Cultivation: I Forge Immortality with My Spiritual Eyes

The stall was completely inconspicuous.

The stall owner was a burly man, sitting cross-legged on the ground with a coarse cloth spread out in front of him, on which some things were scattered.

A few ordinary-looking medicinal herbs, several pieces of grayish ore, a copper lamp with a chipped corner, and a few miscellaneous items whose names I don't know.

A typical salted fish vendor neither shouts nor greets customers, giving off an attitude of "take it or leave it."

Jiang Yi suppressed his emotions and did not rush forward.

He first wandered around a few stalls nearby, pretending to ask a few questions, before slowly strolling over to the burly man's stall and squatting down with a normal expression.

While casually rummaging through the items, he silently chatted with Xiaoli.

The stall owner glanced up and let him look through the items.

A short while later.

Jiang Yi's gaze fell on a silver-gray steel ingot the size of a human head.

The ingot's surface was pitted and uneven, its color dull, as if it had been corroded by seawater. Its shape was also irregular, making it look like scrap material from a failed forging attempt.

The stall owner piled it together with several pieces of ordinary ore, probably thinking it was just a steel ingot with many impurities.

But the little guy was unusually excited about it, overjoyed, and couldn't wait to pounce on it.

Jiang Yi's eyes flickered slightly, realizing that this item must contain some hidden secret.

Xiao Li rarely reacts like this; the last time was in Qingluofang City, when she faced the iron ore containing the Thunder Pearl...

Without showing any emotion, he picked up the steel ingot, weighed it in his hand, and casually asked:

"Fellow Daoist, how much is this item?"

The stall owner himself didn't seem to care much, and upon hearing this, he said indifferently:

"Twenty spirit stones."

Jiang Yi nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He lowered his eyes to look at the steel ingot in his hand, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and his spiritual power rapidly dissipated.

The next moment, a clear understanding welled up in my mind.

[Silver-lead ore, heavily damp, has complex properties and contains active, unusual forces.]

Jiang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly rejoiced.

However, his brows furrowed, and he said in a critical tone:

"Fellow Daoist is joking. This item is of inferior quality and is not worth using. It can only be used to practice in the furnace. I will contribute a maximum of three spirit stones."

The stall owner squinted at him, as if trying to glean some clues from his face.

After a long pause, he finally spoke:

"Three is too few, at least fifteen."

Jiang Yi shook his head, made a few more disparaging remarks about the steel ingot, and then insisted on a fixed price:

"Seven spirit stones, that's all I can offer. If you want to sell it, take it; if not, then forget it."

The stall owner tried to pull the stall owner along for a couple of minutes.

Seeing Jiang Yi's resolute attitude, he made a move as if he would turn around and leave if he didn't sell.

He could only smack his lips and wave his hand, saying:

"Alright, seven it is. Take them."

Jiang Yi remained calm, counted out seven spirit stones from his sleeve and handed them over, then picked up the steel ingot and turned to leave.

He walked at a leisurely pace, blending into the crowd as if he had only bought a worthless trinket.

The burly man behind him secretly glanced at his back a few times before looking away and putting away the spirit stones.

After walking away.

Little Pear excitedly wriggled around inside the clothes, making eager gurgling sounds, as if it couldn't wait to pop out and take a bite.

Jiang Yi patted it through its clothes to calm it down.

Then, without lingering, he quickened his pace and left the stall area, heading back to the inn he rented on West Street.

He only requested a lower-class room, which was small and simply furnished with a bed, a table, and a chair.

Under these conditions, a night's stay costs one spirit stone, and that's already the cheapest option in this immortal city.

After returning to his room, Jiang Yi closed the door, sat down at the table, and took out the steel ingot to examine it closely.

"Meow~"

Little Pear eagerly jumped onto the table, twitching her nose and staring longingly at Jiang Yi, her little face full of yearning.

Jiang Yi didn't know what was inside either, only that his spiritual eyes detected a hidden power.

Seeing the little guy so eager for food, he couldn't help but chuckle and waved his hand, saying:

"Alright, alright, it's yours."

"Meow!"

Little Pear let out an excited howl, pounced on the steel ingot, hugged it, and began to gnaw on it.

The sharp edge of the tooth scraped across the skin, sending up a trail of sparks, but leaving only a few faint white marks.

I found some of them too tough to chew.

The little guy licked his whiskers, rubbed the steel ingot back and forth, tilted his head and looked left and right, wondering how he could swallow it.

Before long, a plan came to mind.

It immediately raised its front paws, and a sharp edge slowly emerged from its paw pads, with strands of purple lightning dancing at the tips of its paws.

With a crackling sound, Xiao Li pressed a wisp of purple lightning onto the steel ingot.

The next moment, something unexpected happened.

The power contained within the steel ingot seemed to be activated by this lightning, and a few fine lightning threads appeared on its pitted and uneven outer shell.

Silvery-white arcs of electricity danced across the surface, filling the air with a tingling, crackling sound!

Little Pear's cat eyes widened, and she pounced on it, beginning to devour it greedily.

Strands of lightning were sucked into its mouth, its little tail wagging happily behind it as it devoured them one after another.

As the lightning surged in, purple electric sparks also lit up between its hairs, crackling and flashing.

The scene was quite bizarre.

Jiang Yi curled his lip upon seeing this.

Judging from his practiced manner, it's easy to understand.

That second-tier lightning orb was probably ruined by this stupid cat.

He snapped out of his reverie, glanced out the window, and worried that the commotion inside might be noticed by outsiders.

So he formed a hand seal, secretly channeled his magical power, and suddenly brought his hands together in front of him.

A curtain of water slowly emerged, like an overturned bowl, completely obscuring the desk and isolating it from sound and light.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

As Xiao Li gulped down the steel ingot, its power gradually dissipated, and the lightning, which had been at its peak, began to wane, growing weaker and weaker.

In contrast, the electric arcs on Xiao Li's body became increasingly active, with purple currents flowing through her hair, even more intense than before.

A few moments later.

The steel ingot's spiritual essence was completely absorbed, leaving it dull and lifeless, devoid of any remaining wonder.

Little Pear took a few more sips, still wanting more, but when she realized it was all gone, she became a little anxious and patted it hard with her little paws, trying to knock out some more.

With a single swipe of its claw, the steel ingot shattered into a pile of dusty slag with a "crack".

"Meow~"

Its face fell, and it turned its head to look at Jiang Yi with pleading eyes.

Jiang Yi glared back:

"Why are you looking at me? What, want me to get you another one?"

"Meow~"

Little Pear blinked, then with a gentle push of her four paws, she pounced into Jiang Yi's arms, nuzzling him affectionately and using her usual coquettish tactics.

"hiss--!"

Jiang Yi shuddered, feeling a tingling sensation from the remaining lightning, and his hair stood on end.

He grabbed the silly cat and gave it a good rub.

"Be careful! Don't be reckless or clumsy. This old man's small body can't take your rough handling."

Little Pear grinned, wagged its tail, and a smug look appeared on its face.

However, after only a few breaths, it started yawning repeatedly, suddenly changing from an excited state to drowsy and listless.

Then, half asleep, it crawled into the collar, found a comfortable position, curled up, and fell fast asleep.

Jiang Yi shook his head in disgust, raised his hand and clenched it, dispersing the water curtain.

After thinking for a moment, he gathered the pile of crumbs on the table and put them into a cloth bag.

Although this item is no longer worth much, it's best to destroy it to avoid arousing suspicion from outsiders.

The sky was gradually darkening.

Colorful lanterns lit up the city, their shimmering light creating a dazzling spectacle.

Jiang Yi sat quietly for a moment, opened his bag, took out several bottles and jars, fiddled with them for a while, and applied them to his face.

Before long, his face turned sallow, and several wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes and mouth.

Then he changed into a gray robe, wrapped his head with a cloth, and suddenly looked much older, completely different from before.

Everything is tidied up.

Jiang Yi got up and left the inn, walking along the street.

The destination was a Buddhist artifact shop that I had visited before.

He walked straight in and exchanged a few words with the waiter who came to greet him.

Soon a manager came to greet him and led him to a private room to sit down.

Jiang Yi got straight to the point, without wasting any time.

He handed over the magic sword that had been seized from the Liu family cultivator, and said in a low voice:

"I have a low-grade magic sword to sell. I wonder what price your shop can offer?"

The shopkeeper took the magic sword, examined it carefully for a few moments, and nodded slightly.

"This magic sword is of decent quality and acceptable. If you wish to sell it, our shop is willing to offer 140 spirit stones."

Jiang Yi shook his head upon hearing this:

"At least one hundred and fifty spirit stones."

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then sighed with some difficulty and said:

"Very well, one hundred and fifty it is. I'll lose a little less and consider it as making friends with you."

After saying this, he put the magic sword aside, reached into his sleeve and rummaged around for a while, then took out a heavy money bag and handed it over.

Jiang Yi took the document, tore it open, counted the contents, confirmed the number was correct, nodded slightly, got up, and quickly left.

Seeing that he left so decisively, the shopkeeper was not surprised at all.

Over the years of running a shop in the Immortal City, I've seen many cautious independent cultivators like this.

If you ask even a few more questions, the other person will become annoyed, fearing that you have ulterior motives.

He withdrew his gaze, handed the magic sword to a welcoming attendant, and casually instructed:

"Tang San, put this magic sword in a new scabbard and give it to Master Li to fix up. We'll sell it for two hundred spirit stones another day."