Qi Refining Level Eight!

The next day, Li Qingshan began his work at Qingyang Market.

He still rose at dawn, first taking a leisurely stroll through the market to collect items left in the waste bins outside various shops and loading them onto a dilapidated flatbed cart.

The dregs from the alchemy shop, the scraps of talisman paper and failed drawings from the talisman shop, the metal shavings and cooling slag from the smithy... the variety was far richer than at the Hall of Discarded Treasures.

He pulled the cart, which creaked and groaned as he returned to the small courtyard at the east end, and began his "sorting."

His movements remained sluggish, yet his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's.

Under the guise of cleaning and dumping, his divine sense swept silently over every piece of trash.

There was indeed a harvest!

Although most of it was completely useless waste, he would occasionally discover half-drawn talismans with lingering spiritual energy, scraps of ore containing faint traces of spirit, or even, within the alchemy shop's dregs, one or two low-quality waste pills that had almost dissolved but were still barely intact!

To others, these things were no different from garbage, but in the eyes of Li Qingshan, they were potential treasures!

He carefully picked out these "valuable" scraps, hiding them in the cart's lining or his sleeves to bring back to his stone house.

As for the truly useless items, he tossed them into a deep pit and cast the Fireball Technique to incinerate them completely, leaving them clean and odorless.

In his spare time, he also fulfilled his duties as a steward, collecting spirit stones each month to purchase spirit rice, ordinary meat, and produce; the five disciples had no specific demands, satisfied with simple sustenance, which made things easy.

Time flew by, and a month passed.

Li Qingshan gradually grew familiar with the market's environment and took time to visit the few shops available. Using the spirit stones previously given to him by Ye Lingshuang and Zhou Taoyao, he purchased some of the lowest-quality pills and a few ordinary cleaning and light-body talismans as a cover.

Most of the time, he kept his stone door tightly shut, immersing himself in cultivation.

The spiritual energy in Qingyang Market was slightly better than at the Hall of Discarded Treasures, though still limited.

However, Li Qingshan possessed the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd, so he lacked no resources for cultivation.

Those scraps of talismans, waste pills, and material remnants he had salvaged were all renewed after a night of nourishment within the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd!

The ruined talismans became complete, brimming with spiritual energy and possessing power far greater than before.

The waste pills transformed into top-tier spirit pills, emitting a fragrant aroma.

Even the ore scraps saw their quality increase significantly; while they were of little direct use to him, they could be sold for a fair amount of spirit stones.

With the constant supply of these top-tier pills, his cultivation of the Longevity Technique progressed steadily.

Thus, Li Qingshan continued his routine of working and practicing the Longevity Technique.

Spring departed and autumn arrived, with cold and heat alternating.

Li Qingshan was like an invisible man in Qingyang Market, repeating the daily tasks of collecting trash, burning it, and delivering meals, keeping such a low profile that people almost forgot he existed.

The five outer sect disciples had long since grown accustomed to this taciturn and dutiful "old steward," never asking a single extra question.

Inside the stone house, Li Qingshan's aura grew increasingly profound.

Supported by a massive quantity of top-tier pills, his cultivation rose steadily, and his Longevity mana became ever more pure and robust.

On this day, the emerald-green vortex within his dantian suddenly spun rapidly, its volume expanding once more as his mana surged like a tidal wave, crashing against the barrier of the eighth level of Qi Refining!

Boom!

The bottleneck shattered at the impact!

A powerful spiritual pressure instantly filled the stone house, only to be firmly locked away by the Turtle Breath Technique, which he had been running to its limit, preventing even a sliver from leaking out.

Li Qingshan slowly opened his eyes, green light swirling within them like deep pools. He felt the surging, unprecedentedly vast mana within his body and a satisfied curve touched his lips.

Eighth level of Qi Refining!

A year of bitter cultivation, and success had come naturally!

At this moment, the density of the mana in his dantian was approaching that of a cultivator at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining! The heaven-defying nature of the Longevity Technique was displayed to the fullest.

At the same time, the Fire Arrow Technique and Flying Rainbow Technique he had long been practicing also broke through, reaching total mastery thanks to the breakthrough!

With a flick of his mind, a wisp of crimson flame danced at his fingertip, instantly condensing into dozens of foot-long fire arrows. They were solid, searingly hot, and their tips glinted with a heart-stopping sharpness, their power far exceeding his previous Fireball Technique.

His figure flashed, and several afterimages seemed to appear in the room; his speed far surpassed that of an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator using a flying artifact!

"Finally, it is done!"

Li Qingshan whispered to himself, feeling his own formidable strength, and an unprecedented sense of confidence welled up within him.

More importantly, there was the vitality surging through his body.

Before he had begun this cultivation, Li Qingshan had vaguely sensed that he had only a few years of lifespan remaining.

But now, vast vitality flowed through him, and he felt as if he were a young man in his twenties or thirties.

Although he deliberately disguised himself, maintaining his head of white hair, his skin was incredibly firm, his muscles defined, and his entire body was filled with a sense of immense power.

When Li Qingshan looked down that morning, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his "little brother," which had been dormant for many years, was standing tall.

The changes brought about by the cultivation of the Longevity Technique could truly be called a rebirth.

"The limit of the Qi Refining realm is one hundred and forty years of life. Since I practice the Longevity Technique and have gained a sixty-year extension, does that not mean I have two hundred years of life?

I am one hundred and three years old, with over ninety years left. As long as I break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, my lifespan will surge once again!"

Li Qingshan's eyes shone with a brilliant glint, his heart filled with secret anticipation.

Cultivation is truly worth striving for.

"Although my cultivation level has improved significantly, my offensive and defensive means are still too singular. It is time to practice some spells!"

Li Qingshan thought to himself.

With his cultivation base elevated and his spells reaching mastery, it was time to add some means of self-preservation.

The next day, Li Qingshan asked Zhao Kun for leave, claiming he needed to purchase some daily necessities.

Zhao Kun didn't even lift his eyelids, merely waving his hand to grant the request.

Li Qingshan stepped onto the streets of Qingyang Market once again, heading purposefully toward a few specific shops.

He first went to a pill shop called "Hundred Herb Pavilion," where he purchased a few bottles of the most common low-grade healing pills and qi-recovery pills to serve as his ostensible consumables. While chatting idly with the shopkeeper, he probed for information on whether any defensive magical artifacts or special talismans were for sale.

Sure enough, he gathered quite a bit of useful information.

Afterward, he walked into the only shop in the market that sold both magical artifacts and talismans—"Gold Stone Pavilion."

The shop was not large, and the goods were mostly low-to-mid-grade first-tier items. The shopkeeper was a lean, wizened old man with a cultivation base at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Li Qingshan's gaze swept across the counter, finally landing on a palm-sized, rust-covered bronze shield. Its spiritual light was dim, suggesting it had suffered significant damage.

On the other side lay a stack of crudely drawn talismans with weak spiritual energy, mostly consisting of Water Purification Talismans and Dust Repelling Talismans.

There were also some Fireball Talismans and Golden Bell Talismans for offense and defense, but their grades were not high, mostly being low-to-mid-tier first-grade items.

Qingyang Market was a gathering place for rogue cultivators within a thousand-mile radius, but its scale was too small, totaling only about a thousand people.

Cultivators in the late stages of Qi Refining were few and far between, as most had gone to larger markets; thus, the market was mostly populated by cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi Refining.

"Shopkeeper, how much for this shield and these talismans?" Li Qingshan pointed to the most inconspicuous items and asked in a hoarse voice.

The old shopkeeper glanced at him and said lazily, "Heh, you've got a good eye. Although this Green Pattern Shield is seventy or eighty percent broken, it was once a high-grade magical artifact. Even now, it possesses the power of a low-grade magical artifact, enough to withstand a full-force strike from a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator!

If you want it, take it for twenty spirit stones. As for these spirit talismans, the low-grade first-tier ones are one spirit stone each, and the mid-grade first-tier ones are three spirit stones each!"