Chapter 131 - 131: Opening Up Shop Again
Li Ming still held some hope for the [Vajra Seal]. He planned to look around a bit more and see if he could find any suitable body refinement cultivation techniques.
Perhaps, he could use the Golden Bodily Robe and Heavy Weight to deal with the two Yin Thorns.
Hehe, I can also consider medicine talismans! He could refine spirit pills and magical treasures by himself. As for talismans, he could only draw talismans.
The more Li Ming thought about it, the more excited he became about the idea.
There was always hope to be found. Even if he could no longer increase his spiritual energy, he still had other options he could opt for.
There are times when people are pushed into a corner, and rather than cower, they instead burst out with even greater potential.
Early in the morning, Li Yingfeng opened the door and saw Li Ming standing at the door. She could not help but be startled and blurt out: “Junior brother, why are you still here?”
Li Ming made an “Uh” sound and was left somewhat speechless. It seemed that Senior Sister Li Yingfeng had really been frightened by the black lotus seed he had refined.
Li Yingfeng immediately felt that his reaction was inappropriate and quickly added, “Aren’t you going to the Sword Testing Conference? You should hurry up and prepare for the upcoming competition!”
Li Ming shrugged. “The sect still has eldest senior brother to rely on. To be honest, I really won’t be able to do much in the competition.”
When Li Yingfeng heard what he said, she frowned. “Little junior brother, you really shouldn’t look down on yourself too much. You were able to comprehend sword intent at the foundation establishment realm. With such talent, other than eldest senior brother, who else in the sect can compare to you? How can you give up on yourself and your own progress?”
Li Ming was sweating profusely. He knew that his senior sister was thinking for him, but he could not explain himself either. He could only bite the bullet and say, “I’m not giving up on myself. It’s just that I’ve been a little tight on money lately.”
“Where did you use those spirit crystals? Didn’t you earn quite a sum of spirit crystals not too long ago? How did you already use them all up?”
He couldn’t say that there was a bottomless hole in his Sea of Consciousness that could ‘eat’ all of the spirit crystals. In fact, a few thousand pieces of third-grade spirit crystals was indeed a huge fortune for him. In the past, this was something he would not even dare to dream of.
Even in the entirety of Dongfu, that was a terrifying number. Yet just now, Li Ming told her that all the spirit crystals had been used up, how could Li Yingfeng not be shocked?
“One can never have enough spirit crystals.”
Unable to resist Li Ming’s pestering, Li Yingfeng finally agreed to his request to help people refine things again. Because of his previous reputation, Li Ming immediately attracted many cultivators the moment he opened shop.
Li Ming did not know that he was now regarded as the best of all the production cultivators in Dongfu. When he cut a fourth-grade cold magnet in half and refined a fourth-grade black lotus seed, Li Ming’s fire control technique became even more sought after.
Because of how popular he was, the payment methods that Li Ming had declared to be used for his services, such as spirit crystals, jade slips, and magical treasures, were selling like hot cakes.
Even after a whole day of work, Li Ming did not show any signs of fatigue. He handed a jade slip to Li Yingfeng and said, “Senior Sister, please help me check how many spirit crystals all of these materials cost.”
Li Yingfeng took the jade slip and skimmed through it. “All of this should cost about 50 third-grade spirit crystals. Eh, little junior brother, you’re actually interested in formations?”
None of the items on Li Ming’s list were of high grade. They were all of the first grade. 50 third-grade spirit crystals could easily buy all of the materials he needed.
Li Yingfeng became even more curious in her heart as to how her little junior brother had squandered the several thousand third-grade spirit crystals he had previously received.
“Indeed, I do find formations quite interesting. Here’s 50 third-grade spirit crystals.”
“No problem.” Li Ying Feng readily agreed.
She was familiar with all the shops in Dongfu, so it was not difficult for her to purchase the items on the list. In terms of cultivation, her junior brother’s aptitude was far superior to hers, so she believed that he had his own plans.
Fifteen days had passed, but Li Ming’s cultivation level had not changed at all. The tablet spirit was still meditating. It was unknown as to when it would wake up.
Li Ming shook his head and threw all these distracting thoughts to the back of his mind. He looked back at the small courtyard. This courtyard was the courtyard behind the shop. Of course, it could not be compared to the courtyard in West Wind Valley. It was just a small courtyard. There were jade stones, gold threads, green bamboo, and everything else.
Most of these materials were first or second-grade materials. Their value was not high, but the quantity was fairly shocking.
Li Ming kept flipping through the materials, occasionally summoning the Stalagmite fire to refine them into the required shape, and occasionally stopping what he was doing, falling deep in thought.
Materials flashed in his hands one by one. Some were carefully placed in the corner, while others were casually thrown on the ground.
After struggling for more than two hours, he only came back to his senses when the sound tablet’s reminder ended.
When it was time to earn spirit crystals, he stood up reluctantly. In the past, he did not care about formations because they were very difficult to learn. But now that he was fully focused on studying them, he discovered many mysteries within them.
Sword scriptures and magic scriptures were often ambiguous and required one to comprehend on their own. On the other hand, formations were a subject that involved the five elements of Yin and Yang. It was extremely complicated, but with a closer look, Li Ming could find some patterns in them.
After Li Ming left, Li Yingfeng came to clean up.
She sighed as she tidied up. No wonder her junior brother complained that he did not have enough spirit crystals. How would he ever have enough spirit crystals they flowed out of his pocket like water? Whatever Li Ming needed, Li Yingfeng would buy for him. She had come to know of Li Ming’s daily expenses like the back of her hand.
Every day, Li Ming would spend thirty to forty third-grade spirit crystals, or sometimes even hundreds of them, on materials. Moreover, most of the materials Li Ming needed were low-grade. If they were middle-grade, the price would have been exponentially higher.
She had never heard or seen formations like the ones her junior brother was making.
His way of learning was different from others, and the crystals he earned were different as well. She wanted to persuade Li Ming to be thrifty several times, but when she thought of the spirit crystals that Li Ming could earn every day, she swallowed down her words.
Li Ming would come here to do business every day for six hours at most. The rest of the time, he would spend among the mountains of materials.
She paused and looked at a formation plate under her feet. In the beginning, he only made formation plates. But as time passed, he made fewer and fewer formation plates. In the end, he stopped making them altogether.
Why did he suddenly think of making formation plates? Were they for the Sword Testing Conference?
Li Yingfeng picked up the formation plate from the ground and looked at it carefully but found that she could not understand the runes that made up the plate.
She could not help but smile. Whether it was Senior Brother Li Zhengxuan or Junior Brother Li Ming, they were both geniuses. How could ordinary people like her understand the thoughts of geniuses?
The formation plates that Li Ming made were the first formation plates that Li Yingfeng had personally seen. She carefully placed the formation plates in the corner. After helping Li Ming clean up these past few days, she could easily distinguish which ones were useful and which ones were useless..