Staying In The World Of Cultivation

Chapter 3: The Great Dao, Diverse Paths Leading to the Same Destination

In the world of cultivation, cultivators, in addition to cultivating diligently, also engage in various side businesses.

All these side businesses are often related to the four skills of pill refining, talisman crafting, artifact forging, and formation arrays.

Pill refining can ruin one's life, and formation arrays can exhaust three generations. These two skills are not worth considering.

Even the cultivation families cannot afford to raise an Alchemist.

As for formation array masters, it's even more difficult. Not only do they require resources, but they also need guidance from experts and a complete inheritance.

The path of artifact refining is not difficult to enter, but the challenge lies in breaking through the industry barriers.

Every artifact refining shop cultivates its own apprentices, making it impossible for outsiders to get involved.

The talisman crafting industry is not bad. The investment is small, and the returns are quick.

But the threshold for this industry is low, and there are too many talisman masters among Independent Cultivators. It's really chaotic.

He even has a book called "Rank One Talisman Explanation," which indicates that the previous owner also had dreams of becoming a talisman master.

Perhaps he didn't have much talent in that area, as there are no memories related to it.

Oh, there's also the path of puppetry.

This path is not worth considering either. Not only is the threshold high, but it's also a wasteful livelihood.

Now it seems that it's not so easy to be a carefree player in life.

After thinking it over, the path of talismans seems most suitable for him.

Chaotic or not, at least the threshold is low.

Around noon, Su Fan found an inn.

He paid twenty silver coins for a room and put on a black cloak with a hood.

He covered himself tightly and then walked out of the inn.

There were many cultivators dressed like this in the market, all of them people who had stirred up trouble and were afraid of being recognized by their enemies.

Su Fan wandered around the market for a few laps before entering a shop.

There weren't many people in the shop. The shopkeeper sat behind the counter and glanced up, showing no intention of acknowledging him.

A young female cultivator next to him smiled and walked up.

"Fellow Daoist, welcome to our shop."

The girl was around fifteen or sixteen years old, at the first level of Qi Refining, wearing a light blue Daoist robe.

Her face had light makeup, and she had a beautiful and gentle appearance, neither delicate nor coquettish. Her lively eyes seemed to be able to speak.

Her smile was like a gentle breeze, giving off a natural sense of closeness.

Su Fan nodded and said, "Do you accept storage bags?"

The female cultivator nodded with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist, please come this way..."

After a while, Su Fan walked out of the shop.

He now had thirty-two spirit stones in his arms.

If it were a new storage bag, it would cost fifty spirit stones in the shop. But if it was a recycled one, it would only be worth thirty spirit stones, and they might not even buy it.

Su Fan knew very well that if he refurbished the storage bag and put it on display in the shop, he could sell it for fifty spirit stones.

But what difference would it make? The price would be the same in other places, and it would be even lower in larger shops.

If he went to the Independent Cultivator stall, perhaps he could sell one or two spirit stones more, but he really didn't dare to go.

In the eyes of most Independent Cultivators, thirty spirit stones were a huge sum of money.

The person who had spirit stones was still a weakling. You expected that group of desperados to let you off?

There was no way, weakness was the original sin.

In order to sell a few more spirit stones, Su Fan and the female cultivator tangled for a while.

Fortunately, the girl was good. She spoke well for him to the shopkeeper and gave him two extra spirit stones.

She even warmly sent Su Fan to the door, waving goodbye with a smile.

Even when he had walked far away, he still thought about the girl's lively eyes, as clear as a pool of water.

After selling the storage bag, Su Fan came to the "Myriad Treasures Tower".

This was the largest shop in the Little Sun Market, and it was said that they had branches in various states of the Western Wasteland.

The goods in the shop were a bit more expensive than outside, but the quality was definitely the best.

For things that could save his life, of course, he couldn't be sloppy.

The talismans here were indeed very expensive.

Five Rank One Middle Grade talismans cost him twenty-eight spirit stones.

One powerful attack talisman, the "Golden Blade Talisman," and two "Flash Talismans" that he planned to use sneakily.

There were also two defensive talismans with strong defense, the "Golden Shield Talisman" and the "Golden Armor Talisman".

Just the "Golden Armor Talisman" alone cost ten spirit stones.

It made Su Fan heartbroken, his heart was bleeding.

Fortunately, the talismans from the Myriad Treasures Tower had their own seals.

Even if he was tight on money one day and wanted to sell them for spirit stones, he wouldn't lose money.

Back at the inn, Su Fan took off his black cloak and then went back to the market.

With a few talismans tucked into his chest, Su Fan felt an unprecedented relaxation, and his posture straightened up a lot.

He walked leisurely in the market with his hands behind his back.

At this moment, he smelled a faint fragrance.

Turning his head, he saw a young female cultivator standing by the roadside.

The female cultivator was wearing a light yellow robe, and her appearance was above average.

But amidst her cold temperament, there was a sense of purity.

Her eyes were charming, serene like autumn water, and as clear as cold jade without a speck of dust.

The female cultivator glanced lightly at Su Fan and then turned and walked into the shop behind her.

As she entered the door, she turned back and looked back.

In her clear eyes, amidst the rippling waves, there was an overflowing charm.

Su Fan was dumbfounded. Who could resist such purity and desire?

Looking up, he saw that the name of the shop was "Misty Rain Pavilion".

After a long while, he finally reacted. So it turned out to be a female bodhisattva.

The brothels in the cultivation world were all so transcendent and ethereal.

Su Fan smiled bitterly and turned to leave.

The demonic sect's "Hehuan Path" and the immortal sect's "Harmony Dao Integration" were both orthodox lineages with a long heritage.

Great Dao, thousands of paths lead to the same destination.

Others sell seafood to make money, in the world of cultivation, they call it cultivating the Dao.

He wouldn't go to such a place, not only because he couldn't afford it, but also because he might encounter a female Demonic Cultivator who could drain his cultivation in one night.

He came to a stall selling books and squatted down to flip through them.

The stall owner was an old cultivator with white hair, smiling as he looked at Su Fan.

"Fellow Daoist, can you help me take a look..."

Su Fan looked up at him and smiled, "Senior, do you have any sword techniques?"

"Yes, you've come at the right time. I happen to have a rare ancient book..."

After saying that, he took out an ancient book from the nearby package and handed it to Su Fan.

"Fellow Daoist, this Nine Extremes Chain Slash is not an ordinary sword technique. It is a genuine ancient martial art that embodies the principles of the Dao. It is a true ancient inheritance."

Su Fan took the book and flipped through it, then looked up and asked, "How much does it cost?"

"Cost... Fellow Daoist, this is a genuine ancient body cultivation inheritance. It would cost at least five spirit stones."

Before Su Fan could speak, the stall owner, who had been holding back for a while, burst into laughter.

"Senior, I only have fifty law coins left. Can I buy it?"

Upon hearing this, the old man became anxious and snatched the book from Su Fan's hand.

"Fellow Daoist, you'd better buy an ordinary sword technique."

Su Fan didn't indulge his quirks and got up to leave.

After taking a few steps, he heard the old cultivator shout, "Fellow Daoist, please wait..."

Seeing Su Fan turn around, he smiled and said, "Two spirit stones, I'll give you a chance."

The old man's words made the nearby stall owner laugh again.

Su Fan shook his head and was about to leave.

"Fellow Daoist, take it for one spirit stone..."

"Plus thirty law coins..."

"Fellow Daoist, don't go, hey... I'll sell it to you..."

Su Fan had already walked quite far, but he was still called back by the old cultivator.

But he still felt that he had given too much just now.

So he added ten more law coins and bought an ancient boxing technique as well.

After Su Fan left, the old man glared fiercely at the stall owner next to him.

"What are you laughing at? If it weren't for you, I could have sold it for several tens of law coins..."

The stall owner laughed and said, "Are you kidding? I wouldn't even take that broken book for free."

The old cultivator wasn't lying. Both books were indeed from ancient body cultivation inheritances.

In the ancient Immortal Cultivation World, body cultivators were as common as dogs.

They used the rich spiritual energy of the world to refine their bodies with various precious materials, treating their physical bodies as Law Treasures.

When the physical bodies of powerful body cultivators were refined to the extreme, they could transform into the heavens and the earth, overturn mountains and seas, possessing great Divine Abilities that could shape the heavenly laws and the earth.

But that was in ancient times, when spiritual energy was extremely abundant and various precious materials were readily available.

Nowadays, in the Immortal Cultivation World, not to mention precious materials, even the density of spiritual energy is incomparable to the manifestation of laws. Even the remaining Spirit Veins have been divided up by major sects.

The path of body cultivation has long declined, with most of its inheritances severed, some of which have fallen into various markets.

This ancient body refining inheritance, apart from a few successful body refiners, no one buys it at all.

He only deceives the ignorant lower-level cultivators.

Of course, in ancient times, this "Nine Extreme Chain Slash" was indeed very powerful.

But now, cultivators simply cannot unleash the power of this sword technique.

The ancient body cultivation inheritance is fierce and violent, emphasizing relentless advancement without retreat.

This style of combat is no different from seeking death for independent cultivators.

It's better to buy a sword technique from the mortal world, which is versatile in offense and defense and also cheaper.

Body refining is a joke in this world.

But Su Fan doesn't know that. He just transmigrated here and doesn't know much about cultivation.

He inquired about the price in the morning, and the worldly sword techniques cost only three to five silver coins.

In Su Fan's opinion, this ancient sword manual looks much better than those worldly books.

He tentatively offered a price, and unexpectedly, the old man sold it, so he bought it.

In his eyes, all sword techniques are the same.

Next, Su Fan went to the Spirit Rice shop and bought two hundred catties of Spirit Rice.

He also bought several tens of catties of smoked monster meat from a nearby stall, as well as some pickles and seasonings.

Su Fan specifically bought a carrying pole and left the market with his things.

After leaving the market, he didn't notice anyone following him, so he finally relaxed.

By now, the weather had cleared up, and the sky looked as if it had been washed with water.

The warm sunlight shone on him, making him extremely comfortable.

Today, he returned home with a full load, and Su Fan was in a good mood.

He happily walked home with the carrying pole, humming a song.

A cold and elegant figure appeared in his mind, the female bodhisattva he met today.

"She's a pretty good girl, why..." Su Fan shook his head, why did he suddenly think of her?

If he were to choose a partner, the girl he met at the shop would be a perfect match.

He couldn't forget the clear gaze of that girl.

He could visit that shop more often in the future, and perhaps feelings would develop over time.

He also thought of his ex-wife, the woman who hurt him the most.

Why couldn't he forget about this woman?

He arrived home in the afternoon, feeling hungry. Su Fan made himself a hearty lunch.

A big bowl of steaming Spirit Rice, with several large pieces of smoked monster meat.

Paired with flavorful pickles, he finished eating and lay down on the bed.

Su Fan felt that his life was complete, this life was enough.

He was just that useless. If it weren't for the pressures of life, he could lie down until death.

It was because of this that his ex-wife looked down on him.

Why did he think of this woman again?

He should focus on cultivation and forget about that damn woman.

(End of this chapter)