Flying Dagger Magical Artifact

He walked slowly along the black market streets. His eyes saw people everywhere, yet not the slightest sound came forth.

It was like a silent ghost domain.

Lin Changheng's gaze swept over the stalls on either side. Every vendor had concealed their face, their eyes watching their noses, their noses watching their hearts. None called out to hawk their wares, nor did they look around. They merely stared at their own stalls, waiting for customers to come knocking.

Talismans, pills, poisons, venomous insects, ores and spirit materials, old cultivation manuals...

If one could think of it, there was nothing the stalls did not have.

Some items still carried fresh soil, as though they had just been dug out of old graves. Others were even speckled with blood that had only just dried.

Hiss...

Lin Changheng's eyelids twitched wildly. The cultivation world truly was fraught with dangers at every turn, and the black market truly was brazen beyond measure!

These were clearly spoils seized from someone killed not long ago. They had not even been properly cleaned before being put up for sale?

He secretly resolved that he ought to visit places like this less often.

His gaze seemed to casually pass over the black-robed vendor behind the stall and the dark skin revealed beneath the vendor's sleeve. An old classic remark from his previous life surfaced in his mind.

"You can question his character, but you cannot question his goods."

Though he thought this, his feet moved noticeably faster. Not long after passing that stall, he stopped again.

This stall before him displayed all manner of miscellaneous items, though nearly all of them were old.

Among them, a dark gray low-grade flying dagger magical artifact caught Lin Changheng's attention.

Though it bore many signs of use, its quality had not suffered much wear or loss.

A wooden sign stood beside the stall as well, bearing the words: "Personal replacement, absolutely no risk."

"Heh..."

Lin Changheng glanced at the vendor, who was likewise wrapped head to toe in a loose gray robe, and did not believe the words on the sign.

Still, this flying dagger magical artifact was a common style seen everywhere in the cultivation world, and it bore no obvious markings. Even if it had been acquired through murder and robbery, there would be no harm in buying it.

After his thoughts turned swiftly, Lin Changheng made his decision. He crouched down, picked up the flying dagger magical artifact for a brief inspection, then asked in a very low voice, "How much for this flying dagger magical artifact?"

Only then did the vendor raise his head and glance at him, quoting a price in an equally low voice. "Sixty low-grade spirit stones."

"Does Fellow Daoist take me for a three-year-old child? At that price, I could buy a brand-new low-grade magical artifact in the market district."

Lin Changheng smiled faintly and exposed the price for what it was.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist knows the market too. Then let us not beat around the bush. Fifty spirit stones, and Fellow Daoist can take it, take it!"

"Please look, Fellow Daoist. This flying dagger has been used far too heavily. After prolonged combat, it might break. I can offer at most forty."

Lin Changheng continued picking faults, forcibly finding reasons to drive down the price.

"Forty is too low, too low. No, no."

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

"Sorry for the trouble."

After apologizing, Lin Changheng sighed and turned to leave.

"Fellow Daoist, wait! Wait! We'll do as you say. Take it away."

Seeing that the customer truly meant to leave without any intention of turning back, the vendor hurriedly called after him.

Only then did Lin Changheng unhurriedly take out a cloth pouch. He counted through its contents, then handed over the pouch along with the spirit stones.

"Correct."

After the vendor finished counting and found no mistake, he watched Lin Changheng take the flying dagger and put it away. At once, he said mournfully, "This Wandering Bee Blade has followed me for many years. Fellow Daoist must treat it well. If my funds were not so tight, why would I ever sell it..."

Lin Changheng's mouth twitched. He did not respond, merely turning and slipping into the crowd, where he vanished.

After wandering for a while longer, he found no other magical artifacts worth acquiring and simply returned to the original spot to wait for Su Shuangjiang.

Yet he was quite satisfied with the gains from this trip. Being able to buy a low-grade magical artifact with only minor loss in quality for forty spirit stones counted as a bargain.

Though over a hundred spirit stones still lay quietly in his storage pouch, what part of cultivation did not require money? Demon beast essence blood in particular was a bottomless money pit. If not for alchemy supporting him, he likely would have been unable to keep going long ago.

Therefore, he saved wherever he could.

However, when it came to controlling magical artifacts, whether in divine sense or spiritual power, the Qi Refining Realm's early stage could only support the control of one low-grade magical artifact.

At the Qi Refining Middle Stage, one could control at most two low-grade magical artifacts at the same time, or one mid-grade magical artifact.

Any more than that, and even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice. Instead, none of the artifacts could be properly controlled, and one might even injure one's meridians and divine sense in return.

Not long afterward, the two met up and left the market district.

They walked side by side, a faint fragrance filling his nose.

Throughout the journey, Lin Changheng remained exceptionally vigilant. His right hand hung beneath his robe sleeve, ready to form hand seals and cast a spell at any moment. According to the tropes from novels in his previous life, there was a very high chance that robbery cultivators would tail them after they returned from the black market.

The atmosphere was heavy. Unseen, Su Shuangjiang was affected by him, and her delicate body unconsciously tensed slightly as she quietly gripped her mid-grade magical artifact.

"Huh, there really wasn't anyone?"

Only after they entered the gates of the market district without incident did Lin Changheng begin to relax from his taut state.

He could not help sighing that having a neighbor at the Qi Refining Middle Stage walking alongside him really was rather nice. It was much safer.

Then, when he turned his eyes, they met Su Shuangjiang's peach-blossom eyes, which had already been watching him.

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

Seeing this, Su Shuangjiang's red lips curled faintly. A teasing smile flashed through her eyes. She glanced at the passersby on either side, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Brother Lin, looking so jumpy at every rustle of grass and trees, you seem more like a robbery cultivator who has just returned from robbing the black market~"

At the same time, her fingertips flicked, and that mid-grade magical artifact deftly slipped into her sleeve, leaving only a faint afterglow of cold light.

Teased by her, Lin Changheng's ears warmed slightly, but he was not annoyed. Instead, he followed her words with a smile. "Fairy Su is right. It seems I have read too many storybooks and ended up scaring myself."

She immediately covered her mouth and giggled.

It rang in his ears like bells.

Lin Changheng seemed able to see the female cultivator's charming smile even through her veiled hat.

After the two parted ways, Lin Changheng immediately began refining the Wandering Bee Blade. He erased the former owner's lingering imprint and branded the magical artifact anew with his own spiritual power.

Half an hour later.

He finally let out a long breath, faint excitement in his expression as he controlled the Wandering Bee Blade to dart back and forth through the room, rising and falling as it slashed.

"Hah, so this is a magical artifact used for combat? An immortal's method! My magical artifact!"

After playing with it for a long while, Lin Changheng finally slowed to a stop when he felt that he had consumed too much spiritual power.

"It is said that only third-grade magic treasures can be absorbed into the body, linked to a cultivator's heart and mind, and nurtured day and night. First-grade magical artifacts can only be kept in a storage pouch..."

Absentmindedly controlling the Wandering Bee Blade as it entered and exited his storage pouch,

Lin Changheng grew increasingly adept. As his skill deepened, he would be able to activate it in an instant when needed to face an enemy, surely sending them tumbling head over heels.

That morning, one Qi Refining eighth-layer cultivator and three Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivators suddenly arrived at the Xu Family Alchemy Shop.

They were all members of the clan.

Master Mo immediately summoned Lin Changheng and Shopkeeper Xu Qianyou. The seven of them discussed matters carefully face-to-face and decided to leave at noon.

In truth, everyone had long been prepared and had already packed up most of their important belongings.

They could set out at any time.