Mutual Scheming

"Two Thunder Talismans. Take out all the other spirit talismans for me to see—offensive and defensive alike," Lu Xiaotian said.

The white-haired old man did as instructed, taking out all the spirit talismans in the shop and laying them out before Lu Xiaotian.

Earth Shield Talismans, Fire Arrow Talismans, Gold Cone Talismans, Wind Blade Talismans.

Lu Xiaotian selected some of each, which came to exactly one hundred and ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.

"That's all. Name your price. If it works, I'll pay the Spirit Stones immediately. If not, I'll go to the next shop." Lu Xiaotian took a heavy pouch of Spirit Stones from his storage pouch.

"How about this? One hundred and five Spirit Stones. Consider it making a friend of you, little brother."

The white-haired old man's eyes lit up. Advanced in years, he had never been able to break through to the late Qi Refining stage, and Foundation Establishment was beyond hope. That was why he had come to manage this talisman shop for his Lineage. He had spent more than a decade in the shop, yet customers like this were few and far between. Even cultivators at the great perfection of the Qi Refining stage rarely produced over a hundred Spirit Stones at once. And anyone willing to spend all their Spirit Stones on consumable talismans was either staggeringly wealthy or a complete fool.

Entering the Moonwatch Mountains in search of spiritual treasures required Spirit Stones—for healing pills, cultivation pills, repairing damaged spirit artifacts after returning from mountain expeditions, and raising one's proficiency in spells. Every last thing required Spirit Stones.

"Let's be direct. Drop the trailing amount—one hundred Spirit Stones," Lu Xiaotian said.

"Th-this is far too much of a cut. Our shop doesn't make much from individual talismans to begin with. One hundred Spirit Stones truly won't do. Little brother, add a little more," the white-haired old man said with a pained expression.

"I've already yielded some profit, but the quantity makes up for it. This is the only price I can offer. Think it over." Lu Xiaotian's attitude was firm.

"Fine. But next time you buy spirit talismans, little brother, you must come to our shop." After several rounds of deadlock, the white-haired old man finally relented. Though he had given up some profit, the shop would still net at least twenty Spirit Stones from this sale. It would not earn that much in several ordinary days, so this was already quite good.

He had not expected it to actually work, and Lu Xiaotian was immediately delighted. He had originally been prepared to pay several more Spirit Stones. Now that he could save them, he had Luo Qing's reminder to thank. Otherwise, wasting Spirit Stones for nothing would have made his heart ache.

When he left the talisman shop, night had already fallen over Moonwatch City. Yet the streets were brightly lit, and the flow of pedestrians remained thick.

Perhaps, like many people in the city, he too would endure a sleepless night today. A glint of harshness flashed through Lu Xiaotian's eyes as he hurried back to the inn.

After shutting the door, Lu Xiaotian sat cross-legged on the wooden bed. He hesitated briefly, then took out a jade box and swallowed the Purple Spirit Grass inside. As before, the vigorous spiritual energy rampaged through his meridians. But he was now at the second level of Qi Refining; his meridians and dantian could hold far more spiritual energy than before, and the pain was much lighter than it had been at the first level.

"Spiritual energy! Hahaha, spiritual energy has finally appeared! You made me wait bitterly for it!" Within the Green Fruit Barrier, the black-robed old man's Primordial Spirit laughed in wild delight. Though this spiritual energy was pitifully weak to an old monster at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, it was still better than nothing.

"Good disciple, come out quickly, or I'll eat all the spiritual energy."

"How dare you! If you eat even a little extra, don't dream of getting a single thread of spiritual energy next time!" Lu Xiaotian shouted angrily through the barrier.

"Wasn't I just trying to get you to come out and talk to me? Spending a whole year in this damned place is suffocating," the black-robed old man said with a chuckle.

"What do I have to say to you? Hurry up. Once I absorb the spiritual energy, I'm leaving." As always, Lu Xiaotian was impatient with the black-robed old man. Though the mist shield protected him, even he did not understand it. Whenever he traded with the black-robed old man, Lu Xiaotian would make him move farther away after devouring the spiritual energy, lest the sight of him irritate him.

The black-robed old man did not mind. Greedily, he opened his mouth and swallowed the wisps of green threads drifting through the air. The Purple Spirit Grass had produced twelve green threads. After the black-robed old man ate six, he smacked his lips, still wanting more. "All right, I'm leaving. They're yours now."

With that, the black-robed old man's Primordial Spirit flew into the distance. Although there was mist within the barrier, the black-robed old man's gloomy Primordial Spirit stood out rather clearly. Each time, Lu Xiaotian would cautiously inspect the surroundings first, only swallowing the spiritual energy after confirming that the black-robed old man had flown far away.

As usual, Lu Xiaotian entered the barrier only after repeated observation. Yet not long after passing through it, his pupils contracted. The patches of sand that occasionally bulged from the ground seemed abnormal. Several lines looked like freshly turned earth. Had he not been deeply wary of the black-robed old man and guarded against him in every possible way, he truly might not have noticed. Lu Xiaotian sneered inwardly. Perhaps the black-robed old man was plotting something foul, but he was not wholly unprepared either.

He swallowed the green threads as if nothing were amiss. When he reached the third thread, a sudden whoosh sounded beneath the ground. Lu Xiaotian's heart tightened. There really was something fishy going on.

Whoosh! Several curtains of fire burst from the ground at once, closing in on Lu Xiaotian's Primordial Spirit. Startled, Lu Xiaotian did not dare let them trap him and hurriedly retreated. Yet after flying only a few feet, a sinister cackle rang out. The black-robed old man's Primordial Spirit drilled out of the ground. Another curtain of fire rose from below like a blazing wall, joining the earlier fire curtains and forming an enclosed space. Surrounded by raging flames, Lu Xiaotian was trapped inside, the heat unbearable.

"Boy, you never expected this, did you? This old man spent over a year painstakingly setting this trap. I have examined that mist shield of yours. It needs to draw in the surrounding mist to take shape. Now my spirit fire has cut it off outside. Let's see what tricks you still have." The black-robed old man's face twisted viciously again. "You trapped this old man for over a year. You were quite pleased with yourself, weren't you? Now, will you hand over the method of getting out, or will this old man extract your soul and strip you thread by thread until you beg for death?"

"You... You're on a dead-end road anyway. Even if you kill me, you still won't get the method of leaving!" With a thought from Lu Xiaotian, the defensive mist shield that always appeared indeed failed to form. Blocked by the spirit fire, the mist was kept outside.

"Even if I don't kill you, you won't tell this old man how to leave. My lifespan is limited. If I cannot get out soon, I will have no hope of attempting Foundation Establishment. To this old man, that is more terrifying than death. So I have no other choice. You had best not test my patience. Tell me the way out, and I promise to spare your life. Otherwise, even if I can never leave again, I will certainly kill you." The black-robed old man spoke fiercely, his tone utterly resolute.

Run! Without another word, Lu Xiaotian fled into the distance.

"So you chose to taste every agony before dying. You cannot escape." The black-robed old man flew into a rage from humiliation. He had not expected Lu Xiaotian to be so stubborn to the bitter end. That left him no choice but to use his final method. After plotting so carefully for over a year, how could he allow Lu Xiaotian to escape?

"Water Ball Art!"

A water ball flew toward him from behind. Lu Xiaotian was puzzled why the black-robed old man would use such a nonlethal spell. When a water ball burst, it was only water; it would not scorch a Primordial Spirit like a small fireball. But the black-robed old man was old and crafty, and after plotting for so long, he would not do anything meaningless. Since he had used Water Ball Art, it surely had a purpose.

With no way out before him, it was time to lay his cards on the table with the old fellow. Lu Xiaotian sneered. After scheming for so long, the black-robed old man had actually thought to dig tunnels underground, then launch a surprise attack from beneath him. He was sinister to the extreme.

"Earth Shield Talisman!"

"Thunder Talisman!"

"Fireball Talisman!"

Suddenly, an earthen shield appeared before Lu Xiaotian.

Bang! The Water Ball Art exploded, scattering into countless droplets. Most struck the earthen shield, though one or two occasionally arced over its top and fell from the air onto Lu Xiaotian's Primordial Spirit.

A faint current made Lu Xiaotian's Primordial Spirit shudder, and a mild numbness spread through his entire body.

There really was something fishy. The black-robed old man had mixed a trace of lightning magic into the Water Ball Art. Although Qi Refining cultivators could cast all basic spells, and he too could use lightning spells, the skill and control needed to fuse two spells so ingeniously sent a chill through Lu Xiaotian.

Had he not brought spirit talismans this time, with the earthen shield blocking the attack, then no matter how careful he was, he would have fallen into the black-robed old man's trap. Fortunately, only one or two droplets had landed on his Primordial Spirit. Aside from numbing him briefly, they had not affected his movements. If a large number of droplets had hit him, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

While Lu Xiaotian was shocked by the black-robed old man's cunning, the black-robed old man himself could only describe his feelings as utterly horrified.

The moment Lu Xiaotian activated the Earth Shield Talisman, he sensed that something was wrong. Immediately afterward came an oncoming aura of lightning magic. The black-robed old man was startled. The two spells had come with almost no interval between them, but his cultivation and ability to react were ultimately not comparable to Lu Xiaotian, a greenhorn who had only recently begun cultivating immortality.

"Earth Wall Art!" Fearing lightning magic, the black-robed old man directly condensed a thick earthen wall before himself with magical power.

Sizzle, sizzle! A wrist-thick bolt of lightning struck the earthen wall, sending shattered soil flying everywhere. The wall was quickly broken by the more powerful lightning bolt. The black-robed old man's entire body went numb. Had he been prepared before acting, an earthen wall condensed with his current cultivation at the eleventh level of Qi Refining would never have been so easily shattered by a basic Thunder Talisman. Lu Xiaotian had hidden himself too deeply; he had completely deceived him before. The old man had thought Lu Xiaotian was still merely cultivating on his own. Aside from having a Leopard spirit beast, and perhaps obtaining his Shadow Ants, he knew no spells at all—and the spirit beast could not even be brought into this mysterious space.

Yet the black-robed old man could never have imagined that Lu Xiaotian had not only learned spells, but had also prepared over a hundred spirit talismans specifically for him.

Activating a spirit talisman required only a trace of spiritual power and no extensive preparation. That was why the black-robed old man had been caught completely off guard.

The black-robed old man's Primordial Spirit was likewise numbed all over by the remaining lightning force. Though it was not fatal, his movements had already been slowed.

Boom! A Fireball Technique exploded nearby. The black-robed old man's earthen shield had only condensed halfway before it was blasted apart, and his Primordial Spirit screamed as it flew backward several yards.

"Water Arrow Talisman!"

"Gold Spear Talisman!"

"Earth Spear Talisman!"

Seeing that his ambush had succeeded, Lu Xiaotian immediately beat the dog that had fallen into the water, activating talisman after talisman.

Besieged by so many basic talismans, the black-robed old man was hard pressed to cope, desperately defending himself while feeling incomparably aggrieved. If only he had his artifact flying sword, he could have ended Lu Xiaotian with one slash. Or if he had that defensive umbrella spirit artifact, he could have remained entirely unharmed. What angered him even more was that Lu Xiaotian was not only attacking him with spirit talismans, but also flinging several at the curtains of fire from time to time. The black-robed old man was instantly terrified. If Lu Xiaotian broke through the spirit-fire prison he had arranged, then once the mist seeped in and formed that endlessly replenishing defensive mist shield, he would truly be left without the slightest hope.