Chapter 87: Helmet

Chen Mobai decided to stay. The Heavenly River Realm was his greatest opportunity, and he would undoubtedly spend a long time in this world. In a place constantly beset by battles and dangers, he couldn't keep hiding indefinitely. This defense of Qingguang Island offered him a perfect chance to directly observe the level of large-scale combat in this world. Furthermore, with the Divine Wood Sect bearing the brunt of the assault, such an opportunity was rare. Even if the Divine Wood Sect eventually couldn't hold on and had to retreat via the teleportation array, the commotion would be significant and impossible to conceal. As for Chen Mobai, returning to the city only took eight seconds. If the island truly fell, he could dig a hole under his wooden house and hide for eight seconds without any problem.

After leaving Ba Jiang, Chen Mobai first headed to the market street on the island, hoping to purchase some magical artifacts and talismans to boost his combat power. However, he was far too late; almost everything had already been bought. What remained were either defective items or damaged artifacts with significantly reduced power. As for elixirs, they were truly sold out. Even medicinal herbs that could restore spiritual power or heal injuries when consumed raw were eagerly bought by cultivators willing to pay a high price. Needless to say, the shops run by the Divine Wood Sect had closed their doors after the order to seal the island was issued. All supplies were now controlled by Zheng Deming, with some distributed to the sect disciples on the island.

However, at the street stalls, many rogue cultivators hoping to make a fortune brought out items they usually wouldn't sell, demanding exorbitant prices—two or three times higher than usual. Chen Mobai took a liking to a spirit mirror artifact that offered both offense and defense, but the vendor's asking price of 80 spirit stones forced him to shake his head and leave.

After looking around, he realized he was simply too poor and had no choice but to return to his wooden house, where he found someone waiting at the door. "Steward Wang, why are you standing at the door?" Chen Mobai greeted him. This was the Divine Wood Sect steward who had rented the wooden house to him. Steward Wang seemed to have just arrived and was hesitating whether to come back later; he visibly relaxed upon seeing Chen Mobai return.

"Fellow Daoist Chen," Steward Wang began, "this is a summons issued by my Divine Wood Sect. As a late-stage Qi Cultivation realm cultivator, I've come personally to inform you. We hope you can assist our sect by helping defend the spiritual island during this crucial time." Steward Wang handed a summons bearing the Divine Wood Sect's spiritual seal to Chen Mobai. Since Chen Mobai had already decided to stay, he naturally wouldn't refuse. "No problem," Chen Mobai replied. "But where do I collect the spirit stones?"

The conditions for recruiting rogue cultivators to defend the island, as stated on the summons, were exactly as Qi Hou had revealed: anyone who accepted the Divine Wood Sect's conscription would receive their daily payment in spirit stones before each day's battle. Such terms demonstrated great sincerity. "If Fellow Daoist agrees," Steward Wang said, "you will be assigned to my squad, and I will distribute the spirit stones." Chen Mobai nodded and immediately signed the summons.

"According to Uncle-Master Zheng's spiritual talisman reconnaissance," Steward Wang continued, "the first wave of demonic beasts will arrive in approximately two hours. I still need to distribute summons to a dozen other rogue cultivators, so please gather at this location in an hour, Fellow Daoist Chen." Chen Mobai nodded again after hearing this. Steward Wang was also very generous, immediately paying him 5 spirit stones. After all, the Divine Wood Sect's island protection formation had already been activated, so even if these rogue cultivators wanted to escape, they couldn't. There was no fear of Chen Mobai reneging on his word after receiving the spirit stones.

What Steward Wang didn't know was that immediately after he left, Chen Mobai used the Turtle Treasure to return to Earth Star. Of course, he wasn't fleeing; he was going to purchase supplies for battle.

At his doorstep, Chen Mobai casually glanced at the more than two hundred talismans sent by the Wood Spirit Talisman Shop before stuffing them into his bag. Afterward, Chen Mobai called Wu Wan. While Qingguang Island faced inflation, the prices of magical artifacts on Earth Star remained stable. However, artifacts specifically for combat were unusually expensive. There was no way around it; refining highly destructive artifacts required prior application and approval from the relevant immortal sect departments. Once approved and refined, buyers also had to register, and each use needed to be reported. These various reasons caused the prices of combat artifacts to skyrocket. In contrast, refining defensive artifacts only required filing a record, so their value remained consistently stable.

Chen Mobai believed that in battle, cautious self-preservation was paramount. Although he had mastered the Water Origin Shield and possessed Wood Shield Talismans and Wood Armor Talismans, he felt he needed to acquire another defensive artifact to feel secure participating in the island defense battle. "One defensive artifact," he stated, "with a budget of around 80,000 Merit Points." After clearly stating his requirements, Wu Wan, a first-tier artifact appraiser, revealed that he indeed had several resources, including three artifacts that met Chen Mobai's criteria.

Due to the urgency, Chen Mobai did not take the bus slowly this time but instead took a taxi directly to Wu's Gold Shop. "I only have this one in stock right now," Wu Wan explained. "If you need the other two, they would have to be transferred from other Grotto-heaven Blessed Lands." "How long would that take?" Chen Mobai asked. "One is local, so it should arrive tomorrow. The other would need to be transferred from the Weiyu Grotto-heaven, which would take at least three days if you're not concerned about the Merit Points for expedited shipping." Within the immortal sects, same-city deliveries could even be free, but shipping from other Grotto-heaven Blessed Lands cities was certainly not cheap. However, Chen Mobai certainly wouldn't care about the cost at this moment; there simply wasn't enough time.

He then examined the defensive artifact Wu Wan took from his safe. It was a helmet, entirely golden and looking quite flashy. "It's a mid-grade first-tier artifact," Wu Wan explained, "and when worn, it can defend against spells that directly attack the Sea of Consciousness. When I refined it, I also incorporated a spiritual power shield enchantment. If pre-charged with spiritual power, it can unleash a shield once without consuming your own spiritual energy." Wu Wan spoke with a hint of reluctance as he introduced the helmet. "Oh, I didn't expect Master Wu to have personally refined this," Chen Mobai remarked. Although every artifact appraiser harbored a desire to be an artifact refiner, Wu Wan's words still surprised Chen Mobai. "Originally, when I refined this helmet, it was to help enhance my divine sense during Foundation Establishment, because I only managed to acquire a Pulse Guarding Pill and not a Spirit Ascension Powder," Wu Wan continued. "Unfortunately, my foundation was still insufficient, and I failed to establish my foundation. It will take several more years to reach Qi Cultivation perfection again. If you need it, I'll sell it to you at a reduced price." Although Wu Wan spoke with a light, casual tone, Chen Mobai still detected a sigh of regret in his words. The difficulty of Foundation Establishment was like ascending to the heavens for ordinary immortal sect cultivators like them.

"What price are you looking for, Master Wu?" Chen Mobai asked. "This artifact was refined using purified essence of gold, so the material costs alone were extraordinary," Wu Wan replied. "Since we're old acquaintances, let's say 100,000 Merit Points." "That's too expensive!" Chen Mobai exclaimed. "My budget is only 80,000 Merit Points." Chen Mobai had spent half of the 160,000 Merit Points Elucidator had originally transferred to him on talismans and auxiliary ingredients for spiritual qi replenishment water. For this island defense battle, he wasn't planning to be frugal, and 80,000 Merit Points represented his entire fortune.