章 132: 72-79 How To Be A System (Dummy-Proof Edition)
Chapter 72. Ren 'Stalker' Qingquan
Now that the serious talk with Ren Qingquan is done, let's check on my gains!
Thanks to Ren Qingchen's hard work at hunting for the last two days, I gained an extra 300 points. Coupled with the gains from that Tribulation Transcender, there is already a huge change on my personal screen.
[Name: System
Skills:
[Storage]
Inanimate and frozen time: 1000 cubic meters.
Space with x2 speed: 1 cubic meter.
[Transfer]
100 meters/ point.
[Calculate]
Upgraded using: 20,000 points.
[Devour]
Radius: 15 Meters (10,000 points)
[Scan]
Max Range: 10,000
[Create]
[Anchor]
Lv 7 : Ren Qingquan
Lv 5 : 1 (Azure Emperor)
Lv 4 : 2(Ren Qingchen, boy with necklace)
Lv 3 : 1 (Elder Gu)
Lv 2 : ±10
Lv 1 : ±1,000
Energy: 130,000
Daily income: 80 Energy]
Coincidentally, Ren Qingquan is also checking on the gains he received from his attempt at extorting me.
[Name: Ren Qingquan
Realm: Golden Core 0/150
Absorbed Spirit Qi: 15/15 (Auto Refill OFF)
Point: 2,000
Profession: Formation master (Extremely Weak), Weapon Refining (Extremely Weak)
Cultivation Method: Immortal Body Tempering (Immortal Ascension)
Magical Technique:
Armaments Transformation V.2 (Golden Core),
Body Hardening V.2 (Golden Core),
Formation Technique 1 (Golden Core)
First Section of Super Duper ... Turtle Shell Technique (Golden Core),
First Section of Turtle Divination Art (Golden Core),
First Part of Evanescent Movement (Golden Core),
First Part of Void Refining (Golden Core)
First Part of Don't Peek At Me, Pervert!(Golden Core)
System function: Devour, Shop, Scan, Library, Map (1000 meters radius), Calculate, System Storage (100 cubic meters, 1 cubic meters with 2x times), Sub system, Quest, Transfer (100 meter/points).]
When he saw the amount of points he had left, Ren Qingquan quickly screamed. 'System, my points are missing!!!"
[During the previous fight, system activated your Automatic Spirit Qi Refill Function. Which consumed some of your points to recover your spirit qi]
'Why didn't you tell me! *Sob* my hard earned money is gone!!'
Actually I wanna say those points either come from tricking the Heavenly Will or Ren Qingchen's hard work. But as a good system, I keep it to myself upon detecting Ren Qingquan's currently unstable emotions.
While Ren Qingquan and I are busy arguing. The boy whose grandma in the necklace I devoured finally woke up.
As I already placed a part of my attention on the boy, I immediately told Ren Qingquan about the news.
[Host, the kid you granted with a subsystem already woke up]
Ren Qingquan quickly activated the observation mode and both of us observed that boy from far away.
***
At this time the boy still looked half awake as some tears fell from his eyes. But once he saw the scene of destruction around him, the boy's drowsy look quickly changed.
"What? What is going on?!" While talking to himself in confusion, the boy looked all over his body to check on his condition. Seeing it is only bruised from the beating he received from those kids previously, the boy sighed in relief.
Then both of us saw the boy groping around inside his pant's crotch area before pulling a small pouch containing several spirit spirit stones. "Phew, luckily those guys didn't check my pants. Otherwise my hard earned savings would be gone."
After returning the pouch inside his pants, the boy looked a bit thoughtful before quickly searching around his neck. "Where is my necklace?!"
While the boy searched around for his necklace, I heard Ren Qingquan think this is the right moment to activate the subsystem attached to that boy.
'By the way, System. Do you know why those kids before said he can't cultivate?'
[System thinks the spirit energy that boy cultivated is absorbed by the Tribulation Transcender woman inside his necklace. Which makes him unable to collect any spirit qi and in turn make his cultivation regress.]
'As expected.' After hearing my answer, Ren Qingquan quickly typed something and sent it to the boy's subsystem.
[Ding! System initiating!]
"Eh?" Most likely confused from seeing a light screen appearing in front of him, the boy just stared blankly and stopped searching around.
[Congratulations for activating the Super Duper Ultra Powerful Leveling System!
The Super Duper Ultra Powerful Leveling System exists to help the host in leveling their cultivation stage. The host may ask System for more information.]
"Huh?" With his mouth open from confusion, the boy asked. "Then senior system, do you know where my mother's necklace went?"
[The necklace is the System's physical form. After collecting sufficient energy from the host, the Super Duper Ultra Powerful Leveling System has imbued itself on the host's soul.]
When I saw what Ren Qingquan typed, I feel his ability to talk nonsense has greatly increased.
Once the boy reads it, he is slightly agitated."Does that mean you are the reason I can't cultivate and everyone starts calling me trash?!"
Hearing that question, Ren Qingquan quickly typed.
[Insufficient authority level, please ask another question.]
Damn, that is a good answer. I will start using that in the future.
Both the boy and Ren Qingquan started a three minute long question and answer session before the boy finally ran out of questions. With this, I saw Ren Qingquan type another message.
[Please input your username]
Still not getting used to typing, it took the boy one whole minute to input his name.
[Name: Su Ping
Realm: Qi Refining 0/1
Absorbed Spirit Qi: 0/1
Point: 0
Profession: ?
Cultivation Method: ?
Magical Technique: ?
System Function: Status, Map, Shop (locked)]
After everything was finished, both of us saw Su Ping wearing a thoughtful look before his expression turned into one of determination.
Quickly leaving the scene of destruction, he passed through several streets and ran toward a certain direction before finally arriving at an armor shop that hadn't closed yet.
Spending several silver he kept in his pocket, he bought a bag, a drinking pouch, a dagger, and a leather armor that is slightly too big for his body .
Next, both of us saw him running toward another direction and arrived at an inn with a tavern on the first floor.
With his hand, Su Ping pushed the door open and walked in confidently inside while observing the tavern's guests.
He seems to have done his research as he immediately walked towards one of the drunk men and asked, "I want to join your caravan and reach Crimson Claw Immortal City."
When the drunk man heard his word, he waved his hand in shoo-ing motion. "Go away, kid. We don't accept burden on our travel. Traveling to an immortal city is already hard enough as it is."
Placing his hand into one of his pockets, Su Ping pulled five spirit stones that he had separated from the pouch in his crotch. He then secretly placed all five spirit stones inside the man's hand.
Both of us then saw the drunk man stare at Su Ping with deep eyes while fluidly placing the five spirit stones on his pocket. With those spirit stones kept safely inside his pocket, the man's attitude flipped 180 degrees."Rest up, we will go before the sun rises tomorrow. If you haven't woken up by then, we will leave you out. Also, there is no refund if you are indeed late!"
Nodding his head, Su Ping walked to a reception table and purchased a night's stay on the tavern's normal room. Walking toward the third floor, he entered one of the rooms and fell asleep inside after locking the door.
With Su Ping falling asleep, I can sense Ren Qingquan getting bored and exited the observation mode.
Flying several kilometers further from the city, he stopped and descended.
'Lets sleep too.' Ren Qingquan opened [Storage] then pulled his trusted 2x2x2 metal shelter before placing it on the ground. He then entered it and went to sleep. 'System, wake me up when Su Ping starts to travel.'
[Alright.]
**
The next day.
An hour before the sun rose, I saw Su Ping already woke up as he immediately walked toward the inn's backyard and pulled some water from the well.
Washing his face with the water from that well, his initially sleepy look finally refreshed. Su Ping then went towards a corner of the inn's backyard and started cultivating.
When I compare the super diligent Su Ping and Ren Qingquan who is currently sleeping like a log, I feel the urge to blast him up.
Soon, some sound can be heard. From [Scan], I sensed the drunk man from yesterday approaching Su Ping. Sensing the approaching man, Su Ping also woke up from his meditation with an excited face.
It seems he found out that he can finally cultivate once more.
"What a diligent kid, you are already cultivating at such a time?" When he heard the praise coming from that not-drunk-anymore man, Su Ping nodded.
I seriously need to give that man a new nickname.
Just in time, a woman's voice can be heard. "Captain, the carriages are ready! Have you refilled our water?"
"Soon! Soon!" The not-drunk-anymore man or the captain replied while shouting.
He then pulled several drinking pouches made out of animal leather and filled them with water from the inn's well. After filling every single one of them, the captain called out to Su Ping "Let's go, we are leaving."
Su Ping woke up from his meditation and filled his own drinking pouch and followed the captain toward the inn's stable.
There, four other people consisting of two females and two males are waiting, every single one of them is at the limit of Qi Refining stage. Next to them, there are three horses and a huge carriage pulled by two horses. Inside that carriage, I sensed several items containing a considerable amount of energy.
When they saw Su Ping following the captain, some of them frowned. Seeing his teammates' distaste, the captain made some hand gestures while moving his mouth to say 'He paid.'
Realization struck them as their initially frowning face turned into a kind one.
I am utterly amazed by the power of money. Even in another world, money still makes the world turn.
"Alright then everyone, hop on your horse. Li Mei, let the boy sit next to you at the driver's seat. Old Hu and Kuan Gong can sit together."
After giving his command, the captain also hopped on his horse.
I saw Su Ping also followed suit and jumped into the carriage's seat. Next to him, a middle aged woman is pulling the horse's reins.
When she saw Su Ping staring at her, the woman smiled kindly. "Hello there, you may call me Li Mei. May I ask what your name is?"
"My name is Su Ping."
When she heard his answer, I swear I saw Li Mei's eyes shone before asking another question. "Oh, are you someone from the Su family? The richest family in this city?"
the captain who overheard their conversation shouted toward the carriage angrily. "Li Mei, stop being nosy! We are professionals, we only do our job and get paid."
After she was berated by the captain, Li Mei turned silent while mumbling. " *Tsk*, don't destroy my chance of being the wife of a rich guy, old man."
What the hell, did I just see a gold digger in cultivation world?!
With this, the caravan silently walked through the city's road that had just started to get lively. Soon, they arrived at one of the city gates.
Under the city gate, I saw another caravan waiting to leave the city. After being inspected by the several guards, that caravan quickly left the gate.
Su Ping's group went forward and the guards swiftly inspected their caravan before allowing them to leave the city.
As they already left the city, I decided to wake Ren Qingquan up.
Spending a point, I directly created several lightning into Ren Qingquan's body.
"Argh!" With a buzzing sound, he quickly woke up with a shock and screamed while angrily shouting at me, 'System, can't you wake me up more gently? I almost got a heart attack just now!'
[Ding! If host want System to wake you up gently, then host must be more specific with your requirement.]
Ren Qingquan silently rolled his eyes upon reading my answer.
After arguing with me, he exited his metal shelter and stored it inside [Storage] before asking me to activate observation mode to watch Su Ping.
When Ren Qingquan opened his observation mode, what greeted him was the sight of Li Mei doing a sexy pose while controlling the carriage. One moment she will cross one of her arms under her blossom, while the next moment she will slightly lean toward Su Ping.
Next to her, Su Ping just looked forward with an expressionless face.
Ren Qingquan who was shocked internally screamed. 'FBI, a suspicious aunty is doing bad things to a young boy!'
Chapter 73. Inhumane Idea For EXP Farm
Not long after leaving the city, the caravan finally walked away from the main road. Treading on the now uneven dirt path, they steadily marched forward while cutting any overgrown plant blocking the road.
Thanks to the fact everyone on the caravan is either at the peak of Qi Refining or early foundation building stage. Even when there are occasional fallen trees blocking the road, they can easily push it away.
Furthermore, the horses they used are actually spirit beasts with cultivation of at least Qi Refining stage.
The group's strength helped them on their journey, as the beasts in the surrounding area quickly walked away upon sensing the group's strength.
But, just like how there are blind young masters and arrogant sect elders that can't see the severity of heaven and anger protagonist like child of luck. Some spirit beasts are also blind and actually try to hunt targets that's much stronger than them.
While resting in an opening nearby their path, Su Ping's group heard many rustling sounds from quite far away. From the [Scan] I left on him, I detected the existence of many monkeys.
When the captain heard it, he quickly rose up and ordered, "Old Hu, check the situation. Kuan Gong and Xiao Wen guard the carriage while preparing your attack."
Old Hu quickly left the team and entered the forest. Then, I saw him climbing a tree before quickly returning to the team. "There is a group of Silver Tail Monkeys coming our way. Five at Body Tempering stage, Three at Qi Refining stage and One at Foundation Building stage."
The captain frowned, "Is there still time to leave?"
Old Hu shook his head, " I don't think it is possible."
"Then prepare for combat!" At the same time as the Captain's voice, the sound of monkey's scream can be heard from the surroundings as they surround the caravan team.
With the Foundation Building stage monkey's scream as their mark, the surrounding monkeys immediately attack.
The captain, already prepared for their march, pulled the sword from his sheath.
"Giant Sword Aura!" Shouting the name of his technique, the Captain's initially short sword is surrounded by a qi aura that turns it into the size of a claymore.
Using his sword to block the path of three Qi Refining monkeys, the attack prepared by Kuan Gong finally arrived.
"Fiery Dragon Dance!" From nearby the carriage, Kuan Gong sent the Magical Technique he had prepared toward the monkeys blocked by the captain.
*Boom*
An explosion quickly swallowed the monkeys in front of him. The captain who had prepared for such an impact, already hid himself behind his claymore sized sword.
The long preparation of that magical technique doesn't come to waste as it directly killed three monkeys.
Meanwhile Xiao Wen who has pulled her bow is rapidly shooting at the monkeys coming from different directions.
When the Foundation Building monkey saw many of its minions getting killed, it finally started to take action.
Rapidly moving through trees, it jumped down like a meteor toward the caravan captain that had killed three of its strongest underlings.
"Earth Wall!" Already prepared himself for the attack, the captain shouted the name of a magical technique as a wall made of earth rose from the ground on the path of that monkey's descent.
Hitting his body on the wall without any preparation, the monkey successfully shattered it in exchange of turning a bit dizzy.
Old Hu who had been waiting for the right moment, arrived behind the stunned Foundation Building stage monkey and stabbed his dagger in it.
The dagger which contained some poison weakened the monkey even further. But even in its weakened state, the monkey still had time to smash its hand toward Old Hu who barely managed to evade.
Although he successfully evaded the monkey's claw attack, the air from its attack still managed to leave some wounds on his body.
While Old Hu is holding his wounded abdomen, a magical technique coming from Li Mei helped him to recover. The initially deep wound quickly recovered until it only left some scars.
At this time, Xiao Wen has finished preparing her magical technique.
"Eternal ice Arrow!" With her shout, a cold aura appeared on Xiao Wen's arrows as she shot three arrows consecutively toward the monkey.
Although it successfully evaded two of them thanks to its agility, one of the arrows still successfully landed on its abdomen and slowed down its movement.
Using his claymore, the captain gave that monkey the finishing blow and finally beheaded it.
While those people are fighting for their lives, Su Ping is sitting in the carriage's seat and staring at the notification that has been appearing non-stop.
[Ding! Successfully devoured 5 points!]x3
[Ding! Successfully devoured 0.5 points!] x10
[Ding! Successfully devoured 10 points!]
After the battle, Su Ping actually gained a total of 50 points without doing anything!
***
Looking at the caravan's battle, I actually feel a weird feeling. The way they fight somehow reminds me of those adventurers in fantasy anime instead of cultivators.
What is with the caravan's super balanced team composition that is made of 1 healer, 1 tank, 1 scout, and 2 damage dealers. Coupled with their good team work, it seriously creeped me out.
Shouldn't all cultivators have balanced stat?
'System, help me mark Su Ping's location. I wanna follow them just in case.' Suddenly Ren Qingquan was ready to move his ass and requested me to mark the map.
Because I've been observing Su Ping's path since he left the city, I easily marked the caravan's current location on Ren Qingquan's map.
Ren Qingquan used the map and flew toward the location those caravans were moving. While flying, I heard Ren Qingquan asking me a question.
'System, do you think I can also follow that pay to win path?' I can feel Ren Qingquan actually got tempted by how Su Ping gained points easily by asking others to kill monsters for him.
[System thinks it is possible. How about host pay some nascent soul cultivators and above to help you? System thinks the host can use some of the energy gained from their help to pay those people, which results in zero cost investment!]
'Actually, I am just asking, it doesn't mean I wanna do it.' Ren Qingquan just shrugged. 'What you said seems like a pain in the ass.'
Why are you asking about it in the first place then?! ಠ益ಠ
Perhaps Ren Qingquan felt my anger as he continued, 'Actually, rather than looking for spirit beasts to hunt, I prefer for those spirit beasts to bring their head to me on their own initiative.'
[Please explain, System don't quite get what hosts mean.]
I actually already read his thoughts. But unlike usual, this idea of his is a bit scattered which requires me to spend some time to piece it slowly. Rather than spending my already limited calculation power on such a thing, I'd rather ask him directly.
When Ren Qingquan heard my question, he looked a bit thoughtful before piecing his scattered idea and explained it to me.
'I mean, when I saw the description of that storage space with twice the time flow you gave me last night, I thought of a new idea.' Equipping his enlightened expression, Ren Qingquan continued in a tone that's asking for a beating.
'Initially I planned to turn it into a spiritual plant farm and get some money, but the scene before has awakened me and opened my horizon.'
'Rather than using it as a field, why don't I rear spirit beasts with it. I just need to store some spirit qi and food inside. Once the spirit beasts inside have reached old age or certain cultivation stage, I will kill them and devour their souls. Meanwhile, I can also collect their corpses and sell them to other cultivators and purchase more food to feed them.'
When I heard Ren Qingquan's idea, I feel it was quite cruel. But I am sure such a thing happens everyday at farms, right? I hope the animal association won't target us for animal abuse~
Wait a moment, Ren Qingquan's brain actually went online once again! I need to check whether or not I am affected by his intelligence suppressing luck.
I quickly activated calculation and looked for any possible sign of my intelligence being decreased in this conversation. After making sure I don't seem to be affected at all, I sighed in relief and replied.
[So, do you need the system's help on something?]
'Yeah, can you help me to look for beasts with good reproduction ability and high cultivation speed?' Ren Qingquan nodded as he continued, 'Oh, also don't select beasts that are too cute. Turning them into farm animals makes me uncomfortable. I am afraid it will turn into my heart demon, if heart demon even exists in this world.'
I hesitated for a bit upon hearing his request. Such a thing will took quite a lot of my attention. Right now, my attention has been spread between seven people, which are: Ren Qingquan, Su Ping, Ren Qingchen, Sect Master of Pure Wave Sect, Elder Fengyun, one of the duo chasing after Ren Qingquan, and a random person attached with subsystems.
Of course that hesitation doesn't last long, to be exact it only lasted for a mere five seconds before I happily agreed.
Now then, if I need to check the data for every beasts we meet, it will either require me to overload my calculation power, increase my [Calculate], or give up observing some of the people I currently observe.
After some thought, I decided to spend the 30,000 points I gained from the last few days. Money exists to be spent after all.
This hurt me physically, but the prospect of an automatic EXP farm is just that tempting for me!
I actually wanna make Ren Qingquan bear the cost. But looking at the pitiful 2,000 points remaining in his pocket, even I can't bear to take his points.
I am not that heartless... yet.
***
When the plan are brought to reality, it turns out to be quite harder than I initially expected.
While Ren Qingquan is stalking Su Ping from far away by flying in midair, I am busy scanning the beasts he passes through.
I actually found quite a lot of beasts meeting the first requirement.
For one, most insects I scanned meet this criteria. But their cultivation speed is abysmally low with barely a dozen of Body Tempering Stage beasts among a group consisting of hundred thousands or even millions of insects.
Furthermore the amount of energy that can be gained from the soul of an insect is also much lower than the soul of beasts or humans.
There are also some mammals that meet both first and second requirements. But, they failed in Ren Qingquan's third criteria.
That's right, they are too cute!
For example, there is this group of bunnies that is good at multiplying. But their brown fur and huge eyes are just too cute.
There is also a colony of rats consisting of many Body Tempering stages and even qi refining rats. But different from the rats found in modern day's city, this group of critters looks more like hamsters.
Who would've guessed, Ren Qingquan's nonsensical last request is actually the hardest part!
Also, curse this stupid cultivation world! Why are there so many cute small creatures in it!
Chapter 74. Fall
After the battle against that group of monkeys, Su Ping's group continued to travel until evening before they decided to start a camp and rest.
Although they occasionally met with some beasts, but, thanks to the caravan team's superb coordination, the journey went smoothly without much delay.
Including the one gained from those monkeys, Su Ping has gained a total of 50 points during his journey. Because except for those monkeys that arrive in groups, the beasts that attacked them usually come alone.
When morning arrived, the group continued their travel and finally reached a road in the middle of a mountain slope.
On the left of the road, there is an uphill slope covered with greenery. While on the right side, there is an extremely steep cliff that lasts until the edge of my [Scan].
"Once we walk past this road, we will be able to see the immortal city. If there aren't any problems, we should've arrived in the evening today." Captain suddenly spoke and told the team.
After listening to the captain's words, Su Ping nodded before busying himself with checking the System function he received. Maybe because he is unable to concentrate and meditate while sitting in the carriage, both Ren Qingquan and I found out he has been either scrolling through the list of items or staring at the system map since yesterday.
When the group traversed the path for three hours, I detected a group of creatures from the boundary of the [Scan] I left on Su Ping.
Su Ping also saw the ten dots of varying size I placed inside, as his face turned thoughtful before whispering to Li Mei who sat next to him. "Sister Li Mei, there are seven creatures hiding behind that corner."
When Li Mei heard his word, she frowned and whistled toward the captain. The captain who heard it slowed down the movement of his horse until he was located nearby Li Mei.
"What's going on?" The captain asked with a confused face.
Li Mei answered him while slightly pointing toward the corner in front of them. "Su Ping said he sensed seven living creatures behind that corner."
While looking at Su Ping, the captain asked. "Is that so? Can you tell me which cultivation stage they are at?"
Su Ping stared at the system map and compared the size of those dots before replying,"There is one Foundation Building, three Qi Refining, and three Body Tempering stage creatures."
Captain nodded his head as his face turned serious. Then he looked at everyone surrounding the carriage.
Li Mei's whistle and the captain's previous movement had caught everyone's attention as they all looked at the carriage. I saw the captain use some hand signs and the other's face also changed as they prepared for combat.
When the caravan passed through the corner, a group of bandits went out of hiding and ambushed them.
First, three Qi Refining stage bandits released several arrows with talismans attached to it. Meanwhile, three other Body Tempering stage bandits ran toward the group with a Foundation Building Stage bandit in the middle.
Luckily Su Ping has told the caravan group of the ambush. The captain who already prepared his magical technique quickly released it and summoned a wall made of soil in front of him.
*Boom!*
The earth wall successfully blocked those arrows. But the explosion caused by the talismans attached to those arrows caused the earth wall to be destroyed.
With the wall's destruction, the bandit leader, surrounded by three of his subordinates, passed through it easily and ran toward the caravan captain who stood in front.
Just like before, the caravan captain pulled his sword and imbued it with his spirit qi which solidified and increased the size of his sword. At this time, the captain has crossed his sword and prepared for an impact as he probably calculated that Kuan Gong will soon release his magical technique.
"Fiery Dragon Dance!" Following Kuan Gong's shout I saw flames appear and rushed toward the bandit leader who had stood nearby the caravan captain. The bandit leader who had just prepared his attack toward the Captain decided to change the direction of his attack at last second and throw his fist which is equipped with an iron glove, toward the incoming flame attack.
With the sound of explosion coming from the surroundings of his hand, the bandit leader successfully dispersed Kuan Gong's attack without any injury.
But the same can't be said with his Body Tempering subordinates as one of them received a serious burn wound due to the dispersed flame.
At this time, Old Hu who has prepared himself suddenly throws a hidden weapon toward the bandit leader who has just regained his balance.
To make sure Old Hu's attack would arrive at his target, the caravan captain quickly changed his defensive posture and attacked the bandit leader using his sword and forced the bandit leader to spend most of his energy blocking his sword.
***
While the captain was battling the bandit leader at the front of the team, I saw one of the Qi Refining stage bandits running toward the slope while hiding his body behind some greenery and running toward the rear of Su Ping's group. To be exact, his target is most likely the carriage with Li Mei and Su Ping on it.
Su Ping also saw it from the system map and immediately told Xiao Wen who stood nearby the carriage about it. "Miss Xiao Wen, there is a bandit coming from the slope on our left!"
Xiao Wen immediately pointed her bow toward the slope while searching for the bandit Su Ping mentioned.
But at this time, the bandit had already arrived nearby the carriage. Feeling his location has been seen through, that bandit pulled a mental plate and a spirit stone from his pocket.
The metal plate he pulled is engraved with a small sized formation, which is similar to the plate Lackey A used to summon his light beam attack while fighting against Ren Qingquan before.
Then, I saw that bandit quickly placed a spirit stone above a metal plate engraved with runes and pointed it toward the carriage. With the formation plate's activation, a strong gust of wind is summoned toward the caravan's carriage. Most likely trying to topple it and make the group unable to advance any further.
At the same time that bandit used his formation plate, Xiao Wen located his exact location and released her arrow. The arrow, coated with a cold aura, hit that bandit right in the hips and made him unable to move any further.
Meanwhile Li Mei has successfully escaped on time to evade the gust of wind by hiding behind the carriage that started to lose its balance. While jumping, she also tried to pull Su Ping along.
Unfortunately she is a bit late. By the time her hand almost reached him, he had been brought along by the wind.
The power of that gust of wind is extremely ridiculous. Even when Su Ping had already prepared himself, the wind was still strong enough to push him along and throw him towards the cliff next to the road.
When the carriage overturned due to the wind, Li Mei screamed as she realized she actually failed to grab onto Su Ping and saw him fall toward the cliff.
From Su Ping's [Scan], I saw Li Mei and Xiao Wen's faces turn pale.
***
Ren Qingquan, who has opened a viewing mode that shows Su Ping's current situation in 2.5 D view, commented upon seeing him fall into a cliff.
'Darn, is he going to find the inheritance of some expert after falling? I am pretty sure I often saw the plot of the protagonists falling to a cliff and finding inheritance in the xianxia novel I read before transmigrating.'
What Ren Qingquan said just now is logical! With how this cultivation world dotes on people with luck, such a nonsensical plot can indeed happen.
While Ren Qingquan is commenting, Su Ping is currently trying his best to hold on for his dear life.
I saw him attempt to use some martial arts techniques to balance himself and stop his fall. But every attempt of his only resulted in injuries on his hands and feet due to the inertia and probably lack of training.
So Su Ping could only keep rolling until he hit a branch and grabbed it with all his might.
What a pity, the branch he grabbed is too weak to hold his weight as it finally snapped under the pressure. And so, Su Ping began his descent once again.
As I saw him fall once more, I started thinking.
Maybe I need to add some talismans or magical treasures to the system shop. After all, among the books Ren Qingquan scanned before in the Pure Wave Sect's library, there are several books talking about how to craft talismans.
If Su Ping had some sort of flying talisman on him at this time, such a scene of falling from a cliff definitely wouldn't've happened.
Once I have that thought, I just can't stop. So I immediately added talismans, formation plates like the one that the robber used previously, spirit stones, and several other consumables into the system shop.
The difference between talisman and formation plate being talisman are consumable that will disappear after one use. Meanwhile, the formation plate can be used continuously by spending some spirit stone to activate it.
Wait, I am getting sidetracked. Right now I need to make sure Su Ping won't suddenly die while falling from the cliff.
Luckily this time the fall didn't last for long as he soon landed on a solid rock that protruded from the cliff. With his head bleeding profusely, I saw Su Ping calmly opened the system shop and scrolled until he found an item.
[Restoration Pill: 10 points each.
Description: quickly restore wounds.]
Once Su Ping clicked on the purchase option, I created the pill on his palm.
Su Ping felt the pill that suddenly appeared on his hand and connected it with the pill he just purchased from the system panel. Without much hesitation, he swallowed it and the wound on his body quickly healed.
Some of you might've guessed it, that pill is something I stole from Ren Qingchen.
Yesterday, I saw him fighting an intense battle against three Foundation Building stage beasts and got injured quite severely.
He then pulled that pill from his pocket and swallowed it. The effect of that pill is immediate as I saw the wound on his body turn into scabs within seconds before it finally disappeared.
Seeing how miraculous it is, I scanned it and placed it on the system shop. Who would've guessed, it actually came to use so quickly.
Truly, placing some of my attention on Ren Qingchen is the best decision I've made in the last few days.
Chapter 75. *Sarcastically* Oh my, what a surprise.
After Su Ping touched his head and felt the wound disappear, he looked at his surroundings.
His current position is right in the middle of the cliff. Above him, there is the part where he comes from. While below, there is another cliff that goes on until it reaches the edge of my [Scan].
When he tried to climb the path to return above, he found it too dangerous due to the cliff's steep degree and finally decided to give up.
Without much choice, I saw him open the system store, perhaps trying to look for a way out. When he scrolled until the part I just added, I can see his face turn a bit surprised.
Soon, he arrived at the section selling a floating talisman and bought it.
[Floating Talisman: 10 points each.
Description: allow the user to float. Please tear it or imbue the user's mental power to use. Lasts for 10 minutes.]
Although I've already done several simulations, this is still my first attempt at crafting a talisman. So, I tried to make sure I followed the instructions to a tee.
Focusing myself on this task, I created the talisman right above Su Ping's palm.
When Ren Qingquan saw Su Ping suddenly obtaining a talisman, he quickly asked me. 'System, did he just purchase that talisman from you? How come I never knew you sold talismans?'
[Yeah, System has updated the store just now.]
'Why don't you send a notification or something? Who knows, there might be something I need that you sold in your new shop.'
Whoops, guess I forgot about that.
Now that Ren Qingquan reminded me, I sent the update notification to him, Su Ping, and Ren Qingchen.
[Ding! System shop has been updated.]
When Su Ping felt the sensation of a paper in his hand, I saw him move his other hand and prepared to tear it open.
That's when I stopped him.
[Host, please check the system map!]
Following my notification, Su Ping paused his hand and opened the system map. From it, He found out there is actually a road hidden behind the vegetation next to the protruding rock he stood on.
Furthermore, approximately fifty meters away from him, there are several huge dots of light.
After he waited for another few minutes and saw those dots didn't move at all, he finally started moving toward the plants blocking the road.
When I saw him spending some time observing those dots, I nodded my nonexistent head.
It seems Su Ping is quite smart. Even at that distance his [Scan] can only detect the amount of energy something has and can't detect whether it is a beast, plant, or a treasure.
But by waiting and observing whether the dots moved or not, it is possible to slightly guess what kind of thing the dot is.
After all, unless a beast is crippled, trapped, sleeping, or hibernating, it will most likely move occasionally.
At this time, Su Ping pulled the dagger he purchased before and slashed at the vine and branches blocking his path.
Five minutes later, he finally created an opening through those plants and entered a path leading inside.
The path doesn't last long. After forty meters or so, Su Ping arrived at the end of the road after turning a corner.
What greeted his eyes was a four meters tall and two meters wide double door made of solid iron. Due to age, the doors are already rusty at several places. Which resulted in every pattern of the door to turn blurry except for the word 'Residence of Loose Cultivator Yuan Chen' engraved in the middle of the door.
When both I and Ren Qingquan who observed Su Ping through a screen saw this, we seems to be staring at each other speechlessly
System: →_→
Ren Qingquan: ←_←
Although I previously said it is normal for Su Ping to find an expert's inheritance after falling down a cliff. But seeing how it truly happened still makes me a bit speechless.
***
At Su Ping's current distance, the [Scan] I attached to him finally detected what those things he previously detected were.
Behind the door, I sensed the skeleton of a human in a meditative position. That skeleton is most likely Yuan Chen, the one who owns this residence.
On Yuan Chen's dead body, there are a weapon and two spirit crystals just like the one placed on the teleportation platform Ren Qingquan used to arrive at the cultivation world.
Different from the spirit crystal at the teleportation platform which only contains three hundred point's worth of energy. Each of the crystals on that corpse contained exactly 1000 points.
Several meters above the skeleton, there is also a bead attached to the ceiling. From it, [Scan] detected air and light being released constantly.
No wonder even after being hidden for so long, the corridor leading toward cultivator Yuan Chen's residence still has fresh air.
Just like the spirit crystal, that bead also contained quite a lot of energy, although much lesser than the spirit crystal.
It probably amounted to 200 or so energy
Oh, there is also a small bookshelf with ten books on one side of the room. My attention is too focused on those beads to the point I forgot about the bookshelf.
When Su Ping saw the door to Yuan Chen's residence, he immediately pushed it open. Once the door is opened, his eyes are drawn toward the shiny bead hanging in the ceiling before he switches his sight into the corpse of cultivator Yuan Chen.
To test for any possible trap on Yuan Chen's body, Su Ping pulled his dagger and threw it toward cultivator Yuan Chen's corpse while hiding far away.
When he saw the corpse only moved and didn't release anything, Su Ping picked his dagger and cut a part of his cloth to be used as a napkin so he wouldn't directly touch Yuan Chen's body.
When I saw Su Ping being so cautious, I was a bit speechless. Did he get poisoned often or something? Also, why can't Ren Qingquan be as cautious as him?
At this time, Ren Qingquan who is bored can't watch Su Ping's antics any further and decided to write something.
[Warm reminder, you may use the system's map and select an item to test for any poisons and traps. Host may click or stare at the '+' button to zoom in the system map if you're unable to see the outline of the items you wish to scan.]
Su Ping saw the reminder and opened his system map before zooming in toward the location near him. After zooming until the map only shows the location within his ten meter radius, the outline of a corpse can finally be seen.
He then pressed on the screen and information about the corpse was written.
[Item: Skeleton
Detail: The skeleton of a male human. Equipped with two spirit crystals and a dagger.]
When he saw the notification, Su Ping asked. "Senior system, does that mean there is no poison on this skeleton?"
Before I could respond, Ren Qingquan had already typed on his screen.
[Yes!]
With reassurance given by Ren Qingquan, Su Ping finally went toward Yuan Chen's corpse and collected the dagger and spirit crystal while repeatedly muttering 'Please forgive me, senior'.
Once he was done with collecting those three things, Su Ping's eyes moved toward the bead attached to the ceiling.
With his martial arts skill, he jumped into the ceiling and used the dagger he purchased from the blacksmith to pry it out. Then, he hid the bead inside his clothes after wrapping it in the cloth he had torn previously.
It indeed makes the amount of light and wind the bead release to decrease, but there is still some wind occasionally released through the gap in that piece of cloth.
After taking those four items, Su Ping looked around the room and his eyes were locked to the bookshelf I previously saw.
Except for the book titled '100 collection of flowers from the world' which is full of inappropriate pictures and a novel that Ren Qingquan met in Ren Family's library before, titled ' Complication of My Domineering Master's Tender Love Vol.1-10'. The other books are either about Cultivation Manual, Magical Technique, or introduction to the basics of formations.
Unlike in novels, cultivator Yuan Chen doesn't leave any illusions or diary to tell his backstory so the author can pad their word counts. What's inside his bookshelf is only useful books, except for the novel and that collection of inappropriate illustrations.
Then, Su Ping skimmed through the books and finally decided to only take the eight useful books and leave the other two behind. Although only leaving both books may make the next person to enter this place think cultivator Yuan Chen is a perverted novel addict. But it is understandable, as Su Ping's pocket is limited and he must use it to gather only useful things.
With everything important already picked up, Su Ping left Yuan Chen's residence after bowing to the corpse three times.
Closing the door to cultivator Yuan Chen's residence, he followed the path and returned to the stone platform where he fell previously.
Above the stone that protruded from the mountain, Su Ping tore the floating talisman I made. I can finally see how effective the talisman I made while following a book's guide is!
To be honest, except for the cost to make it, I am quite satisfied with the result. If I can find a way to cut costs, spamming talisman attacks might be a good way to increase Ren Qingquan's survival rate.
Once the talisman is torn, Su Ping finds himself engulfed by the energy generated by that talisman and starts floating.
At first his movement was a bit awkward and he almost fell to his death several times. But after a few attempts, he can finally control his flight path and started to float towards the road where he fell from.
Chapter 76. Face Slapping x Auction
When Su Ping almost arrived at the road, the battle between the caravan's team and the group of bandits had long reached its conclusion.
It seems the caravan team has successfully repelled the bandit group. Because from Su Ping's [Scan], I saw most of the members of the caravan team were currently busy fixing their carriage while checking the items inside.
Furthermore I sensed the corpse of four bandits, one at Qi Refining Stage, and three at Body Tempering Stage. The dead Qi Refining Stage bandit being the one stealthily attacking Su Ping previously.
Once Su Ping floated toward the road, Li Mei stopped healing caravan captain and old Hu's wound. She turned her head and looked at Su Ping with her mouth agape before running to hug him.
Not far from both of them, Xiao Wen also looked at Su Ping with a relieved face. The guilty expression she wore before has returned to her normal expression.
As I am a bit bored, when I saw Su Ping being the center of attention between two women, I started to poke fun at Ren Qingquan.
[Host, look! Even Su Ping, who is younger than you, has two women that care for him.]
'Yeah, but one of the women only liked him for his money! Meanwhile the other only feels guilty after she failed to save him!'
[At least he got a woman. The closest woman you ever met is only Xiao Ling who you left in Martial Arts World and Third Princess that beat you before.]
With my attack, Ren Qingquan started to whine while I happily gloated. But soon I refocused most of my attention to Su Ping as I saw the group finished healing themselves and repairing their carriage.
After throwing the body of those bandits to the cliff, they restarted their journey toward the Immortal City. Just like what the captain said, they indeed arrived at the Immortal City by evening. Different from the previous city, the immortal city's queue is separated into dozens of lines which make them move incredibly fast.
When Su Ping neared the city, I could hear Ren Qingquan entering a dilemma. 'Should I follow him into the city or not?'
After using most of his few remaining brain cells, Ren Qingquan finally chooses to wait and check the cultivation level of the city's inhabitants first before deciding whether he is going to enter or not.
And so, both of us just stared at Su Ping's surroundings.
When Su Ping's group arrived under the city gate, a guard at Foundation Building stage stopped the group. The man's attire consisted of armor with several runes weaved into it and a sword.
Based on my knowledge of weapon refining, that armor is a lowest grade magical weapon. The kind that's only suitable for Qi Refining cultivators. When I saw the craftsmanship of that armor, I could only shake my head.
Even the sword Ren Qingquan previously crafted randomly is several levels higher than that armor.
***
Upon being stopped by the guard, the caravan captain left the group and talked to the guard before handing him a pouch with 9 spirit stones inside.
The guard flipped the pouch and emptied it before he started counting the amount of spirit stones. Satisfied with the amount, he nodded and allowed the caravan to pass the gate.
Once Su Ping was inside the city, Ren Qingquan and I started focusing our attention on Su Ping's [Scan] and observed the average level of people within the city.
After half an hour, I think I can reach a conclusion.
Should I say the immortal city is indeed different from a normal city? Merely within twenty half an hour of Su Ping's entry, I already sensed at least 3 golden core cultivators.
Compared to the previous city where meeting a foundation building stage cultivator is already a once in a blue moon event. The average level of cultivators here is much higher.
Soon, the caravan traveled into an inn and stopped. The captain left the group again and went inside the inn for a moment before returning to the group.
"They still have room. Let's park the carriage." Following the captain's command, they placed their horse and carriage nearby the inn's horse stable.
Li Mei and Su Ping finally hopped down from the carriage after two days of travel. Upon descending from the carriage, Li Mei asked Su Ping, "Are you going to stay together with us in the inn?"
Hearing Li Mei's question, Su Ping wore a thoughtful expression before he replied. "Sister Li Mei, I won't be staying in the inn. I still need to do something."
Li Mei held his hand and said, "If you need help, you can come to this inn. we'll stay in the immortal city for three days."
On the side, the captain also nodded his head while saying. "That's right. We are still thankful for your help at detecting those bandits before. Otherwise, our loss might be bigger than now."
Su Ping just smiled at the group's kindness and waved his hand.
***
Thanks to the data collected through Su Ping's scan, I am already sure Ren Qingquan won't cause much unwarranted attention upon going in. After all, Golden Core stage cultivation isn't too rare inside.
[Host system thinks a Golden Core cultivator won't pull much attention in the city. So, it should be okay for you to enter.]
'Yeah, I think so too.' While Ren Qingquan answered, he already started flying toward the city's gate. Once he arrived at the city's gate, he paid a spirit stone and entered the city.
Upon entering, Ren Qingquan looked at his surroundings in disinterest. Although the city is called an immortal city, except for the higher density of experts, there really isn't much difference to the previous city or the cities in the Martial Arts world.
If one must point out a difference, it will be the formation array guarding the city is much stronger than others.
Without a certain destination in mind, Ren Qingquan walked along the busy road while opening his viewing mode to watch what was happening around Su Ping.
When Ren Qingquan passed through a food street, he stopped for a moment to purchase ten meat skewers which cost him one spirit stone.
Eating the extremely delicious skewered meat, Ren Qingquan is reminded of the first few days he transmigrated to this magical world. 'The first few days after transmigrating, I also ate a magical meat. Although the one I ate at that time was a ferocious beast's meat.'
Not only that, I also find him reminiscing about the meat fatty cooked.
'I hope Fatty's cooking skill has increased.' Ren Qingquan gave his blessing in his mind as he activated Armament Transformation and grounded the already empty skewer stick.
While he grounded several sticks to dust, the Su Ping on his illusory screen already arrived at a heavily decorated building.
On the building's jade like exterior, several engraving of dragons and phoenix made of gold are placed on the wall.
When Su Ping tried to enter the building, he was stopped by one of the attendants wearing a disgusted expression. "Move away, kid. This place doesn't accept any beggar. You're blocking the road. Don't you see there is a Foundation Building stage senior behind you?!"
Currently Su Ping still wore the armor he used before. Coupled with the fact he hasn't cleaned it since the start of his journey, he gives off the aura of a pauper.
While looking at the attendant dead in the eye, Su Ping calmly replied. "I am here to join the auction."
When the attendant saw Su Ping hadn't left, he replied in ridicule, "Do you even have an invitation or spirit stone? Or do you think entering this place is free? Just to enter the common seat, you'll need to pay 2 spirit stones. With how poor you look, you might've never even seen spirit stones."
To be honest, I am a bit confused with that attendant.
Is he some kind of stepping stone NPC? Otherwise, why would he talk using such a cliched line? Or perhaps, is the level of customer service in the cultivation world so low?
As if the attendant isn't satisfied with his own death seeking attempt. He continued to ridicule Su Ping and even called a guard, "Guard! Kick this beggar, he is dirtying our White Crane Auction House's view!"
Under the ridicule of that attendant, Su Ping can still keep his calm. But once he saw the surrounding guards start to move, he immediately purchased twenty spirit stones from the system store.
As the location is quite busy and there are many people watching, I created the spirit stones he purchased at the inner pocket of his armor. Su Ping then felt a few additional things appear out of thin air in his pocket.
Placing his hand into his pocket, he pulled the spirit stones I created and showed it to the attendant. "I am purchasing your private room."
The guard stopped on their step and the attendant's face turned agape in surprise as he saw the twenty spirit stones Su Ping pulled from his pocket.
Once Su Ping showed the twenty spirit stones on his hand, a middle aged man quickly approached him from inside the auction house. "Hello there, I apologize for the attendant's disrespect. In exchange, let me lead the young master to one of our rooms with the best view."
While he led Su Ping into the auction house, that middle aged man glared at the attendant and made a slitting motion at his throat.
When the attendant saw that motion, his face quickly turned pale as cold sweat rained from his forehead.
Meanwhile, Led by the middle aged man, Su Ping quickly arrived at the second floor of the auction house and entered a lavishly decorated room. Inside the room, there are two sofas and a coffee table with a fruit platter containing many fruits blessed by spirit qi.
In front of the room, there is a wide transparent glass showing the scene of many people spectating on the floor below.
"If the young master wishes for anything, please ask the attendant behind you. The auction will start in fifteen minutes." While saying that, the middle aged man pointed to a female standing near the door with his hand.
Su Ping nodded and sat on the sofa while eating some of the fruit placed on the table in front of him.
***
Ren Qingquan, who had just finished eating his skewered stick, saw Su Ping entering an auction house and suddenly got interested. 'System, mark the location of that auction house.'
After thinking for a moment, I don't think joining the auction and opening his horizon is a bad thing. So I just silently marked the auction house's location on his map.
Ren Qingquan happily followed the mark I placed on his map. Within five minutes, he can already see the lavishly decorated auction house.
"Greetings sir, how may I help you?" When he arrived, the person that greeted him was a female attendant. As for that male attendant, I can't sense him anymore even when I use Ren Qingquan's [Scan]. Which is several times more powerful than Su Ping's.
"I am purchasing your private room." Without much nonsense, Ren Qingquan just handed the attendant 20 recently created spirit stones from his pocket and gave it to the attendant.
When she felt the heavy bag filled with spiritual power, the attendant smiled brightly and said, "Please follow me, sir."
How come the experience between two people entering the same place is extremely different? Is this really the same place?
The 180 degree difference made me check the name of this building several times to make sure I didn't somehow mark the wrong building.
Chapter 77. This World Is The One That's Wrong!
Once Ren Qingquan arrived at a room similar to the one Su Ping entered before, he called the attendant next to him. "Do you still accept items to be auctioned?"
The attendant replied. "Of course sir. As long as the auction hasn't begun, we will accept items that went beyond a certain value."
"Then I want to auction this item." I saw Ren Qingquan placed his hand inside his cloth and pulled a sword from [Storage]. That sword is exactly the one he previously crafted for the Weapon refining test.
"P- please wait a moment!" The attendant answered in surprise as she replied before leaving the door upon seeing Ren Qingquan's nod.
While waiting for that attendant to return, Ren Qingquan placed his sword on a table and lazily lay on the sofa while eating the fruit placed nearby.
His ability to check for danger is seriously too low, why don't he check the fruit for any danger first before eating them. Luckily I already make sure the fruit isn't poisoned or anything.
"Sir, I've brought an appraiser." After three minutes, the attendant returned while bringing an elderly man along with her. The first thing both of them see is Ren Qingquan peeling tangerine while watching the crowd bellow through his window.
Ren Qingquan pointed at the sword next to him and said. "That's the item I wish to auction. Can you check what spirit stones I can gain from it?"
The elderly man walked towards the table where Ren Qingquan placed his sword. When he arrived nearby it, the elderly man pulled something akin to a monocle engraved with several runes and wore it on one of his eyes.
From the runes engraved on that monocle, I think it has the power to magnify items and check the flow of spirit qi.
The elderly man said after staring at the sword for five minutes. "This sword can be sold for at least 60 spirit stones, it is even possible for it to be sold for more than 100 spirit stones if you're lucky and someone took a liking to it. What a pity it doesn't have a sheath, otherwise its initial price might increase to at least 70 spirit stones."
That's right, the sword doesn't have any sheath. Which is probably why the attendant was surprised when Ren Qingquan first pulled it from his clothes.
Still holding the sword, that elderly appraiser asked. "So do you wish to place this sword for auction? If it is sold, the auction house will take 10% of its price as a cost."
Ren Qingquan just nodded. " Mmhm. Please take care of it."
***
When the sun outside almost set, a middle aged man stepped into the auction stage. He is at Golden Core Stage and looks to be forty something years old.
Of course in the cultivation world, someone's age can't be guessed just through their face. So, the real age of that auctioneer is still up for speculation.
As the light inside the building dimmed, the middle aged man greeted every guest inside the auction house.
"Welcome everyone to White Crane Auction House's monthly auction!" Through the usage of some magical technique, the Auctioneer's voice resounded throughout the building.
"First, please allow me to say the rules for this auction." Pausing for a moment, the auctioneer began his rapid fire of words.
"I will say the minimum bid and the minimum amount of increase for every item. Those with the highest bid after I counted to three will win the item. After purchase, we will immediately send the items to you. If you're unable to pay, we'll give the item to the second highest bidder. In exchange, you'll be blocked from bidding for the rest of this auction! "
The middle aged man cleared his throat for a moment before speaking with a loud voice once again."Without further ado, let us start this auction with the first item!"
From behind the stage, a scantily dressed female cultivator pushed a tray containing five pill boxes with 12 pills on each of them.
"The first item on our auction will be a high quality Spirit Gathering Pill! It is sold in a set consisting of a dozen pills each. The starting price for a box is 10 spirit stones. Every bid must increase by at least 1 spirit stone." While opening one of the boxes, the auctioneer said. "Then let's begin the auction for our first box of Spirit Gathering Pills!"
"11 spirit stones!" Right after the auctioneer said that, one of the people sitting in the spectator seat below raised his hand. But his bid is immediately followed by several others. Within a minute, the price of a box of pills rose to 18 spirit stones before it finally stopped.
After the auctioneer closed the bid, he said. "Then, let's continue with the next box of pills."
Just like that, the auction for pills is repeated five times, before a new item is brought forward.
Different from the pills before, the item placed this time is a multicolored flower that occasionally changes color.
If I hadn't sensed it actually only contained less than 5 points worth of energy, I would've thought it was some kind of precious plant.
To be honest I am a bit bored of this auction thing. Why is everyone joining so civilized?
Where is the promised face slapping scene that usually happens in auction plots? Even someone shouting 'please give me face' will be enough for me to get excited.
As I am incredibly bored, I just check on other subsystem's condition while only leaving a small part to check the auction.
During the whole time I am observing other subsystems, Ren Qingquan has also purchased a fruit called Frost Gathering Melon for 10 spirit stones, which is similar to a normal melon but blue and somehow constantly releasing a low temperature.
Soon, the host pulled Ren Qingquan's sword into the platform.
"Our next item is a sword." Gently lifting the sword, the auctioneer showed it to everyone present. "This is a sword made by a master weapon refiner using unknown technique. Although the material used is a bit common, but the sword can amplify any sword technique up to Golden Core Stage!"
Gasps of surprise resounded throughout the crowd when they heard the auctioneer's words. The auctioneer realized it was the right moment and decided to strike the iron while it was hot.
"The opening price will be 60 spirit stones with 5 spirit stones increase for every bid!"
With the auctioneer's sentence, several people immediately throw their bid. The price of Ren Qingquan's sword quickly skyrocketed and only slowed down when the price surpassed 100 spirit stones. Finally, it is purchased by someone from a private room for 110 spirit stones.
Not long after the sword was sold, an attendant entered Ren Qingquan's room while holding a bag with many spirit stones. As per agreement they previously have, the auction house took 10% of his earnings. Which means the bag contained 99 spirit stones.
Seeing Ren Qingquan holding that bag containing 99 spirit stones makes me start to doubt life.
Is my standard just too high, or is this place just utter trash? Even the sword Ren Qingquan used in his weapon refining test can be sold for 99 spirit stones.
If not for the space crack that opens every time I devour anything except souls, that stupid sword is basically equal to 99 points!
I think I finally understand the feeling of those transmigrator's cheat systems that always sold items of the highest quality. It's not like the item those systems sold are of high quality, the world's items are just utter rubbish.
***
After a short silence, the auctioneer's voice can be heard once more."This is the finale for this night's auction."
With his word, a female attendant brought a book encased in a glass like material that's been engraved with runes.
Although not comparable to the interference caused by those top experts in the Pure Wave sect. The runes on that glass are still capable of interfering with my [Scan] slightly.
Coupled with the distance between Ren Qingquan and the book, I am unable to [Scan] its content. Which is such a pity.
After the book's case is placed on the auction platform, the auctioneer begins introducing the item. "This is a book with the cultivation method called 'Hundred Blossom' written inside. The Hundred Blossom method is a cultivation method that can be practiced until the Nascent Soul stage."
Under the glistening eyes of every viewer, the auctioneer continued in a louder voice. "The book has been appraised by Senior Appraisal Yan, a Nascent Soul stage senior appraiser. The content is absolutely safe to use and the only one who knows about its content is senior Yan and the buyer. The starting price will be 500 spirit stones with at least 20 increase for every bid!"
This time, the crowd sitting below is silent. It is not until a few moments later that a female voice comes from one of the private rooms above, "520 spirit stones!"
Soon after, her bid is overwhelmed by several other voices. Among those, there are also several voices coming from Su Ping's room.
The price of the book keeps increasing higher and higher. Once it reached 800 spirit stones, except for three people including Su Ping, everyone else had already given up.
Seeing Su Ping fighting for that book, Ren Qingquan commented. 'System, I think you can sell some of the books in your library to Su Ping and others. Of course after you've removed special books that can only be found in the Pure Wave Sect.'
Then he continued while watching the intense bidding battle where the price of that book already inflated to 800 spirit stones. 'The cost of magical technique in this place is utterly insane! In comparison, the cost of browsing books in Pure Wave Sect's library is basically freebies.'
Yeah, what Ren Qingquan mentioned is true. Guess I can indeed sell some of the books I collected to the subsystem's shop.
At first I didn't sell it because their subsystems didn't have [Calculate]. Which makes me unable to push their mastery of technique just like what I do to Ren Qingquan.
But after seeing those people fighting tooth and nail for a book, I think my books will sell like hot cakes.
With that conclusion, I added several books that look like common cultivation methods and common magical techniques into the list of items sold in the shop. Most of them can only reach up to golden core and below, while only a few can reach nascent soul stage and above.
Of course I also remember to check and remove any mark, notes, or insight that may give away the book's identity to be something from the Pure Wave Sect.
After everything was ready, I sent notification to all subsystem hosts.
[Ding! System shop has been updated.]
Chapter 78. Mantis Stalking A Cicada Unaware Of The Melon Eating Orielole Behind
Thanks to this auction which already sold several techniques, I finally knew the usual price for books in the cultivation world.
Before this, I was not too sure about the cost of cultivation methods and magical techniques in the cultivation world, which is also another reason I haven't started selling them.
As creating something that is the equivalent of an e-book doesn't cost me anything at all, I happily price them at 10% of the usual market price.
For example, I priced a cultivation method which can be cultivated to a nascent soul for 100 points. Compared to the Hundred Blossom methods that Su Ping has been fighting for, which can possibly reach more than 1000 spirit stones. My price is already extremely cheap.
Oh, I almost forgot to give a notification to Ren Qingquan.
[Done! The system shop has been updated]
Ren Qingquan immediately scrolled through the system shop and quickly complained. 'System, why is the price of those techniques much cheaper than the amount I need to pay to learn them?'
[Of course it is lower, host. What they get is only a text that they can open just like your library. They still need to understand those techniques themselves. Meanwhile, the method and technique you bought already include the understanding and mastery.]
Although I answered like that, both selling books and using [Calculate] to help him learn techniques cost me nothing at all. Long life capitalism! Mwahahaha.
＼(°o°)／
At this moment, Su Ping finally won the auction for that Hundred Blossom cultivation method at the cost of 1 spirit crystal.
Actually, when the price of that Hundred Blossom method reached 900 spirit stones, Su Ping already checked the items I had updated at the system shop. But even though he clearly sees the books I sold have a much cheaper price, he still decided to join the auction for that cultivation method.
I guess Su Ping thinks it is easier to just purchase the Hundred Blossom cultivation method. After all, he still has the 2 spirit crystals gained when he fell from that cliff. Meanwhile, if he wants to purchase a Nascent Soul cultivation method in a system store, he still needs to go out and hunt for beasts to collect some points.
With the last item finally being sold, the middle aged auctioneer said his farewell and left the auction stage. "That's the end for our auction tonight! Please return next month to join White Crane Auction's next monthly auction!"
Upon seeing the auctioneer left, the crowd of spectators below started to turn noisy while they slowly left the auction house.
As Ren Qingquan still wishes to spend some time lazing around in the room and finishing the fruit next to him, I decided to switch my focus to Su Ping.
***
When Su Ping exited his room, he coincidentally walked past a devilish young man wearing a black robe. On the man's eyes, there are eyeshadow -like accessories that make him look like some goth man.
Surrounding the man are several other people at the Qi Refining stage wearing black robes similar to the one that the devilish young man used.
When the young man saw Su Ping, his face turned into one of hatred as he clenched his teeth.
This seems like a problem. Because that young man is exactly the person who fought with Su Ping for the cultivation method before.
Through Ren Qingquan's [Scan], I saw that young man spoke to his subordinates once Su Ping left the auction house. "Ask the others to find the guy before and retrieve the Hundred Blossom method. Also try your best to capture or if capture isn't possible, kill him!"
One of the subordinates next to him nodded his head and quickly left the young man's side. "Yes, young master."
Well, lookie here. This Goth Young Master actually tried to attack Su Ping. To be honest, I am quite excited to see such a development after the boring auction. But you see, the 1.111 points invested on Su Ping hasn't been returned yet. So I decided to activate [Anchor] through Ren Qingquan and placed a Lv 1 subsystem containing [Scan] on that goth young master and his surrounding lackeys.
If push comes to shove, I'll add [Devour] on it and summon a space crack to kill this goth young master.
After Su Ping left the White Crane Auction House, I sensed several people targeting and tailing after him. Most of them are at Qi Refining stage, while there are two cultivators at Foundation Building Stage. From the looks of it they are the people that Goth Young Master asked to follow Su Ping.
From the path Su Ping used, I guess he is going to visit the inn where the people from the caravan stay at. He also occasionally checks the system map, it seems he already feels some people are following him.
While Su Ping tried to walk calmly toward the inn, Ren Qingquan finally stood up from his couch while holding the Frost Gathering Melon he purchased before. He also already cut it into several pieces and stored most of it into [Storage] while munching on one of the sliced pieces.
'System, help me mark Su Ping's current location.' Ren Qingquan requested while he left the Auction House.
Guess he is ready to stalk Su Ping once again.
[System has marked the location.]
With my notification, Ren Qingquan quickly followed the mark. By the time Ren Qingquan found Su Ping, he had already arrived inside the inn and was chatting with the caravan captain who was currently drinking.
When the people stalking Su Ping saw him meet with the caravan captain who is also a Foundation Building stage cultivator, they didn't come near the building and instead stopped far away to observe the situation.
One of them is even located within ten meters of Ren Qingquan who is currently munching on melons.
Soon, midnight arrived and miraculously, Ren Qingquan hadn't fallen asleep. Through [Anchor] I heard him feel something interesting will happen tonight. So, he is currently just sitting on the roof of a building while opening two screens at once.
On one of the screens there is the novel he has collected, while on the other screen he opened the system map. Guess even Ren Qingquan realized there are people following after Su Ping as he occasionally throws some glance on the system map.
While Ren Qingquan is busy stalking him, Su Ping also hasn't fallen asleep and is currently staring at the system map too. When he saw the dots surrounding him start to gather around the inn, I saw him quickly leave through the window on the inn's first floor.
While checking the system map, Su Ping successfully bypassed those people's encirclement and entered a crowded street area.
Different from mortal cities, the immortal city is still lively even at midnight as cultivators can do without sleep for a few days if they are willing. Furthermore, thanks to the glowing pearl that is occasionally placed on top of a steel rod which works like a street lamp. Even at night most of the streets are still brightly lit.
While walking on the road, Su Ping always makes sure he is walking in a crowded place, which is his attempt to throw those people following after him. But although he occasionally successfully ditched them, those people will always find their way one way or another.
After showing a thoughtful face, Su Ping switched his direction into one of the city gates. Once he arrived at the gate, Su Ping started to line up and in less than two minutes, successfully left the city.
Next the group of people in black robes who followed Su Ping also exited the city. Ren Qingquan who saw it also happily joined the fun.
Due to there being too many people leaving at once, the time they spent is almost double that of Su Ping. Which makes the distance between them and Su Ping to lengthen.
At this time, I saw Su Ping scrolled the system shop and purchased a talisman capable of boosting his speed. With the help of that talisman, he quickly went outside the range of Ren Qingquan's [Scan], which already reached 1 kilometer radius.
By the time Ren Qingquan went outside the city, Su Ping couldn't be seen.
As for the group of people chasing after Su Ping, they seemed to pause a moment to check any trace on the ground before they chose a direction and ran toward it.
Ren Qingquan asked me to mark Su Ping's location once more before he happily went to follow the direction I pointed, which is exactly the way those people who followed after Su Ping went.
Ren Qingquan's incredible flight speed helped him this time as he arrived at Su Ping's location long before those people found Su Ping.
Currently he has stopped at one of the roads where I saw him busy placing an explosion formation he has just purchased from a system shop.
Although I call it a formation, it is actually my attempt to mix the things I remember from my past life on earth with formations.
I truly must thank one of the novels I read in my past life. From it, I learned that gunpowders can be made by combining saltpeter, which collected nearby the dung of some animals. With Coals and sulfur I previously scanned from the endless mountain of the Martial Arts World.
Through multiple experiments and a little luck. I finally found a suitable composition for it to explode to their utmost. With the addition of explosive array formation that can be triggered by standing on top of them. The thing Su Ping planted is basically a cultivation style minefield.
My updated explosive array should have the power to easily kill cultivators at Qi Refining and even Foundation Building stage if they are unprepared.
What's more important is that they are cheap. It actually only requires me to spend 10 points to achieve such an effect!
With the formation ready, Su Ping hid it below some leaf and continued his escape.
According to the data I collected by scanning the surrounding areas, the location where he placed those formations has a 80% chance to be used by the people chasing after him. Mainly due to the surrounding terrains which are unsuitable to be used.
I am not sure whether this is the effect of luck or Su Ping has indeed calculated it. But this is still an amazing thing nevertheless. At least compared to someone I know that will enter a fight without much thought.
After running for several more minutes, Su Ping finally stopped. Several meters in front of him, there is a banyan tree with a vague shadow of a woman under it.
Ren Qingquan who has followed Su Ping while in an invisible state from the air has also descended a few hundred meters from Su Ping's location.
By this point, the sun has started to rise into the sky and its light occasionally passes through the leaves in this forest and lighten up their surroundings.
Chapter 79. A White, Poreless, Glowing, Freak Of Nature
While running away, Su Ping suddenly stood frozen nearby a banyan tree.
Under the thick canopy of the banyan tree, a beautiful woman lay unconscious. With traces of blood that can be seen on her pure white robes.
As if a fallen immortal, even while laying on the soil, her unblemished skin still has its own luster. This view gives off anyone who saw it the feeling of a beautiful white lotus that blossoms amidst a swamp.
Whether it is her body or facial features, everything is the masterpiece of heaven itself. The line of crimson blood below her trembling eyes doesn't decrease her beauty. Instead it increased her charm even further and made everyone wish to protect her.
She is basically the embodiment of Jade Beauties usually talked about in novels.
Even Ren Qingquan who observed her from far away is in awe of her beauty, as I sensed his mind turn blank before fear started to take over his mind.
Wait a moment, something is wrong! Why would he feel fear? Shouldn't he feel captivated instead?
[Host, what's wrong?]
'I.. it is glowing!' Ren Qingquan thought while pointing at the beauty who fell unconscious under the banyan tree.
With Ren Qingquan's answer, I focused my [Scan] on that woman. At first I didn't find anything weird, that is until I realized something.
She is laying under a wide banyan tree, and the surrounding trees also blocked most of the sun from reaching her. That means the luster she gives off doesn't come from the sun's reflection, instead it comes directly from her!
She is basically glowing!
Not only is that girl glowing. But once Su Ping arrived near her, I found out she actually has no body hair. Every part of her body is squeaky clean. Furthermore she is poreless! I am not exaggerating at all, she is literally poreless. There aren't any pores on her body!
I am sure cultivating won't cause someone to mutate and remove their pores. Even those elders and higher ups in the Pure Wave Sect still have their pores after reaching a higher realm of cultivation than her.
After all, the woman is only someone at the early stage of Foundation Building. Meanwhile those elders and other higher-ups of the Pure Wave Sect are at least a nascent soul expert.
At this point, even I can feel goosebumps rising on my nonexistent body.
She is a monster, a literal freak of nature! How did I even find her beautiful before?
After falling into panic for several seconds, I slowly calmed down and felt the situation a bit familiar. It feels slightly similar to the time when I realized Ren Qingquan's intelligence reducing aura is affecting me.
Does that mean the luck of a 'jade beauty' can make others ignore her weirdness and forcefully make others think she is beautiful. Just like how Ren Qingquan has the ability to forcefully make someone ignore their own stupidity?
Ain't this luck thing too darn overpowered?
Someone, please nerf it!
***
When Su Ping saw her, I saw him fall into a trance and purchased a recovery pill for Miss freak of natu- I mean, jade beauty before forcefully fed her the pill. Once the pill entered her mouth, it easily slid down her throat, and the medicine's efficacy immediately worked to heal some of the wound on her body.
From [Scan], I saw most of the efficacy of that pill went into Miss Jade Beauty's internal wound caused by disorderly energy that once invaded her body. Even then, a single pill is still not enough to entirely heal her internal wound.
Although Su Ping doesn't have the ability to see where the pill's power went to, he can see Miss Jade Beauty's initially pale complexion turn a bit rosy.
Once he saw it was actually effective, Su Ping purchased another pill and fed her. Before purchasing another one when he saw two pills weren't enough.
Only when the third recovery pill's medical effect takes place and heals her entire body does Miss Jade Beauty's eyelash tremble as it slowly opens, showing a beautiful pure black iris.
When she saw Su Ping, Miss Jade Beauty's face looked confused before she touched her body. Then she quickly closed her eyes and circulated her energy before touching the wounds that had healed.
Once she is done, I can faintly hear her mumble while sighing in relief. "My internal wound has healed. Luckily this won't delay my cultivation."
Finally she stared at Su Ping dead in the eyes and asked. "Are you the one who healed me?"
Su Ping nodded his head calmly. Then I heard a soft voice coming from Miss Jade Beauty. "Thank you very much."
When he saw Miss Jade Beauty seems to be easy to talk with, Su Ping curiously asked her. "How did you get injured?".
"I fought with several cultivators to obtain a treasure." She said this with a melancholic expression, before it slowly turned into a sad one as she sighed. "What a pity, I lost and missed that item. Furthermore, I got quite badly injured and lost my consciousness."
After telling her story, Mis Jade Beauty spoke. "By the way, my name is Bai Yushi from the Bai family. May I ask your name so I can repay your savings grace in the future."
"You can call me Su Ping." Su Ping introduced himself while awkwardly explained. "There is no need for you to repay me. I just suddenly got the urge to help you casually."
While those two are chatting as if they aren't being hunted by other cultivators. Ren Qingquan's heartbeats finally calmed down before he realized something.
'Wait a moment, this woman might be a child of luck!' He quickly activated his Turtle Divination Technique and stared under the banyan tree.
From the sense shared by Ren Qingquan, I saw the luck aura coming from those people.
Su Ping's luck aura is still the same as before. After losing his grandma in a necklace, It is now approximately 1.5 Young Master Gu in size. Meanwhile, the luck of Jade Beauty Bai Yushi actually reached 1.7 of Young Master Gu!
But that's not the end of it.
Under the earth surrounding that banyan tree, a vague aura of luck can be seen. Those luck spread evenly and seems to come from the same source.
That luck aura spread quite far, the furthest even almost reached the place Ren Qingquan stayed at. Which is 500 meters away from the banyan tree.
The addition of that luck aura make the view coming from Ren Qingquan's vision to turn into an extremely magical field of gold
Amidst his curiosity, Ren Qingquan activated Armament Transformation to create a gigantic crane machine and silently dig deep into the soil before pulling them.
Due to the invisibility effect of Don't Peek At Me, Pervert! Technique which he activated, even the sound Ren Qingquan should've generated from excavating the soil has been hidden.
On his makeshift crane, there are soils, rocks, branches, rotten leaves, and some plant roots. All which can be seen easily in the forest.
Except for those, there is also a thin white string spread amidst the soil. Which is the owner of this massive field of luck. The result of my [Scan] found it to be a fungus of some sort.
Ren Qingquan is also curious as I feel him activating [Scan] to check that fungi.
[Fungi. Devour for 0 energy]
When Ren Qingquan saw it, he frowned. After a minute passes, the fungi on his Armament Transformation slowly lost its golden glow and turn into a normal plant with almost zero luck.
'System, is it possible that all that luck comes from this white fungi thingy?' Ren Qingquan asked me a question while he refilled the hole caused by his Armament Transformation.
That's also the conclusion that I reach. Below this forest, there seems to be a group of fungi that have massive luck. As for how this group of fungi got its luck or how much luck it exactly has, even I am not too sure.
Unlike Su Ping, Young Master Gu, Bai Yushi, or other humans whose luck is condensed and whose amount can be measured through their size. This group of fungi's luck are spread until it is quite thin. In exchange, the size of its luck aura is incredibly wide. Which is the reason I am unsure how much luck it actually has. But I am sure it is at least 3 times as much as Young Master Gu's luck!
While I was in deep thought, Ren Qingquan suddenly asked me. 'System, what do you think about that freakish woman and this fungi. Do you think they'll turn into a suitable subsystem host?'
[System think Bai Yushi is definitely suitable as a subsystem host. As for this fungi, System isn't too sure. But host may attempt to give it one.]
To be honest I am not even sure whether this group of fungi have any intelligence to begin with, and whether or not they can use the system screen. But I've learned that the power of luck is extremely nonsensical.
With the amount of luck the fungi have. Who knows, it might actually be a genius with an IQ far beyond Ren Qingquan's.
'Alright then.' nodding his head, Ren Qingquan gave both Bai Yushi and the group of fungi a level 4 Subsystems each.
[You have granted 2 Lv 4 Subsystems. -2,222 points.]
Then I saw Ren Qingquan think about when is the right time to send a system screen for Miss Jade Beauty.
While Ren Qingquan is busy thinking. Su Ping has stopped talking with Bai Yushi due to a massive sound of explosion coming from the direction where Su Ping previously placed his trap.
Su Ping's face quickly changed as he finally remembered he is currently being chased.
Soon, many people in black robes arrived and surrounded the area. The amount of black robed cultivator has decreased than before. But in exchange their average level has increased.
From the initial two Foundation Building stage cultivators, there are now 5 Foundation Building stage cultivators. Luckily two of them are injured, with one losing a limb and basically can't enter into combat. while the other one is on the verge of death with a heavy burn wound on his body.
But it still left three Foundation Building stage cultivators and a dozen of Qi Refining stage cultivators who surrounded Su Ping.
Jade Beauty Bai Yushi saw those people seem to target Su Ping for some reason and decided to help. "The medicine you used on me must've been quite precious. In exchange, let me help you escape from those people."
Once she said that, I could feel her circulate her energy and activate a magical technique. From how most of the spirit qi went into her leg, that technique is most likely a movement technique.
After the technique activated, she pulled at Su Ping with lightning speed and left the area like mirages. Her high agility makes her easily bypass the blockade created by those black robed men.
Some of them attempted to attack her. But she easily parried their attack and even successfully killed one of the people with black robe by using a magical technique.
This shows that although there are also cultivators at Foundation Building stage among those people, Bai Yushi have much stronger attainment in magical technique compared to them.
From the data I collected, leapfrog battle in the Qi Refining to Golden Core stage is actually quite easy to do. Especially when one side has extremely powerful treasures and weapons.
Just like how Ren Qingquan can one hit kill every enemy at Golden Core stage and below thanks to this great me.
While being carried, Su Ping isn't just idle. He purchased another escape talisman and tore it to boost Bai Yushi's speed. Her already high speed increased even further and both of them successfully ditched those people wearing black robes.
After they were quite far away, Su Ping still continued to check the system shop and look for suitable items that could change the direction of their battle.
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