Chapter 62

But for He Ping, these were not problems.

Because he could strengthen them.

"How do you sell them?" He Ping asked, "These talismans!"

"Sixty-five spirit stones each!" The Daoist nun smiled.

He Ping nodded; the selling price of the talismans here was a bit more expensive than what he had seen at the sect's Treasure Hall before.

Over at the Treasure Hall, it only cost sixty spirit stones.

Of course, that was in the past; now that the Cuiping Mountain trial was about to begin, it was said that the items in the sect's Treasure Hall had also increased in price.

Besides, after the experience of being investigated by the sect following his last purchase of items, He Ping always felt that buying things at the sect's Treasure Hall was not safe.

Even if it was a bit more expensive, wasn't buying at Matou Mountain much more convenient?

"This kind of defensive talisman is more expensive, one hundred and fifty spirit stones each!" The Daoist nun picked up another talisman and placed it in front of He Ping.

He Ping asked curiously, "What kind of talisman is this?"

The Daoist nun said, "This is an 【Earth Shield Talisman】. Once activated, it can form an earth-attribute protective shield around the body, capable of blocking one strike from a Qi Condensation disciple. If the opponent fails to break it, this talisman can continue to be used; it can be activated a total of three times!"

"Of course, if it is shattered by someone, then it becomes a one-time-use item!"

"Little brother, in this Cuiping Mountain trial, besides the cultivators from various sects, there are quite a few demonic beasts in the Mystic Realm itself. Carrying a defensive talisman is the best thing to do!"

He Ping nodded and asked, "Do you have any second-tier talismans here?"

Second-tier talismans were for Foundation Establishment disciples to use.

The Daoist nun gave a bitter smile, shook her head, and said, "Sorry, I don't!"

"I am only a Qi Condensation disciple; how could I craft second-tier talismans? Besides, going to Cuiping Mountain, you won't need second-tier talismans!"

"If you really want to buy some, you can go ask at the merchant association over there!"

"Alright!" He Ping said, "Give me two 【Ice Needle Talismans】, two 【Lightning Talismans】, and oh, this 【Earth Shield Talisman】, just give me one!"

"Okay!" The woman was suddenly overjoyed and said, "That's four hundred and ten spirit stones in total; fellow Daoist, just give me four hundred, I'll waive the small change!"

He Ping took the talismans and then pulled four hundred spirit stones out of his treasure bag to give to the other party.

The spirit stones in this treasure bag were ones he had put in beforehand.

Of course, his storage bag was invisible and hidden inside his clothes, so he could secretly transfer spirit stones from the storage bag to the treasure bag anytime, anywhere.

As for the few talismans in his hand, they were also secretly put into his storage bag, leaving no trace.

With these talismans, He Ping immediately felt much more at ease.

At least he wouldn't have to worry when going to the Cuiping Mountain trial.

However, he really wanted to buy a second-tier talisman.

Why?

Because of Master Yude!

Master Yude and he had a blood feud involving his father's death.

What if one day Master Yude really discovered He Ping's true identity; would he take action to eliminate the hidden threat in advance?

You have to know, Master Yude was at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

A single strike from a Foundation Establishment expert could easily crush a Qi Condensation ant to death; at that time, no defensive treasure would be of any use.

One should not have the heart to harm others, but one must have the heart to guard against them.

If he had a second-tier talisman on him, he could strengthen it later using the 【Treasure Basin】. If the day really came when he had to face Master Yude, he could take out the talisman and send him to his death, right?

Hmm...

Go and ask!

He Ping walked quickly, passing countless stalls, and finally arrived at the shop area in the back.

Here, it was equally crowded.

Previously, he had come to shops like 【Shunhe Hall】 and 【Fenghe Manor】 to sell items. To prevent himself from being recognized, He Ping did not enter these merchant associations this time, but switched to another one.

Walking into the shop, the space behind the counter was actually empty.

The shopkeeper was busy to the point of exhaustion, serving customers coming and going everywhere.

He Ping gave a greeting and then started looking around the shop by himself.

That's right, the prices of the goods here had increased quite a bit compared to before.

Of course, this referred to the low-tier items that Qi Condensation disciples could use; slightly higher-tier things hadn't increased much in price.

For example, storage bags.

These entry-level storage bags were still priced at over two thousand spirit stones each.

But almost no one was buying them.

He Ping passed by one cultivator after another and arrived at the talisman section.

The talismans here were even more expensive; a low-tier 【Fireball Talisman】, 【Ice Needle Talisman】, or 【Lightning Talisman】 all cost seventy spirit stones.

As for second-tier talismans!

The quantity was much smaller.

To be precise, there was only one kind placed in front of He Ping: the Blazing Fire Talisman.

He knew this thing.

Back then, he had helped True Person Ku Mu collect pollen from 【Blazing Sun Flowers】 in the Spirit Herb Valley of the Tai Xu Men.

It was said that after the pollen of the Blazing Sun Flower was ground into powder, it could be mixed into talisman ink to draw this 【Blazing Fire Talisman】.

He Ping took a look; there was no price marked under this Blazing Fire Talisman.

So he had to run to the shopkeeper's side and ask, "Senior, may I ask, what is the price of this 【Blazing Fire Talisman】?"

"Blazing Fire Talisman?" The shopkeeper's brows furrowed slightly. He looked at He Ping, then gave a cold smile and said, "Little brother, you have no use for this thing; this is a second-tier talisman, meant for Foundation Establishment disciples!"

In his view, He Ping was just asking casually.

He Ping, however, said with a serious expression, "What is the price?"

"Alright!" The shopkeeper said, "This 【Blazing Fire Talisman】 in your hand is of low-tier quality, priced at one thousand eight hundred spirit stones!"

"If you have one thousand eight hundred spirit stones, I can sell this thing to you!"

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

One thousand eight hundred!

He Ping's body shook in shock.

This was too expensive.

Were second-tier things really that much more expensive than first-tier ones?

He Ping felt that six or seven hundred spirit stones for one of these would be incredible.

But he hadn't expected it to be this expensive.

"Do you want it?" The shopkeeper looked at He Ping.

He Ping's old face flushed red, and he said, "It's too expensive, I don't want it!"

"Hehehe..." The shopkeeper smiled and flicked his sleeves as he walked away, the look of mockery on his face plain to see.

He Ping walked out of the shop, feeling dejected.

One thousand eight hundred spirit stones—he really didn't have that much.

After making a big sale when he came to Matou Mountain last time, and then buying the storage bag, he had about one thousand nine hundred spirit stones left.

Over these past few days, he had gradually strengthened things for two hundred, and just now he had spent four hundred to buy first-tier talismans.

So He Ping only had about thirteen or fourteen hundred spirit stones in his hands now.

Of course, he had plenty of mid-tier ones.

But he couldn't take those out.

Hmm...

Let's try another shop and see; I hope that old guy wasn't deliberately messing with me.

He tried another shop, and the Blazing Fire Talisman was priced at one thousand eight hundred spirit stones.

The third shop, one thousand eight hundred spirit stones.

The fourth shop, the same, still one thousand eight hundred spirit stones.

It seemed the other party hadn't lied to him.

He just simply couldn't afford it!