Mortal: The Path to Immortality

"A fake talisman!?" Lu Nanzhu asked.

Song Ji then carefully explained. This "pseudo-talisman treasure" is actually a special magic weapon made by dividing the power of a "talisman treasure" into several parts and storing them in special talisman paper. In this way, the activation of this "pseudo-talisman treasure" is extremely fast, without having to consume a lot of time to activate it like using a "talisman treasure".

However, since a "pseudo-talisman" only possesses a portion of the power of a "talisman," it generally only lasts for one or two uses before losing its effectiveness. Apart from this, the effects of a "pseudo-talisman" are not significantly different from those of a regular "talisman."

After listening to Song Ji's explanation, Lu Nanzhu said, "In that case, this 'pseudo-talisman treasure' is quite a good item. Ordinary cultivators might find it difficult to buy. But someone like you, who has been a broker for shops for so long, should have enough spirit stones to acquire it, right?"

Seeing that Lu Nanzhu did not directly refuse, Song Ji still held onto hope and patiently continued to explain: "Junior brother is right. Those cultivators with abundant resources are more willing to buy magic treasures for killing, but this 'pseudo-talisman treasure' is actually a defensive magic treasure. Those rich kids are not lacking in life-saving means, so most of them are not interested in it."

As for me... I have no interest in those battles; I only want to earn some spirit stones and build up my own fortune...

However, even so, the defensive "pseudo-talisman" still possesses effects that ordinary cultivators desperately need.

Seeing Song Ji's somewhat dejected expression, Lu Nanzhu didn't press further. After a moment's thought, he made a decision. In any case, a trip to the market was necessary to prepare for entering the Crimson Forbidden Land. He might as well take this opportunity to go and see the treasures at the auction house; with luck, he might even be able to snag one or two.

"Since that's the case, I, your junior brother, am somewhat interested in this 'pseudo-talisman treasure.' However, my purpose in going to the auction house is merely to sell some pills and incidentally acquire some magical artifacts; I'll most likely need your guidance, senior brother. As for whether I'll have the resources to acquire that treasure, that's hard to say."

A smile appeared on Song Ji's face, and he immediately agreed to Lu Nanzhu's request: "Alright! Since Junior Brother is willing, then we will meet at the archway outside the sect in three days, and then head to the Yue Kingdom market together."

After agreeing on the terms, the two went their separate ways to continue with their tasks.

Three days later, Lu Nanzhu left the sect on time to keep the appointment.

Beneath the stone pillars of the archway, Song Ji was pacing back and forth, rubbing his hands together. However, he was not alone; three other cultivators dressed in different outfits stood beside him.

Nan Zhu walked closer and saw three figures standing not far from Song Ji.

One of them, Senior Brother Liu, was dressed in the black robes of an elite disciple, around thirty years old, with a square face and large ears, and his cultivation had already reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining. The other two were slightly less advanced, both at the eleventh level of Qi Refining. The handsome Chen, a fellow disciple, was currently wiping a thumb ring on his finger; the other was a fellow disciple surnamed Wang, with a strong江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) air, dressed in a black cloth robe with a bamboo hat on his back, and was taciturn.

"Junior Brother Lu, you've finally arrived." Upon seeing Lu Nanzhu, Song Ji hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. "These fellow Daoists are also planning to head to the Crimson Forbidden Land and intend to purchase some useful items at the auction house. Traveling together will provide mutual support along the way. Once we arrive at the auction house, we can pool our resources and perhaps negotiate a better price with the shopkeeper."

The cultivators merely nodded symbolically at Lu Nanzhu and then ignored him.

Lu Nanzhu felt uneasy. Most of these people were guests brought by Song Ji, but it was also possible that it was a trap? Were they planning to conspire to harm him? He needed to be more careful this time.

"Now that everyone's here, let's set off. The Yue Kingdom has been quite turbulent lately, so please stay close along the way." After giving these instructions, Song Ji summoned a flying sword and leaped onto it.

Although Lu Nanzhu had successfully cultivated the first level of the "Soaring Record" and could fly without the aid of a magical artifact, he still reached into his storage bag to retrieve his beginner flying artifact in order to avoid revealing his true identity, and followed behind the others at a leisurely pace.

After flying for about an hour, Lu Nanzhu gradually noticed something unusual. Song Ji was taking an unusual route, preferring to expend more spiritual energy on a longer, roundabout way rather than taking a straight, easy path.

The cultivator surnamed Wang seemed somewhat impatient and couldn't help but complain, "Fellow Daoist Song, at this rate, when will we ever reach the auction house? Why not choose a faster route?"

Song Ji did not stop using the ritual implements, but turned around and laughed awkwardly twice:

"Fellow Daoists, you have been cultivating diligently for many years and are unaware of the dangers outside. The routes we just bypassed have recently been the sites of frequent horrific attacks on cultivators. It is said that the corpses of those cultivators were withered, as if their spiritual energy had been drained, and their deaths were extremely gruesome. Rumor has it that this was the work of demonic cultivators."

Old Song, I'm not particularly skilled, but I'm quite adept at gathering information in the streets. While I'm not sure if it's true or not, it's better to believe it's true than not to.

"The work of the demonic path?" the cultivator surnamed Chen chimed in. "According to my senior brothers in the sect, demonic cultivators are currently rampant in Jiang and Cheqi Kingdoms. I didn't expect them to extend their reach to Yue Kingdom so quickly!"

The cultivator surnamed Liu looked at the crowd and said calmly, "It cannot be ruled out that some rogue cultivators are practicing heretical techniques and committing evil deeds under the guise of the demonic path."

The cultivator surnamed Wang nodded: "Brother Liu is right. There are indeed some rogue cultivators who will stop at nothing to avoid retaliation. When they do evil, they raise a big flag and use someone else's skin to protect themselves."

The group tacitly increased their flying speed and arrived at the Immortal Cultivation Market where "Thousand Gold Pavilion" was located before nightfall.

After entering the city, Song Ji gave instructions to everyone:

"You may rest for the night in this area. There are some shops run by cultivators here that you can browse in your spare time. Oh! By the way, the night market here is also extremely bustling. If you have some free time, you can also take a stroll around. It's not easy to leave the sect, so you should enjoy the lively atmosphere of the world."

We'll meet at the auction house in the north of the city tomorrow at 9:00 AM.

Afterwards, everyone said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Lu Nanzhu found an inn, entered a room, and set up a protective barrier. He then slowly walked to the window, pondering the conversation from earlier that day: according to the original timeline, there should still be some time before the demonic invasion of Yue Kingdom. The rumored murders were probably unrelated to the demonic path. Could it be the Black Fiend Cult? But the methods didn't seem quite right. He couldn't rule out the possibility that the demonic path had planted spies within the Seven Sects beforehand. Well, when traveling, he still needed to be careful.

After checking the room's protective barriers again, Lu Nanzhu quietly changed into an ordinary gray hooded shirt to conceal his identity as a member of the Spirit Beast Mountain sect. While the "pseudo-talisman" was tempting, the deal was too unpredictable. Rather than pinning his hopes on something so useless, he preferred to quickly acquire the powerful magical artifacts that could immediately boost his combat strength.

The market was not quiet at night. Although the hawking of vendors had subsided, some shops quietly hung up red lanterns, as if the trading had just begun.

Following the information he had obtained from Steward Yan, Lu Nanzhu traversed several streets and arrived at a hutong (alleyway). This hutong was mostly lined with long-established mid-sized shops, with smaller stalls further in. It was said that these stalls often sold stolen goods of dubious origin that the shops dared not touch.

After browsing around for a while, Lu Nanzhu entered a shop called "Jubaozhai".