Qingliu City was quite far away.

  If I traveled on foot, it would take several months.

  I planned to take a teleportation formation from Qingyun City, the nearest city.

  Teleportation formations were a kind of instant travel device that connected each city.

  Of course, they weren’t free.

  The usage fee was quite expensive.

  A sigh escaped me.

  I had to restock talismans, buy formation plates, and there were just too many things I needed to purchase while the spirit stones I had were limited.

  If possible, I also needed to prepare a proper artifact.

  Wouldn’t it be nice if spirit stones just fell from the sky.

  Sigh. Even a thousand-li journey began with a single step.

  For now, let’s walk.

  I chose to travel on foot without using Earth Escape Art.

  If I used Earth Escape Art on the way to the city and got discovered by a cultivator with a higher realm, I’d be in serious trouble. I could easily get struck once and die.

  It was safer to show myself openly and walk the road properly.

  Thanks to the mask, my appearance and aura had been changed to something ordinary, so I wouldn’t stand out much.

  Still, just in case, I moved forward while remaining highly vigilant of my surroundings.

  How long had I walked? Something could be seen approaching rapidly through the sky in the distance.

  A flying sword.

  A cultivator stood atop the sword, cutting through the wind as he flew.

  A Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  I couldn’t help but admire the imposing sight.

  To avoid inviting disaster, I lowered my body as much as possible and held my breath.

  There was nothing good to be gained from offending a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  Fortunately, he paid no attention at all to a lowly cultivator like me.

  The flying sword vanished from sight in an instant.

  I was so jealous.

  But… had something happened?

  He wasn’t the only one flying.

  There was also a cultivator leisurely soaring through the sky atop a giant crane.

  Another rode a massive chicken covered head to toe in brilliant feathers.

  Every one of them was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  So many Foundation Establishment cultivators appearing at once…

  The words spoken by the Village Head’s son and his wife in the cultivation village came to mind.

  A Heavenly Treasure.

  A heaven-bestowed treasure born once every few thousand, even tens of thousands of years.

  They said it had appeared again after just a hundred years.

  In that case, it wasn’t strange for cultivators to gather like this.

  Well, it had nothing to do with me.

  After traveling for about half a day more, the walls of Qingyun City finally came into view.

  The towering walls were sturdy and oppressive. In front of the city gate, a long line had already formed.

  Most of them were Qi Refinement cultivators like me.

  I sighed.

  Waiting was my only option.

  Foundation Establishment cultivators who arrived on flying swords or spirit beasts entered the city directly through a separate passage.

  So jealous.

  As expected, strength was everything in this world.

  Only after waiting for a long time did my turn finally arrive.

  The gate guard was a Qi Refinement 9th Stage cultivator clad stylishly in bronze armor.

  He swept his sharp gaze up and down my body.

  I handed over my Identity Token with a respectful posture.

  Then I discreetly slipped crushed spirit stone fragments beneath the token as I offered it.

  Crushed spirit stones were shards made by breaking spirit stones into pieces, and they were very useful in situations like this.

  …In other words, I bribed him.

  The gate guard’s expression softened as he accepted the crushed spirit stones.

  He glanced over the Identity Token perfunctorily and immediately nodded.

  “Enter.”

  The world was truly going to hell.

  Corruption ran rampant everywhere.

  Ahem. Inside the city was brimming with vitality.

  All kinds of shops lined both sides of the wide streets.

  Many cultivators had also set up stalls along the roadside to sell their wares.

  Spiritual herbs of all kinds, pills, talismans, and even unidentified old jade slips could be seen.

  I looked around as calmly as possible so as not to appear like a country bumpkin.

  I also didn’t forget to hunch my shoulders as much as I could to avoid bumping into people.

  Picking a fight for no reason would be disastrous.

  “Low-grade Earth Escape Talismans! Use this in an emergency and save your life! Five spirit stones per piece!”

  “Wild boar demon meat! One jin for one spirit stone! Delicious and highly nutritious!”

  “Selling Black Heart Grass~ So fresh you won’t believe it! Essential for making Qi Origin Pills! Ten spirit stones for three roots!”

  Street vendors shouted at passersby.

  Seeing pork for the first time in ages made my mouth water.

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  But I had to endure.

  What I needed right now was convenience food.

  I approached an old man selling Bigu Pills and old jade slips.

  “Do you have Bigu Pills?”

  “Bigu Pills? One bottle for one spirit stone. Thirty pills per bottle. Buy ten bottles and I’ll throw in ten extra Bigu Pills.”

  One Bigu Pill could sustain a person for an entire day.

  It was cheaper than expected.

  I didn’t even consider bargaining.

  Saving a few coins only to get into a dispute would be a loss.

  “I’ll take ten bottles.”

  The old man looked me up and down before speaking.

  “You’re the first customer I’ve seen who doesn’t even try to haggle. Here, I’m in a good mood. I’ll throw in three extra Bigu Pills.”

  My face brightened at the unexpected windfall.

  Three Bigu Pills meant three more days of survival.

  Drops make an ocean.

  “Qi Refinement 6th Stage, huh? You’ve still got a long road ahead. How about I introduce you to a good cultivation method?”

  I must have looked easy.

  The old man was trying to sell me medicine.

  But as I looked at the old jade slip placed off to the side, curiosity stirred.

  “…I can hear you out, I suppose. But my finances are a bit tight…”

  The old man chuckled heartily and stroked his long beard.

  “No need to worry! It’s not expensive. A cultivation method that can raise your spirit roots, for just thirty spirit stones. It’s practically free! If an ordinary person learns it, they gain spirit roots, and if a cultivator learns it, their spirit roots double!”

  My breathing quickened.

  Was that really true…?

  The neighboring stall owner who had been watching clicked his tongue.

  “Oh dear, that old man’s scamming people again. Hey, you senile geezer! Spirit stones may be nice, but don’t overdo it! Kid, don’t buy that. Raising spirit roots? Raising them how?”

  The bearded old man grabbed the neighboring vendor by the collar.

  I stepped back to avoid getting caught up in the aftermath.

  “What? A scam? What scam am I pulling? If you follow what’s written on this jade slip, why wouldn’t it work? There’s nothing wrong with the cultivation method. The stages increase!”

  “Hah! Sure, it works. But the time required keeps doubling, doesn’t it?”

  The neighboring vendor was no pushover.

  Even while being grabbed by the collar, he kept talking.

  “To fully master all nine layers of that cultivation method just to complete one spirit root, it takes one year for the first layer, two years for the second, four for the third, doubling each time. For someone with Five Spirit Roots to become Quadruple Spirit Roots, it takes over five hundred years!”

  My ears perked up.

  The vendor continued rambling endlessly while dangling in midair.

  “Even if you complete one spirit root after five hundred years of cultivation, to raise another one you have to start that cursed training all over again. But once you pass the Qi Refinement stage, you can’t even practice it anymore. Ever seen a Qi Refinement cultivator live a thousand years? I haven’t. And you still say it’s not a scam?”

  The bearded old man’s face turned red, his beard trembling.

  But he seemed unable to refute it.

  He soon sighed and released the vendor’s collar.

  “Hah… you heard that, right? It’s not that I didn’t want to explain. I may look like this, but I cultivate honestly.”

  The old man spoke as he gently stroked the old jade slip.

  “If that crazy old fool hadn’t butted in, I would’ve explained everything from start to finish. Otherwise, how could a cultivation method be this cheap? Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover a longevity-extending elixir someday. When that happens, you’ll regret not buying this method.”

  I struggled desperately not to show my excitement.

  This was practically a cultivation method made just for me.

  There was no way to change one’s innate spirit roots.

  Yet here was a method that could complete spirit roots in exchange for lifespan.

  I was immortal.

  Time was something I had in excess.

  It seemed the results of dumping all my stats into luck were finally showing.

  My heart pounded.

  Keeping my expression as indifferent as possible, I spoke casually.

  “Well, you never know what might happen in life. The method itself does seem quite profound. If you sell me ten bottles of Bigu Pills along with that method for thirty-five spirit stones, I’ll buy them together.”

  The bearded old man didn’t hesitate at all and nodded.

  At last, he had sold off that burdensome item that had only been taking up space.

  I received the ten bottles of Bigu Pills and the old jade slip and carefully put them into my pouch.

  Nine Transformations Spirit Root Scripture.

  I liked the name too.

  To avoid revealing my excitement, I continued browsing the stalls as calmly as possible.

  Perhaps I looked naive.

  Someone quietly approached me.

  He was a young cultivator with an innocent-looking face.

  “My name is Su Xuanzi. May I speak with you for a moment?”

  I replied briefly without lowering my guard.

  Since he was being polite, it wouldn’t do to react too harshly.

  “I’m Xuanyuan. Is there something you need?”

  Su Xuanzi smiled gently and began speaking.

  “I’m from the mountains. After parting ways with my master, I’ve been traveling around to gain experience. I came to the city to gather information after hearing news of a Heavenly Treasure appearing.”

  He scratched his head.

  “Who knows, perhaps a fated opportunity might arise. And it just so happens that Qingyun City is recruiting people.”

  He glanced at me before getting to the point.

  “To cover travel expenses and prepare for the recruitment test, I’ve been hunting demon beasts with like-minded senior brothers. Recently, a few of our group died, so we’re looking for new members. Seeing you buy a cultivation method caught my interest.”

  After rambling on for a while, he began expressing concern for me.

  “The thing is… I’m worried because senior brother seems very pure-hearted. That Nine Transformations Spirit Root Scripture was once a popular method, but I heard it turns all spirit roots into single spirit roots. Since everyone says something different, I was afraid you might’ve been scammed……”

  He sounded genuinely concerned, but there was mockery in his eyes.

  I’d seen this type far too often.

  People who pretended to worry about others while looking down on them to feel superior.

  He soon revealed his true intentions.

  “…Seeing how pure-hearted and broad-minded you are, you seem like the kind of talent we’re looking for. Would you consider joining our hunting party?”

  A snort escaped me.

  Looking for pure-hearted, broad-minded talent? Why not just write that you’re looking for suckers?

  As expected.

  A very faint but unmistakable red aura was spreading from his body.

  Killing intent.

  He was clearly planning to lure a country bumpkin out, kill him, and take his belongings.

  Spending thirty spirit stones on a seemingly useless cultivation method must have caught their attention.

  Su Xuanzi pointed toward a group gathered nearby.

  “Those senior brothers over there are my companions. They’re all highly skilled and virtuous people.”

  I pretended not to be nervous as I looked over.

  Four cultivators were gathered where he pointed.

  All of them were neatly dressed and looked kind.

  But each one of them emitted a clear red aura.

  Nothing good would come from getting involved with people like that.

  I immediately waved my hands.

  “I’m very timid, so I don’t dare attempt demon beast hunting. You should look for someone else.”

  Su Xuanzi’s expression stiffened slightly at my words.

  But he quickly put on a friendly smile again.

  “Everyone’s like that at first. You get used to it after a few times. Cultivation is walking on a blade’s edge, isn’t it? With a fixed lifespan, how can you rise in realm without taking risks?”

  Hah. What nonsense.

  I wasn’t worried about dying of old age even if I never advanced in realm.

  Safety was my top priority.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I really don’t have the courage. I’ll be going now.”

  After politely refusing once more, I left as quickly as possible.

  Su Xuanzi glared at me viciously.

  So what if you glare?

  It didn’t bother me at all.

  There was no way such a crafty group would reveal their true colors inside the city.

  That was probably why they talked about hunting parties—to lure people outside the city.

  I’d be leaving soon via teleportation formation anyway.

  Go find another sucker.

  As expected, he soon latched onto another innocent-looking target.

  Just in case, I circulated my spiritual power and scanned my entire body thoroughly.

  There was no sign of any tracking.

  Baizi, sensitive to spiritual energy, also squeaked that everything was fine.

  Still, whose words were right—the old man’s or the scammer’s?

  For some reason, I felt the latter was correct.

  Rather than existing spirit root attributes disappearing, it made more sense that all attributes were adjusted to the maximum.

  I should hurry up, buy what I need, and go check the cultivation method.

  I lost all desire to browse the stalls any further.

  I headed straight for the Xianqi Pavilion.

  Xianqi Pavilion was the largest shop directly operated by Qingyun Sect.

  It handled nearly everything needed for cultivation—pills, artifacts, talismans, spiritual herbs, and more.

  It was always bustling with cultivators buying and selling goods.

  If you had plenty of time and confidence in your strength, using the auction house would yield greater profits.

  But I had neither time nor cultivation realm.

  So using a trustworthy shop was the best option.

  As I entered the shop, a neatly dressed female cultivator greeted me with a smile.

  “Welcome, Daoist. Are you here to buy, or to sell?”