Translator: Cinder Translations
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When Senior Brother Xu took out two yellow talismans, Song Wen's heart couldn't help but skip a few beats.
The talisman characters depicted on these two talismans were unfamiliar to Song Wen.
Yet he could sense that these talismans carried a majestic aura, as if they could suppress any evil under heaven.
After seeing these two talismans, Song Wen felt a slight discomfort in the flow of corpse aura within him, and he instinctively wanted to move away.
"What kind of talismans are these?" Song Wen asked in astonishment.
Senior Brother Xu only revealed the two yellow talismans for a moment before putting them back into his storage bag, looking cautious as if these talismans shouldn't be seen within the Corpse Demon Sect's territory.
"These are Thunder Talismans! First-tier superior grade."
Song Wen instantly paled, wondering why the other party was so cautious.
Thunder Talismans carried the majestic will of the heavens and had tremendous lethality against evil beings, equally effective against cultivators of demonic and evil paths.
Among the orthodox cultivators, only a few could successfully cultivate Thunder Dao techniques, making them the most detested targets of demonic cultivators.
Similarly, Thunder Talismans were highly effective against demonic cultivators.
Song Wen was intrigued. If he used these two first-tier superior talismans well, they could definitely threaten late Qi Refining stage cultivators.
Seeing Song Wen's interest, Senior Brother Xu continued.
"I obtained these two talismans years ago after killing an orthodox cultivator. While Thunder Talismans have great power and are effective against demonic cultivators, they have a fatal flaw."
"What flaw?"
"They can only be activated using Heavenly Qi. In other words, we demonic cultivators can't use them because our cultivation methods inherently contain impure Qi that prevents us from activating Thunder Talismans."
Senior Brother Xu sighed and continued, "That's why these two talismans have been in my possession for so long, unsold and unused."
Song Wen was a regular customer, and Senior Brother Xu had no intention of tricking him.
After all, once Song Wen bought the talismans, he could test them himself.
"Doesn't the Thunder Talisman require Heavenly Qi to activate? The 'Longevity Technique' is an orthodox Daoist method, and the spiritual power cultivated through it inherently contains Heavenly Qi."
Since joining the Corpse Demon Sect and practicing the 'Corpse King Blood Refining Technique,' Song Wen hadn't tried to cultivate the 'Longevity Technique.'
Logically, a person can only cultivate one major cultivation method unless their cultivation level rises significantly to allow switching to another method.
Song Wen was exceptional in this regard, practicing both a demonic body refining technique and an orthodox Qi refining technique simultaneously.
Song Wen himself didn't understand the reason behind this anomaly; he could only attribute it to his mysterious and unusual physical body.
Although he hadn't practiced the 'Longevity Technique' in the past year, thanks to the abundant spiritual energy within the Corpse Demon Sect and his frequent use of spirit stones for cultivation, the power of the 'Longevity Technique' had been slowly increasing, nearing the third level of Qi Refining. It should be enough to activate the Thunder Talisman.
"Senior Brother Xu, how much for these two talismans?" Song Wen asked.
Seeing that Song Wen intended to buy the Thunder Talismans that were of little use to demonic cultivators, Senior Brother Xu became more interested.
"How about 100 spirit stones for the two talismans?"
"Too expensive," Song Wen shook his head, "after all, they can only be activated with Heavenly Qi, not very effective in the hands of us demonic cultivators."
"What about 80 spirit stones? They are first-tier superior grade talismans after all."
Song Wen said, "Still too expensive. I can offer at most 40 spirit stones. Besides, if they remain with Senior Brother, they are just two sheets of waste paper. It's better to sell them cheaply to me and get some spirit stones."
After bargaining, Song Wen bought the two talismans for 50 spirit stones.
After the transaction was completed, Senior Brother Xu asked softly,
"Junior Brother, are you going out to perform sect missions?"
Song Wen's eyes narrowed, staring coldly at the other party.
He didn't understand why the other party knew that he was about to go out on a mission.
Perhaps noticing Song Wen's unfriendly expression, Senior Brother Xu explained, "Junior Brother, there's no need to be nervous. The annual sect mission is something all disciples must complete. For someone like you, who usually stays within the sect and suddenly buys life-saving items, it must be for an external sect mission."
Song Wen's expression softened slightly, but he still didn't understand why the topic of sect missions was brought up and what was being implied.
"Regarding sect missions, does Senior Brother Xu have some advice?" Song Wen asked.
Senior Brother Xu waved his hand and said, "Not really. Each person's sect mission is different. How could I advise Junior Brother when I don't even know what your mission is? However, I have something here that you might be interested in."
Senior Brother Xu had also noticed that Song Wen was extremely cautious about his life and rarely ventured outside the sect.
Therefore, he intended to take this opportunity to sell something to Song Wen.
"What is it? Show me."
"Venom! Fire Burns the Sky, fatal to mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Even cultivators at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining would suffer greatly if poisoned, their strength greatly diminished. Even if a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining were poisoned, it would be as if they were being roasted in a blazing fire, making it extremely difficult to remove the toxin for a while."
Song Wen suddenly became interested, "Senior Brother actually has such a thing! Are you willing to sell it to me?"
Senior Brother Xu replied, "As long as Junior Brother can afford it, why wouldn't I sell it? Besides, not long ago, I advanced to the ninth level of Qi Refining, so this poison doesn't affect me much anymore."
Song Wen said, "Congratulations on advancing your cultivation. Foundation Building is within reach."
Facing Song Wen's praise, Senior Brother Xu was visibly pleased.
"Thank you for your kind words, Junior Brother. Do you still want Fire Burns the Sky?"
"I sure do, but I'm afraid I can't afford it."
"I have ten drops of Fire Burns the Sky here. If Junior Brother can't afford all of them, buying one or two drops is also possible."
"How do you want to sell it, Senior Brother Xu?"
"One drop of Fire Burns the Sky for twenty spirit stones."
"Too expensive. Although this poison is strong, it only affects cultivators if it touches their skin. Twenty spirit stones are enough to buy a first-tier superior grade talisman." Song Wen bargained.
After some negotiation, Song Wen finally paid 120 spirit stones and bought all the Fire Burns the Sky.
This made Senior Brother Xu look at Song Wen with some admiration. He hadn't expected that this seemingly ordinary Junior Brother actually had quite a bit of wealth.
However, this Junior Brother was truly afraid of death.
To spend such a large amount of money on a poison that he might never use in the future.
After receiving the jade bottle containing Fire Burns the Sky and bidding farewell to Senior Brother Xu, Song Wen left.
He circled around the booth area again but didn't find Chen Yi. So, he bought five flight talismans, six haste talismans, and ten Thunder Burst pellets, which posed no significant threat to mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, then returned to his cave.
Haste talismans were first-tier superior grade talismans commonly used by Qi Refining cultivators to chase or flee, greatly increasing a cultivator's speed.
After buying these items, Song Wen had nearly spent most of his saved spirit stones in recent days.
Song Wen was somewhat satisfied with his gains in the market area today, but there was one thing he hadn't accomplished: finding Chen Yi.
His purpose in seeking Chen Yi was to obtain some information about Rainbow Grass from her.
For this sect mission, besides knowing the quantity and growth status of Rainbow Grass, he knew almost nothing about the mission.
And since Chen Yi was in the Spirit Grass Garden, it should be relatively easy to obtain information about Rainbow Grass from her.
Although Elder Shen would probably provide some information about Rainbow Grass in three days, it was always good to be prepared in advance.
(End of the Chapter)