Chapter 21: Double Preparations
Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Double Preparations
Little did Li Ping know that shortly after he left the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Miaorou went into the rear chambers. After navigating a series of twists and turns, she entered a lavishly decorated room.
Inside the room, a black-robed old man sat cross-legged. He had triangular eyes and a hooked nose, giving him a rather sinister appearance. The most peculiar feature, however, was the color of his face; for some unknown reason, it was as pale as wax paper.
Sensing Miaorou enter, the black-robed old man’s eyes snapped open to look at her.
Despite them both being Foundation Establishment Cultivators, an imperceptible flicker of fear flashed through Miaorou’s eyes as the old man stared at her. "Guardian Yan."
"Well? Did the boy agree?" Guardian Yan, the black-robed elder, parted his lips, a grating voice emerging from his throat.
Miaorou shook her head. "No matter how I tried to persuade him, he refused to go."
"He refused? It seems the boy has sensed that woman Dai Sangyu’s intentions. That must be why he’s uneasy and afraid to leave the Immortal City." Guardian Yan frowned, lost in thought.
At this, Miaorou spoke again. "If you ask me, you’ve already ruined Dai Sangyu’s state of mind, Guardian. As long as you remain hidden, she’s doomed to fail her Core Formation. Why do we need to involve this Fellow Daoist Li and cause unnecessary trouble?"
Hearing this, Guardian Yan shot her a glance and suddenly let out a laugh like a screech owl. "Heh heh... Fenglan Master and my sect have a feud that could end in annihilation. If Dai Sangyu succeeds in her Core Formation, she and her master will join forces and surely cause immense trouble for my sect. Since the sect dispatched me to sabotage Dai Sangyu’s Core Formation, I must be one hundred percent certain of her current state."
"But finding out about Dai Sangyu’s current condition isn’t easy. She has only seen a handful of people recently, and this boy is one of them. A pity he’s so cautious... Otherwise..."
At this, Guardian Yan’s voice trailed off.
He was confident that with his power, he could easily capture a newly-advanced Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
But if he made a move within the city, the slightest disturbance could easily alert Fenglan Master. Facing a Core Formation Master, even with his abilities, he would undoubtedly die.
He would only dare to strike directly if Li Ping was outside the city, beyond the surveillance range of the Tier Three Array.
In reality, what Miaorou didn’t know was that Guardian Yan cultivated a fragment of a mysterious Cultivation Technique, suspected to have originated from the Upper Realm. This Cultivation Technique granted him a trace of a Divine Ability, allowing him to sense good fortune and avoid calamity, and to have Sudden Inspirations.
Previously, he had used the incident with Lin Yue to shatter Dai Sangyu’s ’Sword Heart Clarity’ state of mind, making it impossible for her to attempt her breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage.
The plan seemed flawless, but a sliver of spiritual intuition still left him vaguely unsettled. It was as if there was a flaw in his scheme, and he hadn’t truly prevented Dai Sangyu from achieving Core Formation.
What frustrated him, however, was that he didn’t know the source of this unease.
That was why he was so eager to capture Li Ping, use Soul Searching, and interrogate him to find the reason.
Guardian Yan looked at Miaorou. "Find a way to lure that boy out of the city! But to avoid arousing his suspicion, don’t show your face personally. My sect went to great lengths to plant you in the Sword Washing Pool. You may be of great use in the future, so your identity must not be exposed."
"Alright."
...
After leaving the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Li Ping went to inquire at several other large shops.
The results, however, were quite disappointing. In response to his request to purchase Tier Two Spirit Wood, these shops either refused to sell it outright or quoted a price several times higher than normal—a price he simply couldn’t accept.
In the end, Li Ping could only return home disappointed.
His original plan had been to first gather the resources to nourish the Tree of Inheritance, become a Tier Two Middle Grade Talisman Maker, and then earn Spirit Stones by crafting Tier Two Talismans to purchase a Cultivation Technique and rent a Tier Two cultivation abode.
He never expected to run into a problem at the material-gathering stage, bringing his entire plan to a halt.
Li Ping was quite troubled by this.
He had managed to earn around thirteen hundred Spirit Stones in just a few months by flooding the market. However, now that he had attracted the Talisman Alliance’s attention, accepted their gift, and made a promise, he obviously couldn’t do that again.
Of course, his recent market-flooding had already saturated the Immortal City’s Tier One Talisman market. It would likely take a long time for the city to absorb that surplus.
Even if Li Ping were to go back on his word, he wouldn’t be able to earn a large amount of Spirit Stones from Tier One Talismans anymore.
A typical Tier One Upper Grade Talisman Maker at the Foundation Establishment Stage only earned a few hundred Spirit Stones per year.
But if he wanted to break through to the Core Formation Stage, or even the Nascent Soul Stage, in the future, the Cultivation Technique he chose would need to include methods for those realms. A technique covering both the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stages would cost several thousand Spirit Stones at a minimum.
So, if he were to buy a Cultivation Technique and rent a cultivation abode now, he would spend all his Spirit Stones.
It would then likely take him a very long time to gather the resources needed to master the Tier Two Middle Grade Talisman Maker technique.
And without the ability to craft Tier Two Middle Grade talismans to earn resources, his cultivation speed would be unimaginably slow given his Three Spirit Roots aptitude.
’Sharpening the axe won’t delay the woodcutting. Buying a Cultivation Technique can wait a bit.’ Li Ping quickly made his decision. ’Right now, I have just about enough Spirit Stones to buy a piece of Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Wood at a normal price, plus the 1,000 Spirit Stones’ worth of nourishment for the Tree of Inheritance. I’ll wait a month or two and see if I can manage to acquire the Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Wood!’
At the same time, Li Ping also made a backup plan.
If he really couldn’t acquire any Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Wood at a normal price in the near future, he would accept the exorbitant markup from those shops.
Of course, if it came to that, he wouldn’t have enough Spirit Stones.
But the Spirit Stone problem was easy to solve.
When he’d heard the news of his master’s serious illness, he had planned a trip back to the Jiang Kingdom. To handle any potential dangers on the road, he had specifically bought two Tier Two Lower Grade Dharma Artifacts for protection: one for offense and one for defense.
Now that he was preparing to hunker down in the Immortal City for the long term, the Dharma Artifacts were no longer a necessity. He could sell them for Spirit Stones.
It wouldn’t be too late to buy more suitable ones later, when he was better off.
...
Turning these plans over in his mind, Li Ping arrived at the general store belonging to his third brother, Gumu Sheng.
He himself lacked the time and connections to acquire Tier Two Spirit Wood, so it was best to entrust this matter to Gumu Sheng.
Gumu Sheng’s business involved buying Spiritual Materials and selling finished products; among the seven "siblings" of the Friends Association, he was the most suited to handle this task.
Hearing Li Ping’s request, Gumu Sheng enthusiastically promised, "Don’t worry, Big Brother! I’ll put the word out right away. If anyone comes looking to sell Tier Two Spirit Wood, I’ll notify you immediately."
Li Ping nodded in satisfaction, adding, "Oh, and let Cheng Yao and the others know too. Have them keep an eye out for me."
"No problem, Big Brother!"