Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

Li Shen took the yellowed notebook. It felt slightly heavy in his hand, and the edges of the pages were worn and curled up, but there was not a trace of dust on it, which was obviously due to Han Mo's frequent reading.

"This is a record of my life's work, the path of talismanic arts, from beginner to advanced, including many key points, insights, and even lessons learned from failures. It also contains two ancient talisman-drawing ideas that I obtained."

Han Mo's voice was calm, but his tone became increasingly solemn.

Li Shen turned a few pages and was greeted by densely packed yet exceptionally neat small regular script, interspersed with annotations in cinnabar and rune diagrams outlined by spiritual power. Many of the insights pointed directly to the essence of the Dao of Talismans.

He was deeply moved, and seeing that what the other party said was true, he closed the booklet, solemnly stood up, and bowed deeply to Han Mo:

"I am deeply grateful for Senior Han's generous gift. I will certainly live up to your expectations and study this book diligently."

Han Mo accepted his bow without hesitation, a look of satisfaction on his face. He waved for him to sit down, his expression returning to normal.

"Regarding the matter of being a guest elder, young friend, there's no need for an immediate reply. The Zhao family's recruitment period still has seven days remaining. You can consider it first. Once you've made up your mind, simply go to the Zhao residence. As for these few mid-grade concealment talismans..."

Han Mo pondered for a moment:

"A mid-grade concealment talisman, rare in the market, with even better effects, priced at thirty low-grade spirit stones each, three for a total of ninety low-grade spirit stones. What do you think, young friend?"

The price of a mid-grade talisman is often several times higher than that of a low-grade talisman, depending on the talisman's effect.

Although a mid-grade concealment talisman can evade the divine sense detection of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, if the user does not understand the deeper meaning of this talisman, it is mostly used as an escape talisman.

The price offered by Han Mo met Li Shen's expectations.

He cupped his hands and said:

"Senior Han's pricing is certainly fair."

After exchanging spirit stones and exchanging a few words about the difficulties in the Dao of Talismans, Li Shen took his leave.

Stepping out of Zhao's Talisman Shop, the sunlight was a bit dazzling. Now that he had received the inheritance of an experienced talisman master and had also replenished his spirit stones by nearly four hundred, Li Shen felt little joy.

Instead, Han Mo's words about "the end of one's lifespan" evoked a sense of desolation and urgency about the impermanence of life.

"In the struggle for the Great Dao, one either advances or falls behind. No matter how fortunate or talented one is, if one cannot break through the shackles of lifespan, it is all in vain."

He took a deep breath, suppressing the trace of melancholy, and his eyes sharpened again:

"Right now, we need to acquire the ancient silk scroll. The secret realm will open in three years. During these three years, he must improve his strength as quickly as possible. Refining Qi to the sixth level is the first step."

Night was falling, and midnight was approaching.

Li Shen skillfully navigated through several streets and alleys before arriving at the Sleeping Immortal Pavilion.

The place was still well-lit, so he turned into an alley on one side.

Arriving at the dry well, they threw in two spirit stones and caught the mask that floated up.

After checking and finding nothing wrong, I put it on and walked to the end of the alley.

The black market was even more bustling than last time, which Li Shen guessed was mostly due to the auction.

He walked straight through several stalls and came to a man dressed in black and wearing a black mask.

"Guard, do you know where the auction is being held?"

Li Shen took out two spirit stones and asked.

The other person glanced at Li Shen and, noticing that his cultivation was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, his eyes turned cold. Just as he was about to say something, he caught sight of the white jade waist tag engraved with the character "Song" on Li Shen's body. His heart skipped a beat, and he smiled, pointing in a direction towards Li Shen:

"Just go that way."

Li Shen followed the gaze and saw a place guarded by two black-clad guards.

A smile played on his lips as he tossed two spirit stones to the other man, straightened his robes, and walked over unhurriedly.

The black-faced guard put away the spirit stones, feeling fortunate for his reaction. He regained his serious expression and scanned his surroundings.

Li Shen arrived in front of a small gray stone building. The building was only two stories high and inconspicuous, but the two black-clad guards at the door were both at the late stage of Qi Refining.

Li Shen frowned slightly, but approached calmly, hoping that the Song family elder's waist token could still be of use.

He took out ten spirit stones and handed them to two guards in black, then showed them the Song family's white jade waist token.

The two guards put away the spirit stones without stopping them, and stepped aside to let them pass.

"After you go in, someone will guide you."

Li Shen smiled slightly and went inside.

He weighed the white jade waist token in his hand, and sighed inwardly:

"It's definitely good to have a big tree to lean on."

Seeing many figures ahead, Li Shen immediately put away his waist token.

A masked woman dressed in a light, flowing dress bowed slightly to Li Shen and said softly:

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me."

The woman's neckline was slightly low, and a piece of emerald green jade fell into the deep recesses.

Li Shen's gaze faltered for a moment, his eyebrows twitched slightly, he looked away from the soft jade, nodded slightly, and followed.

Before long, he was led to an empty seat near the door.

His gaze swept across the entire room, which contained about thirty people, each with varying degrees of aura strength.

Some tried to conceal it carefully, while others made no attempt to hide it.

There are at least four people who have reached the later stages of Qi Refining.

However, no one really chatted; everyone was just waiting for the auction to begin.

More and more people took their seats, and before long, a masked female cultivator wearing a high-slit, bright red cheongsam gracefully stepped forward from a stone platform not far away.

Her aura was emanating outwards, revealing that she possessed the cultivation level of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

The forces behind this black market are indeed formidable; even the hosts are at the late-stage Qi Refining level.

Li Shen's heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged.

He could sense that several other people, just like him, were observing the reactions of the surrounding cultivators.

"The time has come."

The female cultivator in the cheongsam had her voice processed with special magic, but it was still melodious and pleasant to listen to.

"The rules remain the same: the highest bidder wins. The spirit stones will be exchanged, and the transaction will be completed. No disturbances, trouble-making, or inquiries about the origins of the goods are permitted. Violators will bear the consequences themselves."

Without further ado, the auction begins.

As soon as Li Shen had a thought, a piece of information related to the weather disappeared from his sight.

The first item up for auction is a high-grade first-tier longsword magic weapon with a chilling gleam, and the starting bid is three hundred spirit stones.

Bidding rang out one after another, and the price quickly climbed, eventually settling on a price of 520 spirit stones.

Next came several bottles of special first-grade mid-level pills, a high-grade defensive magic artifact, and an ancient jade slip containing some kind of secret technique...

The items up for auction were all of considerable value, and the bidding was quite fierce.

Li Shen remained silent throughout, observing quietly.

This is exactly the situation he wanted to see.

The more valuable the items in the previous auctions, the more spirit stones the potential competitors will consume, and the greater their chances of winning will be when they get that ancient silk book!

About half an hour later, after two high-grade first-level Qi Gathering Pills that could improve cultivation were auctioned off at a high price, the female cultivator in the cheongsam waved her hand, and an old wooden box appeared on the display stand, with a two-foot-tall cyan cauldron next to it.

The woman in the cheongsam beckoned, and the box lid slowly slid open.

A dark yellow silk scroll with slightly torn edges floated in mid-air.

Li Shen's eyes lit up. This was the ancient silk scroll concerning the secret realm that appeared only once every three hundred years!