Chapter 18
Another Spring
The cultivation world had always been a place where the strong preyed on the weak. It was like walking on thin ice for twenty years. Shen Ping deeply understood this point. Therefore, unless it was necessary, he would never go out. He had to avoid trouble as much as possible. And now, he thought that he was going to move away from the precarious days.
In the end, his chance was gone with just one sentence from this late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator with a powerful aura. Reality once again taught him a cruel lesson.
Phew.
Shen Ping took a deep breath and hurriedly bowed. “Senior Gao, I’ve troubled you. I’m not Fellow Daoist Yu’s Dao Companion. Please forgive me.” After saying that, he bowed and took a few steps back before slowly turning around and leaving.
Regardless of the relationship between Yu Yan and this Fellow Daoist Gao, under such circumstances, he could not make things difficult for Yu Yan. The other party gave him a chance to co-rent. It was a favor.
“At least you have some eyesight.” The female cultivator with the beauty mark was overjoyed. She had waited here early in the morning to forcefully fight for a spot to collaborate.
Initially, she thought that the chances of success were very low. However, she did not expect that the usually cold Yu Yan would actually find a male cultivator to share a house with. Furthermore, his strength was so low.
This was simply a chance given to her by the heavens.
…
Shen Ping quickly walked away from the Deacon Hall. He came to a restaurant in the market and sat by the window, asking for a glass of wine. He thought of his wife and concubine at home. He felt guilty. He would disappoint his wife and concubine this time. Those who were weak could only give in. There was no other way. The outcome of a hot-blooded resistance was a corpse.
“Fellow Daoist Yu is only at the intermediate stage of Qi Refinement. Even if her combat strength is stronger, how can she obtain a spot in the medium-sized courtyard of the market? I was careless. I didn’t think of that in my surprise. And it led to today’s scene.” He took a sip of wine to calm his churning blood.
Compromise and concession are always uncomfortable. Even if he was used to this situation, it did not mean that he did not react at all. He sat there for four hours. Shen Ping guessed that no one would be following him, so he stood up.
“Being strong is the foundation.” He looked at the empty glass as he said slowly and left quickly.
Half an hour later, Shen Ping arrived at the True Treasure Pavilion. Although his chance to stay in a medium-sized courtyard was gone, he still had to sell the talismans. After all, it was not easy to go out.
In these three months, he had made a total of five Spirit Protection Talisman and seven Golden Light Talismans. The success rate was not bad. He left behind a Spirit Protection Talisman and a Golden Light Talisman to protect himself. He sold the rest and bought twice as many materials as he had last time.
“Fellow Daoist, here are your spirit stones. There are a total of 168 mid-grade spirit stones.”
Shen Ping looked at the translucent high-grade spirit stone and a smile gradually appeared on his face. This was not the first time he had seen a high-grade spirit stone. But this was the first time he had it. He carefully placed such a large amount of spirit stones in his storage bag.
Just as he was about to leave, the female cultivator from the True Treasure Pavilion stopped him and said with a sweet smile, “Fellow Daoist, are you a high-grade Talisman Master?”
Shen Ping hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yes.”
“It’s like this. Our True Treasure Pavilion has 120 slots for a medium-sized courtyard in the east, and they’re all in good locations. If you’re willing to cooperate with our True Treasure Pavilion in depth, you can obtain a slot for free. Of course, if you already have a spot, you can also transfer this spot to other cultivators. It’s still effective.”
Hearing this, his body jerked. Suppressing the excitement that kept surging in his heart, he asked in a low voice, “How are we going to cooperate in depth?” He could not jump into some pits, he kept hinting to himself.
The female cultivator in front of him still smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist only needs to make three high-grade talismans every month and sell them to our True Treasure Pavilion. Moreover, you don’t have to sell them every month. You just have to meet the standards within the year.”
Shen Ping immediately calculated in his heart. He had successfully made twelve high-grade talismans in the past three months. On average, he could make four per month. No matter how bad his condition was, it was not difficult for him to reach the standard in a year.
Not to mention, his Dao of Talisman was constantly improving, and his success rate would be higher and higher in the future.
“Calm down!”
Although he really wanted to agree, he suppressed his impulse and continued to ask, “With your esteemed building’s strength, these 120 spots should have been given away long ago.”
The female cultivator explained, “Our True Treasure Pavilion only gifted cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm, high-grade alchemists, Talisman Masters, Artifact Masters, Array Masters, and so on. However, those who can reach this level could easily obtain the spots. Although many of them were transferred, because they could only transfer one spot, they didn’t care. Until now, half of the spots haven’t been given out.”
Shen Ping came to a realization.
That’s true.
In the entire market, there were very few people like him who had reached the high-grade talisman master level at the mid-stage of Qi Refinement. Most of them were above the eighth level of Qi Refinement before they could reach the high-grade alchemist, talisman master, and so on.
There were even Foundation Establishment Cultivators. As for such cultivators, their statuses were not low to begin with, and they had a wide network. They lived in a small courtyard with better conditions.
If they were to transfer a quota, they would usually transfer it to their friends, relatives, and so on. However, given their status, their friends were all high-level cultivators. Even if they were relatives, they could arrange for them to stay in the small courtyard or send them to the Golden Sun Sect as much as possible.
To be honest, a medium-sized courtyard on the east side was really not worthy of their attention.
“If Fellow Daoist is interested, you can sign a simple contract with my True Treasure Pavilion now.”
Shen Ping was still worried. “What will happen if I don’t meet the requirements?”
The female cultivator patiently said, “If you don’t meet the requirements, you won’t be able to enter the True Treasure Pavilion to buy or sell all items. Of course, this is only temporary. After you recover, you can also enter again.”
Upon hearing this, he heaved a sigh of relief and said slowly, “I agree.”
The female cultivator from the True Treasure Pavilion smiled. Every time she recruited a top-grade Talisman Master, her commission was very generous. “Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment!”
Not long after, the female cultivator appeared again, but a middle-aged cultivator followed behind her. Shen Ping swept his gaze over it and immediately felt a thick aura blocking his divine sense like a mountain. A perfected late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, or even a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
The middle-aged cultivator smiled warmly and said, “I’m the shopkeeper here. It’s our honor that you’re willing to cooperate with our True Treasure Pavilion.”
Shen Ping hurriedly said, “Shopkeeper, you’re too kind.”
Now, he more or less understood why Shopkeeper Chen of the Spring Embroidery Pavilion was so enthusiastic. It turned out that it was all because of the True Treasure Pavilion. The shopkeeper of the True Treasure Pavilion did not delay and took out a special piece of paper. It was written with what was said.
Shen Ping took a look. There was no mistake. This was a contract paper. After signing the contract, it would lock onto a person’s aura, but it was only limited to a hundred meters.
Seeing this, he felt completely at ease and quickly signed as Fellow Daoist Shen. There was no need for his real name. Even a casual stroke was enough. There were not many restrictions.
After signing the contract, the shopkeeper took out a wooden tablet with the words “Golden Sun Sect” engraved on it. “Fellow Daoist, with this wooden token, you can choose any house in the medium-sized courtyard and give it to other cultivators.”
Shen Ping received the wooden token, and the gloominess in his heart was swept away.