Chapter 14: The Wind Pearl

In his previous life, Chen Qianliu was not cut out for business. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lived a bitter life relying on selling talismans.

A person’s choices can be corrected if given a second chance.

A person’s nature, however, is hard to change, even over a hundred lifetimes.

Chen Qianliu sighed and thought to himself, “Whether it’s low-end talismans, illuminating jade talismans, or the herbal tea and dried fruit business, even if business were booming, I’m afraid I wouldn’t earn much.”

“I still have to cultivate diligently. If I had reached the peak of the Qi Refining realm, I certainly wouldn’t be in such a窘境.”

“My only regret is my ordinary aptitude. Even if I were ten times more diligent, it would be difficult to advance to the second level of Qi Refining, Boiling Liquid into Qi, within three to five years!”

To attract business, Chen Qianliu had specially built more than a dozen wide chairs with high backs and broad armrests. He had even gathered some poultry feathers and stuffed dozens of fluffy cushions. He sat in front of his small shop, one part of his mind pondering his troubles, the other slowly breathing, circulating the Green Emperor Jia-Yi Art.

Two young women passed by his small shop. Having never seen such a uniquely decorated establishment, they couldn’t help but take a few extra glances. One of them, whose cultivation was not low, saw the two jade talismans in the shop. With one look, she recognized that they were Radiant Fire Talismans, but had been greatly simplified, turned into mundane objects that could only be used for lighting.

She was about to look away when she suddenly remembered something. She pulled her junior sister’s arm and whispered, “In a few days, aren’t you going home to visit your family?”

“You’ve prepared all the other gifts, but you were just missing something for your little brother, weren’t you?”

“Aren’t those two Radiant Fire Jade Talismans just perfect?”

“This item can only be used by him for lighting when he studies. It has a wondrous immortal utility, but you won’t have to worry about your brother using it to cause trouble.”

The other young woman was looking at the items in Chen Qianliu’s shop. She was very interested in the chairs with their high backs, wide armrests, and fluffy cushions. Hearing her senior sister’s words, her eyes lit up. She walked up to Chen Qianliu, her voice like a warbler emerging from a valley, crisp and pleasant. “Are you the owner of this shop? How are those two jade talismans sold?”

Chen Qianliu was overjoyed and exclaimed, “I am indeed the owner of this small shop. These two jade talismans were refined with some flaws and are only suitable for lighting. I’m only asking for the cost of the materials.”

The young woman who had asked the price stepped forward, took the two jade talismans in her hand, and played with them for a moment. She immediately grew fond of them.

In order to make them more sellable, Chen Qianliu had carved the two jade talismans to be exceptionally exquisite, depicting scenes of mountains and water. It was just a pity that in the eyes of the cultivators of this world, these decorations were of little use. The quality of a magical item was judged solely by the spell contained within.

The young woman pondered for a moment and said, “How about fifty talisman coins for them?”

Chen Qianliu was ecstatic. He had only spent thirty talisman coins on the first block of blue jade. The second block he had traded for from Chen Qing might have been slightly more expensive originally, but only by six or seven talisman coins, and Chen Qing had also gotten it as a bargain. He had thought he would take a small loss on the jade talismans made from these two inferior materials, but he never expected to make a profit. He agreed at once.

The young woman paid the talisman coins and took the two Radiant Fire Jade Talismans. She then pointed at the chairs and cushions in front of Chen Qianliu’s shop and said, “These chairs and cushions are also quite exquisite. Shop owner, name a price, and sell them to me as well.”

Chen Qianliu quickly said with a smile, “These chairs are just mundane items this humble Daoist made casually. How could they be worth any money? Consider them a free gift with the two jade talismans.”

The two young women laughed together. The one who had spoken first said, “Shop owner, you’re quite the businessman. But we can’t take advantage of you either.”

She casually took out an item, tossed it to Chen Qianliu, and said, “It just so happens that we two sisters recently killed a fledgling swallow demon. This Wind Pearl isn’t of much use to us, so consider it payment for the chairs.”

Chen Qianliu was overjoyed. He had never imagined that a few mere chairs could sell for more than two Radiant Fire Jade Talismans.

As long as a yaoguai cultivated for many years, it would gestate a demon core within its body. This item was the source of all the yaoguai’s demonic power and spells. Even the lowest level demon core, with only a few decades of cultivation, was worth several dozen talisman coins.

Chen Qianliu repeatedly said, “A few chairs, how can they be worth…” He tried to return the Wind Pearl, but the two women wouldn’t take it. They simply used a spell to collect the chairs and cushions he had placed outside and left hand-in-hand, floating away gracefully.

Chen Qianliu put the talisman coins into his beast-skin pouch, completely satisfied. He thought, “I can’t believe those two jade talismans actually sold. But I can’t pull such clever tricks again.”

“This world doesn’t recognize such novel trinkets.”

“This kind of luck can happen once, but not again.”

He touched the Wind Pearl in his hand, feeling a slight joy. This was an unexpected delight.

Injecting a wisp of Green Emperor Jia-Yi true qi, Chen Qianliu was immediately surprised. The two young women had said it was from a “fledgling” swallow demon. He had originally thought the swallow demon had only a few decades, at most a century, of cultivation. But judging from this Wind Pearl, that unlucky swallow demon probably had at least two or three hundred years of cultivation.

Chen Qianliu thought to himself, “I didn’t notice it earlier, but those two young women’s cultivation is so formidable. They killed a two- or three-hundred-year-old swallow demon just like that, and even belittled it as ‘fledgling’.”

Yaoguai also needed to be born with spirit meridians to step onto the path of cultivation. But even with innate spirit meridians, a yao’s body was far inferior to a human’s. In addition, yaoguai rarely had inheritances and lacked orthodox cultivation methods. They relied purely on their innate talent to cultivate, refining only a mouthful of turbid qi. Their demonic energy was heavy and foul. Often, a century-old great yao was no match for a cultivator who had been initiated for ten years.

Even so, a two- or three-hundred-year-old swallow demon could still kill dozens of Chen Qianlius.

When the difference in cultivation was so vast, it was difficult to overcome with numbers.

This Wind Pearl was condensed from the swallow demon’s entire lifeblood and was the foundation of all its demonic arts. If it could be refined, it would surely become a remarkable magical treasure.

In terms of value, this item was worth at least two or three raw spirit stone ores. In a pinch, it could be traded for two or three hundred talisman coins. If it found a suitable buyer, it could possibly sell for over five hundred talisman coins.

All of Chen Qianliu’s Daoist arts came from the Yu Xian Sect…

Well, they were all taught by his senior sister. Although he was her Dao companion and had exploited a loophole, allowing him to learn the complete Green Emperor Jia-Yi Art and the Yu Xian Sect’s secret method for refining spirit stones, his senior sister did not dare to teach him how to refine proper magical treasures.

Besides, even if she had taught him, his cultivation was too low, and he wouldn’t have been able to learn it.

Therefore, although Chen Qianliu had obtained this Wind Pearl, he didn’t know how to refine it. He had the thought of seeking out Chen Qing, but after a slight hesitation, he gave up the idea.

After all, the two were merely acquainted; they couldn’t be said to have any real friendship.

Chen Qianliu had nothing left to sell, even the chairs he sat on daily had been bought. Since there was nothing of value to be stolen from his little shop anyway, he tucked his hands into his sleeves and began to wander around the immortal market, hoping to run into some luck.

Suddenly, from a certain direction, the sound of a thunderous explosion rang out. Several people shouted, “A demonic cultivator is on a rampage!”

Chen Qianliu was slightly horrified. He gazed over and saw that people seemed to be fighting over there. He had no intention of going closer. How much cultivation did he have? If he were to get caught in the crossfire, wouldn’t that be an unjust end?

(End of this chapter)