Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

Chapter 282 A Bountiful Harvest

Chen Mo closed his eyes and probed a wisp of true energy into the spirit stone.

The moment his true energy touched the surface of the spirit stone, the energy inside seemed to find an outlet, surging into his body along with his true energy.

That energy was gentle and pure, unlike the impure yin energy drawn from heaven and earth, which needed to be purified before it could be used.

The energy within the spirit stone seemed to have been refined beforehand, flowing directly into his dantian without any intermediate steps.

He could even feel that his magical power had increased slightly at that moment.

Although it was only a tiny amount, it did increase.

Chen Mo opened his eyes and stared at the spirit stone in his palm for several breaths.

This thing was much more precious than he had imagined.

After all, his cultivation speed wasn't actually slow.

However, each time yin energy is absorbed into the body, a lot of time is spent removing impurities from it.

If you can extract even one usable strand from ten strands of yin energy that you've absorbed, that's already quite good.

But spirit stones are different.

The energy inside the spirit stone is pure and can be used immediately with almost no loss.

This means that, with enough spirit stones, his cultivation speed could be ten times, or even dozens of times, faster than it is now.

"Master Chen, is this the spirit stone?"

Ghost Banner Taoist himself picked up one and examined it for a long time before cautiously asking a question.

"Mm," Chen Mo replied, placing the spirit stones back on the table.

Ghost Banner Taoist held the spirit stone up to the lamp, turning it over and over to examine it several times. Finally, he even stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked it, revealing a complex expression on his face.

"Great stuff, really great stuff."

He put the spirit stones back and sighed, "I've only ever heard about them in my life, but I never expected to get three of them tonight thanks to Master Chen."

Chen Mo glanced at him. "You want it?"

"No, no, no."

Ghost Banner Taoist hurriedly waved his hands, shaking his head like a rattle drum, "Master Chen, please don't misunderstand, I was just expressing my feelings."

"Giving this to me would be a waste."

That's an understatement; he's actually at the mid-stage of Qi Refining and can use it too.

However, spirit stones were too precious, so he dared not accept such a suggestion.

"Master Chen, what are your plans for these spirit stones?"

"If you're using it for cultivation, I advise you to be frugal. Spirit stones are hard to come by in the mortal world; every one you use is one less you have."

"Um.

""

Chen Mo put the three spirit stones into the drawer and then looked at the remaining items on the table.

The two outer disciples of the Xuan Yin Sect didn't have much on them; they only had a bronze mirror, two soul-suppressing nails, and a few exorcism talismans.

The bronze mirror is about the size of a palm, with Bagua (Eight Trigrams) patterns engraved on the back, and the surface is polished to a shine.

He picked it up and looked at himself in the mirror. Suddenly, the image in the mirror distorted, and a chilling aura emanated from the mirror.

"This should be the Soul-Capturing Mirror."

Ghost Banner Taoist leaned over for a look, "It can deal with ghosts and also immobilize people."

"So-so."

Chen Mo put the bronze mirror aside and picked up the two Soul-Suppressing Nails.

The nail was jet black, about three inches long, and as thick as a chopstick, with runes engraved all over its surface.

"Soul-Suppressing Nails".

Ghost Banner Taoist clicked his tongue twice, took out his own Soul-Destroying Nail and compared it with it, "This thing is good, it's a whole level better than the Soul-Destroying Nail that I made myself."

After examining both magical artifacts, Guiban Daoist turned his gaze to the two jade tablets on the table.

"Mr. Chen, what are you planning to do with this?"

He picked up a jade pendant and looked at it. The front was engraved with the two seal characters "Xuan Yin" and the back had a number, Dingxu Seventeen.

The other one is numbered Dingxu 18.

This is the identification document for an outer disciple of the Xuan Yin Sect. Theoretically, one can use this to impersonate a member of the Xuan Yin Sect.

But Chen Mo didn't intend to take that risk.

The people of Xuan Yin Sect placed a restriction on the soul; who knows if they tampered with this jade tablet?

"Keep it for now, we'll talk about it later."

After Chen Mo finished speaking, he turned his attention to another major gain of the evening.

This is what truly interests him.

The Ding family is a local tyrant in Jinshi, having been entrenched there for decades. Although the cultivators under their command are not particularly skilled, their equipment is quite impressive.

The eleven magical artifacts were of a complete variety and of generally higher quality than those used by ordinary cultivators.

The most conspicuous thing is a short sword.

The sword is about 1.2 feet long, entirely black, with a faint dark red pattern on the blade.

The hilt was carved from black wood, and it felt warm to the touch, not like an inanimate object, but more like holding a living snake.

Chen Mo gripped the hilt of the sword and pulled it outwards.

The moment the sword was drawn, a sharp killing intent burst forth from the blade.

Ghost Banner Taoist shuddered at the killing intent and subconsciously leaned back. "Good stuff."

He held the short sword horizontally in front of his eyes, carefully examining the dark red patterns on the blade.

"This is a magical artifact refined with malevolent energy. It is much sharper than ordinary magical artifacts, and once it injures someone, the malevolent energy will invade their meridians, making it very difficult to remove."

"good."

He sheathed his short sword and picked up another folding fan.

The fan ribs are made of a certain type of jade material, polished to a pure white color, like snow.

The fan surface is made of white silk, on which a landscape painting is depicted with delicate brushstrokes. The distant mountains and nearby waters are clearly defined, making it look like a proper work of calligraphy and painting.

Chen Mo opened the folding fan and infused a trace of magic power into its surface.

The landscape pattern on the fan suddenly came to life.

The distant mountains transformed into real mountain ranges, the nearby waters became flowing rivers, and a light mist wafted from the fan, carrying an indescribable fragrance.

"The Bewitching Fan"

He closed the folding fan. "The fan is painted with a bewitching array. Once opened, it can affect a person's mind. Those with low cultivation will be directly bewitched and unable to move."

Ghost Banner Taoist's eyes lit up as he listened, and he craned his neck to look at the folding fan, wishing he could take it and examine it closely.

Chen Mo ignored him and picked up another small drum.

The drumhead is only the size of a bowl, and the drum body is made of bronze, with several eerie ghost face patterns cast on it.

The drumsticks were two thin bones, from some unknown animal, and felt slightly cool to the touch.

He tried gently tapping the drumhead with the drumstick.

"Thump!"

A dull drumbeat sounded, not loud, but it sent shivers down one's spine.

Ghost Banner Taoist's face turned pale, he clutched his chest and took two steps back, almost falling to the ground.

"Master Chen, there's something strange about this drum. I just felt like I'd been punched in the chest."

Chen Mo put down the drum. "It's a sonic attack magic weapon, specifically designed to harm people's souls."

"The sound of the drum penetrates the skin and flesh, directly affecting the soul. Those with insufficient cultivation can have their souls shattered in just a few blows."

He placed the small drum next to the short sword and folding fan; these three items were the highest quality among his spoils for the night.

The remaining eight magical artifacts were of slightly lower quality, but they were all genuine magical artifacts, not the kind of mass-produced junk.

There was a peach wood sword, about two feet long, dark red in color, and covered with cinnabar talismans.

The blade is quite old, with many worn edges and corners.

The handwriting on the talisman was still clear, and one could faintly sense the residual magical energy fluctuations on it.

"Centennial peach wood".

Ghost Banner Taoist reached out and touched the sword blade. "This kind of thing is not commonly seen in the mortal world."

"It's already hard to find century-old peach wood, and it has to have been struck by lightning. Then it needs to be consecrated and refined by a master. It takes at least three to five years to make a peach wood sword."

The remaining magical artifacts were much more ordinary.

The Ding family cultivators, on the other hand, carried more talismans—fourteen in total—and a wider variety of types.

There are protective talismans, speed talismans, invisibility talismans, and several offensive lightning and fire talismans.

Chen Mo looked at each talisman one by one, sorted them according to their type, and put them into the drawer.

"How much are all these things worth in total?" He looked up at the Ghost Banner Taoist.

After pondering for a long time, Guifan Daoren held up three fingers: "Master Chen, if we take these things to the ghost market, we can get at least 200,000 silver dollars."

"Only two hundred thousand?"

Chen Mo's tone was ambiguous, neither a question nor a sigh, "What if it were spirit stones? Do you know how many silver dollars it takes to exchange for one spirit stone?"

Ghost Banner Taoist rubbed his hands together and chuckled awkwardly, "Master Chen, I really can't say for sure."

"I've been in the ghost market in Ganzhou for so many years. I've seen people buy talismans and magic tools with silver dollars, and I've also seen people exchange rare and precious materials for spirit stones, but I've never seen anyone exchange spirit stones for silver dollars."

"Spirit stones are extremely rare in the mortal world."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that I just said 200,000 silver dollars seems like a lot; it's for those few good magical artifacts."

"But if those magical artifacts were sold in the spirit world, people wouldn't accept silver dollars; they'd only accept spirit stones."

"Take your short sword for example. It can sell for fifty or sixty thousand silver dollars in the ghost market. It sounds scary, but if you try to exchange those fifty or sixty thousand silver dollars for spirit stones, people won't even pay you any attention."

"Alright."

Chen Mo nodded, glanced at Ghost Banner Taoist, and asked, "What about those guys with the bald guy?"

"Here it is?"

He pulled a few items out of his bundle and placed them on the table, scoffing as he took them out. "They're all low-grade stuff; even this old Taoist priest wouldn't bother looking at them."

A string of bone prayer beads, thirteen beads, each made from the bone of some unknown animal, varying in size and irregular in shape.

Some are round, some are flat, and when strung together they look crooked and twisted, like a child's craft project.

But a faint aura of yin energy emanated from the prayer beads, indicating that they were not ordinary objects.

"These are human bones."

Chen Mo picked up the prayer beads and examined them. Judging from the bone structure and size, he concluded, "They're made from skull fragments; each bead is ground from a single skull fragment."

There were also a few bottles of pills, all of which were the lowest grade of medicines for minor injuries and tonics for replenishing qi, and their quality was not even as good as those sold in street pharmacies.

It was a tattered whisk, with most of the whisk tip missing and the inscription on the handle worn away; it was basically just a decoration.

That's all.

Ghost Banner Taoist pushed the junk aside, clapped his hands, and said, "That bald guy and his gang are just a bunch of itinerant thugs; what good stuff could they possibly have on them?"

Chen Mo didn't say anything, but divided everything from tonight into three piles.

One pile was kept for personal use, and the other pile was given to the Ghost Banner Taoist to be erected at the Ghost Market.

Those non-standard Buddhist scriptures, dung beetles, pills, and other odds and ends found on the bald man and his gang were a whole bunch of miscellaneous items.

The third pile has an uncertain purpose.

"Take these things to the ghost market in Ganzhou and sell them for Yin-related materials or silver dollars."

"Alright, old Taoist priest, I'll set off for Ganzhou tomorrow morning."

Ghost Banner Taoist was quick and efficient, packing the pile of things into his bundle one by one with skillful movements, clearly someone who did this kind of work for many years.

Chen Mo nodded and was about to get up to see the guest off when he saw that after tying up the bundle, Gui Fan Dao Ren did not leave in a hurry, but instead stood there hesitating.

He placed one hand on the bundle, and with the other hand, he felt around in his sleeve before pulling it back in.

He repeated this two or three times, his face contorted in a constipated expression.

"Is there anything else?" Chen Mo looked at him strangely.

"No...uh, yes."

Ghost Banner Taoist chuckled twice, and with a hint of heartache, pulled a red stone from his robes.

When the light shines on the stone, its color resembles freshly congealed blood, with deep veins flowing within.

"This is—" Chen Mo's gaze froze.

With seven parts reluctance and three parts boast, Guifan Daoren said, "The blood jade I found in the ghost market tonight is worth at least ten thousand silver dollars."

Chen Mo glanced at the blood jade, then at the expression on Ghost Banner Daoist's face.

The expression on this person's face was very complex, showing reluctance, sincerity, and a hint of inexplicable caution.

"You think you can just give me something worth tens of thousands of dollars like that?"

Chen Mo's tone was neither warm nor cold, making it impossible to tell whether he was testing or rejecting her.

"Mr. Chen, you can't say that."

Ghost Banner Taoist placed the blood jade on the table and bluntly said, "If it weren't for you tonight, I would be dead. What use would this broken stone be?"

"Please accept this; consider it a token of my respect from this old Taoist priest."

Chen Mo remained silent for a moment, then reached out and took the piece of blood jade.

"Okay, I'll take it."

He really needed the materials that could enhance the power of magical artifacts.

Ghost Banner Taoist visibly breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face: "I'm glad you like it, Master Chen. I was just afraid you'd find it undesirable."

"I don't mind."

Chen Mo played with the blood jade in his hand for a while, feeling the coldness inside the jade, and looked up at Gui Fan Dao Ren, "However, I will not let you take it."

He turned and walked to the table, scanning the pile of laws with his own light.

He ignored the pile of junk that was being taken to the ghost market and laid out the remaining items of the public's law firm one by one in front of him.

The short sword is sharp, the folding fan is exquisite, and the small drum is fierce.

The three highest quality items.

Chen Mo only thought for a moment before ignoring the three items and reaching out to pick up another one.

That bronze mirror.

It's about the size of a palm, with Bagua (Eight Trigrams) patterns engraved on the back, and its mirror-like surface is polished to a shine.

Soul-capturing Mirror.

"Here, take this."

Chen Mo handed over the bronze mirror.

Ghost Banner Taoist took the bronze mirror, looked at it from different angles, and his expression was somewhat subtle.

"Master Chen, this Soul-Capturing Mirror... its grade is not low, but it's still much inferior to that little drum."

"I know," Chen Mo said calmly, "You can't use it for the little drum."

Ghost Banner Taoist wanted to refute, but swallowed his words back.

Because Chen Mo was telling the truth.

That small drum is a sonic attack type of magic weapon. It looks simple, but to unleash its power, it requires a high level of magical power and precise control from the user.

Ghost Banner Daoist, with his mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation, could only unleash 30-40% of his power at most.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror is different.

This thing doesn't require much magical power to be infused; it relies on the inscription array carved on the mirror surface to take effect.

As long as a trace of magic power is infused into the talisman to activate it, it can unleash 80-90% of its power.

Most of the cultivators in the Ding family were only at the early to mid-stages of cultivation, so the magical artifacts they carried were naturally suited to their cultivation levels.

When Guifan Daoren realized this, his expression immediately turned into an awkward smile.

"Master Chen is right, I've misunderstood."

"Work hard, and when your cultivation reaches the later stage, I'll get you a more suitable magic weapon."

, 7