Flying Dagger Magic Tool

He walked slowly through the streets of the black market. Though his eyes saw nothing but people, not a single sound reached his ears.

It was like a silent ghost realm.

Lin Changheng's gaze swept over the stalls on either side. The vendors all kept their faces hidden, eyes fixed on their own noses, noses fixed on their hearts. They did not hawk their wares, nor did they look around; they simply stared at their own stalls, waiting for customers to come to them.

Talisman papers, medicinal pills, poisons, venomous insects, mineral materials, ancient manuals of cultivation...

There was nothing they didn't have; one could only fail to imagine it.

Some items were still caked in fresh soil, as if just dug up from an old grave; others were even stained with specks of blood that had barely dried.

Hiss...

Lin Changheng's eyelids twitched repeatedly. The cultivation world was truly fraught with danger, and the black market was indeed brazen!

This was clearly the aftermath of a recent murder-robbery—they hadn't even bothered to clean the items properly before bringing them to the stall to sell?

He secretly told himself that he should visit such a place as little as possible.

His gaze swept seemingly inadvertently over the black-robed vendor behind the stall and the dark skin exposed beneath the sleeves, and a classic evaluation from his past life couldn't help but surface in his mind.

"You may doubt his character, but you cannot doubt his merchandise."

Thinking this, his pace quickened. Not long after passing that stall, he stopped once more.

The stall before him held various sundries, but they were mostly old items.

Among them, a dark gray low-grade flying knife dharma treasure caught Lin Changheng's attention.

Although it bore many signs of use, one could tell that its quality had not suffered significant wear or damage.

Moreover, a wooden sign stood next to the stall, inscribed with the words: "Personal items for trade, absolutely no risk."

"Heh..."

Lin Changheng glanced at the vendor, who was also wrapped entirely in a wide gray robe, and did not believe a word on the sign.

However, this flying knife was a style common throughout the cultivation world and bore no distinct markings; even if it had been obtained through murder and robbery, there would be no harm in buying it.

After a rapid turn of thought, Lin Changheng made his decision. He squatted down, picked up the flying knife to inspect it, and said in a very low voice, "How much for this flying knife?"

The vendor finally looked up, glanced at him, and quoted a price in an equally low voice, "Sixty low-grade spirit stones."

"Fellow Daoist, do you take me for a three-year-old child? For that price, I could buy a brand-new low-grade dharma treasure in the market."

Lin Changheng smiled faintly, calling his bluff.

"Heh heh, Fellow Daoist is a connoisseur. Then let's speak plainly: fifty spirit stones, and it's yours. Take it, take it!"

"Fellow Daoist, look here. There are too many signs of use on this knife. After long periods of combat, it might just break. I can offer forty at most."

Lin Changheng continued to pick at flaws, forcefully finding reasons to drive the price down.

"Forty is too low, too low. It won't do, it won't do."

The vendor refused in a low voice, shaking his head repeatedly.

"My apologies."

With a polite word, Lin Changheng sighed and turned to leave.

"Fellow Daoist, wait! Wait! Fine, as you said, take it."

Seeing that the customer truly intended to leave and had no plans to turn back, the vendor hurriedly called out.

Lin Changheng took his time pulling out a cloth bag, counted the contents, and handed the bag over.

"Not bad."

After the vendor confirmed the count was correct and saw Lin Changheng take the flying knife and stow it away, he said mournfully, "This [Wandering Bee Blade] has been with me for many years. Fellow Daoist, please treat it well. If not for my dire straits, why would I ever sell it..."

The corner of Lin Changheng's mouth twitched. He didn't reply, having already turned and vanished into the crowd.

He wandered for a while longer, but finding nothing else worth purchasing, he simply returned to the original spot to wait for Su Shuangjiang.

He was quite satisfied with the harvest of this trip; being able to buy a low-grade dharma treasure that had only slightly lost its quality for forty spirit stones was a bargain.

Although he still had over a hundred spirit stones lying quietly in his storage bag, where in the cultivation world did one not need to spend money? Especially regarding monster beast essence blood—that was a bottomless pit. If not for his alchemy skills supporting him, he likely would have been unable to continue long ago.

Therefore, he saved where he could.

However, in terms of controlling dharma treasures, whether in spirit sense or dharma power, a Qi Refining early-stage cultivator could only support the control of one low-grade dharma treasure.

At the mid-stage of Qi Refining, one could control at most two low-grade dharma treasures simultaneously, or one mid-grade dharma treasure.

Any more, and it would be a case of a clever housewife unable to cook without rice; instead, each item would be poorly controlled, and his meridians and spirit sense might even suffer for it.

Before long, the two reunited and exited the market.

Walking side by side, a faint fragrance filled the air.

Throughout the journey, Lin Changheng remained exceptionally vigilant, his right hand hanging beneath his robe, ready to form seals and cast spells at any moment. According to the tropes of the novels from his past life, there was a high probability of being followed by rogue cultivators after leaving the black market.

The atmosphere was heavy. Su Shuangjiang was subtly influenced by him, her delicate body involuntarily tensing up, her hand quietly gripping her own mid-grade dharma treasure.

"Eh, there isn't one?"

It was not until they had passed through the market gates without incident that Lin Changheng finally began to relax his tense posture.

He couldn't help but feel that having a neighbor at the middle stage of Qi Refining walking alongside him was truly a blessing; it made things much safer.

Just then, he turned his head, only to find his gaze locking directly with Su Shuangjiang's beautiful peach-blossom eyes, which had already been fixed upon him.

Lin Changheng spread his hands, signaling that he had been overly nervous.

Seeing this, Su Shuangjiang's red lips curled upward, a hint of mischievous amusement flashing in her eyes. She glanced at the pedestrians on either side before leaning close to his ear and whispering, "Brother Lin, your appearance, as if you see a soldier in every tree and a ghost in every bush, makes you look just like a rogue cultivator who has just returned from robbing the black market~"

At the same time, her fingertips flicked, and that mid-grade magical tool nimbly vanished into her sleeve, leaving only a faint, cold glimmer in its wake.

Teased by her, the tips of Lin Changheng's ears grew warm, yet he was not annoyed. Instead, he laughed along with her, saying, "Fairy Su is right. It seems I have read too many storybooks, and ended up frightening myself."

The latter immediately covered her mouth and chuckled.

The sound was like a bell ringing in his ears.

Lin Changheng felt as if he could see the female cultivator's charming, smiling face through her veil.

After the two parted ways, Lin Changheng immediately began refining the Wandering Bee Blade, wiping away the residual marks of its previous owner and imprinting his own mana onto the magical tool.

Half an hour later.

He let out a long breath, and with a hint of excitement, he manipulated the Wandering Bee Blade to fly back and forth across the room, rising and falling in lethal strikes.

"Whew, so this is a magical tool used for combat? The methods of the immortals! My very own magical tool!"

After playing with the controls for a long time, Lin Changheng felt his mana consumption was becoming too great, so he slowly brought it to a halt.

"It is said that only third-tier magical treasures can be taken into the body, becoming one with the cultivator's mind and spirit to be nurtured day and night. First-tier magical tools can only be kept in a storage bag..."

Unconsciously, he manipulated the Wandering Bee Blade to dart in and out of his storage bag.

Lin Changheng became increasingly adept, his proficiency growing deeper; when the time came, he could instantly unleash it against an enemy, surely sending them reeling in defeat.

That morning, a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining and three cultivators at the middle stage of Qi Refining suddenly arrived at the Xu Family alchemy shop.

They were all people sent from the clan.

Master Mo immediately summoned Lin Changheng and Shopkeeper Xu Qianyou, and the seven of them discussed the details face-to-face, deciding to depart at noon.

In truth, everyone had been prepared for a long time, and they had already packed most of their important belongings.

They were ready to set off at any moment.