Solution

"Now is not the time to think about how to leave the Secret Realm. Even if I could leave, what use would it be? In the current Great Xia Dynasty, Shadow has already gone into hiding, and it's impossible to earn resources. Without resources, how can there be development?" Qin Ming quickly clarified the root of the matter.

Everything they were doing had only one purpose: to consume his resources and stall his development.

A Martial Venerable without a Power behind him and with weaknesses to protect was very easy to coerce. Forcing him into the Secret Realm was likely exactly what those people wanted to do.

Without saying a word, Qin Ming's thought flickered, and he appeared inside the Secret Realm.

With a grim expression, he sat cross-legged in the Alchemy Room, pondering a strategy to break the deadlock.

"It's still a matter of insufficient strength. If I were strong enough, why would I be in such a predicament? I could just slaughter my way out." Qin Ming's gaze was cold as he lowered his head in quiet contemplation.

His current enemies totaled seven Martial Venerables.

On his side, even including the Yang Family Martial Venerable and the You Family Martial Venerable, there were only three. They simply couldn't win.

"I wonder how the Yang Family and You Family are doing? They must have been implicated as well!" Qin Ming rubbed his aching head. "I must find a way to break this situation."

After thinking it over, Qin Ming found that he always returned to the starting point. The most critical issue now was insufficient strength; no matter the method, it always came back to that.

"One way to increase strength now is to achieve a Breakthrough in Realm. After becoming a Martial Saint, breaking this deadlock would be easy. But how difficult is it to break through to Martial Saint? Even with a God-level Innate Divine Ability like the Pill God Physique, it is extremely difficult."

Shaking his head, Qin Ming abandoned that idea. He was currently in his third Cultivation cycle as a Martial King. To break through to Martial Saint, even if his own strength reached the level of a Martial Emperor, it would still be difficult to become a Martial Saint.

He had a premonition that his base strength would likely need to break through to Martial Venerable before using the Pill God Physique would allow him to become a Martial Saint.

At the thought that his Cultivation Technique required him to Cultivate ten times for every Realm, he felt a wave of despair.

"Then there is only the second method: using Medicinal Pills. However, among existing Medicinal Pills that increase strength, the most effective is the forbidden pill. But even a forbidden pill wouldn't allow me to fight four or five Martial Venerables alone."

Qin Ming thought long and hard, feeling his head begin to ache again.

After much deliberation, he realized that his only option was to refine a new Medicinal Pill.

In his mind, there were certainly Medicinal Pills that could easily break this deadlock. However, the spirit plants required to refine those pills simply didn't exist on the Qian Continent; they could only be found on the Yuan Continent.

This was hardly surprising. In his previous life, Qin Ming had left the Qian Continent very early and had always developed himself on the Yuan Continent. Naturally, the Medicinal Pills he knew how to refine all utilized spirit plants from the Yuan Continent.

"If there is no existing Pill Formula, then I will create one myself." Qin Ming felt a surge of determination. So what if there wasn't a suitable Pill Formula? He was a Divine Alchemist; if there wasn't one, he would create one.

No sooner said than done, Qin Ming took out one of every type of spirit plant from his space ring and lined them all up on the table.

While Qin Ming focused on researching the new Medicinal Pill, the entire Great Xia Dynasty noticed that the skyrocketing Huayu Sect had suddenly gone into hiding, closing off all its external passages.

People felt as if the Huayu Sect had suddenly vanished from the world, leaving no trace behind.

For a time, everyone speculated privately. Why had Shadow, which had been operating so successfully, disappeared? This was their best opportunity for development; the Pill Alliance had been destroyed, and the Huayu Sect had allied with the two great families of Yan City. No Power in the world should have been able to stop them.