Chapter 106: Mystic Heaven Thunder Talisman

  The Six Qi Lotus Ptform was indeed a fine item. An Jing gnced at its manufacturer’s name.

  “Xuandu Group?”

  After seeing the name, An Jing immediately understood. “So it’s actually under Xuandu Group, one of the four major Primordial Spirit Inheritances. Indeed, big corporations do have their merits.”

  However, he also noticed that ever since a moment ago, the Sword Spirit had been silent, seemingly deep in thought. “What’s wrong, Fuxie?”

  “Nothing…” Fuxie mumbled in a puzzled tone. “Shouyang Mountain, Luofu Mountain, Xuandu Mountain… It all feels so familiar. I know these were once great sect inheritances, but I don’t remember the details…”

  “I kind of feel the same way…” An Jing furrowed his brow, sensing that he, too, might have heard these names in a past life. But he did not dwell on it for long and soon rexed. “They’re ancient inheritances from before the World Tribution, so of course you would have known about them, Fuxie.”

  “Mhm.” The Sword Spirit responded. He said thoughtfully, “A Primordial Spirit Inheritance, even in the ancient Huaixu era, ranked among the top sects. Just one inheritor could bring glory to the entire sect.”

  “Even after the World Tribution, there are still four branches in this world. Though it falls short of Huaixu, it is by no means a weak realm within the grand cosmos. It may be called 【Tianyu (Heavenly Expanse*)】, standing among the countless heavens.”

  “My fragments that are in this realm… It might be a bit difficult to retrieve them.”

  So he said, but the Sword Spirit did not pay it too much mind. For now, what mattered more was helping An Jing survive that Heavenly Demon tribution.

  With a single click, he ordered the Six Qi Lotus Ptform. An Jing then purchased four self-destructing drones from Crimson Bze Field. According to the store clerk, they could blow up evil monsters or aberrant beasts, leaving a massive bloody crater with a single bst. Using them on people was essentially like firing a cannon to swat a mosquito; anyone within five meters of the explosion would either be killed or seriously injured.

  An Jing probed further in a roundabout way and learned that these drones were especially effective against evil monsters born from flesh and blood, referred to as “fleshborn demons.” Once scorched by golden fmes, no demon or evil monster could regenerate.

  However, the store clerk also warned him never to activate these drones in urban areas. Once triggered, the drones would immediately lock themselves down, and armed patrols from the Surveilnce Division would swarm in like rabid dogs.

  When that time came, the consequences would be dire—no one could cim they hadn’t been warned.

  Altogether, that cost five hundred and twenty merit points. He swiped his merit point voucher, marked with a crimson talisman, at the water mirror; the voucher was absorbed and sank into the mirror’s depths, completing the payment.

  An Jing, who had felt like he was getting a great bargain before paying, now fell silent once the transaction was completed.

  “Did I just fall into a consumer trap?”

  Frowning, he muttered inwardly, “They say it’s a discount sale, but I don’t actually know the original price… Could it be that the original price was three hundred and twenty all along, and they just jacked it up to four hundred and eighty first, then ‘marked it down’ to that same price?”

  He pondered for a while but found no answer. After all, An Jing was not originally from this world, and given his current status as a barbarian, he might simply have to accept some losses.

  “Sigh.”

  Thinking of this, An Jing could not help shaking his head. “Even cultivators can’t avoid these mundane discount traps.”

  “Never mind, I’ll keep shopping!”

  Buoyed by his enthusiasm for further purchases, An Jing was now left with five liang of jade-cleaving steel and six hundred and ten merit point vouchers.

  Excluding the jade-cleaving steel, which he could barter with in critical moments, six hundred and ten merit points was still quite substantial. He could buy more weapons if he wished.

  However, An Jing already had the Chongming Sword Case, the Frostfall Rifle, and the Magical Artifact spear contributed by Brother Daqiang. At most, he might add a close-range weapon like a shotgun, which should suffice.

  Still, given his future operations in the wilderness, he would need items such as flint, insect repellent, antidotes, and refined salt and sugar. An Jing also had to pick up various survival supplies, along with some pills and talismans.

  Hence, An Jing continued browsing and soon found what he needed.

  One 【Mystic Heaven Thunder Talisman】.

  When An Jing first arrived at the bck market, he had stated that he needed a Magical Artifact with ice and fire or lightning attributes, which caused the bck market’s attendant some hesitation.

  At the time, An Jing had been perplexed, wondering how a realm like the Tianyuan Realm—so advanced in Artifact Refining—could ck such Magical Artifacts.

  But after visiting the Armory District, he realized he had truly underestimated this realm—a single sword case could fire flying swords with various five-element yin-yang attributes, while gunpowder weapons could be imbued with different elements through a talisman formation disc for their bullets.

  This approach allowed the same resources to be adapted to multiple environments, enabling merchants to profit not just once from Magical Artifacts but repeatedly from ongoing talisman bullet sales.

  Moreover, the more precious and high-end the attribute, the less likely it was to be manufactured into a permanent or long-term Magical Artifact for the general popuce.

  The Mystic Heaven Thunder Talisman exemplified this principle. This talisman, at the peak of the Qi Refining level, cost four hundred and ninety merit points—comparable to buying a Six Qi Lotus Ptform plus four self-destructing drones combined. The tter could serve long-term as reconnaissance devices or single-use crisis-solvers, whereas the former was merely a talisman.

  “Expel evil and ward off camities, eradicate demons and sever malevolence. Wearing it can repel Demonic Qi and guard the heart pace. Activating it can evoke Mystic Heaven Water Thunder…”

  At a gnce, An Jing knew it was exactly what he needed and did not hesitate to finalize the purchase.

  Cng. The red merit point voucher vanished into the watery screen.

  Since ancient times, thunder-based methods had been the most effective means of vanquishing demons and upholding the Dao, particurly against formless or amorphous fiends. In such cases, lightning was even more potent than ice or fire.

  Unlike a weapon, a talisman was delivered quickly. Before long, the store attendant brought the Thunder Talisman, sealed within a translucent jade box. The Sword Spirit praised it, “This Mystic Heaven Thunder Talisman is truly authentic, produced by a genuine cultivator of a proper lineage. In my era, one of these would cost at least ten spirit stones.”

  “It’s only here in the Tianyuan Realm that a single spirit stone can be worth several thousand merit points… By comparison, this talisman costs less than five hundred. That’s practically a steal.”

  “Indeed.” An Jing nodded slightly, then pced the Mystic Heaven Thunder Talisman on his person. Having spent almost his entire net worth, he could not help feeling a trace of regret. “If only I could buy a Grand Void Magical Artifact. Then I wouldn’t have to keep such a precious talisman on me.”

  A Grand Void Magical Artifact, simply put, is a type of Spatial Magical Artifact. By harnessing Void Nether Jade, it opens up a miniature dimension in the Umbral Realm for storing supplies.

  An Jing had just inquired about the price of a Grand Void Magical Artifact, only to learn that void nether jade was a strategic resource, and thus the artifact was even more valuable.

  It wasn’t impossible to buy one on the bck market, but even the lowest-quality Grand Void Magical Artifact cost several thousand merit points—essentially all of An Jing’s wealth. Moreover, supply was limited, requiring one to wait for stock to become avaible.

  Unfortunately, the bck market had none in stock at the moment.

  Since that was the case, he decided to simply buy a suitable backpack.

  Fortunately, in the Tianyuan Realm, the wilderness was vast and there were many pioneers, creating a high demand for such supplies. An Jing soon located a standard “pioneer’s package,” but that store was in the free trade zone on the second underground level and only offered in-person pickup.

  Therefore, before heading to the trade zone, An Jing first made his way to the safety area on the second level.

  The restrictions in the bck market suppressed all spiritual energy fluctuations and electronic signals, rendering both drones and any spirit mechanisms reliant on spiritual energy or chips unusable. An Jing also retrieved the five drones he had purchased from the belly of a pudgy wood spirit puppet.

  The Six Qi Lotus Ptform was not rge, appearing as a rather ordinary lotus ptform on the outside. Each self-destructing drone was about half the size of a human head; when inactive, they resembled oversized grenades that hung neatly from an off-road backpack.

  By now, An Jing could be described as fully armed.

  (End of Chapter)

  *Not exactly sure which version to use in this case. Will see when/if it appears again in the future.