Chapter 52
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Chapter 52: Dark Night Organization
West City Market
When Lin Jiang arrived, he found many people gathered together with curiosity in their eyes.
Lin Jiang moved closer to take a look and saw that the Yunzhong City Guards were escorting three cultivators—both men and women.
Through the conversations of people nearby, Lin Jiang learned that these three individuals were assassins from the Dark Night Organization, captured by Yunzhong City and soon to be beheaded.
“Beheading is something that people in the cultivation world also enjoy watching.”
Lin Jiang looked at the layers of onlookers, a mix of excitement and disappointment filling his heart.
Without moving a step, Lin Jiang began watching as well.
“Brother, why aren’t they starting already?”
“Fishing.”
“Fishing?”
“Yes, there are many people in the Dark Night Organization, and there are still many who haven’t been caught.
They are waiting for the Dark Night Organization to come and rescue them.
I heard that the other two major markets are also doing the same.”
“The people from the Dark Night Organization wouldn’t be so foolish, right?”
“Who knows?”
Lin Jiang saw someone nearby discussing the reason for the delay.
Lin Jiang thought it made sense, but he didn’t believe the Dark Night Organization members were that foolish.
Yunzhong City always had a Nascent Soul Ancestor watching over it.
If the Nascent Soul Ancestor couldn’t handle it, the two major sects still had a Soul Changing Ancestor waiting.
With the strength of the Soul Changing Ancestor, it would only take an instant to rush over from the sects’ mountain gates.
As Lin Jiang expected, the Yunzhong City Guards waited for over two hours, but no one came to rob the field.
When they realized no one was coming, they took action.
“Okay.”
The executioner raised his knife, and the crowd cheered loudly.
There were no instances of blood-filled bread, as cultivators were not superstitious.
Lin Jiang followed the dispersing crowd and vaguely caught a glimpse of Zhang Ruifang’s figure, but he wasn’t sure.
He didn’t want to have much to do with Zhang Ruifang either.
Back at his stall, Lin Jiang started selling talismans.
In these few days, Lin Jiang’s talisman-making skills had improved.
He could now draw ten first-level premium spiritual talismans in a day.
This wasn’t unbelievable.
Lin Jiang had been able to draw first-level premium spiritual talismans decades ago.
Having cultivated at this level for many years, his talisman-drawing technique had become extremely refined.
With years of practicing the Soul Refining Technique and taking the Soul Nourishing Pill, his spiritual power became much stronger than the average Qi Refining cultivator.
Improving his talisman skills came naturally to him.
This was Lin Jiang’s unique advantage.
Compared to other cultivators with good aptitude—who could break through the Foundation Building Period in their thirties or forties—Lin Jiang could stay in the later stages of Qi Refining for a longer time due to his cultivation.
For those with poor aptitude, staying at this stage for too long would be dangerous.
By the time they reached sixty, their vitality would decline.
They wouldn’t be able to make further progress, and simply maintaining their current state would already be considered good.
Lin Jiang, however, was different.
He was the only one who could maintain his peak state.
As time passed, his talisman skills kept improving, leading to his remarkable achievements.
“If I can sell all ten talismans in a day, my income and expenses would be balanced.”
Lin Jiang estimated that if he could sell all his spiritual talismans, he would earn around ninety dollars per day—a high income for a Qi Refining cultivator.
He could almost achieve a balanced financial situation and even save some money if he spent wisely.
·······
In Yunzhong City, there was no designated market for everyday shopping.
All the stalls were set up in the main market.
This included cultivation resources such as pills, talismans, items, and formations.
Fruits, vegetables, and snacks were also available for purchase.
Zhang Ruifang might have done it on purpose.
Ever since Lin Jiang helped her in Sanjiang Estuary, he frequently saw her in the main market.
However, every time Lin Jiang saw her, she didn’t have the vibe of a killer.
Instead, she seemed like a homemaker—just buying groceries every day.
“Look at that senior in the Foundation Building Period. She also buys groceries and cooks every day. Is the Foundation Building Period similar to ordinary women?”
Lin Jiang asked the person beside him.
“Shouldn’t the Foundation Building Period be detached from the mundane? It shouldn’t be like a woman, right?”
“What’s so strange about that? Cultivators are also humans.
Although theoretically, the Foundation Building Period cultivators can go without eating for half a year, everyone has been eating for decades.
Who would want to eat Inedia Pills every day?
Also, spiritual food can increase spiritual energy, and there are no toxic side effects.
If Taoist Friend Lin goes to a restaurant, you’ll find that there are many Foundation Building Period cultivators there.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you for explaining.”
“No problem.
But this senior is a bit strange.
Is she not making any money by wandering around every day?”
The vendor beside them said,
“Even Foundation Building Period cultivators in the independent cultivator world are poor.
Those Foundation Building Period independent cultivators in Yunzhong City are busy every day and can’t make ends meet.
They are always trying to get spirit stones and resources.”
Seeing that the person beside him was becoming suspicious, Lin Jiang quickly changed the topic.
He didn’t want things to go wrong.
But as they talked, the conversation shifted to the topic of the assassin organization.
According to their accounts, assassin organizations had existed in Yunzhong City for hundreds of years.
Most of them were small-scale, made up of temporary members.
They did business by taking contracts to kill.
Compared to the Dark Night Organization, those assassins were very amateurish.
The Dark Night Organization was much more professional.
Their killers were carefully trained, focusing on assassination skills and mastering various techniques.
Even cultivators in the Foundation Building Period could be assassinated by killers in the Qi Refining Period.
For this reason, the two major sects deeply despised the killer organization.
Whenever they encountered one, they wiped it out completely.
Just like this, after the battle at Sanjiang Estuary, the two major sects took action.
The Dark Night Organization suffered heavy losses and has now gone silent.
Perhaps, it has already disbanded.
Lin Jiang couldn’t deny this possibility.
However, he believed that Zhang Ruifang was still undercover, and the Dark Night Organization couldn’t have simply disbanded like that.
“Forget it, forget it. It’s not my business. It’s best to mind my own safety and well-being.”
Finally, Lin Jiang shook his head.
He couldn’t get involved in such nonsense.
The more involved, the quicker the death.
He just wanted to live his own peaceful life.
As time passed, Lin Jiang’s spiritual power became more profound, constantly growing.
This was a very good thing.
Because on the path of cultivation, there was a very frustrating challenge called a bottleneck.
A bottleneck was a peculiar thing.
No matter how much one cultivated, their spiritual power would no longer increase.
The refined spiritual power seemed to disappear into thin air.
Solving this bottleneck was also difficult.
Some people relied on elixirs, like the famous Barrier-Breaking Pill, but not only was it expensive, it was also not effective for everyone.
Others ventured out on adventures.
There was a theory that a bottleneck occurred due to problems with one’s state of mind.
Therefore, one had to travel to different places and experience various matters to break through it.
Some people relied solely on endurance.
They endured and endured, hoping that the bottleneck would naturally open up.
Of course, the most likely outcome was that they would simply die of old age.
Lin Jiang, however, did not show any signs of a bottleneck yet, so he was considered lucky.
Of course, there were others without bottlenecks, such as Mr. Lin and Lin Ying.
They both built their foundations early, and it was uncertain whether they would face a bottleneck during the Foundation Building Period.
“I have been at the ninth level of Qi Refining for almost four years.”
“I estimate that it will take another ten years or so to reach the perfect level.”
“After reaching the perfect level, I need to find a way to build my foundation.”
“I wonder how many Building Foundation Pills someone with my poor talent would need.”
Lin Jiang pondered.
There were geniuses who could forcefully break through without using Building Foundation Pills.
But obviously, Lin Jiang was not one of them.
He had inquired and found out that there were Foundation Building Period cultivators with Five Spiritual Roots.
However, he had never heard of an independent cultivator with Five Spiritual Roots successfully building a foundation.
This was because independent cultivators didn’t have enough money to buy a large number of Building Foundation Pills—they couldn’t even afford one.
Don’t underestimate the value of Building Foundation Pills.
They cost around twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones.
For Qi Refining Period cultivators, this was already an astronomical price.
Ordinary people started cultivating at the age of twelve.
By the time they reached sixty, their vitality would start to decline.
That’s why people often said there was a sixty-year limit.
In other words, ordinary people had only forty-eight years in the Qi Refining Period.
To improve their cultivation by ten levels during these forty-eight years, they needed to invest a lot of resources each year.
On top of that, they also needed to manage their daily expenses—food, drink, and living costs.
It was incredibly difficult to save up an extra twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones.
This was why independent cultivators envied sects and families.
Sects and families not only had territories that generated continuous income, but they also gathered people and could collectively fund major events.
Independent cultivators simply couldn’t compete with that alone.
“I went off track. I went off track.”
“Let’s get back to the main topic. How many Building Foundation Pills should I prepare?”
Lin Jiang quickly refocused his thoughts, stopping himself from daydreaming.
He needed to focus on how to build a strong foundation.
According to the information Lin Jiang gathered, some well-born cultivators with Five Spiritual Roots needed at least two Building Foundation Pills to build their foundation.
Additionally, they required:
Auxiliary elixirs
A rich spiritual environment
Skilled guards to ensure a stable breakthrough
If Lin Jiang wanted to prepare all these requirements, he would need at least a hundred thousand spirit stones.
“To prepare four Building Foundation Pills, plus other auxiliary elixirs and the right environment, it will cost around twenty thousand spirit stones.”
“So, in total, it will be over a hundred thousand.”
“At this rate, even if I save one thousand spirit stones per year, it will take me a hundred years to accumulate enough.”
“It seems that the only hope for lower-level cultivators lies in mutation after all.”
Lin Jiang calculated and realized that the cost was simply too high.
Unless a lower-level cultivator had exceptional talent, there was truly no hope of breaking through to the Foundation Building Period.
