I proved immortality with thunder magic.

The supply price of twenty low-grade spirit stones per lightning strike talisman ultimately failed to be negotiated.

Although Li Hongzhi did not deny the value of the Thunder Talisman, he certainly could not accept this supply price when it came to business.

After all, if he buys the goods at this price, he'll be lucky to earn two or three low-grade spirit stones per lightning strike talisman.

Others might think this profit is quite good, after all, Thunder Talismans are products that are sure to sell, and making so much money just by reselling them is already very good.

However, he knew exactly why Zhou Tai had come to him for cooperation, which meant he had grasped Zhou Tai's weakness.

Therefore, when he refused to budge, Zhou Tai finally had to make some concessions and reduce the supply price of each thunder talisman to eighteen low-grade spirit stones.

Zhou Tai was actually able to accept this result.

He was also a businessman, so he naturally understood what a businessman would do when he had the upper hand.

Zeng Qiming's decision to have him find Li Hongzhi suggests that this person is trustworthy and wouldn't do something like murder for money.

Moreover, this person is a rogue cultivator, so it's difficult for him to have influence in the Spirit Beast Mountain.

Even if it's for this safety, I can accept earning less spirit stones.

After reaching a cooperation agreement, Zhou Tai immediately gave Li Hongzhi fifty lightning strike talismans and agreed to provide him with fifty lightning strike talismans every month thereafter.

Li Hongzhi had no objection to the supply volume, and even said that he could handle any amount of goods.

Heng Kingdom is very large, with a large number of cultivators. No matter how many thunder talismans Zhou Tai draws, it will not have much impact on the country's market.

Large-scale markets like Bailongfang Market were open to the entire country.

This is also an important reason why Zhou Tai was willing to accept Li Hongzhi's conditions.

After completing the first thunder talisman transaction, Zhou Tai tentatively looked at Li Hongzhi and said, "Senior Li, I need a special talisman brush to draw thunder talismans. You are a master of talisman arts with extensive connections. I wonder if you could help me order a few talisman brushes?"

Upon hearing this, Li Hongzhi immediately pointed at him and laughed, scolding, "You little brat, you really know how to climb the social ladder, now you're even ordering this old man around!"

After a moment's thought, he nodded slightly and said, "I'll give it a try. If it works out, I'll give you an answer when I pick up the goods next time."

Zhou Tai was overjoyed and quickly cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your help, senior. I will await your good news."

Li Hongzhi waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be so polite. Then, glancing at the sky outside the window, he suddenly asked, "It's getting late. Would you like to stay the night at my inn?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tai hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "It's not necessary. I can stay at our sect's residence for the night."

Seeing that he refused to stay at the inn, Li Hongzhi was not angry. He simply nodded slightly and said, "Very well, then I won't keep you any longer."

"Then I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, he immediately cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Li Hongzhi, turned around, went downstairs, and left.

After confirming that Zhou Tai had left the shop, Li Hongzhi looked at the thunder talisman he had left on the table and couldn't help but remark, "To be able to draw a thunder talisman with only mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation, and with such a high success rate, this young man's future is limitless if he can successfully establish his foundation!"

Hearing this, the young female cultivator who had remained silent until now asked curiously, "Since Master thinks so highly of that Fellow Daoist Zhou, why is he unwilling to offer him more benefits?"

Li Hongzhi shook his head: "Since this is our first collaboration, there's absolutely no trust between us. Even if I were to offer him some concessions, why would he care?"

Then he changed the subject and said calmly, "Besides, I think he is already quite old. Whether he can successfully establish his foundation in the future is still unknown. Why rush him?"

After hearing his explanation, the young female cultivator immediately understood and flattered him with an expression of enlightenment, saying, "Master is so thoughtful. I have learned a lot."

Then he said in a low voice, "But there is still one thing I don't understand. Since that Fellow Daoist Zhou can draw thunder talismans, it means he has the aptitude for thunder spirit roots. So why is his cultivation only at this level at such a young age?"

Upon hearing her question, Li Hongzhi frowned slightly, revealing a thoughtful expression.

After thinking for a moment, he said thoughtfully, "It's probably because he started cultivating late. I can't think of any other reason."

Upon hearing this explanation, the young female cultivator couldn't help but sigh, "That's truly a pity!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hongzhi seized the opportunity to instruct, "Therefore, Xiaolian, you must also work harder in your cultivation in the future. You must know that for us cultivators, cultivation is the foundation of everything. Don't wait until you're old to regret it!"

……

Zhou Tai was completely unaware of the conversation between Li Hongzhi and his apprentice after he left.

After leaving Hongfu Residence, he went to the mansion that Ling Shou Mountain had opened in Bailongfang City to stay overnight.

This mansion occupies a considerable area, with four floors. It is open to the public, but a few rooms are left vacant each day for disciples of the Spirit Beast Mountain to stay in.

After Zhou Tai displayed his outer disciple token at the counter, he received a superior room for free.

After resting at the mansion for one night, Zhou Tai checked out and left the market shortly after dawn the next day.

He has achieved his goal in Bailongfang City and it is time for him to leave.

After leaving the market, Zhou Tai retrieved the rested Black Feathered Vulture from the animal pen and embarked on his return journey.

The return flight will still follow the Bailong River, but this time it will be upstream.

As dusk approached, Zhou Tai, just like the night before, chose an uninhabited island in the Bailong River to land and rest.

The night was deep, and the starlight was dim.

On the uninhabited island, Zhou Taiping lay beside the black-feathered vulture, both of them asleep.

Just then, on the Bailong River to the east of the island, a giant black tortoise was wading towards the island, with three cultivators—two men and one woman—sitting on its back.

The three rode on the tortoise and soon arrived at the edge of the island.

The three then exchanged glances, each took out a black cloth to cover their faces, and quietly jumped onto the island.

Then the three of them, each holding a different magical artifact, slowly made their way toward where Zhou Tai was.

quack!

In the darkness, a frog's croak suddenly boomed like thunder, instantly waking the sleeping man and the vulture.

Zhou Tai opened his eyes and quickly stood up from the ground.

At the same time, a low shout rang out from the woods not far away.

"Oh no, we've been discovered! Quick, go and stop him!"

As soon as the shout fell, two streaks of fire pierced the night sky and flew rapidly toward Zhou Tai.

His expression changed, and he hurriedly took out a magic talisman hidden in his sleeve and activated it, transforming it into a golden light shield that protected him.

Boom! Boom!

As soon as Zhou Tai activated the magic talisman, two bursts of fire erupted near him, quickly igniting the surrounding flammable materials and setting them ablaze.

The black-feathered eagle was also affected by the fire wave from the explosion; many of its feathers were instantly singed, and it cried out in panic.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai hurriedly took off his spirit beast pouch and shouted at it, "You go into the spirit beast pouch first!"

However, the black-feathered eagle, which was very obedient during the day, did not listen to him at all at this time and quickly flapped its wings and flew into the sky.

"That damned hairy beast!"

Watching the black-feathered eagle soar into the sky, Zhou Tai cursed angrily.

Now he understood why, even though they could rent flying mounts from the sect, many outer disciples still chose to train their own.

This isn't a mount I trained through a contract. It really doesn't obey orders when something happens, and it can be deadly in critical moments.

There was no time to think about the Black Feather Vulture's escape. After cursing, Zhou Tai immediately ordered the Thunder Pattern Frog Yuanbao to hide. At the same time, he took out three magical artifacts from his storage bag: the Azure Cloud Shield, the Illusionary Smoke Gourd, and the Fire Cloud Pouch.

He first summoned the Azure Cloud Shield, creating an additional emerald green light barrier outside the golden light shield. Then, he stuffed the Illusionary Smoke Gourd and the Fire Cloud Pouch into his pocket for easy access.

Just as he was doing these things, the three masked enemies in black had come into his line of sight.

Seeing the three masked men suddenly appear, Zhou Tai's heart sank, and he immediately shouted sharply, "Who are you? How dare you attack the outer disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain!"

Before he could finish speaking, a deliberately disguised hoarse voice rang out: "Don't waste time talking to him, kill him first!"

Then a blue-glowing water-splitting dagger flew towards him.

Seeing this, the other man and woman either activated their magical artifacts or used spells to gang up on him.

All three of them were at the late stage of Qi Refining, and the owner of the Water-Dividing Thorn was even at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Under the combined attack of the three, the emerald green light barrier activated by the Azure Cloud Shield was quickly shattered, and the artifact itself was blasted to the ground. The golden light shield around it was also shaking violently and was in imminent danger.

Seeing how fierce the enemy was, Zhou Tai dared not have any more illusions. He immediately summoned the Illusionary Smoke Gourd and spewed out all the smoke inside.

A column of bluish-purple smoke billowed from the gourd's mouth, landing right next to the masked man wielding the Water-Splitting Thorn. It instantly exploded into a cloud of smoke, enveloping both the man and the female cultivator.

"Beware, it might be poisonous!"

A low shout came from the fog, and the two masked men trapped in the smoke hurriedly fled out of the smoke-filled area.

But at that moment, blue and white lightning illuminated the night sky and crashed down on the three masked men.

Zhou Tai held a handful of talismans in his hand and immediately gave the three of them three lightning strike talismans.

He then disregarded whether the lightning had hit the enemy or not, and activated two more first-tier high-grade magic talismans that he had bought from the old talisman masters.

A magic talisman transformed into a flaming spear, shooting straight towards the masked man at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

The other talisman transformed into a golden longsword, which slashed towards another masked male cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

The masked men were immediately stunned by his aggressive fighting style and hurriedly retreated to defend themselves, no longer able to attack him.

Little did they know that this very decision would directly lead to their defeat and death.

With the defensive pressure greatly reduced, Zhou Tai gave the three no chance to counterattack, continuously activating one magic talisman after another to bombard them.

The way he was beating him up didn't look like three people ganging up on him; it looked like he was beating up three people all by himself!

"Hold on, everyone hold on! He's running out of talismans!"

While desperately resisting Zhou Tai's lightning and fire attacks, the masked man at the ninth level of Qi Refining loudly encouraged his companions to hold on, no longer bothering to conceal his voice.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a scream rang out.

The masked female cultivator was momentarily stunned when she was struck by a bolt of blue-white lightning, her clothes instantly ripped apart as she collapsed to the ground.

Upon seeing this, the masked male cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining was immediately shocked.

"My wife!"

He cried out in alarm and rushed toward the female cultivator who was lying motionless on the ground.

This scene shocked and enraged the masked man at the ninth level of Qi Refining. He hurriedly warned in a loud voice, "Fellow Daoist Lu, don't be fooled!"

But his reminder came too late.

Just as the cultivator surnamed Lu ran towards his Daoist partner, Zhou Tai threw out the Fire Cloud Net, and the fiery net instantly enveloped the enemy who had walked right into the trap.

"Now you're the only one left!"

Zhou Tai's gaze shifted from the screaming enemy in the fire net to the masked man at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and he said in a low voice.