Talisman White Deer

This Magic Treasure, when shaken at a person, will cause them to fall to the ground. It's incredibly effective against mortals, and even against cultivators, if used by surprise, it can often yield remarkable results. However, if they are prepared, this unorthodox Magic Treasure becomes quite useless.

Chen Ganliu had newly "uncovered" eleven Magic Treasures. Among them, the best one he had refined was the Soul Stirring Banner, which he acquired along with this book of unorthodox Daoist arts. Its original owner had refined it for about twenty to thirty years, with numerous Talismans, clearly having put in a great deal of effort.

He secretly pondered, "I had originally planned to refine more Illusion Talismans onto the Cloud and Mist Banner to enhance its defensive and offensive capabilities. If I were to refine this Soul Stirring Banner into it, making them a set, along with these three unorthodox Talismans, they would complement each other beautifully with the vast clouds and mist and illusionary techniques."

For Chen Ganliu, who was only at the Qi Refining Layer One, the Cloud and Mist Banner was the most suitable, most promising Magic Treasure that he could use for a very long time.

Moreover, his skill in Talismans was profound. Cultivating these three Talismans would not affect his main cultivation. At most, it would reduce the time spent drawing the Twelve Talismans of the Profound Gate. He had already reached the peak of his proficiency in this type of Talisman art. Further practice would only involve drawing more low-level Talismans, exchanging them for Talisman Coins, and it would be extremely difficult to make further progress.

Chen Ganliu flipped through this Daoist book, feeling a slight joy. He then took out another Daoist book. This one was slightly more conventional, but still inadequate. It didn't even contain Qi Refining techniques, only recording seven or eight spells.

After flipping through it, he was quite disappointed. These spells took a lot of time to cultivate, and although they had some merits, they were not useful to him for the time being.

He picked up the last Daoist book and turned a page, then was slightly taken aback.

This Daoist book also lacked Qi Refining techniques, containing only twelve spells. However, these twelve spells combined formed a Sword Control Technique!

Was the Sword Control Technique good?

Of course, it was good.

But Chen Ganliu was self-aware. If he were to achieve great success in Qi Refining and spend ten or even several decades of arduous effort, he could truly master the Sword Control Technique and then roam the world, becoming a formidable opponent even within the Qi Refining Realm. However, he didn't even know when he would be able to break through to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation, let alone have the time and energy to dedicate to the Sword Control Technique.

Back then, he had been envious of his Senior Sister's ability to control her sword. He had even sought her advice. His Senior Sister had merely sighed and passed on to him the first incantation of the Immortal Encounter Sect's Thirty-Six True Sword Control Arts. He had practiced diligently for three years with no success. Since then, he had been sensible and never brought up the topic again.

Along with this Daoist book, there were also two "Momentum Swords."

Another piece of information was that those two mid-grade Spirit Stones also came with this Daoist book.

Its original owner must have had some background.

Sword Control Technique is different from Sword Control. It lacks the crucial secret method of "body and sword as one, soaring through the air with the sword." It can only control a Flying Sword to kill enemies within a hundred paces.

Just like the Sword Control Technique, which requires a Flying Sword, the Sword Control Technique also needs a "Momentum Sword" to be performed.

Chen Ganliu did not have the energy to cultivate the Sword Control Technique, so these two Momentum Swords were naturally useless to him for the time being.

After putting away the three Daoist books, although Chen Ganliu knew they were all good items, his heart felt heavy, filled with a sense of unreleased frustration.

He then retrieved his Beast Skin Pouch and tossed the eleven newly acquired Magic Treasures and all the collected Talisman Coins into it.

These eleven Magic Treasures were all of the level that cultivators at the Qi Refining Layer Three or Two could refine. Apart from the Soul Stirring Banner and the two Momentum Swords, the remaining nine Magic Treasures were even weaker in power, similar to the Peach Mountain Seal, or the Black Dog Nail used by the Black Robed Daoist, or the Shaking Silver Bell used by the Spiritual Gate Daoist.

Chen Ganliu was too lazy to inspect them one by one. These items had their origins, and unless it was a matter of life and death, he would not easily use them.

Chen Ganliu stored the Spirit Stones and the extracted Green Jade material in that Storage Ring.

Chen Ganliu's return to Blazing Light Cave, Twin Cloud Mountain was for the purpose of secluded cultivation for a period to lie low and avoid trouble. Processing the Green Jade stone material was just a secondary task. Two to three months had already passed, and the Suiyang Immortal Market should have reopened by now. He wanted to go back and try his luck.

He found a secret hiding place within Blazing Light Cave for the rest of his belongings, taking only the Storage Ring and the Beast Skin Pouch containing fifteen Magic Treasures. Then, he gracefully descended the mountain.

For cultivators, those with opportunities must cultivate in seclusion, while those without must seek opportunities everywhere.

Even though Chen Ganliu possessed superior Daoist arts, he still needed to seek opportunities.

This time, when he returned to the Suiyang Immortal Market, he wouldn't have to laboriously use the Light Talisman. Among his eleven newly acquired Magic Treasures, one was a travel artifact named: Talisman White Deer!

This item was a refined paper deer. When thrown out, it could transform into a vigorous White Deer. It was several times more majestic than the White Deer Chen Ganliu had subdued previously, its speed was faster, and it was more obedient to control. However, there was one drawback: it required the consumption of magical power, unlike his original White Deer, which only needed to be fed fresh vegetable leaves to gallop.

With Chen Ganliu's cultivation at the Qi Refining Layer One, even with full effort, he could only travel two to three hundred li before his True Qi would be depleted.

If it were another time, he would definitely not dare to fully activate the Talisman White Deer. After all, traveling alone in the world, one could encounter all sorts of dangers and needed to be constantly vigilant, reserving some magical power to deal with crises.

But now, he had over a hundred Spirit Stones, most of which stored True Qi and magical power, which he could use freely. Therefore, this time, on the same journey back to the Suiyang Immortal Market, it only took half the time. In just over three days, he saw again that lush, white-mist-shrouded, spiritually vibrant dense forest.

Chen Ganliu sighed, put away the Talisman White Deer, and walked into it on foot. Even someone who had never been to the Suiyang Immortal Market before could sense the desolation of this Immortal Market.

Chen Ganliu's small wooden house had long since been demolished, not even a single remnant piece of wood remaining.

As he was lamenting, he heard a voice, a mixture of shock and joy, exclaim, "Fellow Daoist Chen, you are not dead!"

Chen Ganliu was also slightly surprised and pleased. He looked back and replied, "So, Sister Chen is also unharmed. Truly joyous and congratulatory."

"Have you by any chance seen Daoist Wu Chang, Sister Chen?"

Chen Qing shook her head sadly and said, "I have not seen that old Daoist. I hope he also managed to escape."

Chen Ganliu didn't know what to say. He knew that many cultivators had died in the Suiyang Immortal Market during this demonic tribulation, but he didn't know who exactly. In his past life, he hadn't known Daoist Wu Chang, nor did he know the old Daoist's luck.

Seeing his dazed expression, Chen Qing suddenly said, "Fellow Daoist Chen's shop is gone. Would you like to stay with me for a while?"

Chen Ganliu was quite surprised and asked, "Sister Chen, why the sudden change in demeanor?"

Although he didn't know Chen Qing's true age, this female cultivator appeared to be no older than thirty and was quite attractive. There were male cultivators in the Immortal Market who had wanted to cultivate together and become Dao Companions, but Chen Qing had rejected them all. Why would she suddenly invite him to stay with her?

A look of lingering fear appeared on Chen Qing's face, and she whispered, "Life is like a lamp, easily extinguished."