye Feng could now kill cultivators at the Combined Stage, his apparent Nascent Soul cultivation level would inevitably attract the covetous eyes of some scoundrels. Most people preferred to believe what they saw. Until they witnessed Ye Feng kill cultivators at the Divided Attention or Combined Stage themselves, they would rather believe he was just a novice at the Nascent Soul stage—though that was indeed true as well.
“I must conceal my true cultivation level. It would be best to have something that allows me to appear as if I’m at the Tribulation Stage in the eyes of others.” Ye Feng stepped into the Void Realm, looking for such an item.
“Illusory Mask!”
“It can adjust the cultivation level the wearer desires, but only affects those whose mental strength is below the Heavenly Realm standard. Those with mental strength at the Heavenly Realm standard can see through the illusion and detect the wearer’s true cultivation level.”
“Additional function: appearance reshaping. After putting on the mask, one can change its appearance to resemble any other face. There are no usage limits—one can transform into any appearance at any time. If no change is chosen, the mask will display the wearer’s original face. Those with mental strength at the Heavenly Realm standard can see the wearer’s true face.”
“Price: 500,000 domain points!”
“Confirm purchase?”
“Purchase successful. Domain points deducted!”
“Sigh, second-tier items are just that—second-tier. Even those from the Heavenly Realm can easily see through my cultivation level.” Ye Feng sighed heavily, somewhat frustrated. “There’s no other choice. This seems to be the best option available! Damn thing, and it’s so expensive!”
“Now you realize your strength isn’t enough! You need a mask to hide your cultivation level!” Ed appeared out of nowhere, seemingly always lurking somewhere.
“I’m just trying to avoid trouble. If I don’t do this, those at the Outward Emergence and Divided Attention stages will definitely think I’m easy to bully! Besides, this planet is indeed in chaos—thousands of acts of robbery happen every day.” Ye Feng defended himself.
“Improve your strength! You should know there are pills in the Void Realm that allow direct advancement.”

“To progress from the Condensed Pill stage to the Golden Pill stage, 12,000 secondary domain values are required; from the Golden Pill stage to the Nascent Soul stage, 100,000 secondary domain values are needed; from the Nascent Soul stage to the Emergence stage, 1 million secondary domain values are required; and from the Emergence stage to the Divided Soul stage, 10 million secondary domain values are needed. You currently have over 40 million secondary domain values, which is more than enough to raise your strength to the Divided Soul stage.”

“Also, that top-tier spiritual armor is a bit too cheap. If you recycle yours, you might not get back a million domain values, but you could still get several hundred thousand. Then you can spend around 1,000 to 10,000 to buy yourself an excellent spiritual armor set.”

“By then, with your actual combat strength, killing a late-stage Tribulation master should not be a problem. And that excellent spiritual armor should be able to protect you from two or three attacks by late-stage Tribulation masters using top-tier spiritual armor!”

“I see you really know how to spend money!” Hearing Ed’s plan, Ye Feng realized it would cost him over 20 million of his secondary domain values at once. His hard-earned 40 million could be wasted half in just one go, which was hard for Ye Feng to accept.

“Ye Feng, let me tell you a story!” Ed slowly sat down against the bookshelf behind him, his usual casual expression becoming much more serious. He gestured to the space beside him.

Ye Feng also sat down beside him, puzzled about what Ed was up to.

“Once upon a time, there was a child from a poor family who entered the Virtual Realm and became an authorized user of it. He was frugal, liking to accumulate domain values and only spending them when absolutely necessary. He accumulated a great deal of domain values and received many rewards, even unlocking the final layer of the Virtual Realm. But in a battle, he died! His Virtual Realm contained trillions of domain values, yet he refused to buy decent equipment because he thought it unnecessary. With those domain values, he could have purchased dozens of top-tier sets of equipment, but he didn’t. The person who killed him was roughly on his level, but only had an excellent weapon and slightly better armor.”

“To earn domain values, you must be willing to spend your life. Strengthening your cultivation and equipping yourself properly is what truly matters.”

“Don’t think that cultivation gained from taking pills isn’t real cultivation. You’re already able to kill Consolidation-stage masters in an instant. There’s a serious imbalance between your strength and your cultivation level. Even if you reach the Consolidation stage through pills, your strength won’t fall behind your cultivation!”

“Also, as for equipment, if you have enough domain value to buy the best, then buy the best—there’s no need to hesitate. If you run out of domain value, you can earn more. But if you lose your life, then you’ve lost everything! Besides, even after buying all this, you’ll still have over twenty million in domain value left, enough for speculation!”
Ed scolded Ye Feng, and his words were like a light bulb going off for Ye Feng.
Ye Feng always thought that cultivation strength had to be gained through his own efforts, and that even poor equipment could serve to train him, so there was no need to spend domain value on purchases.
“Don’t forget, no matter how strong you become or how good your equipment is, there will always be those stronger than you. It’s those stronger individuals who should be your goal to surpass, not just being satisfied with killing those at the Consolidation stage!”
“Even after taking pills and equipping yourself, your attack power will only be comparable to that of early Mahayana stage cultivators. When facing Mahayana stage cultivators, you have almost no chance of winning. Besides those Mahayana stage cultivators, there are also Immortalscatterersers and Demonscatterersers. At that time, they will become your targets!”
“Ed, why do you think I won’t be able to kill Mahayana stage cultivators once I get stronger? You should know that I can already kill those at the Consolidation stage!” Ye Feng was puzzled by Ed’s words.
“There are three main reasons. First, Mahayana stage cultivators have all gone through the trials of heavenly calamities. Their physical strength is far beyond that of those who haven’t endured such trials—it can even be enhanced by dozens of times. Some who practice special cultivation methods can see an enhancement of hundreds of times.”
“Second, the bodies of Mahayana stage cultivators are semi-immortal in nature. The spiritual energy within them continuously transforms into Immortal spiritual energy or Demon essence energy. This type of energy is of a higher rank than the spiritual energy in the cultivation world, and their Yuan Ying also undergoes qualitative changes. Compared to spiritual energy, these two types of energy of the same rank can cause greater harm to them.”
“Third, Mahayana stage cultivators are the peak warriors in the cultivation world. Most of them have spent long years cultivating and possess abundant resources, so they certainly have plenty of high-quality equipment. Many of them even own top-tier spiritual weapons, let alone Immortal weapons and Demon weapons. You won’t have any advantage in terms of equipment.”
“So, even if your ambush gives you attack power beyond that of early Mahayana stage cultivators, it will still be very difficult for you to kill one of them.”

“I understand! After handing over this batch of goods to Yue Ming tomorrow, I’ll find a place to take in two pills and enter seclusion. Once I reach the Divided Mind stage, I’ll emerge. Then, I’ll put on top-quality armor, adjust my mask to reflect my cultivation level at the later stage of the Tribulation Crossing, and reappear here!” Ye Feng nodded firmly.