CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 37: EARN SOME SPIRIT STONES

Lu Yan got up and put the magical flying sword into the storage pouch at his waist.

The storage pouch at his waist now was not the golden silk storage pouch obtained from Shopkeeper Chu, but rather an inconspicuous gray storage pouch.

This was the lowest-grade storage pouch in the marketplace, with an internal spatial array that can only sustain for twenty years, and its storage space was less than one fifth of the golden silk storage pouch. Even so, it still cost a hefty thirty Spirit Stones.

After learning about the Red Lotus Demon Sect from He Dongsheng, Lu Yan realized the danger of the Red Lotus Demon Sect, and even that high-grade golden silk storage pouch could potentially lead to exposure.

However, as a cultivator, Lu Yan couldn’t always keep the storage pouch close to his body, as that would be too conspicuous and arouse suspicion from others.

Hence, Lu Yan could only grit his teeth and pay a high price for an ordinary storage pouch to use as a disguise, to store some items that could be shown publicly on a daily basis.

The truly important treasures were kept in the golden silk storage pouch attached to his body.

With a swipe of his right hand over the storage pouch, what landed in Lu Yan’s hand were only a dozen or so scattered Spirit Stones, which made him frown and sigh:

"Looks like Spirit Stones are still not enough!"

Previously, he sold more than half of his spirit talismans and exchanged them for ninety Spirit Stones, but in the past half month, renting the cave mansion, buying storage pouches, and grain avoidance pills consumed a lot of Spirit Stones.

However, the biggest expense was practicing spells. Practicing spells required multiple attempts consuming magical power, and operating exercises to absorb spiritual Qi consumed a lot of time. Lu Yan only had three months in this xianxia version, so he didn’t have much time to waste.

So Lu Yan could only grit his teeth and use Spirit Stones to restore magical power, consuming quite a few Spirit Stones to complete his spell practice.

Moreover, wanting to break through the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation in the future and purchase resources in advance for the next version, each item required a large number of Spirit Stones.

"I’ve got to find a way to earn some Spirit Stones."

Thinking of this, Lu Yan got up, opened the restriction, and walked out of the cave mansion.

As soon as he stepped out of the cave mansion, Lu Yan sensed a gaze fall on him.

Following the direction of the gaze with the corner of his eye, he noticed a cultivator in yellow clothes standing at the cave mansion’s entrance, seemingly having just come out.

Lu Yan didn’t say anything and flew towards the area outside the cave mansion district.

As Lu Yan left the cave mansion district and entered the outskirts of the marketplace street, he could feel more gazes stealthily observing him.

Absorbing three months of Moonlight Spiritual Qi had strengthened Lu Yan’s soul, making his spiritual sense even exceed the peak of Qi Cultivation.

If it weren’t for the fact that only after Foundation Establishment one could condense a divine soul and develop divine sense, Lu Yan might already have had the eligibility to nurture divine sense by now.

With a cold laugh in his heart, Lu Yan knew very well that these prying gazes came from those cultivators who regarded him as a fat sheep.

Cyan Valley Marketplace was not that large. A cultivator in the early stage of Qi Cultivation like Lu Yan selling dozens of spirit talismans and renting a middle-grade cave mansion was not a secret.

Such a move made those who made a living off plunder fix their eyes on him early on. Over a hundred Spirit Stones were enough to make these cultivators take risks.

A tale of a Qi Cultivation cultivator robbing a traveling family’s child, relying on the resources in their storage pouch to soar to become a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator.

Low-level cultivators ambushing sect disciples, seizing a precious Foundation Establishment Pill, and then fleeing far with the pill.

Such things were all too common in the Cultivation Realm.

As long as the benefits were large enough and the actions were secretive enough, these cultivators wouldn’t care about your background or status.

Even Shopkeeper Chu, a fourth-level Qi Cultivation cultivator, had done things like robbing sect disciples, and the storage pouch from the Red Lotus Demon Sect was evidence of that.

Keeping a normal expression, Lu Yan stepped towards the exit of Cyan Valley Marketplace.

Upon leaving the marketplace, Lu Yan used a flying spell towards Mount Wu, which brought a look of surprise to the faces of many cultivators watching him.

The key to plundering was to lure the target out of the marketplace, and Lu Yan’s voluntary departure made many cultivators overjoyed, each using their own means to follow Lu Yan all the way through the sky.

The Wushan Mountains, stretching over three thousand miles of desolation, were uninhabited, so after killing someone, one didn’t even need to bury the corpse; within a few hours, it would be eaten up by wild beasts.

"This kid sure knows how to choose a good place to bury his body."

"I heard he bought a copy of the ’Tier One Magic Skill Collection’ as soon as he entered Cyan Valley Marketplace; he’s probably an ignorant rookie who got a cultivator’s legacy in some part of Mount Wu."

"Every year, there are some rookies like this; if they’re rich then killing them holds no worries, making them the best fat sheep. Didn’t expect us to encounter one."

"After this harvest, we might be able to buy a breakthrough pill and breakthrough to the late stage of Qi Cultivation."

"Let’s follow the usual pattern, the late-stage of Qi Cultivation takes twenty percent, and the rest of us split the remainder."

The party of seven cultivators, including two late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators and five mid-stage, had already divided up their spoils before even making a move.

"Wait a minute, the kid has stopped."

A hook-nosed mid-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator spoke, eyeing the hawk circling in the distant sky.

Another plump cultivator asked suspiciously, "Could it be that we’ve been discovered?"

A cultivator dressed as a white-robed scholar sneered.

"What good is discovering us? A mere Qi Cultivation early stage who just learned tier one magic skills, do you think he would dare attack us?"

"Stop wasting time, finish him quickly and then let’s head to the Bamboo Forest Marketplace for a few days, make sure there’s no repercussions before coming back!"

The scolding voice interrupted the discussions, the one speaking was surprisingly a late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator.

If Lu Yan were here, he would notice that this late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator was the same person he had seen dressed in yellow at the entrance of the cave mansion district.

Soon, they found Lu Yan standing atop a small hill, watching them from a distance as if deliberately waiting.

"Is there an ambush?"

The cultivators frowned and immediately grew vigilant, all eyes turning towards the mid-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator controlling the hawk.

The cultivator, however, shook his head, indicating that he hadn’t seen any other cultivators.

A mid-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator snorted coldly, a magical artifact flying wheel fell into his hand, and he flew towards Lu Yan, covering several hundred meters in an instant.

"Playing tricks!"

The magical artifact flying wheel gleamed coldly, about to slash down upon Lu Yan when suddenly dozens of ghost shadows emerged from the surrounding woods.

"What on earth are these things?"

The flying wheel cultivator only had time to cry out in fear as spectral ghost claws tore through his magical power protection, easily penetrating his soul.

The next moment, his frost-covered body fell to the ground.

"It’s vengeful spirits! A demonic cultivator’s ambush!"

Panic-stricken voices echoed in the sky, and in the next moment, the remaining six cultivators turned and fled without hesitation.

And at that moment, rolling black fog spread from the woods, swallowing all the cultivators within.

"Hundred Soul Banner! This is a top-grade magical artifact, the Hundred Soul Banner!"

"Could there be a Foundation Establishment demonic great cultivator here?"

"A Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator actually employing such a despicable method."

Voices of anger echoed in the ghostly mist, but the only answer was cold ghost claws. Even a Foundation Establishment Corpse King would shy away from facing over 800 vengeful spirits, let alone these Qi Cultivation cultivators.

After just three breaths, the black fog dispersed, leaving only seven cold corpses behind, their souls devoured by the vengeful spirits.

Lu Yan collected the seven storage pouches presented by the vengeful spirits and flicked his fingers, a golden Profound Yellow Merit Fire fell upon the corpses, reducing them to ashes in an instant.

With their souls devoured by vengeful spirits, the merit divine power fire bore no karma; even if a Golden Core sage intervened to calculate with a celestial secret, they wouldn’t find a trace.

Having done all this, Lu Yan tossed the storage pouches in his hand.

"These resources should be enough for me to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation, right?"