Qin Qing Seeks Help

Shen Long took the golden magic disk and channeled a strand of magic power into it, causing a line of text to appear.

"Great Wind Blade Talisman, can release dozens of wind blades at once to injure enemies, large area of effect, forty spirit stones each."

"Earth Escape Talisman, sixty spirit stones each."

"Lightning Attraction Talisman, can summon nine bolts of lightning to injure enemies, one hundred spirit stones each."

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"Beast Soul Talisman, can manifest a late-stage rank one Green Wind Tiger to attack enemies, two hundred spirit stones each."

Shen Long looked at Lin Yu and asked, "What is the difference between the beast manifested by the Beast Soul Talisman and a living spirit beast?"

"The beast manifested by the Beast Soul Talisman can only utilize part of the original creature's innate abilities. It is just as durable, but it will be destroyed once its energy is exhausted. It can be used multiple times."

Shen Long thought for a moment and said, "I want one Beast Soul Talisman, two Lightning Attraction Talismans, one Earth Escape Talisman, and one Great Wind Blade Talisman."

High-grade magic tools start at one thousand spirit stones, and rank two talismans start at several hundred; Shen Long simply could not afford them.

With these five talismans, Shen Long felt a bit more confident.

"Very well, fellow daoist, please sit for a moment. I will be right back."

Lin Yu stood up and left.

Not long after, she returned, took out a cyan jade box, and handed it to Shen Long.

Shen Long opened the jade box to find five talismans inside. He carefully inspected them and noticed a miniature green tiger pattern on the Beast Soul Talisman.

Shen Long put away the talismans, stood up, and left.

After exiting the Treasure Pavilion, Shen Long wandered the streets, observing whether he was being followed.

Spending five hundred spirit stones at once was the largest expenditure of his life, and his most extravagant purchase yet.

Even in his best hunts for spirit beasts, Shen Long had never earned five hundred spirit stones in one go. A single early-stage rank one Snow Wing Ice Centipede could sell for five hundred spirit stones, and rarer insects would certainly fetch a higher price.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he arrived at the Bluestone Square. As night fell, the square became even livelier, with various stall owners shouting energetically to attract customers.

He walked around, hoping to find the old man in the green robe who sold insect eggs.

He circled the area but did not see the old man in the green robe, nor did he see anyone else selling unhatched rare insect eggs.

Shen Long wandered the streets for over half an hour, and after confirming that no one was following him, he headed to the Martial Practice Garden on Thousand Bamboo Peak and entered a stone room to practice spells.

Half a day later, Shen Long walked out of the Martial Practice Garden, having restored his true appearance, and returned to his residence.

He sat cross-legged on the stone bed and took out the Spirit Control Tower, his gaze burning with intensity.

Relying on the Spirit Control Tower, he had made a small fortune. The Spirit Control Tower could hatch spirit insect eggs with weak vitality, and besides that, it likely had more functions that Shen Long had yet to discover.

"The Spirit Control Tower! If only I could join the Spirit Control Sect."

Shen Long muttered to himself.

"Cultivation is the foundation. This time was just good luck; it won't be so easy to obtain rare insect eggs again."

Shen Long put away the Spirit Control Tower, took out a cyan porcelain bottle, and poured out a cyan pill. It was round, brightly colored, and emitted a faint, fragrant scent.

Qi Nourishing Pill, two spirit stones each. Before this, Shen Long could only afford to take one Qi Nourishing Pill every so often—not because he was reluctant, but because his pockets were empty.

He now had a total of eight Qi Nourishing Pills and two hundred and sixty-seven spirit stones.

Shen Long placed the Qi Nourishing Pill into his mouth; the pill melted instantly, and a surge of spiritual energy rose in his abdomen.

He hurriedly channeled his cultivation technique, guiding this spiritual energy toward his dantian.

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In a three-story cyan pavilion, Chen Xiong sat in the main seat, with five qi-refining cultivators seated on either side.

Chen Xiong's expression was gloomy. He had expected to wipe out Xu Lei and the others, but instead, two of his own men had been killed in retaliation.

"It has been confirmed: the cultivator who killed Madam Li's younger brother is named Shen Long, a fifth-layer qi-refining cultivator. He once worked at the Craftsman Hall and is a recluse who rarely goes out."

A refined-looking young man in white robes said.

"Killing my brother is a debt that must be paid in blood. Don't let me run into him outside the market."

A plump young woman in a red dress said coldly, her face full of murderous intent.

Li Yue, a seventh-layer qi-refining cultivator and deputy leader of the hunting squad.

"Everyone go back and rest for now. Adjust yourselves, and once we find new teammates, we will head into the mountains to hunt spirit beasts again."

Chen Xiong said.

Li Yue and the others acknowledged him, stood up, and left.

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Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

In a secret room within the Martial Practice Garden, Shen Long stood before a sand pit, practicing his spells.

He chanted incantations, and a white spiritual light slowly lit up on his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, a foot-long white Ice Spike flew out and struck the yellow sand pit. The sand touched by the white Ice Spike was instantly covered in a layer of white frost.

Shen Long intended to cultivate the Ice Spike Technique to the Great Perfection stage, thinking it might prove useful at a critical moment.

The Ice Spike Technique had already been cultivated to the minor achievement stage, increasing the casting speed slightly, though it was still some distance away from being instantaneous.

Over half an hour later, the sand pit was filled with white ice spikes, the temperature in the room plummeted, and a layer of white frost appeared on the stone walls.

Shen Long's face was pale. He flicked his sleeve, and a crimson fireball flew out, smashing into the sand pit and turning all the white ice spikes into white mist.

He cast the Entanglement Technique several times, and thick green vines emerged from the sand pit.

He opened the door and walked out, only to find Qin Qing standing at the entrance.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, what a coincidence!"

Seeing Qin Qing, Shen Long greeted him with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, I have something to discuss with you. Would it be convenient to step aside and talk?"

Qin Qing said politely.

Shen Long nodded, and the two returned to the secret chamber and closed the door.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, are you well-off? Could you lend me some spirit stones? I will pay you back as soon as I earn some."

Qin Qing's face was filled with expectation.

"Lend you spirit stones? Fellow Daoist Qin, I am not well-off myself. Every time we hunt demonic beasts, the share I receive is not much."

Shen Long frowned and said.

There were many people in difficulty, and Shen Long could not help them all; he and Qin Qing were merely partners.

"I know. If I had any other way, I wouldn't have come to you. Fellow Daoist Xu and Fellow Daoist Sun are both in seclusion healing their wounds and haven't replied to my messages. I don't even have spirit stones to buy spirit rice."

Qin Qing said with a bitter smile, his face full of sorrow.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, didn't we earn some from the last hunt? It shouldn't have been spent so quickly!"

Shen Long asked in confusion.

Cultivators rarely ate mortal food; it lacked spiritual energy and was of no benefit to cultivation, and eating too much was even harmful.

"Sigh, it's all because of that kid, Tianhe."

Qin Qing let out a long sigh and recounted the sequence of events.

Every time he earned spirit stones, he would give the majority to Qin Tianhe, just in case he didn't return from a hunt, so that Qin Tianhe could sustain himself for a period of time.

After half a year of not hunting, the spirit stones in Qin Qing's hands were exhausted. When he asked Qin Tianhe for some to buy Golden Pearl Spirit Rice, Qin Tianhe couldn't produce any and stammered. Under Qin Qing's persistent questioning, Qin Tianhe finally revealed the truth.

Every time Qin Qing went out to hunt, Qin Tianhe was very worried, fearing that Qin Qing would never return. He wanted to help alleviate the pressure on Qin Qing, but he was powerless to do so.

One day, while wandering around the plaza where stalls were set up, he saw someone selling an insect egg from the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking. The seller was in urgent need of spirit stones, which was why they were selling it.

Qin Tianhe wanted to hatch the egg and then sell the larva to earn the price difference, so he spent a high price to buy the egg. However, it never hatched, and when he went to find the seller for a refund, the person was nowhere to be found, leaving him to accept his bad luck.

The fifty spirit stones for the egg were for a Snow Crystal Spider egg. The Snow Wing Ice Centipede was ranked lower than the Snow Crystal Spider, so five hundred spirit stones for a larva was quite a lot, equivalent to more than twenty years of income from the protagonist's labor.