Spirit Stones

The young woman settled on a price with the old beggar, agreeing to buy all the spirit stones for six thousand talisman coins.

There were about twenty to thirty spirit stones in the pile. Calculating it out, that was about two hundred talisman coins per stone. Chen Ganliu, having cultivated in his past life, knew that this was a fair price for unrefined raw stones, and the old beggar's initial quote had indeed been a rip-off.

The young woman took out a beast-hide pouch, inspected each spirit stone one by one, and then put them inside. Two of them were of very poor quality, which she found somewhat distasteful. With a glint in her eye, she tossed them to Chen Ganliu and said, "Third Great-Grandmother doesn't want you to just tag along for nothing. These two spirit stones are for you."

The young woman waved her hand and skipped away.

Chen Ganliu secretly felt fortunate. He had been worried about traveling alone and the dangers on the road, so despite his disdain, he had practiced the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist Manual gifted by the Spiritual Gate.

This fist manual had five layers, but even all five combined were only equivalent to Qi Refining Layer One.

Although the fist technique was profound, its foundation lay in martial arts internal energy. With abundant internal energy, one could master the fist technique in one go. Without enough internal energy, one could not fully unleash the profundities of this technique.

Chen Ganliu's Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art had reached the Golden Essence Jade Liquid realm. His True Qi was several times more potent than that of someone who had cultivated the Great Vehicle Myriad Flower Fist Manual to its fifth layer. After all, immortal True Qi was incomparable to martial arts internal energy.

With his foundation, his progress in cultivating this fist manual was astonishingly fast. In just over ten days, he had already reached the third layer of the fist manual, developing several hundred jin of strength throughout his body.

This was also the advantage of martial arts internal energy: it could strengthen tendons and bones, cleanse marrow and temper skin, and increase arm strength.

If not for his martial arts internal energy, even with his cultivation at Qi Refining Layer One and the Golden Essence Jade Liquid realm at such a young age, Chen Ganliu would not have been able to move the two heavy spirit stones. As he held the two large spirit stones and prepared to follow, he found that the young woman had walked away extremely quickly this time, disappearing in the blink of an eye. It seemed she no longer needed him as a little follower. He could only dejectedly find an open space under a large tree, put down the spirit stones, and couldn't help but grumble, "It's fine that she left. At least she gave me back my deer."

However, that White Deer was just an ordinary wild deer and not worth much money. These two spirit stones were enough to buy one to two hundred such deer, with plenty left over.

Chen Ganliu had also owned two low-grade spirit stones in his previous life. Spirit stones, for the most part, were formed from the remains of Ancient Exotic Beasts or Primordial Mighty Ones. They were usually unearthed as raw stones with many impurities, requiring refinement through secret methods to become spirit stones capable of storing True Qi.

Refined spirit stones were the hard currency of the cultivation world. Many cultivators carried a batch with them, keeping them filled with True Qi. When needed, they would draw upon the True Qi within to replenish themselves.

Logically, Chen Ganliu should have been happy to receive two spirit stones for free. But he had no storage Magic Treasure, and these two low-quality spirit stones were extremely heavy, each weighing dozens of jin. Holding them was a burden. To the young woman who called herself a Little Fox Immortal, they were mere trinkets to be casually bestowed, but to him, they were his only valuable possessions. He was also uneasy about leaving them anywhere. He thought, How should I store these? I can't just watch them all the time and do nothing. Should I set up a stall and sell them?

Chen Ganliu placed the two raw stones on the ground. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he mused, Perhaps I can refine them with magic?

But refining spirit stones is not a task for a single day. It might take months before I can lighten my burden.

Only major sects possessed techniques for refining spirit stones. Some sects even had professional spirit stone refiners who accepted commissions, charging a considerable fee for each stone. The Immortal Encounter Sect was a prominent sect of the current era and possessed its own unique secret method for refining spirit stones. As a miscellaneous disciple, Chen Ganliu was not fortunate enough to learn such a precious technique. His Senior Sister, however, was a figure at the Golden Core Peak, and all sorts of secret sect techniques were readily available to her.

In his previous life, Chen Ganliu had cultivated for decades but hadn't accumulated much wealth. Naturally, he was unwilling to spend a fortune to buy refined spirit stones, nor was he willing to spend talisman coins to hire a spirit stone refiner from a major sect. He privately pleaded with his old wife, learned the Immortal Encounter Sect's secret method for refining spirit stones, and spent a year and six months painstakingly refining two raw spirit stones he had acquired.

The raw stones he acquired were already of poor quality, and his refining technique was also crude. Therefore, the two spirit stones he ultimately refined were of very mediocre quality. One could store about seventy percent of its capacity, while the other, slightly better quality, could store thirteen to fourteen percent. Their durability was also poor. The slightly better quality one showed signs of degradation after being used dozens of times due to the excessive number of times True Qi had been stored and drawn from it, making him reluctant to use it.

As Chen Ganliu was contemplating how to arrange his future, he heard a female cultivator's voice say, "Little Daoist friend, are you willing to sell these two spirit stones?"

A middle-aged female cultivator in a green robe, with a plain face and appearing to be around thirty years old, stood before him, appraising him from head to toe.

He had some impression of this female cultivator. She had a stall in the Immortal Market selling various small Magic Treasures, which were quite suitable for cultivators at the second or third layer of Qi Refining. He had passed by several times earlier and she had looked at him quite a bit.

Many cultivators who had just broken through did not have suitable Magic Treasures on hand, and refining one themselves would take a lot of time, delaying their proper cultivation. They preferred to buy a temporary one at the Immortal Market and replace it later when their cultivation improved.

This business had no real barrier to entry, and anyone could do it. It was a livelihood earned through hard work.

Chen Ganliu quickly called out, "I am willing to sell!"

Although he had considered refining the two raw stones himself, it would take too long. At his current low cultivation level, he had no use for spirit stones anyway. It was better to sell them and exchange them for some talisman coins.

The female cultivator pondered for a moment and offered a peach wood seal, saying, "This is the Peach Mountain Seal, refined from a Mountain Talisman. I haven't refined it to many layers, so it can only exert a force of a few thousand jin when struck. How about exchanging it for these two spirit stones?"

Chen Ganliu reached out and took the peach wood seal. He subtly estimated its value and thought, This Magic Tool is probably worth about five hundred talisman coins. Exchanging it for two low-grade raw stones is quite a good deal. However, this type of Magic Tool is too common and lacks any distinctive features, making it difficult to sell. Fortunately, I am in need of a defensive offensive weapon, so keeping it for personal use is also good.

Chen Ganliu's cultivation was too low, so the Magic Tools he refined himself had limited power. That was why he had chosen to use the Illusionary Word Art to refine the rough wooden staff. He then said, "It seems I am the one getting the better deal."

He circulated his True Qi and sensed no aura within the Peach Mountain Seal, knowing that the female cultivator had not refined it. It was originally intended for sale, which made him even happier.

Unrefined Magic Treasures are easier to refine, saving the step of removing the original owner's aura.

He was currently only at Qi Refining Layer One. Erasing the original owner's aura from a Magic Treasure, even if their cultivation levels were equal, would take seven to eight days. If the original owner's cultivation was higher, it might take even longer. Having such a blank Magic Treasure was much more convenient.

The female cultivator was also slightly pleased. She often sold Magic Treasures in the Suiyang Immortal Market and had long wanted to find two spirit stones. However, the profit from low-level Magic Tools was meager, and she was short on talisman coins.

She had seen the young woman buy a pile of spirit stones earlier and even give two to Chen Ganliu, which had made her a little eager to propose a trade.

She had initially thought that if Chen Ganliu refused to accept the Peach Mountain Seal, she could offer three hundred and eighty talisman coins, but anything more would be too painful to part with. She hadn't expected Chen Ganliu to be so agreeable and agree to the trade.

She took the two spirit stones, put them into her sleeve, and they chatted for a few more sentences. Chen Ganliu learned that this female cultivator's name was Chen Qing, and she was a Rogue Cultivator who lived in the Suiyang Immortal Market year-round. This made him feel more inclined to befriend her.

There will be an additional update after midnight today...

Hmm, I'm really getting old. My hands are slow, and I can't pick up the pace.

Readers who have read the old version also know that I didn't save any manuscripts originally, and I've revised it again. Currently, I truly have no saved manuscripts, otherwise, I wouldn't be so stingy with extra updates...

Please bear with me for a while...

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