I proved immortality with thunder magic.

croak——

The croaking of frogs, like muffled thunder, echoed continuously from the mountain stream, and the air by the stream was exceptionally fresh after the rain.

Suddenly, a blue-white arc of electricity shot out from a pavilion by the stream.

Then, a dark shadow flashed, and a frog as big as a puppy suddenly leaped out of the grass by the stream, precisely intercepting the arc of electricity.

The blue-white electric arc, possessing the power to split rocks and shatter stone, struck the frog's back, but only emitted a brief burst of electricity before falling silent.

In contrast, after the frog fell into the water, silver-white lightning patterns appeared on its back, adding a touch of mystery and majesty.

quack!

Suddenly, a frog in the water turned its head toward the pavilion and croaked, as if to thank the person for feeding it. Then it dove underwater and disappeared without a trace.

Quack! Quack quack!!

Soon, a series of urgent croaking sounds came from all over the stream, and giant frogs began to emerge from the water, all facing the pavilion and croaking, their urgency palpable.

Inside the pavilion, Zhou Tai listened to the croaking of frogs, which sounded like they were urging him to eat. He felt a terrible headache coming on, as if his head was about to explode. He couldn't help but yell, "It's so noisy! Can't you all just line up quietly?"

Unfortunately, the frogs don't understand human speech, and their croaking not only didn't weaken, but became even more rapid.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai was both angry and helpless. He could only grab a handful of silkworm seedlings from the wooden bucket on the table and throw them into the stream to stop the greedy frogs from eating.

This trick was quite effective. Sensing the aroma of the food, the Thunder-striped Frogs immediately forgot their croaking and rushed towards the silkworm seedlings struggling in the water from all directions, their long tongues able to coil up several at a time.

While the Thunder-Patterned Frogs were vying for food, Zhou Tai quickly made a hand seal and cast a spell, soon flicking his finger to release a blue-white arc of electricity.

As soon as the arc of electricity flew out of the pavilion, a lightning frog reacted extremely quickly and leaped high out of the water to block the lightning strike.

Then, just like the Thunderfrog at the beginning, it gave a satisfied croak of thanks to the pavilion and dived into the water to digest.

Next, Zhou Tai followed the same method, sometimes feeding the frogs to shut them up, and sometimes casting spells to give each frog an electric shock.

He waited until he had exhausted all his magical power at the third level of Qi Refining before fleeing from the pavilion with the empty bucket in his arms.

The section of mountain stream where the Thunder-Patterned Frogs inhabit is completely shrouded and isolated by a separate array of restrictions. Only people like Zhou Tai, who carry tokens, can freely enter and exit; neither cultivators nor demonic beasts are allowed to enter or exit.

So as long as he leaves the area of ​​the mountain stream frog pond, those thunder-patterned frogs, no matter how anxious or angry they are, can't find any trouble for him.

"I thought things would get much better after reaching the third level of Qi Refining, but it seems I overestimated my cultivation and underestimated the frogs' appetites!"

In the mountains, Zhou Tai put down the wooden bucket in his hand, rubbed his numb right index finger, and his face was full of bitter smiles.

Now it is his second year at Leihe Peak. Thanks to the bottle of Ginseng Spirit Qi-Boosting Pill given to him by Yang Jinsheng, as well as the rich spiritual energy of this place, he successfully broke through to the third level of the Qi Refining stage three days ago.

With his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, he was able to cast the "Thunder Arc Finger," a low-grade first-order spell, nearly twenty times in a row.

Even so, it was still not enough to feed all the Thunder Frogs in the frog pond.

Judging from the current situation, he may need to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, which is the middle stage of Qi Refining, before he can give all thirty-seven Thunder Frogs an electrotherapy treatment.

However, if he wanted to cultivate from the third level of Qi Refining to the fourth level, even if he cultivated on Leihe Peak, it would take him at least three or four years of arduous training without the help of elixirs.

"If only I could have one or two more bottles of Ginseng Spirit Qi-Boosting Pills!"

Thinking of this, Zhou Tai couldn't help but reach for the storage bag at his waist, then shook his head violently and withdrew his hand.

No, his principal must not be touched recklessly. He must not ruin his future for the sake of temporary pleasure in increasing his cultivation level.

After taking a few deep breaths on the spot, Zhou Tai calmed himself down and returned to his residence.

His residence has now been moved to the mountain, to a bamboo house, less than two miles from the mountain stream and frog pond.

Upon returning to the bamboo house, Zhou Tai's first action was to meditate and restore his magical power.

Although it only took him less than half an hour to exhaust his magic power, it took him more than two hours to fully recover.

After his magic power was restored, Zhou Tai got up and brewed himself a pot of tea, then took out a notebook from his storage bag and began to read it.

His notebook was ordinary, but the writing on it was special; it was the Chinese script used in his previous life.

This script differs significantly from the script commonly used in the cultivation world, and it is unlikely that anyone else can understand it.

What he wrote in his notebook were various ways to make money that he had learned by asking around and reading classical texts over the past year.

In the world of cultivation, cultivators generally earn spirit stones in the following ways.

One way is to go to unclaimed wilderness to gather herbs and find minerals, hunt monsters, and sell the spoils in markets and other places. This path has no barriers to entry, and even a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining can do it, but it is quite dangerous, and if you are unlucky, you may never return.

The second type is being employed by a certain force, sect, or cultivation family, whether it's farming, mining, guarding the house, or working as a servant in their shop; in short, being a laborer in the cultivation world and earning a living through hard labor.

The third type is to learn and master a certain skill of immortal cultivation. The advanced ones may be alchemy or weapon crafting, while the less advanced ones may be leatherworking or textile spinning. They rely on their own skills to process and sell raw materials, making a living through their technical skills.

These three ways of making money each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The first type has the advantage of having no barriers to entry. Apart from being highly dangerous, it's a cost-free business that anyone can do.

The second type has a slightly higher threshold, requiring a certain level of cultivation, strength, and even character. Some also require connections, so not everyone can do it.

The third type has the highest threshold and is beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.

Of course, in Zhou Tai's view, there is a fourth way to make money, which is to be a merchant in the cultivation world, buying low and selling high, and making a profit from the price difference.

If he were a free-spirited cultivator now, he would definitely choose the fourth way to make money.

But unfortunately, he is not.

Now, as Yang Jinsheng's personal servant, he needs to report and apply in advance even when leaving Leihe Peak. He can only go out three times a year, and each time he can't stay for more than two days. Moreover, he can't leave the gate of Ling Shou Mountain when he goes out.

In this situation, not only can he not be a businessman, but he also has no chance with the first and second ways of making money.

Therefore, the only way he can really make money is the third one.

The third approach has a high barrier to entry for ordinary independent practitioners, because it is difficult for them to find a master willing to teach them, and it is also difficult for them to buy truly useful inherited scriptures.

However, for Zhou Tai, a disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain, this threshold was not so high and unattainable.

First of all, the library contains many basic introductory inheritances of various cultivation arts. The contribution points required to exchange for those introductory inheritances are not many, and you can even privately buy handwritten copies from other disciples who have already exchanged for them.

Secondly, Spirit Beast Mountain itself has artisan platforms such as the Weapon Refining Hall, Alchemy Hall, and Talisman Hall. As long as the miscellaneous disciples are willing to spend spirit stones as tuition fees, they can go there to seek guidance from famous teachers.

Zhou Tai had already made up his mind. At this moment, he looked at the list of optional skills he had made, thought for a moment, and then put an X on "Weapon Forging" and "Alchemy".

"We won't consider weapon crafting and alchemy for now. Both require a high level of cultivation, at least the late stage of Qi Refining, and the starting capital required is beyond my ability to provide."

Then their attention turned to other skill options.

"As for leatherworking and textile weaving, the Spirit Beast Mountain has a very refined tradition of these two skills and produces a large amount of raw materials. As a result, many disciples learn these two skills. I don't have any advantage in learning them; at most, I can only earn a meager living."

Thinking of this, he also crossed out several simple skills such as "leather making", "cloth spinning", and "spiritual plant cultivation".

Then, after scanning over the few remaining skills, his gaze finally settled on one particular skill.

"Now it seems that the skill most suitable for me is talisman making. Among all magics, thunder is the most revered, so thunder talismans are far more expensive than other talismans of the same level, and the profit is very considerable. Moreover, usually only cultivators with thunder-attribute spiritual roots like myself can successfully make them!"

"If I could actually make thunder talismans, even just some low-grade first-tier thunder talismans and mid-grade first-tier thunder talismans, their scarcity should be enough to satisfy my need for pills."

With a light stroke under the characters for "talisman making," Zhou Tai had already decided on the first skill he would learn.

Actually, there was another important reason he chose to make talismans that he didn't mention: he knew that Qi Yuntao was also learning this skill.

Since Qi Yuntao is also learning, he has the opportunity to learn from the other party for free or at a friendly price, or even ask the other party to purchase the corresponding materials, or even help him sell the finished magic talismans in the future.

Outer disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain have the convenience of freely entering and leaving the mountain gate, making it much easier for them to do anything than menial disciples, and they usually have a decent network of connections.

Zhou Tai envied the many advantages that outer disciples had, but he also knew that he had no hope of becoming an outer disciple in the short term, so it would be great if he could get close to an outer disciple.

After making his choice, Zhou Tai chose an opportune moment the next day to visit Qi Yuntao at his residence.