"Lu is painting talismans on Wuqi Mountain and can't leave for a while. Can you please trouble fellow Daoist Zheng to run some errands..."
Lu Changan spoke straightforwardly to such a fierce and rough man.
He needs Zheng Centipede to go to Huanglong Fairy City regularly to help him purchase high-grade materials and bring back frontline intelligence.
In this way, Lu Changan can sit back and relax in Wu Qi Mountain, gain insight into the situation, and enjoy the benefits of the beast tide.
Lu Changan offered a second-level talisman as a reward, and hinted that through a special channel, there would be a chance to obtain the mid-level foundation-building elixir.
For Zheng Centipede's family, every second-level talisman, even if it is low-grade, is a rare treasure.
As for the level-breaking elixir, ordinary foundation building is hard to come by.
"It's Zheng's honor."
Zheng Centipede stood up and bowed his hands solemnly.
Regardless of Lu Changan's cultivation, reputation, skills and connections, he yearned for and awed him.
Lu Changan can trade with the Zhou family on an equal footing. But in the eyes of the Zhou family, it is rare for him to even have the qualifications to have a normal conversation.
Zheng Centipede specifically approached Lu Changan to trade this time, not only because the other party's talisman was of high quality, but also to deepen the relationship.
To him, Lu Changan's proposal was like giving him a pillow for a nap.
The two discussed some more details.
Zheng Centipede left with a sum of spiritual stones given by Lu Changan.
…
For a period of time afterwards, Lu Changan spent a lot of time drawing talismans.
There are too many materials, so we can only use the best ones.
Each Talisman Master has a limited amount of energy in a day and can draw a certain number of Talismans. This does not include the time spent practicing exercises and understanding spells.
If you draw a talisman that exceeds the standard, it will lead to mental exhaustion and may even take several days to recover.
The same applies to other skills such as alchemy and weapon refining.
This is why, when the beast tide breaks out and there is no shortage of materials, the supply of combat supplies will exceed the demand.
Lu Changan cultivates Changqing Gong, has long Qi pulses and strong recovery power. He has advantages in this aspect, but he also has limitations.
In the past two months, the number of monks coming to Xiaogui Peak to buy talismans has increased sharply, and sales have skyrocketed.
Most of these monks came from surrounding families, markets, and traveling merchants. The talismans bought from Lu Changan were taken to the front line and there was still a little profit to be made.
The first-order puppets originally sold in bundles were sold out in advance.
Creating puppets takes more time, and Lu Changan is too lazy to add more.
Unknowingly, Lu Changan earned tens of thousands of spirit stones by selling talismans during the beast tide.
This does not include the materials and high-quality talismans he has hoarded.
"Enough is enough."
Lu Changan used the depletion of reserves as a reason to reduce shipments.
In fact, there was no need for Lu Changan to deliberately restrict it. As more stray monsters came to wreak havoc in the rear, most of the surrounding monks retreated to their spiritual station.
To prevent this situation, the surrounding monks will purchase war preparation resources in advance.
The popularity of Wu Qishan has dropped off a cliff, and occasionally we have to clean up sporadic invading monsters.
…
On this day, Zheng Centipede returned from Huanglong Fairy City, bringing second-level and high-grade talisman materials.
In the past, this was difficult to purchase through normal channels.
There is also information related to the front line.
"The beast tide has entered its second half, and the situation on the front line is at a stalemate. Huanglong Immortal City has killed and injured thousands of monks. In order to avoid losses, some of the monsters are deliberately attracted to the rear..."
"There is one more thing that has nothing to do with the frontline beast tide."
Zheng Centipede thought for a while and added.
"In the 'Fox Valley' near Wuqi Mountain, a massacre occurred recently. A foundation-building couple and dozens of monks, including several children, were robbed and all died tragically."
"Fox Valley?"
The tragedy mentioned by Zheng Centipede aroused Lu Changan's attention.
Fox Valley, five to six hundred miles away from Wuqi Mountain, is a second-level high-grade spiritual vein.
Back then, when Lu Changan was inspecting the Spiritual Vein Dojo, he considered Fox Valley, but because the rental price was too high, high-grade spiritual veins would be a waste for him, so he gave up.
Over the years, the owner of Fox Valley has been rented by a couple in the foundation building period who lived in Lihuo Palace for a long time.
This foundation-building couple both have skills. They are second-level high-level weapon refiners and second-level middle-level musicians respectively.
"Zheng doesn't know much about the details of the massacre in Fox Valley. It is said that someone broke through from the inside, and the perpetrators are suspected to be a secretive small gang of robbery cultivators, including several foundation-building monks."
Zheng Centipede confessed all the information he knew.
"Breakthrough from within?"
Lu Changan's eyes flashed.
During the beast tide, there are many robber cultivators and insidious people who fish in troubled waters.
But the situation is different when the Fox Valley family is wiped out.
The foundation-building couple in Lihuo Palace are in the middle to late stage of foundation-building. They are stronger than casual cultivators of the same level and are worth a lot.
Coupled with the background of Lihuo Palace, Jie Xiu would not dare to take their chances and would not be able to sneak into them.
"By the way, the information on 'Kong Mao' has made some progress this time."
Lu Changan asked.
This is the second time Zheng Centipede has brought back information.
"No, Kong Mao hunted a monster a few months ago and disappeared. At least in Huanglong Fairy City, there is currently no new news."
Zheng Centipede replied.
During the beast tide, this kind of situation like going out to hunt monsters and not coming back happens from time to time, which is basically out of the question.
"There is no need to pay attention to this person's information anymore."
Lu Changan sighed secretly, having already analyzed the general outline of the matter.
Fox Valley and Wuqi Mountain have one thing in common:
The monks in charge are all craftsmen and are rich in wealth.
If you want to say which one is better to start with, the risk is smaller.
That must be Wuqi Mountain.
The Foundation-building couple who are retiring in Fox Valley have stronger backgrounds and are monks from Lihuo Palace.
"'Kong Mao' originally tried to sneak into Wu Qi Mountain, but failed."
"Later, I strengthened the formation and precautionary measures, which may have dissuaded people and changed the target."
If Lu Changan's speculation is correct, Fox Valley can be regarded as taking over the "disaster" on behalf of Wu Qishan.
One year ago, when selecting the peak leader.
If he hadn't merged his mind with the second-generation imprint of the Nine-Seal Monument and used his real-person senses to detect it, he wouldn't have been able to tell that Kong Mao was hiding his cultivation.
…
After Zheng Centipede left.
Lu Changan sent a transmission note to Xiao Danfeng, inviting Ye Fei to come over and tell him about the massacre in Fox Valley.
Regarding Kong Mao’s relevant speculations, he did not say anything.
After hearing this, Ye Fei's soles felt cold.
"Fellow Daoist Lu asked Fairy Master to strengthen the formation vigilance a year ago. He had the foresight."
To be continued...