Chapter 167

"Young Master, what would you like to buy?"

Master Liu put away the items and spirit stones and personally escorted He Pingsheng into the guild.

He Pingsheng looked around.

He had no need for magic tools or treasure-grade artifacts.

The old man had already prepared all the cultivation elixirs—they were waiting for him in the side hall, no need to buy more.

What he needed was only talismans.

He had used up all the second-rank Move-Mountain Talismans, but still had four 【Heavenly Fire Talismans】 left.

These Heavenly Fire Talismans were strengthened versions of the 【Flame Talisman】.

He had never used them; he didn't know their power.

Judging by the effect of first-rank talismans like 【Ice Arrow Talisman】 and 【Fire Bullet Talisman】, which could instantly kill any Qi Refining disciple, He Pingsheng believed this Heavenly Fire Talisman could instantly kill any Foundation Establishment disciple.

With his cultivation base rising, Foundation Establishment disciples no longer posed much of a threat to him.

The real threats came from higher-level cultivators.

Like Jin Dan disciples.

Or that fellow Wu Wei.

He and Wu Wei had no apparent grudge, but He Pingsheng knew that if Wu Wei got the chance, he would cause trouble.

In that case, he should also prepare some third-rank attack talismans.

"Where are the second-rank talismans?" He Pingsheng asked.

Master Liu said, "Young Master, this way…"

The second-rank talismans weren't on this floor.

After ascending to the second floor, He Pingsheng finally saw them.

But there weren't many types—besides Flame Talismans, there was only one called 【Sharp Metal Talisman】.

This Sharp Metal Talisman was also an attack talisman; when activated, it immediately released a sharp metal qi capable of injuring enemies.

Each Sharp Metal Talisman cost around three thousand spirit stones.

Too expensive!

But even if it was expensive, he had to buy them.

"Brother, give me two Sharp Metal Talismans!"

He Pingsheng paid six thousand spirit stones and obtained the two Sharp Metal Talismans.

"Do you have any third-rank talismans?" He Pingsheng asked again.

Master Liu's face darkened. "No… what are you thinking, Young Master?"

"All talismans supplied by our Cultivation Alliance come from Tianfu Mountain!"

"Third-rank talismans are hard to make, have low success rates, and require priceless materials—each one is a secret weapon in the hands of Jin Dan elders; even tens of thousands of spirit stones might not buy one!"

"If our guild had any, the Alliance's high-ups would have bought them all long ago!"

"How could they still be here?"

"Such things only appear at Jin Dan cultivators' trading gatherings!"

"We can't get our hands on them!"

"Not just our Fenghe Zhuang—even every guild in this Matou Mountain marketplace has no third-rank talismans!"

Fine!

No matter—it's fine without them!

I'll visit Tianfu Mountain later and ask Sister Qiao.

After leaving Fenghe Zhuang, He Pingsheng didn't head toward the inner guilds.

All the guilds here sold nearly identical goods.

He wandered over to the street stalls instead.

Honestly, ever since those three little cuties were cheated by an old man here last time, He Pingsheng had developed a psychological aversion to buying things at street stalls.

Anything on a street stall—especially things he didn't recognize—should be avoided if possible.

Following this principle, He Pingsheng circled the stalls once more.

"Boss, what's this round, bulging thing? Bring it over for me to see?" He Pingsheng stopped at a stall.

The vendor looked very young.

A spiritual sense scan revealed the man's cultivation was only Qi Refining sixth layer.

Bold indeed—only sixth layer and daring to set up a stall.

"Sure thing, Brother!" The fellow mistook He Pingsheng for a Qi Refining disciple and casually called him "Brother," then handed over a black, disc-shaped object.

He Pingsheng didn't care about titles like "brother" or "younger brother"; he picked up the disc and examined it.

From his intuition, it was clearly an array plate.

More precisely, a damaged array plate.

"This is half a broken array plate!" He Pingsheng hefted it in his hand: "Where did you get it?"

The boy smiled, looking slightly embarrassed. "Found it, hehe… Brother, if you like it, just name a price!"

He Pingsheng couldn't tell the rank or function of the array plate.

But it didn't matter.

He could just put it in the Treasure Basin later and strengthen it—even if it produced two level-one array plates, he'd profit.

"Ten spirit stones—will that do?" He Pingsheng asked the boy.

The boy beamed. "Yes yes yes…"

For He Pingsheng now, ten spirit stones meant nothing—loss or gain.

If he lost, he lost.

After paying, he casually tossed the array plate into his storage pouch and flew off on his sword.

He Pingsheng planned to return and first strengthen the talismans; if Fenghe Zhuang received the poison elixirs, he'd send someone to retrieve them—he wouldn't need to go himself.

But barely half a censer's time had passed when he saw a cluster of sword light suddenly surge from the ground, blocking him midair.

The cultivator riding the sword—wasn't it Feng Dao Gu?

From a hundred zhang away, Feng Dao Gu swung her long sword sharply, and a blade of light descended from the sky.

"Feng Dao Gu?"

He Pingsheng's eyes narrowed slightly; in the next instant, he pulled out a round, small shield: the supreme spiritual artifact, the Sacred Wood Shield.

"Open…"

His internal wood spiritual energy surged violently into the shield, activating all eight layers of its seals.

A thick, green shield instantly formed before He Pingsheng.

The green light-shield spanned one zhang in diameter.

His wood spiritual energy continued pouring into the Sacred Wood Shield.

He didn't know if this shield could withstand Feng Dao Gu's sword strike.

But he had nowhere to dodge.

Her attack came too fast—he had no time to activate any talisman.

Activating talismans always took several breaths.

"Open…"

Simultaneously, He Pingsheng activated his gold spiritual energy, summoning a thick metallic shield.

Technique: Golden Shield.

Two layers of defense—surely they could block this sword strike?

The moment He Pingsheng fully activated the Sacred Wood Shield, a multicolored blade of light, like a river of light, descended before him.

Boom…

The projected image of the Sacred Wood Shield blocked the sword strike.

But the shield's glow dimmed violently and shattered with a crash under the blade.

Fortunately, though broken, it had absorbed about ninety percent of the sword qi.

The remaining less-than-ten-percent struck the Golden Shield and was effortlessly blocked by the 【Golden Shield】 technique.

After blocking Feng Dao Gu's strike, He Pingsheng immediately directed his sword downward to land on the ground.

Fighting on the ground was safer than fighting in midair.

At least you didn't risk falling to your death, right?

Feng Dao Gu wasn't foolish; seeing He Pingsheng land, she stepped forward and followed immediately.

Before He Pingsheng could even steady his footing, Feng Dao Gu, now within thirty zhang, raised her hand and slashed again.

Sword qi mixed with sword light formed a three-zhang-long blade of light, slashing toward him.