Living a peaceful life in the world of cultivation

In the center of the city, a simple and elegant six-story pavilion with a restrained brilliance stands majestically.

A black plaque with gold lettering hangs from the main eaves of the third floor, bearing the words "Duobaoge" (meaning "Treasure Pavilion"). Its form is vigorous and powerful, and its style is ancient, simple, and profound.

The main building gradually narrows inward, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, as solid as a rock; the entire structure is made of century-old sacred wood for the beams and pillars, which are dark and thick; the eaves are short and upturned, covered with dark blue barrel tiles, and the tile ends are engraved with cloud and mist patterns, and bronze wind chimes hang at the corners of the eaves.

The attic is six stories high, which is within the permitted height limit.

According to "Miscellaneous Notes on Basic Knowledge in the Cultivation World", a system of three stories is established. The buildings constructed by Qi Refining forces cannot exceed three stories, while those constructed by Foundation Establishment forces cannot exceed six stories.

The origins of Duobaoge are mysterious, yet it has not overstepped any rules.

Such a customary system naturally has little binding force within a family's territory.

At this time, the number of cultivators inside the Treasure Pavilion was quite large.

They have everything from the late stage of Qi Refining to the early stage. Throwing Lü Ping in there won't attract anyone's attention.

As soon as Lü Ping stepped into the Treasure Pavilion, a maidservant came to greet him.

The maids were dressed in the uniform of Duobaoge, a light white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) with a light blue gauze overlay. Every move they made revealed the discipline and refinement they had cultivated over many years.

The fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from her secretly alarmed Lü Ping; even a maidservant from the Treasure Pavilion who was skilled in handling people was actually a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

"Welcome, fellow Daoist."

"I don't know. Please tell Xiaoyue if you need anything."

Xiaoyue's words were gentle and soft, as warm and soothing as a mountain spring.

Lu Ping glanced around and, seeing that no one was paying attention, then stated his needs.

"The cultivation method I practiced before was the Five Elements Cultivation, which was widely circulated in the market. I came to Duobao Pavilion this time to switch to a different cultivation method."

"I see." Xiaoyue smiled faintly and spoke clearly: "There are quite a few cultivators like you who practice the Five Elements Technique and want to switch to another cultivation method at the third level of Qi Refining."

"Xiaoyue recommends that you switch to the Lesser Five Elements Technique."

"The Five Elements Kung Fu circulating in the market is a simplified version of the Lesser Five Elements Kung Fu."

"To exaggerate a bit, the Five Elements Technique circulating in the market wouldn't be considered a qualified technique if placed in the Treasure Pavilion."

"The Lesser Five Elements Technique is pure and peaceful, possessing the spiritual power of the five elements, which can satisfy your cultivation during the Qi Refining stage; if you wish to cultivate a technique with outstanding effects, Xiaoyue recommends the Golden Slaying Technique for combat, which has sharp spiritual power; the Everlasting Spring Technique, which is suitable for spirit plant masters; and the Spirit Flame Technique, which is compatible with alchemy..."

"If you wish to switch to later cultivation techniques, you will need to first cultivate the first-tier secret technique, Spirit Transformation Technique."

Xiaoyue recounted the details of switching cultivation methods, suggesting that cultivators like Lü Ping must have received quite a few such individuals on a regular basis.

"Switching to other cultivation methods requires mastering the secret technique of Spirit Transformation, which is quite troublesome as a prerequisite."

"The Five Elements Technique I practice is derived from the Lesser Five Elements Technique, so switching between them is not difficult."

"Add me to your experience and spiritual energy clusters; the speed of switching to Lesser Five Elements cultivation will be extremely fast."

Firstly, it eliminates unnecessary trouble; secondly, it avoids the weakened period that most cultivators experience when switching cultivation methods; and thirdly, the Spirit Transformation Technique is a first-tier secret technique, so its purchase price must not be low.

After considering it over, Lü Ping made a decision: "I'll go with the Lesser Five Elements Technique. Besides switching cultivation methods, I would also like to ask Miss Xiaoyue to recommend some advanced spells that spirit plant masters can use to cultivate spirit plants, as well as a defensive formation."

After some discussion, they finalized the cultivation technique [Minor Five Elements Technique] and the spell for cultivating spiritual plants [Sweet Rain Mist].

Among them, the [Minor Five Elements Technique] is ranked as a mid-grade first-tier skill, priced at thirty-five low-grade spirit stones; the [Sweet Rain Mist] is ranked as a mid-grade first-tier skill, priced at fifteen low-grade spirit stones.

Lu Ping also had his eye on a spell called [Bing Fire Fertilizing Earth Spell], which cost twenty low-grade spirit stones.

However, no purchase was made.

It's not that I'm short of money, it's just that spending lavishly in the Treasure Pavilion is tantamount to flaunting my wealth.

As for the formation, Lü Ping immediately gave up on it upon hearing the price.

Otherwise, if I buy the formation today and expose my wealth, the formation might be triggered by someone tomorrow night.

Many cultivators don't mind making one more fortune before heading to the Snow Toad Mountains.

Before leaving the Treasure Pavilion, I glanced at it casually and saw the precious talismans stored on the counter.

A first-grade superior golden sword talisman is priced at 120 low-grade spirit stones.

Unexpectedly, the Golden Sword Talisman is so valuable.

In the market, cultivators who obtain the Golden Sword Talisman from the Treasure Pavilion must pay a price of 120 low-grade spirit stones; but he only needs to cultivate a perfect quality Rejuvenating Grass.

After the money and goods were exchanged, Lü Ping took a step out of the Treasure Pavilion. His powerful spiritual sense began to warn him. Several prying eyes inadvertently fell on him in the crowd before turning to others.

See here.

Lu Ping wandered around the inner city for a full hour before his spiritual sense stopped giving warnings and he finally left the inner city.

Perhaps it was due to the approaching start of the land reclamation, or perhaps it was due to the incident at the Spirit Herb Hall, but the number of patrolling cultivator teams in the inner city and the outer areas of the market gradually increased.

The Yunzhu Li family made their stance clear: they did not want any foolish cultivators to anger them at this crucial stage.

When passing by the market for independent practitioners, one stall was surrounded by a huge crowd of vendors and practitioners.

The stall owner was arguing with other independent cultivators.

"Fellow Daoist, my protective formation is a first-grade low-level Cloud Water Formation. It has the functions of guarding the courtyard and sensing aura. Not only that, it can also gather cloud water to nourish the spiritual plants and soil in the courtyard. It is a great help to your spiritual plant cultivation. With this formation, you get multiple benefits. Fellow Daoist, tell me, when I sell it to you for thirty low-grade spirit stones, have I made an extra penny of spirit stones?"

"What you say is true, but there are still bloodstains on your array flags, indicating that their origin is unknown and is a very ominous sign."

"Fellow Daoist, please rest assured, I have taken care of the beginning and end of this formation, and I guarantee that no one will cause you any trouble."

"In other words, there's something wrong with the origin of this formation."

For just twenty low-grade spirit stones, one can buy a Cloud Water Array with defensive, nourishing, and perceptive abilities, which is half the price of the one sold at the Treasure Pavilion. This is truly tempting for cultivators.

but.

Lü Ping ignored him completely.

Bloodstains remained on the battle flags, but the front and back were cleaned up, suggesting that the original owner of this formation had been properly dealt with.

Furthermore, he had just revealed his intention to buy the array in the Treasure Pavilion, and now that he had come to the cultivator market, he found a cultivator selling low-level arrays at a bargain price. Although there are many precedents of selling such bloodstained cultivation resources in the cultivator market, it is quite reasonable to encounter this situation by chance.

Lu Ping simply refused to believe it. He wasn't some chosen one or a child of destiny, so how could he possibly pick up a bargain?

What if it's a scheme orchestrated by several people, like a chess endgame puzzle on the street?

As long as he is not greedy, he will rarely have any trouble.

Without realizing it, Lü Ping memorized the appearances and auras of the group and kept them in mind.

In front of the stall, the vendor was still arguing and haggling with his fellow plant expert.

However, all these disturbances have absolutely nothing to do with him, Mr. Lü.

Lu Ping was busy returning to his courtyard to cultivate spiritual plants.

There are a bunch of "children" at home; once they're separated from their "old father," I wonder if they'll behave...