Qi Refining Layer 8, dual-attribute Supreme Spiritual Root, miscellaneous magical instruments, no usable spells.
Jiang Liu was already well aware of his own shortcomings: his cultivation realm was high and his spirit root was present, but he lacked any badass magical instruments and possessed no water- or gold-attribute spells.
This meant he was currently nothing more than a hollow, paper tiger; even clearing story content with flashy, superficial fists and kicks was a struggle, let alone trying to challenge opponents of a higher tier. Not getting beaten by lower-tier opponents was about the best he could hope for.
Therefore, his most important task right now was to patch up his weaknesses.
That was where the trouble began.
His advantage lay within the game, yet the game did not currently sell powerful magical instruments or potent spells; everything relied entirely on drawing them through luck.
Were these things you could just draw whenever you wanted?
If he desired powerful magical instruments and usable spells, he had no choice but to buy them online.
This was his disadvantage—he could not splash out massive amounts of spirit stones and had to rely solely on bartering.
What on earth did he even have that he could pull out and trade?
Jiang Liu opened his inventory. Inside sat four magical instruments, all of which he had just drawn.
A guaranteed pull cost a little over a thousand spirit stones, and the official price for a high-grade magical instrument was three thousand spirit stones. In other words, whenever a high-grade magical instrument dropped, he turned a profit.
[Stone Spirit Crown]: Low-grade magical instrument, reduces and mitigates soul damage below Qi Cultivation Layer 5.
[Black Tiger Saber]: Low-grade magical instrument, bloodthirsty and homicidal, possesses an overwhelming and formidable momentum.
[Wind Swirl Banner]: Medium-grade magical instrument, whips up a gale of spiritual wind that stirs up a flurry of flying sand and stones, restricted to users with the wind spirit root.
[Body Restraint Ring]: Medium-grade magical instrument, inflicts a binding effect on cultivators whose realm is lower than the user's.
Jiang Liu: "."
Four magical instruments, and two of them were completely useless to him!
A wind spirit root?
What the hell, there was even a wind spirit root?!
Upon seeing the Wind Swirl Banner, Jiang Liu could not help the slight twitch of the corner of his mouth, instantly guessing where the wind spirit root had to be obtained from.
The limited banner!
That went without saying!
Great, just great. I haven't even finished pulling the five elements spirit roots, and now a wind spirit root pops out of nowhere. This game is so much fun.
Jiang Liu laughed out of sheer exasperation. He had previously considered whether limited banners would exist and what they might contain.
Well, now it was all out in the open—special spirit roots.
He did not care; after all, he was playing the 0.1-discount welfare version of Cultivation Era. He could pull on the limited banner as much as he liked. Was he supposed to chop up a supreme spiritual root into corpses or something?
Not caring was one thing, but thinking about it still pissed him off.
The five elements spirit roots weren't enough to play with, so a special spirit root had to burst out too.
Real-world cultivation world relied on luck, and anyone born with a supreme spiritual root was a child of great fortune.
Fake cultivation world relied on pay-to-win. What the hell did five elements or special spirit roots matter? Whoever had money was the child of great fortune.
These two, the Black Tiger Saber and the Wind Swirl Banner, can definitely be taken out to trade.
Jiang Liu thought to himself secretly. One low-grade magical instrument and one medium-grade magical instrument should be enough to swap for two water- and gold-attribute spells.
After first equipping the Stone Spirit Crown and the Body Restraint Ring, he opened the equipment interface and took a look.
The magical instruments he currently wore included eight items: the Sunrise Sword, the Elf Magic Robe, the Spirit Rhinoceros Pendant, the Spirit Communication Jade, the Stone Spirit Crown, the Body Restraint Ring, the Soaring Cloud Wings, and the Flowing Fish Garment.
He wouldn't have known if he hadn't looked, but the sight genuinely startled even himself.
Eight magical instruments, and that even included wings and a fashion outfit!
Holy... which Qi Refining stage cultivator wears eight magical instruments? Even disciples of major factions in the cultivation world are probably no better than this, right?
I was still worried about getting beaten to a pulp when the arena opened, but looking at it now, I was truly worrying for nothing.
Jiang Liu gazed at the glowing equipment worn by his paper-doll avatar and involuntarily let go of his worries.
This was the power of pay-to-win—it brought peace of mind.
A full set of eight magical instruments meant he could stand there and let others hit him, and they might not even break through his defense.
Although the descriptions of the magical instruments did not display health bars, mana bars, attack power, defense, strength, speed, or anything of the sort, there was no doubt those attributes existed.
Just like the Elf Magic Robe he wore; an ordinary person wielding a broadsword or long sword might not even be able to pierce through it. That was hidden defense right there.
He just wondered if it could withstand a pistol.
Even though the magical instruments are a mixed bag, I can't argue with sheer quantity. I can safely ignore this shortcoming.
Thinking this, Jiang Liu switched out of Cultivation Era, took out his phone, and opened Taobao.
Inside the Taobao app, a separate section had already been created specifically for Cultivation Era. With a gentle tap, the secondary page for Cultivation Era popped up.
Upon entering the eye, it was further divided into four tertiary pages: [District 1], [District 2], [District 3], and [District 4].
Driven by curiosity, Jiang Liu tapped into [District 1].
The top recommended merchant in District 1 was the Tongyuan Treasure Pavilion—a very imposing name. To be top-recommended by Taobao, it naturally had to have its extraordinary aspects.
He tapped into the shop of the Tongyuan Treasure Pavilion, and a dark-golden grand halberd graphic popped up.
[Melancholy Soul Halberd]: Medium-grade spirit artifact, ranked 45th on the District 1 Divine Weapon Ranking, peerless in offense and conquest, capable of severing souls, priced at 2.98 million spirit stones.
[Remarks]: The ultimate big halberd every man loves! Has soul damage, pierces the body, the Nascent Soul stage is coming soon, this halberd can injure Nascent Souls! Willing to trade for blades, details can be discussed!
Jiang Liu: "."
A medium-grade spirit artifact! 45th on the Divine Weapon Ranking! Three million spirit stones!
Jiang Liu was dazzled blind and hurriedly retreated. He couldn't look anymore; looking any longer would disrupt his mental state.
District 1 is already playing with spirit artifacts, and they're even about to have Nascent Souls.
Jiang Liu felt an indescribable envy. District 1 had opened two years early, pulling an enormous distance between them; even if he wanted to catch up, he couldn't.
Even cultivation had to be divided into server districts.
When playing games, the most aggravating thing was when server opening times were out of synchronization. If the districts weren't merged, it would still be fine; players within the same district would all be at the same starting line, each district playing its own game.
But the problem was, was server merging even possible?
Without server merges, how could they instigate epic battles between mega-whales from all the districts?
Server merges in games were completely normal, but damn it, Cultivation Era was different.
People were cultivating in reality, too!
If the game didn't merge servers, District 1 would never run into District 4.
Reality, however, was different. There were no regional boundaries restricting movement; Golden Core Big Shots strolled all over the country, and could casually fly over to their city to hang out and flex their power over the little Qi Refining scum.
Not to mention whether Golden Core Big Shots had any self-cultivation or whatever—they were all gamers at heart, and who didn't like showing off?
If it were him, he would also love to go show off in the later districts. It was only human nature.
The reason high-realm cultivators hadn't been seen crossing districts to show off in reality was probably because of some government restrictions. Otherwise, the various districts in reality would have probably fallen into chaos long ago.
Two years, and the Nascent Soul hasn't appeared yet. It's fine.
Jiang Liu muttered to himself. This gap wasn't considered all that big; he would reach Foundation Establishment in just two days, and after Foundation Establishment came Golden Core and Nascent Soul—that was merely a gap of two major realms.
Even a Nascent Soul was nothing more than a starting point on the path of cultivation; he was still a long way from ascending and becoming an immortal.
He had seen whales in later districts beating up whales in earlier districts in other games before; what it all boiled down to was simply resources.
With the 0.1-discount welfare version in hand, storming the leaderboards of his own district would be an absolute breeze, and his ultimate goal still had to be beating up those big shots from the early districts!
I'm getting cocky, getting cocky. Did seeing a spirit artifact make me lose my head or something?
Jiang Liu silently lowered his inflated heart back down, cast one deep look at the dazzling array of mystic and spirit artifacts within the Tongyuan Treasure Pavilion, directly exited, and transferred over to the merchants in [District 4].
This was where his actual needs lay right now.
Before you continue