Chapter 94 Green Bamboo Mountain Market (Seeking First Subscription)

"Why did it take you so long to come out? What did you talk about with your master?"

Li Lingyu said that the two of them were the only two Qi Refining stage disciples under their master, so they could help each other when buying spiritual items in other markets.

She only reached Foundation Establishment in the last few years, so the amount of Five Elements Essence needed to complete the mandatory mission is not much. However, after Foundation Establishment, she will have to pay for higher-level spiritual items, and she may not be able to complete the mission due to her limited funds.

Therefore, she had the same idea as Ji An, thinking of buying more essence to make a profit and alleviate her predicament.

For this reason, she just borrowed more than a hundred spirit stones from several senior brothers and sisters.

"My master tested my magic."

Ji An left his sentence unfinished, deciding it was best not to mention borrowing spirit stones, as it might lead to unpleasant situations and could cause resentment or discontent in the other party.

"Master has always wanted to cultivate a disciple who can succeed her. Several senior brothers and sisters are quite talented in alchemy, but almost no one is willing to put in the effort in planting. Your talent will surely please Master."

Li Lingyu spoke softly, a hint of disappointment in her voice. She felt that despite her diligent work over the years, she had not received the same respect and esteem as the other person now.

"Alas, I am just someone who manages the spirit fields."

Senior sister, the sect's flying boat to Qingyun Immortal City only departs once a month, and we have to wait another seven or eight days until the next departure. If we wait, we will miss the opportunity.

I was thinking of wandering around the small and medium-sized markets established by cultivation families around the sect, and choosing a route that would take me to Qingyun Immortal City. The only question was whether such a route would be safe enough.

Ji An changed the subject, noticing the subtle emotions in the other person's tone.

After Wei Songnian went to Qingyun Immortal City, he would not take a flying boat back, but instead choose to pass through various markets and towns.

However, they were traveling together as a group of familiar sect disciples, and with more than a dozen late-stage Qi Refining disciples traveling together, their safety was guaranteed.

"The sects and other markets have established law enforcement teams to regularly crack down on robbers and cultivators, all in order to ensure order in the Western Continent."

Because for both sects and various cultivation families, only a stable order can lead to better development.

I know the routes those trading disciples take, and their safety is generally guaranteed.

"That way, I'll rent a flying beast first. Even if some cultivators are after us, they won't be able to catch us."

Li Lingyu smiled faintly and said proudly:

"In fact, most of the tribulation cultivators are poor rogue cultivators who are not as good as us sect disciples in terms of spells or magical artifacts."

"We're both at the ninth level of Qi Refining. If we really encounter a Tribulation Cultivator, it's uncertain who will annihilate whom."

"Senior sister is right. I need to go to the herb garden. Where should we meet later?"

Ji An said that he still needed to go back to his residence to retrieve the talismans he had accumulated over the past two months. After arriving in Qingyun Immortal City, he would trade them out to obtain more start-up capital.

"Let's meet at the flying boat platform on Luoxia Mountain. There's a small market town 300 li to the southeast of Luoxia Mountain, which can be our first stop."

The two parted ways. Ji An first went to the herb garden to give Lao Xiang a few instructions, asking him to take good care of it these next few days. Then he returned to the bamboo house at the foot of the mountain, took the talisman, and put it into his storage bag.

Finally, he put the spirit-seeking rat into a cloth bag, fed it a spirit-feeding pill to the gray-feathered sand goose, and then rode on it.

Four days later.

Qingzhushan Market was the largest market within a radius of eight hundred li. Ji An swept away all the stock in the shops selling Five Elements Essence and Five Elements Spiritual Objects, and he didn't even spare the areas where independent cultivators set up stalls.

As the two walked out of the market, he let out a sigh:

"We don't have enough stock!"

He had nearly three thousand spirit stones in his storage bag, and had only spent a little over six hundred of them so far, while he was already halfway through his journey.

Based on this calculation, we can only spend a maximum of 1,100 to 1,200 spirit stones before reaching Qingyun Immortal City. It is shameful to borrow so many spirit stones from our master but not make use of them and waste our purchasing power.

Li Lingyu grinned, realizing she had already spent all her spirit stones in the last market. She tentatively asked:

"Perhaps we can return without even reaching Qingyun Immortal City?"

She wasn't surprised that her junior brother was wealthier than her. She had used all her spirit stones to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills, while he was preparing to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills, so it was normal for him to have more spirit stones saved up.

"We still need to go to Qingyun Immortal City. Senior Sister, have you forgotten that I still need to deliver the talismans to the shops we are cooperating with?"

Ji An smiled and said:

"Senior sister, come with me. I don't know the way, and I don't feel safe going to the Immortal City alone."

Don't worry, I won't let my senior sister make a wasted trip. I'll cover any extra losses, and there's also a thank-you gift for her.

Sects charge by the day for renting beasts, so they can't let the other party suffer a loss. In addition, time costs are also costs, so all of these must be taken into account.

"It's too formal for senior and junior students to say so much."

Li Lingyu smiled, feeling very comfortable with what the other person said.

She didn't intend to ask for a thank-you gift; she only asked that the other party make up for the additional rental costs incurred.

The two left the market and headed towards their next destination.

After flying for about thirty miles, Ji An seemed to sense something and looked back. He saw a dark-colored flying boat speeding straight towards him, only three or four miles away from their location.

He immediately became alert; when cultivators met in the wild, they would avoid each other if they didn't want to cause conflict.

Li Lingyu also sensed something; her eyes narrowed, and her tone turned cold as she said:

"It seems like they're coming for us. Ha! They even have a flying boat."

If they really are the enemy, they will definitely catch up with us. Land! I want to see who has the guts to do this!

Both of them were dressed in sect attire and were at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Someone was openly charging at them like this; they were enemies, not friends.

When she left the sect, she said that she was being watched, but it was just a joke. She didn't expect that someone would actually dare to come.

The two quickly landed in the dense forest. Ji An looked at the gray-feathered sand goose and cursed under his breath. Without a spirit beast pouch, this clumsy thing couldn't be stored away.

This beast, aside from being fast, isn't much in terms of combat ability.

"Run further away."

He waved for Sha Yan to move away, then pulled off the cloth bag from his waist and shook it; the spirit-seeking rat jumped down.

"Hide first, then attack and distract the enemy when you hear my signal."

The spirit-seeking rat nodded, a flash of spiritual light appeared on its body, and it disappeared into the ground.

It is an earth-type demon beast that has awakened the innate magic of earth magic.

The dark-colored flying boat was extremely fast, arriving at their landing location in just four or five breaths.

"Hehe, you two young friends from the Golden Spirit Sect don't need to hide anymore."

"I only care about money. If you hand over your storage bag and magical artifacts, I'll turn around and leave without saying a word."

A hoarse voice echoed through the mountains and forests. Zhang Tiezhu, wearing a black hood that only revealed his eyes, recklessly unleashed his divine sense to search for the person who had hidden.

Feeling the spiritual pressure emanating from the air and the divine sense sweeping over his body, Ji An's expression turned extremely ugly; it was actually a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator undergoing tribulation.

He looked at Li Lingyu, whose face also showed bitterness.

No one will believe the enemy's words. If I hand over the magic weapon, wouldn't I become a lamb to the slaughter? Only by showing enough strength can I scare the enemy away.

"Senior sister, only by risking our lives can we have a glimmer of hope. The blue rune is the Water Curtain Rune, and the gold one is the Geng Metal Rune. Both are top-quality mid-grade runes, so there's no need to be stingy with them."

Ji An transmitted his voice and took out a stack of talismans from his storage bag and handed them to the other party.

He was determined. He had brought more than 1,200 talismans with him today. Unless the enemy could quickly eliminate the two of them, he could fight back even if they were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Li Lingyu's initially panicked eyes calmed down, and she took the talisman, transmitting her voice:

"Then let us, your fellow disciples, deal with this thief. Let's go out; he's already spotted us."

As she spoke, a short-handled umbrella-shaped magical artifact appeared in her hand. She then activated a golden armor talisman to protect her entire body before stepping out to face the approaching enemy.

The magical artifact was the Heavenly Net Umbrella, left behind by her father, which could be used for both offense and defense.

The umbrella, crafted from wind-milled copper and refined iron, has a matte pale gold color, densely covered with runes, and its edges are outlined with sharp curves.

The umbrella may appear thin, but it is reinforced with eighteen layers of magical restrictions, making its defensive capabilities comparable to, or even stronger than, those of shield-type magical artifacts.

This magical artifact can be controlled by incantations to spin at high speed, and it is incredibly sharp. It once cut a unicorn python with innate rock armor in two with a single blow.

Ji An made a hand seal to release the Wind Control Technique, and immediately felt a light and ethereal power envelop his entire body.

He uses the Wind Control Technique many times a day, and through persistent effort, he has reached a state of perfection.

He raised the stone tortoise shield, holding a stack of talismans in his other hand, and followed his senior sister out.

"You two have guts, worthy of being disciples of a sect. It seems you want to test my methods."

Zhang Tiezhu is the manager of the "Hundred Refinements Pavilion" in the market, and occasionally he does business without any initial investment.

Today, Ji An spent over a hundred spirit stones at his shop without batting an eye, which aroused his greed. This kind of wealthy sect disciple must be a fat sheep.

He later saw that the other party had actually visited all the weapon-refining shops, which fueled his greed and made him truly determined to pull off a heist.

The mana of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is liquefied, and its quality is a level higher than that of a Qi Refining cultivator. The same spell at the same level will have completely different power in the hands of a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a Qi Refining cultivator.

Even if I only know one Foundation Establishment stage attack spell, dealing with two Qi Refining stage nine cultivators shouldn't be difficult.

As Zhang Tiezhu spoke, a fiery red magic sword flew out from behind him, trailing a flaming tail as it attacked Ji An, who had just stepped out. It turned out that his magic weapon had been hovering behind him the whole time.

This flying sword is his masterpiece. It incorporates two fire-elemental spiritual materials and uses a large amount of fire-elemental essence to nurture its spirituality, making it a superior magical artifact.

Not only is it extremely sharp, but it also has fire attribute damage when it attacks.

At the same time, a yellow triangular flag appeared in his hand. After he channeled his magic power into it, magical patterns appeared on the flag, and a ball of earthy yellow spiritual light protected his body.

This is another of his high-grade defensive magic artifacts, capable of activating earth-elemental spiritual light.

As a weapon refiner, he deeply understood the principle that the quality of magical artifacts was more important than the quantity.

The instant a flash of light entered his eyes, Ji An activated a water curtain talisman to block the direction from which the attack was coming.

Since the Dao Seed of Cloud and Rain was generated, he felt that the water curtain talisman he drew had also changed slightly, and seemed to be more resilient.

A pale blue curtain of water rises, forming a perfect hemisphere.

Ji An infused his magic power into the stone tortoise shield, and a yellowish-brown spiritual light rose from its surface. He adjusted the shield's position by performing hand seals, and instead of retreating, he stepped forward.

He had never experienced the methods of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he knew in his heart that if they only passively defended, the two of them would definitely be slowly worn down by the enemy.

They must pose a threat to the enemy to scare them away; now it remains to be seen whether their attacks can inflict enough damage.

The perfect water curtain only hindered the flying sword for a moment. As the spiritual light dissipated, the flying sword pierced the stone tortoise shield, producing a metallic clang.

Ji An immediately understood that the defensive aura on the stone tortoise shield had been pierced in an instant.

(End of this chapter)