On the path to immortality, I can see destiny.

Hearing this, Zhao Fan thought for a moment and decided to give up the magic artifact.

"In that case, let's forget it. I'll sell you these spiritual materials, but you don't need the magic artifacts."

After hearing Zhao Fan's words, the boss was silent for a moment, then turned his eyes to Zhao Fan and spoke again.

"Of course, here are nineteen spirit stones. Please take them, fellow Daoist. If you wish to return to buy magic artifacts again, the discount will still apply."

"However, fellow Daoist, you should know that this shield has fifteen profound runes, which is not comparable to a mid-grade magic weapon that has just entered the first grade."

After saying that, the boss took out nineteen spirit stones of different colors and placed them on the table.

Zhao Fan nodded slightly, put away the spirit stones, and turned to leave.

As Zhao Fan strolled along, he gently stroked the black ring on his index finger.

I have to say, this ring has been a huge help to me.

Those spiritual materials must have cost more than twenty spirit stones, but probably not by much. Since Su San recommended them, Zhao Fan trusted them.

And these things were only his harvest from the past two days. In addition, there were medicinal herbs, which, when converted into spirit stones, would amount to about ten or twenty spirit stones.

Forty spirit stones in two days—if word got out that this speed of earning spirit stones would drive all the rogue cultivators crazy.

Even so, Zhao Fan still felt he lacked spirit stones; buying even a mid-grade magic weapon would cost sixty or seventy spirit stones.

If I break through to the late stage of Qi Refining in the future, I will need to buy a high-grade magic weapon, which costs more than 200 spirit stones.

If one reaches the peak of Qi Refining in the future, one will need to buy top-grade magic weapons, which are ridiculously expensive, each costing more than five hundred spirit stones.

As for the Foundation Establishment stage, one will need to use the legendary spiritual artifacts. Zhao Fan heard from his master that even the most ordinary spiritual artifact costs one or two thousand spirit stones.

This is the reality of cultivating immortality: as one's cultivation level increases, the consumption of spirit stones becomes completely different.

The simplest way is to use the Spirit Nourishing Pill, which is used to improve cultivation in the early stages of Qi Refining, for two spirit stones per pill.

A single pill for cultivation requires five spirit stones to reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining, while a single pill for cultivation requires twenty spirit stones to reach the late-stage of Qi Refining.

The same applies to magical artifacts; for each level upgrade, the consumption of spirit stones increases several times over.

Thinking this to himself, Zhao Fan suddenly felt that the nineteen spirit stones he had just put into his storage bag were getting lighter and lighter, to the point that he lost all joy.

Zhao Fan walked for a while and then stopped in front of a stall.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man with dark skin who looked rather honest. He was playing with a black hammer in his hand.

He was dressed in a sleeveless black linen outfit, and his strong arms swayed slightly with the movements of his hands. With a little effort, solid muscles bulged out, and at a glance, one could tell that he was a blacksmith with exceptional skills.

His stall was filled with all sorts of religious artifacts.

Next to it, there was a sign with three words written on it.

"Collect the elixirs."

Zhao Fan looked down at the magical artifacts on the stall and asked softly.

"Fellow Daoist, how much are these magical artifacts?"

The middle-aged man looked up at Zhao Fan and chuckled.

"A low-grade magic weapon costs twenty spirit stones, and a mid-grade magic weapon costs sixty spirit stones."

Zhao Fan saw that he was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining and had some doubts about his level.

"Did you make these magical artifacts yourself, fellow Daoist?"

The middle-aged man nodded, seemingly understanding the implication in Zhao Fan's words, and began to explain.

"Fellow Daoist, don't underestimate me because of my low cultivation level. My weapon-refining techniques were learned from the Suyang Sect, so the quality is absolutely guaranteed!"

Zhao Fan was somewhat surprised to hear the words "Suyang Sect".

He had naturally heard of the great name of the Suyang Sect.

Nanjun is located on the edge of Chengxuan Kingdom. The entire Chengxuan Kingdom consists of fifteen continents, the southernmost of which is Nanping Continent, and Nanjun is one of the four prefectures of Nanping Continent.

The Suyang Sect is the largest cultivation sect in the entire Nanping Continent.

He has countless disciples and immense power, with even a Core Formation stage elder overseeing him.

At the same time, this is also the place that all the independent cultivators of Nanping Continent dream of.

The middle-aged man in front of me only had a cultivation level of four and looked quite old. How could he possibly be related to the Suyang Sect?

"Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps taking advantage of my youth and gullibility?"

Zhao Fan didn't believe a single word the dark-skinned man said.

Even if the Suyang Sect were to accept disciples, they should accept someone with such high talent as him. How could they possibly accept this dark-skinned man?

"Fellow Daoist, you must have misunderstood. It's not difficult to enter the Suyang Sect, but it is very difficult to become a disciple of the Suyang Sect."

Seeing that Zhao Fan didn't believe him, the burly man had no choice but to continue explaining.

"The requirements for accepting disciples in the Suyang Sect are very high. They need to have a qualified spiritual root or have reached a certain level of cultivation."

"But the Suyang Sect is very large and needs many different kinds of servant disciples."

"For example, I was once fortunate enough to work as a menial disciple in the Suyang Sect, responsible for refining spiritual materials for other disciples in the sect."

"That's when I learned my weapon-forging skills."

After the burly man finished speaking, Zhao Fan trusted him considerably.

In fact, most of the weapon-refining methods circulating among independent cultivators today are low-level weapon-refining techniques passed down from the Suyang Sect.

Some people who joined the Suyang Sect either became disciples or did odd jobs, and over time, they always managed to learn something.

However, this is limited to these low-level techniques.

This is why high-grade magic artifacts are so much more expensive than mid-grade ones.

Because crafting high-grade magic weapons is already a very advanced technique, it is very difficult to pass it on. Even if it is passed on, cultivators with the lineage regard it as a treasure and will not easily pass it on.

If this dark-skinned man had learned some weapon-refining techniques at the Suyang Sect, that would make sense.

"Then why have you fallen to this state, fellow Daoist? Wouldn't things be much better at the Suyang Sect?"

Zhao Fan continued to inquire, his interest in the Suyang Sect far exceeding that in the magical artifacts before him.

This was a major sect he had only heard of through rumors.

"Back then, I fought with someone and unfortunately lost, which injured my dantian. From then on, my cultivation could not progress any further, so I lost the desire to seek the Dao and left the Suyang Sect."

The dark-skinned man sighed and spoke softly, but then changed the subject.

"However, by the grace of Heaven, my son also possesses spiritual roots, and even three spiritual roots at that!"

"I used my previous connections in the Suyang Sect to recommend my son to the Suyang Sect."

"At this point, he was already an outer disciple of the Suyang Sect!"

When he spoke of his son, his tone was full of pride.

Of course, this is indeed something to be proud of.

In the eyes of independent cultivators, the status of an outer disciple of the Suyang Sect is no different from that of an official in the eyes of ordinary people, inspiring both respect and fear, as well as extraordinary envy.

Let alone outer disciples, even a menial disciple would be enough to make rogue cultivators envious.