Chapter Five: The Copper Mirror

  Lu Ping slowly withdrew his power, spitting out a mouthful of pale red gas, which was the poison of the Qingxue Dan. He tossed aside the useless spirit stone in his hand and felt the power of his blood vessels as he was about to break through to the late stage of the seventh layer. Lu Ping was slightly excited.

  Yesterday, in the contest with Li Cheng, Lu Ping found an opening in Li Cheng's 22nd move and launched a counterattack, gaining the upper hand. He then attacked consecutively for eight moves, and by the 30th move, he had locked down Li Cheng's spear and struck at his wrist with his sword, forcing Li Cheng to drop his spear and concede defeat.

  In the blink of an eye, the situation turned around, and Li Cheng, who had just been in high spirits, suddenly fell into defeat. Not only were his disciples, who had initially cheered him on, left stunned, but also several top-ranked disciples and Liu Xianchang's deputy were greatly shocked. The few disciples with cultivation similar to Lu Ping looked at him with deep vigilance in their eyes.

  Lu Ping couldn't help but smile wryly, it seemed like he had overdone it this time.

  Originally, Lu Ping would have just let Li Cheng suffer a bit and see some blood, but it wasn't a big deal. However, Lu Ping had already seen something on Liu Xianchang's face that Li Cheng hadn't noticed when he challenged him, so he didn't go all out.

  As expected, Liu Xianchang saw that neither side was injured, and the sharpness of the competition would not be lost. Looking at Lu Ping's eyes suddenly became much more gentle. Following the usual practice, after guiding the morning exercise, Liu Xianchang left Lu Ping alone for guidance.

  This made even the first and second junior brothers reveal envious expressions. Private guidance, special treatment! It was just that a few senior brothers had obtained an opportunity when their cultivation broke through the eighth layer, and Elder Brother and Second Brother had received private guidance once again when they broke through the ninth layer, with Liu Xianchang overjoyed. As for the rest, only Fourth Senior Sister had obtained two opportunities for private guidance because her family was close to Liu Xianchang, just like the two senior brothers.

  Lu Ping quietly pondered over what Liu Xianchang had explained to him.

  The purpose of cultivation, in the eyes of most cultivators, is naturally to prolong one's lifespan and even reach that ethereal realm of longevity. However, having a long lifespan does not mean that a cultivator can live out their life in peace; various techniques are needed to protect the cultivator from unexpected events on the path to seeking immortality.

  After masters' repeated practice and development over a long period of time, these techniques for guarding longevity were divided into four realms: Fa, Shu, Shi, Yi.

  A beginner learns various techniques according to the teacher's requirements, imitating without understanding the underlying principles, this is called the "technique" stage.

  After that, he diligently practiced his skills, and as he became more skilled, the traces of his previous habits gradually disappeared. The style and method of his movements became smooth and natural, suitable for his own body, and this was called the "technique" realm. Liu Xianchang's current level of cultivation had only reached the "technique" realm during the dissolving blood period.

  Upon reaching the third level, the cultivator obtains the logic of applying techniques, and the techniques combine with their own cultivation methods, complementing each other. When using techniques, the cultivator can exert the power of their own cultivation methods to the maximum through the techniques, even surpassing the power that the techniques themselves can achieve. Cultivators who have reached this level are said to be in the realm of "勢" (shì), where their words and actions seem to follow a great trend, making it impossible for others to contend with them.

  As for the highest "realm", even Liu Xianchang has only heard of it and doesn't know what it means.

  Liu Xianchang not only informed Lu Ping of the four realms of Fa Shu, but also patiently explained his own cultivation experience in reaching the "Fa" realm to Lu Ping. Afterwards, he also answered some difficult questions about cultivation for Lu Ping before stopping.

  It wasn't until an hour later that Lu Ping returned to his own house under the envious and admiring gazes of everyone else, and this continued for two days.

  Days of focused cultivation always pass quickly, and before you know it, the end of the month has arrived. The second day of the third-level disciple's advancement assessment is about to begin, and three days later, the second-level disciple's year-end grand competition will start.

  Lu Ping sold out the talismans he had carved this month at Bieyuanfang Market, weighed the bag containing the Ling stones, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

  The assessment is just a test of cultivation, three days are enough, but the grand competition is different. Moreover, this time coincides with the five-year promotion grand competition, not only do the disciples strive to be the first, but also the professors and sages participate in it for their own interests. Furthermore, rumors say that the True Spirit Sect will increase the rewards for the winners in this grand competition.

  It was precisely because of these reasons that Lu Ping's talisman business became even more prosperous, and Lu Ping naturally wouldn't be at a loss. He immediately raised the price of the talismans, but they were still in short supply.

  Looking at the extra dozen or so spirit stones in his hand, Lu Ping's heart became lively again. After deducting the ones used for cultivation and other purposes, the remaining spirit stones could be used to buy another magical artifact!

  The reason for this idea is that Lu Ping's cultivation has reached the late stage of the seventh layer, which also thanks to Liu Xianchang's extra guidance, and also related to Lu Ping's three consecutive months of luxurious cultivation.

  Lu Ping made the usual preparations in the market for the next month's cultivation, and also bought five Rejuvenation Pills to restore his spiritual power and five Recovery Pills to treat injuries.

  Lu Ping was just about to head towards the Duobao Pavilion when he suddenly heard a murmur of discussion coming from ahead, and after quickening his pace for several steps, he saw over ten people gathered together, engaged in heated debate.

  Out of curiosity, Lu Ping walked forward and saw that it was a third-grade female disciple from another courtyard selling a magic weapon.

  This artifact is a copper mirror, and the edge of the copper mirror has a logo of the True Spirit Sect carved on it. It's obviously a product of the True Spirit Sect, which usually also means that the quality of this artifact won't be too bad even if it's not top-notch.

  Lu Ping stepped forward and asked: "Sister, how many spirit stones can this artifact be sold for?"

  The female disciple heard this and glanced at Lu Ping, noticing that he was wearing a mask from the market. She couldn't see his true face and curled her lip in disdain, seemingly disapproving of Lu Ping's caution, saying: "Fifty-five spirit stones!"

  Defensive magic tools are generally more expensive, but Lu Ping still thinks the price should be lowered a bit, after all, this is not even a decent low-level magic tool.

  "It's too expensive. The artifact is just a standard issue from the sect, it's not that great. Besides, I think this artifact has been used by senior sister for a long time already? 40 spirit stones, how about it?"

  The nun glared at Lu Ping and said, "Forty spiritual stones? I'd rather sell it directly to the Treasure Pavilion. Fifty spiritual stones would be more straightforward. If it weren't for urgent use, who would sell it so cheaply? This is the contribution from my sect that I've accumulated over a year!"

  Lu Ping smiled and said: "Then add five more spiritual stones, forty-five spiritual stones, how about that?"

  The nun hesitated for a moment and said: "Forty-eight pieces, can't be less, otherwise we'll wait for someone else."

  Lu Ping turned his head and saw several people rushing over from a distance, probably also hearing that there was a senior sister selling magical instruments in the market, so they hurried over. Among them were many second-level disciples, and Lu Ping even saw the sixth disciple of the Seventh Squad among them. He said: "Deal!"

  The nun took the Ling Stone from Lu Ping and said fiercely, "If it weren't for my master's treasured medium-grade artifact being sold cheaply, I wouldn't have used the Ling Stone so hastily! Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you get away with such a good deal!" After speaking, she turned around and rushed towards the Lingbao Pavilion in the center of the market without looking back.

  Lu Ping put away his magical instrument and turned around to glance at the several people who were rushing up behind him. He hastily parted the crowd and left the market without looking back.