Purchasing Spells

Every peak of the Heavenly Demon Sect had a market beneath it, used for transactions among sect disciples.

Besides ordinary disciples setting up stalls there, if one was lucky, they could also encounter inner sect disciples returning from training outside. Those people carried far more good things.

Contribution points were also graded here. Ten contribution points from a menial disciple were equivalent to one sect contribution point. It could be understood as the difference between being on the payroll and being outsourced.

Though it sounded extremely unfair, menial disciples were, in essence, merely expendable supplies for the sect—things that could be replenished at any time.

Ordinary disciples, meanwhile, were the sect's foundation. They had more to do, and thus received better treatment.

Bai Yu looked at the contribution value in his jade token. His 72 contribution points were equivalent to 7.2 sect contribution points, with the extra two points having been transferred to him by Yu Linglong.

Though that woman had not said much, she definitely had a purpose in doing this. Since he had accepted the contribution points, he might have to have a detailed talk with her tonight.

He headed straight for the market. This was his first time here. Though it was somewhat far away, the journey had gone smoothly enough.

He took out his token to verify his identity. The moment he stepped inside, waves of hawking reached his ears.

Though it was only the market of Gu Refining Peak, it had everything one could possibly want. There was even a small auction house at the very end.

The vendors shouted loudly, hawking their wares to passersby along the road.

Gu insects and Gu refinement methods were the most common. Weapons, materials, talismans, and pills were equally dazzling to the eye.

Bai Yu considered what he currently needed. With his Cutting skill, he was not short on Body Forging Pills. Ordinary weapons and talismans were useless to him, while he could not afford high-grade ones.

As for ready-made Gu insects?

He might as well buy the methods for refining Gu insects and make them himself. That way, he could also grind proficiency.

His purpose today was to find some spells that could strengthen his body or provide powerful support.

Bai Yu looked around at everything with curiosity. Nearly every item at these stalls had a price marked behind it. Some strange and bizarre objects even came with long strings of so-called descriptions.

As for whether the items truly possessed the effects claimed in those descriptions, that was impossible to know. After all, this was a demonic sect. Once money and goods changed hands, the merchant bore no responsibility, no matter how fiercely they boasted about their wares.

Bai Yu's gaze swept swiftly over the stalls. Soon, he set his sights on a spell.

"[Earth-Entering Eye]. Ordinary spell. Can observe the flow of earth veins and sense the aura of heavenly treasures. Price: 3 sect contribution points."

It was an exceedingly ordinary spell, commonplace among regular disciples of the demonic sect, but menial disciples were not allowed to claim it.

Though observing earth-vein flows and sensing the aura of heavenly treasures sounded incredibly impressive, there was a textual trap hidden within it—just how much could it actually accomplish?

An ordinary mountain was still a mountain, and a divine mountain was still a fucking mountain!

In this world, aside from the endless Heaven-Piercing River, more than half the land was encircled by mountain ranges. These mountains were shrouded year-round in strange blood mist, and rare treasures and immortal ruins were too numerous to count.

Whenever the right opportunity arose, cultivators, demons, monsters, and even ordinary commoners entered the great mountains to forage for herbs, search for treasures, and hunt precious finds.

If fortune favored them, immortal mountains might even emerge into the world. At such times, even some old monsters might take action.

Legend had it that the Heavenly Demon Sect's location had once been an immortal mountain refined by its ancestor.

Thus, trekking through the mountains was one of the most important methods of cultivation. After all, in the mountains, with heaven-defying luck, one might soar into the sky in a single bound.

Every day, many menial disciples also entered the mountains controlled by the Heavenly Demon Sect in search of necessary materials. The Tiger-Striped Green Snake, for instance, had come from the hands of such disciples.

But for them, every trek through the mountains was paid for with their lives, because the materials they obtained were not valuable, and the sect would not provide menial disciples with much support.

The reason Bai Yu valued the [Earth-Entering Eye] spell was that trekking through mountains was something he would have to encounter in the future. The earlier he prepared, the more confidence he would have!

Though it was merely a beginner-level thing, having it was better than not having it!

He took out his token and directly swiped away 30 menial contribution points.

The other party was an ordinary disciple, but he did not seem to look down on Bai Yu. Or perhaps the item was simply too cheap for Bai Yu to be worth an extra word.

In any case, the transaction proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

After obtaining [Earth-Entering Eye], Bai Yu continued wandering around. Soon, he exchanged his remaining contribution points for the refinement method of [Stone Gu] and a copy of the [Mountain and Sea Gazetteer].

Stone Gu was an entry-level Gu insect. Using one's own mana, one refined ordinary stones into Gu insects and scattered them on the ground. If someone stepped on one, the Gu insect would enter through the sole of their foot.

When Stone Gu was activated, the afflicted person would suffer the agony of their liver and intestines being torn apart. It was a one-use Gu insect.

However, it would not have much effect on cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. After all, they could simply use their mana to shake the Gu insect to death.

Bai Yu had bought it for the same reason: purely to practice with it and prepare for what came later.

As for the Mountain and Sea Gazetteer, it was a miscellaneous book that recorded information on all kinds of materials. It would also be an enormous help when trekking through the mountains in the future.

At least he would not come across high-grade materials and fail to recognize them.

After spending every last contribution point, Bai Yu hurried back to the stone house.

Along the way, he ran into Pang Tong, who had come out to slack off. The other man greeted him with a smile, then let him go on his way.

He casually picked up a large handful of gravel by the roadside. After returning to the stone house, he fed Black Charcoal some poison first, then opened the two spells he had obtained. Before long, they were recorded on the system panel.

[Technique: Qi Drawing Art (Lesser Mastery) 2370/3500]

[Skill: Cutting (Greater Mastery)]

[Progress: (1697/3500]

[Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu (Natal Gu) (Unformed)]

[Dragon Qi Progress: 261/500]

[Yin-Yang Qi: 58/500]

[Stone Gu: 0/10]

[Earth-Entering Eye: 0/20]

Looking at the progress bars above, the corners of Bai Yu's mouth could not help but curl into a smile.

Ignoring Yu Linglong's attempt at conversation, Bai Yu adjusted his condition and carefully recalled the cultivation method for Earth-Entering Eye.

Compared to the Yin-Yang Mystic Dragon Gu, these two spells were truly ordinary beyond ordinary.

After running through them a few times in his mind, Bai Yu directly immersed himself in cultivation. Following the cultivation diagram for Earth-Entering Eye, he guided his mana to the front of his eyes. Along with a wave of soreness and numbness, notification sounds rang out.

[Earth-Entering Eye: 1/20]

[Earth-Entering Eye: 2/20]

[Earth-Entering Eye: 5/20]

+1

...

After Earth-Entering Eye had circulated through several cycles, it no longer required Bai Yu's guidance and could operate automatically.

Slowly opening his eyes, Bai Yu swallowed a Body Forging Pill and began refining Stone Gu, pursuing two paths at once.