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 one 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'm not short on Spirit Stones, I can consider buying a mid-grade Talisman Brush."

Li Chang'an pondered this.

A mid-grade Talisman Brush outclassed a low-grade Talisman Brush in every respect, especially in conducting Spiritual Energy, but its price was equally steep.

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

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

Now, however,

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 before spending it.

He set down the Talisman Brush.

Then he continued taking stock of the other items.

Very soon,

a dark red stone caught his attention.

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

Li Chang'an was somewhat surprised.

An Earth Fire Stone was a high-grade first tier Fire Element Treasure!

It was exceedingly rare and worth a great deal.

Artifact Refiners prized it dearly.

Using an Earth Fire Stone as the primary material, then casually adding a few supplementary materials, one could refine an excellent high-grade first tier Fire Element Artifact!

"Unfortunately, it isn't a wood-attribute treasure. I can use it for trade in the future."

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

A Fire Element Artifact did not suit his own Spiritual Energy.

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

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

The rest of the items were not worth much.

He soon finished sorting through them.

The next day,

Li Chang'an made a trip to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

He spent one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones to purchase a fairly good mid-grade Talisman Brush.

Shopkeeper Qian of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion did not quite understand this.

"Daoist Li, you've only mastered Low-grade Talisman techniques. You can't even draw premium-grade Talismans, so you have no use for a mid-grade Talisman Brush. Why waste the Spirit Stones you worked so hard to save?"

Shopkeeper Qian tried to persuade him.

He was a conscientious businessman and had an excellent reputation in the Marketplace.

Li Chang'an looked helpless as he replied,

"Alas, my craft has recently hit a bottleneck. I haven't made the slightest progress no matter what I do. Perhaps a better Talisman Brush might help."

Seeing that he insisted,

Shopkeeper Qian stopped trying to dissuade him.

He merely reminded him, "Daoist Li, cultivation should come first. Skills are only supplementary. You ought to buy more things that will help your cultivation."

"Shopkeeper Qian is right!"

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

That afternoon,

he adjusted his Mana and mental state, then used the new Talisman Brush to attempt drawing a mid-grade Talisman.

The brush hairs moved slowly and steadily across the Talisman Paper.

The entire process was extraordinarily smooth.

It was much easier than before.

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

"Sure enough, if a craftsman wants to do good work, he must first sharpen his tools!"

Li Chang'an smiled.

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

Over the following days,

he remained as he had before, cultivating and drawing Talismans at home all day.

On this day,

as evening fell,

Wu Feng's voice suddenly sounded outside.

"Daoist Li, are you home?"

Hearing this,

Li Chang'an opened the door.

With a broad smile, he cupped his hands toward Wu Feng.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, it has been a long time."

"Daoist Li..."

The instant Wu Feng saw Li Chang'an, his expression changed slightly.

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

"Daoist Li, have you seen my younger brother recently?"

"Fellow Daoist Wu Yun?"

Li Chang'an shook his head slightly.

Looking puzzled, he asked, "Did something happen?"

"Nothing. It's just... my brother and I have had some disagreements recently."

"So that's how it is."

Li Chang'an put on a look of sudden realization.

He pondered for a moment.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, don't tell me you two fell out over the division of that Earth Dragon Saliva?"

Li Chang'an glanced around and lowered his voice.

"Not that I should say it, but when it comes to something as important as Foundation Establishment, even blood brothers should settle their accounts clearly."

"This..."

Wu Feng froze.

He had clearly not expected Li Chang'an to steer the conversation in that direction.

The so-called Earth Dragon Saliva

had merely been an excuse they fabricated to lure Li Chang'an out of the Marketplace!

The two talked for a while longer.

Li Chang'an never provided any useful information.

Wu Feng appeared somewhat dispirited, and in the end, he cupped his hands and took his leave.

After turning around,

a trace of killing intent surfaced in his eyes.

Several days ago,

Wu Yun had felt that waiting any longer was not a solution and had planned to go straight to Li Chang'an's door and make his move.

The others had all disagreed.

So Wu Yun had left alone, swearing with absolute certainty that he would return carrying Li Chang'an's head.

But...

there had been no news of him since.

It was as though he had vanished from the face of the earth!

"Could Li Chang'an have killed him?"

Wu Feng's expression darkened.

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

Inside the house,

Li Chang'an shut the door, his expression turning several degrees colder as well.

"This Wu Feng is more vigilant than Wu Yun."

He did not know what this band of Rogue Cultivators would do next.

No matter what,

Li Chang'an possessed Hexagram Image warnings and held the advantage when it came to information.

Over the next several months,

he kept a close watch on the Hexagram Images and constantly paid attention to every major and minor event within and outside the Marketplace.

To his surprise,

Wu Feng never came again, seeming to have given up completely.

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

Ancient Secret Realm!

Not long ago,

the ground in a valley not far from the Marketplace suddenly collapsed.

A passage appeared.

Passing through that passage led to a ruined Secret Realm.

There might be treasures left behind from ancient times within it.

Such Secret Realms were not uncommon. From time to time, news would spread that a Secret Realm had appeared somewhere.

"It is said that in ancient times, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering war took place and battered the entire world into ruins."

"The countless Secret Realms of today were caused by that war."

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

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

The four gathered again inside Li Chang'an's house.

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

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

"Me?"

Li Chang'an shook his head slightly.

He had no intention of going at all.

After all, he did not lack Spirit Stones. Wasn't it better to stay home peacefully and draw Talismans?

"I won't be 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 methods. Of course... it would be best if you didn't go."

Although the Hexagram Image had given no warning,

this kind of Ancient Secret Realm had never been short of danger!

Chu Daniu immediately said, "Since Brother Li isn't going, then I won't go either!"

Ever since he had taken a trip through Ghost Gate Pass,

he had resolved to learn Li Chang'an's way of being steady and cautious.

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

They had no skills to support themselves.

If they did not take a gamble, they would be destined never to reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.

"You'd best wait a little longer. After the first few batches of cultivators have explored it, then go in and seek opportunities."

Li Chang'an offered his advice.

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

Those in Mid Qi Refining and later stages had stronger life-saving means.

As for people like Xu Fugui, who were only in the early Qi Refining stage, they should not charge too far ahead.