Chapter 226: Damaged Black Banner
Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Damaged Black Banner
Less than ten thousand li from the Ice Sea.
A majestic city spanning nearly a hundred li stood amidst a mountain range. Above its hundred-zhang-tall walls shimmered a pale green, semi-transparent shield.
In the hundreds of li surrounding the city, there had once been fertile lands, transformed by cultivators, where a large number of mortals lived.
But now, with the protective arrays broken, that fertile land was completely covered by a thick layer of ice and snow, leaving behind only the ruined buildings of scattered villages.
From time to time, the fleeting silhouettes of savage Demon Beasts could be seen, hunting for prey to devour.
This city, besieged by Demon Beasts, was none other than Silver Moon City, one of the eight great Main Cities of humanity in the Land of the Far North.
Of course, with their limited strength, the cultivators of Silver Moon City had no choice but to reluctantly abandon their strongholds outside the walls.
However, before retreating, the cultivators had already evacuated all the mortals who lived and thrived outside into the city, so the loss of mortal life was not significant.
It was the cultivators of Silver Moon City, rather, who had suffered many casualties in their battles with the Demon Beasts, forcing them to request aid from the other Main Cities.
Fortunately, Mu Yun Master of the Flying Snow Sect had arrived several months ago. With his help, Silver Moon City’s precarious situation had finally been stabilized.
...
In the sky, hidden behind a natural-looking white cloud, was the figure of a dwarf. He wore a green robe, his face was covered in strange patterns, and his bulging eyes, filled with greed, stared down at the city below.
But amidst his greed, he was also somewhat surprised that Silver Moon City had managed to hold out against the Demon Beast siege. "Another Core Formation junior showed up? Good, good... The more cultivators here, the better. The Life Soul of a Core Formation cultivator is a great restorative."
As he spoke, he spat out a small, black, triangular banner the size of a fingernail. The banner grew in the wind, expanding to a foot in length before he grasped it in his hand.
Upon closer inspection, the banner’s staff was made of some unknown white bone, and its surface was a ghostly black. Faint, screaming faces would occasionally appear on it, struggling as if to break free and causing the fabric to constantly ripple and shift.
For some reason, however, there was a large gash in the middle of the banner, as if it had been torn open by a sharp weapon.
The dwarf gently caressed the tattered black banner and whispered, "There, there, my precious, don’t be anxious. I will take the Life Souls of every cultivator and mortal in this city to repair you."
"When the Ice Sea Beast Tide first erupted, I thought my arrangements would be unnecessary. It seems I’ll have to activate them to breach the city after all. These Demon Beasts are completely useless."
"Hmph! If it weren’t for those meddling bookworms from the Confucian Sect, I would have repaired my Lifebound Magical Treasure in the Great Zhou long ago. I wouldn’t have needed to run to this bitter, frozen land to collect Life Souls, and I certainly wouldn’t have to be so careful that I can’t even act personally."
The black-robed dwarf snorted coldly, and his figure gradually dissipated.
...
Ji Shu Xuan hurried to Li Ping’s cavern estate to pay him a visit.
Li Ping smiled without a word. He knew the matter of Ji Nianyun joining the Flying Snow Sect must have been settled.
As expected, Ji Shu Xuan immediately began to thank him, his words filled with immense gratitude.
Seeing his genuinely joyous expression, Li Ping couldn’t help but reflect, ’Indeed, no matter the world, a child’s education is always a parent’s greatest concern.’
After watching the profusely thankful Ji Shu Xuan leave his cavern estate, Li Ping returned to his artifact refining room to work on his puppets.
After years of collecting, he was close to gathering enough spiritual materials for his sixth Tier Two Upper Grade puppet.
He planned to make this sixth puppet a Defensive Type.
Once this puppet was successfully refined, he would possess six Tier Two Upper Grade puppets.
Four Attack Type and two Defensive Type.
This was a sufficient number for now. He planned to temporarily stop refining puppets after this one was complete.
After all, the first layer of the Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill only allowed him to control a maximum of three puppets at once.
With six puppets on hand, he had more than enough, even accounting for replacements for any that might be damaged in battle.
Once he successfully reached Core Formation, Tier Two puppets would become useless, no matter how many more he refined.
Refining too many Tier Two puppets now was a complete waste. He was better off saving his Spirit Stones to refine Tier Three puppets later.
Li Ping estimated that the materials required to refine a single Tier Three Puppet would cost over one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.
Furthermore, in the Western Wilderness and the Land of the Far North, materials of Tier Three and above were difficult to purchase with Spirit Stones. They were typically obtained through barter among Core Formation Cultivators.
Only in a prosperous place like the Great Zhou were Tier Three Spiritual Objects not considered so precious that they would be sold for a clearly marked price.
’Without some great stroke of fortune,’ Li Ping thought, ’I probably won’t have a chance to gather enough materials to attempt refining a Tier Three Puppet until I get to the Great Zhou.’
...
Over the next six months, in between cultivating and performing alchemy, Li Ping officially finished refining his sixth Tier Two Upper Grade puppet.
According to his plan, his work on refining puppets was now concluded for the time being.
From now on, aside from alchemy and secluded cultivation, he would not allow himself to be distracted by other matters.
But things rarely go as planned.
One day, Ji Shu Xuan showed up at his door, brimming with excitement, and shared some good news with Li Ping.
Ever since arriving in Flying Snow City, in addition to having him collect materials for puppet refining, Li Ping had also asked Ji Shu Xuan to keep an ear out for news about the Celestial Skill Sect.
He did this mainly in the hope of obtaining the complete Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill cultivation technique.
The good news Ji Shu Xuan brought was indeed about the Celestial Skill Sect. He said with a smile, "Uncle Li, that senior said he has the information you want about the Celestial Skill Sect, but he wishes to speak with you in person."
Having received Li Ping’s help on several occasions, Ji Shu Xuan was overjoyed to finally be able to repay the favor.
Li Ping, however, was a little puzzled. "Speak with me in person? Do you have any idea who he is?"
Through the Flying Snow Sect’s channels, he already knew that someone had once sold Tier Two puppets in Silver Moon City, leading to suspicions that a cultivator there had obtained the Celestial Skill Sect’s Puppetry Technique legacy.
However, because of the Ice Sea Beast Tide, Li Ping considered Silver Moon City too dangerous at the moment and hadn’t gone there to investigate.
In any case, he wasn’t in a hurry to obtain the rest of the cultivation technique. His plan was to worry about it after he reached Core Formation.
He never expected, however, that Ji Shu Xuan would also come up with a lead.
If he could obtain the rest of the Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill for a certain price without having to leave Flying Snow City, Li Ping was naturally more than willing.
After all, a powerful Divine Sense not only determined combat strength but was also a great asset for breaking through the Core Formation bottleneck.
His foundational Divine Sense was already about fifty percent stronger than that of an average cultivator at his stage. If he could cultivate the Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill to the 5th Floor, the strength of his Divine Sense would double again.
In total, it would be three times stronger than that of his peers!
This would significantly increase his original sixty-five percent chance of success, making him much more confident in his attempt to reach Core Formation.
Ji Shu Xuan shook his head. "I don’t know him, only that he’s a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. He told me I could find him at the inn in the city."
"Is that so..." Li Ping nodded slightly, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Ji Shu Xuan asked tentatively, "Uncle Li, what do you think?"
"Then let’s go meet him," Li Ping said, snapping out of his thoughts with a smile. "You can lead the way. We’ll go together."
"Alright," Ji Shu Xuan quickly agreed.
The two of them immediately flew toward the city, eventually landing in front of an exquisite, three-story inn.
The Land of the Far North was vast and sparsely populated.
Due to the vast distances, there was little travel between the cultivators of the various Main Cities, which was why the only inn in town was the one operated by the Flying Snow Sect.
Li Ping’s gaze swept over the area, finally settling on a teahouse about a hundred paces away.
He raised a hand toward the teahouse and said with a smile, "Shu Xuan, it would be inconvenient to talk in the inn. I’ll go wait over there. You go to the inn and ask our fellow Daoist to join me at the teahouse."
"I understand, Uncle Li." Ji Shu Xuan nodded respectfully and headed into the inn.
Meanwhile, Li Ping strode toward the teahouse. Once inside, he ordered a pot of Spirit Tea and asked the Tea Master for a private room.
He then dismissed the Tea Master and waited patiently.
After a short wait, guided by the Tea Master, Ji Shu Xuan led a middle-aged cultivator into the private room. The man wore a light purple magic robe and was as handsome as polished jade.
Li Ping stood up, his Divine Sense sweeping over the newcomer. He discovered the man’s cultivation was only at the Early-stage of Foundation Establishment.
When the middle-aged cultivator saw that the person who had invited him was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he was visibly startled and hurriedly said, "I am Xie Xing. Greetings, Fellow Daoist."
As they were both Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he addressed him as "Fellow Daoist."
However, he was merely at the Early-stage of Foundation Establishment while Li Ping was at the Late-stage. He could not compare to Li Ping in either status or combat power, so his attitude was exceedingly respectful, and he seemed to carry himself as an inferior in Li Ping’s presence.
"So it’s Fellow Daoist Xie," Li Ping said, sensing the man’s unease. He smiled and gestured to a seat. "There’s no need to be so formal. Please, sit."
Meanwhile, Ji Shu Xuan quickly interjected, "Uncle Li, Senior Xie, I still have things to attend to at my shop, so I won’t impose. Please, you two talk."
The matters to be discussed by two Foundation Establishment Cultivators were not something a mere Qi Refining Cultivator like him could be privy to, so Ji Shu Xuan used the excuse of being busy to take his leave.
Li Ping nodded. "Alright. If you’re busy, you should go."
Ji Shu Xuan departed respectfully, closing the door to the private room behind him.
Only Li Ping and Xie Xing remained in the private room, seated on opposite sides of the tea table.
Li Ping lifted the teapot and poured a shallow bowl for Xie Xing with a smile. "Fellow Daoist Xie, please, have a taste. The Spirit Tea here is quite decent."
"If Fellow Daoist Li says so, then I won’t stand on ceremony." With that, Xie Xing picked up his teacup and took a small sip.
Then, he smiled. "This tea is indeed quite good."
The two exchanged a few pleasantries about the Spirit Tea before Li Ping took the initiative to state the purpose of their meeting.
He asked nonchalantly, "I heard from Shu Xuan that you have information regarding the Celestial Skill Sect, Fellow Daoist Xie. I was wondering what kind of information it might be. Would you be willing to enlighten me?"
Xie Xing smiled and nodded.
Wasn’t the whole reason he had agreed to meet Li Ping to find a good buyer for the information he possessed?
Now that he had met him and learned that Li Ping was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator with ample wealth, he was of course prepared to tell him everything he knew.