Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 87: Confrontation
Wang Chen’s intuition was correct.

The first time he met Lv Defang, he faintly perceived the deep-seated malice the other harbored.

This good friend of Wang Shaoyuan from the sect, a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation, had always held inscrutable intentions towards the original owner of the body!

The letter left to Wang Chen by Old Sun completely confirmed this point.

Although Wang Chen couldn’t understand why Lv Defang would harbor ill intentions towards him, a “penniless and possession-less” minor cultivator.

But this calamity was undoubtedly the karma he had to face after taking over the original owner’s body!

The question was, what should Wang Chen do?

Should he quietly slip away from the mortal world and await death, just like Old Sun had?

Or perhaps…

Wang Chen clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking with a ka-ba sound.

When the tree wishes for calm, the wind does not cease; when people wish to avoid trouble, trouble finds them—it became a luxury just to peacefully farm one’s fields!

Darn it all!!

Having made up his mind, Wang Chen visited Cloud Mountain City again the next day.

Great Artifacts Pavilion.

This was a shop that specialized in the sale of magic artifacts; Wang Chen had long heard of it and had passed by its entrance on several occasions.

Today was the first time he stepped through its threshold.

“Immortal Master, peace be upon you!”

A young attendant with handsome features greeted him warmly and respectfully said, “May I ask if you wish to purchase magic artifacts, or would you like to order custom ones?”

Wang Chen replied directly, “I would like to take a look at the Mandarin Duck Mirrors.”

The attendant bowed, “This way, please.”

Following the attendant, Wang Chen was led to an elegant room on the second floor where he took a seat.

A beautiful maidservant brought up some fragrant tea.

The layout of the grand shop was indeed impressive.

But the threshold was also high.

If Wang Chen only wanted to buy a low-grade magic artifact, he’d likely be turned away at the door: Turn left after exiting, thank you!

It was said that the owner of the Great Artifacts Pavilion was a high-tier cultivator from Purple Mansion and had deep relations with the inner sect’s Refinement Pavilion of the Cloud Sun Sect. This shop not only sold various types of magic artifacts but also dealt with goods of dubious origin.

They did business by buying low and selling high.

Here one could purchase relatively cheap second-hand magic artifacts.

Spirit Stones were precious, and Wang Chen was one to save where he could, which was why he came to the Great Artifacts Pavilion to try his luck.

After half a cup of tea’s time, an elegant middle-aged cultivator came to the elegant room and cupped his hands towards Wang Chen, saying, “Is it you, fellow Daoist, who wishes to purchase a Mandarin Duck Mirror?”

Wang Chen returned the gesture, “Yes, I would ask you to recommend one or two.”

“Certainly,” said the middle-aged cultivator, as he swept his sleeves, and instantly, five copper mirrors appeared on the table in front of Wang Chen.

The original name for the Mandarin Duck Mirror was the Wind Moon Mirror, divided into Yin and Yang sides.

Its history needs no elaborate explanation; suffice to say, it’s like a high-definition surveillance device among magic artifacts.

Wang Chen’s purpose for coming to Cloud Mountain City to purchase the Mandarin Duck Mirrors was naturally to strengthen his home security.

His self-made copper pipe sound transmission system was quite good, but it only allowed him to hear sounds and was unable to provide a view of the situation above.

That was a significant flaw.

And the Mandarin Duck Mirror could perfectly solve this problem.

Of course, the price was not cheap.

The five models of Mandarin Duck Mirrors recommended by the middle-aged cultivator ranged in price from five hundred to fifteen hundred Low Spirit Stones.

They came in four-hour, five-hour, six-hour, eight-hour, and ten-hour mirrors.

The effects of the magic artifacts were actually the same.

But there was a significant difference in terms of their duration of use.

The cheapest four-hour Mandarin Duck Mirror could maintain its effect for four hours with a single activation.

Then it needed eight hours before it could be used again.

In other words, this item had a cooldown period.

The fifteen hundred Low Spirit Stone Mandarin Duck Mirror could maintain its effect for over ten hours with a single use, and its sound and image transmission were even better.

In summary, you get what you pay for!

After listening to the introduction, Wang Chen fell silent.

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Seemed to be pondering.

The middle-aged cultivator observed Wang Chen’s expression and chuckled, “Our store just acquired a pair of Five-hour Mandarin Duck Mirrors two days ago, 80% new. I wonder if you might be interested?”

Wang Chen’s eyes instantly lit up, “How much?”

The middle-aged cultivator replied, “Just four hundred and eighty Low Spirits.”

He added, “No bargaining allowed!”

Wang Chen had the other party take it out for a careful inspection and asked for instructions on how to use it.

“When this pair of Five-hour Mandarin Duck Mirrors first arrive, they had secret marks on them.”

The middle-aged cultivator said proudly, “But now they have been completely cleaned, I assure you there are no hidden troubles left, otherwise our pavilion will compensate tenfold!”

Wang Chen nodded, “I’ll take it.”

He trusted the other’s words, as the reputation of the Great Artifacts Pavilion was no less than that of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion and the Four Seas Commerce Association.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come here to purchase magic artifacts.

After completing the transaction, the middle-aged cultivator looked at Wang Chen with a hint more warmth in his eyes and said, “In the future, if you wish to buy or sell magic artifacts, you can always come to me.”

As he spoke, he passed Wang Chen a jade business card.

With this card, Wang Chen could directly approach him for business at the Great Artifacts Pavilion in the future.

After thanking him, Wang Chen took his leave.

When he got home, the first thing he did was attach the Mandarin Duck Mirror from the pair to the wall in a room inside his house.

Upon infusing mana into the mirror, it immediately emitted a faint light and then automatically adhered to the wall.

The surface of the copper mirror changed, becoming integrated with the wall paint!

If one didn’t know beforehand that there was a mirror here, not only would the naked eye not detect it, but even touching it wouldn’t give anything away.

The concealment was top-notch.

Wang Chen then infused mana into the other Mandarin Duck Mirror.

The mirror soon displayed the images reflected by the other, with a clarity as high as 1080P!

Impressive!

Wang Chen couldn’t help but give a huge thumbs up to the Artifact Refiner who invented this.

The creativity and design were truly exceptional.

He tested it by taking the Duck Mirror to the third sub-level basement chamber, and the monitoring picture remained clear and stable.

This was wireless connection!

In comparison, WIFI seemed utterly weak!

With this pair of Mandarin Duck Mirrors, Wang Chen could sleep much more soundly and securely in the basement at night.

If he could set up a Defensive Array at home, it would be even safer.

But a decent Defensive Array was expensive, and constantly running it would also consume a significant amount of Spirit Stones.

Although Wang Chen had recently reaped a lot of benefits, his funds were still insufficient.

It would be better to invest the Spirit Stones elsewhere.

He didn’t want to leave the Cloud Sun sect, nor did he wish to escape to the mortal world.

Facing the threat of a Qi Cultivation ninth-tier cultivator, Wang Chen chose to strengthen himself!

Purchasing the Mandarin Duck Mirrors was just one part of it.

He aimed to advance his Talisman Crafting from beginner to Grandmaster level.

And to improve skills like the Fire Crow Technique, Spirit Light Shield Armor, Vajra Fist, and Object-Controlling Technique to higher levels as well!

If the karma left by the original owner of the body had to be directly confronted, and if disaster could not be avoided,

then Wang Chen was ready for battle!

In the following days,

aside from tending to the Spirit Fields on a daily basis, Wang Chen spent most of his time leveling up his skills proficiency.

Every day, he rested for only about two hours, channeling the spirit of his previous life’s workaholic mentality.

People are forced out!

In just five days, Wang Chen’s beginner Talisman Crafting broke through to the Grandmaster level!

Then, Fire Crow Technique reached Great Achievement, Stealth Breath Technique reached Great Achievement, Object-Controlling Technique reached Great Achievement, Spirit Light Shield Armor reached Great Achievement…

Until the beginning of March,

the sudden appearance of a person interrupted Wang Chen’s skill-leveling marathon!

———

The first update is here.

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