"Why did it take you so long to come out? What were you talking about with Master?"
Li Lingyu asked. The two of them were the only Qi Refinement disciples under their master, and when traveling to other markets to purchase spiritual items, it was good to have each other for company.
She herself was due to establish her foundation within the next few years. The contribution she needed to submit for the mandatory task wasn't much, but once she advanced to Foundation Establishment, she'd be required to hand over higher-grade spiritual materials. With her purse nearly empty, she doubted she'd be able to complete the task.
That was why she'd had the same thought as Ji An, buying Five Element Essences in advance to flip them for profit, easing her own financial bind. For this, she'd just borrowed over a hundred spirit stones from a few senior brothers and sisters.
"Master was testing my spellwork," Ji An replied vaguely. He only said half the truth. Borrowing spirit stones was not something he wanted to mention; such matters could easily stir resentment or jealousy if word got out.
"Master has always wanted to cultivate a disciple who could inherit her position. Many of our senior brothers and sisters have talent in alchemy, but almost none are willing to put real effort into farming. Your gift will surely make Master favor you."
Li Lingyu spoke softly, though her tone carried a faint trace of loss. She felt that all her years of diligence hadn't earned her the recognition Ji An was already receiving.
Ji An gave a rueful smile.
"I'm just someone who tends fields, that's all.
Senior Sister, the sect's flying ship to Azure Cloud Immortal City only departs once a month. The next one won't leave for another seven or eight days. By then, the chance will be gone.
I was thinking it might be better to travel through the medium and small markets run by nearby cultivation clans, and from there find a route to Azure Cloud City. The only thing I don't know is whether that route is safe enough."
He deliberately shifted the topic, having caught the subtle emotion in her words.
Wei Songnian, for example, never rode the sect's airship back. Instead, he and a dozen other Qi Refinement disciples would travel together through various markets, their numbers giving them safety.
"The sect and the markets both maintain patrol squads to regularly eliminate bandits and rogue cultivators. Both the sect and the clans need stability to prosper, so the order in Xizhou is well-kept.
I know the trade routes those traveling disciples use are fairly safe.
How about this: I'll go rent a flying beast mount. That way, even if bandits do target us, they won't be able to catch us."
Li Lingyu smiled faintly, pride flashing in her eyes.
"To be honest, most of those so-called bandits are wretched rogue cultivators. Compared to us disciples of a great sect, they fall short in both spells and artifacts.
We're both at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement. If we run into bandits, who's robbing whom is still uncertain."
"You're right, Senior Sister. I'll need to stop by the medicine garden first, though. Where should we meet afterward?"
Ji An said. He still needed to pick up the talismans he'd stockpiled over the past two months. Once in Azure Cloud City, selling them off would give him another pot of starting capital.
"Let's meet at the flying platform on Sunset Mountain.
From there, if we travel three hundred li southeast, we'll reach a small market that can be our first stop."
The two parted ways. Ji An first went to the medicine garden to leave Old Xiang with some instructions, asking him to work a bit harder for the next few days. Then he returned to his bamboo lodge at the foot of the mountain, collected his talismans, and stuffed them into his storage pouch.
At last, he bundled up the spirit-seeking rat, fed a beast pill to his gray-feathered sand goose, and mounted it to take flight.
...
Four days later.
Emerald Bamboo Mountain Market was the largest market within eight hundred li.
Ji An scoured every shop selling Five Element Essences and Five Element spiritual items, cleaning out their inventories completely. He even swept through the stalls of rogue cultivators, not sparing a single one.
As the two of them walked out of the market, he sighed aloud:
"There's just not enough stock!"
Ji An had nearly three thousand spirit stones tucked away in his storage pouch, yet on this trip, he had spent only a little over six hundred.
By his estimate, even before reaching Azure Cloud Immortal City, at most, he would be able to spend only one thousand to twelve hundred.
To borrow so many spirit stones from his master and then leave his purchasing power unused was shameful.
Li Lingyu bared her teeth in frustration. Her own spirit stones had already been completely spent at the last market. Testing the waters, she asked,
"Perhaps we don't need to go all the way to Azure Cloud City before turning back?"
She wasn't surprised that this junior brother had deeper pockets than she did. She had already spent most of her savings on exchanging for a Foundation Establishment Pill, whereas Ji An was still stockpiling spirit stones in preparation for that very step.
"We still have to go to Azure Cloud City," Ji An said with a smile. "Senior Sister, did you forget? I need to deliver my talismans to the shops I've partnered with."
He paused, then added lightly,
"Besides, Senior Sister, I'd feel safer if you came along. I don't know the way, and traveling to the city alone makes me uneasy.
Don't worry, I won't let you make this trip for nothing. Any extra expenses will be on me, and I'll even prepare a proper thank-you gift for you."
Renting a beast mount from the sect was calculated by the day. He had to make sure she wasn't at a loss. Time was a cost too, and Ji An knew such things had to be accounted for.
"Between senior and junior siblings, why speak so formally?"
Li Lingyu smiled, warmed by his words.
She hadn't really intended to accept any "thank-you gift." As long as he covered the extra rental fees, that was enough.
The two of them left the marketplace and flew on toward their next destination.
About thirty li later, Ji An suddenly felt something amiss and turned his head. Behind them, a pitch-black flying boat was cutting through the skies straight toward them, now only three or four li away.
He instantly grew alert. Out in the wilds, when cultivators encountered each other, if they did not wish for conflict, they would normally veer away at a distance.
Li Lingyu also sensed it. Her eyes narrowed, her tone turning icy.
"It looks like they're coming right for us. Hah! And they even have a flying boat.
If they're truly enemies, they'll definitely catch up. Let's land, I want to see which fool dares come courting death!"
The two of them were wearing sect robes, both at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. For someone to come barreling at them so openly, it could only mean hostility.
When she had joked earlier about being targeted on their way out of the sect, she hadn't thought much of it. But to her surprise, someone actually dared make a move.
They quickly descended into a dense forest. Ji An shot a glance at his gray-feathered sand goose and cursed inwardly. Without a spirit beast pouch, this oaf couldn't be put away.
Other than its speed in flight, the bird's combat strength was laughable.
"Get farther away," he ordered with a wave of his hand.
The sand goose flapped off, and Ji An pulled the cloth pouch from his waist. With a shake, the spirit-seeking rat leapt out.
Hide for now. When you hear my signal, launch a surprise attack and hold them off.
The little beast nodded, its body flashing with earthy light before burrowing into the ground. It was an earth-attribute demon beast, having awakened the innate spell Earth Travel.
The black flying boat was incredibly fast. In just four or five breaths, it reached the place where they had landed.
A sinister chuckle rang out.
"Heh heh… Little friends of the Golden Spirit Sect, no need to hide.
I'm only after wealth. Hand over your storage bags and magic tools, and I'll turn around and leave without another word."
The raspy voice echoed through the forest. Wearing a black hood that only revealed his eyes, Zhang Tiezhu released his divine sense without restraint, sweeping the area to root out those hiding from him.
Feeling the oppressive spiritual pressure in the air and the invasive sweep of divine sense across his body, Ji An's expression darkened. It was a Foundation Establishment–stage bandit cultivator.
He glanced at Li Lingyu and saw the same bitter look on her face.
No one would believe the words of a bandit. To hand over their magical tools would be to submit themselves like lambs to the slaughter. The only way out was to display enough strength to force the enemy to back down.
"Senior Sister, we have no choice but to fight for our lives. The blue runes are Water Curtain Talismans, the golden ones are Geng Metal Talismans. They're all top-grade among mid-tier talismans, don't hold back," Ji An transmitted with his voice.
He pulled a thick stack of talismans from his storage pouch and passed them to her.
His heart was set; he had brought over twelve hundred talismans today. Unless the enemy could instantly finish them, even against a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they would have a chance.
The panic in Li Lingyu's eyes quickly steadied. Taking the talismans, she sent a voice transmission back:
"Then let's show this thief what a pair of fellow disciples can do. Come on, he's already found us."
With that, a short-handled umbrella-shaped artifact appeared in her hand. Activating a Golden Armor Talisman to shield her body, she strode forward to meet the foe head-on.
The artifact was her father's legacy, the Sky Net Umbrella, capable of both offense and defense.
Forged from wind-milled bronze and refined iron essence, its dusky golden canopy was etched densely with runes, its edges traced with razor-sharp curves.
Though it appeared thin, the umbrella bore eighteen layers of array seals. Its defense rivaled, even surpassed, most shield-type artifacts. And when spun at high speed under a spell, its edge became lethally sharp, slicing a rock-armored horned python cleanly in two.
Ji An formed a hand seal, releasing Wind Riding Technique. A buoyant force enveloped his whole body.
He practiced this spell countless times daily, drop by drop, sharpening his control until the art had reached perfection.
Shield in hand, with a bundle of talismans clutched in his other, he followed close behind his senior sister.
Zhang Tiezhu sneered, his voice mocking:
"Such courage worthy of sect disciples indeed. So you two want to see what I can do?"
As the manager of the market's Hundred Refinements Pavilion, Zhang occasionally supplemented his income with "risk-free trades."
Today, watching Ji An spend over a hundred spirit stones in his shop without blinking, greed had flared in his heart. A wealthy sect disciple is an obvious fat sheep.
When he later saw the boy touring every single refining shop, Zhang's desire burned hotter still, and he resolved to strike.
Foundation Establishment cultivators had liquid spiritual power, far denser and stronger than Qi Refinement–stage mana. A spell of equal level unleashed by them bore entirely different power.
Even if he only commanded a single offensive Foundation Establishment spell, dealing with two ninth-layer Qi Refinement juniors would hardly be difficult.
With a thought, a blazing-red flying sword shot out from behind his back, trailing a fiery tail as it lunged toward Ji An. He had kept the weapon hovering unseen all along.
It was his proudest creation, a superior-grade magic weapon forged with two fire-elemental spirit materials and nurtured with large amounts of fire essence.
Its edge was viciously sharp, and every strike carried searing flames.
At the same time, a yellow triangular flag appeared in Zhang's hand. Pouring spiritual power into it, runic patterns lit up as an earthen-yellow radiance shielded his body.
This was his other treasure, a defensive superior-grade artifact that conjured protective earthlight.
As a refiner, Zhang knew well: quality mattered more than quantity.
The moment the fiery sword's glow flashed into view, Ji An triggered a Water Curtain Talisman to intercept it.
Ever since he had formed the Minor Rain Seed, his talismans seemed subtly changed and more resilient.
A pale blue dome of water rose, forming a perfect hemispherical barrier.
At the same time, Ji An infused power into the Stone Turtle Shield. Earthy-yellow radiance flared across its surface. Adjusting its position with a hand seal, he stepped forward instead of retreating.
He had never fought a Foundation Establishment cultivator before, but he knew that purely defending would only see them slowly ground down.
To drive the enemy back, they had to make him feel threatened. It all came down to whether their strikes could exert enough pressure.
The perfected water curtain lasted only an instant before shattering. The flying sword pierced through, crashing against the Stone Turtle Shield with a resounding clang of metal.
In that instant, Ji An realized the shield's defensive aura had been pierced in a single blow.
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