Chapter 23: The Black Mountain Family

These two secret manuals: one is the Shaping Technique, a method used to facilitate disguise.

It allows one to hide their true face by adjusting the facial bone structure.

The origin of the other manual is quite interesting.

It actually contains records regarding a certain clan.

"The Black Mountain Clan," Li Qing whispered.

It was a foundational cultivation manual for the Black Mountain Clan.

"It seems the two deceased cultivators were likely related to this clan," Li Qing thought to himself.

According to the records within, this clan was a small-scale cultivation family.

One detail particularly interested Li Qing: the Black Mountain Clan's settlement was a place called Black Thunder Island.

"Mystic Yin Thunder..."

"It seems there might be a predestined connection between me and this clan's settlement."

Li Qing's eyes gleamed with interest.

However, he was not yet qualified.

Any cultivation family would have Foundation Establishment stage cultivators presiding over it, and he currently lacked the strength to peer into such matters.

Li Qing did not take the existence of the Black Mountain Clan to heart.

Compared to the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect, a Foundation Establishment cultivation family was nothing more than an ant.

After all, he had a backer.

Li Qing gathered all the useless items into a single storage bag.

As for the tortoise shell magical tool, he placed it into his own storage bag, intending to refine it when he returned.

It just so happened that Li Qing was lacking a defensive magical tool.

The same went for the medicinal pills and other useful items; Li Qing placed them all into his storage bag.

The remaining items—the mid-grade golden sharp sword and the magical tool produced by the Black Shark—were kept together, waiting for an opportunity to be sold at once.

Li Qing did not choose to keep the golden sharp sword for himself.

It was a gold-attribute magical tool; although he could use it, it was incompatible with his mana attribute, meaning he could not fully utilize its power.

After handling everything, Li Qing looked at the clumps of dark, deep-sea thick earth on the ground.

A look of hesitation appeared on his face.

The value of the Azure Sea Ghost Sand within the deep-sea thick earth was immense. He had even briefly considered whether he should sell it directly for spirit stones.

If he did that, he wouldn't have to worry about resources in the short term.

However, when he saw the two storage bags on the ground, he immediately extinguished the thought.

He had been targeted by the Black Shark duo just for purchasing a piece of low-value Black Sea thick earth.

Once the Azure Sea Ghost Sand was exposed, the danger would likely be even greater, potentially even attracting the gaze of Foundation Establishment experts.

The methods of a Foundation Establishment expert were incomparable to those of the two deceased brothers.

"Forget it, I'll just cultivate quietly and keep a low profile," Li Qing thought.

In the next moment, Li Qing waved his hand behind him.

A surge of mana sent ten spirit stones flying toward the courtyard entrance.

A short while later, a servant ran over.

The servant arrived at Li Qing's courtyard, bowed first toward the residence, and then picked up the spirit stones from the ground before leaving.

Originally, he had intended to return to his cave dwelling on the outer island of the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect to enter seclusion.

But he still needed to refine the tortoise shell magical tool, and he needed to refine the Azure Sea Ghost Sand to accelerate the evolution of the Sea Suppressing Pearl.

Additionally, since Li Qing was very interested in the Shaping Technique, he decided to linger here for a while.

***

Ten days later.

Li Qing left his room wearing a black bamboo hat.

During these past few days, he had completed the refinement of the previous tortoise shell defensive tool, a magical tool named the Black Tortoise Shield.

The Azure Sea Ghost Sand in his possession had all been refined into the Sea Suppressing Pearl.

As expected, the spiritual energy concentration inside the Sea Suppressing Pearl was now even slightly higher than that of a first-tier core-position cave dwelling.

Thinking about the upcoming evolution of the Sea Suppressing Pearl, Li Qing felt a bit of a headache.

This harvest of Azure Sea Ghost Sand had been entirely unexpected.

Collecting water-attribute natural treasures was currently too difficult for him.

Li Qing continued walking toward the market.

He still had two magical tools to deal with, and furthermore, he wanted to purchase some medicinal pills just in case.

Beneath the bamboo hat, Li Qing's appearance had long since changed.

His face now appeared square and blunt, and he had deliberately added several wrinkles to mask his features.

This was done to deceive others, as he was about to deal with some "unclean" items.

A mere bamboo hat could not hide him from professional scrutiny.

If he truly encountered an arrogant Foundation Establishment cultivator, they could see through the disguise with a single glance.

Upon arriving at the market, Li Qing walked along the bustling main road.

At the end of the road, there were several shops that appeared to have ordinary exterior decorations.

This area was vastly different from the previous bustling market; very few people passed through, and those who were seen were always in a hurry, rarely showing their faces.

Li Qing entered a shop called the Sundry Pavilion.

The interior was extremely spacious, bearing no resemblance to the simple exterior.

One side of the room consisted of neatly arranged small chambers, surrounded by formations designed to prevent spiritual sense detection.

As soon as he entered, a person dressed as a servant led Li Qing into one of the side rooms.

"..."

Half an hour later, Li Qing's figure emerged from the shop and quickly vanished into the crowd.

The shops in that specific location all engaged in the same business: helping clients dispose of secretive items, including stolen goods.

It could be said that, except for treasures bearing obvious sect markings, almost anything could be handled there.

Every shop that looked ordinary actually possessed a background no less significant than those in the bustling sections of the market.

Some even had forces behind them that were far more terrifying.

Without a powerful background, one had no right to act as a fence for stolen goods.

The stolen goods in Li Qing's storage bag had vanished, replaced by six hundred low-grade spirit stones.

A moment later, he arrived at a medicinal pill shop.

Upon his return, he planned to enter seclusion for cultivation, and his current supply of pills was still insufficient.

Only with the aid of medicinal pills could his cultivation level rise rapidly.

After entering the Pill Pavilion, Li Qing wasted no words and directly purchased two bottles of Yuan-Nourishing Pills.

Then, he entered another shop selling medicinal pills.

After a few rounds, Li Qing finally completed his shopping.

In total, he spent over two hundred spirit stones to purchase six bottles of Yuan-Nourishing Pills.

In another pill shop, he also found the Blood-Replenishing Pills he had been longing for, and he purchased four bottles directly.

Checking his storage bag, he saw that he had over eight hundred low-grade spirit stones remaining.

Li Qing waited in place for a moment, then walked toward a shop that sold cultivation manuals.

"The Hundred Methods Pavilion."

Li Qing took a look and stepped inside.

"May I ask what the distinguished guest wishes to purchase?" a servant approached him.

"I am looking for a suitable cultivation manual. I wonder if they are sold here?" Li Qing said calmly.

"Of course they are. Please wait a moment, guest; I shall go and fetch our manager immediately."

After nodding, Li Qing sat down to one side.

His purpose for coming here was to find a cultivation manual that could hide his cultivation level.

(End of Chapter)