Fourteenth Chapter: Ancient Secret Realm

"The Talisman Brush Wu Yun used was also a Low-grade First Tier Talisman Brush, and its quality was slightly better than mine."

Li Chang'an examined a Talisman Brush.

The Talisman Brush he used himself was the one he had bought at the very beginning.

Its quality was quite ordinary.

After all, he had been rather poor back then.

"Now that I no longer lack Spirit Stones, I can consider buying a mid-grade Talisman Brush."

Li Chang'an pondered.

A mid-grade Talisman Brush was superior to a Low-grade Talisman Brush in every respect, especially in its conduction of Spiritual Energy, but its price was also quite exorbitant.

Even one of ordinary quality sold for more than a hundred Spirit Stones.

To his former self, that had been an astronomical price.

Now.

The price was within his means.

"Having money really is great!"

Li Chang'an sighed. In the past, he had wished he could split a single Spirit Stone in half to spend it.

He put down the Talisman Brush.

He continued checking the other items.

Soon.

A dark-red stone caught his attention.

"Eh? It's actually an Earth Fire Stone!"

Li Chang'an was slightly surprised.

An Earth Fire Stone was a High-grade First Tier Fire Element Treasure!

It was extremely rare and worth a great deal.

Artifact Refiners were especially fond of it.

Using an Earth Fire Stone as the main material and adding some auxiliary materials at random was enough to refine an Excellent High-grade First Tier Fire Element Artifact!

"Unfortunately, it's not a Wood Element treasure. I can use it for an exchange in the future."

Li Chang'an secretly shook his head. He himself possessed a Wood Spirit Root.

A Fire Element Artifact was incompatible with his own Spiritual Energy.

He guessed that Wu Yun had also intended to trade away the Earth Fire Stone. After all, Wu Yun also had a Low-grade Wood Spirit Root.

After putting away the Earth Fire Stone, Li Chang'an continued checking the remaining items.

The remaining items were not worth much.

He soon finished checking them.

The next day.

Li Chang'an went to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

He spent one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones to buy a decent mid-grade Talisman Brush.

Shopkeeper Qian of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion found this difficult to understand.

"Fellow cultivator Li, you only know the craft of drawing Low-grade Talismans, and can't even draw Premium Grade Talismans. You have no use for a mid-grade Talisman Brush at all, so why waste the Spirit Stones you've painstakingly saved?"

Shopkeeper Qian advised him.

He was a conscientious businessman whose reputation in the Marketplace was quite good.

Li Chang'an wore a helpless expression and replied,

"Alas, my skill has recently hit a bottleneck, and I haven't made the slightest progress. Perhaps a better Talisman Brush will help."

Seeing that he was determined.

Shopkeeper Qian no longer tried to dissuade him.

He merely reminded him, "Fellow cultivator Li, cultivation should come first in everything. Skills are only supplementary. You should buy more things that can help your cultivation."

"Shopkeeper Qian is right!"

Li Chang'an nodded, then left the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

That afternoon.

After regulating his Mana and spirit, he used the new Talisman Brush to try drawing a mid-grade Talisman.

The bristles moved slowly and steadily across the Talisman Paper.

The entire process went extraordinarily smoothly.

It was much easier than before.

Before he knew it, he had successfully drawn a mid-grade Golden Blade Talisman!

"Sure enough, to do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools!"

Li Chang'an smiled.

The money he had spent on the Talisman Brush had been well worth it!

Over the following days.

Just as before, he stayed at home all day, cultivating and drawing Talismans.

One day.

Around dusk.

Wu Feng's voice suddenly sounded outside.

"Fellow cultivator Li, are you home?"

Hearing this.

Li Chang'an opened the door.

With a face full of smiles, he cupped his hands toward Wu Feng.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, it's been a long time."

"Fellow cultivator Li..."

The moment he saw Li Chang'an, Wu Feng's expression changed slightly.

His gaze lingered on Li Chang'an for a moment.

"Fellow cultivator Li, have you seen my younger brother recently?"

"Fellow Daoist Wu Yun?"

Li Chang'an shook his head slightly.

He wore a puzzled expression and asked, "Did something happen?"

"Nothing much, it's just that... my brother and I have had some disagreements recently."

"I see."

Li Chang'an pretended to suddenly understand.

He fell silent for a moment.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, don't tell me you two had a falling-out over the distribution of that Earth Dragon Saliva?"

Li Chang'an glanced around and lowered his voice.

"Not that I'm saying anything, but when it comes to a major matter like Foundation Establishment, even brothers must settle their accounts clearly."

"This..."

Wu Feng froze.

Clearly, he had never expected Li Chang'an to steer the conversation in this direction.

That so-called Earth Dragon Saliva.

Had been nothing more than an excuse they had invented to trick Li Chang'an into leaving the Marketplace!

The two chatted for a while longer.

Li Chang'an never provided any useful information.

Wu Feng seemed somewhat dispirited and eventually cupped his hands in farewell.

After turning around.

A trace of killing intent surfaced in his eyes.

Several days earlier.

Wu Yun had felt that waiting any longer was not an option and had planned to attack Li Chang'an directly at his home.

The others had all disagreed.

Thus, Wu Yun had left alone, swearing confidently that he would return with Li Chang'an's head.

But...

After that, all news of him vanished.

It was as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth!

"Could Li Chang'an have killed him?"

Wu Feng's face darkened.

He did not think Li Chang'an had that ability, but there were always exceptions.

Inside the house.

Li Chang'an closed the door, and his expression also turned colder.

"This Wu Feng is indeed more cautious than Wu Yun."

Who knew what these Rogue Cultivators would do next?

Regardless.

Li Chang'an possessed Hexagram Image guidance, giving him the upper hand in terms of information.

Over the following months.

He kept an eye on the Hexagram Image and constantly watched the big and small happenings inside and outside the Marketplace.

To his surprise.

Wu Feng never came again, seemingly having given up completely.

During those months, one major event did occur, drawing the attention of nearly every cultivator in the Marketplace—

The Ancient Secret Realm!

Not long ago.

In a Valley not far from the Marketplace, the earth suddenly collapsed.

A passage appeared.

Passing through that passage led into a ruined Secret Realm.

It might contain treasures left behind from Ancient Times.

Such Secret Realms were not particularly rare. News of one appearing somewhere could be heard from time to time.

"It is said that in Ancient Times, a world-shaking battle took place, smashing the entire world into ruins."

"The countless Secret Realms that exist today were caused by that great battle."

"The Zheng Family has issued a call, encouraging Rogue Cultivators to enter and seek their opportunities..."

Chu Daniu and the others could not make up their minds, so they all came to find Li Chang'an.

The four reunited inside Li Chang'an's house.

"Big Brother Chang'an, what do you think?"

Sun Yulan asked softly, her beautiful eyes rippling like water.

"Me?"

Li Chang'an shook his head slightly.

He had never intended to go.

After all, he did not lack Spirit Stones. Wouldn't it be better to stay safely at home and draw Talismans?

"I'm not going. If you want to go, I can sell you a batch of Talismans at a low price so you'll have more Life-saving Means. Of course... it would be best if you didn't go."

Although the Hexagram Image had given no warning.

Ancient Secret Realms of this sort had always been filled with danger!

Chu Daniu immediately said, "Since Big Brother Li isn't going, then I'm not going either!"

Ever since he had taken a trip through the Ghost Gate Pass.

He had resolved to learn Li Chang'an's way of steady caution.

Xu Fugui and Sun Yulan, however, were somewhat hesitant.

Neither of them had any craft to rely on.

If they did not venture out and take a chance, they were destined to remain without hope of Foundation Establishment for the rest of their lives.

"You'd better wait a while longer. Enter after the first few groups of cultivators have explored the place and then search for opportunities."

Li Chang'an offered his advice.

The first few groups of cultivators might find more opportunities, but they would also have to face more unknown dangers.

Mid- and late-stage Qi Refining cultivators had stronger Life-saving Means.

As for early Qi Refining cultivators like Xu Fugui, it was unwise for them to rush to the front.