Red Willow Alley.
Back in the small house.
Shen Ping took the spiritual stones out of the Storage Bag and counted them. He had already accumulated eight Medium-Grade Spiritual Stones.
In the past month alone, his net profit had reached three stones.
"This is a trend, and I cannot miss it!"
"Besides, as long as the Jinyang Sect keeps developing the Yan Metal Mine, the prices of talismans and Detoxification Pills will not drop."
Although he was earning more, the price of the Detoxification Pill was rising sharply.
He anticipated that once the results of the first batch of cultivators venturing out to clear the path came back, the prices of talismans and Detoxification Pills would likely continue to climb.
Wang Yun, who was tidying up the house, saw her husband return and immediately head for the talisman-making partition. She couldn't help advising, "Husband, please don't overwork yourself."
Shen Ping smiled. "It's fine. I'll add more meat to our meals later."
Wang Yun gave an affirmative murmur. "Husband, my martial arts cultivation is not far from the First-Rate realm. I'll be able to break through in another two or three months."
Hearing this, Shen Ping couldn't help revealing a look of joy. Once Wang Yun broke through to the First-Rate realm, their daily intimacy might increase by another session.
"Keep it up, Yun'er!"
He clenched his fist.
Wang Yun originally hadn't known what this meant, but after Shen Ping explained it to her, she learned that it was a gesture of encouragement.
"You too, Husband."
She returned the fist-pumping gesture.
Her water-clear, tender appearance paired with this action was rather naive and adorable.
Every time, Shen Ping had the urge to go over and pinch her cheeks.
Nighttime.
They had a hearty, nourishing meal.
A knock sounded outside the door.
Ever since Shen Ping became a Middle-Grade Talisman Master, the cultivators coming to visit had increased day by day.
Previously, not seeing a single cultivator visit for a whole year was the norm.
"Fellow Daoist He?"
Shen Ping revealed a trace of surprise.
Aside from the initial housewarming visit when he first moved to the neighborhood, He Qin had never come by again.
The other man was an alchemist.
His social network was much broader than that of a talisman master like Shen Ping.
Yet today, He Qin looked rather disheveled, and even his Dharma Robe was gone.
"Fellow Daoist Shen, could you lend me twenty Low-Grade Spiritual Stones?"
He Qin asked awkwardly.
Shen Ping was quite surprised. "Fellow Daoist He, you're an alchemist! Twenty Low-Grade Spiritual Stones shouldn't put you in such a state!"
He Qin sighed, glanced around, and then lowered his voice. "Recently, I've become infatuated with a female cultivator at Tianyin Pavilion in the Cultivation Market. It has cost me a fortune, and now I truly have no other choice, which is why I've come to borrow some spiritual stones from Fellow Daoist Shen. Seeing that you took in such a young and beautiful concubine, I figured you must be a man of similar tastes. Let me tell you, those female cultivators at Tianyin Pavilion are all stunningly gorgeous, especially in *that* respect, simply... simply..."
When He Qin reached the end, he smiled broadly, looking rather lewd.
Shen Ping's face darkened.
Tianyin Pavilion was a pleasure house.
Most of the female cultivators there practiced arts of seduction and bedchamber techniques, and some even hailed from demonic backgrounds.
Yet they were able to open a shop in the Cultivation Market, meaning their backing was not small.
Moreover, consumption in such places was extremely high; it was a notoriously famous money pit in the Cultivation Market.
Many cultivators who saw no hope for their future would go there to indulge, and before long, their savings would be completely drained.
However, that wasn't the main point.
The main point was how on earth he had become a man of similar tastes!
Superficial!
He advised, "Fellow Daoist He, you should go to Tianyin Pavilion less often. Here are twenty Low-Grade Spiritual Stones. For the sake of our being neighbors, I will lend them to you, but my own life is running on a tight budget—I have no more to spare!"
When Fellow Daoist He saw the spiritual stones, his eyes lit up. "Understood."
He turned and left immediately.
Watching his retreating figure.
Shen Ping shook his head slightly. For an alchemist to be reduced to this state, one had to admit that the female cultivators of Tianyin Pavilion were truly formidable.
"I wonder if sharing moments of intimacy with these female cultivators can grant me Talisman Dao experience?!"
Such a thought involuntarily arose in his mind.
Yet he quickly and forcibly cut it off.
Those female cultivators stripped people to the bone. His willpower wasn't unshakable, and he might not be able to resist the temptation.
Fellow Daoist He's affair was merely a small interlude to him.
Closing the door.
Shen Ping sat cross-legged, calming his mind to absorb the spiritual energy of the spiritual stones and suppress the erosion of the poison within his body.
Yet to his surprise, less than two days later, He Qin came to borrow money again.
This time.
Shen Ping firmly refused and blocked the man outside the door.
Not long after.
He Qin left.
The female cultivator from the neighboring house pushed open her door, looked in the direction He Qin had left, and said with disgust, "Fellow Daoist Shen, you shouldn't lend money to a cultivator who is addicted to Tianyin Pavilion like that. It's like offering meat buns to a dog—it never returns."
Shen Ping understood why this neighbor felt such disgust; her own Dao companion was a classic example.
"What Fellow Daoist Yu says is reasonable. At the time, I only lent it out for the sake of being neighbors, plus the fact that he is an alchemist, alas..."
After chatting for a while.
He closed his door once more.
...
Winter passed and spring arrived.
Another year quietly slipped away.
Shen Ping had reached the age of forty-three. At this age, still lingering at the 3rd Layer of Qi Refining, he had simply no hope of ever reaching Foundation Establishment.
Yet he held extremely strong expectations for the future.
This day.
He came to a shop in the Cultivation Market that sold various cultivation techniques and spells.
Techniques and spells were the foundation of a cultivator.
Yet wanting to purchase higher-tier manuals required not only a colossal fortune, but also interpersonal channels; it was simply impossible to buy them in shops like this within the Cultivation Market.
Neither was he here this time to practice cultivation techniques.
"Manager, do you have any bedchamber manuals here?"
The shop manager smiled. "We do, naturally we do."
Soon, he took out more than a dozen books and placed them on the counter.
"These are all of them."
"If Fellow Daoist wishes to buy dual cultivation techniques, I have those too, though the price is somewhat higher."
Shen Ping shook his head. "Dual cultivation techniques can be forgotten; I can't afford them."
Even the lowest-grade dual cultivation technique cost more than a high-grade Detoxification Pill.
Carefully flipping through them.
He selected a book called *Bedchamber Joy*.
"I'll take this one!"
The manager immediately said, "Two Medium-Grade Spiritual Stones."
"Isn't that too expensive?!"
Shen Ping frowned.
The manager smiled. "Fellow Daoist, mine is the only shop in the entire Cultivation Market that sells these. Every single book is obtained through special channels, carrying immense risk, so a higher price is normal."
"Besides, the demand for this kind of thing is huge. If Fellow Daoist doesn't buy it now, it will be gone in a few days. These books have all been treated and cannot be copied."
Shen Ping was left speechless.
Yet he knew what the manager said was the truth.
The demand for this sort of thing was indeed quite substantial.
Although cultivators could rely on various nourishing medicinal herbs and foods to maintain their physical condition, doing so too frequently would still lead to a depletion of vital Qi and blood, damaging their foundations.
While such books could not compare to dual cultivation techniques, they could halt losses and lock in one's vitality during acts of intimacy.
Of course, it was not a panacea; it merely reduced the depletion. In reality, even high-grade dual cultivation techniques among demonic cultivators could not allow a cultivator to engage in endless intimacy.
This purchase was not because Shen Ping felt his savings had grown; rather, his wife was not far from breaking through to the First-Rate martial arts realm. Moreover, Matchmaker Zeng had been constantly nagging him, and he felt it was time to develop his Goldfinger.
Gritting his teeth, he bought a copy anyway.
Leaving the shop.
He purchased a fair amount of nourishing medicinal herbs, meat, as well as spiritual rice, spiritual tea, and other necessities—things he wouldn't dare to consume continuously in the past.
"Twelve Medium-Grade Spiritual Stones!"
Returning home.
He habitually checked his Storage Bag. Over the past two months, his net income had reached six Medium-Grade stones. The price of Middle-Grade talismans in the Cultivation Market still hadn't dropped back down, though it had stopped rising further.
However, the price of high-grade Detoxification Pills was slowly climbing.
It now required 27 Medium-Grade Spiritual Stones, and even then, there were no sellers—it was completely out of stock in all major elixir shops.
Xiuchun Pavilion was no exception.
It had long been in a state of shortage.
According to Manager Chen, the main reason was a shortage of certain materials for the Detoxification Pill, and the Jinyang Sect had already applied to the main sect for allocation and deployment.
"I must stay holed up at home for a while and stop selling talismans!"
His trips to the Cultivation Market over the past two or three months had been a bit too frequent. Although he hadn't spotted any cultivators tailing him, if you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.