"Totem pole?" The phrase immediately flashed through Liu Hui's mind, something frequently encountered in those otherworldly fantasy novels.

"Yes, it is a totem pole. I am currently studying it—why the act of carving these images onto a piece of wood grants it such miraculous functions," Alexander seemed utterly captivated by the artifact.

A thought sparked in Liu Hui’s mind, and he spoke, "Dear Alexander, actually, your teacher knows a principle of drawing that might also produce quite strange effects!"

Alexander was overjoyed, saying, "Teacher, then quickly tell me about that drawing principle! I am intensely interested in those strange functions!"

Liu Hui pointed at the totem pole and chuckled, "I don't possess the specific method of drawing, but you could try to study the technique used to carve the images on this totem pole and attempt to etch powerful Light Magic spells onto the tough hides of magical beasts. Then, preserve these hides inscribed with Light Magic. When you deploy them suddenly during a war, unleashing the power of the etched magic, you could completely turn the tide of battle."

A look of deep contemplation clearly surfaced on Alexander's face as he asked, "Does Teacher mean that by studying this totem pole, I should figure out a way to paint the Light Magic we usually cast onto beast hides, effectively creating magical scrolls? These scrolls would seal the powerful magic we drew, possessing the same potency as if cast by a mage, and furthermore, they would have no casting time limitations, allowing for rapid enemy obliteration?"

Liu Hui smiled, "That's broadly the idea, but the precise methodology will require your own research. Imagine: when you and the enemy are locked in a stalemate, you suddenly unfurl numerous magical scrolls. A torrent of spells manifests instantly, without any casting delay, granting you immediate superiority and thus victory over the foe. What an unexpectedly devastating weapon that would be!"

A glint of eagerness appeared in Alexander’s eyes. He glanced at the totem pole, then turned to Liu Hui and said, "Teacher, this insight is profoundly important to me. I can hardly wait to start researching this method of inscription you described."

Liu Hui laughed, "Then what are you waiting for?"

Alexander nodded, "Teacher, I shall go and study this immediately."

Thus, Liu Hui smiled and bade farewell to Alexander. He genuinely admired Alexander's energetic and swift temperament, believing that only such people achieved the highest efficiency. The totem pole had sparked a sudden memory of the magical scrolls frequently mentioned in fantasy novels. Moreover, he hadn't heard Alexander mention the use of scrolls in the Magic Plane before, which prompted his timely suggestion. He hadn't expected Alexander to grasp the immense potential of these magical scrolls so quickly, rushing off to begin his research.

Of course, a breakthrough in the technology for crafting magical scrolls wouldn't happen overnight. However, as long as Alexander devoted sufficient resources and never gave up, the technique for manufacturing magical scrolls was bound to be developed. Once these scrolls were successfully created, Alexander would possess a decisive strategic advantage.

Liu Hui also gained considerably from this exchange; he had obtained twelve God-rank Magical Beast Crystal Cores from Alexander. Although the ultimate purpose for these God-rank Crystal Cores remained unclear, setting aside any other uses, the simple fact that they could generate five hundred and ten billion kilowatt-hours of electrical energy annually constituted an enormous energy reserve, entirely capable of sustaining Starry City indefinitely without fear of depletion.

Liu Hui terminated his conversation with Alexander, new ideas already forming in his mind. He immediately contacted Xiaoyaozi from the Cultivation World.

Xiaoyaozi’s eyes looked distinctly red, much like a rabbit's. The moment he saw Liu Hui, he began complaining bitterly, "Oh, young friend! We are still developing that artifact for probing the human heart. We’ve just seen some initial progress, but complete refinement will take a considerable time. Stop nagging me! You must understand, I haven't had a decent rest in ages. If it weren't for your ten thousand superior-grade Spirit Stones... oh, no, if it weren't for the friendship between us, this old man wouldn't be sacrificing sleep and food to forge this baffling item for you!"

Liu Hui chuckled, "Since Senior is working so hard, I shall end this communication then! I was actually considering letting you earn some extra income given how busy you are! Since you're so occupied, I won't disturb you further. Goodbye!" He then made a gesture as if to close the Planar Trading Device.

Hearing the mention of extra earnings, Xiaoyaozi's eyes genuinely turned crimson. He quickly boomed with laughter, "Haha, young friend! My body feels fantastic! I am naturally a diligent person; I feel uneasy if I'm not engaged in work. Therefore, I am delighted to solve your problems. Just tell me what help you need; I will solve your dilemma even if it costs this old life!"

Liu Hui suppressed a chuckle internally and said, "It’s like this: I plan to give the superior-grade Spirit Stones to others for their cultivation, but I don't want anyone to recognize the shape of these stones. Do you have a method to alter their form without impeding the absorption of the spiritual energy, making it impossible for others to identify the stones' original shape?"

Xiaoyaozi laughed, "This is just a trivial matter for me." But he quickly corrected himself, "Oh, no, this problem is quite difficult. I believe I'll need to rack my brains considerably to solve it."

Liu Hui smiled, "If you can solve this, I will immediately reward you with ten superior-grade Spirit Stones."

Xiaoyaozi laughed heartily, "Haha, young friend, you must promise that! Actually, the solution is quite simple. I can forge specialized meditation cushions for cultivation and cleverly embed the superior-grade Spirit Stones within them. Then, when people sit on these cushions to cultivate, they will only assume the cushion itself is exerting the effect, never realizing the superior-grade Spirit Stones hidden inside are doing the work. Furthermore, these cushions cannot be dismantled. If they are forcibly broken open, a small formation within the cushion will activate, causing the spiritual energy from the Spirit Stones to dissipate rapidly into the air, leaving behind only a pile of white powder. That way, no one will ever uncover the mystery contained within the cushion."

Liu Hui inquired, "Can this cushion truly not be deciphered?"

Xiaoyaozi immediately began to sputter and glare, clearly displeased by Liu Hui's doubt regarding his professional skill. He declared loudly, "That cushion's secret cannot be discovered, naturally! Unless one possesses True Essence originating from the same source as mine, even if that person's power surpasses mine, all their insidious attempts to dismantle the cushion will fail. In the end, all they will find inside is an incomprehensible pile of white powder."

Liu Hui finally felt completely reassured. Despite Xiaoyaozi being cunning and wily, the quality of his products was absolutely guaranteed. He then continued, "I want to craft these cultivation cushions into different tiers. That is, a cushion might contain just one superior-grade Spirit Stone, or it could hold several, and we could even arrange magical formations within them that are beneficial for cultivation. I wonder if you can manage that?"

Xiaoyaozi laughed, "What you describe is far too simple for me. Isn't it just about dividing these cultivation cushions into grades? Their differences lie only in the quantity and rank of the Spirit Stones. As for the advanced cushions you mentioned, if I use a few superior-grade Spirit Stones and embed a top-tier Spirit Gathering Formation inside, that cushion becomes a magical artifact capable of accelerating cultivation. A user's cultivation speed on such a cushion would be more than a hundred times faster than cultivating on an ordinary cushion."

Hearing Xiaoyaozi's assurance, Liu Hui finally put his worries to rest. He reflected on the limited combat strength of the Human race in the Magic Plane; the number of high-level warriors and mages was far too few. Even though they now had giant beasts as slaves, they lacked the power to completely suppress their adversaries. This prompted Liu Hui's sudden inspiration: trying to see if these human warriors and mages could absorb the energy-converted Magical Beast Crystal Cores. If they could absorb the energy within these cores, their strength could increase rapidly in a short time, potentially yielding numerous Level Eight and Level Nine warriors and mages quickly. Even if the results weren't that dramatic, their cultivation speed would at least be significantly faster than that of the Elves who cultivated without Beast Cores.

With this enhancement, the Human race in the Magic Plane would truly possess the capability to protect themselves. However, Liu Hui was unwilling to let the humans discover that the energy source they were using was derived from the most common items in their own plane—the Magical Beast Crystal Cores. If they uncovered the secret within the cores, they might research it themselves, and then they would no longer be willing to supply him with these energy stones that were essentially freebies.

This is why Liu Hui sought out Xiaoyaozi, leveraging his cultivation technology to camouflage the Magical Beast Crystal Cores. This way, the humans' strength could surge rapidly, securing Liu Hui's interests in the Magic Plane while keeping the secret of the Beast Cores hidden, ensuring the plane would continue to provide him with this inexpensive, high-grade energy resource.

Liu Hui immediately presented Xiaoyaozi with ten Level Four Magical Beast Crystal Cores as a reward, and then gave him another ten Level Four Energy Cores, instructing Xiaoyaozi to immediately craft a cultivation cushion on the spot. One Beast Core would cover Xiaoyaozi’s service fee, and the remaining nine would serve as the energy source for the formation embedded within the cushion.

Xiaoyaozi proved himself worthy of being called a master Artifact Refiner; his skills were formidable. Now equipped with superior-grade Spirit Stones and facing very simple material requirements for the cushion, he quickly forged one. He arranged nine Level Four Beast Cores inside, setting up a Spirit Gathering Formation optimized for cultivation absorption, before handing the brand-new cushion over to Liu Hui.

Liu Hui held the cushion, which exuded a dense spiritual aura, yet its exterior revealed no hint of its internal secrets. He then said his goodbyes to Xiaoyaozi and re-established contact with Alexander.

Although Alexander was curious why Liu Hui had contacted him so soon, upon receiving the cushion and being instructed by Liu Hui to meditate on it to enhance his magic cultivation, Alexander immediately grew interested and took the strange cushion to practice. After all, Liu Hui held a great deal of credibility in Alexander's eyes; Liu Hui had rarely disappointed him. If Liu Hui claimed it could rapidly increase his strength, he believed it.

The next day, Alexander eagerly called Liu Hui early in the morning. As soon as the connection was established, Alexander excitedly exclaimed, "Respected Teacher, I cannot thank you enough! Do you know? That item you gave me yesterday to sit on for cultivation is absolutely miraculous! It caused my strength to increase substantially overnight! I compared it: the speed of cultivation using this item is more than a hundred times my previous rate!"

Liu Hui was inwardly thrilled. Alexander's experience proved his initial hypothesis was viable: Magical Beast Cores, after energy conversion, could indeed be utilized by the warriors and mages of the Magic Plane for cultivation. Furthermore, the rate of improvement delivered by that high-grade cultivation cushion matched Xiaoyaozi’s prediction almost exactly, reaching over a hundred times the normal speed.

This meant Liu Hui could now commission Xiaoyaozi to mass-produce these cultivation cushions to rapidly boost the strength of the Human warriors and mages. The Human race's power could see a massive increase in a very short time. Indirectly, this would also accelerate the spread of the Church of Light in the Magic Plane—a situation entirely beneficial to Liu Hui.

So, Liu Hui said cheerfully, "My dear Alexander, I still possess several cushions that can enhance the cultivation speed of the Human race, though they aren't as potent as the one you currently use. They can only increase cultivation speed by a maximum of fifty times."

Alexander was ecstatic upon hearing this. "Teacher, then please give me those cushions quickly! I can then rapidly enhance the strength of our Church of Light warriors and mages."

Liu Hui replied, "That is no problem at all, but you will need to wait a while longer until I have everything fully prepared before I contact you again!"

In the ensuing period, Liu Hui placed large orders with Xiaoyaozi for the production of cultivation cushions. Xiaoyaozi initially quoted a price of one superior-grade Spirit Stone per cushion. After some haggling from Liu Hui, the price settled at half a superior-grade Spirit Stone for a standard cultivation cushion, and two superior-grade Spirit Stones for the advanced cushions embedded with powerful formations. However, Liu Hui insisted that he would personally install the Spirit Stones inside the cushions. Thus, after making certain modifications to the cushion structures, Xiaoyaozi successfully forged the empty shells that met Liu Hui's requirements. He then exchanged these empty cushions with Liu Hui, leaving Liu Hui to install the various grades of Magical Beast Crystal Cores inside.

Currently, the Human warriors and mages in the Magic Plane were at low levels, so Level Four Beast Cores sufficed for their immediate needs. But once their ranks advanced to Level Eight or Nine, these Level Four cores would no longer be enough. At that time, Liu Hui would supply them with higher-grade Beast Cores.

Liu Hui had previously only supplied Xiaoyaozi with Beast Cores of Level Four and below, keeping the existence of higher-grade cores secret. To prevent any unexpected exposure or the risk of Xiaoyaozi learning about the stockpile of high-grade Spirit Stones, Liu Hui kept the final step—installing the Spirit Stones—firmly in his own hands. This ensured that only Liu Hui knew which grade of Beast Core was placed in which cushion, eliminating the possibility of leaks.

Liu Hui quickly provided Alexander with a large supply of cultivation cushions capable of rapidly accelerating practice. Alexander, overjoyed, distributed these cushions according to a set protocol, resulting in the swift increase of his warriors' and mages' power, while simultaneously strengthening the cohesion of the Church of Light.

During this time, Liu Hui did not slow the development pace of the Starry Group. The group’s newest product—a dietary supplement for weight loss—was officially launched at the end of March. Prior to the launch, advertisements for this product saturated the market; virtually every overweight person on Earth was aware of the impending arrival of "Starry Weight Loss Elixir."

Liu Hui habitually adhered to the principle of simple and easily understandable naming for his products. While the names weren't necessarily elegant, they were straightforward, instantly informing consumers about the product's nature, function, and efficacy, thereby avoiding confusion about its purpose.

The Starry Weight Loss Elixir was priced at $1,500—a figure consistent with other Starry Group products, making it affordable for most overweight consumers who made a dedicated effort.

Those who were only moderately overweight required only one unit of the Starry Weight Loss Elixir to shed weight successfully. Those who were significantly overweight might need two units. However, if a person consumed three units, regardless of their previous weight, they would be restored to their most slender physique.

Yet, Liu Hui deliberately omitted mentioning in the instructions that the Elixir only guaranteed one successful weight loss cycle. Those who achieved their goal would regain weight if they failed to adjust their diet, establish healthy living habits, and incorporate moderate exercise thereafter. This was Liu Hui’s habitual tactic as a shrewd businessman: never allowing consumers to develop immunity, ensuring the Starry Group could perpetually reap massive profits from these individuals.

The Starry Weight Loss Elixir was released during the peak weight loss season. Due to the Starry Group's established reputation, the product was immediately met with intense consumer fervor upon hitting the market, creating a buying frenzy.

Fortunately, Liu Hui had anticipated this scenario and had secured substantial inventory beforehand, thus meeting the market demand. Although the sales figures for the first month after the Elixir’s release had not yet been finalized, feedback from thousands of Starry specialty stores indicated that the first month’s sales would certainly not be less than fifty billion US dollars.

Of course, numerous factors contributed to the Elixir exceeding fifty billion dollars in first-month sales; one was that March marks the beginning of the traditional annual weight loss season, meaning sales would gradually decline in subsequent months, making a fifty-billion-dollar monthly volume unsustainable. Even so, the sales figures for the Starry Weight Loss Elixir were astonishingly high.

International experts were still analyzing the success of the Starry Gourmet Restaurants and the Starry Thermal Underwear (hosiery) launched late last year. Before they could synthesize any useful insights, the Starry Group struck again with another bombshell—the Starry Weight Loss Elixir.

It was known that currently, no substance on Earth could guarantee successful weight loss. Judging by consumer feedback, this new Starry Group product showed extremely effective results without any adverse side effects, guaranteeing exceptionally high future sales and setting the stage for a new miracle.

Thus, the experts were frustrated to discover that just as they concluded the Starry Group’s medical ventures were temporarily stalling, prompting them to shift focus to catering and intimate apparel, the Starry Group had suddenly launched the Starry Weight Loss Elixir in their supposed area of weakness—medicine. This product continued the trend of explosive sales seen with Starry Group’s medical items, leaving the experts utterly dumbfounded, as the Starry Group's development trajectory defied all expectation. In reality, no one in the world, not even the most authoritative expert, could accurately predict the Starry Group's next move.

Liu Hui currently paid little mind to the speculations and evaluations the experts were leveling at the Star Group. Following the recent provocative incident involving a master of the Divine Realm, he had set a far higher standard for his own capability. Consequently, he had been cultivating relentlessly, preparing to enter the second stage of cultivation—the Foundation Establishment stage.

Then, tonight, as Liu Hui was deep in his practice, the Innate True Qi throughout his body suddenly began to churn irregularly before starting to condense and liquefy. Simultaneously, the Spirit Gathering Array, transformed by the Old Master Xiaoyao into the shape of a wristwatch on his hand, started channeling vast quantities of spiritual energy into Liu Hui's meridians. A surge of delight washed over Liu Hui; he knew his breakthrough was imminent.

The Innate True Qi within Liu Hui’s meridians continuously liquefied, replenished by the influx of spiritual energy from the external Spirit Gathering Array, and then liquefied further. Through this cycle, in just half an xiao shi (a short period), all the Innate True Qi in Liu Hui's body had fully converted into true cultivation essence (Zhen Yuan). A wave of profound comfort swept through him; at this very moment, his strength finally shattered the shackles of the Entry Stage, crossing over into the Foundation Establishment stage—what the world regarded as the Divine Realm.

Liu Hui opened his eyes, and a divine light immediately shot forth, flickering intensely. This was a consequence of Liu Hui’s power having just ascended to the Foundation Establishment realm, resulting in an overflow of internal energy that he had not yet learned to control.

Just as elation filled Liu Hui, a subtle change occurred within a minute area of his mind: the faint illusion of an old monk dressed in a yellow monastic robe suddenly flashed across his consciousness.

This old monk in the yellow robe had his white eyebrows drooping low, his face radiating profound compassion—he was clearly a high-ranking venerable master. However, the phantom image of the monk vanished as quickly as it appeared. By the time Liu Hui reacted, attempting to locate the information on the illusory monk again, he found no trace of him left.

Gratitude to reader: Man Wu Ge for the support of two monthly passes, and gratitude to reader: Da Han Guo Xing Liu for the support of two monthly passes!