Opening Move: Only Two Techniques

If a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator wished to unleash the might of the Golden Core Realm, there was only one way: a Golden Core Realm talisman. Yet even in the capital, such talismans were exceedingly rare and extraordinarily difficult to produce.

And anyone who could possess Golden Core Realm talismans and use them without the slightest heartache could only be some young master from a great Lineage. No one else could possibly manage it.

That was truly on point. Having money really was wonderful.

The scholar muttered silently to himself. Though he had once enjoyed considerable fame and possessed no small measure of strength, he had never used a Golden Core talisman before. An ordinary Golden Core talisman certainly would not rival his full-powered strike at his peak, but this feeling of smashing people with Spirit Stones... really was satisfying.

"Mm."

Chen Qiu had already prepared his explanation, but when he realized that neither the scholar nor Fat Dragon nor the others asked any further questions, he gladly spared himself the trouble. He walked before the Heavenly Treasure Vault and took the items from it one by one.

This so-called demonic cultivator had mentioned an "Enlightenment Stone" earlier. It cost one thousand Spirit Stones here.

Though he did not know its market price, there had to be a discount. A treasure that could only be produced in the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm was certainly not cheap.

One thousand Spirit Stones to save a year of time was already an excellent bargain for him.

He then pocketed the remaining three treasures as well.

-

"Random Teleportation Talisman *1."

"Randomly teleports the user to any location within a hundred-li radius."

"10 Spirit Stones"

-

"Foundation Establishment High-Grade Spirit-Replenishing Pill *100."

"Rapidly replenishes the spiritual energy within the body."

"100 Spirit Stones"

-

"Demon-Attracting Incense *10."

"Made from demon oil. Once lit, all demonic beasts within ten li will charge wildly toward the incense without distinction, attacking everyone near it."

"100 Spirit Stones"

-

The remaining three items were not expensive, nor were they exclusive products of the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm. Among these six slots, only the Enlightenment Stone was exclusive to the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm. In the terms of his previous life...

This crate opening had only yielded one red; everything else was white.

Fortunately, he had obtained them almost for free, so it was not a loss. Besides, many of them were precisely what he urgently needed right now.

He had spent a total of 1,270 Spirit Stones, leaving him with 16,586.

Before leaving, Chen Qiu still tried searching the corpse. The flying sword had been completely ruined, shattering at the slightest touch. The storage ring had also broken with remarkable thoroughness, leaving not even the tiniest inheritance behind for him. How nice.

He had died cleanly and completely.

"Why does it feel like there have been a lot more Foundation Establishment cultivators lately? Some random Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator can just pop out anywhere?"

Fat Dragon muttered as he stood before a cave.

"That's normal."

The scholar said softly, "The annual auction at Heaven-Question Market is happening soon, and the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm at Windward City is about to open. Naturally, a great number of cultivators will gather here, leaving fish and dragons mingled together. Windward City was originally a city of mortals. Foundation Establishment cultivators are indeed rarely seen here."

"There are quite a few Foundation Establishment Lineages in Windward City. Once a Foundation Establishment cultivator gathers his relatives around him, that counts as a small Lineage. Some close relatives then receive the title of elder."

"They can still put on quite an imposing display before mortals in their daily lives."

"But how many coins can mortals have in their pockets? These Foundation Establishment Lineages that mainly earn profits from mortals are basically just minor lackeys. The Huang Family is already considered fairly decent in Windward City, since they have two Foundation Establishment cultivators, but once placed outside, they are not worth looking at."

"The Lineages in Windward City do not count as true Lineages. True Lineages are terrifying."

He said no more.

After all, back then, he had been hunted by a Lineage until heaven left no path above and earth offered no door below.

If they gave you face, you were Great Xia's foremost sword cultivator, a rising star.

If they did not give you face, you were merely a lone Rogue Cultivator with no family or backing.

Sadly... his sword had not been fast enough.

For the entire next day, the scholar led Chen Qiu and the others around Windward City, searching inch by inch for places inhabited by low-level demonic beasts. The scholar alone swallowed eighty-nine Qi-Replenishing Pills.

He had nearly swallowed all the Qi-Replenishing Pills.

"No, I can't swallow any more."

The scholar sat cross-legged on the ground, gasping heavily. Looking at the pill Chen Qiu offered him, he waved his hand and said in a trembling voice, "My body's tolerance for this pill is nearly maxed out. My spiritual energy can no longer recover. This pill has very limited effect on me now. There really isn't enough spiritual energy left. How about we come back tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

Chen Qiu furrowed his brow and remained silent in thought. Tomorrow was the day the secret realm opened. There was no time.

The scholar was mainly responsible for scouting where spiritual beasts could be found, then leading them there. They would light the Demon-Attracting Incense and draw in all the demonic beasts within several li, after which Chen Qiu would kill those beasts and sacrifice them to his Dao Foundation.

From sunrise until nearly sunset today, he had been occupied with precisely that.

It was simply that the scholar's Dao Foundation had too little capacity. Before long, after controlling the flying sword, he would run out of spiritual energy and have to keep taking Qi-Replenishing Pills. Of the one hundred Qi-Replenishing Pills they had just bought from the Heavenly Dao Treasury, only eleven remained. And now, even the Qi-Replenishing Pills had stopped working.

"It's fine. There's still a way."

Chen Qiu shook his head, took a Mid-Grade Foundation Establishment Spirit-Absorbing Talisman from his robe, and stuck it onto the scholar. Then he took out two more Spirit Stones and stuffed them into the scholar's arms. "Come on, your absorption speed is faster now, right?"

"Faster."

The scholar looked helplessly at the talisman on his body. He truly wanted to say that he had not been this exhausted in a very long time. Controlling a flying sword with spiritual sense was no easy task.

Before finding his master, he had thought he was about to die.

After finding his master, he felt he might as well have died instead.

Why was this so exhausting?

Finally—

After sunset, Chen Qiu and the others returned to Heaven-Question Market. The scholar and the other man went to their usual place, while Chen Qiu brought Fat Dragon into Heaven-Question Market.

At this moment, his eyes were also filled with exhaustion. Today had worn him out badly as well.

Today, he had killed a full 9,890 demonic beasts, nearly slaughtering every scattered group of Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts that could be found around Windward City.

Good news: Windward City would enjoy an exceptionally safe period. Those villagers would no longer need to worry about demonic beasts invading their spirit fields.

Bad news: For a long time to come, Qi Refining Realm cultivators from Windward City would be unable to encounter Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts while exploring the wilderness, and their cultivation progress would slow considerably.

And the width of his Dao Foundation had reached a full ten thousand li!

It had originally been one hundred and ten li wide. As someone halfway to being a perfectionist, he had deliberately rounded it off.

An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator's Dao Foundation was a cube, one hundred li wide and one hundred li tall, appearing rather harmonious. His Dao Foundation, however, had become an extremely flattened rectangular block, ten thousand li wide and one hundred li tall.

It was a little strange.

But it could hold far more spiritual energy as well. An ordinary first-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator could cast a spell like the Lightning-Channeling Art only four or five times before exhausting all the spiritual energy in their body. Yet if his Dao Foundation were filled with spiritual energy, it would be enough for him to cast it four or five hundred times!

Do not feed him that bullshit about sword cultivators being unmatched with one sword, or body cultivators suppressing heaven with both fists.

The moment he met someone, he would hurl four or five hundred Lightning-Channeling Arts at them. He wanted to see which body cultivator could withstand his storm-and-tempest barrage. There were differences even among spell cultivators, alright?

Once he learned some protective spells later on.

His opening move would have only two techniques.

The first technique: thousands of defensive spells rose from thin air.

The second technique: thousands of offensive spells smashed into your face.

His Dao Foundation was wide enough and held enough spiritual energy anyway. He would crush you to death with sheer force.