sinovels Chapter 43 Lingbao Pavilion
Chapter 43 Lingbao Pavilion
Li Qingyi stood beneath the Lingbao Pavilion, looking up and seeing the nine-tiered eaves like a phoenix spreading its wings, and the glazed green tiles shining brightly.
The three gilded characters "Lingbao Pavilion" on the lintel are written in a vigorous and powerful style.
This is the place he finally found after asking around the city many times.
"As expected of Xuan Ce City, it is more than ten times more magnificent than Yi Shan City." He marveled to himself, straightened his rather plain blue robe, and stepped across the spiritually vibrant threshold.
Upon entering, a refreshing sandalwood scent wafts around the nose, surprisingly possessing the effect of calming the mind and spirit.
The main hall was spacious, with the floor paved with warm, jade-green bricks. Groups of cultivators lingered in various places, their flowing robes exuding an air of otherworldly grace.
Li Qingyi felt like a country bumpkin visiting the city. "My perspective was too narrow before. If I'd known large cities were like this, I wouldn't have bothered looking for a market..."
A maid in a pale yellow dress walked gracefully towards them and gave a slight bow:
"Greetings, Immortal Master. What do you need? Please let me know."
"Talisman paper, talisman brush, and fifth-grade offensive talisman techniques."
A hint of surprise flashed in the maid's eyes, then she smiled and said, "Immortal Master, please follow me."
She led Li Qingyi through a moon gate to an elegant inner room.
The interior furnishings are extremely elegant, with ink paintings hanging on the four walls, in which clouds and mist seem to flow subtly.
A bronze Pixiu incense burner in the corner emitted wisps of green smoke, its fragrance refreshing and delightful.
A maidservant picked up a purple clay teapot and poured him a cup of Biluochun tea. The tea soup was clear, and the leaves unfurled in the cup.
"Immortal Master," the maid said softly, "may I ask what rank you are as a talisman master?"
Li Qingyi paused slightly in the hand holding the cup.
He then realized that he had never been assessed as a talisman master.
"I can draw fifth-grade talismans."
The maid nodded in understanding: "Understood."
She bowed and withdrew.
Li Qingyi looked up at the ceiling and muttered to herself, "Does this mean I have to show my talisman master credentials to buy these items?"
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, light footsteps came from outside the door.
The maid returned carrying a sandalwood tray, on which a storage ring gleamed with a warm luster.
"Master," she gently placed the wooden tray on the table, "these are the items selected according to your needs."
Li Qingyi was somewhat surprised, "Is it that intelligent?"
He picked up the ring and reached inside.
Inside the ring was a hidden world: three talisman pens hung in the air, their handles glowing with spiritual light; ten stacks of talisman paper were neatly arranged, each stack containing twenty sheets; and six jade slips were arranged in an orderly fashion, their bodies gleaming with a faint blue light.
The three talisman pens have price tags attached:
The green bamboo pen on the far left is priced at one spirit stone, the sandalwood spirit-infused pen in the middle is priced at five spirit stones, and the thunderfire wood talisman pen on the right is priced at ten spirit stones.
Twenty talisman papers cost one spirit stone, but the note states that purchasing a talisman brush costing five spirit stones or more will receive twenty talisman papers as a gift.
The six jade slips each contain a record of six fifth-grade talismans, four offensive techniques, and two defensive methods, all priced at ten spirit stones.
"Wow, that's really expensive!" Li Qingyi thought to herself.
Seeing that he had finished reading, the maid explained softly, "Immortal Master, we recommend that you purchase this Spirit-Nourishing Brush made of Five Elemental Stones."
Its efficiency in converting magical energy far surpasses that of the Green Bamboo Pen, and its flowing strokes make drawing talismans much easier. Purchasing this pen also includes ten stacks of high-quality talisman paper.
She paused, then continued:
"This Thunderfire Wood Talisman Brush, made of ten spirit stones, is even more rare. It can transform your magic power into fire or thunder attributes."
Seeing that Li Qingyi seemed to be deep in thought, she continued:
"As for talismans, we recommend that you purchase the Lightning Strike Talisman or the Spirit Shield Talisman. These are best-selling talismans, and our Lingbao Pavilion can buy them back."
Li Qingyi touched the tip of her nose and tentatively asked, "Do you buy the Wildfire Talisman?"
"We also acquire them," the maid smiled, "but the price is slightly lower compared to the best-selling Lightning Strike Talisman."
"Are there any other fire-attribute talisman techniques?"
"There is another type of Flowing Fire Talisman, but it is much more difficult to draw than the Wildfire Talisman, requiring extremely exquisite brushwork. However, its power is indeed astonishing, and its recycling price is comparable to that of the Instant Thunder Talisman."
"I'll take this one."
"Please wait a moment..." The maid turned and left.
"So expensive..." Li Qingyi sighed inwardly as she watched her retreating figure.
He took out the Spirit-Nourishing Brush made of five spirit stones and the Green Bamboo Brush made of one spirit stone, and also took out twenty talisman papers.
Li Qingyi pondered for a moment, and then she had already made up her mind.
The Spirit-Nourishing Brush was meant for his own research into the Flowing Fire Talisman, while the Green Bamboo Brush was prepared for the soon-to-be-born Corpse Puppet.
"Since it's a puppet, using such a cheap talisman pen for practice is a perfect way to make the most of it."
Before long, the maid had retrieved the jade slip containing the Flowing Fire Talisman.
When she saw him pick out two talisman brushes, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she didn't ask any further questions.
After handing the jade slip to Li Qingyi, she parted her lips slightly:
"The Spirit-Nourishing Brush costs five spirit stones, the Green Bamboo Brush costs one spirit stone, and the Flowing Fire Talisman costs ten spirit stones, for a total of sixteen spirit stones."
Li Qingyi paid the bill readily, but her heart was bleeding profusely.
He had only two spirit stones left of his savings.
"What's the buyback price for talismans here?" Li Qingyi asked casually after putting away her items.
The maid smiled slightly and took out a silk booklet from her sleeve. "For the Flowing Fire Talisman, it costs four spirit stones per booklet."
Li Qingyi raised an eyebrow. He wasn't familiar with the market price of fifth-grade talismans, so he asked again:
"What about a third-grade golden body talisman?"
"Three spirit stones, two sheets." The maid flipped through the silk book, her voice still gentle.
Li Qingyi: "???"
He realized, this was a 50% discount...
Seeing that he remained silent, the maid explained gently:
"Selling talismans here saves you the trouble of finding buyers. You can use the time saved to cultivate your skills or draw even more talismans—isn't that the best of both worlds?"
"Okay, I'll come again if I need anything."
After saying this, Li Qingyi bowed and turned to leave.
……
Back at her residence, Li Qingyi closed the door and took out the sandalwood spirit-infused brush.
The pen shaft feels warm and smooth to the touch, and one can faintly sense the spiritual energy flowing within it.
He spread out a sheet of talisman paper, dipped the tip of his brush in specially made cinnabar, closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes and began to write with great skill and precision.
Wherever the brush touched, the cinnabar transformed into spiritual patterns, flowing and shining on the talisman paper.
In less than a quarter of an hour, a golden talisman was formed, its runes radiating spiritual light and of excellent quality.
"It is indeed a fine brush." Li Qingyi gently stroked the brush handle, praising it highly.
Originally, his magic power was only enough to draw four golden body talismans, but now with this spirit-infused brush, drawing six at once is no problem.
Feeling somewhat relieved, he went out and found Ling'er admiring the flowers in the courtyard.
A young girl in a light green dress stood beneath the bright peach blossoms, her face and the flowers complementing each other beautifully.
"I need to go into seclusion for a while."
Ling'er plucked a peach blossom and twirled it lightly between her fingers:
"Go ahead without worry, I'll take care of things here." She smiled faintly, but there was a hint of worry hidden in her eyes.
Back in the house, Li Qingyi calmed herself down and took out the ancient forging furnace from her storage ring.
He opened the "Nine Netherworld Supreme Corpse Refining Method" again; the pages were yellowed, but the ink was still clear.
Three days passed in a flash, and he finally grasped the essence of the book. When he closed the book, the moon was already high in the sky outside the window.
"This corpse-refining technique is indeed profound, yet extremely easy to understand," he muttered to himself.
"It must be that Master You made some special optimizations. The most remarkable thing is that as long as the steps are correct, there is a 90% success rate."
The biggest challenge was retrieving my own body, but that was actually the easiest thing for me.
Li Qingyi smiled slightly, took out the corpse refining gift pack given to her by You Zhenren, and laid out the twelve kinds of spiritual materials in order.
There are Evil Flame Golden Crystal, Cold Jade Marrow, Thousand-Year Evil Soul Wood... Each one exudes a unique aura.
He took a deep breath, condensed a wisp of true fire at his fingertips, and threw it into the furnace.
He threw the twelve kinds of evil materials into the furnace one by one, and the true fire licked the furnace wall, emitting a faint hum.
The refining process requires magical power to maintain the heat and cannot be interrupted in the slightest.
Li Qingyi could only maintain the true fire with the weakest magic power, which caused him to waste some more time.
Three days later, the evil materials in the furnace finally transformed into a jet-black spiritual liquid, which slowly circulated within the furnace.
Li Qingyi dared not delay and immediately threw her own body into the furnace, whereupon the fire suddenly intensified.
Following the instructions in the Corpse Refining Technique, he forced out a wisp of primordial soul fire.
The moment the soul fire left his body, he felt a violent tremor in his soul, and his vision went black.
Fortunately, he had a strong spirit and quickly regained his composure.
He manipulated the soul fire to envelop the corpse, while simultaneously guiding the spiritual liquid to reshape the meridians and carve spiritual patterns.
For seven days and seven nights, he held fast to the single point of clarity in his mind, letting his clothes be soaked with sweat.
When the last spirit rune was carved, a blinding light suddenly burst out from the furnace.
At this moment, the corpse is formed!
Just then, the sky suddenly darkened, dark clouds surged like ink, and lightning streaked through the clouds.
A chilling aura of divine might descended.
Li Qingyi was startled; he had sensed this aura before.
Wasn't this the scene when the Heaven-Mending Pill underwent its tribulation?
"No..." He gazed at the increasingly thick clouds of tribulation outside the window, his voice bitter, "The book didn't mention anything about undergoing tribulation!?"