Ding Family Shop VIP Room.
"I hope you'll increase your purchases of Spring Return Talismans?"
Hearing Shopkeeper Ding's request, Shen Xuan fell into thought.
He didn't mind selling ordinary Spring Return Talismans.
As for the high-grade Spring Return Talismans, aside from the ones he kept for himself, he had deliberately saved them for Zhao Chunsheng to sell.
That would not only conceal his Talisman Crafting skill, but also let him put Zhao Chunsheng to work for him.
After all, having a Late Qi Refining Stage Monster Hunter on his side could spare him plenty of trouble.
"Talisman Master Shen, for the sake of our forty-odd years of friendship, please help me out."
Shopkeeper Ding put on a smile. "I can count each high-grade one as two ordinary ones. With your skill, you can surely make a dozen or more each month."
"This is the Clan Elder's decision. If I don't bring back any high-grade Spring Return Talismans, I won't be able to explain myself to the Clan Elder."
Shopkeeper Ding looked utterly helpless.
Hearing his request, Shen Xuan grew wary.
A Mid-grade Talisman Master was a money tree.
Shen Xuan bought Talisman Crafting materials and sold Spirit Talismans at Qinglong Bay Market.
The Ding Family made dozens of spirit stones from him every month.
Forcing him to sell high-grade Spring Return Talismans was tantamount to squeezing him harder.
As for the fact that he had married a Ding Family Mortal Woman—
Ha. She was just a mortal woman. Why would the Ding Family care about her?
Shen Xuan pondered for a while.
In the end, he still agreed to sell Shopkeeper Ding ten more high-grade Spring Return Talismans each month.
However,
the moment Shen Xuan returned home, he heard some bad news.
"Daoist Zhao is going to enlist for the wilderness reclamation labor?"
"I have no choice. If I don't go, the Substitute Labor Tax is forty spirit stones!"
Zhao Chunsheng said helplessly.
The Substitute Labor Tax for Qinglong Bay cultivators was determined by their Cultivation Realm.
Six spirit stones for the Early Qi Refining Stage, fifteen for the Mid Qi Refining Stage, and forty for the Late Qi Refining Stage!
The higher one's Cultivation Realm, the more likely one was to be drafted for labor, and the higher the Substitute Labor Tax.
"This is the last batch of Mantis Shrimp. If you still want to buy Spirit Fish and Demon Shrimp or have me sell Spirit Talismans for you, you'll have to wait until I get back from wilderness reclamation."
"No problem."
After seeing Zhao Chunsheng off, Shen Xuan gazed at the Mantis Shrimp in his Fishing Bag, his heart heavy.
For some reason, he had a vague sense of foreboding, as if something bad was about to happen.
He had married a Ding Family Mortal Woman.
According to their agreement, he wasn't supposed to be called up for labor.
Even so, he still felt uneasy.
Inside the practice room,
the Mysterious Jade Talisman withdrew its golden light.
Every Mantis Shrimp in the Fishing Bag had flipped belly-up.
[Talent: Critical Hit Novice (2/100)] [Dao Rhyme: 72] [Spiritual Root: Water 16/100]
This time, it had taken Shen Xuan only half a year to seize the Mantis Shrimp's Critical Strike talent.
Shen Xuan closed his eyes and slowly sensed the Mantis Shrimp's life experiences.
There were many First-Order Middle Grade water-attribute Monster Beasts, and they were plentiful and cheap, but few had special talents.
Fortunately, Qinglong Bay Market was built along the Longze River, so there was a plentiful supply of cheap Spirit Fish and Demon Shrimp.
Shen Xuan had chosen the Mantis Shrimp for its unique Bloodline Talent.
The Mantis Shrimp had a pair of powerful raptorial appendages. Folded up, they could smash armor like heavy hammers; extended, they could pierce through it like sharp awls.
When attacking prey, it could shoot out its appendages in one-hundredth of a second, at several times the speed of a handgun bullet. The tremendous heat produced by the instant friction could even make the surrounding water crackle with sparks. Its striking power was ferocious.
And all of this happened underwater!
Just imagine: if Shen Xuan used his Water Condensation Edge Shaping Art with the Water Control talent boosting it, then added the Mantis Shrimp's Critical Strike talent, its power would surge. He could easily inflict serious injuries on Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators.
As long as he trained diligently, he could raise his Critical Strike talent's points.
Shen Xuan put all seventy-two points of Dao Rhyme into his Self-Healing Talent.
[Talent: Self-Healing Proficient (39/200)]
His Water Spirit Root had reached sixteen points. It was time to break through to Qi Refining Level 5.
He had sensed an opportunity to break through some time ago.
He had only held back for a few days so he could improve his Water Spirit Root Aptitude.
He tried circulating the Divine Treasure Canghai Technique. His spiritual power flowed more smoothly through his meridians.
"Sure enough, Spiritual Root Aptitude determines the limits of cultivation."
As long as he continued to improve his Spiritual Root, Shen Xuan could keep breaking through the limits of his Cultivation Realm.
"It's time to break through!"
Shen Xuan stopped thinking and activated the Spirit Gathering Array.
He sat cross-legged, focused his mind, circulated his spiritual power, and began breaking through to Qi Refining Level 5.
As the Divine Treasure Canghai Technique circulated, the spiritual power in his body completed several cycles and gradually accelerated. Guided by his Divine Sense, it surged forward with mounting force, its momentum growing ever more imposing.
His spiritual power was like a vast sea, boundless and mighty, flowing along every meridian and spreading throughout his body.
It left Shen Xuan brimming with energy, like a bowstring pulled taut.
When he felt he had reached the critical point, Shen Xuan crushed the two spirit stones in his hand.
Pure spiritual energy flowed from his palm into his dantian. Like oil poured onto a fire, it instantly grew violent, filling his meridians.
Time passed, little by little.
Two hours later,
Shen Xuan, who had been building up his strength for a long time, seized his chance and broke through the bottleneck in one go.
His aura surged once more.
Shen Xuan slowly opened his eyes, joy filling them.
He had broken through to Qi Refining Level 5!
It had been easier than he expected.
No wonder a Water Spirit Root with a perception of sixteen points was so impressive!
His meridians were completely unharmed.
His Spiritual Sense and spiritual power had both increased by a full twenty percent!
"I'm sixty-five now. It took me four years to break through one level. That wasn't easy!"
And that was with Shen Xuan buying a Spirit Gathering Array in recent years and feeding it spirit stones every day.
Otherwise, he would have had to wait another two years to break through to Qi Refining Level 5.
Fortunately, after his Water Spirit Root's perception rose to sixteen points, he only needed two spirit stones to break through this minor bottleneck. Everything had fallen into place.
[Lifespan: 65/115] [Technique: Divine Treasure Canghai Technique Proficient (132/400)] [Realm: Qi Refining Level 5: 1/100]
His Lifespan had increased by three years.
The Divine Treasure Canghai Technique was still at the Mastery Stage.
It seemed he would have to wait until he broke through to the Late Qi Refining Stage to raise it to Minor Mastery.
[Breath Concealment Technique]!
Shen Xuan concealed his aura, disguising himself as a Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator.
In the days that followed, Shen Xuan worked hard at making Spring Return Talismans to earn spirit stones.
Two months later, he had saved up a hundred spirit stones again.
Without hesitation, Shen Xuan went straight to Shopkeeper Ding and picked out a Mid-grade Magic Artifact.
A pair of Water-Splitting Emei Daggers.
They were a foot long, thick in the middle and pointed at both ends.
Their tips were flat and diamond-shaped, each ending in a sharp point.
A ring in the middle could be slipped over his middle finger, allowing him to spin them freely.
The artifact had been forged from Xuanbing Cold Iron and was suitable for fighting underwater or at night.
Shen Xuan tried them out.
When he channeled his full power into them, the Water-Splitting Emei Daggers felt like extensions of his body, moving as readily as his own arms.
The spiritual power of the Divine Treasure Canghai Technique flowed through the daggers without the slightest resistance.
These Water-Splitting Emei Daggers were a Water-Attribute Magic Artifact, perfectly suited to Shen Xuan.
After some bargaining,
Shen Xuan finally bought the Mid-grade Magic Artifact from Shopkeeper Ding for forty spirit stones.
Late that night,
in the Longze River,
a hundred zhang below the surface, in the pitch-black depths of the riverbed,
lay the very bottom of the Longze River, cold and sunless, steeped in utter silence.
The all-pervading pressure of the water would have sent ordinary cultivators fleeing.
But at that moment,
the stillness was shattered.
Shen Xuan shot forward, a faint blue spiritual glow emanating from his body.
It was the Water Control talent he had seized from the Green Feather Fish.
Even in the depths of the river, he moved at forty meters per second.
Ahead of him,
a school of unknown Spirit Fish swam along the riverbed. Each half a foot long, they had rows of sharp, bizarre teeth, and numbered in the hundreds. Moving like an army, they hunted all kinds of creatures on the riverbed.
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