However, for He Pingsheng, none of these were issues.
Because he could strengthen them.
“How much are they?” He Pingsheng asked, “These Talismans!”
“Sixty-five Spirit Stones each!” The Daoist Nun smiled.
He Pingsheng nodded. The price of Talismans here was a bit more expensive than what he had seen in the Treasure Storage Hall within his Sect.
In the Treasure Storage Hall, they were only sixty Spirit Stones.
Of course, that was before. Now that the Cuiping Mountain trial was about to begin, he heard that the prices of items in the Sect’s Treasure Storage Hall had also increased.
Moreover, after his previous experience of being investigated by the Sect after purchasing items, He Pingsheng always felt that buying things in the Sect’s Treasure Storage Hall was unsafe.
Even if it was a bit more expensive, how convenient was it to buy at Matou Mountain?
“This defensive Talisman is more expensive, one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones each!” The Daoist Nun picked up another Talisman and placed it in front of He Pingsheng.
He Pingsheng asked curiously, “What kind of Talisman is this?”
The Daoist Nun said, “This is an Earth Shield Talisman. After activating it, it can form an earth-attribute shield around your body, capable of blocking one attack from a Qi Refinement Stage Disciple. If the opponent doesn’t break through it, this Talisman can continue to be used, for a total of three activations!”
“Of course, if it’s broken through, then it becomes a one-time item!”
“Little brother, in the Cuiping Mountain trial, besides Cultivators from various Schools, there are also many Yao Beasts within the Secret Realm itself. Bringing a defensive Talisman would be excellent!”
He Pingsheng nodded and asked, “Do you have Second Grade Talismans here?”
Second Grade Talismans were for Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples.
The Daoist Nun smiled bitterly, shook her head, and said, “Sorry, I don’t!”
“I am only a Qi Refinement Stage Disciple; how could I produce Second Grade Talismans? Besides, you won’t need Second Grade Talismans for Cuiping Mountain!”
“If you really want to buy one, you can go to the merchant association over there and ask!”
“Alright!” He Pingsheng said, “Give me two Ice Needle Talismans, two Lightning Talismans, and also this Earth Shield Talisman, one is enough!”
“Okay!” The woman immediately beamed with joy and said, “That’s four hundred and ten Spirit Stones in total. Fellow Daoist, just give me four hundred; the change is waived!”
He Pingsheng took the Talismans, then pulled out four hundred Spirit Stones from his hundred treasure sack and gave them to her.
The Spirit Stones in his hundred treasure sack were put in there beforehand.
Of course, his Storage Pouch was invisible, hidden inside his clothes, allowing him to secretly transfer Spirit Stones from the Storage Pouch to the hundred treasure sack at any time.
As for the few Talismans in his hand, he also secretly put them into his Storage Pouch, leaving no trace.
With these Talismans, He Pingsheng felt much more at ease.
At least he wouldn’t have to worry when going to the Cuiping Mountain trial.
However, he really wanted to buy a Second Grade Talisman.
Why?
Because of Yu De!
Yu De and he had a deep-seated vendetta for the murder of his father.
What if one day Yu De truly discovered He Pingsheng’s real identity? Would he preemptively eliminate the hidden danger?
One must know that Yu De was in the Foundation Establishment Stage.
A single strike from a Foundation Establishment Stage expert could easily crush a Qi Refining Stage ant, and at that point, no defensive treasures would be useful.
One should not harbor malicious intentions, but one must guard against the malicious intentions of others.
If he had a Second Grade Talisman on him, he could strengthen it later with the gathering treasure basin. If the day truly came when he faced Yu De, he could take out the Talisman and send him to his demise, couldn’t he?
Hmm…
Go and ask!
He Pingsheng hurried along, passing countless stalls, and finally arrived at the shop area behind.
Here, too, it was shoulder to shoulder.
Previously, he had visited several shops like Shunhe Hall and Fenghe Estate to sell items. To prevent himself from being recognized, He Pingsheng did not enter these merchant associations this time, but instead chose a different one.
Walking into the shop, the counter behind was surprisingly empty.
The shopkeepers were all frantically busy, serving customers coming and going.
He Pingsheng greeted them, then started looking around the shop himself.
Indeed, the goods here had all increased in price significantly.
Of course, this referred to the Low Grade items that Qi Refinement Stage Disciples could use; slightly more Advanced items hadn’t increased much in price.
For example, Storage Pouches.
These Elementary Storage Pouches still sold for over two thousand Spirit Stones each.
But almost no one bought them.
He Pingsheng passed by Cultivator after Cultivator and arrived at the Talisman section.
The Talismans here were even more expensive; a Low Grade Fireball Talisman, Ice Needle Talisman, or Lightning Talisman all cost seventy Spirit Stones.
As for Second Grade Talismans!
Their quantity was much smaller.
To be precise, only one type was displayed in front of He Pingsheng: the Fire Talisman.
He knew about this item.
He had once helped Kumu Zhenren collect lieyang flower pollen in the Tai Xu Sect’s Lingyao Valley.
It was said that after grinding the lieyang flower pollen, it could be mixed into Talisman ink to draw this Fire Talisman.
He Pingsheng looked, and there was no price marked below the Fire Talisman.
So he had no choice but to go over to the shopkeeper and ask, “Senior, excuse me, what is the price of this Fire Talisman?”
“Fire Talisman?” The shopkeeper frowned slightly. He looked at He Pingsheng, then gave a cold smile and said, “Little brother, you won’t need this. This is a Second Grade Talisman, for Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples!”
In his opinion, He Pingsheng was just asking casually.
He Pingsheng, however, said earnestly, “What’s the price?”
“Alright!” The shopkeeper said, “This Fire Talisman in your hand is of Low Grade quality, priced at one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones!”
“If you have one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones, I can sell this to you!”
Hiss hiss hiss…
Eighteen hundred!
He Pingsheng’s body trembled in shock.
That was too expensive.
Were Second Grade items that much more expensive than First Grade ones?
He Pingsheng thought this item would be at most six or seven hundred Spirit Stones.
But he didn’t expect it to be so expensive.
“Do you want it?” The shopkeeper looked at He Pingsheng.
He Pingsheng’s old face flushed, and he said, “It’s too expensive, I don’t want it!”
“Hehehe…” The shopkeeper chuckled, flicked his sleeves, and left, the mockery on his face clearly visible.
He Pingsheng walked out of the shop dejectedly.
He really didn’t have one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones.
After his last big sale at Matou Mountain and then purchasing a Storage Pouch, he had about one thousand nine hundred Spirit Stones left.
Later, he had gradually spent two hundred on strengthening over these past few days, and just now spent four hundred on buying First Grade Talismans.
So He Pingsheng now only had about one thousand three or four hundred Spirit Stones left.
Of course, he had plenty of Medium Grade ones.
But he couldn’t take those out.
Hmm…
Let’s try another shop, maybe this old guy was just messing with me.
He went to another shop and saw the Fire Talisman, priced at one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones.
The third shop, one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones.
The fourth shop, likewise, still one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones.
It seemed that the other party had not lied to him.
He simply couldn’t afford it!