Chapter 255: Chapter 252: Transaction and Going with the Flow

What Li Ping didn’t know was...

For the past thousand years, the Gao Ji Taoist had been consumed by an obsession with revenge.

He had spent most of the wealth he’d accumulated over a thousand years on high-tier lightning beads for his previous plan to blow the Ice Flood Dragon to bits.

As a result, he had only refined a single Tier Three Upper Grade puppet to house his soul and a few Tier Two puppets to command.

After his plan to kill the Ice Flood Dragon failed, he returned to Silver Moon City in disguise. However, before he could gather enough resources to refine more puppets...

...Silver Moon City was plunged into the chaos of a beast tide and targeted by a Nascent Soul Cultivator of the Great Zhou’s Demon Dao. The entire city was annihilated.

In truth, with his puppet body and the unique Divine Sense-shielding effect of the Mustard Seed Ball, the Gao Ji Taoist was confident he could have remained hidden from a Nascent Soul Cultivator that day.

But in order to threaten the Nascent Soul Cultivator into dealing with the Ice Flood Dragon and to create more leverage for himself...

...he chose to reveal his Tier Three Upper Grade puppet to negotiate with the cultivator after safely hiding the Mustard Seed Ball. As a result, the puppet was destroyed.

The Gao Ji Taoist didn’t care much about a mere puppet.

He still had several Tier Two puppets hidden in the outside world, along with plenty of materials to refine Tier Three puppets. Besides, his lifespan was endless; he had all the time in the world to regain his strength.

But he worried that the Nascent Soul Cultivator was still nearby, lying in wait for him, so he didn’t dare make a move. His plan was to lay low for another dozen or so years before doing anything.

But what he hadn’t expected was Xiao Yunzhi’s sudden appearance. She possessed a unique Spirit Beast, the Earth Spirit Rat, which managed to find the Mustard Seed Ball he was hiding in.

He had originally planned to follow Xiao Yunzhi, help her grow strong, and use her power to kill the Ice Flood Dragon.

But now, after meeting Li Ping, he suddenly felt that Li Ping—with his peerless talent for the art of puppets—seemed a much better choice.

That was why he proposed the deal to Li Ping.

If Li Ping would agree to build a Tier Four puppet for his soul and rebuild the Celestial Skill Sect, what was stopping him from teaching Li Ping everything he knew about the art of puppets?

Treasures are easy to obtain, but talent is hard to find!

At this moment, in the eyes of the Gao Ji Taoist...

Li Ping was more worthy of his investment than Xiao Yunzhi, who possessed a Celestial Spiritual Root!

...

Li Ping was shocked by the deal the Gao Ji Taoist proposed, and he began to carefully consider whether to accept.

The methods for refining Tier Three Middle Grade, Upper Grade, and Tier Four puppets—he naturally wanted them.

As for rebuilding the Celestial Skill Sect’s legacy and refining a Tier Four puppet for the Gao Ji Taoist’s soul, those were tasks for after he became a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Once he became a Nascent Soul Cultivator, doing those two things would be easy.

From that perspective, he should have agreed to the Gao Ji Taoist’s offer without a second thought.

But the problem was, he didn’t even have enough Spiritual Materials to refine a Tier Three Lower Grade puppet right now, let alone a high-tier one.

In other words, before Core Formation, the high-tier puppet refining methods from the Gao Ji Taoist would be meaningless to him.

And after reaching Core Formation, he planned to switch his main Cultivation Technique to the *Nine Tribulations True Spirit Scripture*. He would then have to spend several decades converting his Magical Power.

When switching high-tier Cultivation Techniques, it was manageable if they shared the same attribute; you could retain most of your core essence after the conversion.

But switching to a Cultivation Technique of a different attribute, like he planned to, was almost like crippling your cultivation and starting over. The only advantage was that there were no bottlenecks before reaching your original realm.

If not for the fact that the *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill* was nearly impossible to advance past the Core Formation realm, and that Li Ping himself was an Alchemy Master who could binge on pills to rapidly rebuild his cultivation...

...any other Cultivator would absolutely never choose something as life-wasting as re-cultivating from scratch.

Li Ping’s plan was to refine one or two Tier Three Lower Grade puppets after reaching Core Formation, and then switch his Cultivation Technique under the protection of the puppets!

No matter how he looked at it, he wouldn’t have time to research puppets beyond Tier Three Lower Grade for at least the next sixty years.

After all, he knew the real story behind his so-called ’peerless talent.’

With so much on his plate, even if the Gao Ji Taoist gave him the complete inheritance, where would he find the time to gather the "nutrients" for his "Inheritance Tree"?

The inheritance would just end up collecting dust.

...

Numerous thoughts flashed rapidly through Li Ping’s mind.

But in the end, he shook his head slightly. ’Oh, whatever. I’ll need it sooner or later anyway, so there’s no harm in agreeing now. Besides, I’m not losing anything. What’s there to agonize over?’

With that thought, he nodded slightly. "Senior, I would be getting the better end of this deal. If you can truly figure out the method for refining a Tier Four Puppet and give it to me, then I will agree to your terms."

The meaning behind his words was very clear.

He wasn’t falling for empty promises. If the Gao Ji Taoist wanted him to gather materials, refine a Tier Four Puppet, and rebuild the Celestial Skill Sect’s legacy, he had to provide the refining method for the Tier Four Puppet first.

The Gao Ji Taoist said he needed a century to perfect the plans for the Tier Four Puppet; in that case, Li Ping would only fulfill his end of the bargain after that century had passed.

Hearing Li Ping’s words, the Gao Ji Taoist nodded in satisfaction. "That is only natural. Please, Fellow Daoist Li, make an oath."

"An oath?"

The Tier Four Puppet refining method was not yet in his hands, so of course Li Ping wouldn’t make an oath. He shook his head. "There’s no rush. Let’s talk again after Senior produces the Tier Four Puppet inheritance. Besides, could it be that Senior doesn’t trust me?"

At these words, the Gao Ji Taoist, within his Mustard Seed Heaven and Earth, fell silent. He understood now: Li Ping wasn’t as gullible as Xiao Yunzhi. He was the type to not lift a finger without seeing a clear reward. If Gao Ji couldn’t offer him sufficient benefits upfront, he wouldn’t do a thing for him.

"Fellow Daoist Li is right. That was my oversight," the Gao Ji Taoist’s voice emanated from within the Mustard Seed Heaven and Earth.

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but sigh to himself. ’Confucian Cultivators are so much easier to deal with.’

...

Li Ping stood in the courtyard.

A black shadow shot in front of Li Ping. It was the Spirit Beast, the Earth Spirit Rat. It stood on its hind legs, squeaking erratically, "SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" while waving its short forelimbs about. Its beady little eyes were filled with indignation.

Understanding its meaning through its mental fluctuations, Li Ping glanced at the Blazing Sun Bird and the Desolate Fire Sparrow perched on the courtyard wall, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

It turned out it had been bullied by the other two Spirit Beasts.

So as soon as it saw its master appear, it couldn’t wait to come and complain.

The Earth Spirit Rat had performed great deeds during Xiao Yunzhi’s journey north, finding many Treasures for her. At the same time, it had also secretly hoarded some Spiritual Objects, intending to slowly refine them later.

But its private stash of Spiritual Objects was discovered, and the Blazing Sun Bird and Desolate Fire Sparrow stole the Spiritual Objects the Earth Spirit Rat had hidden.

Once he understood the full story, Li Ping immediately called over the Desolate Fire Sparrow and the Blazing Sun Bird, ordering them to return the Spiritual Objects they had stolen from the Earth Spirit Rat.

Li Ping had spoken, and the Desolate Fire Sparrow dared not disobey.

It gave a clear cry and reluctantly placed a dark red Spirit Grass, about a foot long, on the ground.

With just a glance, Li Ping recognized it. This was a Spiritual Object that helped purify a Demon Beast’s bloodline, ’Dragon Blood Grass’, with an effect similar to a Bloodline Fruit.

Nearly a hundred years ago, Li Ping had once obtained a pale golden Bloodline Fruit.

However, the Bloodline Fruit he had obtained was not mature; in terms of effect, it was actually slightly inferior to this thousand-year-old Spirit Grass before him.

Seeing the Desolate Fire Sparrow hand over the Spirit Grass, the Earth Spirit Rat’s small eyes immediately showed joy. It repeatedly bowed towards Li Ping with its short forelimbs, thanking its master for serving it justice.

Li Ping shook his head. The Earth Spirit Rat was hoarding Spiritual Objects and not handing over its findings. This trend could not be encouraged.

After taking some Dragon Blood Grass seeds and storing them properly, he then said lightly, "The three of you can split this stalk of Dragon Blood Grass."

And just at this moment, Xiao Yunzhi walked out of the house. Li Ping smiled and went to the pavilion to chat with her over tea.

Having stayed in Flying Snow City for nearly half a month and seeing that Li Ping still maintained a passive, non-committal, and hands-off "let nature take its course" attitude, Xiao Yunzhi couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

She spoke softly, "Brother Li, I plan to take a trip to find an Artifact Refining Master to refine the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade into a Cold Flame Wheel."

Previously, Xiao Yunzhi had been in such a hurry to return to Flying Snow City and give Li Ping the complete *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill* that she hadn’t yet had time to get her Magical Treasure refined.

Now, she was preparing to have her treasure refined.

Li Ping nodded slightly. "Do you have a destination in mind?"

"I have two choices right now. One is to return to the Western Wilderness and ask an Artifact Refining Master in the Sect for help. The second is to stay in the Land of the Far North and go to Yong’an City, where an Artifact Refining Master resides." Xiao Yunzhi stared intently at Li Ping. "Brother Li, which option do you think is better?"

Li Ping pondered for a moment before suggesting, "I think it would be better to return to the Western Wilderness and ask the same Artifact Refiner who made the Red Flame Wheel. Having it made by the same Artifact Refiner will make your Magical Treasure more cohesive and complete!"

"Does Brother Li not want me to stay in the Land of the Far North?" Xiao Yunzhi was a little disappointed by Li Ping’s answer.

Li Ping’s expression was calm. "I’m just speaking objectively."

"Oh."

...

Hearing Li Ping say they should split the Dragon Blood Grass three ways, the Earth Spirit Rat’s originally proud and arrogant mood immediately deflated.

Meanwhile, the Desolate Fire Sparrow and the Blazing Sun Bird grew excited.

The three Spirit Beasts gathered together and began to discuss how to divide the Dragon Blood Grass.

The Desolate Fire Sparrow took charge, landing in front of the Dragon Blood Grass. It made a mark near the root with its sharp claws and pointed at the Earth Spirit Rat. Then it made another mark near the top and pointed at the Blazing Sun Bird. Finally, it pointed at the large middle section, indicating itself.

Seeing that the Desolate Fire Sparrow had only given it a few leaves, the Blazing Sun Bird immediately shook its head furiously. It stepped forward elegantly, erased the mark at the top, and instead made a new one about an inch from the root.

It pointed at the roots for the Earth Spirit Rat, at the one-inch-long stem for the Desolate Fire Sparrow, and at the rest for itself.

And now, seeing the two beasts had only left it a few rootlets, the Earth Spirit Rat became furious.

It stomped huffily over to the Dragon Blood Grass, wiped away the marks made by the other two, and then drew two intersecting lines at the very top.

After doing all this, it waved its forelimbs rapidly: the two leaves on the left belonged to the Desolate Fire Sparrow, the two on the right to the Blazing Sun Bird, and the rest belonged to it.

...

Xiao Yunzhi’s single "Oh" made the atmosphere in the pavilion turn awkward.

But just then, a sudden cloud of dust rising in the courtyard caught their attention.

Seeing the situation clearly, Li Ping couldn’t help but sigh in resignation, "How did they start fighting again!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.