DIV Chapter 13: Rogue Cultivators Come Knocking

And so, Li Chang'an rejected all invitations and stayed at home wholeheartedly to cultivate and draw talismans.

"My talisman techniques have improved again," Li Chang'an smiled as he picked up a freshly drawn talisman to examine.

During this period, he had become increasingly skilled with first-tier mid-grade talismans, with his success rate getting higher and higher.

"I truly do have talent in the way of talismans!" He could clearly feel his progress, which made Li Chang'an very satisfied.

In cultivation, what one feared most was making no progress for long periods, being stuck at a certain threshold. Whether it was one's own cultivation level or various techniques, there were so-called "bottlenecks." Many cultivators would be stuck for decades, never making another inch of progress in their lifetime!

"Not going out is the right choice. I should focus on honing my skills with peace of mind."

Li Chang'an put down his talisman brush and began recovering his mana and mental energy.

However, just because he could sit still didn't mean others could as well.

That night, just after midnight, a golden light appeared.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Ominous]

[Due to your long absence from leaving the market, several rogue cultivators have developed disagreements. The others are prepared to wait longer, while Wu Yun has decided to act directly within the market]

"Wu Yun!" Li Chang'an's gaze sharpened.

This fellow was indeed a rogue cultivator! Fortunately, he had acted cautiously and rejected all invitations. Otherwise, he would probably have been surrounded by this group of rogue cultivators the moment he left the market!

"I've been staying indoors all along, yet danger has come knocking on my door," Li Chang'an pondered.

"Wu Yun has disguised himself quite well. Using his identity as a talisman master, he's made many friends in the market. If someone said he was a rogue cultivator, probably few would believe it."

Since the opponent had decided to act directly, he naturally couldn't sit and wait for death.

...

The next day, evening. Wu Yun appeared outside Li Chang'an's house.

He was all smiles, "Fellow Daoist Li, I've obtained a treasure and would like you to help appraise it."

"It's Fellow Daoist Wu. Please come in..." A hoarse and weary voice responded.

The door opened by itself. The interior was dim, with all windows tightly closed.

Li Chang'an lay on a bed in the deepest part of the room, his aura extremely weak, as if he had suffered severe injuries.

Seeing this, Wu Yun frowned and asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, what happened to you?"

"Sigh, a few days ago, I made an error while circulating my energy and injured my meridians. Originally it was just slight discomfort, but the injury has gotten worse and worse," Li Chang'an's voice was full of bitterness.

"That's precisely why I refused Fellow Daoist Wu's invitations... cough cough..."

"So that's what happened! Fellow Daoist Li, why didn't you say so earlier!" Wu Yun looked concerned on the surface, but was wildly delighted in his heart.

Meridian damage! This was quite a serious injury! Once injured, one couldn't circulate mana anymore, or the injury would deteriorate rapidly!

No wonder Li Chang'an wouldn't leave his house even when faced with treasures like Earth Dragon Saliva. It turned out he was willing but unable!

"Fellow Daoist Li, I have some knowledge in spiritual medicine. Let me help examine your injuries," Wu Yun quickly walked into the room, speaking sincerely.

The concern and worry on his face showed no trace of falseness.

But just then, unexpected change occurred!

Bang! The door suddenly slammed shut.

"Buzz——!" In the dim room, dozens of dazzling golden lines instantly lit up.

Interwoven and layered upon layer, like a golden net carrying an extremely dangerous aura, they completely enveloped Wu Yun!

Wu Yun's eyes widened in shock, his face changing drastically, "First-tier mid-grade talismans!"

That terrifying golden light was erupted from first-tier mid-grade Golden Blade Talismans. This type of talisman was an advanced version of the Mad Blade Talisman.

Its power was extremely terrifying. It posed a deadly threat even to mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators!

And now, numerous Golden Blade Talismans erupted simultaneously.

Everything came too suddenly. Wu Yun had nowhere to hide.

"How is this possible? Could Li Chang'an have disregarded his cultivation and spent massive amounts of spirit stones to buy dozens of Golden Blade Talismans to stockpile? No, no... he must have already advanced to a mid-grade talisman master!"

Wu Yun was filled with shock and despair. In this moment, he was full of regret.

He had originally thought that with his strength, having the advantage of surprise, he could easily take down Li Chang'an. If he had known Li Chang'an was hiding so deeply, he shouldn't have acted alone!

"Chi——" Dozens of golden lights instantly penetrated his body.

His whole body trembled. Dozens of interwoven marks immediately appeared all over his body.

The next instant, he scattered into chunks of flesh and blood, shattered all over the ground.

"Farewell, Fellow Daoist Wu," Li Chang'an said coldly, his figure appearing at the door.

The figure on the bed was a decoy created using a first-tier mid-grade Image Retention Talisman!

As long as Wu Yun took the bait, death awaited him!

Li Chang'an had prepared five layers of arrangements in total. The Golden Blade Talismans were just the first layer.

This layer alone was enough to make many mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators meet their doom!

If Wu Yun had suddenly burst forth with heaven-defying strength and forcibly endured all five layers of arrangements with his third-layer Qi Refining cultivation, then... Li Chang'an would have had to flee!

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn't occur.

"If I could have captured him alive, I could have interrogated him, but the risk of live capture was too great. It's better to kill directly," Li Chang'an was actually somewhat puzzled about why this group of rogue cultivators insisted on targeting him.

They hadn't given up for such a long time. There must be a reason!

"Could it be that they're accomplices of those two rogue cultivators I killed?"

But only very few people knew about this matter. The news hadn't spread.

"Could it be people hired by Zheng Jinbao?" Li Chang'an had some suspicions.

"In this lifetime, since beginning cultivation, the person I've formed the greatest enmity with is Zheng Jinbao."

Though he hadn't shown any grudge on the surface, he had always kept it in mind.

After all, Zheng Jinbao was a member of the Zheng family, with considerable status and cultivation. While the current Li Chang'an could make him somewhat wary, he didn't have the strength for revenge at all.

He could only endure for now.

"Zheng Jinbao doesn't dare to openly attack me, but he'll probably cause trouble in the shadows. I must be on guard!"

Li Chang'an constantly reminded himself not to let his guard down.

Wu Yun was dead, but the other members of the rogue cultivator group were still alive and could attack him at any time.

Afterward, he began cleaning up Wu Yun's remains in the room.

After removing all the flesh and blood, Li Chang'an sat cross-legged, took out Wu Yun's storage bag, and erased the restrictions on it.

Opening it for a look, "Not bad, another good harvest," he smiled.

Inside the bag, spirit stones alone exceeded one hundred!

Additionally, there were quite a few talismans and pills, totaling close to two hundred spirit stones in value.

There were also two first-tier low-grade artifacts: a Green Wood Sword and Green Wood Shield, both of good quality, worth about one hundred spirit stones together.

"This Wu Yun was both a talisman master and a rogue cultivator, earning double the spirit stones. His wealth is indeed considerable!" Li Chang'an couldn't help but sigh.

"His wealth alone equals that of the two rogue cultivators I killed before!"

Li Chang'an's mind stirred, and he took out a jade slip from the storage bag.

This was precisely the first-tier low-grade talisman inheritance that Wu Yun possessed.

He scanned through it roughly. The content was similar to the inheritance he had obtained, with only slight differences in some details.

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