His foundation establishment had succeeded.
But to achieve it, Li Ping had emptied both his personal savings and the foundation establishment fund.
The Foundation Establishment Pill he had bought on the Black Market alone had cost nearly 3,000 spirit stones. Add in renting a cave abode and buying other spiritual aids for foundation establishment, and Li Ping was now utterly penniless.
All he had left was one first-tier middle-grade Talisman Brush, some talisman paper, a few dozen low-grade spirit stones, and assorted odds and ends.
To secure the Foundation Establishment Pill, he had even sold his usual first-tier upper-grade flying sword, along with several other low-grade magic artifacts.
Fortunately, his foundation establishment had succeeded. Otherwise, Li Ping would truly have wanted to cry but had no tears left.
Next, he would have to work hard to earn spirit stones for second-tier magic artifacts and prepare his required spirit stone contribution to this year's "foundation establishment fund."
Fortunately, the Azure Dragon Mountain lineage would provide him with the spiritual land, cave abode, and cultivation method he needed for cultivation free of charge, saving him a considerable number of spirit stones.
"I can't slack off just because my foundation establishment succeeded!"
Of course, his shortage of spirit stones was only one consideration. The main reason Li Ping had given up on acquiring Tanner skills was that he had no intention of pursuing that profession.
Tanners dealt with demon beast hides and fur all year round. Their workplaces were filthy, cluttered, and unpleasant, which was bad enough for anyone's mood.
What they produced were only preliminary materials, which still had to be processed by Artifact Refiners or Talisman Makers before reaching the customers as finished products. Those professionals took the lion's share of the profits, leaving Tanners with mere scraps.
With a cheat at his disposal, Li Ping naturally had no desire to take up such a low-profit profession. If he was going to choose one, he wanted to become a Pill Refiner, Artifact Refiner, or Formation Master-a profession that earned plenty of spirit stones and offered boundless prospects.
Talisman Maker was just barely acceptable, too.
As for professions worse than talisman making, he would not even consider them.
Returning the hide-scraping knife to Old Lin, Li Ping smiled and instructed Zhang Tie, "Second Brother, find some time to look for Third Brother, Fourth Sister, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, and Seventh Brother. Tell them my foundation establishment succeeded. We'll celebrate together later."
Zhang Tie agreed with a good-natured grin. "No problem, Big Brother. I'll go tell them in a bit."
After giving Zhang Tie his instructions, Li Ping turned to Old Lin and said solemnly, "Fellow Daoist Lin, matters concerning the Shared Boat Association are a secret among us. Aside from the seven of us, you're the only person who knows. I hope you'll watch your words and keep this confidential, rather than letting anyone else learn of it. Can you do that?"
After Zhang Tie joined, Li Ping had specifically revised the membership oath to prevent nuisances such as family elders coming knocking.
Every cultivator who joined the Shared Boat Association had to swear to keep all matters related to it confidential and tell no outsiders.
Zhang Tie had told Old Lin before that change, so Li Ping could hardly say much about it. He could only ask Old Lin to keep the secret.
Hearing Li Ping's words, Old Lin gave his solemn assurance. "Rest easy, Senior. From now on, not so much as half a word will slip from this old man's lips."
At that, Li Ping bought a stack of first-tier upper-grade talisman paper from Old Lin and left, satisfied.
After breaking through to the foundation establishment realm, his spiritual sense and magic power had both grown considerably. With the guidance he had previously received from Meng Qingyi, Li Ping felt he was not far from reaching the first-tier upper grade in talisman making.
He could take advantage of this period to practice more. Once he made the breakthrough, he could start saving spirit stones ahead of time and wait to buy that Fairy Meng's "original-scent Talisman Brush."
First-tier professions were only small-time ventures. To truly earn spirit stones, he would have to rely on second-tier skills.
After Li Ping left, only Old Lin and Zhang Tie remained in the cluttered tanning shop.
A long while later, once he was certain Li Ping had gone far enough away, Old Lin finally spoke with wonder written across his face. "I saw long ago that Li Ping had exceptional talent and a tenacious character. He was no creature destined to remain in a mere pond. Now he really has achieved foundation establishment. These old eyes of mine have never misjudged anyone."
Zhang Tie nodded firmly in agreement, seemingly forgetting how the old man had been bad-mouthing Li Ping not long before.
"What's most precious is his character. I thought that after achieving foundation establishment, he'd cast aside his oath to the Shared Boat Association and go enjoy himself. I never imagined he would actually honor his oath and help you all establish your foundations."
If cultivators broke an oath they had sworn, inner demons would spring up in droves during cultivation, making it almost impossible for them to break through to another realm.
But as Old Lin saw it, once someone had become a foundation establishment cultivator, why ask for a bicycle on top of that?
Could he possibly be hoping to become a core formation patriarch, too?
If Old Lin had been in his shoes, he would certainly have ignored the Shared Boat Association oath by now. Giving all those gleaming spirit stones to low-level cultivators would be nothing short of a sin.
Li Ping's decision not to break his oath, but instead to help the others establish their foundations, had truly astonished him.
At this point, Old Lin narrowed his eyes at his own apprentice. "A fool like you really does have a fool's luck. Not only will you have a foundation establishment cultivator backing you from now on, but you'll also receive his support. Perhaps you really will have a slim chance of establishing your foundation someday."
Zhang Tie was a cultivator with three spiritual roots. Four years younger than Li Ping, he was thirty-six this year.
With one foundation establishment cultivator and the other Shared Boat Association members all contributing together, they could gather enough spirit stones to buy another Foundation Establishment Pill in less than ten years.
By then, Zhang Tie would only be forty-six, still in his prime by a cultivator's standards. His hopes of establishing his foundation would not be small.
Zhang Tie grinned. "Big Brother never lies to me."
Inside a house in a quiet, elegant little courtyard on Vermilion Bird Lane in the outer city.
Talisman Brush in hand, Li Ping gazed gravely at the azure talisman paper spread on the table before him, carefully recalling the method for making a first-tier upper-grade talisman called the Azure Thunder Talisman.
Talisman making was essentially the process of storing a cultivator's power in a talisman, so that only a trace of magic power would be needed to activate it when used.
To make a particular talisman, a Talisman Maker first had to learn the corresponding spell. Then they would draw a magic power circuit capable of storing that spell on blank talisman paper and fix the spell within it.
Thus, a Talisman Maker's level was closely tied to their own cultivation.
For example, before Li Ping established his foundation, the strongest spells he could cast were only first-tier high-level spells, so the best talismans he could make were first-tier upper-grade ones.
Only after establishing his foundation and gaining the ability to cast second-tier spells could he attempt to make second-tier talismans.
Li Ping had long since learned the Azure Thunder Technique. Casting it with his foundation establishment realm cultivation was now effortless.
For Li Ping, the greatest difficulty in making a first-tier upper-grade talisman was drawing a magic power circuit capable of storing the Azure Thunder Technique.
"That should do it."
After reviewing the process once and finding no omissions, Li Ping dipped his Talisman Brush in spirit ink and swiftly set it dancing across the flattened talisman paper like a dragon and serpent.
As he moved, an incredibly complex symbol rapidly took shape. But just as the magic power circuit was about to be completed-
"Poof!"
A burst of flame rose. The talisman paper spontaneously ignited, and the attempt failed.
After extinguishing the flames, Li Ping frowned in thought for a moment, then tried again.
This time, nothing went wrong. He successfully drew the magic power circuit on the blank talisman paper, then swiftly cast the Azure Thunder Technique, fixing the spell within the completed circuit.
Once the spell had been successfully fixed in place, the radiance on the Azure Thunder Talisman slowly faded.
At the very moment he completed all this, Li Ping saw in his mind that the short, slender twig at the very bottom of the Inheritance Tree in his sea of consciousness had suddenly grown a little farther outward.
[Talisman Maker: first-tier upper-grade]