The Terrifying Path of Immortal Cultivation

The Ming Dynasty of the former dynasty.

The last emperor, Emperor Chongxin, secretly practiced evil methods in order to seek longevity and immortality.

At that time, every night in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, there were people missing.

The various schools of thought, the orthodox Confucianism, and the three sects of Taoism all sent people to investigate, but they could not find any reason.

It wasn't until the end of the dynasty when the rebel army attacked the city, and after ten thousand rebel soldiers entered the imperial city, they disappeared without a trace.

The historical records only mentioned a falling meteor that destroyed the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, and the last emperor fell within it.

However, the truth was inferred from some unofficial historical records, indirect information, and various techniques known to Li Qing.

Emperor Chongxin had become strange, but he was completely unaware of it.

When the rebel army attacked the imperial city, Emperor Chongxin suddenly transformed into a terrifying anomaly and devoured tens of thousands of rebel soldiers.

In the end, he was lured by the high-ranking members of the rebel army and killed by the falling meteor.

Naturally, such events had to be concealed, so there was no explicit record in the historical books.

But the Jade Tablet restored all of this.

Just the information he had seen so far exceeded 300 items, involving various figures in the 3300-year history.

Even the Jade Tablet, through various information, restored the tombs of many historical figures and what kind of inheritance they might have received.

Among them were some generals from the war years and prominent figures.

The more Li Qing uncovered the truth restored by the Jade Tablet, the more excited he became.

"Perhaps Jixia Academy is not the only choice. The legends left by these historical celebrities contain another path."

"However, the achievements of these people are not high, probably because their orthodoxy is incomplete, and the high-level cultivation methods in this world are almost completely sealed by orthodoxy."

"The appearance of such anomalies will be suppressed in secret."

"Throughout history, these people may have been famous for a while or held great power, but in the end, they all fell in various events."

"So, I must maintain the identity of traveling the world under Jixia Academy, while quietly collecting resources and practicing in secret."

"Even if my cultivation reaches a high level in the future, I must not expose myself to any strong practitioners unless I can overturn the world."

"I can only exist as a mid-level or low-level cultivator, which is acceptable."

"But all of this is for the future. The immediate priority now is that I need resources, a large amount of resources."

"I have already strengthened my body three times, and my accumulated Essence Qi has reached 65%. I still need at least 635 Essence Qi Stones to complete it."

"There's no need to think about clearing the graves. Such a big event has already been cleaned up."

"Xuanjin Divine Iron can be exchanged for 200 high-grade Essence Qi Stones, which can solve the urgent need."

Li Qing already had a detailed understanding of anomalies.

Anomalies, as recorded, are divided into six levels: curse, evil, disaster, calamity, catastrophe, and annihilation.

These six levels were summarized by people in this world after experiencing countless bizarre events.

All the anomalies Li Qing had encountered so far, except for the Hundred Corpses created by Zhou Xinglong, were all at the curse level.

Their influence fluctuated within the three realms of Foundation Building.

"To earn Essence Qi Stones, perhaps I can start with trading."

"Completing tasks is just too slow."

He had already been to the task hall, but the result left him very disappointed.

The only task that could potentially earn a large number of Essence Qi Stones was also canceled due to Zhou Xinglong's interference. Although he received compensation from the other party, he cut off more sources.

Thinking of this, Li Qing became angry.

"The Zhou family is really annoying. I need to find an opportunity to get rid of them."

"First, figure out the cultivation methods they practice and see how to make them break their precepts."

"Hmph, the price of techniques is the biggest weakness of cultivators in this world."

"If it's trading, I need to have the right value of goods."

Focused on the Jade Tablet, a strange smile appeared on Li Qing's lips.

He had gradually grasped more ways to use the Jade Tablet.

The next day, he quietly arrived at Hundred Gates Alley.

It was full of people, all of whom were orthodox cultivators of Dragon Path City.

Li Qing had a blank booklet in his hand and a charcoal pencil, and he began to investigate the prices of goods throughout Hundred Gates Alley.

In the blink of an eye, a day had passed, and Li Qing's notebook had recorded over 200 different materials.

Most of them were basic materials, some with the potential to be directly refined into Law Weapons, and some were basic materials collected by certain forces for making magical materials.

Behind the 200-plus different materials, he wrote down their respective prices, measured in curse-level Essence Qi Stones.

At night, Li Qing compared the prices of each item on the jade tablet, and they had all changed, revealing their true prices.

He quickly wrote down the comparative prices in his notebook.

One pound of Black Obsidian Iron: Investigated price 1/5 Essence Qi Stone (actual price 1/4 Essence Qi Stone)

The difference between these was the profit he could obtain.

Li Qing's plan was simple: buy low and sell high. But to do this, he had to have a precise grasp of the prices.

After completing this market price list, he quickly selected 12 materials with prices lower than the market price.

He took out over a hundred types of materials he had scraped from Tianyu Temple from his Universe Bag and matched them with the actual market prices.

After some calculations, the total value was approximately 100 Essence Qi Stones.

"Sell them together with Xuanjin Divine Iron tomorrow and get 300 Essence Qi Stones, so I won't suffer a big loss."

"With this money as a foundation, I can start picking up bargains."

With a hint of anticipation in his eyes, the next day Li Qing returned to Hundred Gates Alley.

He set up a stall, and because there were over a hundred items and the prices were just right for many people, they were quickly bought up by those in need.

As a result, he now had 300 Essence Qi Stones in his hands.

Early the next day, he came again.

Li Qing intended to start picking up bargains, but as soon as he arrived at a stall, he overheard a vendor bargaining with a customer.

"No, the price of Black Obsidian Iron has gone up."

"Now, you need an item worth half an Essence Qi Stone to exchange for one pound."

Upon hearing this, Li Qing was taken aback and turned to look at the other person.

He also had Black Obsidian Iron in his hands, which he had sold yesterday.

"No way, I bought it yesterday, and today the price has gone up?"

Li Qing's face looked a bit unpleasant, feeling as if fate was working against him.

He walked over and asked the independent cultivator curiously, "Brother, has the price of Black Obsidian Iron gone up? It was only worth a maximum of 1/4 Essence Qi Stone yesterday."

The independent cultivator glanced at him and snorted, "Today, all the shops are buying materials at high prices."

"So our prices have also gone up."

Upon hearing this, Li Qing frowned, "Have all the materials gone up in price?"

"Of course."