"Judging by your attire, fellow Daoist, I understand. This is the Daoqi Sect’s treasured heirloom, the Qiankun Tripod. It possesses the ability to absorb the heavens and refine all things. Alas, ever since it followed me, it has declined day by day. Not only has its furnace fire gone out, but even its Artifact Spirit abandoned me one night. If this continues, the Qiankun Tripod will likely collapse sooner or later. If you’re interested today, ten Spirit Stones and it’s yours."
The bald Daoist clenched his teeth, reluctantly pulling out a small bronze tripod covered in dust.
Engraved with an array of inscriptions and patterns of suns, moons, and stars, despite its unimpressive appearance, it exuded a sense of ancient simplicity.
Li Yi’s silver eyes glanced at it, noticing that it bore some resemblance to the incomplete Sword Coin in his hand. The same bronze material, the same inscriptions.
However, this item was different from the other wares on the stall—it had far fewer cracks and appeared to have been well-preserved.
But... why did it increasingly resemble those ten-dollar Earth souvenirs?
"You’re not trying to scam me, are you?" Li Yi asked suspiciously.
The bald Daoist instantly panicked: "I am the last Elder of Daoqi Sect, known as the ’Graceful Jade Tree’ and ’Charming Gentleman,’ Tang Yi! Were it not for the fall of my family, would I be hawking Magic Treasures on the street ? Though my goods may not look good, they are genuine! Before the End of Dharma, the treasures of Daoqi Sect were worth their weight in gold!"
"If you don’t believe me, Elder Wu of Hundred Dao Sect, and over there, Master Liu of Three Flowers Sect, can vouch for me."
He then pointed to a portly Daoist and a middle-aged woman.
"It’s not that I don’t believe you; I’ve just never seen a ’charming gentleman’ who’s bald," Li Yi remarked.
The bald Daoist’s face flushed bright red: "Being bald was unavoidable! It’s not like I wanted to lose my hair. I’ve tried rubbing my scalp with ginger, but it’s completely useless..."
He babbled on, saying things like how cultivators shouldn’t focus too much on their appearance, how being bald has its perks (like staying cool in hot weather), and how it’s enough to have been dashing in one’s youth.
"Alright, alright, enough. Let me test the item. If it’s legitimate, I’ll buy it. Okay?" Li Yi said.
"Now we’re talking." The bald Daoist finally stopped his chatter and handed the Qiankun Tripod to Li Yi.
Unable to discern anything remarkable about it, Li Yi directly used the Guiding Skill to inject Cosmic Energy into the Qiankun Tripod. If it were genuinely useful, it would display uncanny phenomena. If it had completely decayed, it wouldn’t be able to contain the Cosmic Energy and would simply... crack.
A crisp sound echoed. The so-called divine Qiankun Tripod split in half in Li Yi’s hands.
It had directly fragmented into two pieces—one Qiankun Tripod turned into two.
"..." Li Yi stared at the bald Daoist, looking a little embarrassed.
The bald Daoist collapsed to the ground in grief and despair, wailing bitterly: "Master, your disciple has failed. The legacy of Daoqi Sect ends with me... The Qiankun Tripod is gone, Daoqi Sect is no more. I had hoped to find a good home for the Qiankun Tripod, ensuring its legacy would endure, but I didn’t expect that in the end, the old would bury the young."
Wait a second, you don’t even have hair—where does ’the old burying the young’ come from?
"Imagine me, Tang Yi, cultivating at three, opening my chest to the Five Qi at seven, achieving Five Qi Chaoyuan at fifteen, condensing Three Flowers at thirty-seven... At the very least, I should have become an Enlightened one. But experiencing the End of Dharma, I’ve fallen so far. Not even the Qiankun Tripod could be safeguarded—might as well die!"
Devastated, he cried as he dashed toward the wall behind him.
"Elder Tang, calm down. That wall’s fragile, and you’ll have to pay for damages if you break it."
"Let me die; it’s better to die. Last month, the sect leader of Green Mountain Sect starved to death on the streets, clutching the Green Court Record, without a disciple to clean up his remains."
"Sigh, what a world. The sooner you die, the sooner the suffering ends."
The other street vendors sighed and lamented but did nothing to stop Tang Jun’s attempt at suicide.
These days, suicidal cultivators are as common as dirt, a frequent occurrence in the Tao Court.
"It’s just a broken item—surely not worth dying over, right?" Li Yi quickly activated his Gang Qi, grabbing Tang Yi from a distance.
"Let me go! Let me go! I’ve already lost all hope today; just let me die!" The bald Daoist struggled with all his might, but it was futile—his frail body couldn’t break free from Li Yi’s Gang Qi restraints.
However, the display of silver Gang Qi in the street stunned the surrounding vendors, and after a moment of pause, they noticed something unusual.
"Wait, that silver aura isn’t Mana—it shows no signs of deterioration."
"If it’s not Mana, then what is it?"
"I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before, but I feel like it’s a completely new cultivation method."
"Could it be that someone has pioneered a new path during the End of Dharma and reopened the way forward?"
In an instant, the surrounding cultivators grew excited. They had endured the End of Dharma for many years, and those capable of performing spells had become increasingly scarce. By now, most had devolved into ordinary people. There had been attempts to innovate and create new methods of cultivation during this era, but none had succeeded.
If someone had indeed discovered a new method, then in this End of Dharma era, it would be nothing short of an epoch-making achievement. It could go down in the annals of cultivation history and perhaps even earn the title of Taoist Ancestor in the End of Dharma.
A multitude of fervent gazes turned toward Li Yi, while a flicker of hope was reignited in their hearts.