A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

The implication is self-evident.

"If you ask me, with so many good things, I'd like to pack them all up and take them with me!"

If I were to actually produce a second thousand-year-old spiritual material, wouldn't the Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed in this market be eyeing me? Would I still have a chance to escape safely then?

Don't make trouble.

"Keep the Hades Shield for me. I'll definitely have enough spirit stones after I return from this Blood Forbidden Trial. I'll come back then."

He decisively packed his things and left without lingering for a moment.

Choosing the southwest gate, he quickly left the no-fly zone of the market. After scanning with his divine sense to confirm that no one was behind him, he immediately rode the Wind Chaser Sword and flew away from the place at high speed.

Flight direction: Tianque Fortress.

However, after flying for only a short while, he took off all the clothes, cloak, mask and other items he could remove and burned them all. At the same time, he changed into one of the other sets of different styles that he had prepared earlier, and also changed his flight direction.

Someone has arrived at Qingxu Gate Market.

Chapter 18 Youth-Preserving Pill

With the fragment of that magical artifact that could isolate spiritual energy fluctuations and conceal the strange phenomena of the small bottle, Wang Li could ensure that the small bottle functioned normally even at night, allowing him to travel at full speed.

This significantly increased their travel speed.

However, Wang Li, who generally kept a low profile, never expected the dangers that awaited him on his journey to Qingxumen Market.

After several days of travel and refining the Youth-Preserving Pills in the Crimson Sun Furnace, the semi-finished pills finally became true Youth-Preserving Pills, and most of them were of superior quality.

Actually, refining this stuff isn't too difficult; it's all about practice makes perfect.

At first, three were damaged, but after finding the right feel and memorizing it, there were no more losses. Fifteen finished products were produced one after another, with the last twelve being top-quality pieces.

When the Qingxu Gate Market opens, an auction will be held between the cultivators of Jiang Kingdom and the market.

"A Youth-Preserving Pill, one, a top-grade pill. This is a rare item from the Joyful Union Sect, capable of granting eternal youth. It's extremely rare to find on the market now. Those of you with Daoist partners, those seeking a lover and wishing to win her favor, or those who desire to maintain their unparalleled beauty, don't miss out!"

Starting bid: 200 spirit stones!

Each bid increment must be at least ten spirit stones!

The copper plate struck, its sound echoing far and wide, signaling the imminent outbreak of a price war.

"A youth-preserving elixir? A way to stay young forever?"

The eyes of the group of female cultivators lit up.

"Could it win a smile from the beauty?"

Some male cultivators also had the same idea.

"Hmph, this mere external cultivation artifact dares to offer such an exorbitant starting price. This thing will probably be the first item to fail to sell today, right?"

A burly man with a thick beard sneered.

Its sound was very discordant.

"Indeed, how can we cultivators let such external things delay our cultivation?... Two hundred spirit stones!"

The person who answered the question was upright and serious.

"Well said! This is what cultivators like us should do!"

Wait, isn't something wrong?

Hmm, two hundred spirit stones...

Hmm? Two hundred spirit stones?

"Cough cough cough..."

After realizing what had happened, many people choked and started coughing.

"Everyone, what this fellow Daoist said is quite right. It's not easy for you to save up spirit stones all year round. I think we should save them to compete for magical artifacts and spiritual herbs later. We cultivators pursue the path of immortality... Three hundred spirit stones!"

"Ha, after hearing your nonsense, I almost wavered: four hundred and fifty spirit stones!"

"520 spirit stones. I am determined to get this item. I hope everyone will give me the honor."

The person who said this was gritting their teeth and squeezing out each word through gritted teeth.

His appearance was prematurely aged, so he wasn't interested in any youth-preserving pills; beauty pills would be more appealing. However, his rather attractive Daoist companion's hopeful gaze shifted back and forth between the youth-preserving pills and his round face. This left him no choice but to buy them.

Are we still not going to get into the double bed?

"Five hundred and fifty spirit stones! So what if you have a cultivation partner?"

That's truly remarkable.

So hurry up and buy this item to try and seduce a female cultivator of the same level!

"Even a lone wolf dares to contend?"

"Tch, a bunch of stinky men dare to compete with us?"

The male cultivators' actions were just minor skirmishes. After a flurry of excited cries of "I want it, I want it, I want it too!" from the female cultivators, the real battle began.

Don't doubt the amount of spirit stones these rich women have in their pockets.

"Six hundred and fifty."

"Seven hundred..."

"Nine hundred..."

Each time the auctioneer's gavel was about to fall three times, a large number of female cultivators and quite a few male cultivators would raise the price, showing an exceptionally strong desire for this small Youth Preservation Pill.

"One thousand and two!"

"1200 spirit stones in three transactions, sold!"

The gong sounded, and mournful sighs of regret mingled with excited cheers, signaling the end of the matter.

When the time came to reap the rewards, after deducting the 10% auction commission, Wang Li netted 1,080 low-grade spirit stones from the first Youth Preservation Pill, and 990 low-grade spirit stones from the second.

The value exceeded his initial expectations.

"This is troublesome!"

He would have been content with earning three or four hundred spirit stones per stone, as seven or eight hundred spirit stones would have been enough for him to select a top-tier magic weapon and leave quietly.

But man proposes, God disposes; who knew this thing would be so popular?

The more than two thousand spirit stones have clearly aroused the interest of many people.

Sure enough, when he took his share of the spirit stones from an old man while wearing gloves, he felt that the old man's eyes were strange; after leaving the auction house with the bag of spirit stones, he felt that there was a divine sense sweeping over him, as if it was protecting and taking care of him in secret.

"His divine sense is so subtle, is he at the Foundation Establishment stage? But since I can vaguely sense it, he should be a newly promoted early Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

Realizing this, Wang Li was truly terrified.

Instead, he decisively entered the Baibaozhai, run by the group of shady old men from the Qingxu Sect.

"Shopkeeper, do you sell any talismans here?"

Since we can't leave the market with these spirit stones, we might as well spend them.

So, he spent a lot of money to select over a hundred low- to mid-level attack talismans, some pills suitable for the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, a decent top-level defensive magic weapon called the Meteorite Iron Shield, and two low- to mid-level talismans, one for attack and one for defense, using up most of the spirit stones he had just acquired.

As expected, he vaguely sensed that as he bought a large number of talismans and magical artifacts that were of little use to the Foundation Establishment stage, the divine sense that was staring at him slowly withdrew.

While secretly relieved, he also made a note of Qingxu Sect in his notebook.

While mid-level talismans are still usable now, they are simply not enough for the Foundation Establishment stage; buying pills for the Qi Refining stage is an even greater disgrace, and this is a considerable loss to be exacted.

But when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

High-level talismans are already the most commonly used talismans for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. If you buy a large quantity, it's hard to guarantee that people won't be tempted.

It's not as deceptive as a mid-level talisman.

Anyway, throwing out four or five mid-level attack talismans together isn't much less lethal than throwing out a single high-level talisman.

You can tell from the price.

Beginner-level talisman: worth one or two spirit stones.

Basic to intermediate level talismans: costing between six and ten spirit stones, depending on their specific purpose. The Vajra Talisman is one of the more expensive metal-attribute talismans, costing eight or nine spirit stones to purchase.

Basic and advanced talismans: costing between thirty and forty spirit stones, with those that increase flight speed being the most expensive, followed by those with different attributes, and defensive talismans generally being more popular than offensive ones.

Intermediate-level beginner talismans: You might only have a chance with a hundred or so spirit stones, and even then, they're often priceless. This is because while talisman-making masters are rare, intermediate-level talismans are uncommon. They're generally controlled by Core Formation cultivators and those in the mid-to-late Foundation Establishment stages, and rarely circulate to Qi Refining cultivators.

However, Foundation Establishment cultivators usually wouldn't kill someone to steal a treasure just for such a talisman.

Because in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, if you push someone too far, and they unleash a devastating attack—especially one combined with a dozen mid-level talismans—it won't be pleasant. In the mid-to-late stages of Foundation Establishment, bullying juniors would be beneath one's dignity. The cultivation world of Yue Kingdom hasn't reached that level of chaos yet.

"This trip was a huge loss."

He clearly made a net profit of over two thousand spirit stones, but in the end, he only took a hundred spirit stones and some useless items with him when he ran away.

It's not just about having the ability, but also about lacking the ability.

If he were in the Foundation Establishment stage, there wouldn't be so much trouble; if he were in the Core Formation stage, he would receive even more special treatment; if he were in the Nascent Soul stage, even the patriarch of the Qingxu Sect would have to come here to greet him personally.

"Get stronger, get stronger, get stronger!"

My resolve to seek the truth has quietly strengthened!

After leaving the market, he hadn't flown far when he stripped off everything that needed to be stripped off and burned everything that needed to be burned, including the storage bag that the auction house had given him. At the same time, he quickly replaced everything that needed to be replaced.

What Wang Li didn't know was that among the Foundation Establishment cultivators entering from Jiang Kingdom, there were truly shameless ones. It was precisely because he burned the storage bag that this person had tampered with that he narrowly escaped disaster.

The third stop: Huadaowu.

Huadaowu is not too far from Cheqi Kingdom to the east and Zijin Kingdom to the south. A journey across borders can be completed in a day by piloting a flying magical artifact. The market is located at the junction of the three kingdoms.

However, the cultivation world of Yue Kingdom is not friendly with the cultivation world of Zijin Kingdom, which is also a medium-sized country, so Huadaowu can hardly reap any benefits from this.

Just like Huangfeng Valley in Jianzhou, to the north is Yuanwu Kingdom, a medium-sized country with which it has a relatively good relationship. Across Jingzhou in the northwest corner are Dongyu Kingdom and Luosha Kingdom, which is adjacent to Dongyu. To the west is Fengdu Kingdom, a large country dominated by the righteous path. However, Huangfeng Valley only dares to open its markets to Yuanwu Kingdom and does not dare to relax its restrictions on Fengdu Kingdom in the slightest.

After all, which of the major sects in the righteous Fengdu Kingdom, such as Tianji Sect, Taizhen Sect, and Haoran Pavilion, doesn't have more than seven Nascent Soul cultivators in charge? Moreover, they are all top-tier cultivation sects in Tiannan with at least three old monsters in the mid-Nascent Soul stage as their foundation!

The combined strength of one family is equivalent to the total strength of the seven families of Yue.

Once the door is opened, will the interests of Yue belong to the seven factions, or will they be ceded to these guests from afar? Even if it's just a share, it's still cutting into the flesh of the seven families!