Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

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"For this Spirit Sword, Little Wang Chen has requested our best Artifact Refiner to work on it."

The Sword Shop Shopkeeper, clearly understanding Wang Chen's current emotions, said with a smile, "If luck is on your side, Superior, you might even obtain a nearly Magical Treasure grade Flying Sword!"

Artifact Refining could be considered one of the most mystical arts in the world of immortal cultivation.

During the process of casting, due to the quality of the materials and the control of the furnace, it's possible that an unusual change could occur.

The final product could potentially exceed the normal tier or be granted some unique properties.

The so-called premium artifacts.

Generally speaking, the higher the skill of the Artifact Refiner, the greater the chance of producing a "premium artifact."

Of course, such "premium artifacts" are a rare find, one in a hundred chances.

Although the Shopkeeper of the Sword Shop was clearly trying to console Wang Chen, his words did indeed make Wang Chen feel much better.

He couldn't help asking, "How many Spirit Stones does a real third-tier Flying Sword cost?"

A nearly Magical Treasure is still just a second-tier Spiritual Artifact.

And the Shopkeeper's response left Wang Chen speechless—the worst Magical Treasure starts at ten thousand Middle Spirit Stones at least!

What is the concept of ten thousand Middle Spirit Stones?

That's equivalent to one million and two hundred thousand Low Spirit Stones, a price he couldn't afford even if he emptied his entire fortune!

As for Flying Swords at the level of Magical Treasures, one must understand that Flying Swords are considered "luxury items" among Magic Artifacts.

Wang Chen weighed his Storage Bag, feeling that he was still poor.

He realized that if he were to truly spend without restraint, all of his Spirit Stones wouldn't last even a few years.

Between purchasing mission intel earlier and now modifying the Flying Sword, he had spent four hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Nearly half of his savings were gone.

Taking into account his long-term plans, it was necessary to think of ways to cut costs and increase income!

After leaving the Sword Shop, Wang Chen continued to wander around Wanling City.

This time he purposefully visited various shops, inquiring about the prices of materials, Magic Artifacts, Talismans, and Pills.

After making his rounds, Wang Chen's mood was far from great.

Because he found out that his best method of earning Spirit Stones, in this Immortal City, had no place to be used!

Wanling City housed countless shops, including many Talisman Shops.

After his inquiries and calculations, Wang Chen was shocked to find that even if he used his Great Perfection level Talisman Crafting Technique, it would still be difficult to compete with these professional Talisman Shops.

That's because the prices for Magical Talismans here were utterly transparent, with different qualities selling at set prices, leaving barely any difference between the shops.

The profit margins were strictly limited!

The cost of materials in Wanling City was high, labor was expensive, and so was the rent for premises, meaning that Wang Chen could only set up a stall at the Immortal Market to sell Talismans if he wanted to be in the business. Even if the Talismans he refined were superior to others', he could not expect to sell them at a high price.

Especially for first-tier Magical Talismans, Wang Chen noticed that many shops displayed Talismans that seemed to be produced in large quantities using some special method of "printing," resulting in nearly identical products.

But the quality was not lacking at all!

This signified that the West Sea Spirit Domain possessed a more advanced level of productivity!

Individual Cultivators, compared to these industrial-scale workshop shops, really had no competitive edge.

In this case, if Wang Chen wished to make money through Talismans, he would need to put great effort into higher-tier Spirit Talismans.

The profit from Spirit Talismans was relatively higher.

But equally limited.

After investing a great deal of time and energy, if the gains were small, what significance would it have?

In the following days, Wang Chen visited the Immortal Market in Wanling City a couple more times.

The Immortal Market of Wanling City was extremely large, able to accommodate tens of thousands of stalls, attracting numerous Cultivators each day for trade.

Wang Chen conducted some market research in this Immortal Market.

The results left him even more disappointed.

Looking solely at the business of Talismans, the competition was just too fierce.

Learning to craft Talismans had a low barrier to entry and the production cost was also low, hence the number of Cultivators who moonlighted as Talisman Makers was countless.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Wang Chen saw, in the Immortal Market, several highly skilled Talisman Makers selling Magical Talismans of Great Achievement level, and some even displayed traces of Grandmaster level.

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The price, however, was not high at all.

Compared to the high-input, high-output Alchemy and Artifact Refining that, despite equally fierce competition, definitely offered higher potential profits than Talisman Crafting.

Should he consider switching to Alchemy or Artifact Refining?

Wang Chen couldn't make up his mind for a while.

He didn't rush to make a decision either, first heading to the Sword Shop to retrieve his modified Wind Thunder Sword.

"I have not failed my mission,"

the Shopkeeper of the Sword Shop said with a beaming smile, presenting a Sword Box, "Superior, please have a look."

Wang Chen took the Sword Box and opened it for inspection, and his eyes instantly lit up.

The size and appearance of the Wind Thunder Sword had not changed, but a crimson streak now adorned the spine, its Sword Light fierce and its flaming aura imposing, starkly different from before its transformation.

He couldn't help but hold the sword and try infusing it with Mana.

Flames instantly ignited along the blade.

The Sword Qi transformed into sword flames that shot up several feet high, with lightning flashes within the blazes – the presence was incredibly startling!

Without a doubt, its essence had undergone a complete and fundamental change.

The most precious thing was that the sword's wind and thunder attributes had not been weakened; its thunderous aspect had actually grown stronger.

But the strongest was the newly added fiery nature, which perfectly matched Wang Chen's primary Five Elements affinity!

This Spirit Sword should now be called the Wind-Thunder-Flame Sword.

Only, this name was simply too tacky – he would have to find something more impressive once back home.

Wang Chen played with it lovingly, feeling extremely satisfied.

"This sword can be called an almost Magical Treasure."

The Shopkeeper of the Sword Shop stroked his beard, explaining, "Its enhancement of fire-based Spells can reach one and a half times, coupled with the power of wind and thunder its might is unsurpassed!"

He wore an expression that said, "You've made a great deal."

Wang Chen chuckled and immediately stored away the newly perfected top-tier Spirit Sword.

He paid the remaining balance with great pleasure.

The Shopkeeper then placed two Flying Swords on the counter.

Pointing to the one on the left, he said, "This Messaging Flying Sword is a complimentary gift, Superior can take it for free."

"As for this one..."

The Shopkeeper pointed to the Flying Sword on the right, "It's not like regular Messaging Flying Swords; it has both Sword Flight and Sword Light Body Protection capabilities, a second-tier high-grade."

Sword Flight is Sword Control for flying, while Body Protection refers to Sword Light Body Protection.

Sword Cultivators usually have three Flying Swords, one main battle sword, and two auxiliary swords.

This one was a typical Auxiliary Sword!

Wang Chen really admired the other party's business tactics, "How many Spirit Stones?"

"If you want it, I can offer you a discount."

The Shopkeeper of the Sword Shop, looking kindly and benevolent but smiling like a millennia-old fox, said, "Only a hundred thousand Low Spirits."

He knew Wang Chen didn't have Middle Spirits, so he quoted directly in Low Spirits.

"Eighty thousand!"

Wang Chen countered fiercely.

He didn't want to be exploited, but he truly needed it.

He had already knelt; it wouldn't make a difference to kneel once more!

The Shopkeeper's head shook like a rattle drum, "The shop doesn't bargain!"

But Wang Chen was determined to haggle to the bitter end.

In the end, he managed to purchase this Auxiliary-type Flying Sword for eighty-eight thousand Low Spirits.

His wealth decreased even more.

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The second update is here.

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