Chapter 12: Selling Talismans (Part Two)

The boy was momentarily stunned, his face flushing red, but he did not give up and said, "I don’t have many spirit talismans on me, but I can trade you something else." The place he was about to go to required three Yang talismans for protection, and he needed at least five.

Yao Qian thought for a moment. "Let’s go somewhere quieter to talk." The market was crowded and full of prying eyes, not a good place for exchanging items. She was also eager to return to her cultivation. She felt that she might not be suited for running a stall and should instead focus on her cultivation. Once she was ready to leave the sect, she could sell her talismans in a shop.

Yao Qian and the boy left the market. The boy cautiously found a secluded spot far from the bustling crowd, then said, "I have a family heirloom body refinement technique. It can help you cultivate up to the late Qi Refining stage. Would you trade all your three Yang talismans for this technique?"

Yao Qian looked puzzled. "Does your family’s body refinement technique have any flaws?" Cultivation methods and talismans were two different things. Talismans were consumable items, while cultivation methods were heirlooms. Which prodigal family member would trade a cultivation technique for talismans?

The boy replied calmly, "My family’s technique relies on refining the body with blood fiend qi. The more advanced the stage, the more blood fiend qi is required. Most people can only cultivate up to the third realm and cannot break through to Foundation Establishment." Breaking through required an enormous amount of blood fiend qi—at least the lives of a million beings. How could a young cultivator without Foundation Establishment possibly kill a million creatures?

Yao Qian said, "Let me see it."

The boy said, "I can only show you the first page."

Yao Qian nodded. "Naturally." She understood such customs.

The first page of the boy’s family manual was an imagining diagram depicting a fierce six-armed blood demon. The demon was striking a strange pose, cultivating while standing in a river of blood.

The illustration was exquisitely detailed but lacked any spiritual essence, as the manual was printed by magic, much like Shen Zhuo’s comprehensive talisman collection. Following such a manual for cultivation would yield nothing.

Shen Zhuo glanced briefly and said, "This isn’t a cultivation method for humans. Why would I want this?" Besides, the imagining diagram was impossible to visualize properly. Even if it were, the cultivation was of a six-armed blood demon, and she had no intention of turning herself into a demon.

The boy hurriedly said, "No, humans can cultivate this technique, but only up to the Gathering Qi stage. After that, the required blood fiend qi is beyond what ordinary people can obtain."

Yao Qian said with little interest, "I’m not interested." She would rather save up contribution points to exchange for a proper body refinement technique from the sect. Why bother with such low-grade stuff?

Seeing she was about to leave, the boy quickly added, "I also have a blood forging technique."

Yao Qian showed no expression. "I’m not planning to cultivate the blood fiend path."

The boy explained, "Blood forging is not a cultivation path; it’s an auxiliary secret technique to enhance the power of magical tools."

"Enhance magical tools’ power?" Yao Qian was skeptical. Could such an extraordinary secret technique really exist? "If you have this secret technique, why do you want to buy my talismans?"

The boy looked embarrassed. "This secret technique can only be used on talismans or unwanted magical tools. After the forging, the magical tool can only be used once."

Yao Qian stared at him speechlessly.

The boy scratched his head, "Don’t you like drawing talismans? If you apply blood forging to your talismans, it would increase their power, and you could sell more. Isn’t that a win-win? I’ll trade you all your three Yang talismans for this blood forging technique."

Yao Qian was somewhat tempted. "Show me the blood forging technique first."

The boy still only produced a single page. It didn’t include how to cultivate the blood forging technique but contained a general introduction. This technique also relied on blood fiend qi—the purer the blood fiend qi, the greater the enhancement.

A strand of blood fiend qi required killing dozens of people and collecting their vital essence to refine. Yao Qian was speechless—where was she supposed to get blood fiend qi? Still, after some thought, she agreed to exchange the twenty three Yang talismans she had displayed at her stall for the blood forging technique. She would inevitably encounter blood fiend qi in the Infinite Sect, so it was useful to keep the technique for emergencies.

"Twenty three Yang talismans for this blood forging technique."

"No, fifty!" The boy was firm. This was his family’s secret technique and could not be sold cheaply.

Yao Qian snapped, "Then keep it yourself."

The boy widened his eyes. "This is a secret technique! Trading it for fifty talismans is already a big loss. If I didn’t want to avoid being robbed or killed, I wouldn’t bother trading with you."

Yao Qian thought for a moment. "Alright then." She would definitely focus on talisman drawing in the future. The blood forging technique was quite practical. She just had to find a way to collect blood fiend qi. She tilted her head curiously and asked, "Why do you need so many three Yang talismans?"

The boy said, "I’m going to Yanluo Cave. The best talismans to use there are three Yang talismans."

Yao Qian didn’t know what Yanluo Cave was but took out another thirty three Yang talismans from her storage bag and gave them to him. She also thought to herself that since someone her age could go there, she might end up going there too. She decided to draw more three Yang talismans when she returned.

The boy left joyfully, confident that with blood fiend qi, he could enhance the quality of the talismans and increase his safety in Yanluo Cave.

Yao Qian made a trip to the market and traded fifty talismans for the blood forging technique. She felt satisfied; cultivation methods were worth far more than talismans. She could collect more techniques in the future and trade them even if she didn’t cultivate them herself.

Back home, she studied the blood forging technique carefully. It was simple: fuse blood fiend qi into the ritual forging of magical tools. Instead of blood fiend qi, cultivators’ vital essence could also be used. But most cultivators had little vital essence, and even if it could regenerate, it wasn’t something that could be extracted quickly.

Yao Qian thought deeply. Her vital essence recovered quickly—usually after a single night’s sleep. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so extravagant as to feed her Golden Silkworm Gu with it. Losing a drop of vital essence to produce a powerful talisman was a fair trade.

However, applying blood forging to her current talismans was too extravagant. She decided to wait until she could produce a truly excellent talisman.

With this in mind, Yao Qian returned to the Celestial Evolution Stele to practice talisman drawing. Perhaps the outing had relaxed her mind, for her talisman drawing went smoothly, as if divinely inspired. She quickly became fully familiar with the Infinite Sect’s three Yang talisman and successfully completed her first talisman within the stele’s space.

This time, her mind was calm, and her spiritual awareness steadily controlled the talisman brush. Every stroke’s weight and speed were perfectly appropriate. Even before finishing the talisman, she was confident of success.

Indeed, when she drew the final stroke, she sealed the talisman’s spiritual energy with a delicate touch of the brush tip. Joy blossomed on her face—she had succeeded! With this experience, she felt even more confident about producing the Five Thunder and Golden Light talismans.

Without resting, she seized the lingering inspiration and continued producing more three Yang talismans. She wasn’t worried about making too many; these talismans could be sold at the market or used personally.

Earlier in the Internal Affairs Hall, she had seen that sect missions offering contribution points for security were few, and the more rewarding missions were very dangerous. With talismans for defense, she wouldn’t worry so much about her safety when going out. Anyone who dared bully her would be struck down by talismans.

She aimed to have at least ten thousand talismans for both attack and defense, or she wouldn’t feel secure. Didn’t the wooden-handled grenades once number in the billions? Each infantryman paired with a cannon barrel—ten thousand talismans was nothing. Her talismans were only basic and not very powerful, so quantity was key!

With this goal, Yao Qian longed to spend all her time in her cave. Jin Xiuer was the same—both were cultivation fanatics. Thus, in the Infinite Sect, they only knew a single fellow disciple named Li Wei; they didn’t know the others.

However, on the last day of their third month in the sect, the bell atop the mountain rang, summoning them from their caves. This was the sect’s summons; anyone who heard the bell must gather at the summit.

Yao Qian and Jin Xiuer emerged, feeling as if they had awoken from another world. They exchanged smiles. Jin Xiuer said, "It’s been three full months, right? Maybe a teacher will come to instruct us today?" She spoke with a hint of hopeful anticipation.

Yao Qian was less optimistic. Given the sect’s nature, she guessed they wouldn’t send a teacher but would likely give the new disciples a harsh lesson.

Her guess proved correct. As they arrived at the summit, they heard desperate cries: "Sir, please! Just give us a few more days!"

They looked at each other, then up to see a burly man in black ignoring the pleas of a dozen crying boys and girls. He gathered them into a black cloud, shaking his head with a sigh of bitter disappointment.

"The senior disciple already gave you all golden books, and yet three months later you still can’t draw Qi into your bodies. How stupid are you?"

Back when they entered, there were no golden books—everyone struggled through a single manual, and no one failed to draw Qi within three months. These disciples recruited from outside were a mixed lot.

The black-clad man’s rebuke made everyone bow their heads, avoiding his gaze. Except for Yao Qian, Jin Xiuer, and a few dedicated cultivators who minded their own business, most knew the man’s identity. He was the sect leader’s disciple. Though not as gifted as Pei Changqing, he was already a Golden Core cultivator.

The man ordered the useless ones to be sent to the outer sect. Such idiots were a waste of resources and might as well be used as meat to be refined. At the same time, he opened many secret chambers, where masses of flesh and blood remained.

These were the remains of those who could not control their spiritual energy while drawing Qi into their bodies and burst from within. Most were mortals, unlike Yao Qian and Jin Xiuer, who had been taught from youth. They had not undergone vital essence storage or body tempering stages. Without elder guidance, drawing Qi was extremely dangerous and often fatal.

Such tragedies occurred only in sects indifferent to their disciples’ lives. Most sects ensured new disciples were guided by elders.

The black-clad man clicked his tongue. "Is there anyone even more useless than this? Can you get any weaker?"

Most onlookers turned pale at the sight of the bloodied remains. Among the captured disciples, only a few came from cultivator families; most were ordinary mortals unaware of the dangers of drawing Qi.

The man said, "I originally didn’t want to teach you useless lot, but the senior disciple is merciful and wants you to advance faster. He has allowed you to enter Yanluo Cave to cultivate. Today, you may even go to the outer market to buy supplies, but tomorrow morning, all of you must go to Yanluo Cave."

After speaking, he waved his hand and scattered hundreds of storage bags. "These are your supplies for the next three years, so you can buy what you need at the market."

The three pages end here.