The choice of design was obvious.
Lü Zhong was skilled with the sword. For long range, he had the Qingyang Fire Rain Technique, and for close range, the Late Sun Sword Skill. He didn’t need the minor attack power from the Ink Crystal Great Shield.
"I choose the Profound Turtle Ink Crystal Shield."
"Hmm, in that case..." The old man calculated on his fingers for a mont before quickly quoting a price. "Fellow Daoist, if you provide only the Ink Crystal Iron and my Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop provides the rest of the materials, the cost for the supplentary materials and labor will be three hundred and sixty-two Spirit Stones... I’ll round it down for you. Let’s just call it three hundred and sixty."
Suddenly, as if rembering sothing, he added, "Fellow Daoist, would you like to request expedited refining? Normally, crafting an Ink Crystal Shield like this is guaranteed to take three months. But we have fewer orders at the workshop right now, so if you add an extra fifty Spirit Stones, you can have it in one month."
Fifty extra Spirit Stones to get it two months earlier.
Lü Zhong hesitated for a mont before deciding to go with the expedited service.
Being targeted for so unknown reason had left him feeling extrely insecure. Two months might seem like a short ti, but it could be the difference between life and death.
’I’ll just have to work a bit harder and go all out with Talisman Making to earn the Spirit Stones back,’ he resolved.
The old man then drew up an artifact refining commission contract, which detailed the terms they had just agreed upon, as well as so related clauses.
The contract was made in duplicate. Lü Zhong reviewed the terms and saw no obvious traps.
There was only one clause worth noting: if the Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop failed in the refining process and ruined his materials, they would only compensate him for half the value of the Ink Crystal Iron.
"If you see no issues, Fellow Daoist, please leave your aura on it," the old man said from the side.
A cultivator’s aura was unique. Compared to a signature, which could be easily forged, an aura was far more suitable for signing docunts. Although it was possible to forge a cultivator’s aura, the cost was so high that it was unlikely to be used for a simple artifact refining contract.
Since Lü Zhong had already provided the valuable Ink Crystal Iron, he didn’t need to pay an additional deposit for the commission. He would only need to pay the remaining balance once the Profound Turtle Ink Crystal Shield was successfully crafted.
Leaving the Huangyi Artifact Refining Workshop, Lü Zhong headed straight for his bamboo courtyard without looking back.
On the way, he used his Scene Replay ability more than once.
As he passed through the gate of the Lower Three Rings Area, soone, just as he had expected, began to follow him quietly.
’Strange. Their tracking technique is so crude. Could it be they aren’t here for revenge from Thousand-Faced Lang’s people?’ Lü Zhong analyzed the origins of his pursuers as he walked toward the bamboo courtyard.
Based on the results of the Scene Replay, the people following him seed to be veterans, but they were far inferior to Thousand-Faced Lang and a far cry from the Third Lady.
’It seems unlikely this is revenge.’
Lü Zhong stopped in front of a food stall, pretending to buy a large, savory at pie. In reality, he was using his Scene Replay to continue observing his trackers and ca to a conclusion: ’The only other possibility is that they sohow found out I have a Spirit-Seeking Rat.’
After all, he had racked his brain and could only co up with two reasons why he would be targeted. Now that he had ruled one out, the truth was obvious.
If that was the case, the problem could only have co from that grandfather and his grandchild. They must have leaked the information.
Acquiring a Spirit-Seeking Rat was no different from obtaining a Treasure Basin that produced Spirit Stones.
As such, it was only natural that he would be targeted.
This served as a wake-up call for Lü Zhong. In the future, if he encountered a similar situation, it would be better to be a bit more iron-fisted. Otherwise, he would just bring endless trouble upon himself.
"Sigh..."
At this thought, Lü Zhong took a fierce bite of his large at pie.
At this mont, only good food could slightly ease the gloom in his heart.
...
Now that he had figured out why he was being targeted, the next steps were simple.
With the slave contract in place, Mo the Third and his group couldn’t assassinate him. It was more likely they would try to sneak in and kidnap him. This was because if the master died, the Spiritual Beast bound by the slave contract would also die at the sa ti.
This solidified his plan to hole up in the bamboo courtyard and focus on Talisman Making.
For the next month, aside from occasionally going out to sell Evil Exorcism Talismans at his stall, Lü Zhong spent all his ti making them to earn the remaining paynt for the Ink Crystal Shield.
Perhaps because he was focusing all his energy on it, his Talisman output doubled.
At his peak, his success rate allowed him to produce as many as twelve a day.
On average, his success rate for crafting Evil Exorcism Talismans reached a full sixty percent.
After selling these Evil Exorcism Talismans, the number of Spirit Stones he had grew little by little. The day he would have enough for the final paynt on the Ink Crystal Shield was not far off.
...
「In the dead of night.」
Lü Zhong was fully concentrated. He picked up his Talisman Brush, dipped it in the Fiery Sun Talisman Ink, and continued to draw Evil Exorcism Talismans. After drawing three in a row—two successes and one failure—his Spiritual Power had dropped to less than half.
He counted the finished Evil Exorcism Talismans. He had accumulated another one hundred and thirteen.
’This should be about enough. If I sell these Evil Exorcism Talismans, I’ll have just enough, with the Spirit Stones I already have, to pay the balance for the Ink Crystal Shield.’
Glancing at the dark night outside the window, he saw it was already late.
Thinking about how he had to go out and set up his stall tomorrow, Lü Zhong stretched his sore arms and prepared to close up and go to bed.
But before that, there was one more thing to do.
His twice-daily routine check of the area around his residence.
On the verge of developing persecutory delusions, he had gotten into the habit of checking the bamboo forest once before bed and once after waking up. Using the Scene Replay ability from his Gray Mist Space, he could find out if anyone was spying on him nearby and, by comparing scenes, tell if anyone had trespassed in the bamboo forest.
This was where the Scene Replay ca in.
Lü Zhong could stand at the edge of the protective shield and use the ten-zhang range of movent provided by the Scene Replay to pass through the White Cloud Shield, bypassing the obscuring Cloud Qi, and see outside without anyone noticing.
And this ti, his inspection actually yielded a result.
Under the cover of night, four figures dressed in black stealthily slipped into the bamboo forest.
Activating his Qi Observation Skill, Lü Zhong saw that among the four intruders, Mo the Third was indeed one of them.
Besides him, the other two n who had been following him that day were also among the four.
As his gaze shifted to the last person, his breath caught in his throat.
"Hiss... it’s actually a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator!"
Lü Zhong hadn’t expected that even a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator would show up this ti.
He cast Malice Detection. This ti, the Magic Skill gave him feedback, but it was extrely faint.
’As I thought, they have a way to evade this skill.’
Without hesitation, he imdiately took out a bamboo tube from his robes.
Lü Zhong had spent a full ten Spirit Stones to buy it from Lin Yunhua.
The bamboo tube looked unremarkable, but its function was anything but. When activated, it could release a conspicuous burst of Warning Fireworks. The patrolling Law Enforcent Team nearby would then rush over, making it perfect for this kind of situation.
It was basically a transaction for buying safety, a deal filled with the unique character of Yanling Mountain Square.
He channeled his Spiritual Power into the bamboo tube. Its surface imdiately lit up, and it soon shot out a brilliant ball of light.
POP!
A splendid firework of Spiritual Power exploded in the sky.
Outside the bamboo forest, the Spiritual Light illuminated Mo the Third’s face. His expression visibly darkened.
He had no idea how he had been discovered.
The only thing he could be sure of was that the Spirit Stones he’d paid to hire help this ti had just gone down the drain.
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