Right now, he was still at the absolute bottom.
Furthermore, the Spiritual Roots of the other four attributes had yet to birth a single wisp of Spirit Charm. He still needed to continue searching for suitable Heaven and Earth Spiritual Roots to sign a Spirit Contract with. Li Chang’an’s ultimate goal was to elevate all of his Five Elements Spiritual Roots to the Celestial Grade, transforming them into the legendary Grand Five Elements Celestial Spiritual Root.
"The Cultivation Immortality Realm is so barren nowadays. I wonder if I can even gather all Five Elements Spiritual Roots," Li Chang’an sighed inwardly. "Forget it. I shouldn’t rush this; I have to take it slowly."
He tossed out a few more nurturing Treasures to allow the Evergreen Vine to continue growing, then left Changqing Mountain and hurried toward the Yellow Stone Sect’s location.
Not long after, Li Chang’an arrived at the Marketplace outside the Yellow Stone Sect. He found a Yellow Stone Sect Disciple, instructed them to fetch the sect’s Young Master, Huang Yuanhua, and conveyed his intent to trade.
Soon, Huang Yuanhua rushed to the Marketplace. His face was full of smiles. "Haha, Daoist Lin, I knew we would meet again!"
"Daoist Huang, I am here today once again for the Sealing Demon Stones." Li Chang’an was blunt, directly stating his purpose.
Huang Yuanhua came prepared. Sitting across from Li Chang’an, he gently patted his Storage Pouch. "Rest assured, Daoist Lin, I have the Sealing Demon Stones ready. I wonder how many Beast Heart Pills you still have on hand?"
Li Chang’an did not answer directly but countered with a question of his own. "Daoist Huang, how many Sealing Demon Stones do you have left?"
The two exchanged a look and fell silent for a moment.
A brief moment later, Huang Yuanhua took out three similarly sized Sealing Demon Stones and laid them out one by one in front of Li Chang’an. "Daoist Lin, three Sealing Demon Stones. What do you think?"
"Add two more," Li Chang’an said. With a thought, he took a Jade Bottle from his Storage Pouch and placed it in front of Huang Yuanhua. Inside the Jade Bottle were exactly five Beast Heart Pills. He could tell that Huang Yuanhua had more than just three Sealing Demon Stones.
Sure enough, Huang Yuanhua smiled and retrieved two more from his Storage Pouch. "It seems Daoist Lin has stumbled upon some excellent fortune."
"Daoist Huang’s fortune is no small matter either."
Since the two had traded before, there was no need for superfluous words. They immediately signed a Spirit Contract.
Just like that, five Sealing Demon Stones were secured!
Li Chang’an had learned the method for appraising Sealing Demon Stones from the Artifact Spirit, so he was fairly certain that all five were genuine.
After the transaction concluded, neither of them left, as both harbored intentions for further trade.
Li Chang’an spoke directly, "Daoist Huang, forgive my presumption, but how many Sealing Demon Stones do you still have?"
To him, the more Sealing Demon Stones, the better. Even if he couldn’t use them all this time, they would be useful in the future when refining a High Tier Beast Taming Wheel.
Huang Yuanhua did not specify an exact number, only stating, "I still have quite a few Sealing Demon Stones, but I do not plan to continue trading unless Daoist Lin can provide the Pill Formula for the Beast Heart Pill."
"Deal. One Pill Formula for all the Sealing Demon Stones in your possession." Li Chang’an didn’t beat around the bush, straightforwardly revealing that he had the Pill Formula on hand.
Huang Yuanhua laughed. "As expected, Daoist Lin has the Pill Formula! To tell you the truth, I also have a Pill Formula for the Beast Heart Pill, but it is a fake deliberately created by the Ancient Beast Taming Sect. It has severely harmed quite a few Spirit Beasts in my sect."
"I see. Does Daoist Huang intend to make the trade?"
"I cannot make this decision on my own. Could Daoist Lin give me three days?"
"Alright." Li Chang’an did not press him. A mere three days was a wait he could afford.
He returned to Changqing Mountain, practicing his Tier Four Divination Skill while waiting for word from Huang Yuanhua.
Three days later.
He suddenly sensed faint signs of a breakthrough in his Divination Skill.
"So fast?" Li Chang’an was genuinely somewhat surprised.
It hadn’t been long since he obtained the subsequent legacy, yet he was already on the verge of breaking through to the Tier Four Middle Grade. Although he had accumulated deep foundational knowledge in the art of Divination and had the insights of the Ancient Celestial Secret Sect’s predecessors to aid him, he still shouldn’t have broken through this quickly.
"It likely has to do with the Divinations," he thought. Li Chang’an felt that his talent in the Dao of Divination was growing higher and higher as time passed. When it came to Divination talent, there was likely no one in the current Cultivation Immortality Realm who could compare to him.
He only needed one more closed-door cultivation session to be confident in achieving a complete breakthrough.
"I’ll trade with Huang Yuanhua first, then enter closed-door cultivation upon my return," he resolved. Li Chang’an had already received a positive response from Huang Yuanhua, so he immediately hurried back to the old meeting spot.
At noon that day.
Li Chang’an arrived at the Marketplace. As soon as he got there, he sensed that the atmosphere was slightly off.
"The Array of this Marketplace was originally only Tier Three Low Grade, but now it has been replaced with a Quasi-Tier Four Array—and not just one," he noted inwardly. "There are over a dozen new Golden Core Cultivator auras in the Marketplace, all belonging to people from the Yellow Stone Sect. It seems the other party has no intention of trading in good faith."
Li Chang’an’s trading experience was nothing short of abundant; he saw right through the intentions of the Yellow Stone Sect at a single glance. He had experienced countless similar situations over the years. Pretending as if nothing were amiss, he made his way to the agreed-upon trading spot.
Huang Yuanhua was already waiting there. Wearing a smile, he got straight to the point. "Daoist Lin, these are the Sealing Demon Stones you asked for!"
With that said, streaks of Spiritual Light flew out from his Storage Pouch, transforming into twenty-eight Sealing Demon Stones that landed in front of Li Chang’an.
Li Chang’an took out the Pill Formula for the Beast Heart Pill. His expression remained unchanged as he said, "Daoist Huang, let us sign the Spirit Contract."
"Alright!" Huang Yuanhua immediately took out the already prepared transaction Spirit Contract.
Right at this moment, a middle-aged man suddenly appeared beside him, slamming a hand down on the Spirit Contract and sweeping away all the Sealing Demon Stones and the Beast Heart Pill Formula in one swift motion.
Huang Yuanhua looked stunned and asked, "Foster Father, what is the meaning of this?"
"Yuanhua, Sealing Demon Stones are of extremely high value. How could you trade all of them for a mere Pill Formula?" The newcomer was expressionless, replying with indifference. He was none other than the current Sect Leader of the Yellow Stone Sect, Huang Tianyuan.
As he spoke, multiple Quasi-Tier Four Grand Arrays rose into the air, and the auras of over a dozen Golden Core Cultivators manifested all around them.
Huang Yuanhua immediately understood their intentions. He asked in disbelief, "Foster Father, we are a Righteous Sect. How can we engage in the despicable acts of Tribulation Cultivators?"
"Yuanhua, you must remember—as long as your strength is great enough, even if everything you do is wicked, the world will still acknowledge you as the Righteous Dao!" Huang Tianyuan’s tone did not waver in the slightest; it was evidently not his first time doing something like this.
The dozen or so other Golden Core Cultivators were the same, tacitly closing in on Li Chang’an from all directions.
Huang Tianyuan patted Huang Yuanhua’s shoulder. "Today, your father will teach you a principle: the strong do not need to trade with the weak. Whatever catches your eye, simply take it by force."
Hearing these words, Li Chang’an couldn’t help but laugh. He looked at Huang Yuanhua and said, "Daoist Huang, today, I will also teach you a principle."
Hearing this, Huang Yuanhua was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Li Chang’an to still be able to smile in such a situation. He subconsciously asked, "Daoist Lin, what principle?"
"Never assume yourself to be the strong one."