"Not at all. I hardly deserve such praise, Senior Du."
"I have only just entered late Qi Refining. Foundation Establishment is still a distant prospect, so I truly cannot accept such praise."
Liu Yu put on a flattered expression, seemingly unsuspecting of Du Jingshan's sudden, excessive friendliness, then continued:
"Since I have accomplished my main purpose in coming to Flowing Cloud Market Ward, Senior Du, I shall take my leave. I still need to return to the sect and make preparations for the war we may face."
Casually using preparations for the Spirit Stone Mine War as an excuse, Liu Yu announced his departure.
Although he still needed to buy some talismans and pills to replenish his magical power, he had no intention of buying them at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
After all, he had already spent over a thousand spirit stones and a rare spirit herb here, more than an ordinary Inner Disciple's entire fortune. If he revealed any more wealth, someone might well grow red-eyed with envy and take a desperate risk!
"In that case, I won't keep you, young friend Hong. If you ever need fine magical artifacts again, feel free to visit the Treasure Gathering Pavilion. We certainly won't disappoint you."
Du Jingshan rose to see him out, smiling without trying to make him stay.
Liu Yu walked out of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion and emerged onto the bustling street once more. Only a little over two hundred spirit stones remained in his Storage Bag.
Still, that should have been enough to buy some talismans and pills to replenish his magical power.
Because of the tense situation in the Chu Kingdom's cultivation world, prices had risen slightly for all combat-related items that could improve one's strength, leaving ordinary cultivators and rogue cultivators groaning in misery.
After leaving the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, Liu Yu made two circuits of Flowing Cloud Market Ward. Only after using several methods from Essentials of Demonic Cultivation to confirm that no one was following him did he purchase talismans and pills from several different shops.
The two hundred spirit stones ultimately bought him ten Fire Serpent Talismans, five Golden Needle Talismans, and a bottle of Spirit-Replenishing Pills to restore his magical power.
This time, Liu Yu did not buy any Fireball Talismans. For someone in late Qi Refining, the Fireball Technique was still too weak to threaten enemies of the same level, so he only stocked up on Fire Serpent Talismans and Golden Needle Talismans.
The Golden Needle Technique was a Tier-One High-Grade spell. Once activated, it could condense over a dozen flying needles of the metal element. They flew far faster than the Fire Serpent Technique and were exceptionally sharp. Although slightly weaker in raw power, they countered barrier defenses, making them an even greater threat to cultivators.
Golden Needle Talismans normally cost twelve spirit stones each, but prices had risen because of the current situation, so Liu Yu bought five at fifteen spirit stones apiece.
Spirit-Replenishing Pills were among the better pills for restoring magical power during the Qi Refining Period. After refining one, even a late Qi Refining cultivator could recover a little under half his magical power. However, refining them took time, and there was no time for that during combat, so the amount they could restore in battle was very limited.
His Storage Bag was empty again, with only a few dozen spirit stones left. In a single stroke, he was back to square one.
Finally, he used his remaining spirit stones to buy a Middle-grade Storage Bag, bringing his trip to Flowing Cloud Market Ward to an end.
With all his objectives accomplished, Liu Yu had no intention of lingering. His thoughts were on his two newly acquired magical artifacts, and he was eager to discover their power.
After leaving the market ward, he took the Giant Wood Sword from his Storage Bag and flew straight toward his cave abode on Green Spirit Peak.
Halfway there, Liu Yu brought his escape light down onto a barren mountain. He removed the clothes Du Jingshan had patted and burned them to ashes with a Fireball Technique.
"That old bastard actually tried to plot against me. Luckily, I was already on guard. If someone else had come and failed to notice his little trick, they probably would have breathed their last as soon as they left the sect."
Liu Yu sneered. Essentials of Demonic Cultivation recorded several methods of leaving a trace of one's aura to track prey without anyone being the wiser. However, such spells required at least Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation.
Had they not been inside the Primordial Yang Sect, where that bastard feared the law-enforcement cultivators, he probably would have already made his move.
Cultivation was inherently an act of defying Heaven, seizing the bounty of heaven and earth to make up for one's own shortcomings! Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators lived for only a brief hundred or two hundred years, so naturally they had to find every possible way to advance quickly and wrest their lives from Heaven.
He made no judgment on whether killing others for their treasures was right or wrong, but it was different when he was the target. If his cultivation someday reached the heavens, he would have to avenge this grudge. Liu Yu smiled coldly. This karmic debt was far from settled.
After changing into fresh clothes, Liu Yu mounted the Giant Wood Sword again, becoming a streak of azure escape light as he flew toward his cave abode on Green Spirit Peak.
An hour later, Liu Yu returned to his cave abode on Green Spirit Peak. He took out a meditation cushion, placed it on the stone bed, and sat down cross-legged.
First, he emptied his two Lesser Storage Bags, then transferred everything into his newly purchased Middle-grade Storage Bag.
The Middle-grade Storage Bag's internal space was one zhang across, three times that of a Lesser Storage Bag. Even after he transferred the contents of both Lesser Storage Bags into it, they occupied only about half its space, leaving ample room.
One Storage Bag could not be placed inside another, or its internal space would collapse and everything within would vanish into spatial turbulence. The two Lesser Storage Bags were not worth many spirit stones, and carrying them around was inconvenient, so Liu Yu simply used the Golden Dragon Sword to dig a hole beneath a cabinet and put both bags inside.
Liu Yu returned to the cushion and laid his two newly acquired magical artifacts before him. After handling them for a while, he found it hard to put them down, especially the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades. As his first top-grade magical artifact, they held particular significance. With them in hand, Liu Yu estimated that his strength had reached the pinnacle of the Qi Refining Period, on par with the elite disciples whom sects devoted special resources to nurturing.
With his current divine sense, he could control one top-grade magical artifact and two superior-grade magical artifacts without difficulty. An ordinary cultivator at Qi Refining perfection had only enough divine sense to control one top-grade magical artifact and one superior-grade magical artifact; anything more would exceed their capacity. Once Liu Yu finished refining these two magical artifacts, he would even have a slight advantage over ordinary elite disciples.
Heading to the border of Qing Province with strength at the pinnacle of the Qi Refining Period, he should have no trouble protecting himself as long as he did not encounter an enemy in the Foundation Establishment Realm. However, Liu Yu had no intention of revealing his full strength. Instead, he would hide it from everyone and give his enemies a "surprise" at a crucial moment.
Normally, he would use the Golden Dragon Sword and Black Tortoise Shield. Those two magical artifacts alone would place him among the best in late Qi Refining, enough to deal with ordinary problems.
With a top-grade magical artifact in hand, even the gloom that the approaching Spirit Stone Mine War had cast over Liu Yu's heart dissipated somewhat.
All uncertainty and fear of the unknown stemmed from insufficient strength and a lack of confidence. Once you were strong enough, you would discover that the darkness and loneliness ahead were no more than a breeze brushing your face, passing in an instant without shaking you in the slightest.
Putting those tangled thoughts aside, Liu Yu set down the Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades and chose to refine the Black Iron Shield first. Since this superior-grade magical artifact had not been tainted by another cultivator's aura, its interior was exceptionally "pure," making it very easy to refine. In roughly half a quarter of an hour, he imprinted it with his divine sense. He sent the Black Iron Shield flying around himself, familiarizing himself with it for a while before returning it to his Storage Bag.
Liu Yu sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, his gaze fixed and his expression intent.
He formally began refining the top-grade Mother-and-Son Soul-Chasing Blades. With this set of top-grade magical artifacts, refining the mother blade would allow him to control all six son blades, which required only a little additional refinement. Still, its grade was no empty distinction. He expended more than half his magical power and took over half an hour before finally completing the difficult refinement and imprinting it with his divine sense.
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