「Main World.」

Zhu Ju put down the Visualization Image and closed his eyes, lost in thought.

Although they could no longer be crafted, each of the Sword Sect’s four halls’ Visualization Techniques included a legacy Method for forging a Magical Treasure.

Magical Treasures!

Some Dao Foundation Cultivators might not even have one.

And, as far as he knew, Innate Qi Refiners seemed unable to wield Magical Treasures—not even those at the Late-Stage Innate realm.

Only by using a special item called a Talisman Treasure could they unleash a fraction of a Magical Treasure’s power.

The True Men of the Magic World, whose strength was surely inferior to that of Late-Stage Innate Qi Refiners, were somehow able to wield Magical Treasures.

And...

In the Main World, refining a Magical Treasure required not only all sorts of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, but also a True Flame for tempering.

The Magic World, however, was completely different!

As long as one gathered the materials, it could be refined by using a Visualization Technique to make up for any missing Spirituality.

’If I could master the Magic World’s Method for wielding Magical Treasures, wouldn’t that mean that even during the Qi Refining Stage, I’d possess power on par with a Dao Foundation Cultivator?’

’Hmm...’

’First, I need to have a Magical Treasure!’

’It’s just wishful thinking, in the end.’

Shaking his head, Zhu Ju changed out of his Inner Sect Disciple attire, altered his appearance with a disguise, and headed for the Feifeng Mountain Marketplace.

The Marketplace was a tide of people.

Ning Ruxue’s Hundred Treasures Pavilion was now on the right track.

Contrary to what Zhu Ju had predicted, with Tribulation Cultivators running rampant and everyone fearing for their safety, the prices of all sorts of goods had skyrocketed last year.

As a result, the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, which had been on the verge of collapse, made a huge profit.

Seizing this breathing room, Ning Ruxue hustled and actually managed to open up several new supply channels.

Talismans, Elixirs, Magical Artifacts...

Although they were all Low-Tier products, the profit margins were high enough for the business to stay afloat.

In hindsight, the investment of several thousand Spirit Stones had been the right decision.

Xiao Bufan had often regretted not investing as well; otherwise, he’d be raking in money hand over fist by now.

Such is life.

It’s not always the most knowledgeable or experienced person who makes the right call; circumstances and the broader situation can change everything.

Pausing for a moment before the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Zhu Ju continued forward.

Treasure Pavilion.

Elder Mo shuffled out unsteadily.

"Friend."

"You’re here again."

As a regular customer here, Zhu Ju had a special token and could be identified without revealing his true face.

"Mm."

Zhu Ju nodded and got straight to the point.

"I’m looking for some treasures that can help me escape a pursuit. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Oh!" Elder Mo raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and replied, "As for Talismans, there are Earth Escape Talismans and Flying Talismans, both of which can help you evade pursuit from an Innate Qi Refiner. There’s also Fake Death Medicine to feign your demise, or a Life-Taking Pill that can cause the user’s Cultivation to skyrocket for a short time..."

"There are even more Magical Artifacts for concealment, ambushes, speed enhancement, and so on. It all depends on how powerful the enemy you’re facing is."

If it were a Dao Foundation Cultivator, none of those methods would be of any use.

"They won’t be too powerful," Zhu Ju said slowly.

"I’m just worried they’ll set up an ambush to surround and kill me. Their tactics are unpredictable. If they prepare an Array in advance, would any of these items still work?"

A Magic Altar, after all, was also a type of Array.

"An Array?" Elder Mo shook his head.

"If you’re dealing with an Array, you should buy a Forbidden-Breaking Talisman."

"The art of Arrays involves harnessing Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi and Earth Vein Power. Once you’re trapped inside, ordinary methods are unlikely to work."

"A Forbidden-Breaking Talisman?" Zhu Ju’s interest was piqued.

"It can break an Array?"

"Of course," Elder Mo nodded.

"Powerful as they are, Arrays must be in harmony with the seasons, the terrain, and the environment. If you disrupt their configuration, an Array will collapse on its own. Even if it doesn’t collapse completely, you can interfere with its operation enough to create a chance to escape."

"Of course..."

He added with a smile, "That’s how it is for Low-Tier Arrays. But with something like a Tier Two Array, the Array Patterns are perfectly self-contained and extremely difficult to influence externally. If the Main Array Master is powerful enough, even a Dao Foundation Cultivator would struggle to escape after being trapped."

As he spoke, he gestured outside toward Feifeng Mountain.

"The Marketplace and the three branch residences of the Bright Void Sect are all protected by Tier Two Arrays. That’s why they don’t have to fear Dao Foundation Tribulation Cultivators."

"The art of Arrays is profound and extraordinary." After explaining the power and unique aspects of Arrays, Elder Mo sighed softly.

"If you ever encounter an Array Master, you’d best be careful. Try your utmost not to get caught in one of their Arrays."

"I understand," Zhu Ju said, nodding.

"How much for a Forbidden-Breaking Talisman?"

"The most basic Forbidden-Breaking Talisman is one hundred Spirit Stones. One that can break a Tier One Low Grade Array costs five hundred Spirit Stones," Elder Mo stated.

"The next level up is a thousand Spirit Stones!"

"A Forbidden-Breaking Talisman can only be used once; it’s useless after that."

"That expensive?" Zhu Ju’s expression soured.

A low-grade Forbidden-Breaking Talisman would only work on a crudely formed Array, yet it still cost one hundred Spirit Stones.

In other words, if he really wanted to buy a useful Forbidden-Breaking Talisman, he’d have to pay at least five hundred Spirit Stones.

A Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact only cost about that much.

The key thing was,

the Forbidden-Breaking Talisman was a one-time use item, worthless after a single activation.

"There’s nothing to be done about it," Elder Mo said with a faint smile.

"That’s just the market price."

"Aren’t there any reusable Array-Breaking Spiritual Artifacts?" Zhu Ju asked curiously.

"They exist, but items like that are as expensive as a Magical Treasure, if not more so," Elder Mo said.

"Arrays are the foundation of a Sect’s legacy!"

"And we’re just talking about Tier One Arrays. Forbidden-Breaking Talismans for Tier Two Arrays are practically unobtainable, regardless of price."

"If you want to destroy a Sect, this kind of item is indispensable. They are strategic weapons used when Major Immortal Sects go to war with one another."

It was only natural for something so important to be outrageously expensive.

"Sigh!"

Zhu Ju sighed softly.

"I’ll take one of the five-hundred-Spirit-Stone Forbidden-Breaking Talismans. Also... how much are the Flying Talismans?"

He already had an Earth Escape Talisman on him, so there was no need to buy another. A Flying Talisman would be more suitable for various environments.

"Two hundred Spirit Stones. The Flying Talisman isn’t a one-time use item, but it can fly a maximum distance of three hundred li."

"So expensive!" Zhu Ju took a deep breath.

"It makes me want to become a Talisman Maker."

"It’s not that simple," Elder Mo shook his head.

"A Spirit Talisman like the Flying Talisman takes a Tier One High Grade Talisman Maker a whole month to inscribe a single one."

"One is enough," Zhu Ju said.

"That’s two hundred Spirit Stones!"

"You can’t calculate it like that," Elder Mo explained.

"Inscribing Spirit Talismans requires all sorts of consumable materials, which are part of the cost. There’s also a high failure rate. Not to mention, learning Talisman Making in the first place requires a massive investment of resources. Two hundred Spirit Stones isn’t really that expensive."

Zhu Ju could only scoff at this.

"Is there anything else you need?" Elder Mo asked.

"I did originally," he said, rummaging through his Qiankun Bag.

"But now..."

"My purse feels a little light."

*

*

*

「Magic World.」

Two paper horses trod on the air, pulling a black carriage as they drifted silently through the night sky.

The night was pitch-black.

The carriage came to a stop above a mountain hollow.

"Sect Leader."

Jiang Qiu lifted the carriage curtain and spoke.

"The Spider Cave is below."

"Then let’s go down."

Zhu Ju gave a nod. The carriage slowly descended, and three figures in black, hooded robes stepped out.

Ahead of them was a dark cave that slanted deep into the earth.

The entrance was deserted.

"Sect Leader."

Seeing the confusion on Zhu Ju’s face, Jiang Qiu explained:

"The Spider Cave is located underground and is connected by numerous tunnels. There are seven main entrances, and this is one of them. It’s said there are also many hidden passages for coming and going, which helps to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"Because there are so many entrances and exits, and because the management doesn’t care about the presence of Evil Dao Loose Cultivators, no one stands guard."

"Of course,"

he added solemnly, "once you’re inside the Spider Cave, no one is allowed to fight or cast Magic. That’s the rule."

"That’s right," Xiao Meng nodded.

"The Spider Cave is where Tianzui City’s various precious items are traded, second only to the Demon Catchers’ Demon Workshop."

"The key difference is..."

"The Demon Workshop is the territory of the Demon Exorcism Hall, while the Spider Cave is where all sorts of Loose Cultivators gather, so you can enter with a hidden identity."

"The downside is that as long as you don’t cause trouble inside the Spider Cave, no one cares what you do, which makes it easy to attract the attention of Evil Cultivators."

As they spoke, the three of them entered the cave.

The tunnel was pitch-black. A soft RUSTLING filled the air, and from time to time, spiders of all kinds could be seen crawling along the stone walls.

Because he was severely injured, the Sharp Gold Hall’s Hall Master, Kan Feichen, had not come on this trip.

Xiao Meng and Jiang Qiu accompanied Zhu Ju.

"The master of the Spider Cave is a Second Decline True Man who practices the Celestial Spider Observation Techniique. She herself often appears in the form of a spider."

"She..."

"is also known as the Mother of Ten Thousand Spiders."

Xiao Meng whispered, "Many of the spiders in these caves are her descendants, so you absolutely must not harm them."

Hm?

Zhu Ju raised an eyebrow.

A Cultivator who, in her right mind, thought of herself as a spider and even actively bore offspring.

The world was truly full of wonders.

The trio walked for some time before a light gradually appeared ahead, and the faint din of a crowd reached them.

At the end of the path, they turned a corner.

A spacious stone grotto came into view.

The grotto’s ceiling was covered in cobwebs, with countless spiders hanging upside down. Figures moved about below, weaving between scattered market stalls.

Most of the people here were dressed just like Zhu Ju and his companions, with their heads and faces covered to conceal their identities and auras.

Continuing forward,

they came upon a series of stone chambers of various sizes.

Wooden plaques hung at the entrance to each chamber, listing various goods for sale or wanted for purchase. Merchants waited within.

"Selling Jiao Blood and hides from True Man-level pythons, buying Heart-Dropping Marrow..."

"Selling Vengeful Spirits in bulk, buying Soul Capturing Secret Techniques..."

"Demon Beast Flesh..."

"Hm?"

Zhu Ju stopped at one of the stone chambers and went inside, with Xiao Meng and Jiang Qiu hurrying to follow.

Inside the stone chamber sat a strange, hat-wearing man.

He was strange because, while he was nothing but skin and bones, he wore an enormous hat.

The heavy hat weighed him down so much that he couldn’t straighten his back.

"Customer."

Hearing them, the strange man asked,

"Are you here to buy meat mushrooms?"

"One jin for one tael of gold. My meat mushrooms are comparable to high-grade Demon flesh, and long-term consumption has a Body Tempering effect."

As he spoke, he pushed forward a few plump mushrooms.

"Interesting."

Zhu Ju’s eyes glinted.

"A True Man selling his own flesh?"

This strange man was a Demon True Man. His true form was a giant Mushroom Spirit, and the mushrooms he was selling were parts of his own ’Physical Body’.

A Mushroom Spirit was different from other Demons.

This type of creature was enormous; in his past life on Earth, the largest living organism had been a mushroom colony the size of a mountain.

You could say that as long as it was alive, it grew bigger every day.

"Heh heh..." the strange man chuckled lowly.

"As long as the price is right, I’d even sell my own life, let alone flesh that just keeps growing back."

"Give me two hundred jin of meat mushrooms," Zhu Ju said.

"Also, do you have any Illusory Dust Sand?"

"I do," the strange man looked up.

"Five thousand Spirit Jade!"

"I’ll take it." Zhu Ju gestured to his companions behind him.

Illusory Dust Sand was an essential material for refining the Dust Banner.

Xiao Meng hesitated for a moment before obediently taking out five thousand Spirit Jade in exchange for a portion of Illusory Dust Sand.

After stowing their new items, the three continued to wander through the Residential Spider Cave.

Soon, it was a Thunder Spirit Crystal for ten thousand Spirit Jade per tael, a piece of Yang Marrow for fifty thousand Spirit Jade, a chi of Invisible Concealing Ore for seventy thousand Spirit Jade...

A massive amount of Spirit Jade was spent, one purchase after another.