Chapter 54: Meeting Tian Min Again

Early the next morning, Wang Ping received a jade slip message from Tie Lanshan.

In the jade slip he said he had gained some insight from this exchange, so he would go into closed-door cultivation for a few days, and mentioned that the new Myriad Transformations Imagery Array had been improved and completed.

The jade slip introducing the new Myriad Transformations Imagery Array not only optimized the formation, but also let him find a piece of Phantom Wood that had grown for five hundred years.

The new Myriad Transformations Imagery Array only requires a wooden token carried on one's person, infused with spiritual power, to produce illusory power.

Compared to the original version, it is not only more concise, but also extends the duration of the illusion.

A single spirit stone can sustain the illusion for ten days, and the illusory ability is stronger and longer-lasting.

If the original Myriad Transformations Imagery Array could block the divine sense probing of early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, the improved version can block that of mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Another piece is the jade token for entering and exiting the Hundred Arts Garden.

With these, Wang Ping went out directly, and in the Shopping City his first choice for buying or selling items was the Gathering Treasure Pavilion.

He did not rush straight to the Gathering Treasure Pavilion; instead, he wandered along, stopping and going, and visited all the relatively famous shops in Gathering Treasure City.

After visiting several shops, the spiritual herbs and medicines needed to hatch the Flying Heaven Soul-devouring Butterfly were all ready.

Next, he needed to find a quiet place to hatch it slowly. According to the Spirit Insect Cultivation Notes, without the spiritual insect fluid prepared from spiritual medicines and herbs, it would take at least a hundred years of incubation before it could possibly break out of its shell.

Now, by attaching a small absorption array to each tiny insect egg and placing the spiritual insect fluid together with the Soul-devouring Butterfly eggs, it will break out of its shell within at most ten years.

Moreover, after being nurtured by the spiritual insect fluid, their potential becomes much greater, and they have a higher chance of evolving into Flying Heaven Soul-devouring Butterflies.

With the first matter settled, Wang Ping was in a good mood and headed straight for the Gathering Treasure Pavilion.

The nine-story Gathering Treasure Pavilion,

It is extremely conspicuous compared to the Shopping City; looking from afar, its uppermost part bears a huge golden basin glittering with golden light.

That is an imitation of the Gathering Treasure Pavilion's spirit treasure, the Gathering Treasure Basin, and is itself an imitation spirit treasure.

Only the Golden Core True Person in the Gathering Treasure Pavilion can activate this treasure; normally it is placed at the pavilion's top, and supposedly doing so has the effect of absorbing wealth from all directions.

When Wang Ping arrived at the Gathering Treasure Pavilion, there were many cultivators coming and going, most of them Qi Cultivation Practitioners, but occasionally one could catch a glimpse of a Foundation Establishment Practitioner flashing by.

Foundation Establishment Practitioners, unless they deliberately conceal it, have an aura that is easy to discern.

Upon entering the Gathering Treasure Pavilion, he found that one layer was extremely spacious, similar to the shopping mall of the world he had lived in his previous life, with different signs at the entrance directing cultivators to various areas.

Without lingering, Wang Ping went straight up to the fourth floor, where the prices of most items ranged from five thousand to ten thousand spirit stones.

As Wang Ping stepped onto the fourth floor, a beautiful female cultivator was already waiting at the stairway entrance.

Judging by her cultivation, she was only at mid-stage Qi Cultivation; upon seeing Wang Ping come up, she smiled and said:

"What materials do you need, Fellow Daoist? I am Liu Caiyun, the fourth-floor guide, responsible for introducing the materials of this area to you."

Wang Ping nodded with a light smile: "I need to sell some items first!"

"All right! Fellow Daoist, please follow me!"

In the cultivation world, unless there is a difference of one major realm, people usually address each other as Fellow Daoist.

Liu Caiyun brought Wang Ping to a private room on the fourth floor, then slightly bowed and withdrew quietly; after a moment, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Soon, a familiar face of Wang Ping appeared at the door: Tian Min.

Now he had reached the great perfection of Qi Cultivation, and his spiritual power fluctuations seemed to be on the verge of breaking into Foundation Establishment.

"This Fellow Daoist! I am Tian Min, steward of the fourth and fifth floors of the Gathering Treasure Pavilion."

Still the same habit—first thing upon entering is a self-introduction. Wang Ping secretly amused.

"Lan Ming!"

Tian Min laughed and sat down opposite Wang Ping, then asked:

"What kind of items do you wish to sell, Fellow Daoist?"

Wang Ping said nothing more, directly pulling out twenty storage bags from his person and tossing them over.

Tian Min blinked slightly, feeling that the scene was rather familiar, and couldn't help but scrutinize the young man before him.

Although his appearance was ordinary, his demeanor was extraordinary, his eyes shining like stars, completely unlike the person he remembered; moreover, crucially, that person had a wood spirit root, while this one definitely had a water spirit root, so they were not the same person at all.

Seeing Tian Min stare at him and then momentarily lose himself in thought, Wang Ping guessed what he was thinking and deliberately asked:

"What are you thinking about, Fellow Daoist?"

Tian Min came back to his senses, laughed, and said:

"Nothing much—I just saw you and was reminded of an old friend of mine, which made me a bit clumsy; please forgive me, please forgive me!"

Having said that, he directly picked up a storage bag, swept it with his spiritual power, his face slightly changed, his gaze involuntarily flicked toward Wang Ping, then turned to the tabletop.

Then, with quick speed, he picked up another storage bag, his face startled again; he continued to pick up storage bags one after another, until the fourth, at which point Tian Min finally relaxed a little.

He gave a wry smile to Wang Ping: "Fellow Daoist, you truly are a person who does not reveal his true nature!"

Wang Ping laughed: "It's just that I happened to make a bit of extra income on the side!"

Tian Min nodded, no longer asking how the customer obtained these items, for the Gathering Treasure Pavilion never inquires.

He immediately ordered the outside Caiyun to fetch the appraiser of the Gathering Treasure Pavilion.

Soon the person arrived, began checking the items one by one; the waiting process was somewhat boring, and Wang Ping asked:

"I still need to purchase some items; may I look at the list?"

Tian Min was not surprised by this, laughed, and said:

"You must be visiting the Gathering Treasure Pavilion in Newbuilt City for the first time, right? How about I accompany you, Fellow Daoist, to browse the fourth and fifth floors?"

Wang Ping thought it over, nodded, and agreed.

The two immediately left the private room; the area of the fourth floor is not smaller than that of the first floor, but there are far fewer cultivators.

After all, cultivators who can produce more than five thousand spirit stones while still at the Qi Cultivation stage are indeed few.

The layout of the fourth floor is the same as that of the first floor, likewise divided into major areas.

However, the decorative style differs greatly; the fourth floor's style is understated luxury, and the flooring is clearly made of century-old black pine from deep mountains and old forests.

Once this timber exceeds five hundred years in age, it becomes first-grade spiritual material.

The black pine wood under Wang Ping's feet was at least three hundred years old, and the entire fourth floor was filled with the pleasant, refreshing scent of pine.

"What would you like to look at first, friend?" Tian Min asked.

Wang Ping pondered for a moment, then said: "Let's first look at the talisman treasures!"

Tian Min nodded and led Wang Ping directly to the talisman treasure sales area.

This place basically sells talisman treasures, or some special magic artifacts.

Even a high-grade magic artifact costs at most three thousand spirit stones, but some special magic artifacts are different—like Wang Ping's black small bell, which can bind and control living souls; if it were to be sold, its price would likely be around three thousand spirit stones.

Although talisman treasures bear the character 'fu', they do not belong to talisman scripts; instead, they are categorized under magic artifacts.

Wang Ping arrived at the area selling talisman treasures and found that, although the place was spacious, there were few items.

At this moment, Tian Min began to introduce:

"The talisman treasures on the fourth and fifth floors together total seventy-six pieces—fifty-one on the fourth floor and twenty-five on the fifth floor!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping's heart stirred, and he asked:

"I wonder how powerful the talisman treasures on the fifth floor are?"

Tian Min smiled and said: "The fifth-floor area mainly sells items priced between ten thousand and twenty thousand spirit stones. Those twenty-five defensive talisman treasures can withstand an attack at the limit of Qi Refining without budging in the slightest; even an attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator can be blocked for three breaths! The offensive talisman treasures have power that slightly exceeds the Qi Refining limit, barely reaching the level of Foundation Establishment."

"Can they reach the level of Foundation Establishment?"

Upon hearing that, Wang Ping instantly lost interest in these talisman treasures, turned to Tian Min and asked:

"May we go up to the fifth floor to have a look?"

"Of course!"

Wang Ping immediately decided to go up to the fifth floor to look, but as he passed a rack displaying talisman scripts, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his mind:

"Detected *** gate fragments; please merge them promptly!"