Chapter 45

"Relying on the discarded fur from the Detachment Temple, I can only produce about two hundred talismans a month, which is far from enough for my needs. It seems I have to buy some more talisman paper. Sharpening the axe doesn’t hinder the chopping of wood. Fifty sheets of talisman paper cost one spirit stone. With my success rate in making talismans, I can still make a profit."

"Furthermore, manufacturing low-grade talismans is not cost-effective. I should produce mid-grade talismans. Each mid-grade talisman is worth one spirit stone. With the same talisman paper and ink, and the same consumption of true qi, the price is three times higher. I should give it a try."

"However, to manufacture mid-grade talismans, I need to be at least at the third level of the Qi Condensation stage. It seems I need to advance. But after advancing, will they absorb me into the sect? Then it won’t be easy to leave!"

"Right, I should buy a flying magical tool. I can’t save money on this. Otherwise, every time I ride someone else’s magical tool to get here, it’s not only unsafe, but I also have to pay them, which is very unpleasant."

"If I buy a flying magical tool that can carry several people, I can bring a few fellow disciples each time. I can charge fifty spirit pearls per person, and over dozens of trips, the cost of the magical tool will be covered."

Luo Li rushed to the chamber of commerce that sells flying magical tools, intending to buy one.

As usual, Luo Li didn’t rush to choose a magical tool. Instead, he wandered through various shops, observing the flying magical tools they sold, asking many questions, and carefully understanding them, even secretly touching them.

"This Wind Beak Eagle is actually a living spirit pet. The eagle’s back is wide and soft, and sitting on it feels almost like no bumps at all, a supreme enjoyment. Unfortunately, it costs seven hundred spirit stones to buy."

"This cloud underfoot is the Auspicious Cloud. Walking on the cloud must be very pleasant. That pair of silver-white Wind and Thunder Wings, with lightning flowing, can move as fast as lightning. Unfortunately, these require the Foundation Establishment stage to control. Sigh, I can only look."

"This flying paper sparrow talisman, which grows larger in the wind, is slightly larger than a real crane and can fly. However, it only costs fifty spirit stones, but it can only carry one person!"

"This wooden donkey, the simplest form of a flying vehicle, is quite good. It can carry four people, but it’s a bit expensive, one hundred and fifty spirit stones, too expensive!"

After a thorough tour, Luo Li had a good understanding of these flying magical tools. Finally, he activated his divine power!

"Heaven above, Earth below, good deeds are determined, rewards come later!"

Instantly, a good deed slowly decomposed, transforming into a strange force, drawing the power of heaven and earth into Luo Li’s body. In Luo Li’s mind, the image of a flying magical tool appeared.

This magical tool was not a living spirit pet like the Wind Beak Eagle, nor a talisman like the paper sparrow, nor a small flying vehicle like the wooden donkey. It was a flying sword, a Spirit Wood Sword, and a shop sign appeared, Maoyuan Hall!

The Spirit Wood Sword is a magical tool made from ten-thousand-year-old spirit wood, containing twenty-four Earthly Fiend Seals. It can be used for flying and combat, suitable for cultivators at the third level of the Qi Condensation stage and above, valued at eighty spirit stones.

However, Luo Li was currently at the second level of the Qi Condensation stage and couldn’t fly with the sword. Moreover, this Spirit Wood Sword could only be controlled by Luo Li, so the idea of carrying passengers to earn some travel fees was shattered.

Luo Li frowned: "Strange, why did it guide me to buy this magical tool?"

"Never mind, the guidance of my divine power is always the most correct. I’ll buy it!"

Luo Li went to Maoyuan Hall to buy the Green Wood Sword. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that the shop had twelve Spirit Wood Swords on display, and the one his divine power guided him to was one of them.

Luo Li understood and spent eighty spirit stones to buy the Spirit Wood Sword. He also spent twenty spirit stones to buy a thousand sheets of talisman paper, enough for a batch of talismans.

However, he didn’t leave. He went to the front desk to find Zhu Minghua, who he had met before, as he was setting up a stall there.

Zhu Minghua saw Luo Li and shouted: "Brother Luo Li, you’re here! What made you think of your big brother!"

Luo Li said: "Ha, I have something to do. Big brother, help me check this!"

He handed over his Spirit Wood Sword, and Zhu Minghua began to appraise it. After finishing, he hesitated and said:

"This sword is a Spirit Wood Sword, a very ordinary magical tool. However, I have a strange feeling, as if the material of the sword is very rich in spirit energy.

Legend has it that a ten-thousand-year-old spirit wood can make eighteen Spirit Wood Swords, but one of them is made from the core of the ten-thousand-year-old spirit wood. The maker can’t tell the difference, and this core is considered the poorest of the heavenly and earthly spirit materials!

Yours seems to be the Spirit Wood Sword made from the core of the ten-thousand-year-old spirit wood. Spirit wood has spirit, and sometimes it can undergo strange changes. When you reach the third level of the Qi Condensation stage and can control it, buy Chen Lei Talisman Water and use it to wash the sword. It might activate the spirit of the spirit wood, causing a mutation, and you’ll be in luck. The sword will increase in value tenfold."

Luo Li nodded and smiled, thinking it must be so, which is why his divine power guided him to buy this sword.

Luo Li handed over a spirit stone, which is the custom, and Zhu Minghua took it. They chatted for a while, and suddenly, a talisman paper in Luo Li’s storage bag glowed. Luo Li was surprised, took it out, and smiled, thinking:

"Just spent a hundred spirit stones, and money is coming in. What good luck!"

This talisman was left by the Golden Core True Person Mu Yingxiong of the Dust Refinement Sect when he hired Luo Li to refine magical tools, requiring a blood ritual to activate, costing one hundred spirit stones each time.

Ten months had passed, and the talisman had never reacted. Luo Li thought Mu Yingxiong had forgotten about him, but today the talisman glowed, bringing in some extra income.

Zhu Minghua saw the talisman and was also surprised, saying: "A True Person’s summons?"

Luo Li said: "Brother Zhu, I’m sorry, but a senior has summoned me, and I must go quickly!"

Zhu Minghua said: "Of course, it’s a True Person’s summons. Go quickly, go quickly!"

Luo Li immediately left. After he was gone, Zhu Minghua thought to himself:

"With a relationship to a Golden Core True Person, this kid doesn’t seem simple. I must cultivate a good relationship with him!"

Luo Li went to the Dusty Tower, thinking:

"I must go. Not going would be like saying ‘I have nothing to hide,’ which would draw attention. If my divine power is exposed, I’m dead for sure.

Anyway, I just need to perform the blood ritual, and nothing else. After a few failures, he’ll consider it a fluke and won’t bother me anymore."

"The most important thing is the hundred spirit stones, which is no small amount. I must go!"

Soon, Luo Li arrived at the shop. Mu Yingxiong was still the same, and a clumsy shop assistant was refining something in a distant furnace.

Mu Yingxiong saw Luo Li and shouted:

"Kid, come here, come here. You came so quickly, I almost forgot about you. It was only when my disciple was refining a magical tool and chatting with me that I remembered you. Come quickly and prepare for the blood ritual!"

Luo Li said: "Yes, Senior, how could I not come when summoned? Senior, I used the sect’s teleportation gate to get here, which costs ten spirit stones per use, so twenty for the round trip. Senior, what do you think..."

Mu Yingxiong said: "Fine, fine, I’ll reimburse you. What’s the big deal!"

Luo Li said: "Thank you, Senior, thank you, Senior!"

Mu Yingxiong looked at Luo Li and frowned, saying: "You seem a bit different from before! Have you recently gone through some sect trials?"

Luo Li shook his head and said: "Disciple has had some opportunities, but I’m still an outer sect disciple and haven’t gone through any sect trials."

Mu Yingxiong snorted and said: "You’re not suitable for the Spirit Butterfly Sect.

The Spirit Butterfly Sect is too petty, focusing on agility, lightness, speed, and evasion, always trying to avoid enemies and passively defend. This is a side path. The world of cultivation is about being ruthless. No matter how well you dodge, there will always be a day you can’t."

"In the past, when the Spirit Butterfly Sect had the Sword Butterfly and Soul Butterfly lines, the Sword Butterfly controlled the Sword of Time, and the Soul Butterfly controlled the Soul Devouring Destruction, both capable of delivering fatal blows. Now, with the Illusion Butterfly in charge, there’s only evasion. Heh, like an old lady celebrating the New Year, each year is worse than the last!"

This advice from a Golden Core True Person was invaluable, but Luo Li still said with enthusiasm:

"Thank you, Senior, for your guidance. However, I am a Spirit Butterfly Sect disciple in life and a Spirit Butterfly Sect ghost in death. Please don’t insult my sect!"

One must do one’s duty, even if one leaves in the future. The kindness of the Spirit Butterfly Sect cannot be forgotten, and it must be defended! Mu Yingxiong, this stubborn old man, has seen many. Even though he talks like this, if you don’t defend the Spirit Butterfly Sect and agree with him, he’ll consider you a scoundrel and won’t respect you!

Mu Yingxiong shook his head and said: "I’m just speaking the truth. However, as long as the Butterfly Transformation line exists in the Spirit Butterfly Sect, like Zhuangzi’s dream of the butterfly, it won’t collapse.

Sigh, our Dust Refinement Sect is different. The eight lines of Dust Refinement have no line that can serve as a pillar, protecting the sect from destruction.

Since the Rahu Catastrophe, the path to immortality has been cut off, and there’s been no news from the ancestors for ten thousand years. The entire cultivation world has declined. Now, Golden Core True Persons are the ones who can lead and dominate. If this continues, in ten thousand years, there might be no more Dust Refinement Sect or Spirit Butterfly Sect!"

Mu Yingxiong’s mood sank after saying this. The Rahu Catastrophe, which Luo Li had read about in the scripture hall, occurred twelve thousand years ago, a great disaster in the cultivation world. A sect summoned the projection of the Demon King Rahu from the demon realm, causing chaos in the world.

At that time, numerous sects united, and a bloody battle ensued. Although the projection of Rahu was destroyed, the cultivation world suffered heavy damage. Since then, no one has been able to ascend for ten thousand years.

The many ascended immortals of the past no longer grant techniques or treasures. Even when some sects were on the verge of destruction and used their final means to call for their ancestors to protect them, it was all in vain, with no ascended ancestors coming to their aid.

Moreover, the spiritual energy in the cultivation world has decreased, making cultivation increasingly difficult. Twelve thousand years ago, Nascent Soul True Lords were common, and Deity Transformation True Respects were as numerous as dogs. Now, Deity Transformation True Respects are almost nonexistent, and Golden Core True Persons can lead a sect. The overall level of the cultivation world is continuously declining.

However, this topic was too broad and not related to Luo Li, so he just hummed and hawed in response.

At this moment, the shop assistant refining the magical tool shouted: "Master, the tool is ready!"

He said, and a red light flew out of the furnace. Mu Yingxiong caught it and held it in front of him, a flying sword.

Luo Li immediately pricked his middle finger and dripped blood to refine it. He wouldn’t use his divine power, and the blood wouldn’t refine any spirit tool.

However, Mu Yingxiong didn’t pay much attention, just hoping for a slim chance. Whether it succeeded or not didn’t matter. After the process, he gave Luo Li one hundred and twenty spirit stones and dismissed him.

Luo Li smiled. He spent one hundred spirit stones and earned one hundred and twenty, so after this trip, he had two hundred and eighty-three spirit stones left, plus a Spirit Wood Sword. Today was indeed a good day for him.

---

End of the page.