Born with immortal seed

Chapter 55 Purchasing Defensive Magical Artifacts
"According to Su Lie, Wanbaoge is actually a trading company, not a sect with a lineage of Daoist traditions. It has branches in almost every prefecture and county in Liang Kingdom, with a wide network. It is said that as long as you have enough spirit stones, it will pluck the stars from the sky for you!"

Su Lie had served as a greeter at Wanbaoge for five years, and he told Bai Zichen everything he knew.

The founder was a rogue cultivator who had reached the Core Formation stage. His initial idea was to exchange goods and make friends with other cultivators, which led him to establish the Wanbaoge (Treasure Pavilion).

Unexpectedly, the business grew bigger and bigger, and its scope of business covered all the items that cultivators could use.

Perhaps it is not as good as some merchants that only operate in one area, but in terms of the completeness of its products, no merchant in the entire Liang Kingdom can compare with Wanbaoge. It even has channels to purchase rare items from the cultivation world outside of Liang Kingdom.

Today, Wanbaoge has three Core Formation Guest Elders in the open, and the sect leader is also a Core Formation cultivator.

As for the background of the Five Elements Sect Trading Company, it's quite simple: it was established by the Five Elements Sect, which has been on good terms with the Green Maple Sect for generations.

The Qingfeng Sect also opened a Qingfeng Trading Company near the Five Elements Sect's mountain gate.

The two families originated a thousand years ago when an elder from the Five Elements Sect came to the Black Mountain Range for training. He accidentally provoked a third-tier demon king and fled all the way. He was rescued by the then-leader of the Green Maple Sect when he was on the verge of death.

The two met and became friends. They supported each other through several life-or-death trials and finally both successfully formed their cores.

From then on, the two sects maintained constant contact.

After all, Qingfeng Sect is in the north and Wuxing Sect is in the south, separated by hundreds of thousands of miles, so there will be no conflict of interest between the sects.

The two families looked out for each other and helped each other. When their disciples met while training outside, they addressed each other as fellow disciples, helping and benefiting each other.

The Five Elements Sect is renowned for its Five Elements magic, and its founder also possesses a Great Five Elements Annihilation Divine Light, which is said to be able to suppress all Five Elements magic in the world.

However, the entry requirements are extremely strict. Basically, only those who have reached the Core Formation stage are qualified to begin the initial cultivation. Whether it truly possesses the power that its reputation suggests has not yet been verified.

Bai Zichen stood at the street corner and stepped into the Wanbao Pavilion, a five-story building, without the slightest hesitation.

The main hall on the first floor of Wanbaoge was spacious and empty, with only a few long tables and tea sets luxuriously placed there, where a few cultivators sat drinking tea and chatting.

It's important to know that every shop in the market is incredibly valuable, with every inch of land worth its weight in gold.

Those tiny shops practically crammed every corner with goods, making it so that even buyers had to be careful where they stepped.

A group of beautiful women stood in a row, arm in arm.

"Welcome to Wanbao Pavilion, esteemed immortal master. If you'd like to purchase anything, I can assist you with your shopping."

As a customer entered, a woman in palace attire walked gracefully, and even before she arrived, the fragrance of jasmine wafted over.

"A defensive magic artifact, of the highest quality or better."

Bai Zichen glanced at them and guessed that these beautiful women were the mortal greeters Su Lie had mentioned.

A cultivator like Su Lie, who greets guests, at least has an equal status with the customers, and his knowledge of the items for sale is unmatched by ordinary people. He usually entertains customers on the third floor or above.

“A top-grade magic artifact… Immortal Master, you may call me Xiaoqin. Such an item will be selected by me on the third floor.”

The woman in palace attire's eyes lit up. She turned and led the way, a pink silk sash cinched at her waist, outlining her mature pear-shaped figure.

As a greeter, her income mainly depends on the amount of spirit stones spent by customers in Wanbaoge.

If a business's performance is consistently at the bottom for several months, it will be dismissed and lose the right to live in the market.

In the world of cultivation, mere beauty is extremely cheap.

In fact, as mortals without spiritual roots, they could easily leave the market and live comfortably in the surrounding areas.

They deliberately tried to stay in the market area.

In Su Lie's words, these people, as descendants of cultivators, had no spiritual roots of their own, and their lifelong dream was to give birth to a descendant with spiritual roots.

Obsessively giving everything, just to get closer to cultivators, unwilling to admit the reality that they are just ordinary mortals.

These ordinary people who greet guests will find themselves unable to find any work in the market after a few years when their beauty fades.

For them, being chosen by a cultivator to become a concubine was the best possible outcome.

Bai Zichen followed the woman in palace attire up the steps. There were many more counters on the second floor, where many cultivators stood selecting items, each accompanied by a beautiful woman or a handsome young man.

Once we reached the third floor, it became much quieter, with only a handful of people around.

This floor is clearly equipped with a soundproofing array, which completely isolates the noise from the second floor.

The woman in palace attire whispered a few words to a seated court attendant, who then got up and walked over.

"My name is Zhilang, a clerk at Wanbaoge. I've heard that this fellow Daoist wishes to purchase a high-grade defensive magic artifact?"

"That's right. If a suitable top-grade defensive magic weapon is available, that would be even better."

Bai Zichen knew that he wouldn't stay at the sixth level of Qi Refining for long. As his cultivation improved, he could also fully utilize the effects of top-grade defensive magic weapons.

As for buying from Wanbaoge instead of Qingfeng Sect's own weapon-refining shop, it's naturally because Wanbaoge has a more complete range of magical artifacts and more exquisite ones.

To be honest, Qingfeng Sect is not known for its weapon crafting skills. Many of the sect's elders purchase their spiritual weapons from outside or commission other weapon crafting masters to make them.

Bai Zichen traveled such a long way to buy magical artifacts from his own sect's weapon-refining shop; he might as well have just commissioned a custom-made one from the weapon-refining hall.

As long as inner disciples are willing to spend the time, it is not difficult to gather the contribution points needed to refine a high-grade magic weapon.

Besides, he wasn't some rootless rogue cultivator. He wasn't worried about running into a rogue cultivator. Would a disciple of the Qingfeng Sect be robbed in his own market?

"If you have any needs, Fellow Daoist, Wanbao Pavilion will certainly live up to your expectations and provide you with the best defensive magic artifacts."

Upon hearing that a big business had come his way, Zhilang immediately had a woman in palace attire entertain him while he went out of the hall to retrieve the goods.

A woman in palace attire presented an incense burner, lit incense, rinsed the clean tea set on the table, and brewed a cup of spiritual tea to serve.

Every move she made was specially trained, showcasing her elegant demeanor.

It's a pity she doesn't have spiritual roots. If she were a female cultivator, she would definitely attract many cultivators to pursue her.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zhilang rushed back, carrying three wooden boxes in his arms.

“Fellow Daoist, I have brought out all the finest items from the three floors of this pavilion. Ordinary customers don’t have the opportunity to see them.”

Zhilang gently tapped the first wooden box, and the box opened, revealing a bracelet woven from scales.

"The Eight-Sided Teng Snake Mirror is a top-grade defensive magic weapon, crafted from the feather tips and scales of the two-winged Teng Snake, along with several kinds of spiritual materials."

Bai Zichen had seen the Twin-Winged Serpent in ancient texts. It was a first-tier peak-level demon beast that could fly briefly for a while, dragging its several-foot-long serpent body with its pair of short wings.

"May I try it out?"

"Of course, but since you haven't refined it, you can only utilize the third level of the magic weapon's effect."

Zhilang was full of confidence in his family's magical artifacts.

Bai Zichen held the bracelet in his hand and found it incredibly light, as if the eight scales were as soft as feathers.

With a slight infusion of magic, the bracelet instantly transformed into an octagonal prism-like shield, encircling itself at the center and spinning continuously.

"The most distinctive feature of this magical artifact is its extremely fast activation, which can instantly protect the entire body."

Seeing the effect of the Eight-Sided Soaring Serpent Mirror, Zhi Lang said smugly.

"Moreover, once activated, the eight shields automatically protect the user, so there is no need to devote any energy to them. Even if one shield is destroyed, it can still function normally. It can be quickly repaired in the Wanbao Pavilion by simply replacing a scale."

(End of this chapter)