A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 73: Chapter 72: Conflict

Back at the Workshop Market.

To see what he had gained from his trip, Lü Zhong made a special trip to an appraisal shop.

”Something to appraise? The fee is one Spirit Stone per item. If you sell the item to us, the fee is waived. Is that acceptable, Fellow Daoist?” The attendant behind the counter stretched languidly and yawned.

Lü Zhong heard the price was similar to the market rate and nodded.

With a wave of his hand, he placed the items to be appraised on the counter.

”This is a five-year-old Red Cornelian Grass. Our purchase price is six Spirit Stones.” The attendant adjusted the Crystal Mirror glimmering with Spiritual Light on his face and began appraising the items one by one. ”This rusty piece of iron... ninety percent Refined Iron mixed with ten percent Spirit Iron. It should be a fragment of some Lower-grade Magical Artifact. Rusted to this degree... my assessment is that it’s worthless.”

He then picked up the pitch-black stone, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

”Huh? Is this actually Ink Crystal Iron?”

”I found it in the south. Is there something wrong with it?” Lü Zhong asked curiously.

”No, nothing’s wrong. It just reminded me of something from long ago.” The attendant put down the Ink Crystal Iron, his face filled with emotion. ”I remember my first day in this business, the very first item I appraised was this same kind of Ink Crystal Iron. I never thought that after all these years, I’d encounter this precious Spirit Iron again.”

Shaking off his nostalgic expression, the attendant smiled and continued, ”As for the purchase price of the Ink Crystal Iron, we can only offer one hundred seventy-five Spirit Stones. If you’re not satisfied with this price, Fellow Daoist, you can sell it to an Artifact Refining Workshop in the Seventh Ring. This type of Spirit Iron is quite useful; you could also commission them to refine it into a Magical Artifact.”

”Thank you,” Lü Zhong said, clasping his hands in a salute.

Since the attendant had been so decent, Lü Zhong felt he should show his appreciation and sold the Red Cornelian Grass to the shop.

The purchase price for the Red Cornelian Grass was six Spirit Stones. After deducting the appraisal fees for the rusty iron fragment and the Ink Crystal Iron, Lü Zhong ended up with a total of four Spirit Stones. This was surprisingly higher than his usual earnings from Talisman Making.

’This is an incredible profit!’ Lü Zhong thought in amazement.

He couldn’t even begin to imagine how much he would earn each time he went out Spirit Seeking once his Spirit-Seeking Rat was fully trained.

With such a remarkable talent for making money, it was no wonder the Spirit-Seeking Rat was so famous.

’I need to be careful,’ Lü Zhong thought, his vigilance rising.

The last thing he wanted was for people to find out he possessed a Spirit-Seeking Rat and have endless trouble come knocking at his door.

He followed the Pan Mountain Path downward and soon arrived at the Workshop District, which was thick with the smell of charcoal fires.

Unlike the Middle Three Rings, not only was the air here noticeably polluted, but the buildings were also covered in a thick layer of white fly ash. The pedestrians on the street had wooden expressions, their faces etched with hardship.

Passing by the low-lying shantytown next to the workshops, he could occasionally hear arguments from within. The quarrels were all related to Spirit Stones—either complaining about someone’s reckless spending or cursing that the monthly allowance had shrunk again.

Occasionally, he would also hear heavy sighs of despair over not being able to scrape together next month’s rent.

The only thing that could be called hopeful here were the children running through the streets and alleys.

Although they were all grimy and dressed in ordinary clothes washed to a faded white, their eyes still held a look of innocence. They would act timid when they saw Lü Zhong looking at them, but they would still respond with the etiquette their elders had taught them.

Lü Zhong smiled and nodded at them, then continued toward the Artifact Refining Workshop.

Just then, a cultivator emerged from a nearby alley.

He wore a wrinkled cotton robe and kept his head down, looking like he was in a great hurry.

As he brushed past Lü Zhong, a pair of fine tweezers slipped from the man’s hand. With a natural swing of his arm, his hand reached for Lü Zhong’s waist, his target clearly the exposed Storage Bag.

Needless to say, this man was definitely a pickpocket.

Against anyone else, he might have succeeded.

Unfortunately for him, his target today was Lü Zhong. Having just raised his guard because of the Spirit-Seeking Rat, he had been using his Qi Observation Skill the entire way and had long since noticed something was off about this person.

The man had been hiding behind a corner, thinking his spying was very secretive, but in the field of view of the Qi Observation Skill, he was completely exposed.

As a bonus, Lü Zhong had also used Malice Detection, and sure enough, a warning had surfaced in his mind.

After that, there was nothing left to say. A blue sword shadow flashed past.

”AH!” A blood-curdling scream.

The pickpocket’s left hand was severed at the wrist, and blood gushed out like a spring.

The Late Sun Magic Sword in his hand slowly dissipated. Having delivered a small punishment, Lü Zhong gave the man a cold glance and continued on his way to the Artifact Refining Workshop.

But he hadn’t expected that after only a few steps, he would be surrounded by three people from the front and back.

According to the results of his Qi Observation Skill, two of the three were Early-stage Qi Refining cultivators. The tall, thin one was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, while the stocky one had a Second Level of Qi Refining Cultivation.

The leader, a large man with a tattooed face, had a cultivation at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

This was Lü Zhong’s assessment, based on his experience.

”What, are you with him?”

Surrounded by the three men, his expression didn’t change in the slightest. Instead, he was the one who questioned the tattooed man.

”Of course, he’s our brother!” the tattooed man said with a grin, sizing up the Dharma Robe Lü Zhong was wearing. He continued, ”Talisman Master Lü, we know you’re rich. Now that you’ve crippled one of my brother’s hands, shouldn’t you pay some medical expenses? Look, he won’t be able to work anymore.”

”Yeah, yeah...” the pickpocket, his face ashen, replied with a tremor in his voice.

”Hah. And if I say no?” Lü Zhong sneered.

He knew what the tattooed man was thinking. He probably thought all Talisman Makers were weaklings with poor combat skills, easy prey he could squeeze for a quick fortune.

Unfortunately for him, he had miscalculated this time.

Though he didn’t want to cause trouble, it didn’t mean he was afraid of it.

”In that case, Talisman Master Lü, you won’t be walking out of this street,” the tattooed man said, his words laced with threat. A faint Spiritual Light glimmered from within his sleeve, the implication obvious.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, it looked like a fight was about to break out between the two sides.

Just at that moment, a woman’s sharp cry came from up ahead.

”Stop!”

Hearing it, Lü Zhong thought, ’Isn’t that Huang Shuyuan’s voice?’

He looked up and saw that it was indeed Huang Shuyuan, leading a group of people toward them from the other end of the street.

”Mo the Third, what is the meaning of this?” Huang Shuyuan demanded, her face cold.

The tattooed man, addressed as Mo the Third, glanced at the group of people behind Huang Shuyuan, then back at her. He pulled his hands out from where they were hidden in his sleeves and answered lazily:

”No meaning at all. Just came to have a look.”

After speaking, he gave Lü Zhong a deep, meaningful look.

Then, with a wave of his hand, he led his men away.

’Strange. How did Fellow Daoist Lü get into a conflict with him?’

Huang Shuyuan watched Mo the Third depart, a look of confusion on her face.

But now wasn’t the time to talk about that. She gestured for Lü Zhong to wait a moment, then turned to the group behind her. ”Alright, just as we agreed. Come and get your money, one by one.”

Five talismanic coins for each person at the Qi Refining First Layer, ten talismanic coins for the Qi Refining Second Layer, and twenty talismanic coins for the Qi Refining Third Layer.

In total, Huang Shuyuan paid out two stacks of talismanic coins.

Lü Zhong watched without a word, silently committing the scene to memory.