Coming!

(TN: another extra chapter today, enjoy)

Liu Ping took the badge and looked at the two women.

Their expressions briefly froze, but they quickly returned to their original states.

'They are waking up too!'

The two women exchanged a glance, each pulling something from their storage bags and handing it to Liu Ping.

"Liu Ping, I see you've reached the Foundation Building stage. This bottle of elixir was refined by the sect. It's suitable for your cultivation. Take it" one woman said.

The other added, "And here's a bundle of talismans—Demon-slaying and Bursting Talismans. Each can deal with golden core cultivators, and if you use five in succession, even Rejuvenation stage cultivators will need to keep their distance."

Life Seizing Scholar set down the grilled chicken retrieved a piece of armor, and said, "This is battle armor for sword cultivators. It's convenient for charging and attacking, with good defense. You can use it."

The armor floated over, scattering into various components. After a brief rotation around Liu Ping, the pieces settled onto him.

Now, Liu Ping held a white jade bottle in his left hand, a bundle of faintly glowing talismans in his right, and a battle armor adorned his body.

Profundity Palace has no instructions for its new disciples. These are simply the welcoming gifts.

According to the rules of the cultivation world, a cultivator who accepts a disciple can be regarded as a mentor on the other party's cultivation path. The giving of gifts represents closeness and appreciation and serves as a bond between them.

Liu Ping paused before speaking. "Thank you, all three of you. Sorry, I still don't know how to address you."

The male cultivator laughed. "I'm Xie Dongliu. Don't worry about calling me Elder or Senior just yet. Once you return to the sect, we'll see who accepts you as an apprentice, and your seniority will be decided then."

"Yes, depending on who accepts you, your seniority may even surpass ours," the female cultivator added.

Liu Ping chuckled and was about to continue his thanks when suddenly, a flash of red appeared before his eyes.

Lines of fiery text filled his vision:

[Notice.]

[The collapse of the plot world is deepening. The entire world of death is undergoing profound changes.]

[Something unprecedented is occurring!]

[Reminder: the step-by-step collapse of the plot has triggered unknown situations.]

[Processing mechanisms are being activated.]

[The Persuer is coming. The Judge is coming.]

[Remaining time: 15 minutes.]

[Start countdown.]

[15:00]

[14:59]

[14:58]

[...]

The text flickered, then vanished, leaving only the countdown.

An earth-shattering voice suddenly boomed throughout the world:

"Who is sabotaging the operation of the cultivation world? I will find you and make you suffer eternal torment!"

Liu Ping turned to look at Xie Dongliu and the two female cultivators.

They didn't seem to notice anything, continuing their conversation as if nothing was wrong.

What's going on? Why can only I hear that voice?

Liu Ping suppressed his growing anxiety and thought quickly.

Persuer!

The last time the Persuer appeared was when he first awoke in the tomb.

Now, because of the collapse of the plot, another Persuer was coming.

—And there was a Judge too.

Suppressing his emotions, Liu Ping smiled at the three cultivators. "Thank you, all three of you. When I return to the sect, I'll treat you to a meal."

"you can cook spiritual food?" one of the female cultivators asked.

"I know a little, enough to get by" Liu Ping replied.

Xie Dongliu clapped Liu Ping on the shoulder with a hearty laugh. "Haha, good, that's great! We can team up in the future. There are too few of us in Profundity Palace who follow the way of spiritual food, and now we finally have one more."

"Then we must eat too!" one of the female cultivators laughed.

The four of them joked and laughed, the atmosphere warm. Had Liu Ping not known about the looming changes, he might have felt more at ease.

Suddenly, a ray of fire shot through the air, landing in front of the two female cultivators and transforming into a messenger talisman.

One woman took the talisman and read it swiftly.

"The front line is requesting support. We must leave immediately."

"Strange, hasn't the front line ceased fighting? What's happening?"

"I don't know, the message is urgent. We have to leave right away."

The two women hurriedly prepared to depart.

Before leaving, one said to Xie Dongliu, "If you're staying for two more days, take him back to the sect. It's not safe for him to stay here."

"I'll stay for only one more day. If no other suitable newcomers arrive, I'll take Liu Ping back," Xie Dongliu replied.

one of the girls patted Liu Ping's head with a worried look in her eyes. "I sense some bad omens. You should return to the sect soon."

Liu Ping froze.

Had anyone ever patted his head? He wanted to pull away, but then he remembered that he was now a nineteen-year-old boy, and she was a senior cultivator who had lived for hundreds of years.

Besides, the gesture was one of concern.

He stayed still, hearing Xie Dongliu's voice, "Junior Sister, don't worry. We'll leave tomorrow."

.....

"Hahaha, this is my secret method. In order to perfect this roasted chicken recipe, I bought hundreds of recipes from others and developed it successfully based on them."

"Excellent! The wine smells good too."

"It's not bad, but you're only nineteen. This wine is too strong—come, drink this rice brew instead."

In the tent, Xie Dongliu sat cross-legged on the ground without concern for his image, holding half a roast chicken, eating meat, and drinking from a large bowl.

Holding a cup of wine, Liu Ping stood quietly beside him.

Xie Dongliu burped, took out a bed from his storage bag, and lay down. "You don't need to worry here. You can practice if you want, or take a stroll around the camp."

"Okay." Liu Ping nodded and stood up.

He had gradually become accustomed to seeing through the veil of the world, so he left the camp and wandered along a nearby path, eventually finding a small market set up within the camp.

In the cultivation world, cultivators belong to different sects and specialize in different fields. Whenever they come together, everyone tends to exchange items or buy directly with spirit stones.

Liu Ping walked briskly through the market.

Time was limited.

The knife had broken earlier.

To deal with his enemies, he needed something to arm himself with.

While the double-barreled shotgun could be effective if equipped with holy bullets, it was still a foreign object, useful only to conserve spiritual energy. To truly display his combat prowess, he had to rely on weapons from the cultivation world.

After wandering a little longer, Liu Ping stopped at a cultivator's booth.

"How much for this blade?" he asked.

The cultivator glanced at him and shook his head. "With your strength, you can't wield this one. But take a look at these other blades. They're more suited for cultivators in the Foundation Building period who want to practice sword skills."

The cultivator was right—the blade was too powerful for him, but weapons more powerful than this couldn't be wielded by his current level of spiritual power.

Liu Ping examined the blade, and something caught his attention.

As a disciple of Gua Saint and a master of the six arts, he could recognize a suitable weapon at a glance.

Though this blade wasn't a treasure, the spirit patterns etched on the blade were quite exquisite and would be more than sufficient for a foundation-establishing cultivator.

What stood out, however, was a dark blue-black thin line running along the back of the blade. At first glance, it looked like the color formed during quenching, but Liu Ping knew better.

The thread was a special mineral called the Demon Devouring Stone.

This mineral was largely unknown—few craftsmen had the skill to handle it, and even fewer reached the peak level of craftsmanship to make use of it.

Liu Ping was the exception.

He was the world's number one in the six arts, unmatched in refining. Even the name "Demon Devouring Stone" had been coined by him.

The blade itself didn't matter.

What mattered was taking the blade, melting it down, and extracting the Demon Devouring Stone.

That would be the key to forging a new weapon—one that could help him maximize his combat potential.

"How much for this blade?" Liu Ping asked.

The cultivator, sensing Liu Ping's determination, smiled and said, "You seem to be determined, why don't you give it a swing?."

"Generous?" Liu Ping asked, surprised.

He picked up the blade and swung it casually, causing layers of aura to manifest along the blade.

The cultivator chuckled. "Alright, looks like I underestimated you. I'll give it to you for three hundred spirit stones."

"...Can it be cheaper?"

"Alright, two ninety."

"Thank you very much."

Liu Ping paid the spirit stones and left the booth, still holding the blade.

Such a blade would have cost tens of thousands of spirit stones in the past, but now he had gotten it for only three hundred.

Why had the prices dropped so much?

Liu Ping glanced at the void again.

Ten minutes left.

He walked to another stall, squatted down, and picked up a storage bag, weighing it in his hand.

"How much for this storage bag?"

"One for ten spirit stones."

"What about the largest capacity?"

"That's twenty spirit stones."

Liu Ping bought several storage bags and asked, "Why are they so cheap?"

The cultivator grinned as he pocketed the spirit stones. "The spirit stone mines are drying up everywhere. I'm heading to the front line soon, so it's better to exchange spirit stones while I can."

"Really? Thanks a lot."

Liu Ping turned to look at a weapons shop.

There should be a furnace there.

The issue of weapons still isn't resolved.

He pondered, then headed for the shop.

Liu Ping silently left the market and returned to his tent. He sat cross-legged and began to meditate.

This time in the square market, he had bought weapons, storage bags, two array disks, and melted out the Demon Devouring Stone. He also bought a variety of weapons for Foundation Building cultivators.

That should be enough—he couldn't buy any more otherwise people would question Where would he get so many spirit stones as a foundation-building cultivator?

In the void, burning characters kept flashing reminders:

[03:04]

[03:03]

[03:02]

[03:01]

[Repeat again.]

[The Persuer is coming. The Judge is coming.]

[Unprecedented events are unfolding in the cultivation world. We are about to observe the specific situation.]