Chapter 266: Chapter 263: Star Escape and Retrieving the Treasure

Aboard the Flying Ship.

Li Ping listened to Gao Ji Taoist’s explanation, nodding slightly from time to time.

According to the information Gao Ji Taoist obtained from the Universal Treasure Chronicles, the Radiant Star Wood was the highest tier of star-attribute material. The Divine Wood naturally contained a massive amount of the Power of the Stars and could be used to refine almost any star-attribute Magical Treasure.

Magical Treasures refined from this Divine Wood could match the power of other top-tier Magical Treasures without needing any refinement. Furthermore, in an open environment, they could draw upon the power of the sun, moon, and stars, adding another ten to twenty percent to their might out of thin air!

The most crucial point was that not only did this Divine Wood naturally contain the Power of the Stars, but it would also slowly recover even if that power was completely depleted.

Thus, even in a dark room where the Magical Treasure’s Power of the Stars was exhausted, one could simply wait for it to regenerate internally until it was full again.

If it were other Low-Tier Spiritual Materials, one could only store the Power of the Stars within the banner by refining it from the outside world.

Once the power was depleted, if you were in a dark room with no access to the light of the sun, moon, or stars, you’d be out of luck.

...

"The Radiant Star Wood grows slowly, taking a thousand years to grow one foot. Fellow Daoist Li, looking at this piece of yours, I’d say it’s just over a thousand years old. It hasn’t yet reached the point of its legendary, wondrous properties." Gao Ji Taoist’s tone held a hint of regret, but then he added with a sigh, "However, it is more than enough to refine a Magical Treasure. Refining this Spirit Wood into a Magical Treasure should save you several hundred years of refinement effort."

Having spent this time with Li Ping, he had long since understood that as a Loose Cultivator, Li Ping was a pragmatist. He knew that Li Ping would never continue to cultivate the Radiant Star Wood just to leave it for future generations.

Even if it meant extravagantly wasting a treasure, he would use the Divine Wood for himself, which was why Gao Ji had said what he did.

Li Ping nodded slightly, his expression unchanging as he said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I understand."

At the same time, however, he couldn’t control the immense joy blossoming in his heart.

He planned to refine three hundred and sixty-five All Heaven Star Banners as his Lifebound Magical Treasure, and a one-foot length of Radiant Star Wood was naturally not enough.

In fact, a one-foot length of the Divine Wood could, at most, be used to refine a single Star Banner.

Moreover, the quality of this mere thousand-year-old piece of Divine Wood in his hand did not meet Li Ping’s expectations.

Once a Lifebound Magical Treasure is forged, it accompanies a Cultivator for life, advancing in power alongside them as they advance through cultivation stages.

Although a Magical Treasure’s power primarily depended on the time a Cultivator spent nurturing it with their Pill Fire and essence, it was naturally best to use the strongest possible initial refining materials.

Gao Ji Taoist had lamented that the Divine Wood was only a thousand years old, but that was because he didn’t know that Li Ping had the Purple Qi Space and the second Ash Island.

As long as he planted this thousand-year-old Radiant Star Wood on Ash Island, it would grow at a thousand times the rate of the outside world.

At that rate, after just nine years of cultivation, the Divine Wood would reach an age of ten thousand years and a height of ten feet!

Of course, even though the trunk of the Divine Wood would grow thicker over time, a ten-foot-tall Divine Wood was still not enough for Li Ping to refine the three hundred and sixty-five Star Banners he needed.

’But that’s no problem. If ten feet aren’t enough, a hundred feet will surely be!’

When it came to his Lifebound Magical Treasure, he would of course seize the opportunity to forge the very best; for that, Li Ping had plenty of patience.

Besides, for the time being, he had the Devouring Essence Sword Magical Treasure left by Yan Liming. Once he refined one or two more Tier Three Puppets, his combat strength would be no weaker than other Core Formation Cultivators.

Besides, he had never been one for fighting; his life was dedicated to health cultivation and peace.

Therefore, it didn’t matter if his Lifebound Magical Treasure was forged a bit later.

Of course, even though the three hundred and sixty-five Star Banners required a vast amount of Spiritual Materials, it wouldn’t need a full hundred feet; he estimated that sixty or seventy feet would be about right.

However, the spirituality of a sixty or seventy-thousand-year-old Star Divine Wood couldn’t compare to one that was a hundred thousand years old. Therefore, Li Ping still planned to cultivate the Star Divine Wood in his possession for a hundred thousand years before using it.

For him, this was merely a wait of a hundred years or so.

However, this would disrupt Li Ping’s plan to switch his Cultivation Technique.

A Cultivator’s ability to live a long life didn’t actually depend on powerful Magical Treasures or high-might Skills.

After all, there was always someone stronger, always a higher mountain to climb.

In the Cultivation Realm, if you lived long enough, you were bound to meet an enemy you couldn’t defeat.

At times like that, the ability to escape with your life was crucial.

Li Ping’s greatest trump card was actually the special effect of his Nourishing Life Skill Power, which could heal his own Origin, allowing him to use the Blood Wing Escape Skill limitlessly to flee.

For example, now that he had broken through to Core Formation, as long as he was determined to flee, even a Nascent Soul Cultivator couldn’t take him down without paying a heavy price.

Originally, his plan was to refine the Star Banner Lifebound Magical Treasure. With this treasure, he could use the ’Star Escape’ technique. In terms of speed and profundity, this Escape Technique was even superior to the Blood Wing Escape Skill.

With the Star Escape technique for getting away, switching his main Cultivation Technique wouldn’t be an issue.

But if he couldn’t refine the Star Banner for now and still switched his Cultivation Technique, Li Ping would feel he had no sense of security at all.

’I’ll wait. I’ll switch my Cultivation Technique after I’ve refined the Star Banner Magical Treasure!’ After a moment of thought, Li Ping made his decision.

With a hundred-thousand-year-old Radiant Star Wood as the banner pole, the material for the banner’s canopy couldn’t be inferior either. Over the next hundred years, he would have to find a way to search for high-level canopy materials.

Even though practicing the Moisture Nourishing Skill meant he couldn’t use Pills to advance his Cultivation, a hundred years should be enough time for him to reach Mid-stage Core Formation. By then, he would still be less than 240 years old, leaving him with plenty of time to attempt Nascent Soul Formation.

...

「Several days later, at the rebuilt Silver Moon City.」

Li Ping suppressed his aura and followed the crowd into the city. He stopped at several shops, selling all his unneeded Dharma Artifacts and miscellaneous materials for Spirit Stones.

At the same time, he also tried to purchase the Spiritual Materials needed to refine a Tier Three Puppet.

But as expected, he found nothing.

The Land of the Far North was too barren. Even if Tier Three Spiritual Materials appeared, they would ultimately end up in the hands of the Core Formation Sects and would never circulate on the open market.

Sighing helplessly, Li Ping followed the address from a letter Xu Guikai had sent to Flying Snow City some years ago and found himself before a Tier Two cave residence.

Since he was in Silver Moon City, he naturally had to pay Xu Guikai a visit.

But to his surprise, Xu Guikai had already gone to the Ice Sea to hunt beasts and was not in secluded cultivation in his cave residence. Thus, his trip had been for nothing.

Since Xu Guikai wasn’t there, Li Ping had no intention of waiting around in Silver Moon City.

He immediately shook his head and decided to go retrieve the Treasure hidden by Gao Ji Taoist, then return directly to the Western Wilderness.

But just as he was about to leave, he ran into an acquaintance.

"Huh? Little Li... no, I should be calling you Fellow Daoist Li now!" The speaker wore a long, blue-green robe and had a refined, gentle demeanor. It was none other than Lu Chang’an, the Cultivator from the Great Zhou’s Confucian Sect whom Li Ping had once met in Flying Snow City.

At that moment, the look he gave Li Ping was one of utter astonishment, as if he never expected that the Foundation Establishment Cultivator he had met decades ago had now become a Core Formation Master, his equal in status.

Recognizing the face of the person who had greeted him, Li Ping also smiled and nodded. "So it’s Fellow Daoist Lu. I never expected to see you here. Didn’t you return to the Great Zhou?"

"Sigh, it’s a long story." Hearing Li Ping ask why he was back in the Land of the Far North, Lu Chang’an couldn’t help but show a wry smile.

Li Ping and Lu Chang’an had only met once and had no real relationship. So, seeing Lu Chang’an’s wry smile, he simply nodded, having no intention of listening to his troubles.

He clasped his hands and said, "I still have important matters to attend to. Perhaps another day, Fellow Daoist Lu and I can drink and chat."

Lu Chang’an was slightly taken aback by his words, but he quickly clasped his hands in return. "Please, Fellow Daoist Li, go about your business."

A moment later, watching Li Ping’s retreating figure, a strange look appeared in Lu Chang’an’s eyes.

He came from the Great Zhou and was a member of the Confucian Sect. His status was noble, his background extraordinary.

For this reason, he was treated as a guest of honor in the Land of the Far North, receiving warm hospitality from the local Cultivators.

Yet this Fellow Daoist Li Ping showed absolutely no intention of befriending him.

’Doesn’t he know that befriending a Core Formation Cultivator from the Great Zhou’s Confucian Sect would make his future path much smoother?’

’Or does he simply not care?’

Soon, Lu Chang’an shook his head, pushing the small episode of meeting Li Ping from his mind and turning his thoughts to another matter. ’The Headmaster wants to come and slay the Ice Flood Dragon with the Sword of Ultimate Sincerity and True Clarity and ordered me to scout ahead. Sigh... how could the Ice Flood Dragon be so easy to kill?’

’Once the Headmaster is away from the Great Zhou for too long...’ As this thought crossed Lu Chang’an’s mind, a look of sorrow flashed in his eyes again.

’Things are not peaceful within the Immortal Alliance!’

...

Li Ping paid no mind to his encounter with Lu Chang’an.

He knew Lu Chang’an had a significant background and was no ordinary Core Formation Cultivator.

But according to Li Ping’s principles for how he conducted himself, not only would he not try to befriend such a person, he would intentionally keep his distance.

After all, the world revolved around those chosen by heaven.

Getting close to them might provide opportunities for benefits, but it also made it easy to get caught up in the Magical Combat and conspiracies that surrounded them. One careless misstep could lead to being sucked into a vortex, resulting in one’s death and the dispersal of one’s soul.

With his ’cheat’ in hand, Li Ping lacked neither cultivation resources nor Cultivation Techniques, so he naturally kept a respectful distance from people like Lu Chang’an.

He just wanted to cultivate for longevity in peace and quiet.

...

After leaving Silver Moon City and briefly getting his bearings, Li Ping shot into the air and flew rapidly toward the location of Gao Ji Taoist’s hidden treasure.

Several days later, by a glacier tens of thousands of zhang high, a dark silver Escape Light came to a halt.

Li Ping waved a hand to put away the Flying Ship, then circled the glacier several times to get a clear sense of direction before flicking his wide sleeve.

SWOOSH—

A black Flying Sword shot out from his sleeve, swimming through the air like a fish directly toward the middle section of the glacier.

The power of the Magical Treasure was terrifying; it easily opened a hole several zhang in diameter in the glacier’s side.

While controlling the Flying Sword to carve a path, Li Ping flew into the tunnel himself.

He continued deep into the belly of the glacier, nearly ten thousand zhang down, before he finally saw a pitch-black, artificially carved passageway.

Without much hesitation, Li Ping continued flying down the passageway.

However, he only planned to take the treasure by himself and had no intention of letting Gao Ji Taoist out, lest the Taoist use the Arrays or other tricks within the treasure vault to get any funny ideas.

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