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

"It's alright, it's only natural; let's get down to business, where are the spirit herb seeds I requested?"

It's such a trivial matter, no need to dwell on it.

"Here, here, we've been waiting for you to come and collect them, senior. Senior, of the seventy-five kinds of herbs you requested, this old man has tried his best, but I've only managed to collect forty-nine of them. Many of them are already extinct, and I really couldn't get them. I hope you won't blame me, senior."

He was already covered in sweat as he spoke.

The rule is this: although the market protects these working people, if they offend the senior experts first, the market may not be on their side anymore.

"Alright, keep looking for me. Same as before: common ones, one spirit stone for three types; fine ones, two spirit stones for one type; rare ones that are almost extinct, thirty spirit stones for any you find."

"Rest assured, senior, this old man will do his best to serve you."

"Ah."

With a wave of his hand, all the boxes containing the seeds went into the storage bag at his waist, and at the same time, a pile of spirit stones arrived in front of the old shopkeeper.

The old man happily accepted it, and his face immediately broke into a wide grin.

She looked up, wanting to express her gratitude again, but Wang Li was nowhere to be seen.

The final stop: Star Pavilion.

The building has nine floors. This time, he didn't just go down to the bottom three floors, but went up to the fifth floor in one go.

The lower three levels are specifically for Qi Refining stage cultivators, while the upper levels are for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. As for the seventh level, it is only open to Core Formation stage cultivators. Although each level is smaller than the last, the higher the level, the more precious the items sold.

This demonstrates the profound foundation of the Star Pavilion and the Heavenly Star Sect.

It's definitely not comparable to Yellow Maple Valley.

Inside the fifth-floor hall, a noblewoman who was once breathtakingly beautiful and still retains her charm is idly trimming her delicate nails.

"Oh, a guest has arrived? Fellow Daoist, is there anything I can help you with?"

The lady rose, smiled sweetly, and her voice was clear and melodious, making one feel incredibly comfortable.

Upon first contact, Wang Li was genuinely startled: this woman actually possessed the cultivation of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and it seemed that she would break through to the late stage in just a few years.

"I wonder if there are any mid-level, intermediate-grade, or even high-level talismans for sale here?"

Previously, I was limited by my cultivation level, but now that I've reached the Foundation Establishment stage, of course I have to come up and see the good stuff here.

The most direct way to increase one's strength is to spend spirit stones and buy talismans.

Even being a powerful figure for just three minutes is better than being a lukewarm, helpless lamb to the slaughter. Besides, what he lacks right now is a nuclear weapon capable of a one-time explosion.

"Mid-level and mid-grade items are fine for you to buy, and the price isn't too high. But high-grade items are probably not for you, because even the most ordinary ones are comparable to a Core Formation senior's full power in one go, and the price is a bit steep. Do you have that many spirit stones? Also, do you need offensive, defensive, or other support items?"

"I need five mid-level fire-type attack talismans; and two mid-to-high-level ones, mainly attack and support types! As for qualifications, I wonder if this Youth-Preserving Pill, which can keep beauties young forever... is enough?"

For Wang Li, mid-to-low-level talismans are no longer a viable trump card, unless he has a large quantity to spare.

But rather than doing that, it's better to hit the target in one shot.

"A youth-preserving pill?"

Madam Lan's originally calm and smiling face suddenly revealed undisguised astonishment. After the alchemists from the Star Pavilion confirmed that the alchemy was correct, her expression turned into an uncontrollable, ecstatic joy.

"Ahem, fellow Daoist, you flatter me. Let's talk about the talismans you need."

First is the Eight Dragons Fire Talisman, a mid-level talisman, comparable to a mid-level spell unleashed at full power by a late-stage Foundation Establishment fire-type cultivator, priced at 240 spirit stones each. Next is the Golden Flame Talisman, a high-quality mid-level talisman crafted by a master talisman maker from the Heavenly Star Sect, comparable to a mid-level fire spell unleashed at full power by a pseudo-Core Formation fire-type cultivator, priced at 280 low-grade spirit stones each…”

"...Meteor Fire Talisman, a high-grade intermediate-level rare talisman, comparable to a mid-level spell cast by a Core Formation stage cultivator, 1300 low-grade spirit stones, and this is the only one in our shop. Golden Lock Talisman, a high-grade intermediate-level rare binding talisman, 1100 low-grade spirit stones, and this is also the only one in our shop..."

When these talismans were mentioned, the noblewoman would always glance at Wang Li, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, while looking at the box containing the Youth-Preserving Pill in his hand.

"Alright, then let's exchange this Youth Preservation Pill for a Meteor Flame Talisman plus two mid-grade fire-type talismans! What do you think, Madam?"

Wang Li smiled broadly behind the mask.

"Fellow Daoist is joking. A single Youth Preservation Pill is not worth that price."

Madam Lan's smile froze, but her mind was filled with filth.

"Hehe, for those who don't understand it, it's naturally not worth the price; but for those who do, it's priceless. The lady's beauty is breathtaking, but time is merciless and will gradually wither all beauty."

Sister Lan, Wang has you figured out this time.

"Hehehe... How could my little brother bear to bully me?"

The seductive arts were activated silently.

"Phew...did they figure out my real age?"

Wang Li felt a chill run down his spine.

However, he remained calm, as he had never intended to hide it from the other party.

As for this woman's seductive eyes?

"Ha ha……"

A sow can dance. Go ahead and perform for me, it's fine, I'll watch it all.

what's going on?

How can Wang Li remain unaffected?

There was no other way; to deal with this kind of woman who liked to play tricks, he had preemptively cast a timed illusion spell on himself: no matter how alluring the woman in front of him was, in his eyes, she was still someone from the industry…

Yes, that's why I used "thrilling" to describe it again and again.

To cover up this actively maintained illusion, the opponent would need to reach the level of a pseudo-core cultivator.

But it's quite obvious that this woman is far inferior.

"Friendly fellow Daoist, you have great composure."

"Where."

"Hmph, settled."

He spoke each word carefully, enunciating each one.

With the three talismans from the first high school and the second middle school in hand, Wang Li felt much more at ease.

Next:

"Madam Lan, are you still interested in the second Youth Preservation Pill?"

What do you mean?

"Fellow Daoist is joking. I already have one, why would I need a second one?"

"If I don't need it myself, I can just pass it on to someone else. That's a huge favor! Oh well, since Madam doesn't like it, I'll just take this one to the auction. What a pity, what a pity..."

"Wait. Four mid-level talismans, are you going to exchange them or not?"

What someone said is right: one may not need it oneself, but can give it to others as a favor. Madam Lan understood this perfectly.

"Fellow Daoist, it's not good to push the price down too much. Three mid-grade high-quality items + two mid-grade high-rare items! That's my bottom line!"

"Are you crazy?"

Why don't you just rob it?

"I'll trade it for the two I have left!"

Isn't it just one?

Why are there two?

"With your wealth, aren't you afraid of attracting unwanted attention?"

"Of course I'm afraid. So, if anything happens, I'll definitely smash all these things I just bought."

Even if it doesn't kill you, it'll still make you suffer.

Mrs. Lan: "..."

"Fellow Daoist, take care, and come again often."

That's just a polite way of putting it.

Yes, I will.

Someone was quite certain of this.

As soon as Wang Li left the Tianxing Sect Market, the first thing he did was destroy all the boxes that came with the shops, such as the boxes containing seeds in the herbal medicine shops; secondly, needless to say, he replaced all his equipment.

Then, he decisively drove off at maximum speed with the Wind Chaser Sword.

The market town is dangerous; it is not advisable to linger there.

……

The northwestern corner of the Taiyue Mountains.

More than a hundred miles north of this place lies the sphere of influence of the Tianxing Sect of the Yuanwu Kingdom, where the Tianxing Sect's market town and the Huangfeng Valley market town on the eastern edge of Taiyue Mountain present an east-west opposing pattern.

To the west lies Xizhou, the smallest prefecture in the Yue Kingdom.

More than three-quarters of the land is Gobi desert, and the rest is barren mountains and wastelands, all environments where ordinary people can hardly survive; only a few scattered oases dot this vast land.

Legend has it that Xizhou had a meager population of just over 100,000, which is why it was the only prefecture in the Yue Kingdom that the seven factions did not interfere with.

The Seven Schools completely looked down on that kind of thing.

Normally, establishing a cave dwelling in the barren northwest corner of the Taiyue Mountains would at least allow one to occupy Han Laomo's cave dwelling, which possesses the eye of the spiritual spring.

That's exactly what Wang Li did.

The first step was to create a fake: using the Twin-Eyed Rat to find the eye of the spiritual spring, they then built a simple fake cave at the foot of a mountain ten miles away.

The second step was to make it more real: have three iron-armed beasts dig an underground passage hundreds of feet long, starting from an ordinary wild animal cave in a mountain stream, leading directly to the cave where the eye of the spiritual spring is located.

The traces left behind were all caused by the beast's claws digging the hole. There was also a beast outside the passage that was stunned and remained in a daze. In addition, the passage was located dozens of feet underground, making it difficult even for a Core Formation stage cultivator's divine sense to penetrate deep into it.

This allows it to effectively evade the divine sense of cultivators.

The third step is to seal the openings: seal the holes that cause spiritual energy to leak out, so that the spiritual energy in this place is in a relatively closed environment.

They first blocked a mountain crevice that the Twin-Eyed Mouse had been crawling in and out of.

At first, Wang Li didn't think much of the mountain crevice; but when he looked down from high above, he was surprised to realize how coincidental the appearance of the crack in the mountain was.

It is more accurate to say that it was created by humans than that it was formed naturally.