A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 83: Chapter 82: Disaster at the Door

After toiling through the night, Lü Zhong finally found the correct ratio.

Having prepared the mixture of Fiery Sun Stone powder and Talisman Ink, he dipped his Talisman Brush in and began to draw on the Talisman Paper. After failing to create the talisman three times in a row, he finally succeeded in drawing the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman on his fourth attempt.

Looking at the Jade Talisman in his hand as its Spiritual Light gradually faded, Lü Zhong couldn’t hide the joy on his face.

’Alright, time to test it out.’

He had actually been very skeptical of Ling Kang’s words.

After all, the Golden Light Talisman could withstand a single blow from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. If the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman truly had one-third of its effect, it would mean that even a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator couldn’t kill a cultivator wearing one in a single strike.

Dripping a drop of his Essence Blood onto the Jade Talisman, Lü Zhong began to refine the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman.

The process was called refining, but in essence, it was about binding the Secret Talisman to his own Divine Soul.

Only a Protective Jade Talisman bound to the Divine Soul would activate automatically when its owner was in danger.

The refining process took him a full hour.

When the refining was complete, several blood-red Runes had appeared on the Jade Talisman’s surface.

Holding the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman in his palm, Lü Zhong channeled Spiritual Power into it to activate it. A bright yellow shield instantly appeared, enveloping his entire body.

He immediately formed a hand seal and began Chanting, causing a blue sword shadow to condense over his left hand.

With no other way to test it, he had no choice but to strike it from the inside. Fortunately, the shield’s strength was the same on both the inside and outside, so it wouldn’t skew the test results.

One strike... two strikes... not until the fourth strike did the shield produced by the Protective Secret Talisman break.

”I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tested it myself. The defensive power of this Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman is actually a third of the Golden Light Talisman’s!” Lü Zhong murmured, his eyes filled with surprise.

His surprise quickly turned to excitement.

’The stronger the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman is, the more my safety is guaranteed.’

’If I stock up on enough of these Protective Secret Talismans, then in a one-on-one situation, probably even a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator wouldn’t be able to do anything to me.’

’If I could bring myself to be ruthless and trade blows,’

’I might even be able to just wear down and kill a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator with these Protective Secret Talismans.’

Reining in his emotions, Lü Zhong prepared to enter a period of arduous closed-door cultivation.

He had delayed his cultivation progress considerably to research the Protective Secret Talisman. Now that he had finally succeeded in creating it, he naturally had to make increasing his cultivation his top priority again.

’Talisman Making is just a means to earn cultivation resources.’

’To survive in the dog-eat-dog Cultivation Realm, one’s own strength is the most important thing. Mixing up my priorities is a path to certain ruin.’

...

「Three months later.」

Having used up all his Origin-Nurturing Pills, Lü Zhong pushed open the door to his Quiet Chamber and walked out.

Compared to before his seclusion, his aura had strengthened considerably. Although he was still a long way from breaking through to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, he had, at least, made significant progress.

”SQUEAK SQUEAK...”

The Spirit-Seeking Rat started to squeak.

It was perched on the threshold, its eyes glowing green.

It wasn’t that it held any ill will toward Lü Zhong. With the servant contract in place, the Spirit-Seeking Rat wouldn’t dare attack its master even if it had ten thousand times its courage. The contract stated clearly that if the servile signatory attacked the master signatory, the former’s soul would be instantly obliterated.

It was just hungry.

Hearing the Spirit-Seeking Rat’s cries, Lü Zhong couldn’t help but find it amusing.

’This little guy.’

’I specifically left it enough food for three months before I went into seclusion, yet here it is, looking this starved. It must have been unable to control its appetite and finished all the food.’

’Oh well, maybe this will teach it a lesson.’

Then, Lü Zhong reached into a Storage Bag at his waist and first took out two Mouse-Breeding Pills. From another Storage Bag, he then took out a piece of Cyan Bear Beast liver.

He had brought back all of the Cyan Bear Beast’s offal.

Although Lü Zhong wouldn’t eat these parts himself, they were perfect for feeding the Spirit-Seeking Rat.

This was especially true for the Cyan Bear Beast’s Blood and Flesh Inner Core. Following the method from the Beast Taming Notes, he had fed it to the Spirit-Seeking Rat, and its aura had strengthened significantly, its Demon Qi increasing by about five percent.

He imagined that if he kept feeding it this way, it might even be able to break through to Tier Two.

...

Leaving the small bamboo courtyard, Lü Zhong headed for the stall area.

It was already afternoon, so the foot traffic in the stall area was bound to be light. But he was in desperate need of Spirit Stones, so he could only try his luck and see how many Protective Secret Talismans he could sell.

After setting up his stall in the designated area, he started waiting for customers to inquire about his wares.

He had already decided on the selling price for the Protective Secret Talismans.

He would sell them for twenty-five Spirit Stones apiece, slightly cheaper than the prices at the Talisman Shops.

This was standard practice for Independent Cultivator Talisman Makers. After all, compared to the large shops with established reputations, they had no choice but to compete on price to attract customers.

Soon, he sold a Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman.

The cost of producing a Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman was not low. After adding the Fiery Sun Stone powder, and without even factoring in the cost of Spiritual Qi, each attempt cost a full Five Spirit Stones.

Furthermore, since Lü Zhong had only just mastered the technique, his success rate for making the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman was extremely low.

Factoring in this additional cost, his profit from selling a single Secret Talisman was not high, only a little over five Spirit Stones.

But even so, his net monthly profit was still higher than when he had been selling Evil Exorcism Talismans.

Even by the most conservative estimate, it had at least quadrupled.

As Dusk approached, the number of cultivators in the stall area dwindled.

After tending his stall for nearly two hours, Lü Zhong had sold a total of three Protective Secret Talismans.

This exceeded his expectations.

Before he came, Lü Zhong had estimated that he would be lucky to sell even one.

Who would have thought he would sell three!

’These Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talismans are really popular.’

Lü Zhong was ecstatic, as if he could already see piles of Spirit Stones waving at him.

On his way back to the small bamboo courtyard, in addition to buying the jade base material for Talisman Making, he also used his remaining Spirit Stones to buy three Origin-Nurturing Pills to ensure his cultivation progress would not slow down.

After passing through the White Cloud Shield, Lü Zhong habitually performed a scene regression.

This was like reviewing security footage. By comparing the scene regressions of when he left and when he returned, he could determine if anyone was secretly spying on him.

And this time, he actually found something.

’It doesn’t look like a cultivator wandered in by mistake, nor was it caused by the wind or some small animal. The dead leaves on the ground in this spot look the same as last night, but I can still make out some faint traces of disturbance.’

From this, Lü Zhong concluded that someone had definitely come by last night.

Judging from the fact that the person had come straight in without any prior reconnaissance,

the visitor either knew him very well or was arrogant enough to believe they were strong enough to dispose of him easily.

Considering the person was ultimately blocked by the White Cloud Array and didn’t even know a new Array had been set up in the bamboo forest, the latter possibility was more likely.

In all likelihood, he was being targeted by a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Lü Zhong couldn’t help but wonder, ’Who have I provoked this time?’

’Being targeted by a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator... This is big trouble...’