Time flew by, and two months later,
Lu Tiandu packed up his belongings, left his courtyard, and sped north out of the Taiyue Mountains.
Over the past two months, in addition to his training, he had devoted considerable time to mastering the use of the Green Dragon Flag. While familiarizing himself with this precious, top-tier magical instrument, he also continued his daily work of talisman making.
Because he was simply crafting low-level talismans, he had already created three hundred of them in the past two months. He then spent another three hundred spirit stones using the Creation Furnace to upgrade these talismans to mid-level talismans.
This time, he planned to use some of these three hundred mid-level talismans to explore the market of the Tianxing Sect of Yuanwu Kingdom.
If all went well, if there were any leftovers, he could use them in the Huangfeng Valley market on his return trip.
Having reached the eleventh level of Qi Refining, his spiritual energy endurance had greatly increased. After flying for the better part of a day, he was only two or three hundred miles away from the Tianxing Sect market.
Lu Tiandu flew to a remote, low mountain and quickly located the hidden cave he had previously opened.
Though it might be called a cave, it was in reality no different from an abandoned cave, so there was no need to worry about it being occupied.
After using his spiritual sense to confirm the surroundings were clear, Lu Tiandu deployed several formation flags and began setting up his formation.
Once everything was set up and the illusion array activated, Lu Tiandu entered the cave and vanished into the Stone Bead World, recovering his mana.
After a night's rest, Lu Tiandu vanished from the Stone Bead World.
He looked drastically different from before, dressed in black and covered in a hooded cape. If someone removed the cape, it would be difficult to recognize him.
For safety reasons, Lu Tiandu had applied a lot of "makeup" to his face, using materials he had found since arriving in this world. The makeup he had learned from a female makeup artist friend who worked in the film and television industry.
It was indeed impressive, and it would be even better if he also possessed a secret technique that could alter his skeletal structure.
He had been to the Tianxing Sect market several times before with other Lu family members, so he was quite familiar with it.
With only a little over two hundred miles remaining, Lu Tiandu arrived not far from the Tianxing Sect market in just over an hour. Sensing the vibrations of the anti-air formation, he lowered his flying sword and headed towards the market.
Along the way, he encountered many people dressed similarly to him, and everyone seemed unfazed.
The Tianxing Sect market was a unique place, completely different from the one in the Yellow Maple Valley.
It centered around a massive pavilion, twenty to thirty feet tall, surrounded by buildings only one-tenth the height, arranged in a circular pattern.
This massive pavilion housed the Tianxing Sect's own shops. Atop the tower, several dozen feet high, a massive plaque bore the words "Stardust Pavilion" in large silver characters, making it striking from afar.
Lu Tiandu's target wasn't the Stardust Pavilion this time, so he wandered around observing the smaller shops.
After more than an hour, he finally had a good idea of the location. He walked towards the dozen or so shops he had already targeted.
Within moments, Lu Tiandu emerged from one of them, a smile on his face. He hadn't expected to close his first sale.
Since this was his first time selling to these shops, Lu Tiandu only offered ten mid-level talismans, starting at seventy spirit stones. Unexpectedly, due to the high quality of the talismans, he ended up selling for seventy-five spirit stones.
Naturally, the shopkeepers, encountering someone with such impressive talisman skills, hoped for a long-term supply, but Lu Tiandu declined, explaining that he was selling the talismans because spirit stones were currently scarce and he wouldn't have been willing to part with such high-quality goods.
After all, with his limited resources, he didn't want to reveal the secret of his ability to mass-produce mid-level talismans, as that would have brought him trouble.
This first sale boosted his confidence, and although he encountered some shopkeepers who pushed for a lower price, Lu Tiandu's persistence kept them from taking advantage.
According to the normal price of talismans, the retail price of the attack and defense talismans that Lu Tiandu took out is about eight or nine spirit stones, and the store owner also makes a small profit.
After all, a small shop like this couldn't compare to larger stores in terms of variety and quality, and it might not even sell a few talismans a month.
And so, in just half a day, Lu Tiandu managed to sell a staggering 150 talismans. The income of over 1,100 spirit stones instantly enriched his family's wealth.
Earning over a thousand spirit stones allowed him to accelerate his upcoming plans, and he felt a surge of joy.
Now that his spirit stone income was almost complete, Lu Tiandu planned to explore other parts of the market and see if he could find out about Xin Ruyin's whereabouts. After all, this exceptionally gifted formation master was crucial to his future plans.
This was also one of his plans for this visit to the Tianxing Sect market.
According to his memory, Xin Ruyin was also a free cultivator who unexpectedly inherited the skills of an unknown formation master. With her talent in formations, she gradually gained a reputation among the free cultivators and some small and medium-sized families surrounding the Tianxing Sect.
Unsure of Xin Ruyin's age, he could only make rough inquiries.
Unfortunately, after some inquiries, Lu Tiandu discovered no renowned female formation masters. Furthermore, the items on the makeshift stalls he visited were also lackluster, leaving him deeply disappointed.
Just as he was feeling bored, he stumbled upon a stall displaying numerous mid-level talismans, and even a few high-level ones.
This immediately caught his attention.
These makeshift vendors were typically independent cultivators or disciples of sects who preferred to remain anonymous. A glance at the spiritual energy surrounding this person revealed a higher level than his own, perhaps twelve levels.
This made Lu Tiandu less cautious. He assumed this person wasn't an independent cultivator, but rather a disciple of one of the Yuanwu Kingdom's sects. He
looked to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. His black clothing, though somewhat baggy, still revealed a slender figure. He wore a conical hat with a black veil draped over the brim, obscuring his features and giving them a mysterious air.
This intrigued Lu Tiandu, and he sent out his spiritual sense to scan, only to be blocked outside.
This veil actually has the power to block spiritual awareness!
"Fellow Daoist, it's extremely rude to casually probe others!" A faint laugh emanated from behind the veil, the voice surprisingly gentle. "Does Fellow Daoist have anything you'd like?"
Hearing the stall owner's words, Lu Tiandu felt a rare sense of embarrassment. Due to the divine furnace in his mind, his spiritual energy was significantly stronger than that of an ordinary person.
He estimated that his spiritual awareness was comparable to that of a thirteenth-level cultivator, which was why he dared to proactively probe. Unexpectedly, he was discovered by the other person's rare treasure.
"My fault, Fellow Daoist!" Lu Tiandu apologized, picking up a blue stone and asking, "How much is this, Fellow Daoist?"
The woman snorted at the inexpensive item Lu Tiandu was holding up. "I have many very good talismans on my stall. Why don't you take a closer look?"
Lu Tiandu picked up the stone and inquired about its price simply to diffuse the awkwardness. Besides, he had plenty of talismans, so why would he spend spirit stones on something like this? But upon taking a look at the stone, he saw something truly special.
"I'm short of money. Fellow Daoist, these talismans are indeed good, but I can only look at them to satisfy my envy..."
When traveling, Lu Tiandu naturally knew the principle of not showing off one's wealth, and pretended to be an ordinary casual cultivator.
This made the beautiful eyes of the woman opposite him roll slightly under the bamboo hat.
Lu Tiandu was naturally unaware of this and changed the subject:
"This stone looks a little different. Fellow Daoist, could you explain it to me?"
"If you want, give me ten or eight spirit stones," the black-shirted woman said in her gentle tone. "I got this thing from someone else. I also thought it looked different at the time, but later I asked many people to identify it, but no one knew what it was. Moreover, this stone is difficult to melt and cannot be used to refine weapons..."
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(End of this chapter)