Immortal Path in the Palm of a Mortal's Hand

Thirdly, his own fighting skills were severely lacking. His low-grade flying sword was only good for transportation, and its power in direct combat was weak. His short sword was also an ordinary weapon made of common iron, and it had already chipped when it pierced the skinny man's ribs! If the stab had not been deep enough and the angle tricky, he might not have been able to defeat the enemy in one blow.

The drawbacks of ritual implements urgently need to be addressed.

But that's not the case right now.

Chen Fan took out the golden book from his storage bag and probed it with his divine sense. The first three levels of the "Great Evolution Prison Suppression Scripture" appeared in his mind. He had already grasped the basics of the first level, "Concentration of the Spirit," and his divine sense strength had increased by more than 50% compared to before he started cultivating. However, he was still a step away from complete perfection. According to the scripture, once the first level was completed, one's divine sense should be 80% to 100% stronger than before cultivation.

With a current increase of 50%, there is still room for improvement.

The most urgent task remains the fundamentals of cultivation. The stronger one's spiritual sense, the more effective the alchemy vortex in the palm will be, and the more stable the intake of spirit stones will be. Only with abundant spirit stones can one purchase magical artifacts, talismans, and elixirs. This order must not be reversed.

For the next two weeks, Chen Fan adjusted the pace of his cultivation to be almost rigorous.

At the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), he first refined five Qi Refining Pills using a vortex in his palm, consuming about 70% of his divine consciousness. He then swallowed one Qi Refining Pill, sat in meditation to recover his magical power and divine consciousness, and at the same time circulated the first level of the "Great Evolution Prison Suppression Scripture" mental technique, repeatedly condensing the scattered divine consciousness power during the recovery process.

Around noon, as his magical power and spiritual consciousness gradually recovered, he began the second round of pure spiritual consciousness cultivation. He continuously compressed and purified his spiritual consciousness within his sea of ​​consciousness until it was exhausted once again.

In the evening, I meditated for the third time to recover.

As night fell, he took two Qi Refining Pills he had refined that day for his own use, and a small piece of spirit stone fragment to feed the Golden-backed Demon Mantis larvae. He carefully sorted and stored the remaining pills in a low-grade but reasonably well-sealed jade box that he had bought for three spirit stones to prevent the loss of spiritual energy.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Fan's spiritual sense steadily increased. Previously, refining five items a day would deplete his spiritual sense, but now he could refining six steadily. While the seventh was a struggle, it wasn't impossible to attempt. At this rate, in another ten days or so, he should be able to reach perfection in the first level.

The accumulation of spirit stones accelerated accordingly. He refined six spirit stones a day, used two himself, and sold four, earning twenty spirit stones daily. After half a month, the number of spirit stones in his storage bag had exceeded three hundred.

Five days after recovering from his injury, Chen Fan went to the market again.

The arrangements for this trip are quite different from before.

Disguise: Abandoning his previous appearance as a rogue cultivator in his thirties, he transformed into a down-on-his-luck rogue cultivator in his forties with a sallow complexion, high cheekbones, and bitter lines around his mouth. He wore an old Taoist robe with many patches, and his cloth shoes were deliberately worn with holes.

Route change: Abandon the old mountain path, take a large detour, and enter and exit from the other side of the market. This route winds through low hills, with visibility opening and closing intermittently, which is not conducive to an ambush, but rather helps him to detect anything unusual in advance.

The method of selling pills: Instead of selling more than ten pills at a time, they are divided into three portions of four pills each, and sold at three different shops. The times are also staggered: one shop at Chenshi (7-9 AM), one at Wushi (11 AM-1 PM), and one at Shenshi (3-5 PM). After each transaction, the shopkeepers linger in the market for about half an hour to ensure there are no "tails" left before proceeding to the next transaction.

It's tedious and time-consuming, but we want to be reliable.

Twelve Qi Refining Pills were exchanged for sixty spirit stones.

After selling the pills, he did not leave immediately, but went to a small talisman shop at the end of the street.

The shop was narrow, only about ten feet wide and more than two feet deep. It was dimly lit, and the walls were covered with talismans of various colors, drawn with cinnabar and outlined with animal blood, ranging in color from bright red to dark brown. The air was filled with the mixed smells of cinnabar, animal blood and spirit ink.

The shopkeeper was a white-haired, hunched-over old man in his sixties. He was also at the tenth level of Qi Refining, but his aura was more solid and profound than Chen Fan's, clearly an old rogue cultivator who had been trapped in this realm for many years. At that moment, he was bent over his desk, using a fine brush to outline runes on yellow paper. Hearing footsteps, he did not raise his head, but simply pointed a finger at the wall, indicating "Observe yourself and do not disturb."

Chen Fan didn't take it seriously and silently examined the wall closely.

Fireball talisman, ice cone talisman, earthen wall talisman, golden bell talisman, wooden vine talisman, lightning strike talisman, wind blade talisman... the variety was unexpected. All were low-level talismans, their power equivalent to a full-force attack from a Qi Refining cultivator, which was sufficient for Chen Fan.

He carefully examined the quality of each talisman: whether the runes were drawn smoothly, whether the ink was evenly colored, and whether the paper was intact. These details directly affected the talisman's power and its stability. The old man was quite skilled; although they were low-level talismans, he drew them meticulously, with clean and crisp lines, without any broken strokes or smudging.

Chen Fan took down twenty fireball talismans, fifteen ice cone talismans, ten earth wall talismans, ten golden bell talismans, five wooden vine talismans, and two lightning strike talismans from the wall. The lightning strike talismans were far more powerful than the fireball talismans and were also more expensive, so he only bought them as a last resort.

A stack of talismans was placed on the cabinet, and the old man finally looked up.

A flicker of surprise crossed the old man's cloudy eyes as his gaze swept over the thick talismans, but it quickly vanished. In the marketplace, one should not ask questions one shouldn't ask; this is an ironclad rule.

"Fireball talisman, two spirit stones each, twenty talismans forty spirit stones. Ice cone talisman, two spirit stones fifty cents each, fifteen talismans for thirty-seven and a half spirit stones, let's call it thirty-seven. Earth wall talisman, two spirit stones each, ten talismans for twenty spirit stones. Golden bell talisman, three spirit stones each, ten talismans for thirty spirit stones. Wooden vine talisman, two spirit stones fifty cents each, five talismans for twelve and a half spirit stones. Lightning strike talisman, eight spirit stones each, two talismans for sixteen spirit stones." The old man tapped the counter with his withered finger. "A total of one hundred and fifty-five and a half spirit stones, rounded down, one hundred and fifty-five spirit stones."

Chen Fan did not bargain.

It wasn't that he couldn't, but rather that he didn't want to. Talismans were life-saving items, and the spirit stones he painstakingly saved might have to be paid for with his life. The old man's craftsmanship was superb, and the price was fair; that was enough. He counted out one hundred and fifty-five spirit stones and placed them on the counter, then carefully put the talismans one by one into his storage bag.

As he turned to leave, the old man suddenly spoke:

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

Chen Fan stopped and turned to the side.

The old man took out an old talisman, dark yellow in color and slightly curled at the edges, from under the counter and placed it on the table. This talisman was a size larger than the one he had just bought, and its runes were complex and profound, dark red in color, and faintly exuding a scorching aura.

"This is a mid-level Fire Python Talisman I drew in my younger days. Its power is comparable to a full-force attack from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. I used the essence blood of a second-level Fire Python when I drew it, and I have never been willing to sell it after it was completed." The old man paused, his voice slightly hoarse. "Now that I am old and my path to cultivation is hopeless, this talisman is just a bottom-of-the-box treasure. If you are interested, you can have it for fifty spirit stones."

Chen Fan's gaze fell upon the Fire Python Talisman.

A full-force attack during the early stages of Foundation Establishment!

These words stirred something within him.

Without immediately agreeing, he took the talisman and examined it closely. The talisman paper was indeed thicker and heavier than that of low-grade talismans, the lines of the runes were coiled like snakes, and there was a hidden python-shaped phantom lurking within. The spiritual energy fluctuations were restrained and deep, far superior to ordinary low-grade talismans.

Fifty spirit stones, expensive. But if it truly possesses the power of a Foundation Establishment strike, then it's worth a thousand times more. In a life-or-death situation, this talisman is a second life!

He counted out another fifty spirit stones, bringing the total to two hundred and five, which he then placed on the counter.

Stepping out of the talisman shop, I found that 205 spirit stones were missing from my storage bag, but 62 talismans had been added.

In addition, a Fire Python Talisman.

Half a month's savings were almost depleted. Yet Chen Fan remained unmoved. Spirit stones hidden in his bag were nothing but stubborn rocks; only when transformed into talismans could they become protective power. The battle in the desolate mountains had already proven this—without talismans, he would have long since become food for the wild dogs of the desolate mountains.

On his return journey, Chen Fan also pondered the matter of magical artifacts. His low-grade flying sword was indeed unusable, merely suitable for transportation. The short sword, made of ordinary iron, hardly worthy of being called a magical artifact. If he had a suitable weapon for attack, he might not need to waste so many talismans in the battle of the desolate mountains.

However, the selection of ritual implements is more complicated than that of talismans.