After spending 40 units of divine energy on getting what he needed, Albion expended 10-thousand units of spiritual energy to construct up a big Rank-1 Spirit Gathering Formation that covered his hilltop mansion.

In the air above the mansion, his spiritual energy formed thread-like lines before they weaved together into a complex formation circle that could be compared to a highly-detailed magic circle.

Shortly after, the formation circle descended and disappeared into the ground beneath the hilltop mansion; thus, marking the completion of the Rank-1 Spirit Gathering Formation setup.

In that instance, the breeze in the area became stronger as the Spirit Gathering Formation slowly but steadily pulled the faint spiritual energy hidden in the surrounding atmosphere towards the hilltop mansion.

“Spirit Gathering Formation, completed. Time for the next step in my plans,” Albion uttered.

He took some spirit herbs from the Ashura Ring and began planting them around the mansion to receive nourishments from the spiritual energy in the area.

After half an hour quickly flew by, Albion completed planting his spirit herbs, transforming the grass field around the mansion into a colorful herbal garden.

Nevertheless, the spirit herbs planted were only a tiny portion of what he collected in the Armentia Rainforest prior to arriving in the elf tribe.

“The preparation took a bit longer than I thought, but it’s finally. Now, I can start with the pill refinement,” Albion muttered to himself.

Albion took out a big pill cauldron the size of four refrigerators and preheated it with black flames before preparing the ingredients for refinement in batches.

Once everything was in order, Albion proceeded with his mass pill refinement.

Starting with the simplest pill to refine, Albion refined the Body Enhancement Pill, Vigorous Innate Pill, and Spirit Refinement Pill, respectively.

Each pill allowed a simple advancement of a single stage within the respective cultivation realm of Initiate, Innate, and Spirit Refinement.

Due to the demand and consumption of his mental strength, Albion could only refine two dozen pills per batch.

‘If my soul isn’t weak, I would have pushed for hundreds of pills per batch of refinement and save some time,’ Albion mulled.

Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do about it.

Once he is done handing over the cultivation pills to his subordinates to manage and raise their cultivations, he will be entering secluded cultivation.

…

…

…

Night gradually arrived, and darkness blanketed the skies of Silvercove city.

The time of Blackthorne Group’s meeting was closing, and the group’s core members arrived at the headquarters’ conference room one by one, each having the power to shake the lives of ordinary people within Silvercove city.

Maverick Cohen and the original core members from the three underworld gangs made their first appearance, followed by Young Master Gavino and the other young masters of the top 8 families of Silvercove city.

They were not only representatives of their own families, but they were also core members of the Blackthorne Group.

Without their assistance, Maverick Cohen would not have united the various powers of Silvercove city under the Blackthorne Group’s banner so quickly.

Klein Seymour of the Seymour family arrived with his father and elder daughter not long after, followed by the Xiao family’s two daughters, Xiao Hua and Xiao Qing, and their father, Xiao Pipi.

Direct family members or elite bodyguards, each core member brought along two people to the meeting before taking their designated seats around the conference table.

Once everyone filled their seats, Xiao Hua impatiently spoke, “Since everyone is present, let us begin the meeting at once. I still want to watch my drama.”

Her words immediately broke the tense and solemn atmosphere.

Maverick Cohen’s lips twitched while several members smiled wryly at Xiao Hua’s blatant attitude at an important meeting, but no one dared to admonish her.

Thanks to her supposedly close relationship with the Dark Lord and her mischievous nature, Xiao Hua had earned herself a nickname within the Blackthorne Group; Little Princess.

Of course, this was what everyone calls her on the surface.

Behind her backs, the core members all regarded her as a little menace due to her tendency to pull pranks and tease members of the group, disrupting the solemn air of the headquarters, and turning it into a kid’s playground.

“Not yet,” Maverick Cohen rejected Xiao Hua’s suggestion before stating, “We are still waiting for one more person.”

“Who?” Xiao Hua knitted her brows.

Not to mention her, several other core members also showed a confused as they glanced around the conference table.

“Everyone seems to be present, no? Who else could we be waiting on?” Young Master Godfrey of the Newman family wondered.

“You’ll see.”

Reagen Declan, Meng Yan, Ah Zhen, and the others all revealed knowing smiles.

They couldn’t wait to see the surprised looks on the clueless members’ faces when the person showed up.

…

However, the group waited half an hour without the person showing up.

“Are you sure someone’s coming? We’ve already waited for half an hour!” Xiao Hua stated impatiently.

Reagan Declan turned to Maverick Cohen and asked, “Did you forget to mention the time and place to the person, instructor?”

“This is strange…” Maverick Cohen furrowed his brows before mumbling, “I’m pretty sure I’ve sent it. I’ve even received confirmation that the person was coming.”

“Just who exactly are we waiting on?” another member asked.

…

…

…

Meanwhile, Albion completed his 30th batch of pill refinement before taking out the two dozen freshly-refined pills and storing them into pill bottles.

+25 proficiency in alchemy

+7 proficiency in fire control technique

+13 proficiency in pill refining technique

Ding!

<You have repeatedly practiced alchemy>

<Your soul strength has slightly improved>

“All that for a minor improvement. Well, it’s better than nothing,” Albion muttered before checking his inventory.

He had refined a total of 720 pills in the past few hours.

“With this many pills, I should be able to raise quite a few capable subordinates,” Albion smiled, feeling satisfied with his work, before he suddenly thought, “But I seem to have forgotten something again.”

“Whatever, it’s probably not important…” was what he said after until he suddenly received a sudden call.

<Maverick Cohen is calling>