"Two Lightning Talismans, and bring out the other spirit talismans for me to see. Offensive and defensive types, I want them all," Leo said.

  The white-haired old man complied, taking out all the spirit talismans from the shop and displaying them before Leo.

  Earthen Shield Talismans, Fire Arrow Talismans, Golden Cone Talismans, Wind Blade Talismans...

  Leo selected some of each, totaling exactly one hundred and ten low-grade spirit stones.

  "Just these. Name your price. If it's agreeable, I'll pay the spirit stones immediately. If not, I'll go to the next shop." Leo took out a heavy bag of spirit stones from his storage pouch.

  "How about this: one hundred and five spirit stones. Consider it making a friend with you, young friend."

  The white-haired old man's eyes lit up. Due to his advanced age, he had never been able to break through to the late Qi Refining stage and had no hope of Foundation Establishment. That's why he came to manage this family spirit talisman shop. He had been at the shop for over a decade, and customers like this were few and far between. Even among cultivators at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, not many could produce over a hundred spirit stones at once. And spending all spirit stones on consumable talismans—they were either from an extremely wealthy family or a complete fool.

  Leaving the city to search for spiritual materials in the Moonwatch Mountain Range, healing pills, cultivation pills, repairing or replacing damaged spirit artifacts after returning from adventures in the mountains, improving spell proficiency—all required spirit stones.

  "Let's be direct. Round it down, drop the small change. One hundred spirit stones flat," Leo said.

  "This... that's too big a reduction. Our shop doesn't make much profit on single talismans. One hundred stones really isn't possible, young friend. Please add a bit more." The white-haired old man said with a pained expression.

  "Although the profit margin is reduced, the volume makes up for it. I can only offer this price. You think about it." Leo's attitude was firm.

  "Alright then. Young friend, next time you buy spirit talismans, you must come to our shop." After several rounds of stalemate, the white-haired old man finally relented. Although he gave some ground, the shop could still make a net profit of over twenty spirit stones from this transaction, which was more than they often made in several days—quite a good deal.

  Leo was pleasantly surprised it actually worked. He had originally prepared to pay a few more spirit stones. Now he could save them, all thanks to Morana's reminder. Otherwise, losing extra spirit stones for nothing would have been painful.

  Leaving the spirit talisman shop, the sky over Moonwatch Immortal City had already darkened, but the streets were brightly lit, and the flow of people was still heavy.

  Perhaps, like many others in the city today, he was going to experience a sleepless night. A sharp glint flashed in Leo's eyes as he hurried back to the inn.

  Closing the door and sitting upright on the wooden bed, Leo hesitated for a moment, then took out a jade box and ingested the Purple Spirit Grass inside. The vigorous spiritual energy, as before, rampaged through his meridians. However, he was now at the second layer of Qi Refining. His meridians and elixir field could hold more spiritual energy than before, and the pain was much lighter compared to when he was at the first layer.

  "Spiritual energy! Haha, finally, spiritual energy has appeared! I've waited so long!" Inside the Green fruit boundary, the black-robed old man's soul laughed in delight. Although this spiritual energy was extremely weak for an old monster like him at the eleventh layer of Qi Refining, it was better than nothing.

  "Good disciple, come out quickly. Otherwise, I'm going to eat up all the spiritual energy."

  "You wouldn't dare! If you eat even a little extra, don't expect to get a single strand of spiritual energy next time." Leo shouted angrily through the boundary.

  "I just wanted you to come out and talk. Staying in this damned place for a year, it's really stifling." The black-robed old man chuckled.

  "What do I have to talk to you about? Hurry up. I'll absorb the spiritual energy and leave." As usual, Leo acted impatient with the black-robed old man. Although protected by the mist barrier, even he didn't fully understand the barrier. Every time he traded with the black-robed old man, Leo would always make the other party move far away after swallowing the spiritual energy, to avoid the annoyance of seeing him.

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  The black-robed old man didn't mind. Greedily, he opened his mouth and devoured the thin strands of blue-green threads drifting in the air. The Purple Spirit Grass had produced twelve strands. The black-robed old man ate six strands, smacking his lips with unfulfilled desire. "Alright, I'm leaving. It's your turn."

  After saying this, the black-robed old man's soul flew into the distance. Although there was mist inside the boundary, the black-robed old man's gloomy soul was relatively clear. Each time, Leo would carefully observe the surroundings first, confirming the black-robed old man had flown far away, before consuming the spiritual energy.

  As usual, after repeated observation, Leo entered the boundary. However, shortly after passing through the boundary, Leo's pupils constricted. The occasionally raised sandy soil on the ground seemed abnormal; a few lines looked like freshly turned earth. If he weren't extremely wary of the black-robed old man and taking every precaution, he might not have noticed it easily. A cold laugh echoed in Leo's heart. The black-robed old man was probably plotting something, but he wasn't unprepared either.

  He swallowed the blue-green threads as he normally did. When swallowing the third strand, a sudden swoosh sound came from the ground. Leo's heart tightened. So there was a trick after all.

  Swoosh! Several fiery curtains simultaneously erupted from the ground, enveloping Leo's soul. Startled, Leo dared not let the fire curtains touch him and hurriedly retreated to avoid them. He had only flown a few meters when a sinister, strange laugh sounded. The black-robed old man's soul emerged from the ground, and another fiery curtain, like a blazing wall of fire, erupted from the earth, connecting with the previous ones to form an enclosed space. Surrounded by roaring flames, Leo was trapped inside, unbearably hot.

  "Boy, you didn't expect this, did you? I've been meticulously planning for over a year to set up this trap. I've also observed your mist barrier; it needs to draw in the surrounding mist to form. Now it's blocked by my spiritual fire. Let's see what tricks you have left!" The black-robed old man's face turned ferocious again. "You must have been quite pleased with yourself, trapping me for over a year! Now, will you tell me the method to get out yourself, or shall I extract your soul strand by strand, making you wish you were dead!"

  "You... I'm dead either way. Even if you kill me, you won't get the method to leave!" Leo focused his will, and as expected, the defensive mist barrier that usually appeared failed to form. The mist was blocked by the spiritual fire, kept outside.

  "Even if I don't kill you, you won't tell me the way out. My lifespan is limited. If I can't get out soon, I'll have no hope of attempting Foundation Establishment. For me, that's worse than death. So I have no choice. You'd better not test my patience. Tell me the method to leave, and I promise to spare your life. Otherwise, even if I never get out, I will definitely kill you." The black-robed old man said viciously, his tone extremely resolute.

  Escape! Without another word, Leo fled into the distance.

  "It seems you've chosen to experience extreme suffering before death. You can't escape." The black-robed old man, furious and embarrassed that Leo remained stubborn, realized he had no choice but to use his final move. After plotting meticulously for over a year, how could he let Leo escape?

  "Water Ball Technique!"

  A water ball flew from behind. Leo was momentarily puzzled why the black-robed old man would use such a non-lethal spell. The water ball would only burst into water, not burn the soul like a small fireball. However, the black-robed old man was cunning and had plotted for so long; he definitely wouldn't do something meaningless. Since he used the Water Ball Technique, it must have a purpose.

  Now, trapped in a desperate situation, it was time to lay his cards on the table with this old monster. Leo sneered. The black-robed old man had plotted for so long, even thinking of digging tunnels underground to ambush him from below—truly sinister to the extreme.

  "Earthen Shield Talisman!"

  "Lightning Talisman!"

  "Fireball Talisman!"

  Suddenly, an earthen shield appeared in front of Leo.

  Bang! The Water Ball Technique suddenly exploded, scattering into countless tiny water droplets. Most hit the earthen shield, but occasionally one or two droplets flew over the shield and fell from the air onto Leo's soul.

  A weak electric current caused Leo's soul to tremble, his entire being experiencing a slight numbing sensation.

  So there was a trick indeed. The black-robed old man had mixed a trace of lightning spell into the Water Ball Technique. Although Qi Refining stage cultivators could cast all basic spells, and Leo could also use lightning spells, the ability to merge two spells so skillfully—this level of cunning and control sent a chill down Leo's spine.

  If he hadn't brought the spirit talismans this time and had the earthen shield blocking, even if he were more careful, he would have fallen for the black-robed old man's trick. Luckily, only one or two droplets landed on his soul. Apart from a momentary numbness, his movement wasn't affected. If a large number of droplets had hit him, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

  While Leo was shocked by the black-robed old man's cunning, the black-robed old man's current state of mind could only be described as utterly horrified.

  When Leo first activated the Earthen Shield Talisman, he sensed something was wrong. Immediately afterward came a wave of thunder spell aura. The black-robed old man was startled. The two spells were almost seamless, but his cultivation level and ability to adapt were ultimately not something a novice cultivator like Leo, who had just started cultivating, could match.

  "Earthen Wall Technique!" Out of fear for the lightning spell, the black-robed old man directly used his mana to condense a thick earthen wall in front of him.

  Crackle! A wrist-thick lightning pillar struck the earthen wall, sending shattered earth flying. The earthen wall was quickly broken through by the more powerful lightning pillar. The black-robed old man felt a numbness throughout his being. If he had been prepared before attacking, with his current eleventh-layer Qi Refining cultivation, the earthen wall he condensed wouldn't have been so easily broken by a single low-grade Lightning Talisman. This Leo kid had hidden his abilities too deeply; he had been completely fooled before. Originally, he thought Leo was still relying solely on self-cultivation, might have gotten his Shadow Ants and a spirit beast leopard, but knew no spells and hadn't been able to bring the spirit beast into this mysterious space.

  However, the black-robed old man would never have imagined that Leo not only had already learned spells but had also prepared over a hundred spirit talismans for him.

  Activating spirit talismans required only a trace of spiritual energy, needing little preparation. That's why the black-robed old man was caught off guard.

  The black-robed old man's soul was also numbed by the residual lightning power. Though not fatal, it slowed his movement.

  Boom! A Fireball spell exploded not far away. The black-robed old man's earthen shield had only condensed halfway before being blasted apart. His soul screamed as he was sent flying several meters back.

  "Water Arrow Talisman!"

  "Golden Spear Talisman!"

  "Earthen Spear Talisman!"

  Seeing his sneak attack succeed, Leo immediately pressed the advantage, activating talisman after talisman.

  Under the siege of numerous low-grade spirit talismans, the black-robed old man was hard-pressed to defend, desperately trying to block the attacks while feeling utterly humiliated. If he had his flying sword artifact, a single strike could have resolved Leo. Or if he had that defensive umbrella spirit artifact, he could have been safe and sound. What angered the black-robed old man even more was that Leo not only attacked him with talismans but also occasionally threw a few talismans at the fiery curtain. The black-robed old man was immediately alarmed. If the spiritual fire cage he set up was breached and mist seeped in, forming a continuous defensive mist barrier, he would lose all hope.