Cultivation: Starting with Farming in the Spiritual Pivot Grotto

Dugu City floats above a large lake called Mirror Lake, a place where the terrain and spiritual energy of the surrounding thousands of miles converge.

The mountains and rivers surrounding Mirror Lake are rich in spiritual energy. The Dugu clan built pavilions and towers in these places and rented them out as quiet retreats for many cultivators to practice in.

After all, the city is densely populated and filled with worldly dust and impurities, which is not conducive to cultivation.

"Is it rumored that the treasures in Dugu City's secret vault are almost comparable to those in Baiyujing?" Senior Sister Qin asked with some curiosity.

"It's just a rumor. No matter how rich Dugu City is, how could he possibly try to take advantage of Bai Yujing?"

Shen Wu Huo led a group of juniors to stroll around Jinxiufang. This market was a kind of "general store" that sold everything, and most of the shops were run by local cultivators.

"Talisman paper, talisman paper, a two-hundred-year-old brand, ancestral craftsmanship, talisman paper only, we use talisman paper..."

Looking around, Li Ya saw that the shop signs were all made to be enormous, and there were even magical artifacts that could record sounds and shout to attract customers.

"Liuyuantang's first batch of peach blossom ointment for the New Year. Applying this ointment helps you practice the Hehuan Gong (a type of Qigong exercise). It's made with high-quality ingredients, and everyone who uses it says it's great..."

"Sugar Man Li, a century-old brand, makes sugar figurines in any size and texture, to your liking..."

"Steamed buns, steamed buns..."

Li Ya felt that the surrounding light and shadows and shouts were invading his eyes and ears.

"What's that over there selling? There are so many cultivators gathered around."

The intense bidding at the street corner immediately attracted the attention of several people.

"Five taels of silver for the moon!"

"Six taels!"

"Eight taels!"

"Ten taels..."

Shen Wu Huo glanced at it and immediately explained, "Oh, this is just a bunch of junk that local cultivators brought over and set up a stall to sell, trying to fool visiting cultivators!"

Li Ya approached and, after listening to the surrounding cultivators, learned that there was an antique-style broken sword on the stall. It seemed that someone knowledgeable had noticed its value and was bidding against it.

"Fifteen taels!"

The cultivator gritted his teeth and raised the price by five taels, after which no other cultivators around him made a bid.

A moment later, he left with the broken sword, looking delighted. He walked very fast, as if afraid that no one would know he had found a bargain.

"This play is getting more and more realistic!" Shen Wu Huo just smiled.

"An act?" Li Ya asked in a low voice, "Could they be in cahoots?"

"Indeed, the stall owner and those in the crowd who are raising prices are all in cahoots, specifically targeting out-of-town cultivators!"

Sure enough, wherever there are people, there are swindlers. Li Ya continued to ask, "Isn't the Dugu family going to do anything about this?"

"What's the big deal? It's a willing buyer and a willing seller situation; there was no forced transaction."

A sudden thought occurred to Li Ya: if he used the Ling Shu method for deduction, wouldn't there be an opportunity to profit from a loophole? He then asked:

"Senior, isn't there a single genuine item on this stall?"

Shen Wu Huo shrugged: "Maybe!"

Li Ya's mind raced: "Please help me, Ling Shu, deduce which items on the stall are counterfeit!"

If you find all genuine items, it will take a lot of time to determine their value. But if most of them are fake, it won't take long.

He doesn't even need to know which are genuine, he just needs to know which are fake.

Seeing Li Ya standing around with great interest, and having nothing else to do, the others joined in the fun.

After a long while, Ling Shu came to a conclusion.

As requested by the fellow Daoist, it has been deduced that there are a total of thirteen counterfeit items in the stall...

Li Ya's gaze instantly locked onto a dark iron plate in the corner, square in shape with interlocking rings in the middle.

He pretended to be interested in a small tripod, examining it carefully for a long time before speaking.

What is the value of this cauldron?

Looking at Li Ya's unfamiliar face and the fact that he wasn't dressed like a wealthy cultivator, the stall owner pondered for a moment before giving him a price.

"Five taels of silver for the moon," the stall owner continued.

"The items on my stall are a mix of real and fake. I don't know which ones are real and which ones are fake. If you have a sharp eye and find a bargain, then everyone will be happy."

"If you make a mistake, don't come looking for me."

"reasonable!"

"Kang Laoliu, what nonsense are you spouting? This is my junior who has come from afar. This is something that nobody would want even if it were thrown into the mortal world. How dare you ask for this price?"

The stall owner, Kang Laoliu, immediately stood up and hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting: "Oh dear, you're Manager Shen's junior! Look at my eyes, they're all for nothing!"

"And my memory is terrible. I misremembered the cauldron. It's one tael, just one tael."

Li Ya shook his head with a troubled expression.

"My business is small; why don't you add something else to it?"

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Li Ya was secretly pleased, but said calmly, "Alright!"

Having said that, he picked up the small cauldron and the iron plate.

After everyone had walked a distance, Senior Brother Lingji asked, puzzled, "Brother Xiaoya, this cauldron doesn't look particularly special. Why did you give money to this swindler?"

"But what I want isn't the small tripod."

Everyone suddenly realized that Li Ya was interested in the inconspicuous iron plate, not the small cauldron.

Li Ya didn't know what this iron plate was. Since the iron plate shown by Ling Shu was not fake, he could just buy it and play with it.

Shen Wuhuo took the iron plate and examined it carefully.

The iron plate is made entirely of black metal, one foot square and five fen thick, with most of its body covered with glazed glass made from melted rock.

Shen Wu Huo flicked his fingers with his true energy, producing a dull sound, but Liu Li remained completely still.

From the areas never covered by glass, one can see that there should be layers of circular patterns in the center of this plate, with densely packed tiny passages engraved within the patterns.

"If I'm not mistaken, this looks like a talisman plate. Judging from its shape, it doesn't seem to be a modern style; it's quite old."

What is a talisman?

"This talisman disc is the magic weapon used to control talismans."

"The talisman plate was originally made by simulating the flow of heaven and earth. In ancient times, cultivators manipulated talismans, and those who were highly skilled could control more than a hundred talismans. This is ultimately an exception."

"There are those with exceptional talent who draw inspiration from the flow of spiritual energy in heaven and earth to create this talisman plate. Using the talisman plate as a base, one's own true energy simulates the flow of heaven and earth within it. At that time, one only needs to use the true meaning of the talisman as the framework and true energy as the flesh and blood. There is no need to draw talismans on talisman paper. Wherever the divine thought goes, the talisman is formed. It is much faster than drawing talismans."

"With such a magic weapon, wouldn't the talisman business be unable to continue? Why have I never heard of it!" Senior Brother Lingji asked, puzzled.

"Kid, you're overthinking it. Talisman plates are not easy to make, and the methods of controlling them and drawing talismans are different from the ordinary ones. They are the secret treasures of each family, so how could they be passed down?"

"May I ask, senior, what is the quality of my talisman plate?"

Li Ya humbly sought advice.

"Regardless of whether your talisman plate is still usable, just considering its shape alone, it is square on the outside and round on the inside, taking the meaning of the round heaven and square earth. The areas that are not covered have a rough count of over a thousand lines, making it a fine talisman plate."

"A hundred ordinary talismans are already quite good. Your spending of one or two monthly toad coins is worthwhile. I didn't realize you had such good taste."

Li Ya was overjoyed. Besides the sword pellet, this was the second magic weapon he had obtained, and its quality was not low. It seemed that he would have to ask Ling Shu to find a way to repair it.

Even if you can't use it yourself, you can still make a lot of money by reselling it.

"Brother Xiaoya, having obtained such a rare treasure, how can you not treat us to a meal!"

"Sure, sure!"

It seems we really need to get out and about more. Opportunities like these can only be found by going out and trying them out; they don't just come to us when we're sitting at home.