Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Without the pills, there was no point in continuing his seclusion, so Lin Zui had no choice but to come out and buy another batch.

Fortunately, this technique is indeed profound. The five elements of magic power can be transformed into each other. Although Lin Zui is only at the second level of Qi Refining at this moment, he has transformed all the magic power of the other four attributes into earth attribute, and has also piled up the earth attribute magic power back to about the fourth level.

However, this temporarily fabricated magical power level was bound to be unstable, and it was immediately seen through by the experienced and wise Elder Liang.

"Sigh, young people are so prone to being impatient for quick success. Your spiritual root aptitude is not good to begin with, so you should solidify your foundation before seeking a breakthrough."

Liang Anping scolded him irritably, clearly thinking that he was too eager for quick results. Lin Zuile thought so too, so he naturally didn't explain and nodded in agreement.

While chatting casually and helping to tidy up, a jade box suddenly fell out from a pile of old things. The lid opened, revealing an earthen-yellow talisman.

"Huh~"

Lin Zui had come into contact with quite a few talismans over the past three years, including some of the mid- to high-level ones, but for a moment he couldn't tell what type of talisman it was.

Just as he was about to take it, Liang Anping quickly put it away.

"Old Liang, what kind of talisman is that? I don't think I've ever seen it before."

"Hmph, you're just a kid who hasn't even grown a full beard yet. There are plenty of things you haven't seen."

Liang Anping put the jade box away, seemingly unwilling to say more, but Lin Zui's curiosity got the better of him, and he wouldn't give up, following Liang Anping around chattering on and on.

Fifteen minutes later, Liang Anping finally couldn't take it anymore and threw the jade box at Lin Zui, impatiently cursing, "Get lost, get lost, take it and look at it somewhere else, don't bother me."

Lin Zui didn't care about his impatient attitude. He took the jade box, opened it, and a yellowish-brown talisman with an ancient feel appeared in front of him.

Lin Zui observed it carefully for a long time and confirmed that it was indeed a type of talisman he had never seen before. However, judging from the complicated runes alone, the talisman's grade was definitely not low.

For some reason, the spiritual energy on this talisman seemed to be almost nonexistent, making it a useless talisman with almost all its spiritual power exhausted.

"Elder Liang, what kind of talisman is this?"

"Hmph, you think you're so great? Guess for yourself."

Liang Anping smiled smugly, continuing to whet Lin Zui's appetite.

"Oh, Elder Liang, please stop being so mysterious. I'm just a novice and I really don't recognize what kind of talisman this is."

Seeing that Lin Zui's attitude was fairly sincere, Liang Anping stopped teasing him.

"Heh, I bet you wouldn't recognize it. Let me tell you, this is a secret talisman!"

"A secret rune!?"

Lin Zui frowned; he had never actually heard of any secret talisman.

"The so-called secret talisman is a special talisman that cultivators who practice certain special techniques develop on their own according to the characteristics of the techniques. These talismans are often difficult to make, but their effects are remarkable. However, because the methods of making them are mostly kept secret, they are rarely seen on the market."

"This is a special talisman created by drawing inspiration from the profound mystery of the Nascent Soul stage's supernatural ability to shrink the earth to an inch—the Shrinking Earth Talisman."

"A Nascent Soul stage supernatural power!?"

Lin Zui's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and a desire welled up within him, but he remained outwardly composed.

"Old Liang is truly resourceful, managing to obtain even such rare items. But... why is it a useless talisman with almost depleted spiritual energy?"

Upon hearing Lin Zui mention this, Liang Anping's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

"If I had known earlier that this was a useless talisman, would I have spent so much money to buy it? When that person brought this talisman to me, it was full of divine light and showed no signs of exhaustion of spiritual energy."

Liang Anping sighed.

"To be honest, I was also misled by the name of this secret talisman and did not examine it carefully, which is why I was deceived by someone's trickery."

Lin Zui found it amusing. He hadn't bothered to analyze it carefully; someone had probably heard that he liked to pick up bargains, so they deliberately set a trap to lure him in.

However, Lin Zui only thought about these words and would definitely not say them directly.

"What kind of illusion is this? It even managed to fool your discerning eyes! Could it be that the talisman itself is fake?"

"No, that's not the case. I had other friends examine it afterward, and the talisman itself was fine. It was just that some kind of magic was cast on it at the time, temporarily filling it with spiritual power."

"Oh, there's such a strange spell?"

"Hmph, the cultivation world is full of strange and unusual techniques, each with its own unique function. What's so strange about my momentary oversight?"

"That's true."

Lin Zui nodded in agreement, then seemed to remember something.

"Elder Liang, what level of talisman is this?"

"Secret talismans are generally difficult to measure using the standard of normal talismans. If we had to say, this talisman should be considered the best among the beginner talismans, but its rarity is no less than that of an ordinary intermediate talisman."

"After all, according to that person, this Shrinking Earth Talisman can not only allow a person to escape instantly, but also isolate them from divine sense lock-on during the escape process. It can even ignore some low-level restrictions. This kind of multi-functional talisman is something that ordinary mid-level talismans do not possess."

Lin Zui's heart burned with excitement. Although Elder Liang had only heard about it secondhand, even if the true power of this talisman was not as exaggerated as the rumors suggested and needed to be discounted, it would still be an excellent tool for him to escape and save his life during the Qi Refining stage.

"Old Liang, you don't really need this talisman anyway, and it's just frustrating to look at. Why don't you just sell it to me?"

"Sell it to you?"

Liang Anping glanced at him sideways.

"Why did you buy such a useless talisman?"

"What else can I do? As a talisman maker, seeing such a rare talisman naturally makes me very eager to study it. Learning from others can be helpful to my talisman making."

"...That's true."

Liang Anping nodded, thought for a moment, and then pushed the jade box directly in front of Lin Zui.

"Alright, you're right. Keeping this item is of no use to me. It's better to keep it out of sight of this pile of old things. Since you need it, there's no need to buy it. Just take it."

"How could I possibly accept this? I've been so grateful for your kindness over the years, I already owe you a great deal."

Lin Zui was polite, but he had already quietly taken the jade box from Liang Anping, who shook his head at the sight.

"If you truly feel indebted to the old lady, then please consider what I told you before. My Liang family is very sincere."

"Hehe, let's talk about it again..."

"You little rascal, all that kindness I've shown you has been for nothing..."

Liang Anping laughed and scolded, his tone revealing a hint of regret and pity.

After chatting for a while, Lin Zui took out some low-level talismans and traded them for spirit stones with Liang Anping. Then he took his leave and went to a shop in the market that sold pills.

After a while.

"Is that all? Are you perhaps worried that I can't afford the spirit stones?"

Lin Zui frowned, looking at the dozen or so bottles of Qi Refining stage pills that the waiter had brought out, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Master Fang, please forgive me. I dare not say that. However, we really only have this many Qi Refining stage pills left in the shop. Most of the people in the shop are Qi Refining stage cultivators, and these pills are in high demand. We really don't have that many left."

Lin Zui was taken aback. Thinking about it, it seemed to be true. He felt embarrassed to make things difficult for the other party. He originally wanted to use a large number of pills to quickly restore his cultivation to the fourth level of Qi Refining, and then find a place with abundant spiritual energy to cultivate in peace. But now it seemed that the pills could not be provided in sufficient quantities, so it would take a long time to restore his cultivation to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

After all, his current level four cultivation was just a facade. Once he engaged in combat, his true form would be revealed. Even with a large number of talismans, he really didn't dare to venture out recklessly.

"If that's the case, then forget it."

Lin Zui sighed, took out spirit stones, bought the dozen or so bottles of pills, and turned to leave.

However, before leaving, he still remembered to give a word of advice.

"From now on, if you have any pills for the Qi Refining stage, send them directly to [Ru Gui Pavilion]. I will take as many as I have."