Cultivation: I can see the proficiency level

A flash of light streaked across the sky, and Wang Mian, riding a flying shuttle, escaped from the Snake-Entwined Pass and headed straight for the nearest Emerald Cliff. The Green Fish Shuttle sped along, and in just a quarter of an hour, Wang Mian arrived at his destination.

Jade Cliff has a unique landform, resembling stacked stones with protrusions on both sides. Various colors of jadeite are found among the stacked stones, hence the name.

Even from a distance, one can see various colors of jade growing within the large rock—green, vermilion, deep blue, and pure white—intertwined and entwined within it, creating a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

The market here is located at the second cliff. It is not large in scale and was set up by the immortals in this area. Most of the people who come and go are independent cultivators and cultivators from small immortal clans in the surrounding area.

"In this cultivation world, even this imperial green jadeite is like dog poop on the roadside." As he landed, Wang Mian looked at the deep green jadeite inlaid in the stone, where several pieces had broken off and were lying on the ground, but no one picked them up.

This scene stirred up scattered, long-forgotten memories in my heart.

Wang Mian, still dressed as a middle-aged man, looked like an inconspicuous and down-on-his-luck rogue cultivator. He wandered around the market, looking around, and after a long time, he finally entered a shop called Shou's Talisman Shop.

Although there were very few customers inside, it was different from the other few places that were deserted, and it still had a certain amount of popularity.

As soon as Wang Mian stepped inside, a smiling, youthful-looking female cultivator approached and asked, "Welcome to Thousand Talisman Pavilion, Senior. May I ask what you need?"

After being addressed as a senior so often, Wang Mian's initial discomfort had quietly disappeared.

Now it all seems so ordinary.

"Sell some talismans, and buy some paper and ink." After answering, Wang Mian asked her in a very low voice, "That's a considerable amount, can you make the decision?"

Upon hearing this, the female cultivator understood and led him to the elegant room on the second floor, where she brewed him spiritual tea and brought him refreshments. She then told him that a steward would come shortly to examine the talisman and estimate its price.

After waiting for a short while, a middle-aged cultivator arrived.

With a broad smile, he greeted Wang Mian as a friend and sat down opposite him before asking where Wang Mian was selling talismans, as they needed to be examined before a price could be estimated.

"These are them." With a wave of his hand, Wang Mian placed more than two hundred talismans on the table.

These talismans were all drawn during the time I spent away from Luopo Mountain and building my thatched hut in Daomaodian. The few reams of low-grade paper and ink I bought in the wild market of Luopo Mountain have been completely used up.

Five hundred talisman papers yielded over two hundred talismans, a success rate of over forty percent.

The appearance of two thick stacks of talismans surprised the middle-aged cultivator for a moment before he came to his senses. Usually, when he visited talisman masters, he would take out a few or a dozen talismans to sell. This was the first time he had ever seen such a huge number of talismans taken out at once.

After saying something that made him lose his composure, he began to examine the talismans, which he then sorted and placed into three stacks.

Wang Mian sipped his spiritual tea, silently counting the number of teas.

The middle-aged cultivator finished inspecting the talismans: "They are all offensive and defensive talismans, mostly of inferior and mid-grade quality, with very few of superior quality. Two thousand spirit stones each, what do you think, fellow cultivator?"

The trading of talismans, though seemingly complex, is actually quite simple.

If a talisman master is meticulous about the quality of a medium-grade talisman, a medium-grade talisman, or a poor-grade talisman, the transaction will be troublesome and time-consuming; if the talisman master is open-minded and generous, the transaction can be completed as long as the price is right.

Comparing the prices, aside from the difference in the quality of the drawings, the old man from that destitute mountain town probably made quite a bit of spirit stones from him when trading talismans.

The talismans all came from Wang Mian, and he knew their effects well. After calculating for a moment, he agreed.

It took two months and cost 700 spirit stones, but yielded a profit of over 1,000 spirit stones, enough to support half a year of cultivation. With such a profit, it's no wonder that cultivators are eager to learn this skill.

"Fellow Daoist, purchase ten reams of low-grade talisman paper and two liters of low-grade talisman ink." Wang Mian was making this purchase because he did not want to leave Snake-Entwined Pass for a short period of time, and planned to cultivate in peace for more than a month.

While waiting for news from Su Fuyao, he focused on raising his cultivation to the point where there was no further progress. If there was still no news, he would send a message to leave and go find the Divine Mushroom on his own.

If there is any news, after these ten talisman papers and two liters of spirit ink are used up, they can be exchanged for a lot of spirit stones, which can be used to buy spirit medicine and as a reward for gathering information.

"The paper and ink will cost 1,400 spirit stones. Do you need anything else, fellow Daoist?" The middle-aged cultivator casually quoted the price: "If you do not need to purchase anything else, I will hand over the remaining 600 spirit stones to you."

Seeing him purchase such a large quantity of paper and ink, the middle-aged cultivator also took notice and secretly pondered how to make some connections with him.

Aside from paper and ink, Wang Mian did not wish to purchase anything else. He had consumed a great deal of spirit stones during his months of cultivation, and with the addition of these six hundred spirit stones, he only had a little over fifteen hundred spirit stones left.

After pondering for a moment, Wang Mian, thinking he might as well try his luck, asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you know which herb shop in this market has the Nourishing Spirit Mushroom?"

The shopkeeper, who was just worried about not having an opportunity to make friends, took out a communication talisman upon hearing this: "I'll ask on your behalf, fellow Daoist."

The market town was small, but the managers and shopkeepers there were often in contact with each other. If they had any related customers or business, they would introduce each other to each other, and they were quite familiar with each other.

Wang Mian expressed his gratitude.

Seeing that the middle-aged cultivator had contacted several people but had repeatedly shaken his head, Wang Mian knew that things were unlikely to go as planned.

"These friends I contacted are all owners of spirit medicine shops. They all say that this spirit medicine is rare. They suggest that you go to Qiulong City to take a look, or go to the foot of Wolong Mountain to find a treasure hunter. Perhaps you can find this medicine there." The middle-aged cultivator shook his head.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist." Wang Mian thanked him again.

After settling the remaining spirit stones, Wang Mian walked out of the market and noticed the tail that had been following him. His already somewhat depressed mood was further fueled by a surge of anger.

These murderers and robbers can be found in almost every market town; they are all desperate criminals.

Wang Mian's suppressed Qi Refining Level 3 cultivation aura, achieved through the Dust Concealment Technique, ironically made him a target for his opponent. Not far from the market, he made no attempt to conceal his killing intent, seemingly intending to attack.

Wang Mian was feeling restless and agitated.

As the longsword was drawn, several sword energies suddenly flashed across the ground, and several arms suddenly appeared on the ground. Blood was still gushing from the severed limbs, and cries of pain suddenly rang out.

"If you take another half step, it won't just be your arms that get cut off." Wang Mian sheathed his longsword, stepped onto the Green Fish Shuttle, and fled into the distance, ignoring the terrified figures behind him who were begging for mercy.

The men who had lost their arms were left behind, crying out in pain and complaining that they hadn't been able to distinguish between the wooden plank and the iron plate.

We've hit a brick wall.

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Not far to the left of Shechan'ao, there is a scenic valley with stretching fields outside and a mountain villa inside. On the cliff outside the valley, the words "Dragon and Phoenix in Flight" are carved.

Green Ox Valley.

The mountain villa in the valley is built around the lake and along the mountain. Small boats are moored on the shimmering lake, where two mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators can be seen boating and drinking tea, occasionally talking in hushed tones.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, you said that another mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator has come from that Snake-Entwined Ravine. Do you know his background?" The middle-aged man, who had a masculine appearance and fair skin, spoke in a soft, feminine voice.

The monk on the other side had white hair at his temples, and his long beard was also a mixture of black and white.

He poured the spiritual tea before slowly speaking: "It's been too short to find out much. I only know that he's a reclusive cultivator, a middle-aged man at the fourth level of Qi Refining, who spends all his time cultivating and rarely sees anyone."

This is the information that has been received so far; we are still gathering more information.

A soft, feminine sigh escaped.

The two remained silent.

A moment later, the feminine voice rang out again: "Why don't you send more demonic beasts to kill people directly? If this happens a few more times, the Su family will surely give up this Serpent-Entwined Flying Land because they are far away and there is the threat of demonic beasts."

If you can do it once, you can do it a second time. Given the distance and the scarcity of spiritual resources, the Su family is unlikely to go through the trouble of negotiating a price again. They probably won't ask for an exorbitant price like last time.

The cultivator surnamed Liu looked up at him and put down his teacup.

"Fellow Daoist She, if we come a few more times, the Su family will come to take our heads. Once or twice is acceptable, but not a third time. The Su family cultivators are just unable to have sons, not that they are brainless."

The effeminate cultivator's expression froze.

Some, still unwilling to accept the situation, asked, "So we're just going to leave it buried underground? Just ignore it?"

After plotting for a long time, they finally managed to kill a mid-stage Qi Refining expert. Now another mid-stage Qi Refining expert has appeared. They can't kill him, and they can't not kill him either. Can they just stand by and watch?

His patience had long been worn down.

"I'll think of another way," the middle-aged man surnamed Liu warned. "Don't act rashly, lest you alert them and give away the information."

The effeminate cultivator, unwilling to hear such words, snorted coldly, then flew out of the small boat and flew over the mountain ridge.

On the small boat, only the cultivator surnamed Liu remained, pouring himself a drink.

He was contemplating methods of murder.