Su Qing put away the straw-woven boxes.

After tidying up the room,

Su Qing nodded in satisfaction.

’The Synthesizer is taken care of. Now I need to plan my next choices. I have a feeling that special effects are much better than Evolution.’

’But I need Evolution effects right now, too.’

Su Qing looked at the Talents he had invested in and didn’t regret his choices.

The first step is always the hardest.

In fact, Su Qing was tempted to max out his Evolution Talent to one hundred percent.

He wanted to see if every synthesis would trigger Evolution. That would be unimaginably powerful.

’I still have a few Spirit Stones. They aren’t very useful to me right now.’

’Should I just spend them all on materials for synthesis?’

Su Qing mulled it over.

He glanced again at the Five Qi God Demon Technique in his Synthesizer panel.

’No, Cultivation has to be my main focus. No matter how high my Synthesis Level gets, it’s all useless if I can’t apply the results to myself. I need to finish cultivating the Five Qi God Demon Technique first.’

One Grand Circulation yields ten experience points. A Grand Circulation takes three hours, so that’s ten points every three hours.

Su Qing estimated the experience points he needed.

He still needed 1,810 experience points to reach the Perfection stage.

That meant he needed to perform 181 Grand Circulations.

Doing the math...

Even if he cultivated nonstop, without eating or drinking, it would take about 23 days.

In reality, it would probably take a full month.

’Based on my progress with the Five Qi God Demon Technique, and considering my Five Qi God Demon Body will be twenty times stronger when I reach Perfection... reaching that stage will probably cause a commotion.’

’I’ll have to leave Zhengxuan City before the final Grand Circulation.’

Zhengxuan City was being watched by Ou Mingjie, that Golden Core Cultivator who had undergone a ’mechanical Ascension.’ Su Qing didn’t dare expose himself in front of such High Tier Cultivators.

But Zhengxuan City was massive, so Su Qing had to buy a Flying Magical Artifact.

That way, he could fly out of Zhengxuan City quickly when the time came.

...

...

’Is this the place that sells Flying Magical Artifacts?’

Su Qing looked around at the various Flying Magical Artifacts on display. The Flying Skateboards were by far the best-sellers, the model most people were willing to try.

In contrast, almost no one was gathered around the high-end Flying Cars, like the one Xu Ningying owned.

"Sir, are you looking to purchase a Flying Magical Artifact?"

The speaker was a woman with a delicate, oval face and fair, flawless skin. She wore a matching two-piece outfit that resembled a suit, cinched at the waist with a sash bearing irregular, black, ink-like patterns. The attire looked sophisticated and high-end, elegantly accentuating her figure.

"Yes, I’d like to purchase a Flying Magical Artifact," Su Qing confirmed with a nod.

’I should have enough money. After all, you can use Spirit Stones to buy things in Zhengxuan City.’

"Of course, sir. The Flying Magical Artifacts are property of the Zhengxuan Sect. Only residents of Zhengxuan City may purchase the most basic models, and you must present a city ID to do so." The woman offered a gentle, graceful smile, her lips barely moving, exuding an air of refinement.

Su Qing handed over the ID that Xu Ningying had arranged for him.

’Looks like I owe Xu Ningying another favor.’

’To think you can’t even buy a Flying Magical Artifact without an ID.’

The woman took Su Qing’s ID. After a single glance, she immediately bowed respectfully to him. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I was not aware that Su Immortal himself was visiting. Please forgive my earlier rudeness."

Huh?

’The ID Xu Ningying gave me has a mark showing that I can cultivate?’

Su Qing took back his ID and examined it. He suspected that the character for "Grade C" on it was what had revealed his status.

’A, B, C...’

Su Qing realized it was a status ranking system.

"So with my clearance level, what kind of Flying Magical Artifacts can I purchase?"

The woman smiled. "Of course, you are permitted to purchase any magical artifact here. They are all available to you."

"What about this one?"

Su Qing pointed to a relatively small, single-seat vehicle. It looked like the front half of a miniature car, but without wheels.

"This is our ninth-generation Flying Magical Artifact from Zhengxuan City, the Shadowchaser series. It features a fully streamlined body. This model’s top speed can reach three hundred li per hour. It includes a Hybrid Power System, so you can charge it using either Spirit Stones or Spiritual Energy. On a full charge, it can operate for twenty-four hours straight..."

"..."

The woman rattled on, listing a long string of details about the artifact.

In truth, Su Qing just wanted something to get around in.

Three hundred li per hour was actually acceptable.

It was almost as fast as Xu Ningying’s Flying Magical Artifact.

"How much is it?"

"This magical artifact costs the equivalent of ten Spirit Stones."

Su Qing: "..."

’That’s my entire net worth.’

’Damn it.’

Su Qing complained internally.

He had exactly ten Spirit Stones.

"I’ll take it. It comes fully charged, right?" Su Qing asked the woman.

When the woman heard Su Qing agree to buy it, her eyes lit up with a smile.

"Yes, Immortal. All our magical artifacts come fully charged."

...

After the transaction was complete, Su Qing was completely broke.

After returning to Xu Ningying’s house,

Su Qing immediately began to cultivate.

’Zhengxuan City really is a great place.’

Su Qing had already released the Demonic Puppet he synthesized during his last mission with Xu Ningying.

After all, the Synthesizer had to be empty to create new items. And if he took the Demonic Puppet out here in the city? Who knew if that AI-like Ou Mingjie would detect it and decide to eliminate him.

Cultivation.

Su Qing went back into grinding mode.

In the limited time he had,

Su Qing had to grow as strong as possible.

However, Su Qing’s plans were a bit too optimistic.

Someone would inevitably interrupt his Cultivation.

「Five days later.」

—

Gathering Spirit Limit [Five Qi God Demon Technique +2: Great Success (540/3000)]

—

Outside Xu Ningying’s house.

Someone was persistently ringing the doorbell.

Extremely annoyed, Su Qing went to open the door.

A woman in a luxurious blue formal dress was standing outside, ringing the bell.

She looked vaguely familiar, but Su Qing couldn’t place her.

Su Qing opened the door and shot her a displeased look.

"Immortal Master Su."

The woman bowed respectfully to Su Qing. Her black hair was lustrous and looked very healthy, but she was just a mortal.

Su Qing frowned, displeased. No one liked having their Cultivation interrupted.

"You have one minute to talk to me. You’d better choose your words carefully."

The woman was taken aback by Su Qing’s intense aura.

She spoke quickly. "It’s like this. The descendants of the Immortal Masters of Zhengxuan City have invited us to a banquet. Since we are servants to Immortals, they see us as suitable candidates to win over. We stand to gain from it as well."

"By building connections with them, we can gain more advantages in Zhengxuan City."

With that, the woman took out an invitation woven from golden thread.

"This is for a banquet hosted by the Shangguan Family, one of the five great families of Zhengxuan City."

"I will take my leave now."

After taking the invitation, Su Qing glanced at the woman’s retreating back, then back at the invitation in his hand.

He closed the door to Xu Ningying’s house.

Su Qing finally recognized the woman. She was likely one of the maids attending the Third Prince of the Great Yu Dynasty. She was quite striking.

Walking back into Xu Ningying’s house, Su Qing examined the invitation.

The host was Shangguan Wuxi.

The invitee was Su Qing, and the location was listed as the Zhengxuan Restaurant.

The time was the fifteenth of next month.

That was 33 days from now.

None of that was the important part. The key detail was this: just for attending the banquet, he would receive one hundred Spirit Stones.

Spirit Stones.

What Su Qing lacked most right now were Spirit Stones.

Thinking about the purchasing power of Spirit Stones in Zhengxuan City, Su Qing felt tempted.

’I’ll see when the time comes.’

He set the invitation aside. All Su Qing wanted was to focus on his Cultivation; the Five Qi God Demon Technique was his top priority.

...