Chapter 126 - 105: The Age of Sixty

Chapter 126: Chapter 105: The Age of Sixty

One had to know, this was only a Mountain Furred Beast that had just broken through to late-stage Tier One.

If it reached late-stage Tier One perfection, even several ninth-layer Qi Refining great cultivators would struggle to take it down without high-grade spiritual artifacts. The divine technique "Illusion God" seemed useless on the surface, but in reality, its uses were immense.

It could freely adjust one’s cultivation aura. Not only could one feign weakness to catch opponents off guard, but one could also oppress others with an imposing presence. For example, if a late-stage Tier One Mountain Furred Beast fought a ninth-layer Qi Refining opponent, it could execute the "Illusion God" divine technique to elevate its own aura. This would directly strike fear into the opponent’s heart, preventing them from unleashing their full strength. Alternatively, it could lower its aura to mid-stage Tier One. Under the opponent’s underestimation, a sudden sneak attack would be impossible to guard against.

To Chen Jianghe, Fur Ball was a combat-type spirit beast, while Little Black was a "defense-type" spirit beast. Therefore, once Fur Ball advanced to late-stage Tier One, his safety margin would drastically increase once again.

The next moment, Chen Jianghe held two letters in his hands and glanced at the signatures.

"Zhou Miaoyun?"

Chen Jianghe was somewhat surprised. Over the past three years, he and Yu Daniu had corresponded frequently, but Zhou Miaoyun had not sent a single letter. As for Gao Peiyao, there was no need for written correspondence, as they were both in the Qinghe Marketplace. However, they rarely saw each other. During these three years, Chen Jianghe had only seen Gao Peiyao once, on New Year’s Eve of the previous year.

Times had changed. After all, Gao Peiyao was now a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if she didn’t show any intention of distancing herself, standing next to her still felt somewhat uncomfortable. Furthermore, the people surrounding Gao Peiyao were all upper-level cultivators in the Qinghe Marketplace. They were either Foundation Establishment cultivators, patriarchs of immortal races, high-grade alchemists, artifact refiners, or array masters.

From this, it was evident that among the Four Extremes of Cultivation, Talisman Dao still fell somewhat short compared to the other three.

He first opened Zhou Miaoyun’s letter. After reading it, a look of astonishment crossed his face.

"To think that Zhou Miaoyun wants to sell the Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance to me!"

The letter stated that if Chen Jianghe needed it, she could sell him the complete Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance. The price was also extremely favorable. It only required one thousand two hundred spirit stones.

One must know that a Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance in the Immortal Sect Marketplace was valued at one thousand six hundred spirit stones, and that was just the oath-bound price. It did not grant ownership of the Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance. In contrast, the one thousand two hundred spirit stones Zhou Miaoyun was asking for would directly transfer the Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance to him. This meant that in the future, Chen Jianghe could sell the Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance himself. He could pass it down to others. Therefore, the price of one thousand two hundred spirit stones was far too generous.

Of course, Zhou Miaoyun had a condition. She still wanted Chen Jianghe to act as a matchmaker, hoping to marry her niece off to Yun Xiaoniu. If that truly wasn’t possible, marrying any of Yu Daniu’s other children would also suffice.

"This... Hehe."

Speechless, Chen Jianghe set Zhou Miaoyun’s letter aside.

Immediately after, he opened Yu Daniu’s letter. The contents were as brief as always, but the information was astonishing.

Yun Xiaoniu had broken through!

In just over three years, he had shattered the bottleneck to late-stage Qi Refining and become a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator.

"Breaking through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining at thirty-six, and without even using a Misfortune-Breaking Pill—Daniu’s efforts were not in vain!"

Chen Jianghe was delighted. He was very fond of Yun Xiaoniu, a younger generation junior.

Looking at it now, with Yun Xiaoniu breaking through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining at thirty-six, coupled with the Yun family’s influx of resources, his hopes of achieving Foundation Establishment in the future were incredibly high. He guessed that as long as everything went smoothly, Yun Xiaoniu’s success rate in attempting Foundation Establishment would reach at least fifty percent. If he also had a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill, then his success rate for Foundation Establishment in the future would definitely reach seventy percent.

At this moment, Chen Jianghe understood why Zhou Miaoyun was willing to sell the Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance to him at such a dirt-cheap price just to form a marital alliance with Yu Daniu.

Yun Xiaoniu had a promising future. If a daughter of the Zhou family married Yun Xiaoniu, they would very likely gain a Foundation Establishment son-in-law in the future. Even if she didn’t marry Yun Xiaoniu, marrying any of his other brothers would still bring great benefits to the Zhou family.

"Xiaoniu has a bright future ahead of him; how could he be burdened by trivial matters? It seems Zhou Miaoyun’s Tier One Talisman Dao Inheritance is not meant for me."

He already owed Yu Daniu a huge favor, so he naturally couldn’t use Yun Xiaoniu for personal gain. This went against his character, nor was it something a decent person would do.

Subsequently, Chen Jianghe wrote a letter politely declining Zhou Miaoyun. He advised her that if she truly wanted her niece to marry into the Yun family, she should take her to the Jingyue Marketplace a few times to visit Yu Daniu.

As for his reply to Yu Daniu, he first offered his congratulations, then recounted the matter of Zhou Miaoyun asking him to be a matchmaker, and finally asked if Yu Daniu was going to attempt Foundation Establishment.

In their previous exchanges, Yu Daniu’s cultivation had already reached ninth-layer Qi Refining perfection, but his body refining cultivation was still at the late stage. He seemed to have hit a bottleneck, unable to achieve perfection. Because of this, Yu Daniu’s success rate in attempting Foundation Establishment barely reached twenty percent. If he tried, there was a high likelihood he would perish, and his Dao would vanish. Unless he had a Foundation Establishment Pill; even if he failed, it would not result in death.

After finishing the reply, he walked out of the room.

At the other end of the pool, Little Black saw Chen Jianghe emerge and drifted over to him with a swift glide.

"Master’s cultivation has improved? Congratulations, congratulations."

"Haha!" Chen Jianghe laughed aloud upon hearing Little Black’s telepathic message. This fellow had even learned words of congratulation.

"Mutual joy, mutual joy," Chen Jianghe replied telepathically.

"Mutual joy" was not false in the slightest. Only when Chen Jianghe’s cultivation broke through would Little Black’s lifespan increase. Once his cultivation reached the Foundation Establishment stage, Little Black would completely break the fate of being "born defective."

"Master, Fur Ball is about to break through. Once it does, can we finally go home?"

Little Black still wanted to return to Jingyue Lake; he simply couldn’t get used to this place. It wasn’t an issue of freedom. At Jingyue Lake, he also frequently hid within the gravel at the bottom of the lake. His personality was similar to Chen Jianghe’s—both had steady and composed temperaments. However, the daily idleness in the Qinghe Marketplace truly made him uncomfortable.

He constantly felt a sense of debt toward Chen Jianghe. In the past, working to earn resources felt justified. Now, taking resources while doing absolutely no work was somewhat embarrassing.

"It’s still too dangerous. We’ll go back once you break through to Tier Two," Chen Jianghe reassured.

By the time Little Black broke through to Tier Two, he himself should have successfully reached Foundation Establishment. At that time, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, a Tier Two spirit beast, and a late-stage Tier One spirit beast traveling back and forth between the Qinghe Marketplace and Jingyue Lake should be very safe!

"Then can you give me three bottles of Red Mist True Dew? I want to cultivate hard for Tier Two, then go home to raise fish and support you," Little Black said in a serious tone.

"Uh..." Chen Jianghe thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright."

Over the past three years, his Talisman Dao skills had improved significantly, and his annual spirit stone income had reached a new height.

In the first year, he consumed ninety-two portions of Spirit Blood Pig Hide and successfully drew thirty-two Middle-Grade Attack Spirit Talismans. His talisman success rate reached nearly forty percent.

In the second year, his success rate for drawing Middle-Grade Attack Spirit Talismans reached exactly forty percent; consuming one hundred and three portions of Spirit Blood Pig Hide, he produced forty-two Middle-Grade Attack Spirit Talismans.

In the third year, he started drawing Middle-Grade Protection Talismans. He consumed one hundred and eight portions of Spirit Blood Pig Hide and successfully created thirty-two Middle-Grade Protection Talismans. His talisman success rate was only thirty percent, but the price of a Middle-Grade Protection Talisman was two spirit stones higher than that of a Middle-Grade Attack Spirit Talisman. Overall, the profit from drawing Middle-Grade Protection Talismans was higher.

His spirit talisman earnings for the first year were one hundred and thirty-six spirit stones. By the second year, it reached one hundred and seventy-eight spirit stones, plus fifty grains of Spiritual Sand. The thirty-two Middle-Grade Protection Talismans from the third year had not yet been sold. However, after subtracting the two hundred and forty-eight spirit stones spent on cultivation resources and talisman materials over the first two years, he currently still had eighty-five spirit stones and five grains of Spiritual Sand on hand.

As he began drawing Middle-Grade Protection Talismans, his future spirit stone income would be even higher, making it quite feasible to give Little Black an extra bottle of Red Mist True Dew. However, increasing Fur Ball’s resources would have to wait a few more years.

Having cultivated to eighth-layer Qi Refining, it was also time for him to start planning for body refining techniques.

"Little Black, Fur Ball, enter the spirit beast space. We’re heading out."