The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Lin Xuan gave the divine sword to Luo Yifei and his group, and watched the four of them leave the town.

The middle-aged woman also walked onto the main road of the town, but as she approached Lin Xuan, a burst of light and mist suddenly appeared, transforming her into a beautiful woman. This person was none other than Roland.

"To be honest, your script and acting aren't very good," Roland said.

"What can I do? I've already gone to great lengths. If it weren't for my agreement with those old guys, I wouldn't bother acting at all; it would be so much more comfortable to just give them the stuff directly." The actor playing Lin Xuan was Wen Bin.

"Has the female ghost in the village been dealt with?" Roland continued to ask.

"No, but it won't cause trouble for long. It will be completely destroyed in a few days," Wen Bin replied.

"Why don't you save her, settle her grudges, and let her be reincarnated?" Roland asked.

“There are still three scenes to perform. I’m going to rescue the female ghost. Who will act for these children?” Wen Bin said.

“I don’t think we need to go through all that trouble. Just keep going forward and we’ll reach the city of Garland, where the Caro Festival is being held. I can just take the God-Slaying Whip to the market and find someone to guide them there. Doesn’t that make perfect sense?” Roland said.

Wen Bin was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's meet in Jialan City."

……

Luo Yifei, Shen Lixi, Han Yue, and Shi Hao arrived in Jialan City.

Here, they learned a great deal about the world.

The continent of Illusion is divided into seven continents by the ocean. These are: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Cyan, and Purple.

Each continent is vast, with numerous small countries, most of which do not share a border. In the unclaimed lands between these countries, there are often some mystical temples.

Currently, they are in a small country called Cai in the central region of Qingzhou. Although it is called a small country, Han Yue feels that it is larger than the combined territories of the nine countries in the eastern continent of the Floating Life Continent.

Looking at the map, Shi Hao sighed, "It's huge."

"Gentlemen, do you want this map of Cai or not? Don't interfere with my business," the map seller said impatiently.

"Buy, buy, buy! I just think this map is too big and inconvenient to carry," Han Yue replied, quickly taking out some silver.

"Is this what you call big? I also have a map of the State of Chen, which is ten times bigger than this map of the State of Cai."

When the map seller saw that they wanted to buy it, he took out an even bigger map.

"No need, no need," Han Yue quickly waved his hand.

"Are you all from out of town?" the map seller asked.

“Yes, we’re here for the Carlo Festival,” Han Yue replied.

“The Caro Festival? Isn’t that tomorrow? You’ve come at just the right time,” said the map seller.

"What is the Carlo Festival?" Luo Yifei asked.

"The Carlo Festival is an annual trading day for cultivators, and quite a few cultivators have already come to our Jialan City these past two days. You don't look like cultivators, do you perhaps want to find some youth-preserving pills or longevity pills?" the map seller said.

"Youth-preserving pills? Longevity pills?" Luo Yifei and the other three exchanged glances, completely bewildered.

"That's right, cultivators can refine some pills, such as the Youth Preservation Pill, which can keep you young forever, and the Longevity Pill, which can prolong your life," the map seller said.

"Oh, then let's go take a look," Luo Yifei said.

"Gentlemen, if you want to buy things crafted by cultivators, you should go to the main street over there," the map seller said, pointing to a street.

"Thank you." Luo Yifei and the other three thanked him and walked towards the main street.

Along the way, Luo Yifei and his companions encountered many people, mostly ordinary folks, but occasionally they would meet one or two cultivators.

"Brother Shen, you're the only one among the four of us with spiritual power. Why don't you tell us about cultivating immortality?" Han Yue asked.

“This…” Shen Lixi hesitated, “Actually, spiritual power is not, in a strict sense, cultivation.”

"Oh? What is spiritual power?" Luo Yifei asked.

“Spiritual power is one of our talents. Some people are born with it, while others need to awaken it later. Spiritual power can be used to control magical artifacts and cultivate spells,” Shen Lixi explained.

"Magic artifact? Spells?" Luo Yifei and the other three asked in confusion.

“That’s right. A magic weapon is an object that can assist in cultivation, while magic is an attack method that is cast using spiritual power,” Shen Lixi replied.

"That sounds amazing," Han Yue exclaimed.

“Yes, cultivators are indeed very powerful. They possess extraordinary power, can control magical artifacts, cast spells, and even achieve immortality,” Shen Lixi said.

"Do we have a chance to become cultivators?" Shi Hao asked.

"Well... it's hard to say." Shen Lixi shook her head. "Cultivation requires talent and opportunity; not everyone can become a cultivator."

“However, even without becoming a cultivator, we can still improve our strength by cultivating spiritual power,” Shen Lixi added.

"Then how do we cultivate spiritual power?" Luo Yifei asked.

"Well... I'm not really sure either," Shen Lixi said somewhat awkwardly. "I cultivated spiritual power by accident; I don't have any systematic methods."

"I see..." Luo Yifei and the other three were somewhat disappointed.

“However, we can go find some cultivators and ask them for advice on cultivation methods,” Shen Lixi suggested.

"Great idea." Luo Yifei and the other three's eyes lit up, and they all nodded in agreement.

So they continued walking down that main street, searching for the cultivator.

Soon, they noticed a whip made of green vines on a small stall.

"Don't miss it! The Five Elements Divine Weapon, the God-Slaying Whip."

The vendor's cries caught the attention of Luo Yifei and his companions.

"Brother Shen, shall we go take a look at that God-Slaying Whip?" Han Yue said, pointing to the stall.

Shen Lixi and the others walked to the stall and looked at the green vine whips displayed there.

"Boss, how much is this God-Slaying Whip?" Han Yue asked.

"One hundred taels of silver," the vendor replied.

"One hundred taels of silver? That's so expensive!" Han Yue exclaimed in surprise.

"Young man, this God-Slaying Whip is a divine weapon; one hundred taels of silver is already a very cheap price," the vendor explained.

"A divine artifact? I think it's just an ordinary vine," Han Yue said dismissively.

"Young man, you can't say that. This God-Slaying Whip is made from the Five Elements Divine Vine and has great power," the vendor argued.

"Five Elements Divine Vine? What's that?" Luo Yifei asked.

"The Five Elements Divine Vine is an extremely rare spiritual plant that can absorb the five elements of spiritual energy between heaven and earth, and the magical treasures refined from it are incredibly powerful," the vendor explained.

"Then what is the purpose of this God-Slaying Whip?" Luo Yifei continued to ask.

"This God-Slaying Whip can bind the enemy's spiritual power, preventing them from using magical artifacts and spells. Of course, this only applies to enemies of the same or lower level. However, this God-Slaying Whip can also be used in conjunction with other divine artifacts to open a portal between time and space," the vendor replied.

"Open the portal to time and space?" Luo Yifei and the others exclaimed.

"That's right. As long as you collect all five artifacts, you can open the portal to another world and travel to it," the vendor said mysteriously.

"Other worlds?" Luo Yifei and the others' eyes lit up; they had finally found another divine artifact.

"Boss, we'll buy this God-Slaying Whip," Shen Lixi said.

"Okay, I'll wrap it up for you right away," the vendor said happily.

Shen Lixi paid the money and put away the God-Slaying Whip.

"Brother Shen, do you really believe that this God-Slaying Whip can open the portal to time and space? This should be a pseudo-divine artifact, right?" Han Yue asked with some doubt.

“I don’t know either, but we can give it a try,” Shen Lixi said. “And even if we can’t open the portal, this God-Slaying Whip is still a pretty good magic weapon.”

"That makes sense," Han Yue nodded.

They continued to wander the streets, searching for other possible artifacts.

Suddenly, they saw a golden bell hanging at the entrance of a shop.

"Boss, how much is this bell?" Luo Yifei asked.

"This bell is the store's prized possession, it's not for sale," the owner replied.

"Not for sale? Then what's the point of displaying it here?" Luo Yifei asked, puzzled.

"This is used to attract customers," the owner explained. "This bell is called the Soul-Summoning Bell, which can summon the spirits of the dead, but using it comes at a great cost."

"Summoning the dead?" Luo Yifei and the others exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s right, but I don’t recommend you use it,” the shopkeeper warned. “Using the Soul-Summoning Bell will consume the user’s lifespan and cultivation.”

"That terrifying?" Luo Yifei and the others gasped.

"Yes, that's why I haven't been able to sell it. But it's still a magical artifact," the shopkeeper said.

"Boss, is this really true?" Shi Hao asked.

"Of course, it's just a pseudo-divine artifact, but with the other four, it can open a portal to another dimension. This summoning bell is fire-attribute," the shopkeeper replied.

"How much are you willing to sell for?" Luo Yifei asked.

"I've already said, this is the store's prized possession. How much silver will you pay for it? Unless you have an elixir of immortality?" the shopkeeper replied.

"Boss, is this what you mean?" Shen Lixi took out the last remaining herb of immortality.

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up immediately upon seeing it, and he exclaimed excitedly, "That's it! If you're willing to exchange this immortal herb for the Soul-Summoning Bell, it's yours!"

Shen Lixi smiled slightly and said, "Okay, then it's a deal."

The shopkeeper happily took out the soul-summoning bell and handed it to Shen Lixi. Shen Lixi put the soul-summoning bell away.

The shopkeeper was secretly delighted. This elixir of immortality was at least a thousand years old, and he traded it for a pseudo-divine artifact—it was truly a bargain.