......

The Sacred Wasteland, a market under the governance of the Qingyun Sect.

In an ordinary grocery store.

On the wooden table.

There were ink stones and paper everywhere.

Su Qinian was focused as he dipped the brush in ink and drew on the paper.

A short time had passed,

and an artistic scene was seen on the paper. There was a phoenix with its wings extended, symbolizing its rebirth.

Su Qinian quickly put away his brush.

"Not bad, not bad..."

Looking at the drawing, his eyes were full of admiration.

In terms of skill,

this Phoenix Besieged Painting, which he had just finished, had reached its peak. If it was auctioned in his previous life, it would be worth at least tens of billions.

However, as Su Qinian thought about it,

his face darkened.

Even if he was good at painting, no matter how perfect the painting was, it was just a piece of waste paper in this world.

He had time traveled for more than fifteen years.

This world was known as the Sacred Wasteland. It was a vast world that belonged to cultivators.

Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Immortal Ascension...

Cultivators stood erect between heaven and earth, opening up their Golden Cores and Nascent Souls. Practitioners of Qi-Refining could split mountains and rubbles. Nascent Souls cultivators could tear apart stars and the moon, and they could even burn rivers and oceans!

When he first time-traveled, Su Qinian was filled with lofty aspirations, thinking that he was on the verge of suppressing countless Heavenly Sons and reaching the pinnacle.

He did not expect that he would not be able to sense the Spiritual Qi from Heaven and Earth.

Being unable to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi would mean that one would never have the opportunity to cultivate for the rest of their life.

Thinking of this,

Su Qinian sighed.

He was dejected.

A mechanical voice suddenly rang in his mind, "Congratulations for completing your daily painting task, and for the reward, it will be an extraordinary jade..."

A look of helplessness appeared in Su Qinian's eyes.

As a transcender, he also had the help of the Gold Finger, which was the so-called system.

His system was called the Unrivalled System.

The name sounded extremely overbearing. People thought that it was an existence that could make a person stronger, but in fact, it only helped its host temper all kinds of sentimental skills.

Zither, chess, poetry, sword skills, dance skills , the art of tea... things along this line.

And all kinds of skills.

They could only return to their basics and would not be able to produce a practitioner's divine ability.

How about being the exceptional one?

It was impossible for him to do so, so Su Qinian could only be unhappy.

But in his previous life, he had only lived for about a hundred years. He could see the unique view of a cultivator here.

It was not a big deal.

He also hoped that when he traveled back, the skills that the system had refined for him would be useful.

He was thinking deeply about it.

Su Qinian came to his senses and looked at the Phoenix Besieged Painting for a moment. He sighed and couldn't be bothered to put it away.

He was sitting right in front of the wooden table.

Looking at the sky outside the store, he was stunned. "The annual recruitment of the Qingyun Sect is around the corner, and the market is getting rather crowded. It's quite lively, but unfortunately, I can never participate in it..."

...

Decades ago.

He had once visited countless sects to become their disciples, but all of them had rejected him. As such, he had simply opened a small store in the market under the ruling of the Qingyun Sect.

He decided to keep the idea of becoming a disciple in mind. What if he could one day become one and began his journey in cultivating?

Therefore, he usually sold some paintings he drew or strange gadgets he made.

Most of the market people were mortals.

As a result, Su Qinian's businesses were not bad, he could still live well.

His mind was calm.

He watched the darkening sky.

Su Qinian sighed silently. "It's getting dark. The business hasn't been opened yet. The recent business is too bad. Someone please come here to buy something. Otherwise, I won't have enough to pay Mr. Li for the fish..."

As his voice fell,

he looked at a broken, pitch-black jade pendant that suddenly appeared on the table and could not help showing a helpless expression.

He threw the jade pendant aside casually.

This was the system's daily reward for completing the painting.

He had many things like this.

A precious sword of astonishing value, a piece of paper containing a secret, an ancient zither that could play music, an exceptional jade that defied the natural order...

They were all extremely exaggerated names, but in fact, they were folk goods.

His corner was almost piled up.

He really didn't know what these things were used for...

He muttered in silence.

Su Qinian held his chin, he was bored and continued to stay in a daze.

...

In the cultivation market.

A cold woman dressed in blue and carrying an immortal's sword was heading out of the market.

She carried a lot of strange things. Obviously, she had finished shopping and was ready to leave the marketplace.

Only at this moment.

When she passed by a grocery store, she stopped involuntarily.

"Someone please come here to buy something..."

For some reason... a faint voice sounded in her head, making her want to enter the store!

Gu Qingying was the only disciple of the Shaoyin Peak elder of the Qingyun Sect.

She had only been apprenticed for three years.

At the age of sixteen, she cultivated the Shaoyin Skill and broke through the Foundation Establishment. She entered the Golden Core Phase and became the youngest and most powerful existence in the Qingyun Sect.

Unfortunately, three years ago, she had failed in her attempt to break through the Nascent Soul Phase.

The Golden Core in her dantian shattered.

Her cultivation phases collapsed completely, thus unable to recover her Spiritual Qi. She could no longer return to her past self.

This time, she went down the mountain...

She was seeking treasures to heal her injuries.

Only at this moment.

When she passed by the Qinian Store, she subconsciously stopped and was distracted.

Except for the faint sound...

She also had the feeling of having a good chance to heal herself in this store!

...

This idea made Gu Qingying feel extremely strange.

Under the sunlight.

On the sign, the words 'Qinian Store' were radiant. Although it was ordinary, it was beautifully written.

Gu Qingying looked around for a moment.

It didn't take long for her to overcome her inner thoughts and enter the store.

She just looked around.

If there was a lucky chance, it would be good. But if not, it was fine.

...

She entered the store in just a few steps.

The store was not big.

However, it was quite clean. There were some calligraphy, paintings, instruments, and some miscellaneous gadgets in the store.

There was nothing special about it.

However, Gu Qingying really liked this kind of arrangement, which was quite simple and elegant.

She was looking around herself.

A gentle voice suddenly sounded in her ear, "Feel free to look around. It's just some cheap stuff. Pick something you like..."

Hearing that, Gu Qingying looked back.

She saw a handsome young man in a teal robe with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes walking toward her.

He was really handsome...

Gu Qingying's heart skipped a beat. After scrutinizing him, she realized that the young man's aptitude was extremely poor. He was just an ordinary mortal.

The next moment.

She turned around and continued to observe the store.

...

Su Qinian was also secretly looking at Gu Qingying.

Although he had yet to embark on the path of cultivation, he still had some insight.

Naturally, he could see...

Gu Qingying's temperament was quite extraordinary. She was wearing the uniform of the Qingyun Sect. Presumably, she must be a cultivator with high cultivation.

He looked at Gu Qingying picking up a tea pot.

Su Qinian touched his chin.

Such young cultivators had never gone down the mountain, and they liked the little things of the mortal world the most.

"I think I can make some money today... Great!"

...

He was still thinking.

Gu Qingying picked up a few small items.

After searching carefully, she couldn't find anything useful, and there was a look of disappointment on her face.

As expected.

It was not an opportunity, but an ordinary store.

It seemed that there was no hope for her Golden Core to heal.

Gu Qingying sighed slightly.

...

Soon.

Gu Qingying came to her senses and restored her cold and aloof posture.

She was about to pay Su Qinian.

In a flash.

With a casual glance, she noticed a painting of a phoenix on the wooden table. It was vivid and mysterious.

Gu Qingying's eyes were filled with surprise.

She came to the wooden table and picked up the painting. "This painting is a good work. I can take it back as a farewell gift to Master..."

"Eh?"

Gu Qingying was shocked, and her cool temperament completely disappeared.

She froze on the spot.

As she gazed at the painting, she felt as if it had become an empty shell!

...

At that moment.

Gu Qingying's mind was instantly drawn into the Phoenix Besieged Painting.

The scene before her eyes changed instantly.

It was as if she had come to a vast and boundless land of primitive times.

High and mighty.

The blood of a young and frail little red bird fell on the towering earth and was run through by countless Heaven Shrouding Chains.

The extremely terrifying cultivators were holding chains in their hands.

This red bird was firmly locked, its bones smashed into ashes, directly slaughtered to death!

D*mn it!

As if she had turned into that red bird, Gu Qingying's heart was filled with anger!

She subconsciously thought of everything that had happened after her Golden Core was shattered.

Her formerly respected fellow disciples had disappeared. Even the seniors of the sects looked at her with sighs, as if she had already died.

This red bird's experience... Was there any difference between it and her?

...

However, the anger did not last long.

Suddenly.

In the red bird's place of death, a faint flame appeared. The next moment, an endless amount of Southern Flame rose and burned!

"Shriek!"

A noble cry was heard!

A phoenix with tens of millions of feathers and scarlet red body was reborn from the Southern Flame, destroying all the cultivators in an instant!

A phoenix rising from the ashes!

This was the transformation from death to life, the mystery of rebirth to immortality!

...

Gu Qingying stared blankly at the painting.

It was just a moment.

It was as if there was an invisible mystery interweaving within her body, triggering a strange change, making it even more difficult for her to breathe. Her entire back was drenched in cold sweat.

"Ah!"

When she came to herself and completely withdrew from the painting, Gu Qingying suddenly screamed.

The Spiritual Qi in her body circulated without any leakage.

In her abdomen,

there was an exquisite little man glowing brightly, exuding a cold light that made the Nascent Soul Phase cultivators unable to look straight at him!

But originally, it should be a broken Golden Core.

The Golden Core had been repaired? It had even transformed into a Nascent Soul?

Gu Qingying was stunned for a moment, and then there was a strong joy in her eyes that couldn't be concealed!

She went down the mountain.

She had already searched a circumference of eighty thousand miles, but she couldn't find any spiritual medicine that was useful to the healing of the Golden Core.

A moment before.

Having decided when she returned to the mountain, she bade her master farewell and withdrew from the Qingyun Sect.

But at that moment,

in less than fifteen minutes, her Golden Core was restored to its original state. It was now at the Nascent Soul Phase!

If the Master knew, he would cry with joy!

Those seniors might be so surprised that their eyes would fall out!

...

All sorts of thoughts flashed through her mind.

Gu Qingying quickly calmed down.

She looked at the Phoenix Besieged Diagram on the wooden table, her eyes filled with shock!

She was not stupid.

A painting...

Only looking at a painting could restore her spiritual stage to its original state!

This might be the work of some mighty figure who was good at drawing.

By chance, the painting was banished to this store, and this store owner did not know anything about its mysteries.

That moment, she had encountered a huge opportunity!

"I've found a treasure!"

Gu Qingying was shocked.

Everything was restored to its original state with only a glimpse of its profundity.

If this painting was brought back to the Qingyun Sect, it would be enough to cause a great shock, and even cause a great change to the Qingyun Sect!

"I must take it back!" Gu Qingying thought.

...

All sorts of thoughts flashed through her mind.

Gu Qingying stayed calm and collected.

She reverted to her cold demeanor and looked at Su Qinian. "How much is this painting, I'll buy it..."

Hearing that,

Su Qinian's eyes moved slightly.

He smiled slightly and said, "This drawing is something that I have done for leisure just now. It is not worth the price. If you like it, I can give you this drawing as a gift if you want to buy those teapots..."

As soon as he finished speaking,

Gu Qingying held her breath.

Looking at Su Qinian's half-smile, horror filled her eyes!

She subconsciously looked at the Phoenix Besieged Painting once more.

She was shocked to find that the signature 'Qinian' was written at the bottom.

...

In that instant,

Gu Qingying was enlightened.

So that was how it was...

There was no such thing as a masterpiece by a mighty figure. The mighty figure was the man in front of her!

No wonder...

She had a strong feeling urging her to enter the store when she passed by.

Perhaps this shop owner

had sensed that her Golden Core was broken and he wanted to help her, so he decided to give her a hint.

As for why she couldn't see through his cultivation base...

She was afraid that the man's cultivation had reached an incredible level, so he had returned to the ordinary.

...

She was secretly guessing.

Gu Qingying immediately understood that this was the real heaven-defying opportunity for her to meet this store owner!

She then looked at the small items she had selected.

The teapot, glazed cup, and sugar dolls seemed to be circulating with power at that moment. They were quite extraordinary.

And in her eyes, Su Qinian...

It was as if he had transformed into a black hole, deep and unfathomable, but also like a sun. He radiated a golden glow!

All sorts of feelings flashed through her mind.

The next moment.

Gu Qingying respectfully bowed to Su Qinian and said, "Thank you very much, senior. I really appreciate it!"

Her words were convincing.

In Su Qinian's ears.

His expression turned strange. "Why are you so grateful to me, young lady? I'm not your senior..."

This girl...

She was beautiful but acted inexplicably. Was she a fool?