Eternal Life Begins with Learning

It had only been about ten days, but the Marketplace that once felt incredibly safe now filled him with a bit of unease.

Fortunately, this brand-new identity offered him some small comfort.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows; at most, he had only lost one.

In the past ten-odd days, many unfamiliar shops seemed to have appeared on the streets. Chu Mu appeared to be wandering aimlessly, but he already had a plan in mind.

Right now, he had no shortage of Elixirs or Spirit Stones.

Many ideas that had previously been limited by his financial resources could now be put into practice.

However, some things could be bought in the Marketplace, while others clearly couldn’t be, no matter how prosperous it was.

Besides, in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, one should never flaunt their wealth.

After some thought, Chu Mu finally stopped in front of a shop selling Magical Artifacts.

Wei Wu Pavilion. ’What a strange name for a shop.’

It wasn’t one of the Longevity Sect’s properties; it had been opened by a Loose Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm. This cultivator was said to be an Artifact Refining Master, and the goods sold in the shop were all Magical Artifacts he had personally refined.

He had browsed inside once before, and it had been quite an eye-opening experience. However, with his pockets being empty at the time, all he could do was look.

As he entered the shop, a clerk immediately came forward to greet him and launched into a sales pitch.

Chu Mu scanned the shop. At roughly a hundred square meters, the space felt extremely wide open.

Aside from a counter toward the back, the other walls were lined with wooden shelves displaying all sorts of Magical Artifacts.

There were many kinds of Magical Artifacts, each with a dazzling array of functions.

For example, on the wooden shelf to his left was a Magical Artifact that looked like a Compass. It was called a Spirit Tester.

Its main function, much like a metal detector from his previous life, was to detect fluctuations in Spiritual Qi.

Based on what he knew, this Spirit Tester, a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, could accurately display the Spiritual Qi levels within a 500-meter radius in open terrain. It could also precisely detect the Spiritual Qi level of a single object in a specific direction from up to a thousand meters away.

Even with obstacles like trees or stone walls, its detection range could still reach up to a hundred meters.

Without a doubt, this Spirit Tester had many uses. Whether for prospecting Ore Materials, searching for Spiritual Materials and Treasures, or even for murder and robbery, having it was like giving wings to a tiger.

On the counter in the right-hand corner, there was a dark-gold tube over a meter long. It was called the Divine Fire Tube, a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact.

It was similar to a rocket launcher from his past life, using Spirit Stones as its power source to fire an attack of Spiritual Power in the form of a Fireball. The attack’s intensity was comparable to a full-power strike from a Late Stage Qi Cultivation cultivator.

On the wooden shelf next to it was another dark-gold tube with a slightly different design.

This was the Continuous Pearl Divine Fire Tube. Supposedly, the energy from a single Lower Grade Spirit Stone could power it to fire twenty attacks of Fire Attribute Spiritual Power in an extremely short time, each equivalent to a full-power strike from a cultivator at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation.

It was also a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, and its price was considerably higher than that of the regular Divine Fire Tube.

Everywhere he looked, there were countless other Magical Artifacts: Attack-type weapons like sabers, spears, swords, and halberds; Defensive items like Shields, Magic Robes, and full sets of Battle Armor; Support items like miniature flying skateboards and Boots; and even single-use offensive and defensive Magical Artifacts.

The collection was a dazzling and exhaustive display of wondrously creative designs.

"How many Spirit Stones for this pair of Divine Wind Boots?"

Chu Mu pointed to a pair of long Magical Artifact boots on a wooden shelf and asked the clerk who had been following him.

"An excellent eye, fellow Daoist! This pair of Divine Wind Boots is one of the most famous Magical Artifacts in our shop. Put them on and..."

"The price is eight hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

The clerk immediately launched into an effusive sales pitch, only revealing a price that would be utterly hopeless for an ordinary Loose Cultivator after quite some time.

"Eight hundred for a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact?"

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, unable to hide his surprise.

He had lived in this Marketplace for so long that he knew the going rates for everything.

Even the rarest Support-type Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact would cost just over four hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones at most.

A typical Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact usually went for around four to five hundred.

These Boots were, without a doubt, a standard functional Magical Artifact.

"You’ve misunderstood, fellow Daoist. These Divine Wind Boots are no ordinary Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact. They were originally being refined to the level of an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact, but a problem during the process caused their Grade to drop to Middle."

"Take a look, fellow Daoist. These feathers on the Boots are from a Wind Spirit Goose, a Demon Beast. They’re Tier Two Lower Grade Spiritual Materials, which are quite expensive..."

Chu Mu glanced over. ’Two boots, two tattered feathers, and he’s still praising them to the skies.’

’Based on my experience with Alchemy and what I know about raw Ore Materials,’ Chu Mu calculated, ’factoring in the success rate of refining, the material cost for this pair of Boots is probably just over two hundred Spirit Stones, at most.’

’And it even dropped a Grade. It was obviously a practice piece made by some apprentice Artifact Refiner.’

’Selling it for eight hundred... he’s even more black-hearted than I am!’

"Seven hundred," Chu Mu countered.

"I can’t do that, fellow Daoist, that’s taking way too much off! The most I can do... the absolute most... is take off twenty Lower Spirits."

"Seven hundred and ten," Chu Mu offered.

The clerk launched into another long-winded speech.

After haggling back and forth for a good while, Chu Mu finally bought the Boots for seven hundred and fifty Lower Spirits and put them on.

As expected of something called the Divine Wind Boots and ranked as a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, they were indeed extraordinary.

The Boots came with a built-in Concealing Breath Pattern that could hide their fluctuations, preventing detection by other Cultivators.

Secondly, the Boots were capable of both Gathering Spirit and Recharging Spirit.

This meant they could automatically absorb the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to replenish their Spiritual Power, or they could be actively recharged with Spirit Stones.

At full Spiritual Power, the user could activate the Boots’ built-in Wind Manipulation Skill to ride the wind for a quarter of an hour.

The Wind Manipulation Skill itself was a Wind Attribute, Tier One Upper Grade spell. With the addition of the two tattered Wind Spirit Feathers, its speed could be boosted by up to double, but the Spiritual Power consumption would increase exponentially as well.

’The clerk’s claim about it being a failed upgrade wasn’t just talk; it was actually true.’

’With boots like these, my chances of survival have definitely gone up by a huge margin!’

Finally, Chu Mu also bought a Long Saber he had been coveting for a long time—an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact—for the price of nine hundred and eighty Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

One for offense, one for escape; one Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact and one Middle Grade. In total, he spent a staggering one thousand seven hundred and thirty Spirit Stones.

Though he still had Spirit Stones remaining, Chu Mu suppressed the urge to buy a Defensive Spiritual Artifact. ’I have a much better use for the rest of these Spirit Stones!’

’Making a killing off black-hearted deals... damn crooked merchant. Ptooey!’

Once outside, Chu Mu couldn’t help but grumble to himself. ’It seems like the Artifact Refining business is way more profitable than Alchemy!’

’Out of one thousand seven hundred and thirty Spirit Stones, Wei Wu Pavilion probably made at least a thousand in profit. It wouldn’t be surprising if they made twelve or thirteen hundred.’

’How many Vein Nourishing Pills would I have to sell to earn a profit of twelve or thirteen hundred?’

’From what I learned from Wang Mazi, Vein Nourishing Pills are usually sold on the Black Market one or two at a time. Anyone who buys a whole bottle at once is considered a whale.’

’But these Magical Artifacts... just a single one sells for hundreds of Lower Spirits...’

"The Puppetry Skill..."

But at the thought of the Puppetry Skill, Chu Mu immediately brightened.

’This kind of black-hearted money, these crooked merchants...’

’Sooner or later, I’m going to get a piece of the action!’

"Huh?"

After walking a short distance, he found himself in a strangely familiar scene. Smelling the faint scent of perfume in the air, Chu Mu stopped in his tracks.

Immediately, a flock of enchanting, chattering women came into clear view.

’When did this place show up?’

’The Cultivation Immortal Realm has places like this?’

Chu Mu was a little confused, but also a little excited.

’So it *was* familiar!’

...