Chapter 112: Second-Rank Array Master, Steady Cultivation Evolution Version 1.1
Dongsheng Immortal City.
A thousand miles to the northeast, a nameless small island.
Inside the cave dwelling, the light of flames flickered.
Time to start the pot—
No, that's wrong.
Time to start the furnace.
As the alchemy fire danced, the refined elixir liquid within the furnace appeared crystal clear. At this moment, the furnace lid flew up, and Shen Lian called out.
"Dahei."
Dahei, who was busy mashing spirit potatoes with a large pair of pincers, nimbly tossed the crushed potatoes into the furnace.
Shen Lian formed hand seals, and the furnace lid slammed back down.
The elixir liquid and the spirit potatoes merged within the alchemy fire, quickly divided by his divine sense into hundreds of crystal-clear pills.
That's right, fellow Daoists should have figured it out by now: 'He' was refining "Happy Pills" for everyone.
The new version of the Happy Pills had an output per batch increased by more than a third. Efficiency was up, and he added quantity without raising the price.
Once the Happy Pills were finished, Shen Lian couldn't be bothered to use jade bottles; he just shoveled them all into his storage bag. As a conscientious drug peddler, he focused on authentic materials and didn't bother with flashy, deceptive packaging.
Beyond alchemy, Shen Lian did not forget to practice his spells. Using talismans to fight was fine, but for him, spells remained the final line of defense.
He had been living near Dongsheng Immortal City for over half a year. During this time, he hadn't seen any large-scale movement of Profound Corpse Sect cultivators toward Haiyuan Island. This put Shen Lian's mind at ease. Since it was stable, he simply decided to stay a while longer.
Night fell.
A flash of spiritual light appeared in Shen Lian's hand as the Number One Tianyan treasure appeared, which he clutched to his chest, while tucking the Number Two jade talisman into his waistband.
All around, Black-Horned Demon Ants stood guard, each sporting a Number Three Tianyan jade talisman on its forehead as they crawled around the cave. Throughout the island, spirit puppets lay hidden among the soil, stones, water, and trees.
Shen Lian swallowed a Spirit Gathering Pill and began to refine it.
The night was profound.
[Calm mind and spirit, insight points +1]
[Calm mind and spirit, insight points +1]
...
[Calm mind and spirit, insight points +2]
...
During this time, not having to run or worry about mining, spending his days refining pills and contemplating spells, Shen Lian felt quite relaxed. After his flight from Aoshi Immortal City, his constantly turbulent mind had finally found a warm harbor.
On the island, moonlight spilled down. Black-Horned Ants looked up at the sky, the ground, the sea, and the surroundings. Occasionally, a streak of light would zip quickly across the sea outside the island.
Inside the cave, Shen Lian, in a state of meditation, fell into an ethereal realm.
[Mind free of external objects, divine insight points +1]
[Mind free of external objects, divine insight points +1]
...
In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.
[Mind free of external objects, divine insight points +1]
An ethereal voice rang out in the void. Shen Lian, clutching the Number One jade talisman, trembled and suddenly woke up, looking around.
"Whew..."
He let out a long breath, put away the jade talisman, and took out some Spirit Feeding Pills to reward the guarding Black-Horned Demon Ants.
He didn't know why, but sometimes when he was sleeping perfectly well, his body would twitch involuntarily.
Since he was already cultivating immortality, it was odd that this still happened.
Standing outside to look at the stars, Shen Lian returned to the cave, light blooming in his eyes as he blinked.
[Divine Insight Points: 16]
This was the accumulation of several years since leaving Qianwang Island. During this period of displacement, the process of running away had taken up a lot of time, and he hadn't been able to settle down properly. He was satisfied with these points. As for insight points, he had now accumulated 37,459.
Soon, Shen Lian focused his attention on the divine insight points.
"Ah..."
With a comfortable groan, he lay in the cave clutching the Number One jade talisman, eyes squinting. Within his dantian, a warm energy surged.
It was just like...
Feeling refreshed after a long night, Shen Lian changed into a new set of Dharma robes the next day.
[Earth Spiritual Root 60]
At this moment, his Earth Spiritual Root scale officially stepped into the superior category.
...
Time flew by like a shuttle. A plain life of cultivating immortality always passed quickly. After adding the divine insight points to his Earth Spiritual Root, Shen Lian used his insight points to accept the inheritance of a second-tier mid-grade formation master.
A stable life gave him time to reflect on his path. He summarized his years of experience running away and discovered a problem.
The way cultivators bought what they lacked was fine in theory. But for him, it led to an awkward situation: if he had to flee during a crisis, he might not encounter a suitable trading hub for years. He was only in the Foundation Establishment stage now; once he reached the Golden Core stage, he would go into seclusion or hiding for decades, delaying his progress entirely. Relying solely on backup talismans was not enough.
To be prepared for a rainy day, he needed to build his stability on logistics.
Thus, Shen Lian, who had been in seclusion on a deserted island for a year, realized version 1.1 of his cultivation philosophy. The sole core of this philosophy was "buy, buy, buy," turning himself into a mobile warehouse. As long as he carried the resources of the cultivation world with him, he wouldn't fear going anywhere.
With this guiding principle, Shen Lian went through his spoils of war again. Ore and such needed to be kept as reserves for when he became an artifact refiner. Herbs went without saying. As for what to buy, Shen Lian, who possessed the four major skills of alchemy, talisman-making, formations, and puppetry, had an incredibly detailed list. Even if he couldn't buy everything, he needed to prepare the common items in advance.
...
Outside Dongsheng Immortal City.
A youth appearing to be in his thirties with thick eyebrows and large eyes walked quickly out of the city toward a spirit ship docked outside. It was Shen Lian, having changed his appearance.
Looking at the spirit ship in front of him, he shook his head slightly. It was the rattiest one he had ever boarded. The ship was covered in patches, and the spiritual sails on the deck were full of large holes. Originally painted blue, the ship had become a "battle-damaged" version after many repairs.
The ship was broken, but the ticket price wasn't cheap; it cost twelve hundred low-grade spirit stones to travel from Dongsheng Immortal City to the Canxing Archipelago, over a hundred thousand miles away.
Having just left Dongsheng Immortal City, Shen Lian had less than five thousand spirit stones left out of the nearly forty thousand in his storage bag. However, the bag was filled with Happy Pills. The Canxing Archipelago would be the first place he brought happiness to.
"Fellow Daoists, the spirit ship is about to set sail. Please close your doors and windows and hold on steady."
"Those with children, please look after them."
As a nimble and pleasant voice echoed on the ship, the entire vessel began to shake violently, and gusts of wind erupted from beneath it. The wind was mixed with lightning, forming a thundercloud. Then, loud creaking sounds erupted from the ship, and windows and doors began to swing back and forth.
Boom!
Amidst this trembling motion, the spirit ship finally succeeded in taking flight after half a quarter of an hour, heading toward the clouds.
In his cabin, looking at the swinging window shutters and the door with a hole in it, Shen Lian remained expressionless. This spirit ship, named the *Sea Wind Thunder*, belonged to the Qian family of Chihu Island, a Golden Core family under the command of the Profound Corpse Sect.
The Qian family was indeed a Golden Core family, but their territory was near the sea-clan waters, and they relied on the Profound Corpse Sect to withstand the pressure from the sea clans. This ship was so dilapidated because it had participated in wars against the sea clans. After the war, the Profound Corpse Sect gave the Qian family sufficient rewards—enough to buy a new ship several times over.
However, the Qian family's Golden Core ancestor was habitually thrifty, so he kept patching the ship up to keep it serving the family. Fortunately, the Qian family had a bit of conscience; knowing that the ship's formations were broken, they reassigned it to the route between Dongsheng and the Canxing Archipelago. This sea area was controlled by the Qian family to the east and the Profound Corpse Sect to the west, making the route very safe.
...
Ten days later.
Shen Lian was cultivating when someone knocked on his door. Actually, there was no need to knock, as there was a large hole in the door through which Shen Lian saw a large, round face.
"Senior, in an hour, there will be a trading fair on the deck. My young master has ordered me to invite you." The round-faced female cultivator’s voice was quite lively.
"Fine."
Looking at the dilapidated environment, Shen Lian wasn't in the mood to cultivate. Attending a trading fair would be a good distraction, and he didn't have many spirit stones left anyway.
...
But when Shen Lian arrived on the deck, he was stunned. The scale of this trading fair was quite large.
The size wasn't the point.
The point was...
The entire deck, dozens of feet across, was packed with cultivators, ranging from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment.
At the highest point in the center of the deck, a cultivator wearing patched robes, so fat that his flesh was stacked in layers like a mountain, was shouting energetically. Crucially, his aura was that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Fellow Daoists, I am Qian Dai of the Qian family. Thank you all for your support."
"Take a look, everyone! All kinds of spirit items, complete varieties, high quality and low price."
"Buying is earning! My Qian family's reputation is here; if you buy something too expensive, you can return it."
"You can't lose, you can't be scammed!"
"Deep-sea coral, dregs swept out of the alchemy furnace of a Great Alchemist from the Profound Sea Sect—we have everything!"
"Sea-clan kidneys—highly nourishing!"
...
"The minimum purchase for this session is four spirit stones. Give the heavens some face, give the earth some face, give the Profound Corpse Sect some face, and give my Qian family's old man some face."
"You, the Foundation Establishment Daoist up there! I am Qian Dai. Whatever you want, let's sit down and discuss it in detail."
Seeing the fat hand stretched out with effort, Shen Lian flew down from the bridge. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could long ago control their flesh and essence to change their appearance; having such a bulky body only meant he liked it that way.
"Pardon the mess, pardon the mess! The family doesn't pay a monthly stipend, so I have to come out and do some small business." Qian Dai waved his hand, and female cultivators nimbly set up a table and chairs.
"You look unfamiliar, Daoist."
"But it doesn't matter. First time strangers, second time friends. Cultivators on this route all know my name, Qian Dai. Honest and fair, high quality and low price—if you buy something too expensive, you can return it to me."
"I won't use my family's Golden Core mid-stage peak ancestor, who is about to advance to the late stage, to pressure you. Come, have some tea."
Shen Lian hadn't said a word, and Qian Dai had already rattled off a dozen sentences.
"What do you need, Daoist? If you don't like what's on the stalls below, it doesn't matter. You tell me what you want, and if I have it, we'll trade on the spot; if not, I'll find a way."
"Do you have raw Profound Spirit Jade essence?"