Chapter 32: Luck Befitting One's Life
"I am being targeted?" If not for Lan Chang'an's powerful spiritual sense and keen perception, he would have almost missed the tampering on the spirit stone.
These days, he had been cautious enough to the point he thought he hadn't revealed any flaws.
Lan Chang'an's expression fluctuated as he repeatedly pondered and analyzed the reasons.
Having experienced two lifetimes of cultivation, his experience and understanding were incomparable to ordinary cultivators.
Soon, he had some preliminary deductions.
The first possibility was that he was simply unlucky and had caught the attention of some evil cultivators in the market town, seen as an easy target.
The second was that his disguise was not perfect, and he had inadvertently revealed clues during his actions.
The above two were mainly due to luck. Additionally, there was a third situation that had nothing to do with luck.
Lan Chang'an looked towards his storage pouch. In his previous life, he knew that certain keen-nosed spirit beasts could detect treasures or aged medicinal ingredients in storage pouches.
He had once known an eccentric person who could tell how many spirit stones were in one's storage pouch just by being near them.
In the cultivation world, nothing was too strange, with all kinds of rare and secret techniques constantly emerging. One should never be careless, thinking they were absolutely safe.
"The storage pouches used in the cultivation world are not true spatial items capable of forming their own spaces." Lan Chang'an sighed lightly.
The storage pouches used by ordinary cultivators were made by combining low-grade spatial materials with special talisman arrays and forging techniques.
The theory was similar to compressing a few barrel-sized volumes into a small bag. They also had to be paired with weight-reducing talismans, otherwise people would leave footprints wherever they walked.
The protection of storage pouches mainly relied on talismans and durable materials, unable to completely block certain sophisticated detection methods.
"Forget it, the profits from fencing these goods will be enough for many years." Lan Chang'an decided not to take any action.
In the cave dwelling...
He sat cross-legged, closing his eyes as his consciousness communicated with the handsome young man from his first life imprinted on the Nine Seals Stele.
Over these years, the first life's soul imprint had been relit by the nourishment of his soul. The higher the realm, the faster it could be lit up.
However, the white-bearded old man at the peak of Core Formation Realm from his second life had only lit up a single strand of hair.
Perhaps the soul essence at the Core Formation Realm was too strong. The lighting progress was as slow as a snail.
If he could light up the soul imprint of his second life...
When previously facing the evil cultivator Liang Shaotian, Lan Chang'an wouldn't have needed to put on an act and would have had a chance to severely injure or even kill him.
Lan Chang'an surmised that once he reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could accelerate the lighting speed of his second life.
"No one is watching."
With the addition of his first life's soul imprint, Lan Chang'an's spiritual sense could be amplified to the Foundation Establishment realm.
At the Foundation Establishment Realm, spiritual sense could be extended outwards.
These past few days, Lan Chang'an had intermittently checked the surroundings of the cave dwelling but found nothing suspicious.
"Has the other party realized they had startled the snake and decided to give up, or are they temporarily lying low?" Lan Chang'an no longer went out.
In the past few days, he had purchased a large batch of first-grade sand stones needed for the Cloud Sand Body Refinement Manual, spending several hundred spirit stones in scattered, small batches.
This amount was not exorbitant but also not small, and could have attracted the attention of interested parties.
Lan Chang'an had heard that there were black market connections in the market town that were more suitable for selling stolen goods.
"Since it's a black market, it must be a shady place, with risks inevitably greater than the market town." Lan Chang'an shook his head.
Without absolute certainty in his strength, he wouldn't dare touch this black market.
...
A few days later...
The promised time had finally arrived, and Lan Chang'an left the cave dwelling, directly heading to the Hundred Refinement Workshop.
"A superior-grade magical weapon, the Iron Lotus Umbrella, its quality restored to pristine condition." Refiner Gu Lai handed the refurbished magic weapon umbrella to Lan Chang'an.
"Two hundred spirit stones, transaction completed." Lan Chang'an inspected it and found that the weapon had been repaired quite well, with almost no visible flaws.
"By the way, Master Gu, if I have all the materials, would it be possible for you to forge a new Iron Trellis Umbrella in the future?" Before leaving, Lan Chang'an asked.
This top-grade magical weapon Iron Trellis Umbrella, capable of switching forms for attack and defense while concealing deployable umbrella needles, quite suited Lan Chang'an's tastes.
"Possible! The Iron Lotus Umbrella is an imitation of the magic treasure Thousand Mechanism Umbrella, which can be imitated up to the highest grade of magical weapon. However, with my current skills, I can only forge superior-grade magical weapons."
"Furthermore, reforging a new one would be quite costly, at least seven or eight hundred spirit stones." Gu Lai squinted at him.
Lan Chang'an's disguise couldn't deceive his eyes.
"Then never mind." Lan Chang'an seemed to find the price too exorbitant and directly took his leave.
His spiritual sense might be powerful, but his current cultivation was insufficient to truly support a superior-grade magic weapon.
For now, mid-grade magic weapons were most suitable for him. Combined with his powerful spiritual sense, he could control two for a short time, on par with the late Qi-Refining stage.
...
After retrieving the magic weapon...
Lan Chang'an swiftly left the Five Peaks Market Town without delay.
Just after flying out of the market town for a distance...
Lan Chang'an frowned, sensing a tail and a vague sense of scrutiny from behind.
He quickly landed in a forest.
Closing his eyes to focus, using the first life's soul imprint from the Nine Seals Stele to amplify his spiritual sense, he swiftly extended it outwards.
This state of spiritual sense amplification required concentrating his mind to communicate with the Nine Seal Stele.
It couldn't be used in a combat state or normally. Unless he let his first life descend into his body, and consume one opportunity.
"It's him..." Lan Chang'an showed a surprised expression, his spiritual sense detecting an elderly man with floral whiskers, at the eighth layer of Qi-Refining, taking out a black mask to wear on his face.
This person was the shopkeeper of the Spirit Herb Pavilion in the market town.
Lan Chang'an had visited the man's shop a few times under different disguises for transactions.
"Kid, don't blame me for taking action."
"Blame yourself for repeatedly loitering around my shop, too tempting for this old man to resist..."
The Spirit Herb Pavilion shopkeeper made a hand seal with one hand, a plump winged insect hovering above his palm, staring in Lan Chang'an's direction.
This insect could sense aged, precious medicinal herbs in a cultivator's storage pouch.
"Hmph!" A muffled thunderous sound exploded in his ears.
The Spirit Herb Pavilion shopkeeper's face turned pale as his mind wavered.
In the next moment, the flying insect above his palm let out a shrill cry, bleeding and falling with a swollen belly.
Instantly killed.
"Not good, Foundation Establishment Realm!"
The Spirit Herb Pavilion shopkeeper was terrified, using a blood-burning secret technique and rapidly pressing two speed boosting talismans to flee towards the market town at a speed exceeding the ninth layer of Qi-Refining.
Only after returning to the market town...
He was drenched in cold sweat, his heart still pounding.
"Too vicious! A Foundation Establishment cultivator actually disguised himself as a weak Qi-Refining cultivator. Luckily this old man reacted quickly."
After using the secret technique, the Spirit Herb Pavilion shopkeeper's face was ghastly pale as he plopped down on the ground with his buttocks, nearly fainting.
...
"So fast!"
In the forest, Lan Chang'an was dumbfounded, watching the dust trail left by the fleeing septuagenarian.
The Spirit Herb Pavilion shopkeeper in the market town was considered a local bigshot, with his own background and the cultivation of the eighth layer of Qi-Refining.
Lan Chang'an had only used his spiritual sense to issue a warning, containing soundwaves that killed the insect capable of sensing medicinal herbs.
To directly confront and fight, he would have a nine out of ten chance of success.
However, if he failed to swiftly defeat the opponent, it might bring trouble. Who knew if the other party had backup or a powerful backer?
There were Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed within the Five Peaks Market Town.
"Five Peaks Market Town...the Spirit Herb Pavilion?"
Lan Chang'an silently made a note before swiftly leaving the Five Peaks Mountain market town.
...
A month later...
Lan Chang'an returned to the Jin Yun Valley and had the gatekeeper disciple report his arrival.
Not long after, the ethereally beautiful Zhao Siyao flew out.
"Fortunately." Lan Chang'an did not enter the mountain gate, instead taking out a long box from a secluded corner and handing it to Zhao Siyao.
"Fellow Daoist Lan, I've troubled you this time." Zhao Siyao accepted the long box, quickly opening to take a glance inside with delight showing on her exquisite, painting-like features.
"Fellow Daoist Zhao, are there any larger market towns in our vicinity?" Lan Chang'an inquired.
Based on his experience, the larger the market town's scale, the safer it was to deal with high-value items.
"The Five Peaks Market Town is not small," Zhao Siyao pondered. "The nearest market town larger than that is the Yellow Dragon Immortal City. It's backed by the Black Fog Mountain Range with many wandering cultivators. If one has enough financial resources, it's even possible to purchase Foundation Establishment Pills there."
"Yellow Dragon Immortal City? Foundation Establishment Pills?" Lan Chang'an had also heard the Mu family mention the Yellow Dragon Immortal City, though the distance was quite far.
His heart stirred. In the past, Mu Renlong likely went to the Yellow Dragon Immortal City to establish his foundation.
"Cultivator Lan, are you currently capable of refining superior-grade talismans?" Before parting, Zhao Siyao asked.
"It would be quite difficult, with a very low success rate. If I happened to successfully refine one, spreading out the cost will result in a serious loss." Lan Chang'an replied.
If he became a first-rank superior-grade talisman master at this point, his talisman talent would be extremely high.
Lan Chang'an did not want to catch the attention of major powers and become a talisman crafting tool. Once caught in certain whirlpools, he would lose his autonomy.
...
A month later, Lan Chang'an returned to Hengshui Prefecture.
He went to the Marquis' Residence.
Lan Chang'an planned to leave a message, not waiting for Li Ergou, returning to Feiyue Lake first.
Li Ergou was working as a bodyguard in the capital and would need at least a few more months.
Lin Yi happened to be at the manor and personally received him, also requesting to purchase a batch of new talismans of higher quality than before.
"Brother Chang'an, from now on we won't be meeting at the Marquis' Residence for contact." Lin Yi revealed a mysterious smile.
"Come, I'll take you to the stronghold of Hidden Immortal Pavilion and show you a surprise!"
(End of chapter)