I Live Forever With My Proficiency

Chapter 21: The Earth-Shattering Sound

"Boom~"

A deafening sound reverberated.

Chen Ping, who was sleeping, suddenly turned over and drew his long sword with a clang. He cautiously looked around, alert and ready.

However, there was nothing unusual inside the house.

"What happened?"

Chen Ping quickly put on his clothes and opened the door to look outside.

At this time, it was still dark, with a hazy grayness.

But he could still vaguely see many neighbors across the street standing in their yards, looking towards the east of the city.

Outside the eastern part of the city was an endless forest.

"It seems that the loud noise just now wasn't an illusion."

Chen Ping inexplicably felt a sense of unease. He walked out of the yard and saw a fellow Daoist from across the street also standing in his yard. Chen Ping clasped his hands and asked, "Fellow Daoist, what happened?"

The cultivator shook his head, furrowing his brows as he stared at the east, not even looking at Chen Ping as he replied, "I don't know, but that direction leads to the depths of the endless forest. It's probably not a good sign."

The depths of the endless forest?

Loud noise?

Suddenly, Chen Ping remembered what Ding Liu had described. Several months ago, they had encountered a Rank Two Demonic Beast that had turned evil in that area.

Could it be related to the battle between the evil Demonic Beasts?

What exactly was in the depths of the endless forest?

Chen Ping turned his head and glanced at his neighbor Yu Qingyi's house. The door was still tightly closed.

Should I go and ask He Xianxiang?

Thinking of this, Chen Ping didn't hesitate and walked towards He Xianxiang's house in the twilight.

The two houses were not far apart, and with many neighbors in their yards at the moment, there was no danger even at night.

When he arrived at He Xianxiang's house, he saw that He Xianxiang was already standing in the yard.

"Senior He, what exactly happened over there?" Chen Ping got straight to the point.

He Xianxiang glanced at Chen Ping and shook his head. "Who knows?"

"That direction leads to the endless forest. Judging from the sound, it's quite far away, probably in the core area of the forest. That place is rarely visited by people, and even us Qi Refining cultivators would face certain death if we went there. Who knows what happened?"

Chen Ping thought for a moment and said, "I heard that people from the Ning Mansion had encountered an evil Rank Two Demonic Beast over there. Could it be related?"

"An evil Demonic Beast?" He Xianxiang paused.

After pondering for a while, he said, "Evil creatures like that usually appear and disappear mysteriously, killing without a trace. It's unlikely that they would cause such a commotion."

He Xianxiang paused for a moment, then gave Chen Ping a disdainful look and said, "This world is more complex than what you and I know. No one can grasp the whole picture. Look at you, so concerned about your own life. With Azure Cloud Sect backing us up, you don't need to worry about things outside the city. It won't affect you."

If you cherish your life so much, why bother cultivating immortality?

He Xianxiang chuckled inwardly.

"That's true, that's true." Chen Ping smiled.

He Xianxiang was right. If something major happened, with Azure Cloud Sect's support, it wouldn't immediately affect the city.

But he still needed to pay attention to this matter. In case there was unavoidable danger, he needed to be ready to leave in time.

Without Cloud Link City, he could always find another city like Lianyu City or Lianxue City.

Chen Ping silently noted this down.

When Chen Ping returned home, it was already getting brighter outside, so he didn't go back to sleep. Instead, he practiced the Evergreen Technique for a while before heading to the eastern market.

This time, he went early and managed to secure an excellent spot to set up his stall and sell talisman skins.

During his "seclusion" period, he had made a total of 127 talisman skins.

All of them were of excellent quality.

His proficiency in talisman skins was now at "Talisman Skins (Proficient): 27/1000". He evaluated the talisman skins he made at this level and concluded that even Master Qi's talisman skins could only be considered average.

To say they were the best talisman skins in Cloud Link City would not be an exaggeration.

But he found that it was becoming increasingly difficult to further improve his proficiency in talisman skins.

Or rather, he could continue practicing making talisman skins, but his proficiency was increasing at a very slow rate.

Chen Ping speculated that this might be related to the quality of the animal skins. The skins of ordinary wild beasts couldn't compare to those of Rank One Demonic Beasts, and the skins of Rank One Demonic Beasts were far inferior to those of Rank Two Demonic Beasts.

Of course, this was just his speculation and had not been verified.

For him at the moment, there was no need to make talisman skins from Rank Two Demonic Beasts.

Or rather, the cultivators in Cloud Link City who drew talismans didn't have the ability to use high-level talisman scripts that required Rank Two Demonic Beast talisman skins.

Rank Two Demonic Beast fur skins have no market.

Next, increase the conversion rate from raw fur skins to finished products to make them more valuable.

"."

"Fellow Daoist, how do you sell fur skins?"

"8 spirit stones for one, no selling individually, no accepting gold or silver."

"."

These two sentences were the most frequently heard and spoken by him all morning.

After a busy morning, he sold 16 fur skins, earning two spirit stones, which was considered acceptable.

While selling his goods, he noticed that the topic of discussion among everyone today was unusually focused.

It was all about the loud noise in the early morning.

Some speculated if it was a battle between the King of Demonic Beasts, and they worried if the Demonic Beasts would soon come to slaughter the city.

Some speculated if it was a great battle between the Sons of Fortune of various major sects, fighting over some great opportunity.

Some speculated if it was the work of demonic cultivators.

In short, there were all kinds of speculations.

But they were all just speculations.

No one knew what had actually happened.

Chen Ping actively participated in the idle chatter among the stall owners, not for gossip, but to create the illusion that he was not alone. After the experience of being robbed on the road last time, he was more cautious this time.

At the same time, he occasionally observed whether he was being targeted.

Only by learning from past mistakes can one make progress.

If one falls into the same ditch twice, then they're screwed.

In the afternoon, Chen Ping continued to set up his stall.

He didn't waste time. When there were no customers, he sat cross-legged and cultivated the Evergreen Technique, not neglecting his sales.

Many people in the market did the same, so this phenomenon was not strange.

It didn't attract attention either.

What surprised him was that the young cultivator who bought fur skins last time appeared again.

And it was obvious that he had been around recently, because when the young cultivator appeared, the stall owner made a teasing remark, "Fellow Daoist, here for some excellent fur skins again?"

The young Fellow Daoist just smiled.

Then he followed a standard process: casually looking around - stunned - pleasantly surprised - looking up at Chen Ping - hurriedly asking for the price.

"Did Fellow Daoist make these fur skins yourself?" the young cultivator couldn't help but ask.

In the market, there was actually a rule that the source of goods should not be questioned.

Whether it was obtained through robbery, theft, or openly confiscated, most of these goods would circulate in the eastern market.

Asking about the source was actually a taboo.

But the young cultivator couldn't help but ask.

These days, he occasionally bought some better fur skins, but they were far inferior to the ones in front of him. Only the batch he bought a month and a half ago could compare.

Chen Ping smiled kindly.

"How could I, at the first level of Qi Refining, have such ability? These fur skins were obtained from a master. I'm just making a small profit by selling them. It's all hard work, not easy."

The young Fellow Daoist nodded.

"No wonder."

The master's fur skins were not about quantity but quality, so the intervals between batches were long.

It was reasonable for multiple stall owners to obtain the same goods from the master.

Without much conversation, the young cultivator quickly paid and went to find another stall owner with excellent fur skins.

Since the master's batch of fur skins had already been circulated, it was very likely that other stall owners had obtained the same goods.

He had to find them in time and buy them.

He couldn't let others buy them first.

Sure enough.

He quickly found them, but this stall owner was a bit effeminate, with a scruffy appearance and an ugly face. He even twisted his pinky finger while speaking. He endured the discomfort and bought the fur skins, then decisively walked away.

Then he luckily found another one.

He returned with a full load soon.

On the other hand, Chen Ping also returned with a full load.

He sold all 127 fur skins, with 24 sold to independent cultivators and the rest sold to the young cultivator.

Total income: 15 Low Grade spirit stones.

This time, Chen Ping didn't rush home. Instead, he wandered around the market, hoping to find some suitable ancient books.

Unfortunately, after searching for half a day, he found nothing.

He could only return disappointed.

(End of this chapter)