Inside the general store.
After bowing, the dark-skinned young man smiled and said, "Congratulations on reaching Foundation Establishment, big brother. Immortality is within your reach."
Li Ping waved a hand, indicating that there was no need for such formality.
Without further pleasantries, Li Ping sat in the general store and took out the two Azure Thunder Talismans he had set aside. "Musheng, put these two Azure Thunder Talismans up for sale in your shop. You don't need to give me spirit stones. Just pay me in first-tier upper-grade talisman ink and talisman paper."
The dark-skinned young man's surprise gave way to delight. "Azure Thunder Talismans? And first-tier upper-grade talisman ink and paper? Big brother, you've become a first-tier upper-grade talisman maker! That's wonderful!"
Without standing on ceremony, he accepted the Azure Thunder Talismans and carefully put them away, then went to fetch talisman ink and paper for Li Ping.
As Li Ping watched him bustle about, memories of his first meeting with this third brother surfaced in his eyes.
This dark-skinned, unremarkable-looking third brother was named Gu Musheng.
He was a native of the Immortal City. His ancestors had been mortals for generations, and only with him had the family finally produced someone with spirit roots who could become a cultivator. However, he possessed a four-spirit root.
Four-spirit roots and five-spirit roots were also known as false spirit roots in the cultivation world. Cultivators with such roots not only cultivated at an extraordinarily slow pace, but also faced far greater difficulty breaking through bottlenecks than those with true spirit roots of three elements or fewer.
The elderly Daoist who had guided Li Ping onto the immortal path was one such example. Despite a lifetime of arduous cultivation, he had only reached the fourth level of Qi Refining.
Gu Musheng was no exception. With a four-spirit root and no cultivator elders to help him, his cultivation journey had been exceptionally rough.
Fortunately, he had grown up in the Immortal City. Seeing all sorts of cultivators come and go had taught him to read expressions and gauge moods, and he was also familiar with the city's surroundings.
Not long after becoming a cultivator, he had set up a stall in the outer city, buying low and selling high to earn some cultivation resources.
But the low-level cultivators in the outer city formed gangs, and the strong preyed on the weak. Seeing that he was alone, they inevitably bullied him.
Within the Immortal City, they would not go so far as to murder him for his wealth, but extortion was unavoidable. Their constant bullying left him unable to conduct his business in peace.
At the time, Li Ping had already established the Shared Boat Association and reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. Having once been a martial hero, he was skilled in magical combat and had earned a modest reputation as an expert in the neighborhood where he lived.
To escape the bullying of those low-level cultivators, Gu Musheng had approached Li Ping, seeking his protection.
However, Li Ping had not immediately agreed to let him join the association.
After all, he had founded the Shared Boat Association to pursue the great path to immortality, not to band together and bully men, prey on women, and commit evil.
Nor had he founded it to play the hero, perform good deeds, uphold justice, and protect the innocent from the violent.
He was not willing to accept just anyone.
After some investigation, Li Ping discovered that although the lad was shrewd and had a few clever tricks up his sleeve, he never put that cleverness to crooked uses. He traded fairly and had never cheated anyone.
Had the bullying not left him with no other choice, he would probably have been content to keep running his little business.
Only then had Li Ping agreed to admit him, making him the Shared Boat Association's third member after Li Ping and Zhang Tie.
With Li Ping backing him, those low-level cultivators naturally stopped harassing him. He could finally conduct his business in peace and put his talent for it to work.
Over more than a decade, his business had steadily grown, and he had successfully gone from a street vendor to the owner of his own shop.
Even his cultivation had reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. Given the quality of his spirit roots, reaching that level so quickly had required no small amount of precious medicinal pills.
Of course, spirit-root aptitude played an enormous role for cultivators.
Zhang Tie was only three years older than Gu Musheng and had taken fewer medicinal pills, yet he had already reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.
"Big brother, here's the talisman ink and paper you wanted." Gu Musheng emerged from behind the counter with an ingratiating smile. The talisman ink and paper in his hands were worth far more than two Azure Thunder Talismans.
Li Ping smiled and shook his head. Rather than accepting everything, he took only a portion. "That's too much."
Gu Musheng immediately grew anxious. "Big brother, you've reached Foundation Establishment and become a first-tier upper-grade talisman maker. Two blessings have come knocking at your door! I'm happy for you too. This little bit of talisman ink and paper is just a congratulatory gift. Won't you accept even that?"
Still smiling, Li Ping shook his head and stopped Gu Musheng from saying more.
Seeing that Li Ping would not accept it, Gu Musheng had no choice but to drop the matter.
He could not help reflecting that although his big brother had the highest cultivation and headed the association, he never used his strength or position to bully the other brothers and sisters. Instead, he took considerable care of them.
Of course, the spirit stones they contributed each year had also helped their big brother reach Foundation Establishment, making them worthy of his care.
"Oh, right, big brother. Seven days ago, a letter arrived for you from the Jiang Kingdom." Gu Musheng brought up another matter. "You'd gone into seclusion in the inner city to make your breakthrough, so the merchant association's courier left the letter with me."
As he spoke, Gu Musheng took a blue-green wooden box half the size of a palm from his storage pouch.
"Oh? A letter from the Jiang Kingdom?" Surprise crossed Li Ping's face, but his hands did not hesitate as he accepted the wooden box.
The box was protected by a ward on its surface. When sending it, the sender set a key, and the recipient had to use the same key to open it. Forcing it open would only cause the box to destroy itself.
Seeing the familiar key on the ward, Li Ping immediately recognized that the letter had indeed come from someone he knew.
The elderly Daoist who had guided Li Ping onto the immortal path was named Ji Xiu. Before leaving the Jiang Kingdom to seek the Dao in the Immortal City, Li Ping had made a special trip to see him.
They had agreed on a key for their correspondence, and Li Ping had asked Daoist Ji to help look after the Swordforging Manor once he left the Jiang Kingdom.
After arriving in the Immortal City, they had exchanged several letters to keep each other informed of their circumstances. Li Ping had also sent him cultivation resources and medicinal pills for mortal martial artists, asking him to pass the latter on to his master, Yan Guike.
Now Daoist Ji had written to him again.
A smile appeared in Li Ping's eyes. He had always felt grateful to the Daoist who had guided him onto the path, and had always regarded him as an elder.
Even though his strength now far surpassed the Daoist's.
"All right, Musheng. Get back to your business. It's time I left too." Li Ping smiled as he put away the wooden box, then waved a hand to indicate that Gu Musheng need not see him out.
In his rented courtyard.
Using the agreed-upon key, Li Ping carefully channeled his magical power into the ward on the wooden box's surface.
With a click, the wooden box opened on its own, revealing a folded letter inside.
Li Ping took out the letter, unfolded it, and began reading.
Yet as he read, his expression grew grave.
Daoist Ji wrote that Li Ping's master, Yan Guike, was bedridden and had little time left. Before he died, he hoped Li Ping could return to see him one last time.
In addition, Daoist Ji himself had a favor to ask of Li Ping. The details were not suitable for a letter, however, so he would explain once Li Ping returned.