Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

What Li Ping didn't know was...

Shortly after he left Lingbao Pavilion, Miao Rou entered the back pavilion and, after wandering around, arrived at a luxuriously decorated room.

At this moment, in this room, an old man in black robes was sitting cross-legged. The old man had triangular eyes and a hooked nose, and his face looked rather sinister. What was most unusual was the color of his face. For some reason, it was as pale as wax paper.

Upon noticing Miao Rou's entrance, the old man in black robes immediately opened his eyes and looked at her.

Stared at by the old man, even though they were both Foundation Establishment cultivators, a barely perceptible fear flashed in Miao Rou's eyes: "Protector Yan."

"So? Did that kid agree?" The black-robed elder, Protector Yan, slightly opened his mouth, emitting an unpleasant sound from his throat.

Miao Rou shook her head: "No matter how much I try to persuade him, he still refuses to go."

"He actually refuses? It seems this kid has also realized Dai Sangyu's plan, and is therefore uneasy and dares not leave the Immortal City." Protector Yan frowned, as if he was thinking about something.

At this moment, Miao Rou spoke up again: "In my opinion, Dai Sangyu's state of mind has already been ruined by you, Protector. As long as you hide well and are not discovered, she is destined to have no hope of forming her core. Why should we go looking for this Fellow Daoist Li and only cause more trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Protector Yan glanced at her and suddenly let out a laugh like an owl: "Hehe... True Person Fenglan has a blood feud with our sect. If Dai Sangyu successfully forms her core, she and her master will surely cause great trouble for our sect. Since the sect has sent me here to sabotage Dai Sangyu's core formation, I naturally need to be 100% sure of her current condition."

"But understanding Dai Sangyu's current situation isn't easy. She's only seen a handful of people recently, and this kid is one of them. It's a pity he's so cautious... otherwise..."

At this point, Protector Yan's voice unconsciously lowered.

Although he was very confident that he could easily defeat a newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivator with his strength.

However, if they were to make a move within the city, even the slightest disturbance would easily alert True Person Fenglan. Given his abilities, he would undoubtedly die facing a Core Formation True Person.

Only when Li Ping leaves the city and is outside the surveillance range of the third-order formation will he dare to take direct action.

In fact, what Miao Rou didn't know was...

Protector Yan cultivates a mysterious, fragmented technique, seemingly from the upper realm. This technique grants him a trace of supernatural abilities, such as the ability to avoid misfortune and act on whims.

Although he had previously disrupted Dai Sangyu's "Sword Heart Clarity" state of mind through the Lin Yue incident, preventing her from breaking through to the Core Formation stage.

The plan seemed perfect, but a faint sense of unease lingered in his heart, as if there were still loopholes in his plan and he had not truly prevented Dai Sangyu from forming his core.

However, what bothered him was that he didn't know where this unease came from.

That's why he was so eager to capture Li Ping, interrogate him, and find out the reason.

Protector Yan looked at Miao Rou and said, "Find a way to lure this kid out of the city! But to avoid arousing his suspicion, don't show up yourself! Our sect put a lot of thought into placing you in the Sword Washing Pool; you might be very useful in the future, so don't reveal your identity."

"it is good."

……

After leaving Lingbao Pavilion, Li Ping went to inquire at several other chambers of commerce.

However, the result was quite disappointing to him, given his request to purchase second-tier spirit wood.

These chambers of commerce either refused to sell at all, or they offered prices several times higher than normal, making it completely unacceptable to him.

In the end, Li Ping could only return disappointed.

His original plan was to first gather resources to provide nourishment for the Tree of Inheritance, become a mid-grade second-tier talisman maker, and then earn spirit stones by drawing second-tier talismans to purchase cultivation techniques and rent second-tier cave dwellings.

Unexpectedly, we encountered a problem with the materials, which caused the entire plan to be stalled.

Li Ping was also quite troubled by this.

He had previously earned around 1,300 spirit stones in just a few months by engaging in rampant dumping. However, having attracted the attention of the Talisman Alliance and already accepted the gifts and made promises, he obviously couldn't continue doing that.

Of course, his recent frenzied dumping has actually saturated the first-tier talisman market in the Immortal City, and it may take a long time to digest these talismans.

Even if Li Ping breaks his promise, he will no longer be able to earn a large number of spirit stones through first-tier talismans.

A typical Foundation Establishment stage first-tier high-grade talisman maker earns only a few hundred spirit stones a year.

If he wants to break through to the Core Formation stage or even the Nascent Soul stage in the future, then the cultivation method he chooses should ideally include content on the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stages. Such a cultivation method that includes the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stages would cost at least several thousand spirit stones.

Therefore, if he were to buy the cultivation technique now, rent a cultivation cave, and use up all the spirit stones he had, he could do so.

Perhaps it will take him a long time in the future to gather enough resources to inherit the second-tier mid-grade talisman-making technique.

Without the mid-grade second-tier talisman-making skills to earn cultivation resources, one can imagine how slow his cultivation speed would be, given his three spiritual roots.

"Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood, and there's no rush to buy cultivation techniques." Li Ping quickly made his decision: "Right now, I barely have enough spirit stones to buy a mid-grade second-tier spirit tree at a normal price, and 1000 spirit stones worth of inheritance tree nutrients. I'll wait a month or two and see if I can acquire a mid-grade second-tier spirit tree!"

At the same time, Li Ping also made plans for both possibilities.

If he really can't acquire second-tier mid-grade spirit wood at a normal price in the short term, he will accept the several times higher price offered by those merchant guilds.

Of course, this meant he didn't have enough spirit stones.

But the problem with spirit stones is easy to solve.

Having learned of his master's serious illness, he planned to return to Jiang Kingdom. To prepare for the potential dangers along the way, he specially bought two second-tier low-grade magic weapons, one offensive and one defensive, for protection.

Now that he's prepared to live a long life in the Immortal City,

Then the magical artifacts are no longer necessities; he can sell the two magical artifacts and exchange them for spirit stones.

It's not too late to buy suitable ritual implements when conditions allow.

……

With many plans in mind, Li Ping arrived at his third brother Gu Musheng's general store.

He himself has neither the time nor the connections to acquire second-tier spirit wood, so it's best to leave this matter to Gu Musheng.

Gu Musheng was in the business of recycling spiritual materials and selling the finished products. Among the seven siblings of the Tongzhou Society, he was the most suitable to do this.

Upon hearing Li Ping's request, Gu Musheng readily made a generous promise: "Don't worry, brother, I'll put out the demand right away. If anyone comes to sell second-tier spirit wood, I'll notify you immediately."

Li Ping nodded in satisfaction, but didn't forget to add, "By the way, also tell Cheng Yao and the others to keep an eye on things for me."

"No problem, boss!"