Chapter 117: Cloud Abundance Market—The Spirit Talisman Hall
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More than an hour passed before A Yao finally stirred awake. Aside from the many itchy welts covering her body and the weakness brought on by excessive blood loss, she had suffered no life-threatening injuries.
As her mind cleared, she immediately noticed Cheng Hai beside her. His limbs had been pierced through, and he was bound as tightly as a dumpling, hovering on the brink of death. A Yu, meanwhile, was still unconscious...
That blasted young master of the fort must have been rescued by now. Still, with the tendons in all four limbs severed, he was practically crippled anyway. Serves him right. Who told him to provoke me?
Hundreds of miles away, Chu Xin'er murmured to herself as she continued flying at full speed, not the slightest trace of guilt in her eyes.
As for the threat from the Cheng Family Fort, after flying for so long she had already left the Cheng family's sphere of influence. A minor clan with only a Foundation Establishment ancestor could hardly do anything to her.
Of course, the reason she was so confident was that she possessed considerable wealth and had not coveted the other party's storage pouch.
She had abandoned the unconscious Cheng Hai and his two concubines in a dense forest, while refraining from taking any spoils that might contain concealed tracking marks left by Cheng family experts. Even if they wished to hunt her down, they had no definite direction to pursue.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, Chu Xin'er changed direction once more, her escaping light continuing to speed into the distance.
Smack!
Inside the Cheng Family Fort, a broad-shouldered man in splendid robes smashed the tea table before him with one heavy slap. His face was twisted with fury and frustration. He was Cheng Hai's father, Cheng Dongkui, the current master of the Cheng Family Fort and, apart from the family ancestor, the most powerful cultivator in the clan.
His son Cheng Hai had had the tendons in his hands and feet severed, yet the culprit possessed only Qi Refinement cultivation. How could Cheng Dongkui possibly swallow his rage? Before long, at his command, the Cheng Family Fort dispatched all its elites to search in every direction.
However, with the family ancestor in secluded cultivation, the Cheng family had no more Foundation Establishment cultivators besides Cheng Dongkui and his second brother. Since Chu Xin'er had fled far away long before, finding her was easier said than done.
Smack!
Half a day later, the Cheng cultivators had searched the entire territory under the Cheng family's control. The Second Master of the Cheng family had even traveled a thousand miles into the distance, yet they still found no useful clues.
When Cheng Dongkui received the news, he had nowhere to vent his frustration and shattered the redwood desk before him with a single blow.
Though Chu Xin'er believed the Cheng family could do nothing to her, she still held to the principle that caution could never hurt. Before leaving the unconscious Cheng Hai and the others behind, she changed her clothes and covered her face with a magical mask.
Although the damaged mask could not block the probing of cultivators, it still served some purpose against ordinary low-level cultivators and commoners. Commoners possessed no spiritual sense, after all, and what low-level cultivator would dare probe the consciousness of someone stronger than himself?
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Naturally, none of this would be enough to evade the pursuit of high-level cultivators. To avoid leaving behind clues or traces of her aura, Chu Xin'er constantly altered her course and deliberately chose sparsely populated regions to cross.
Whenever she encountered a river or lake, she would also enter the water and travel beneath its surface for a time. That was why the Second Master of the Cheng family could not find the slightest trace of her.
Inside the spirit beast pouch, Xiao Wenzi had already replenished his hearts to full with system coins. At that moment, he was swallowing spirit pills and cultivating.
After some time, Xiao Wenzi stopped cultivating and spread out his demonic sense. He discovered that Chu Xin'er was still flying beneath the setting sun, and realized that the threat from the Cheng family should have been resolved.
Night descended. After traveling at full speed for an entire day, Chu Xin'er landed in an ordinary mortal town. It was already more than two thousand miles from the Cheng Family Fort, and she believed herself temporarily safe. Only then did she decide not to continue through the night.
After taking a room at an inn, Chu Xin'er instructed the attendant not to disturb her, then sat down cross-legged and began meditating.
The night in the small town was peaceful. Before long, dawn arrived the following day. Chu Xin'er took out a map, determined her direction, then left the inn and shot into the sky.
Teaching that blasted young master, Cheng Hai, a lesson was merely a minor interlude on her path to immortality. What mattered most to Chu Xin'er now was finding a safe place to enter seclusion and break through to Foundation Establishment.
Thus, she was not flying aimlessly today. Instead, she intended to visit the nearest cultivators' market to purchase some supplies.
Cloud丰 Market was operated jointly by several small and medium-sized forces. Although it was not especially large, it should have no shortage of talismans suitable for Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators, as well as introductory formations.
Her recent confrontation with the Liu siblings, Liu Xiuqian and her brother, had exposed the disadvantage of carrying too few high-grade talismans. Before opening a cave dwelling and entering seclusion to attempt her breakthrough, Chu Xin'er intended to exchange more than half of her spirit stones for talismans and formations, so that she would be prepared for any eventuality.
Moreover, her magical mask had been damaged, so she needed to purchase a new one—preferably a higher-quality artifact mask that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could not easily see through.
Because her fine features were concealed and she conducted herself with exceptional discretion, Chu Xin'er encountered no trouble during the next two or three days, all the way until she reached the outskirts of Cloud丰 Market.
“Are you here to purchase talismans, fellow cultivator?”
Cloud丰 Market was open to all cultivators, and there were many low-level cultivators of Chu Xin'er's realm.
Therefore, when she put on her newly purchased mask and walked into the commercial building bearing the sign Spirit Talisman Hall, the young attendant merely asked in a perfunctory, neither warm nor cold tone:
“Do you have mid-grade or high-grade talismans here?”
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When she had just purchased this magical mask, which could block the probing of cultivators below the early Foundation Establishment stage, the attendant had initially treated her with the same indifference. Yet the moment she brought out more than a thousand spirit stones, his face had immediately blossomed into a smile.
Thus, Chu Xin'er paid no attention to his attitude and calmly sent her reply through voice transmission.
“What? Mid-grade and high-grade talismans?”
Everyone knew that the higher a talisman's grade, the more difficult it was to refine. An upper-grade talisman was often worth dozens, or even hundreds, of lower-grade talismans. Hearing Chu Xin'er ask for mid-grade and high-grade talismans right away, the attendant immediately revealed a strange expression.
“What? Do you think I cannot afford them?”
Cultivating immortality did not mean remaining inconspicuous at all times and in every situation. Since she intended to purchase high-quality talismans, it was inevitable that she would reveal something of her wealth.
Before the attendant could finish speaking, Chu Xin'er patted the storage pouch at her waist and interrupted him through voice transmission, her expression showing a hint of displeasure.
The more she acted this way, the less the attendant dared to underestimate her. He hurriedly put on an ingratiating smile.
“You misunderstand, fellow cultivator. Please come upstairs, and we can discuss the matter in greater detail.”
With so many eyes in the crowded hall, Chu Xin'er did not refuse his invitation and followed him up to the second floor.
“Please take a look, fellow cultivator. These mid-grade talismans were all created by renowned masters. We have offensive talismans such as Thunderfire Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Blazing Flame Talismans, Rolling Stone Talismans, and so on.
“Of course, our Spirit Talisman Hall also carries earth-element defensive talismans with exceptionally powerful protection. Defensive talismans are simply somewhat more expensive...”
They entered an empty hall on the second floor. The attendant asked Chu Xin'er to wait a moment, then soon returned with a bundle of talismans, introducing them one by one.
“There are more than twenty talismans here,” the attendant said.
As he had claimed, they were all mid-grade talismans, and Chu Xin'er had personally experienced the power of some of them.
“I'll take them all. Name your price.”
She still possessed more than ten thousand spirit stones, along with some artifact materials she had no use for. Therefore, she purchased the entire lot without hesitation.
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