Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Critical Situation

A month later, the female cultivator sent by Meng Qingyi came to his door to purchase Spirit Talismans.

At the same time, she also brought Li Ping a military merit redemption list.

Li Ping knew that over the past month, the Immortal City had been hit by several more demon beast sieges. During the most severe attack, the Outer City was nearly breached, and the Immortal City’s protective array had been forced to unleash most of its power on the Low-Tier Demon Beasts.

As a result, Fenglan Master’s Cyan Python was left without cover during the battle. A Fierce Arrowhead Eagle pounced, its sharp talons shredding the python’s scales and injuring it.

If not for Fenglan Master’s timely rescue, the Cyan Python would likely have been killed outright by the Fierce Arrowhead Eagle.

Li Ping couldn’t help but feel a little worried about the Immortal City’s situation. After all, if the Immortal City was truly breached by the Demon Beasts, he too could be in danger.

’If the worst happens, it’d be best to have a High-tier defensive Dharma Artifact to protect myself when I escape.’

After handing the fifteen Tier Two Lower Grade Spirit Talismans to the female cultivator, Li Ping picked up the Jade Scroll she offered and began to carefully examine the available items.

Since the list of items available for military merit was updated in real-time, the female cultivator recorded Li Ping’s 750 military merits and quietly stood by, watching him browse the available items.

Once Li Ping was finished, she would have to take the Jade Scroll back so the cultivator in charge could update the list, adding or removing items.

At the top of the redemption list in the Jade Scroll was the Foundation Establishment Pill. A single pill required 3,000 military merit points to redeem.

Redeeming a Foundation Establishment Pill required not only military merit but also came with several restrictions.

These conditions included that the pill could only be used by the redeemer, it could not be resold or gifted, and upon successful Foundation Establishment, one had to take Fenglan Master as their master.

There were fewer restrictions than for an auction-bought Foundation Establishment Pill, but it wasn’t much better.

However, since Li Ping had already achieved Foundation Establishment, he only glanced at the pill before turning his attention to the High-tier materials.

He quickly found his target.

Shell of a Tier Two Late-stage Turtle Demon: 800 military merit points required for redemption.

As the main ingredient, the shell of a Tier Two Late-stage Turtle Demon was more than enough to craft a shield-type Tier Two Upper Grade defensive Dharma Artifact. Including supplementary materials and labor costs, Li Ping estimated the total cost would be around 1,300 Spirit Stones.

This was the going rate for a custom-made Upper Grade Dharma Artifact. At an auction, the price of an Upper Grade Dharma Artifact could be driven up to over 1,500 Spirit Stones.

Since he didn’t have enough military merit yet, Li Ping didn’t rush to redeem the turtle shell. Instead, he continued browsing the other available items.

In the end, he spent 400 military merit points to redeem a Tier Two Middle Grade Talisman Brush. The one he was currently using had been a congratulatory gift from the Talisman Alliance. It was not only a mere Tier Two Lower Grade brush, but it had also become worn after several years of use, which affected his feel for his work.

"The Talisman Brush will be delivered shortly, Senior. Please be ready to receive it!" After registering Li Ping’s military merits and redeemed item, the female cultivator departed gracefully.

Li Ping subconsciously called out, "Lin’Er..."

He had wanted to call Bai Lin to tidy up, but just as the word left his mouth, he realized that Bai Lin had already gone home.

Shaking his head, Li Ping ignored the mess and returned to his training room to cultivate.

...

After that, events unfolded just as Fenglan Master had predicted.

The demon beast siege lasted for several months without abating. Battles broke out every few days, and the Immortal City’s towering walls were left battered and broken from the constant attacks.

Even Fenglan Master himself was injured in a clash with a Fierce Arrowhead Eagle.

According to Gumu Sheng, many people had seen Fenglan Master get injured and cough up blood.

This made Li Ping grow even more tense. ’If Fenglan Master decides the situation is hopeless and flees with his Cyan Dragon Mountain faction, the remaining Loose Cultivators won’t be able to handle the beast tide on their own.’

’Of course, Fenglan Master probably wouldn’t abandon a massive enterprise like the Immortal City unless he had absolutely no other choice.’

’But it was always better to be safe than sorry.’

After seeing Gumu Sheng off, Li Ping hurried to another cave residence on Immortal Peach Mountain. Living here was Wu Feng, a Tier Two Middle Grade Artifact Refiner whom Li Ping had commissioned to craft the turtle shell he’d recently redeemed into a Dharma Artifact.

As they were neighbors on the mountain with similar status and strength, Li Ping was able to meet with Artifact Refiner Wu Feng soon after sending a Sound Transmission Talisman.

After the two exchanged pleasantries for a moment, Wu Feng took out the Dharma Artifact Li Ping had asked him to craft, placed it on the table, and invited Li Ping to inspect it.

As Li Ping inspected the item, Wu Feng explained with a smile, "Ordinarily, with my skill in Artifact Refining, I can only produce Tier Two Middle Grade Dharma Artifacts. However, this turtle shell of yours, Fellow Daoist Li, is exceptionally hard on its own. It didn’t need many supplementary materials, which greatly simplified the crafting process. I also had a good feel for the work, and I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you—I managed to craft a Tier Two Upper Grade Dharma Artifact."

Though his words were humble, Wu Feng’s expression was one of self-satisfaction. He was clearly very pleased with himself for having crafted a Tier Two Upper Grade Dharma Artifact.

Li Ping also smiled and nodded, beginning to inspect the small shield before him.

The small shield’s surface was a dark cyan, with the faint pattern of the original shell still visible. Its edges were engraved with intricate designs. Overall, it was only palm-sized and looked quite compact.

Li Ping took it in his hand and slowly infused it with Magical Power.

HUMMM~

The small shield instantly glowed with cyan light. In the blink of an eye, it expanded to be as tall as a person, flew from Li Ping’s palm, and hovered in the air, vibrating slightly.

With a bit of mental guidance, Li Ping quickly familiarized himself with how to operate the small shield.

The shield could change size. At its largest, it could become as big as a house, while at its smallest, it could shrink to the length of a finger.

Its optimal size was its current state—as tall as a person. This offered excellent defense without sacrificing maneuverability, allowing it to block attacks from any direction.

If transformed to its maximum size, its defensive area would be larger, but it could only block attacks from a single direction. Its slower movement speed meant it wouldn’t necessarily be able to block attacks from other directions in time.

After testing it out, Li Ping was very satisfied with the shield.

"I’ll call you the Turtle Shell Shield." With this shield to protect him, his sense of security increased significantly.

After placing the Turtle Shell Shield into his Storage Bag and paying the remaining balance for the artifact refining, Li Ping didn’t leave right away. Instead, he started to chat with Wu Feng.

Like Li Ping, Wu Feng was also very worried about the situation in the Immortal City, especially after Fenglan Master was injured.

"I don’t know how serious the Master’s injuries are," Wu Feng sighed. "If they’re severe and he can no longer fight, the city’s protective array alone won’t be able to stop two Tier Three Great Demons."

Li Ping shared this worry. Of course, his greatest fear was that Fenglan Master, seeing the situation turning against them, would retreat to the Western Wilderness with his cultivators.

’But he couldn’t voice this concern to anyone, lest he be reported to the Immortal City’s authorities. He couldn’t afford to be charged with the crime of slandering a Core Formation Master.’

’Still, it was essential to prepare an escape plan.’

"The Master’s power is beyond what we can imagine," Li Ping said hesitantly. "And with the array’s support, we should be able to hold on."

Wu Feng sighed and changed the subject. "Alas... I heard the Immortal City started forcibly conscripting all Loose Cultivators today, sending them to the walls to defend against the Demon Beasts. It just shows how critical the situation has become!"

Li Ping nodded as well but offered no opinion on the matter.

’He was a Talisman Maker. The Immortal City’s leadership was counting on him to make talismans for support; they wouldn’t send him to the front lines to fight Demon Beasts.’

After talking with Wu Feng for a while longer, Li Ping returned to his own cave residence.

He felt very unsafe right now.

’To feel more secure, he decided to pause his daily cultivation. Aside from completing his assigned tasks for the Immortal City, he would dedicate all his remaining time to creating Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Talismans.’

’The more Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Talismans he had in his Storage Bag, the more confident he would feel.’

...

「In the sky outside the Immortal City.」

Clad in a dark cloak, Guardian Yan watched the fierce battle below from his hiding spot behind a cloud.

He was focused on the battle in the sky: one person against three Demon Beasts. Recently, more and more Demon Beasts had been gathering, while the number of cultivators in the city could not be replenished, and their combat supplies were being rapidly depleted.

To relieve the pressure on the cultivators, the Tier Three Grand Array would periodically unleash barrages of ice arrows and thunderfire, annihilating large groups of Demon Beasts.

As a result, without the array’s support in the sky, Fenglan Master and his Cyan Python were naturally at a disadvantage.

This was especially true for the Cyan Python. It was naturally at a disadvantage against the Fierce Arrowhead Eagle and couldn’t even use seventy percent of its full strength. Not long into the fight, the female Fierce Arrowhead Eagle’s talons had left it covered in blood, a truly miserable sight.

Fenglan Master controlled his Jade Cone, battling the Tier Three Late-stage male Fierce Arrowhead Eagle. Although his Magical Treasure possessed a peculiar power, his own cultivation level was a stage lower than the eagle’s.

After repeated clashes, the Jade Cone Treasure remained unharmed, but Fenglan Master himself was beginning to falter.

Guardian Yan’s eyes gleamed with eagerness. ’Should I make my move?’

’Although he was only at the Late-stage of Foundation Establishment, his Cultivation Technique was exceptionally rare—a method for the Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique. He was confident his combat prowess surpassed that of an ordinary cultivator at his stage, rivaling even a Sword Cultivator.’

’Originally, his plan had been to wait for Dai Sangyu to make a move, then launch a surprise attack amidst the chaos to either kill him or injure him severely.’

’But now, seeing Fenglan Master and the Cyan Python struggling to hold on, a different idea began to form in his mind.’

’If he were to strike now, he might be able to use the Demon Beasts’ power to kill either Fenglan Master or the Cyan Python!’

’With one less Core Formation-level combatant, the other wouldn’t be able to hold out alone. The entire Immortal City’s destruction would be inevitable.’

’If I could achieve such a great feat...’ The thought made Guardian Yan tremble with excitement.

But just as the thought formed, his spiritual sense began screaming warnings at him, jolting him out of his pleasant fantasy.

’A Core Formation cultivator is still a Core Formation cultivator, after all!’ Guardian Yan cast a wary glance at the battle in the sky, abandoning the idea of moving against the Core Formation Master.

His gaze swept across the battle lines between the Immortal City and the Demon Beasts as he tried to spot any sign of Dai Sangyu making a move. ’My mission is to stop that Sword Cultivator from reaching Core Formation. Everything else is irrelevant.’

’He knew that the higher-ups in his organization didn’t really care about these remnants of the Celestial Profound Sect, nor did they care if the Immortal City gained another Core Formation Master... as long as that Core Formation Master wasn’t a Sword Cultivator!’

’A peerless Sword Cultivator who reaches Core Formation, let alone one who successfully cultivates to the Late-stage Core Formation...’

’...would be an unstoppable force in the Western Wilderness, powerful enough to upend the entire region’s balance of power.’

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