txolops Chapter 227 Damaged Black Banner
Chapter 227 Damaged Black Banner
It is less than 10,000 miles from the Ice Sea.
A magnificent city stands amidst the mountains, its circumference nearly a hundred miles, and its city walls, hundreds of feet high, are covered by a layer of pale green, semi-transparent shield.
Within hundreds of miles surrounding this city, there was once fertile land transformed by cultivators, inhabited by a large number of mortals.
However, now that the formation has been broken, those fertile lands are all covered by thick ice and snow, leaving only dilapidated village buildings.
Every now and then, one can see the ferocious figures of monsters flashing by, ready to devour anyone they choose.
This city, surrounded by monsters, is Silvermoon City, one of the eight major human cities in the far north.
Of course, due to limited strength, the cultivators of Silvermoon City had to reluctantly abandon their strongholds outside the city.
However, before the evacuation, the cultivators in the city had already evacuated all the mortals who lived and multiplied outside the city into the city, so the losses of the mortals were not great.
On the contrary, the cultivators of Silvermoon City suffered many casualties in the battle against the demonic beasts and had to ask other major cities for help.
Fortunately, several months ago, Master Muyun of the Flying Snow Sect arrived, and with his help, the precarious situation in Silver Moon City was finally stabilized.
……
In the sky, behind a naturally formed white cloud, the figure of a dwarf dressed in a green robe with strange patterns on his face was hidden. His bulging eyes looked down at the city below, filled with greed.
However, amidst his greed, he couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised that Silvermoon City had managed to withstand the siege of demonic beasts: "Another Core Formation junior has arrived. Good... The more cultivators here, the better. Core Formation and Soul Regeneration are highly nourishing."
As he spoke, he opened his mouth and spat out a small black triangular banner the size of a fingernail. The banner grew larger in the wind and eventually became a foot long, which he held in his hand.
Upon closer inspection, the small banner has an unknown white bone as its pole and a dark black surface. Every now and then, faint faces appear and disappear, roaring as if trying to burst out of the banner, causing it to sway and change constantly.
For some reason, there was a large tear in the middle of the banner, as if it had been ripped open by some sharp weapon.
The dwarf gently held a tattered black triangular banner, whispering, "My dear, don't be impatient. I will take all the souls of the cultivators and mortals in this city to repair you."
"Originally, I thought that the beast tide that broke out in the Ice Sea would be useless. But now it seems that we still have to activate them to break through the city. These monsters are too useless."
"Hmph! If it weren't for those bookworms from the Confucian sect causing trouble, I would have already repaired my natal magic weapon in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Why would I need to come to this bitterly cold land to collect living souls, and even have to be so careful that I dare not take action myself?"
The black-robed dwarf snorted coldly, and his figure gradually dissipated.
……
Ji Shuxuan hurriedly went to Li Pingdong's residence to pay his respects.
Li Ping smiled without saying a word, knowing that the matter of Ji Nianyun joining the Flying Snow Sect must have been settled.
Sure enough, Ji Shuxuan immediately thanked him, expressing his deepest gratitude.
Seeing his genuine joy, Li Ping couldn't help but sigh, "Indeed, no matter what world it is, children's education is the most important thing for parents."
After watching Ji Shuxuan leave the cave with profuse thanks, Li Ping returned to the weapon-refining room to begin refining the puppet.
After years of collecting, he is not far from having enough spiritual materials for his sixth high-grade second-tier puppet.
He intended to refine this sixth puppet into a defensive puppet.
Once this puppet is successfully crafted, he will possess six second-tier high-grade puppets.
Four attack variants and two defense variants.
This number is about right. He plans to temporarily put aside the work of crafting puppets once this puppet is completed.
After all, the first level of the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique" can only control a maximum of three puppets at the same time.
He has six puppets with him, which is enough even if you include those that are damaged in battle and need to be replaced.
Once he successfully forms his core, no matter how many second-tier puppets he refines, they will be useless.
It would be a complete waste to create too many second-tier puppets now; it would be better to save the spirit stones to create third-tier puppets later.
Li Ping estimated that the materials needed to craft a third-tier puppet would amount to approximately tens of thousands of spirit stones.
Moreover, materials of the third rank or higher are difficult to purchase with spirit stones in the Western Wilderness and the far north; they are mostly traded by Core Formation cultivators through barter.
Only in prosperous places like the Great Zhou Dynasty, where third-tier spiritual items are not considered particularly precious, would they be sold with clearly marked prices.
Without a great stroke of luck, Li Ping believed that he might only have the opportunity to gather enough materials to try and refine a third-tier puppet after going to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
……
Over the next six months, in addition to his cultivation and alchemy, Li Ping officially crafted the sixth second-tier high-grade puppet.
According to the plan, the matter of creating the puppets has now come to an end.
After that, apart from alchemy and secluded cultivation, he would not devote himself to anything else.
However, the tree may wish to remain still, but the wind will not cease.
On this day, Ji Shuxuan suddenly came to Li Ping's door excitedly and told him some good news.
Since arriving in Flying Snow City, Li Ping has not only instructed him to collect the materials needed to craft puppets, but also to keep an eye out for information about the Heavenly Craft Sect. (The next chapter is even more exciting: Chapter 226 The Damaged Black Banner, We Await Your Visit.)
His main reason for doing this was to obtain the complete cultivation method of the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique".
The good news Ji Shuxuan told him was about the Tianqiao Sect. He smiled and said, "Uncle Li, that senior said he has information about the Tianqiao Sect that you want to know, but he hopes to talk to you in person."
Having received kindness from Li Ping on numerous occasions, Ji Shuxuan was very happy to be able to help him.
Li Ping, however, was somewhat puzzled: "Talk to me face-to-face? Do you even know who the other person is?"
Through the channels of the Flying Snow Sect, he already knew that someone in Silvermoon City had sold second-tier puppets, and it was suspected that a cultivator had obtained the puppetry technique inheritance of the Heavenly Skill Sect.
However, due to the outbreak of the Ice Sea Beast Tide, Li Ping considered that Silvermoon City was too dangerous at the moment, so he did not set off to Silvermoon City to gather information.
Anyway, he wasn't in a hurry to acquire the subsequent cultivation techniques; his plan was to wait until he reached the Core Formation stage.
But unexpectedly, news also came from Ji Shuxuan.
If he could obtain all the subsequent techniques of the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique" without leaving Flying Snow City and at a certain cost, Li Ping would certainly be very happy.
After all, a strong divine sense is not only related to combat power, but also provides a great help in breaking through the bottleneck of Core Formation.
His spiritual foundation was already about 50% stronger than that of ordinary cultivators of the same level. If he could cultivate the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique" to the fifth level, the strength of his spiritual power could be doubled again.
Added together, that's three times the number of cultivators of the same level!
In this way, his original 65% success rate in forming the Golden Core can be increased significantly, making him more confident in his attempt.
Ji Shuxuan shook his head: "I don't know him. I only know that he is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he told me that I can find him at the inn in the city."
"Is that so..." Li Ping nodded slightly, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Ji Shuxuan tentatively asked, "Uncle Li, what do you think?"
"Then let's meet him." Li Ping came back to his senses and smiled. "You lead the way now, and we'll go together."
"Okay," Ji Shuxuan quickly agreed.
The two then flew towards the city together, eventually landing in front of a three-story exquisite inn.
The far north is sparsely populated and vast.
Due to the long distance, cultivators from the major cities rarely travel between them, so this is the only inn operated by the Flying Snow Sect in the city.
Li Ping's gaze swept around and finally settled on a teahouse a hundred paces away.
He pointed to the teahouse and smiled, "Shuxuan, it's inconvenient to talk in the inn. I'll go to that teahouse and wait for you. Go to the inn and invite that fellow Daoist to the teahouse."
"Uncle Li, I understand." Ji Shuxuan nodded respectfully before walking into the inn.
Li Ping then strode towards the teahouse. Once inside, he ordered a pot of spiritual tea and instructed the tea server to prepare a private room for their business.
He then dismissed the tea server and waited patiently.
After waiting for a short while, under the guidance of the tea master, Ji Shuxuan led a middle-aged cultivator with a handsome face and wearing a light purple robe into the private room.
Li Ping stood up and scanned the person who had come over with his divine sense, discovering that his cultivation level was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
The middle-aged cultivator was taken aback to find that the person who had invited him was actually a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He quickly said, "I am Xie Xing, and I greet you, fellow Daoist."
As fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators, he addressed them as fellow Daoists.
However, he was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, while Li Ping was a late-stage cultivator. In terms of both status and combat power, he could not compare with Li Ping. Therefore, he was quite respectful and appeared to be slightly inferior to Li Ping in front of him.
"So it's Fellow Daoist Xie. Fellow Daoist Xie, there's no need to be so polite. Please sit down and we'll talk." Li Ping noticed his awkwardness and invited him to sit down with a smile.
Ji Shuxuan, who was standing to the side, quickly said, "Uncle Li, Senior Xie, I have other things to attend to at my shop, so I won't linger here any longer. You two chat."
The matter that the two Foundation Establishment cultivators wanted to discuss was not something that a Qi Refining cultivator like him could interfere with, so Ji Shuxuan used the excuse of being busy to leave first.
Li Ping nodded: "Okay, since you're busy, you can go ahead."
Ji Shuxuan left respectfully, closing the door to the private room as he did so.
Only Li Ping and Xie Xing remained in the private room, sitting on either side of the tea table.
Li Ping picked up the teapot on the table and poured Xie Xing a shallow bowl of tea with a smile: "Fellow Daoist Xie, please try it. The spiritual tea here is quite good."
"Since Fellow Daoist Li has said so, then I will not stand on ceremony." With that, Xie Xing picked up the teacup in front of him and took a small sip.
Then he smiled and said, "This tea is indeed very good."
After exchanging pleasantries about the spirit tea, Li Ping took the initiative to bring up the purpose of his visit to Xie Xing.
He calmly inquired, "I heard from Shuxuan that Fellow Daoist Xie has information about the Heavenly Skill Sect, but I'm unsure what it is. Could you please enlighten me?"
Xie Xing smiled and nodded.
The reason he was willing to meet Li Ping was simply to find a good buyer for the information he had.
Now that they've met, they've learned that Li Ping is a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with ample financial resources.
He was always forthcoming with his knowledge.