MI Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Chapter 11: The Artisan Cultivator

But the two were, after all, strangers. Furthermore, a cultivator's appearance often bore no relation to their true age. Those who had taken Youth-Retaining Pills and whose bodies never aged were plentiful. 

If he acted overly familiar, Chen Qing might mistake him for someone harboring ill intentions—an awkward misunderstanding he could ill afford.

Therefore, Chen Qianliu didn't say much. After exchanging a few polite words with Chen Qing, he turned and left.

He was now somewhat familiar with this Immortal Market. He didn't go far, just picked a spot, spread out a stall, and began selling low-end Talismans.

Talismans were a common item for cultivators. Although almost everyone knew how to draw them, drawing them in large quantities was extremely time-consuming. Many cultivators preferred to buy Talismans, using the time saved for cultivation.

The business of selling Talismans had an even lower barrier to entry than Chen Qing's low-level magical tool business, and the profits were even thinner. Only the extremely poor cultivators would sell Talismans, trading their cultivation time for a meager income.

Chen Qianliu had decades of rich experience as an "extremely poor cultivator" and was perfectly at ease selling Talismans.

He had only had his stall open for half a day when he encountered a big buyer who purchased his entire stock of Talismans, which he had accumulated on his journey. This left him with one hundred and twelve Talisman Coins.

Sigh. All the Talismans Chen Qianliu had painstakingly accumulated for nearly a month weren't even enough to buy one low-quality raw stone. And that was the bulk price; buying a single one would have been even more expensive.

As evening approached, some of the cultivators in the Immortal Market departed on streaks of light. Others used profound Dao arts: one hung a gourd on a branch and leaped inside; another flicked a sleeve, and a spirit abode appeared, which he entered; yet another pinched a hand seal and vanished in an instant.

Every magical art made Chen Qianliu's eyes burn with envy. He hated only that he didn't know them, and that his cultivation base was insufficient.

He found a large tree and sat leaning against it, meditating for the night.

The next day, as the sky began to lighten, Chen Qianliu went to a nearby mortal village and bought knives, axes, and other tools.

It wasn't good to be chopping wood inside the Immortal Market, so Chen Qianliu selected seven or eight trees of medium thickness outside the market. 

He activated his Azure Emperor Jia-Yi Art, channeled True Qi into the axe blade, felled them, and dragged them back to the Suiyang Immortal Market. 

He picked an empty spot with a large tree on either side, planted his crude wooden staff, and conjured the illusion of a wooden house.

For an illusionary house to be habitable, it must at least be able to shelter from wind and rain, and ideally be warm in winter and cool in summer. A Qi Refining Realm cultivation base was not enough for that.

Chen Qianliu wasn't conjuring an illusionary house to live in; he was making a blueprint. After adjusting the illusion several times, he finally found a design he was satisfied with and began to build the wooden house.

This wooden house was not just for living; it would also serve as a shop for selling Talismans. Thus, it was built with two floors. The bottom floor was intentionally built with only three walls, leaving one side open for customers to enter and for displaying goods. 

The upper floor was for meditation and rest. He added an illusion art to ward off snakes and insects, seeking only comfort and ventilation.

Chen Qianliu had a cultivation base, after all, and in his second-to-last life, he was a civil engineer. This was his original profession.

The wooden house had a simple structure. In just one day, the two-story house was erected. The large trees on either side were lush with branches and leaves, providing shade from the sun. A cool breeze wafted through the shade.

He was just pondering how to arrange his goods—after all, he could only sell Talismans for now—when he heard an Old Daoist laugh. "Young Daoist Friend, this is a fine wooden house you have."

Chen Qianliu hurried out to greet him. "It's just a paltry trick, hardly worthy of Senior's praise."

The Old Daoist was from the Jade Mountain Sect, with the Daoist name Wuchang. He had long since left his master and was at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. He had been at the Suiyang Immortal Market for years, and like Chen Qing, he was in the magical tool business.

However, the magical tools he sold were all high-quality, each priced at a thousand Talisman Coins or more. In terms of profit, he surpassed Chen Qing dozens of times over. He had a good reputation in the Immortal Market, considered an "old hand" at the business, and was implicitly the spokesperson for the Jade Mountain Sect in the market.

Daoist Wuchang had long wanted to find a suitable house. Mortal artisans' craftsmanship was crude, and their dwellings weren't comfortable. Magical treasure-grade spirit abodes were far too expensive. He had never gotten his wish.

When Chen Qianliu started working, the Old Daoist had noticed. The wooden house was exquisitely designed. The moment it was finished, he couldn't wait to come over and strike up a conversation.

The Old Daoist smiled. "Last night, I saw the new wooden house you built was elegant and beautiful. This old Daoist has been here a long time and also wishes for a place to rest his head. So, I came to ask, would you be willing to help this old Daoist build one as well?"

"I certainly won't let you labor for free. I will provide remuneration."

Chen Qianliu hesitated for a long time, thinking, ‘Building a house by myself, including felling the trees, will take a long time and delay my proper cultivation. But this wooden house is just a mortal object; I can't very well charge much for it.’

‘However, if I take this job, even if I don't earn many Talisman Coins, I can befriend a cultivator and gain a connection in the Suiyang Immortal Market.’

Thinking this, he smiled. "It's just a wooden house, not worth much. You can give whatever you like. I won't mind the amount."

The Old Daoist chuckled. "Some years ago, I fought with some practitioners of unorthodox paths and acquired several of their magical tools. I've sold them all off, except for this beast-skin storage pouch that I never managed to sell. How about I use this as payment?"

Chen Qianliu was greatly alarmed, exclaiming, "That item is precious!"

The Old Daoist laughed. "It's not that precious. The space inside is only the size of three or four rooms, and the item itself is ugly. The refining technique wasn't very sophisticated, either. I tried to sell it several times, but no one would take it."

A storage treasure was simply too valuable. Even the lowest-grade one would be several thousand Talisman Coins. A slightly higher-quality storage magical treasure might even be priced in Spirit Stones.

In his previous life, Chen Qianliu had always wanted to buy one, but he had never saved up enough spare Talisman Coins before he died. His face immediately showed his interest.

Seeing Chen Qianliu was inclined to agree, the Old Daoist smiled and handed over a beast-skin pouch. "I've already chosen a spot. Why don't you come with me to take a look?"

Chen Qianliu accepted the beast-skin pouch, his heart settling slightly. He followed Daoist Wuchang to the plot he had chosen and, using the illusion art on his crude wooden staff, showed him more than ten different layouts. The Old Daoist happily decided on the design.

After all, building a house for someone was hard labor. Chen Qianliu had already been busy for a day and was quite tired, so he agreed with Daoist Wuchang to start work the next day.

Chen Qianliu returned to his own place, rubbing the beast-skin pouch Daoist Wuchang had given him. His heart grew warm. "I thought I'd be working for free this time. I didn't expect Daoist Wuchang to be so generous. If I can get a few more construction jobs like this, saving up the capital to buy the green jade stone in two or three years will no longer be an impossible dream."

He couldn't help but circulate his Azure Emperor Jia-Yi True Qi.

The True Qi poured into the beast-skin pouch like splitting bamboo, meeting no resistance. He knew the Old Daoist must have erased the original owner's magical power imprint long ago to sell it, which allowed him to refine this storage magical tool with ease.

The beast-skin pouch was just as Daoist Wuchang had said, with an internal space the size of three or four rooms.

This item was not originally meant for storage but for magical duels, so it still contained some impure qi.

However, its powerful magical arts and restrictions had been broken, leaving only the Lesser Heaven and Earth Art for storage mostly intact. 

Because the impure qi was too heavy, it was fine for storing durable things like metal and stone, but storing Spirit Herbs and the like would cause them to lose their spiritual efficacy. 

This was likely the main reason Daoist Wuchang hadn't been able to sell it.

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