May your Immortal Path be smooth, Fellow Daoist, and may you ascend soon

"Just an Outer Disciple?" Zhou Quan said with some disappointment.

As merely an Outer Disciple, he had no idea when he would be able to do what he needed to do.

"What's wrong with becoming an Outer Disciple with a Mid-grade Spiritual Root? Once you break through to Foundation Establishment, won't you become an Inner Disciple?" Chen Ze asked in confusion.

Presumably, with the original owner's Low-grade aptitude, he would only have become a Service Disciple.

"Forget it. There's no point in saying any of this, but I should still thank you, Fellow Daoist, for listening to my nonsense.

Please accept these two talismans as a meeting gift. I'm very happy to have met you." As Zhou Quan spoke, he took out two talismans and handed them to Chen Ze.

Chen Ze hurriedly waved his hands. "I can't accept a reward without merit. I don't have anything to give you in return, Fellow Daoist, so you should keep these talismans."

But Zhou Quan had already stuffed the talismans into Chen Ze's hands. "It's fine. These two talismans aren't worth much; I drew them myself.

These are Defense Talismans. Please accept them without worry, Fellow Daoist. They might come in handy in an emergency. Consider it a gesture of friendship."

Left with no choice, Chen Ze accepted the two talismans. He had not expected them to really have been drawn by Zhou Quan himself.

Though the two talismans meant little to Chen Ze—Myriad Things Shop had plenty of better ones—it would not have been right to reject Zhou Quan's goodwill.

"Then may your Immortal Path be smooth, Fellow Daoist, and may you ascend soon," Chen Ze said in thanks.

"I'll borrow your auspicious words. I hope we have the chance to meet again someday." Zhou Quan cupped his hands in salute.

Chen Ze left Zhou Quan's stall. As he departed, he looked back and saw Zhou Quan still watching him go.

In Chen Ze's eyes, Zhou Quan was simply too kind-hearted. This world of immortal cultivation was cruel; someone as pure and kind as Zhou Quan must have suffered many losses.

But Chen Ze was in no position to say anything. What was wrong with being kind-hearted? What was wrong was this world.

After leaving Zhou Quan's stall, Chen Ze no longer had the mood to keep wandering around.

From his conversation with Zhou Quan, Chen Ze had learned that the Qingyun Sect was about to begin recruiting newcomers again.

That was why Wannan City had been so much more crowded than usual lately.

Zhou Quan had come here for precisely that reason. Since recruitment had not yet begun, he had temporarily settled down in Wannan City.

Chen Ze walked along thoughtfully, completely unaware that when he had just passed Tongfu Restaurant, a startled yet gloomy gaze from inside had been fixed on him.

Only after Chen Ze's figure had completely disappeared from the market did that gaze finally withdraw.

Inside Tongfu Restaurant.

Shopkeeper Tong had been receiving guests when a familiar figure suddenly flashed past his eyes.

When he focused his gaze, he discovered that it was the prey he had long planned for, suddenly appearing before him. It left him stunned.

He had not received any reports from his subordinates these past days and had assumed they had already succeeded.

Since they had been sending Chen Ze straight to the Mine, they presumably had not had time to report back to him.

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

He was certain they had not run away. Their relationship was tied together by mutual interests, and there was no need for them to flee.

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

Yet he simply could not understand what accident could have occurred while capturing a Chen Ze at Qi Refining Second Layer.

His subordinate was at Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Capturing Chen Ze should have been as easy as reaching into one's hand and taking something.

A Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator was considered an expert even in Wannan City. Unless one of the great Lineages or the City Lord's Mansion had intervened, there should have been no possibility of failure.

Unable to make sense of it, Shopkeeper Tong decided to investigate. After giving the waiter an instruction, he headed to the rear courtyard.

"Something seems to have happened to Wu Li. Chen Ze hasn't been taken away either. Go look for him and see if you can contact Wu Li."

"Yes." This was the other subordinate Chen Ze had met that day, the one who had come with Shopkeeper Tong. His name was Zhang Tai.

"Wait." Still uneasy, Shopkeeper Tong called back Zhang Tai, who was about to leave.

"Zhang Tai, something has very likely happened to Wu Li. If you can't contact him or discover any clues, don't act rashly. Come back immediately."

This matter was far too strange for Shopkeeper Tong to be anything but cautious.

"Rest assured, Shopkeeper." Zhang Tai agreed.

"Go!"

After Zhang Tai left, Shopkeeper Tong continued calculating every possible scenario.

Yet the direction of his speculation had been wrong from the very beginning.

After talking with Zhou Quan, Chen Ze went straight back. He had already learned more or less everything he needed to know.

And his purpose in swaggering about Wannan City so openly had already been achieved.

The person targeting him had surely already noticed him. All he needed to do now was return home and quietly wait for the other party to come.

After returning home, Chen Ze first checked Myriad Things Space.

"The spirit herbs are growing very well. The first batch should mature in just a few more days."

"Relying only on the Automated Training Room, cultivation is still too slow. Once the spirit herbs are sold, I should buy some pills and see whether they have any effect."

After checking 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 and sat down cross-legged. He checked the Phantom in the Automated Training Room again. The Phantom had cultivated continuously for more than ten hours,

"Cultivation progress is good. The Ignition Art has been used 3,950 times. Tomorrow, the Ignition Art will reach 5,000 uses. I wonder whether there are other levels beyond that."

Chen Ze's consciousness left the Automated Training Room and returned once more to Myriad Things Shop.

The Green-robed Woman's figure slowly appeared. As before, she looked at Chen Ze with a smile on her face.

Without trying to communicate with the Green-robed Woman, Chen Ze knew she could not communicate. He directly had her open the shopping interface.

Yesterday, upon seeing the Automated Training Room in the Function Section, Chen Ze had eagerly chosen to purchase it.

After that, he had exited Myriad Things Shop. There were actually many products he had not yet had the time to inspect carefully.

He browsed the Technique Section for a while. The highest-grade techniques available were only Yellow-tier top grade; he did not yet have permission to view the higher Xuan-tier techniques.

Besides, Chen Ze could not afford Yellow-tier top-grade techniques right now. "Techniques are fine. With the Automated Training Room, high-level techniques aren't that important for now."

He then looked through the spells, pills, and Magic Artifact sections. Their prices still differed from what Chen Ze had learned at the market today. The goods in Myriad Things Shop were cheaper and more comprehensive.

There was currently nothing in the Function Section, so Chen Ze skipped over it directly.

The next category was one he had not had time to inspect yesterday.

The Skill Section.

Like the Function Section, this Skill Section had left Chen Ze puzzled yesterday.

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

"What are these?"

Looking at the images displayed on the shopping interface, Chen Ze felt puzzled.

When he chose to inspect the first image, it showed only several human figures and nothing else. Just by looking at the image, it was impossible to understand what it meant.

But after he inspected the image, the explanatory text that appeared immediately made Chen Ze understand the meaning of the several figures within it, drawing repeated exclamations of astonishment from him.

"Clone Skill: may be purchased without limit. The first Doppelganger costs 100 Points. Every Doppelganger possesses cultivation equal to the main body's, and its cultivation will rise in sync with the main body's cultivation.

The Doppelganger's appearance may be created freely. Once confirmed, it cannot be changed.

Doppelgangers possess independent consciousness and can think for themselves, but they will never betray the main body.

After a Doppelganger is destroyed, it will automatically recover after 24 hours at the cost of 10 Points."

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

After reading the introduction to the Clone Skill, Chen Ze sighed in amazement and continued on to inspect the next image.