Seeing Lu Qian speak so lightly, Jiang Qingfeng felt a bit anxious: "If that's the case, then we shouldn't have bought so many things today. The revival of the sect is a long and arduous task, and these savings must be spent wisely."
"Senior Sister, this is spending wisely," Lu Qian said seriously. "I mentioned before that the secret treasure spent on people is the true treasure; to hide and not use it is just being a stone. Now we are lost ahead with pursuers behind. If we don't improve ourselves, how can we bear the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the sect? If we fail before starting out, then saving more spirit stones would only aid the enemy, wouldn't it?"
These words left Jiang Qingfeng unable to refute, so she nodded: "Alright, as long as you have a plan, Junior Brother."
Lu Qian smiled, "Spirit stones are earned, not saved. Once we've improved our strength, trust me, I can naturally make the spirit stones come back doubled. You can rest assured, Senior Sister."
These words were full of confidence, making Jiang Qingfeng instinctively choose to believe.
Noticing the inexplicable look in Jiang Qingfeng's eyes, Lu Qian couldn't help but ask, "Senior Sister, why are you looking at me like that?"
Jiang Qingfeng shook her head: "Junior Brother, you've really become a completely different person, always surprising me."
Lu Qian laughed heartily: "Having brushed past death once, I've naturally grown a lot. Anyway, this kind of change is a good thing, isn't it?"
Jiang Qingfeng nodded, her beautiful eyes glimmering.
It is indeed a good thing. I hope, under Junior Brother's guidance, the Yunshan Sect can truly rebuild its mountain gate and flourish once more.
The night passed without words.
In the following days, Lu Qian stayed in the inn, recuperating while practicing the Starlight Needle and Spirit Turtle Shield. Aside from becoming increasingly adept in using his divine sense, the Starlight Needle operated as he wished, and he also thoroughly explored the characteristics of the Spirit Turtle Shield.
Jiang Qingfeng's jade pendant could emit an oval light shield, capable of protecting only oneself but could resist attacks from all angles.
However, the Spirit Turtle Shield, though it could expand or contract to cover up to three people, could only defend against attacks from one side. But its defense power was stronger than the jade pendant's light shield, each with its advantages.
After five days of such diligent practice, Lu Qian's injuries were fully healed, and his vitality was abundant. Even his cultivation level had slightly improved, moving closer to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, living up to the saying, "break through to stand tall."
At the same time, Lu Qian also took some time to roughly sort through the Yunshan Sect cultivation technique scriptures within the Sect Leader's Ring, categorizing the three-century-old heritage into four types.
The first type was cultivation methods. From Qi Cultivation to Foundation Establishment until the Golden Core, there were more than ten Qi Cultivation techniques suitable for various spiritual roots, four for Foundation Establishment, and only one studied by the founding ancestor Master Yeyang, which could be cultivated to the Golden Core—this was the Hidden Cloud Scripture which Lu Qian was currently practicing.
The second type was combat techniques. There were nearly a hundred magic techniques of various attributes and types, primarily for attack and defense, mostly common stuff. Only the "Wind Shadow Cloud Body" was the Yunshan Sect's exclusive secret technique but required Foundation Establishment to practice, so it could only be stared at for now.
The third type involved inherited skills. Originally, it should include talisman making, artifact refining, and alchemy, but after the unexpected demise of the founding ancestor, the Yunshan Sect quickly became a small, humble sect with only some simple Qi Cultivation methods for talisman making and alchemy, without any for artifact refining. However, there were some methods for the cultivation and nurturing of spirit plants and spiritual medicines. Lu Qian remembered that in the past, the Yunshan Sect's income primarily came from the sect's spirit plant and spirit medicine gardens.
The fourth type was insights and experiences. This part was richly detailed and varied, comprising the cultivation insights, travel notes, and even life perceptions of past sect leaders, elders, and some core disciples. These indeed could greatly benefit cultivation; thoroughly reading them would certainly help avoid many pitfalls on the cultivation path, but unfortunately, there was no time now.
During these days, Jiang Qingfeng also made full use of time, leading Jiang Baitao to complete learning the entry-level techniques. Now, this little girl could independently circulate the cycle and began cultivating the first level of Qi Cultivation, formally becoming an Early-Stage Qi Cultivation Practitioner.
As the recuperation ended, according to the prior plan, it was time for the three to leave Black Stone Square.
This morning, Lu Qian, along with Qingfeng Baitao, changed into ordinary clothes and then donned new human skin masks, prepared to purchase some elixirs, talismans, and other materials, ready to set out once preparations were complete.
The inn they stayed in was located at the center of the marketplace, with the marketplace's square not far away. The three had lived a secluded life the past few days, not paying any attention to this square. Upon leaving and passing by today, they saw the square densely packed with people, seemingly watching something, with bursts of cheers occasionally erupting from the crowd's center.
Jiang Baitao, extremely curious, pulled her sister's hand to squeeze into the crowd to see what was happening. Purchasing supplies was not urgent, thus Lu Qian followed them in. He saw a black stone platform set in the center, with a stone monument standing in front of it. Two people were fiercely engaged in combat atop the platform.
Lu Qian, however, didn't rush to watch the fight but instead approached to read the writing on the stone monument. It turned out that the platform was set up by the marketplace for two purposes.
One is for cultivators to compete. Since private fights were strictly prohibited within the marketplace, if two cultivators had conflicts and couldn't stand each other, they either had to settle it outside the marketplace or sign a contract and test each other on this platform under the notarization of the market steward.
The other was a platform competition. The marketplace established a platform master whom passing cultivators could challenge, with an entry fee of a hundred spirit stones and a reward of five hundred spirit stones for winning.
"Immortal Master, want to place a bet?" a servant-like mortal timidly approached, smiling humbly, "Minimum bet is ten spirit stones, and the odds for this round are..."
Even betting here? Lu Qian declined with a wave of his hand, pondering briefly before figuring out the market's clever scheme.
Platform competition seemingly offered generous returns but was merely bait to lure passing cultivators to challenge.
Qi Cultivation from one to four levels is considered Early-Stage, five to seven is the Middle Stage, and eight to ten is the Later Stage. When one becomes fullness in the tenth level, with spiritual Qi perfectly harmonious, easily breaking into the Foundation Establishment Realm, it is known as Qi Cultivation Perfection.
The challenge rules entail an Early-Stage Qi Cultivation Practitioner challenging an Early-Stage platform master, and so on.
But on one hand, the platform masters set by the marketplace are bound to have high cultivation and strong abilities. Those claimed to be Early-Stage would inevitably be at the fourth level of Qi Cultivation, Middle-Stage at the seventh, and Later-Stage at the tenth. Additionally, they must have abundant combat experience, making it far from simple to succeed in the challenge.
On the other hand, the marketplace also opened betting outside the ring, allowing them to adjust odds anytime when encountering strong challengers. Seeing from this perspective, it was practically risk-free and indeed a profitable business.
While marveling, suddenly Jiang Qingfeng urgently tugged on Lu Qian's sleeve. Puzzled, he turned his head only to hear Qingfeng anxiously whispering in his ear, "Junior Brother! It's Senior Brother Tan! The contestant on the field is Senior Brother Tan!"
Alarmed by these words, Lu Qian hastily turned his gaze towards the field, spotting a familiar figure strenuously defending, while his opponent, a tall and formidable platform master, swung a giant sword the size of half a door towards him furiously!