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The price was indeed not low. Wang Ba remembered that back in the Ghost Market of Yan State, a Mountain Moving Ape only cost forty to fifty middle-grade Spirit Stones.
The price had increased tenfold all of a sudden.
But since Yan State was indeed far from the Wanxiang Sect, the Spirit Stones the seller earned were truly hard-earned money. Wang Ba didn’t feel unbalanced about it.
He did not hesitate and, after some bargaining, the price was settled at three Spirit Stones each, starting with fifty.
He directly gave the other party one hundred top-grade Spirit Stones.
"This is the deposit. I’ll take as many as you can get."
These words immediately brightened the shop owner’s eyes, and his attitude warmed up a lot.
"Additionally, I’m also interested in Ghost-pattern Stone Lizards, various types of Spirit Chickens, Spirit Turtles..."
Leaving the spirit beast store, Wang Ba did not head back immediately but continued to wander around the Xuanwu Market.
At the tea house, he unexpectedly saw that the place was bustling with patrons again.
He occasionally heard the sound of a judge’s gavel within.
A sense of surprise flashed through Wang Ba’s heart.
"Has Bai Xiaoyun from Baishu Peak returned?"
He was quite surprised and subconsciously stepped into the tea house.
However, soon he heard a somewhat unfamiliar voice.
After entering the tea house, Wang Ba saw a young cultivator with a still somewhat youthful face, standing behind a table, vividly narrating interesting anecdotes from all over Fenglin Continent.
"... And then the great elder of Joy God’s temple was slain by Lord Pingtian of the Qi Dynasty, immediately resulting in a bloodbath and a storm. A pair of black ’joy’ characters rose up in the sky, angering the Joy God of the Kingdom of Immortals. The Joy God personally took action, making Lord Pingtian lose his helmet and armor, being disgracefully defeated and forced to flee. How could the royal family of Qi sit by and watch? The uppermost ruler of Qi, wielding a Class IV Dragon-subduing Mace... To find out what happens next, please listen to the following explanation."
The tea house immediately erupted with a wave of jeers.
The young cultivator’s face turned a bit red.
It was clear that his skills were not yet polished.
"Not a good storyteller, not as good as Bai Xiaoyun."
"Ah, indeed it’s much worse; I thought Bai Xiaoyun had come back."
"Let’s disperse, it’s not worth listening to, lots of errors, and the rhythm drags on too much."
Many cultivators left the tea house feeling disappointed.
The young cultivator watched everyone go, and although he was extremely anxious, his face merely turned red, and he couldn’t say anything.
Seeing that this wasn’t going well, the remaining cultivators also shook their heads and left in twos and threes.
Wang Ba had also intended to leave.
But after a thought, he decided to approach the young cultivator.
"Predecessor, hello. May I ask if you have any advice for me?"
The young cultivator sensed the aura of a Golden pill completed cultivator from Wang Ba and immediately became nervous.
Wang Ba smiled softly and said:
"The part where you said the Joy God was furious and made Lord Pingtian lose his armor, that part was a bit too simplistic... and this next section..."
The young cultivator was startled and looked at Wang Ba with some surprise: "Are you also a storyteller, senior?"
Wang Ba laughed and said, "Heh, I’ve just listened to many before... It’s not a big deal if some parts are a bit exaggerated, that’s what people like to hear."
After hearing Wang Ba’s words, the young cultivator pondered, "... A bit exaggerated?"
"Ahem, of course, I’m not suggesting you babble nonsense."
Wang Ba quickly spoke and then brought up the main topic:
"Are you a disciple of Baishu Peak? What’s your relationship with Bai Xiaoyun?"
The young cultivator suddenly came back to his senses and hastily replied:
"I am Hai Fangming, a disciple of Baishu Peak. Bai Xiaoyun is my senior brother."
This answer was not surprising to Wang Ba. He asked curiously:
"Your senior brother? Where is he? Haven’t seen him for years."
Upon hearing Wang Ba’s question, a wistful look crossed the young cultivator’s face:
"Many years ago, senior brother went to Sen State on a Patrol mission and has not returned since. My master went to the Rende Hall and found that his soul lamp was still lit, but there was no sign of him. With no other choice and to prevent our lineage at Baishu Peak from ceasing, my master told me to come here to cultivate... But I guess I really don’t have the talent."
Wang Ba listened, his expression subtly tensed.
"He hasn’t returned for so long? Has the Sect sent anyone to look for him?"
The young Baishu Peak cultivator Hai Fangming shook his head and said:
"Certainly, but not long ago, I heard that Uncle Master Lu Yu from Xinjian Peak has also been out of contact for a long time, and the Sect hasn’t been able to reach him either..."
"Lu Yu?"
Wang Ba was shocked, his mind instantly recalling the cold figure of the Sword Cultivator he had encountered years ago before leaving Shaoyin Mountain.
He had not expected that this Golden Core Craftsman whose strength was only slightly less than that of Xi Wushang had also disappeared.
"Sen State..."
Wang Ba murmured thoughtfully.
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He didn’t know much about this kingdom, only that he had heard about the Sects of Sen State that were said to be skilled in "Curse" due to the Spirit Sending Sign of the Tianmen Cult, and that not long ago, many Cultivators had fled to Sen State as refugees following the occupation of Yan State by the Kingdom of Immortals.
Beyond that, his knowledge was sparse.
With a slight sigh, he decided not to think further on it.
After encouraging Hai Fangming with a few words and suggesting that he should visit the markets in the mortal cities more often, Wang Ba left the Xuanwu Market directly.
…
Two years later.
Wang Ba’s figure appeared atop Tianji Peak.
Gazing at the scorched earth before him, only a few Spirit Plants stood tall on the mountain peak, flickering and sparking with thunder.
Above the mountain peak, a glimpse of a huge thunder pool, brewing with silvery thunderstorms, could be seen.
In Wang Ba’s body, a faint longing surfaced.
Not long before, he had finally completed the foundation part of the Natural Law, which is roughly equivalent to Stage VI of Qi Refining.
Frankly speaking, for someone who had not cultivated before, this rate of progress was unbelievably fast.
But for a Golden Core Craftsman, it truly was somewhat slow.
Even Wang Ba found it a bit ridiculous.
"The talent of my physical body is even lower than I thought... It’s no wonder that when I cultivated the Strong Body Sutra back in the day, it took much longer than most people."
This was indeed one of his rare weaknesses.
He himself hadn’t expected it.
However, completing the foundation part did not bring about much change.
The body of a Golden Core Craftsman, after all, had undergone a Thunder Tribulation and the intensive refinement of mana, and it was not inferior to a typical Foundation Establishment body cultivator.
Since Wang Ba’s Natural Law was only equivalent to the cultivation base between Stage V and VI of Qi Refining, no notable enhancement ensued.
To advance further, he needed the assistance of Thunder Tribulation.
While Class III Thunder Tribulation was not unusual, Class II Thunder Tribulations were indeed rare.
The first thing that came to Wang Ba’s mind was the Mountain Moving Apes he had bought in Yan State long ago.
Unfortunately, all of those Mountain Moving Apes had already crossed their tribulations, and they were middle grade of Class II.
Even if they gave birth to offspring, they were born of Class II.
They would not experience Thunder Tribulation.
Therefore, Wang Ba could only hope to find what he needed at the spirit beast store in Xuanwu Market.
However, given the great distance between Wanxiang Sect and places like Yan State or Song State, even if the distance was substantially reduced with the help of the Teleportation Array, the remaining journey, for an ordinary Foundation Establishment or Golden Core Craftsman, could take a year or a half to travel, which was not unusual at all.
So up to this point, Wang Ba had not been able to get the Mountain Moving Apes, and naturally, the progress of the Natural Law’s Thunderstorm Body was indefinitely stalled.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
After a moment of deep reflection, he eventually set his sights on Tianji Peak.
Not only to take advantage of the frequent Thunder Tribulations on Tianji Peak for his cultivation but also to master Thunder Law.
Regarding Wang Ba’s visit,
the peak master of Tianji Peak, an elder with unibrow, was not surprised.
With a smile, he teased,
"I was wondering when you would come to our Tianji Peak, thinking maybe you looked down on our heritage."
Wang Ba repeatedly expressed his embarrassment.
As usual, he voluntarily presented a gift of cultivation resources.
The unibrow elder scanned the gift with his Spiritual Sense, a look of astonishment appeared on his face, and though he was tempted, he did not accept it but instead made a request:
"There’s no need for this gift. I have an unreasonable request, and I hope my Martial Nephew Wang will agree to it."
Wang Ba bowed respectfully and said, "Uncle Master Ding, you are too kind. Please keep the cultivation resources, and whatever request you have, please just say it." n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
The unibrow elder spared no courtesy:
"I would ask you to have a sparring session with my disciple, Ruan Ziyin..."
"A sparring match?"
Wang Ba was taken aback.
Then he asked in confusion, "Has Sister Ruan reached Golden Core?"
"Not yet, still at Foundation Establishment,"
the unibrow elder shook his head slightly.
Wang Ba became even more puzzled:
"Uncle Master Ding, Sister Ruan is undoubtedly a prodigy, there’s no question about that, but given the difference in realms, wouldn’t this sparring be disadvantageous to Sister Ruan?"
The elder’s face showed a hint of helplessness, but he still said to Wang Ba:
"I know that... So, I would like to ask you to intentionally lose to her."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba couldn’t help but be astonished.
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