Merit-based card draws, quickly become a Heavenly Emperor

"It's done."

Guan Tieyi nodded. "From now on, you will be a ninth-grade martial artist in the Body Tempering Realm."

"But I've only just scratched the surface. I still have a long way to go to develop my skin, muscles, and bones."

Fang Zheng finished his stance and stood still, his whole body drenched in sweat, but he was full of energy.

Hearing Guan Tieyi's words, he was not in a hurry.

After all, his main focus now is on cultivating the Spirit Painting Path.

........

A few days later, Fang Zheng's cultivation on the Spirit Painting Path made rapid progress, and he had already reached the minor success of visualization.

On the one hand, his talent for accumulating ink to form peaks came into play, and his painting skills improved day by day, which also made his spiritual painting practice go smoothly.

On the other hand, Liu Qingyu continuously replenished her cultivation through their shared life and death.

She was born an eighth-rank cursed ghost and cultivated the orthodox ghost cultivation technique "The Ghost Candle Illuminating Soul Scripture," making rapid progress. Fang Zheng naturally benefited from this as well.

He also made a tiger-hair brush from the tiger skin and tiger hair, and cut a stack of drawing paper.

The newly painted ink-and-wash military figure was laid out on the table, its brushstrokes exuding an aura of malevolence and tiger-like might.

Before the ink-stained sword even leaped off the paper, its fierce aura was already enough to make one's scalp tingle.

When Guan Tieyi first saw it, he couldn't help but take a second look: "This thing is at least 30% better than the last one."

Fang Zheng smiled slightly; he had now upgraded his equipment.

With this confidence, he decided to go and see Qinghefang Market.

Li Yuanshan's cultivation notes mentioned that there were many spiritual materials there to assist in the cultivation of the Spirit Painting Path.

He now has some silver and the remaining materials from the tiger demon, and he has also drawn a few ink soldier diagrams to sell, hoping to get some good stuff in return.

Upon hearing this, Guan Tieyi readily agreed to accompany him.

The two rode their horses out of the county town and headed southeast.

While riding his horse, Guan Tieyi explained the origins of Qinghefang Market to Fang Zheng.

Yongqing County is a place with scarce resources and no famous cultivation sects. Most of the practitioners are independent cultivators.

People needed to share resources and exchange materials, so this market gradually formed in the beautiful Qinghe Valley outside the county town.

The two rode at full speed and arrived in less than half an hour.

Qinghe Valley is not large, with gentle slopes on both sides and a small stream flowing through the middle.

Dozens of stalls are scattered along the stream, some covered with coarse cloth, others simple wooden stalls.

There were many people coming and going, some dressed in coarse cloth, some draped in animal skins, with swords or gourds hanging from their waists, clearly practitioners of cultivation.

The shouts and bargaining mingled together, creating a lively but not noisy atmosphere.

Fang Zheng found a pharmacy called "Moxiang Pavilion".

Li Yuanshan's notes say that he often bought spiritual materials here in his early years to aid his spiritual painting practice.

The shop was small, and behind the counter sat a thin middle-aged man, engrossed in grinding medicine.

Fang Zheng placed the demon materials, such as tiger bones and tiger blood, on the counter.

The middle-aged man looked up, paused for a moment, and then his eyes lit up.

He picked up a tiger bone and examined it closely, then brought it closer to smell it, his voice changing: "An eighth-grade tiger bone."

"I haven't seen such good stuff in the market for years."

Fang Zheng signed up, and the middle-aged man suddenly looked up: "You're Fang Zheng, the tiger hunter from Anping Town?"

Fang Zheng nodded.

The middle-aged man quickly came out from behind the counter, clasped his hands in a respectful greeting, and said, "I've heard so much about you!"

I am also from Anping Town. It is thanks to Lord Fang that the people of Anping Town are able to survive, and we are all grateful for your help.

I've accepted these materials. Just let me know what you want to buy; the price is negotiable.

Fang Zheng smiled slightly, "Ten doses of Concentration Elixir, ten doses of Mind-Stabilizing Incense."

The calming liquid can be used to clean brushes, enhancing the spirit of the artwork.

Lighting incense to calm the mind during meditation can help one enter a meditative state more quickly.

This amount is enough for him to use for a month.

Without saying a word, the middle-aged shopkeeper weighed the item, rounded it down, and even gave him an extra packet of pen-nourishing ointment.

"You still need twenty taels of silver for this favor."

Fang Zheng paid the money, packed up his things, and turned to leave the shop.

After buying the spiritual materials, Guan Tieyi took him for a stroll through the market to broaden his horizons.

Fang Zheng then discovered that the market was selling all sorts of things, many of which were related to the Linghua Dao.

For example, there is a type of stone called "calming bead," which can calm the mind and focus when held in the palm of your hand.

There's also "spirit ink" sold by the bottle, which is said to be made with the blood of spirit beasts and is better than ordinary ink.

Guan Tieyi explained that more than a hundred years ago, Yan County produced a powerful expert at the third-grade Dharma Body Realm named Wu Baopu, who cultivated the Spirit Painting Path and was famous throughout the entire northern part of the Great Qian Dynasty.

From then on, the Linghua Dao spread throughout the area, and even the "Canghai Yunfan Jue" that Li Yuanshan left to Fang Zheng originated from Wu Baopu.

After wandering around the market for a long time, what interested Fang Zheng the most was that someone was selling "battle maps" in the market.

The battle map is similar to the ink-painted soldier diagrams he drew, which can be summoned to fight.

He leaned over and took a look. Several pictures were laid out on the stall, some depicting weapons, others depicting ferocious beasts.

His technique is mediocre, the lines are stiff, and the sophistication is far inferior to what he learned from the ink-splashed soldier cards.

Seeing that he was looking at it intently, Guan Tieyi said in a low voice, "This is not bad."

This is about the best battle map available in the market.

Fang Zheng nodded without saying anything more.

As the two were walking, a shifty-eyed man approached them and whispered, "Gentlemen, you two look quite distinguished. I have something good in my hands—a treasure map!"

It points directly to the sacred site of Wu Baopu's lineage, where he cultivated to the third rank of Dharma Body Realm.

"If you want it, it'll be thirty taels of silver, a cheap price for you."

Fang Zheng glanced at him, smiled, and didn't reply.

The man said a few more words, but seeing that the two men were unmoved, he left dejectedly.

Guan Tieyi shook his head: "There are people like this every year, they just scam outsiders."

Although there were rumors that Qinghe Valley was once the place where Wu Baopu practiced his cultivation, and that some people had received his teachings in the vicinity.

But these are all baseless rumors and unfounded claims.

If Wu Baopu's lineage were so easy to find, it would have been unearthed long ago.

Fang Zheng simply laughed it off.

Although the spiritual painting inheritance he received from Li Yuanshan only reached the eighth-grade artifact control realm, it was enough for now, and there was no need to aim too high.

Guan Tieyi sighed, "Brother Fang, it would be great if you were an official."

The Yongqing County warehouse has resources that can be exchanged for cultivation points, which is much better than searching for them in this market.

Fang Zheng didn't respond. He decided to focus on paving the way for Yin officials first, and then he would naturally have the opportunity to transition from Yin to Yang in the future.

The two strolled around the market for a while before leaving and riding back home.

However, as he was leaving, Fang Zheng sensed that something was amiss.

After achieving a minor level of visualization, his senses became more acute, and he could feel a gaze following him subtly from behind.

He glanced at Guan Tieyi, who nodded slightly, clearly having noticed as well.

Fang Zheng was a little puzzled. They hadn't flaunted their wealth in the market, and the things they bought weren't particularly eye-catching.

Which foolish cultivator dares to mess with them?

After walking a few more miles, they came to a secluded section of the road, where five men in black suddenly appeared from both sides of the road and blocked their way.

Guan Tieyi's expression changed drastically upon recognizing the newcomers, and the veins on his hand gripping the knife bulged: "The Xu family's Five Poisons? You dare return to Yongqing County?"