Cultivating Immortality, Cultivating Immortality, Harder Than Climbing to the Heavens

Lu Ping did not immediately select [Yes].

Liu Cheng pulled three more wooden plaques from beneath the desk and laid them out in a row.

Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Mining Hall, Alchemy Hall.

The same familiar slots, the same familiar prices.

Liu Cheng looked at Lu Ping.

"You entered the sect with an Ascension Token, so some of the procedures can be waived, but the hall admission fee cannot."

"If you don't have Spirit Stones, you can take out a loan."

Lu Ping did not choose right away.

"Deacon, I brought some mountain goods. Could I exchange them for Spirit Stones first?"

Liu Cheng glanced at Lu Ping. After a moment of silence, he said,

"You can exchange them at the market. Your status as an Outer Sect Disciple has been recorded. Just return within half a day to register with a hall."

Lu Ping bowed again.

"Thank you for making an exception, Deacon."

Lu Ping left the External Affairs Hall.

Ma San, who was waiting outside, saw the Outer Sect wooden plaque at Lu Ping's waist and smiled more genuinely than before.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Lu! Congratulations!"

"Lead the way. I need to sell some things."

Ma San led Lu Ping to a shop in the market's inner ring.

Green Grain Shop.

The shop was small, and its storefront was even a little old. Wind and rain had worn the corners of its greenwood signboard pale.

But as soon as Lu Ping stepped inside, he paused.

A fat shopkeeper sat behind the counter, working an abacus.

The moment the man looked up, a faint ripple of spiritual power passed over him.

Qi Refining Stage.

Though he was only around the fifth layer of Qi Refining, he was unquestionably a genuine cultivator.

The shopkeeper of a small market shop was actually a Qi Refining cultivator.

After all, Han Changqing, the master of the Greenwood Sect, was only at Foundation Establishment.

And Deacon Liu Cheng was no more than a Qi Refining cultivator.

Either someone was backing this shop, its account books were tougher than swords, or both.

Lu Ping gave the shop a discreet once-over.

It looked small, but it had a full range of goods.

All kinds of low-grade pills and medicines stood on the wooden shelves to the left, their bottles and jars marked with yellow labels.

Grain Avoidance Pills, Hemostatic Powder, Body-Tempering Powder, Qi-Replenishing Pills.

Several low-grade Law Artifacts hung on the right.

Short swords, bronze bells, heart-protecting mirrors, and flying-needle cases.

Farther inside stood a row of small wooden boxes, sealed with restrictions.

The boxes were labeled talismans, formation plates, Storage Bags, and Storage Rings.

Though the sparrow was small, it had all five organs.

Ma San called out as soon as he entered.

"Shopkeeper Zhou, Senior Brother Lu of the Outer Sect has some mountain goods to sell. Give him a fair price."

The fat shopkeeper looked up, and when he saw the wooden plaque at Lu Ping's waist, his smile grew a little wider.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, your honored presence brings light to my humble shop."

Lu Ping untied his bundle and laid out everything he wanted to exchange, one item at a time.

There were things he had obtained in the mountains: a pair of boar tusks, a black-maned hide, and several packets of medicinal herbs.

There were also medicinal herbs and refined ore from the Black Tiger Gang, along with worldly money.

The fat shopkeeper examined the tusks first, tapping their roots with a finger before feeling the hide.

"From a Spirit-Maned Wild Boar? The tusks are decent, but the hide is rather damaged."

"Dew-Congealing Grass, Blood-Stopping Vine, Shashen Grass... ordinary ages."

"Black-Pattern Iron and Gray Steel. Mundane ores bearing spiritual power, and their quality is ordinary too."

The fat shopkeeper appraised each item, while Lu Ping remained silent throughout.

Ma San coughed beside them.

"Shopkeeper Zhou, Senior Brother Lu here has just joined the Outer Sect. There'll be plenty of opportunities to do business with him in the future."

The fat shopkeeper did not even look at Ma San. He casually flicked a few beads on his abacus.

"One hundred and eighty Low-Grade Spirit Stones for the lot."

Lu Ping gave the fat shopkeeper a smile that was not quite a smile, then turned to leave.

Seeing this, the fat shopkeeper immediately called out to stop him.

"Oh, come now, Fellow Daoist Lu. Isn't business all about asking a sky-high price and bargaining from the ground?"

"We can negotiate the price, we can."

Lu Ping turned around and calmly named a figure.

"Seven hundred and eighty."

Even the abacus beads in the fat shopkeeper's hand came to a stop.

"At that price, aren't you selling my shop along with the lot?"

Lu Ping did not argue with the fat shopkeeper.

After five years in the simulation, he knew the prices of common materials in Greenwood Market better than anyone.

Though this batch was far from the best, the dozen-odd medicinal herbs over a hundred years old and the spiritual ores treasured by the Black Tiger Gang would absolutely fetch more than three hundred if sold separately.

And the Spirit-Maned Wild Boar's tusks and hide had to be worth two hundred Spirit Stones at the very least.

There was also the worldly money.

What rankled was that, in the last simulation, this pair of boar tusks had fetched only a dozen-odd Grain Avoidance Pills in the Ascension Hall.

That was also an important reason Lu Ping had chosen not to return the items to the Greenwood Sect.

"Seven hundred and eighty, take it or leave it."

"Two hundred."

"Seven hundred and eighty."

"Three hundred."

Lu Ping seemed to have run out of patience. He turned toward the door again.

The fat shopkeeper pushed his abacus aside.

"Four hundred. I can't go any higher."

"The quality of these herbs and ores really is ordinary. I'll have to sort them after buying them."

"That boar hide is damaged too. It can't be made into a complete suit of armor, only cut into smaller pieces."

Only then did Lu Ping turn back and bring the matter down with a hammer.

"Deal."

Watching from the side, Ma San felt his teeth ache.

This Senior Brother Lu spoke little and cut fast. Throughout the entire bargaining process, he had not wasted a single word.

The fat shopkeeper took out four hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones and put them in a cloth bag.

Lu Ping accepted the Spirit Stones, but sighed inwardly.

He had nearly cleaned out the Black Tiger Gang and spent another half month digging up medicinal herbs in the mountains.

Yet mundane banknotes could only be sold at a discount as waste paper in a cultivators' market.

No matter how many mundane ores and herbs he had, they were not worth many Spirit Stones.

Besides, he still had to keep some of the medicinal herbs for Qi-Replenishing Pills and Spirit-Eroding Powder.

In the end, he received only four hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Cultivating immortality, cultivating immortality—it was harder than climbing to the heavens.

So in the second simulation, he had been tied down by a loan for five years and learned nothing except alchemy. He really had not been wronged in the slightest.

After his lament, Lu Ping did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at the shelves.

"Do you have any storage Law Artifacts?"

The fat shopkeeper's eyes lit up.

Now this was more like a new disciple.

As soon as he had money, he bought something to improve his experience.

The fat shopkeeper took a wooden case from beneath the counter and opened it. Inside lay a ring and four cloth bags.

"Storage Bags are cheaper. Three feet on each side, eighty Spirit Stones."

"Storage Rings cost more. One zhang on each side, two hundred and eighty Spirit Stones."

"There are larger ones too, but you probably won't need them."

Lu Ping glanced at the prices, and his eyes darkened.

Great. I've just escaped poverty, and now I'm right back in it.

Lu Ping picked up the most ordinary Storage Ring and sent his spiritual power into it.

The space inside the Storage Ring was not large, but it was enough for his bundle, Pill Furnace materials, throwing knives, and miscellaneous items.

Seeing Lu Ping choose a Storage Ring straight away, the fat shopkeeper immediately said with a beaming smile,

"Junior Brother Lu has a good eye. A Storage Ring is extremely convenient when an Outer Sect Disciple goes out on a mission."

"Go into the mountains with a bundle on your back, and you look like a Rogue Cultivator. Wear a ring when you go out, and only then do you look like a sect disciple."

Lu Ping did not take the bait of that workplace consumerist sales pitch.

He paid two hundred and eighty Spirit Stones.

In an instant, only one hundred and twenty of his four hundred Spirit Stones remained.

Lu Ping put on the Storage Ring and stored his bundle inside. He immediately felt much lighter.

Then Lu Ping's gaze fell on the shelves to the right.

A flying sword hung there.

Its blade was pale blue, with faint spiritual markings along its spine.

Price: nine hundred and eighty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Beside it was a small shield.

Price: six hundred and fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Beside that was a bronze bell.

Price: one thousand two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Lu Ping looked at his remaining balance and fell silent for a breath.

The fat shopkeeper followed his gaze, his smile growing even warmer.

"If you're short of money, Junior Brother Lu, our shop also offers installments."

Lu Ping looked away.

"No."

To the Greenwood Sect's Outer Sect Disciples, the word "loan" was roughly equivalent to a death warrant.

This time, even the Greenwood Sect could forget about making him take out a loan.

The fat shopkeeper did not press him, merely smiled.

"If you have more materials in the future, you can come back to Green Grain Shop. I can see that you're an expert too, Fellow Daoist Lu. My little shop will surely satisfy you."

Lu Ping nodded and left Green Grain Shop.

Ma San followed Lu Ping outside, rubbing his hands.

Lu Ping tossed him a Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Ma San fumbled to catch it.

The errand fee was too high, high enough to make him a little uneasy.

"Senior Brother Lu, if you need anything in the future, just come to me."

By the time Lu Ping returned to the External Affairs Hall, the sky had begun to darken.

Liu Cheng sat behind the desk as before.

He wore the same indifferent expression as before.

As before, he pushed the Greenwood Art · Qi Refining Chapter and the sect handbook in front of him.

And Lu Ping went to the Alchemy Hall as before.

The same familiar deacon received him as before.

The deacon led him through the corridor and took him to the same cave abode, D-13.

Stone door, restrictions, battered Pill Furnace.

It seemed that nothing had changed.

The only difference was that the deacon said one more thing before leaving.

"Next month is the examination for first-level registered Alchemists."

Lu Ping paused.

In the simulator, he had arrived at the Greenwood Sect a year later and had long since missed this examination.

That was why he had waited for the examination five years later.

But now, the timing was just right.

After the deacon left, the cave abode grew quiet.

Lu Ping set down the bundle and first checked the restrictions. Then he inspected the gap beneath the door, the cracks around the windows, and the base of the Pill Furnace.

The same familiar shabbiness, the same familiar poverty.

Lu Ping sat down on the stone bed, and a thought stirred.

The next instant, the blue panel appeared again.

[The third Life Simulation attempt has been unlocked.]

[Begin the Life Simulation now?]

[Yes]/[No].