Defects of Metal and Fire

Zhou Ning walked in front with his hands clasped behind his back.

The shops lining both sides of the street looked like jade palaces and jeweled towers, truly magnificent. They seemed a world apart from the rustic city walls.

He asked, "Where can I buy inheritances for talismans, formations, the Dao of Alchemy, puppetry, and the like?"

The wildflower girl hurried after him with small steps, an even stranger look on her face.

"Those inheritances are controlled by sects and Aristocratic Clans. I've never heard of them being sold. That's common knowledge in the Land of Wei. Didn't you know, Senior?"

Zhou Ning: "..."

Damn it, I feel like my dignity's been offended.

He coughed softly twice. "What about Cultivation Methods? Take me somewhere that sells them first. I want a high-end shop, with methods of at least the fourth grade."

That was the main purpose of his trip: to find a Cultivation Method compatible with True Yang Metal Qi and advance to become a Qi Refining cultivator of the Land of Wei.

The wildflower girl looked troubled. "A Purple Mansion Cultivation Method! Are you serious, Senior?"

Of course he was. The Jade Slips in Chai Dingchun's Storage Bag contained plenty of first- and second-grade Cultivation Methods, along with instructions on how to practice them.

If he were going to cultivate a first- or second-grade method, why would he seek something far away when it was right at hand?

Half an hour later.

Zhou Ning stood in a spacious square, looking at clusters of cultivators with stalls. He paused. "This?"

This was a little too shabby. They couldn't even afford to rent shops.

The wildflower girl said matter-of-factly, "Don't underestimate this place, Senior. You'll get a better deal here!"

Zhou Ning wandered around the stalls before finally stopping in front of a little old man's stall. "Do you have any Cultivation Methods?"

The little old man sat cross-legged on a tattered blanket. At the sight of him, he put on a broad smile. "I do, I do!"

He brought out two Jade Slips. "The Yellow Soil Qi Nourishing Method, a genuine first-grade Cultivation Method. You can use it to cultivate the Yellow Earth Force Secret Method. Its divine might knows no bounds-ordinary Late Stage Qi Refining cultivators are no match for it!"

He picked up a small bottle. "I also have a wisp of Thick Earth Yellow Qi right here, to make you a Qi Refining cultivator on the spot! You won't even need to gather Qi!"

Zhou Ning was quite surprised. He even had the accompanying item ready?

"How much?" he asked.

The little old man said, "Only seven Spirit Stones."

Before Zhou Ning could speak, the wildflower girl beside him helped bargain. "A run-of-the-mill Cultivation Method and a wisp of Spiritual Qi gathered in half a year, and you're selling them for seven Spirit Stones? Two at most!"

The little old man's face stiffened when she saw through him at a glance. He gave an awkward laugh. "My Qi is different."

His voice had plainly lost some of its force.

The wildflower girl glanced at Zhou Ning and raised her eyebrows proudly, as if asking, "Senior, was I worth the three taels of spirit rice?"

Zhou Ning said without changing expression, "A first-grade Cultivation Method? That's too low. I want something higher grade."

"Fine goods? I have them, I have them!" The little old man pulled a cloth bundle from his robes and unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing a gilded Jade Slip that seemed to shimmer with light.

He said with obvious reluctance, "This is the Tranquil Light Return to One True Body Scripture, a seventh-grade Cultivation Method. There's no need to ingest Qi, and once you cultivate it, you'll have a direct path to the realm of a Dharma Master. Alas, I have no karmic affinity with Buddha."

"I can see Buddha's light shining all over your face, young friend. For just a hundred Spirit Stones, you can become a Buddha on the spot!"

"Seventh grade?" Zhou Ning clicked his tongue inwardly. Chai Dingchun's top-secret family Cultivation Method had only been fourth grade at its height.

Wouldn't a seventh-grade Cultivation Method let one cultivate all the way to immortality?

But why did he feel there was a trap?

The wildflower girl sneered. "Are you trying to take advantage of us because we don't know what we're looking at? The method is seventh grade, but as soon as someone cultivates it, they become an avatar of the World-Honored One and end up returning to one."

"Senior, with this scripture, it's not you cultivating it-it's cultivating you."

Zhou Ning's eyes were opened. In the goddamn Land of Wei, even Cultivation Methods were full of traps!

"He's no good!" The wildflower girl pulled Zhou Ning away.

That made the little old man curse up a storm. If they had been outside, he would have burned that little girl into medicinal dregs!

Unfortunately, fighting was forbidden in Gazing Immortal Port. Otherwise, a single Law Technique from a Foundation Establishment senior would reduce him to ashes on the spot.

Zhou Ning found another stall selling Cultivation Methods.

The stall owner wore a purple veil that hid her face, and her neck was fair and smooth.

Zhou Ning stood there for a while before hearing a clear, mellow female voice. "For a Fire Element Spirit Root, a Fire Element Cultivation Method would be best."

She picked up a Jade Slip and introduced it calmly.

"The Bright Fire Qi Warming Instruction, a second-grade Cultivation Method. It requires ingesting a wisp of Bing Fire Warm Qi and grants the Purifying Fire Technique Secret Method. It sells for twenty-seven Spirit Stones, with a Qi-gathering Technique included."

The wildflower girl didn't interrupt. It seemed the price was reasonable.

"Fellow Daoist, perhaps you'd like to take a look." The woman handed him the Jade Slip.

Surprised, Zhou Ning probed it with his Divine Sense. After half an incense stick's time, he found that it contained only a few hundred words, evidently just the beginning.

Even so, the profundity of the method was countless levels above the Clear Flame Heart Method.

In all fairness, this method suited Zhou Ning quite well. But for one thing, he was unwilling to settle for a second-grade Cultivation Method, and for another, he didn't have enough Spirit Stones.

"Bring out the best Fire Element Cultivation Methods you have," he said.

The woman in the purple veil beckoned, and two Jade Slips floated up.

"The Lesser Flame Guarding the One Method and the Xinsi Golden Scripture are both Fire Element Cultivation Methods. The former is a complete third-grade method, enough to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. It requires gathering Sunny Warm Flame Qi, which is produced only by the Treasure Sect. The latter is a fifth-grade method, with which one can cultivate a full five Purple Mansion Divine Abilities."

Zhou Ning picked up the Jade Slip containing the Xinsi Golden Scripture.

The woman spoke at an even pace, crisp and direct. "The Xinsi Golden Scripture originated from the Bright Radiance Immortal Sect. It cultivates the Dao of Si Fire, with metal and earth concealed within fire. It grants two Secret Methods in the Qi Refining stage and naturally counters water and wood. Once one's immortal foundation manifests, its wonders are boundless."

"But ever since that upheaval two thousand years ago, True Yang Metal Qi can no longer be gathered anywhere in the world. Otherwise, how could a Cultivation Method like this have found its way out?"

Zhou Ning's heart stirred. "If one gathered True Yang Metal Qi, could one cultivate it?"

Breaking from her usual manner, the woman chuckled and said bluntly, "Over the past thousand years, cultivators who've had the same thought as you could form a line from the Land of Wei to the East Sea."

Hearing that, Zhou Ning instead felt relieved, even if he had shown how eager he was.

No one would know that he had a portion of True Yang Metal Qi.

The woman continued, "Even if you gathered the Qi, what then? This method has only the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment sections. It's not much different from a third-grade method."

"If you're set on a high-grade method, you'd be better off choosing the Lesser Flame Guarding the One Method. Sunny Warm Flame Qi is indeed hard to gather, but third-grade Cultivation Methods are hard to find anywhere in Gazing Immortal Port. I'll sell it to you for only eighty-eight Spirit Stones."

He said, "Can I take a look?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ning examined them and was filled with emotion. Although the fifth-grade Cultivation Method was incomplete, its intricacy was far beyond anything a third-grade method could match.

Even if his Dao Path ended, he was unwilling to miss it.

Besides, that third-grade Cultivation Method was simply too expensive!

Holding the Jade Slip containing the Xinsi Golden Scripture, he said, "I'll take a copy."

"Twelve Spirit Stones. You'll also need to swear an oath on your soul not to pass it on," the woman in the purple veil said.

The wildflower girl looked indignant. "A Cultivation Method nobody can cultivate..."

Zhou Ning looked puzzled. "An oath on my soul?"

The woman paused for a moment, unable to imagine that the man before her could be so ignorant.

She explained, "Without oaths, wouldn't Cultivation Methods be everywhere under heaven? Wouldn't they be as common as dirt?"

"When heaven and earth first opened, there was a Dao Master Xuangao who laid down rules to bind cultivators. If they broke them, their souls would immediately fall apart."

With that, she gave Zhou Ning the method for recording an oath on the soul.

Zhou Ning studied it on the spot. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult, and he had mastered it after one incense stick's time.

Having gotten something for free, Zhou Ning was in quite a good mood.

The woman in the purple veil gently held out her hand, as if asking:

"Where's your money?"

Zhou Ning didn't have twelve Spirit Stones.

Evil rose in his heart, and he considered snatching the Cultivation Method, stuffing it into the jade space, and running away.

But he reckoned a stolen copy of the Cultivation Method probably wouldn't be complete. Besides, filling the jade up even once wasn't easy, and he was unwilling to abandon it lightly.

Zhou Ning took out a jade bottle. "How much is this worth?"

The woman pulled out the stopper and caught a pungent whiff of blood. For the first time, her clear, mellow voice held a trace of surprise. "A marsh-water spirit substance?"

Zhou Ning was delighted. He had seen that the fire veins in the Land of Wei were abundant and suspected fish were scarce, which was why he had taken this gamble.

She thought for a moment, then said, "There's too little, and its grade is too low, unless you have dozens of ladlefuls..."

Before she finished, a huge earthenware jar appeared before her with a clang.

Zhou Ning had taken out a portion weighing sixty jin.

The woman froze briefly, then said, "That will do."

Zhou Ning was astonished. This eel blood was worth so much!

Back at Cuiwei Lake, this stuff was practically worthless, but in the Land of Wei its value had risen countless times over. Things really did grow valuable far from home!

Zhou Ning soon came to terms with it.

It was like tea in his previous life: tea drunk by commoners in ancient times had become a luxury reserved for nobles in the West, worth its weight in gold.

After they each swore an oath on their souls, Zhou Ning took the contract. He didn't know whether it was his imagination, but it seemed that a restriction had been placed on him in the Unseen.

He couldn't help asking, "If two enemies swore a spirit oath not to oppose each other, wouldn't everyone be happy?"

Having made a sale, the woman in the purple veil was happy to answer.

"It's best not to. Dao Master Xuangao hasn't appeared for ten thousand years, and the rules governing contracts have weakened countless times over. Nowadays, they work well enough for transactions involving inheritances of Cultivation Methods and the like, but as for what you're talking about, it's hard to say."

Zhou Ning praised her. "Your knowledge is remarkable."

He took the opportunity to bring out the talismans in his Storage Bag and ask her to identify them.

The most valuable was an Innate Bright Thunder Talisman, which summoned an arc of lightning to attack. It was even more effective against evil.

There were also two Shattering Slaughter Talismans, two defensive talismans, two Swift Movement Talismans, and an Evil-Illuminating Talisman.

Zhou Ning was very satisfied. This woman likely came from an extraordinary background, so he struck up a conversation with her, asking about the details of breaking through with Qi Ingestion, cultivation experience, and the customs and geography of the Land of Wei.

More than two full hours later, Zhou Ning still hadn't had his fill.

By the end of his questions, the woman in the purple veil's mouth was a little dry, and each answer was shorter than the last. She was truly numb.

Zhou Ning pulled out Chai Dingchun's pill bottle and earnestly asked for guidance. "By the way, Senior..."

Having no other choice, she sighed and pretended to pack up her stall.

"For pills, go to the Lubei He Household. They have a pill shop in the city. I'm packing up now."

With that, she looked composed and unhurried, but her hands didn't slow in the slightest. She rolled up her spread, put it into her Storage Bag, and floated away.

Zhou Ning smacked his lips, still wanting more.

Suddenly remembering something, he turned to look at the wildflower girl he had left standing to one side.

The girl pouted, looking somewhat annoyed. "Senior, my time is up."