Wishing Daoist Friend an Immortal Path of Smooth Progress, Attaining Immortality Soon

Wishing You a Smooth Immortal Path and Early Ascension

"Only an Outer Disciple?" Zhou Quan said, sounding a bit dejected.

If he were only an Outer Disciple, he had no idea when he would be able to accomplish what he set out to do.

"What's wrong with being an Outer Disciple with a Mid-grade Spiritual Root? Once you break through to Foundation Establishment, won't you be an Inner Disciple then?" Chen Ze asked, puzzled.

Come to think of it, the original owner of this body only had Low-grade aptitude, which would have made him a mere Service Disciple.

"Forget it, there's no point in talking about it, but I still want to thank you, fellow Daoist, for indulging my idle chatter. Take these two talismans; consider them a small gift for our first meeting. I'm very happy to have made your acquaintance." As he spoke, Zhou Quan took out two talismans and handed them to Chen Ze.

Chen Ze hurriedly waved his hands. "I cannot accept a reward for no merit. I have nothing to give you in return, so please, keep the talismans."

Zhou Quan, however, had already shoved the talismans into Chen Ze's hands. "It's nothing. These two talismans aren't worth much; I drew them myself. These are Defense Talismans. Please, take them—they might come in handy in an emergency. Let's just consider it a gesture of friendship."

Helpless, Chen Ze accepted the two talismans. He hadn't expected that Zhou Quan had truly drawn them himself.

Although these talismans were of little use to Chen Ze—the Myriad Things Shop had plenty of better options—he didn't want to rebuff Zhou Quan's kindness.

"Then I wish you a smooth Immortal Path and an early ascension," Chen Ze said in thanks.

"I'll take your kind words to heart. I hope we have the chance to meet again," Zhou Quan said, cupping his hands in a salute.

Chen Ze walked away from Zhou Quan's stall. As he left, he glanced back and saw that Zhou Quan was still watching him go.

In Chen Ze's eyes, Zhou Quan was simply too pure and kind. This world of cultivation was cruel; a man as guileless as Zhou Quan must have suffered many setbacks.

Yet, Chen Ze found it hard to say anything. What was wrong with being pure and kind? It was the world that was wrong.

After leaving Zhou Quan's stall, Chen Ze had no heart to continue wandering.

From his chat with Zhou Quan, Chen Ze had learned that the Qingyun Sect was about to begin recruiting new disciples.

That was why there were so many more people in Wannan City than usual.

Zhou Quan had come here for this very reason, but since the recruitment hadn't started yet, he was staying in Wannan City temporarily.

Chen Ze walked along, lost in thought, completely unaware that as he passed the Tongfu Restaurant, a pair of surprised and gloomy eyes were staring fixedly at him from inside.

Slowly, as Chen Ze's figure disappeared from the market, the gaze that had been fixed upon him finally withdrew.

Inside the Tongfu Restaurant.

Shopkeeper Tong had just finished serving a guest when a familiar figure suddenly flashed before his eyes.

When he focused his gaze, he realized it was the prey he had long since planned to capture. Seeing him appear so suddenly left him feeling astonished.

He hadn't received any reports from his subordinates for some time, and he had assumed they had already succeeded.

He had expected them to send Chen Ze straight to the mine, which was why they hadn't had time to report back.

Now that he saw Chen Ze, he began to wonder where his subordinates had gone.

He was certain his men wouldn't have run away; they were bound by mutual interests, and there was no reason for them to flee.

That left only one possibility: something had happened to his subordinate.

Yet, he couldn't fathom what kind of accident could occur while capturing a Chen Ze who was only at the Qi Refining Second Layer.

His subordinate possessed the cultivation of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer; capturing Chen Ze should have been as easy as reaching out to grab something.

A Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivation was considered quite formidable in Wannan City. Unless a major family or the City Lord's Mansion had intervened, it was impossible for things to go wrong.

Unable to make sense of it, Shopkeeper Tong decided to investigate. After giving a quick instruction to the waiter, he headed to the backyard.

"It seems something happened to Wu Li, and Chen Ze hasn't been captured yet. Go and find out if you can make contact with Wu Li."

"Yes." This was Zhang Tai, the other subordinate Chen Ze had seen with Shopkeeper Tong that day.

"Wait." Shopkeeper Tong still felt uneasy and called out to Zhang Tai, who was about to leave.

"Zhang Tai, it is highly likely that something has happened to Wu Li. If you cannot contact him or if you discover anything suspicious, do not act rashly. Return immediately."

The matter was too bizarre; Shopkeeper Tong couldn't afford to be anything but cautious.

"Don't worry, Shopkeeper," Zhang Tai promised.

"Go!"

After Zhang Tai left, Shopkeeper Tong continued to weigh the various possibilities.

However, the direction of his suspicions had been wrong from the very beginning.

After finishing his conversation with Zhou Quan, Chen Ze headed straight back. He had learned just about everything he needed to know.

His goal in walking so brazenly through Wannan City had already been achieved.

He believed that the person targeting him must have spotted him by now. All that remained was to return and wait quietly for them to arrive.

Back at home, Chen Ze first checked the Myriad Things Space.

"The medicinal herbs are growing quite well. They should all be ready for the first harvest in a few days."

"Still, relying solely on the Automated Training Room, my cultivation speed is too slow. Once I sell the herbs, I'll have to buy some medicinal pills and see if they have any effect."

After checking the Myriad Things Space, Chen Ze ate some Spirit Rice and began waiting for the person targeting him to arrive.

Chen Ze returned to his bed, sat cross-legged, and checked the Phantom inside the Automated Training Room again; the Phantom had been cultivating continuously for over a dozen hours.

Cultivation progress is good. The Ignition Art has been used 3,950 times. By tomorrow, it will reach 5,000 uses. I wonder if there are other levels beyond that.

Chen Ze withdrew his consciousness from the Automated Training Room and returned to the Myriad Things Shop once more.

The figure of the Green-robed Woman slowly appeared, still looking at Chen Ze with a smile on her face.

Without attempting to communicate with the Green-robed Woman—as he knew she was incapable of it—Chen Ze simply had her open the shopping interface.

Yesterday, after seeing the Automated Training Room in the functional section, Chen Ze had happily chosen to purchase it.

He had exited the Myriad Things Shop immediately afterward, meaning there were still many items he hadn't had the time to examine carefully.

He browsed the Technique Section for a while, but the highest-grade techniques were only Yellow-tier top grade; he did not yet have the authorization to view higher-level Profound-tier techniques.

Moreover, Chen Ze couldn't afford the Yellow-tier top grade techniques right now. Techniques are fine for now; with the Automated Training Room, high-level techniques aren't that important yet.

He looked through the spell, pill, and Magic Artifact sections, noting that the prices differed from what he had learned at the market earlier that day; the items in the Myriad Things Shop were cheaper and more comprehensive.

The functional section was empty for now, so Chen Ze skipped right past it.

The next category was one he hadn't had time to look at yesterday.

The Skill Section.

Like the functional section, this Skill Section had left Chen Ze feeling puzzled yesterday.

After selecting the Skill Section, the shopping interface changed, and the items that appeared were no longer Cultivation Resources.

What are these?

Looking at the images appearing on the shopping interface, Chen Ze felt confused.

He chose to view the first image, which showed only a few silhouettes; without seeing anything else, it was impossible to understand the meaning just by looking at the picture.

However, as he viewed the image, the accompanying descriptive text immediately made Chen Ze understand the meaning of the silhouettes, and he let out exclamations of amazement.

"Clone Skill, can be purchased infinitely. The first clone costs 100 Points. Each clone possesses the same cultivation level as the main body, and the clone's cultivation level increases in sync with the main body's.

The appearance of the clone can be created at will; once confirmed, it cannot be changed.

The clone has independent consciousness and can think for itself, but will never betray the main body.

If a clone is destroyed, it costs 10 Points to automatically recover after 24 hours."

So this is what a skill is? Isn't this a bit too overpowered?

After finishing the introduction to the Clone Skill, Chen Ze sighed in wonder and continued to look at the next image.