Da Qing and Xiaoqing possessed considerable strength, but the overwhelming number of demon cultivators proved too much for them, especially as they were also burdened with protecting Li Zhirui. Shortly, they found themselves in a disadvantageous position, struggling desperately and appearing especially disheveled.
"Two second-order Spirit Beasts, what an unexpected delight," the leading demon cultivator laughed wantonly. "It has been a long time since I’ve tasted the flesh of second-order Spirit Beasts. Today seems to be the perfect opportunity to satisfy our cravings."
"Yes!" the other demon cultivators chorused, their attacks growing increasingly ruthless. After all, this place was a battleground for two major powers, and there was no telling if cultivators might come by. It was better to fight quickly and decisively.
A glint of resolution flashed in Li Zhirui’s eyes. Even with his damaged foundation, he could not let Xiaoqing and Da Qing die here with him!
Just as he was about to cast a more powerful spell, a clear shout suddenly came from behind him, "Take them down!"
Li Zhirui turned towards the voice and saw a tall, stunningly beautiful woman approaching, with an aura that was decisively valiant. She was a Foundation Establishment female cultivator, and behind her were over a dozen Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivators.
"Jiang Fengwu!"
The demon cultivator recognized the woman at a glance, and terror took hold of him. Without hesitation, he turned and fled, even using a secret technique to speed up his escape.
Seeing this, Li Zhirui couldn’t help but feel a sense of astonishment. Did this female cultivator hold such a fearsome reputation among demon cultivators?
He remembered the Bo Li Team had been very strong, yet he had never seen demon cultivators flee at the sight of them.
Speaking of Bo Li, he wondered what had become of them by now. They had likely perished by the hands of Yin Spirits or demon cultivators, hadn’t they?
And among them, the only one who might have possibly survived was the enigmatic Bo Li.
"Hmph!" The woman snorted coldly. "Lucky for you that you can run fast, otherwise I would have slain you all here!"
Any further, and they would have been too close to Yin Wind Cave. With the number of demon cultivators likely to increase there, even someone as powerful as them would not stand a chance against such a multitude.
"I am Li Zhirui. I offer my deepest thanks to you and the fellow Taoists for coming to our aid," said Li Zhirui, sincerely bowing to everyone present.
Had they not arrived when they did, he might have had to resort to his final move, which would have led to consequences he could not bear.
"There’s no need for that, friend. We were simply passing by and happened to come across you," Jiang Fengwu said, waving her hand dismissively and speaking heartily.
Li Zhirui replied seriously, "How can I ignore a debt of such life-saving grace?"
Cultivators and demon cultivators alike recognized the importance of cause and effect; the former usually tried to resolve it, while the latter tended to eliminate those tied to it.
Seeing Li Zhirui’s attitude, Jiang Fengwu had no further comments. She could hardly prevent him from settling his debts of karma, could she?
"I am a second-order Water Method Alchemist. Should any of you fellow Taoists wish to refine a Spirit Pill, you are welcome to seek me out. I’ll perform the refinement for free."
Li Zhirui, not minding their expressions, continued, "You may also purchase Spirit Pills from me. I only charge for the Spiritual Medicine."
He couldn’t just give away Spirit Pills for free; catering to so many cultivators would drain him dry. By charging for the Spiritual Medicine, he wouldn’t suffer too much loss.
Of course, settling debts of karma this way wouldn’t be as simple as refining a few batches of Spirit Pills.
However, he was not in a rush. Since he was injured, while he healed, it would be the perfect opportunity to help others refine Spirit Pills and repay his debts of karma.
"Are you actually a Water Method Alchemist?" Jiang Fengwu asked with a look of surprise.
Li Zhirui nodded and waved his hand to take out the few second-grade Spirit Pills that were left, saying, "These are all there is. If you all don’t mind, just take them."
However, the cultivators didn’t rush to grab them; instead, they all turned to look at Jiang Fengwu, waiting for her to nod before they began to vie for the Spirit Pills.
Even though their income was not low, who wouldn’t want free stuff? And with such good quality, to boot.
Li Zhirui also noticed this minor detail and couldn’t help but quietly marvel to himself, the prowess of this female cultivator was indeed formidable; she managed to keep a group of cultivators at the late stage of Foundation Establishment so well-behaved.
"It so happens that we are returning to the Immortal City. Why doesn’t fellow Taoist come with us?" Jiang Fengwu asked.
"Thank you, fellow Taoist!" Li Zhirui bowed once again to express his gratitude, regardless of whether they were truly heading back to the Immortal City or if it was because of him that they chose to return; either way, he felt the need to convey his sense of appreciation.
"Fellow Taoist needn’t be so formal," said Jiang Fengwu with a laugh when she saw Li Zhirui being excessively polite.
"It is the proper courtesy."
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Jiang Fengwu pursed her lips, thinking to herself: Such a young man, yet so overly mature. How dull.
"Alright, back to the Immortal City first, we can talk about these Spirit Pills later." With that, she waved her hand, gathered the Spirit Pills over which everyone had been squabbling, and put them into her storage bag.
During this process, she scanned the Spirit Pills with her Divine Sense and found that all of them were of excellent grade, far better than those in the Immortal City. No wonder everyone was so desperate to get their hands on them; they obviously didn’t want to miss out on such high-quality Spirit Pills.
"Let’s go."
Li Zhirui followed the team, and they encountered no obstacles along the way, as if there were no Demon Cultivators on this path at all. But in reality, it was because nearby Demon Cultivators were deliberately avoiding them.
Sure enough, they soon arrived at an Immortal City, but it was not the South Mountain Immortal City that Li Zhirui was familiar with; it was Black Mountain Immortal City.
This Immortal City was located between mountain ranges devoid of vegetation, covered with black soil. It was also one of the most important cities of Shen Leishan, because behind it lay a vast second-grade Spiritual Medicine mine.
"Fellow Taoists, this is my Communication Talisman. If there is anything, you can find me through this talisman," she said while handing a talisman to each of them.
These were the most basic Communication Talismans, inside which a strand of a cultivator’s essence was stored. Once activated by Mana, as long as within a certain range, the Spirit Talisman would follow the essence to locate the cultivator.
If there was an emergency, one could also follow the Communication Talisman to pay a direct visit.
"Then, I shall not disturb everyone any longer." Having said that, Li Zhirui turned and left.
What he needed to do now was to find an inn to settle down temporarily, heal, and repay his debts. Once these two matters were resolved, he could return to his clan and begin his closed-door attempt to break through to the Golden Core.
However, what surprised Li Zhirui was that on the second day after he arrived at the Marketplace, someone activated the Communication Talisman.
"Taoist Jiang?" Li Zhirui raised his eyebrows slightly, opened the courtyard door, let Jiang Fengwu in, and then asked, "Are you here to buy some Spirit Pills?"
"I’m not here to buy Spirit Pills," Jiang Fengwu shook her head, looking intently at Li Zhirui with a serious face, "I’ve come to visit you because I want you!"
"Fellow Taoist, we’ve only known each other for two days, isn’t what you’re saying a bit premature? And I’m not the sort of man who is easily swayed, even though you’re quite attractive." A gleam of amusement flickered in Li Zhirui’s eyes as he jokingly said.
Jiang Fengwu wasn’t shy in the slightest, shot him a glance, and said, "You’re overthinking it." Experience more content on freewebnovel
Then, getting straight to the point, she said, "I want fellow Taoist to join my team and become the Alchemist of the team."