Spending Money Like Water

[Specified expenditure successful. Random reward multiplier: 4. Congratulations, host, you have received 1,220 low-grade spirit stones!]

The notification appeared clearly on the light screen. Lu Yang's pupils contracted sharply, and his breathing quickened involuntarily.

He stood where he was, his heart pounding so hard he could almost hear the drumming in his chest.

Four times!

Although it wasn't the maximum of five times, four times was already a heaven-defying return.

How much had he just spent?

Three hundred and five low-grade spirit stones.

And now?

The rebate had come crashing back as a full 1,220 stones!

Lu Yang took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

At the daily rate provided by Tycoon's Confidence, he would only earn 360 stones in a month.

It would take several months to save up this much!

Even those senior brothers and sisters in the sect who had reached Late-stage Qi Refining, or even Peak Qi Refinement, might not be able to take out so many spirit stones at once!

And he... had obtained them from a single rebate.

Lu Yang clenched his fist, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from rising.

With this sum of spirit stones, his range of choices had opened up completely.

And...

He looked up at another notification on the panel.

Tycoon's Confidence now showed that it could be upgraded.

His recent expenditure had long since exceeded the threshold of one hundred spirit stones.

With a thought, Lu Yang said without hesitation, "Upgrade."

The panel flashed faintly, and the text changed.

[Tycoon's Confidence (level 2): Gain 2 low-grade spirit stones every two hours (money is the foundation of a tycoon's confidence. Spend 500 low-grade spirit stones to upgrade)]

Just as he had expected!

Lu Yang's eyes lit up.

After the upgrade, the spirit stones he received every two hours had doubled.

It didn't seem like much, but the advantage was that they would keep coming without end.

More importantly, he still had over a thousand low-grade spirit stones on hand and could easily continue upgrading it!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the restlessness in his heart.

Time to spend more!

He instinctively touched the Storage Bag at his waist. Twenty-one Qi Nourishing Pills lay quietly inside, enough to last him for some time.

He didn't need to buy any more cultivation pills for now, so he would buy something else.

Lu Yang raised his head and swept his gaze around.

Shops of every kind stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the street, their signs hanging beneath dark tiled roofs and upturned eaves, glowing warmly in the sunlight.

Demon Beast material shops, Law Artifact pavilions, formation plate workshops, talisman halls...

His gaze lingered at the entrance to a Law Artifact pavilion before he looked away.

Although he didn't have a decent Law Treasure at the moment, sect rules stipulated that anyone who passed the assessment and became a formal outer sect disciple would be rewarded with a High-Grade Law Artifact.

For a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm, a High-Grade Law Artifact would remain useful all the way to Peak Qi Refining.

Besides, he currently spent nearly all his time cultivating in the sect, so he had few opportunities to use a Law Treasure.

Talismans, on the other hand...

Lu Yang turned his gaze to the sign of a talisman hall not far away.

Talismans could save a life at a critical moment.

And as long as he had enough of them, he could simply smash his enemies with talismans, piling them up to force out combat power far beyond his own cultivation.

For someone as weak as he currently was, that was more practical than a Law Treasure.

Having thought it through, Lu Yang hesitated no longer and stepped into the sect-operated talisman shop.

The interior was more spacious and brighter than it appeared from outside. Vermilion wooden shelves lined the walls, holding all kinds of talisman scrolls sorted by category.

A small wooden plaque hung beneath each talisman, with its name, grade, and function written in neat characters.

A rich scent of cinnabar filled the shop, mingled with the fragrance of some unknown spirit ink spices. Standing there, he felt his mind settle somewhat.

There were few customers in the shop at the moment, only two.

The pair wore the standard outer sect disciple uniform and carried themselves with a hint of superiority.

A servant disciple followed close behind each of them, attending to them eagerly and offering quiet explanations from time to time.

On the other side of the shop, three more servant disciples had gathered together and were chatting idly.

When Lu Yang entered, the three of them looked up at him in unison.

As soon as their gazes landed on the entry disciple uniform he wore, one man and one woman among them looked away expressionlessly and returned to their conversation.

How many spirit stones could an entry disciple have?

Going over to serve him would be a waste of effort.

The other servant disciple, an old man who looked quite advanced in years, suddenly had a gleam in his cloudy eyes. He immediately put on a smile and hurried over to welcome him.

His smile was kind and natural, and his voice carried a practiced warmth. "Senior Brother, are you here to buy talismans?"

Lu Yang nodded, his tone casual and without the slightest trace of awkwardness. "Yes. Tell me about them."

The old servant disciple nodded inwardly.

He had worked in the shop for many years. His eyes might not be fiery golden eyes that could see through everything, but they weren't far off.

From the moment he entered, this young man had been calm and composed, his gaze neither dodging nor wavering. He was nothing like the Rogue Cultivators who came in looking around nervously and shrinking back.

That kind of confidence couldn't be faked.

He calculated rapidly in his head: the young man had to have at least a hundred or two hundred low-grade spirit stones in his Storage Bag.

If he spent a hundred, the old servant disciple would earn a commission of one low-grade spirit stone.

For a servant disciple, that was a considerable sum.

The old servant disciple's smile grew a little more eager. He led Lu Yang farther inside, explaining as they walked, "Senior Brother, all the talismans in our shop were personally drawn by the senior brothers and sisters of Talisman Peak, so their quality is guaranteed. The basic first-tier talismans are all on the first floor. You can find whatever kind you want. Of course, if you want to buy second-tier talismans..."

"I'll buy first-tier ones," Lu Yang interrupted.

Second-tier talismans possessed power on par with the Foundation Establishment Realm. They were certainly formidable, but they weren't easily activated by minor cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm. With his current cultivation, he would probably have some difficulty activating even one.

A road had to be walked one step at a time, and a meal eaten one bite at a time.

"Certainly!" the old servant disciple replied readily. "What are you looking for in a talisman, Senior Brother? And roughly what is your budget?"

As he asked, a glint flickered in his cloudy eyes; he was clearly making an assessment.

Lu Yang spoke calmly, as though discussing the most ordinary matter. "Attack, defense, and speed. I want all of them. As for my budget... I'll start with a thousand low-grade spirit stones' worth."

The instant the words left his mouth, the entire shop seemed to have been paused.

The two outer sect disciples, who had been looking down at the talismans, froze and turned around at the same time, their faces full of astonishment.

The servant disciples accompanying them also went rigid, their mouths slightly open, looking as though they had seen a ghost.

The male and female servant disciples in the corner jerked their heads up and stared blankly at Lu Yang, their eyes full of disbelief.

Wait... how much did he say?

A thousand low-grade spirit stones?!

The female servant disciple curled her lip and muttered under her breath, "Pfft... what a big talker."

As she saw it, who would buy so many first-tier talismans at once?

Talismans were, after all, consumables used as trump cards, not a regular source of combat power.

Why not use those spirit stones to buy a Law Treasure?

A thousand low-grade spirit stones were enough to buy a rather good Mid-Grade Law Artifact. With luck, they might even secure a lower-quality High-Grade Law Artifact.

Who would be stupid enough to sink it all into talismans?

Was the money burning a hole in his pocket?

Not just them—even the old servant disciple, who had worked in the talisman shop for most of his life, looked stunned. Several breaths passed before he came to his senses.

In all his years at the shop, he had only seen two customers spend a thousand spirit stones on first-tier talismans in one go.

And both had been formal outer sect disciples.

As for an entry disciple spending a thousand spirit stones on first-tier talismans...

He racked his brains for a long time but couldn't think of a single one.

This young man... just what was his background?

The old servant disciple took a deep breath, suppressing his surging shock and the faint excitement beneath it, and carefully confirmed, "Senior Brother... do you truly want to buy a thousand low-grade spirit stones' worth of talismans?"

"Of course," Lu Yang answered without hesitation. After a pause, he added, "I want high-quality ones. Supreme-grade talismans would be best."

The old servant disciple's mouth twitched, and he gave an awkward laugh. "Senior Brother, supreme-grade talismans really are rare. The highest grade we have in our shop is upper-grade."

Like supreme-grade pills, supreme-grade talismans could be encountered but not sought.

Upper-grade talismans available in a shop directly operated by the sect were already rare, fine goods.

Lu Yang wasn't too disappointed. He nodded. "Then upper-grade it is."

The old servant disciple perked up and immediately began explaining with effortless familiarity. "Upper-grade attack talismans cost between thirty and forty low-grade spirit stones each, and their power is equivalent to a full-strength blow from a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Upper-grade defense talismans are considerably more expensive, at around sixty or seventy stones each, but they can withstand even a full-strength blow from someone at Peak Qi Refining. Upper-grade speed talismans cost about the same as the defense talismans... Senior Brother, shall I show you the finished products?"

Lu Yang nodded and followed the old servant disciple, examining them one by one.

An upper-grade Fireball Talisman cost thirty-five low-grade spirit stones. It was warm to the touch, and flame runes flickered faintly on the paper.

An upper-grade Ice Spike Talisman cost forty low-grade spirit stones. Bringing a finger near it was enough to feel a bone-piercing chill.

An upper-grade Light Body Talisman cost sixty-five low-grade spirit stones. Affixed to the body, it made one's movements as light as the wind.

An upper-grade Protection Talisman sold for as much as seventy low-grade spirit stones...

The old servant disciple could readily explain the origin, power, and techniques for using each talisman. He was clearly a veteran of the shop.

Lu Yang listened and calculated in his head, quickly making up his mind.

"Four upper-grade Protection Talismans. Four Light Body Talismans."

The abacus in the old servant disciple's hands clattered. Those two items alone already came to 540 low-grade spirit stones.

After that, Lu Yang bought two or three attack talismans of each of the five elements.

He also took two Qi Concealment Talismans.

An upper-grade Qi Concealment Talisman could conceal one's presence, making it impossible for cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm to detect one's location. It was extremely useful on certain occasions.

The old servant disciple's fingers flew over the abacus, clattering as he added everything up. Finally, he announced the price in a trembling voice. "Senior Brother... the total, the total is 1,020 low-grade spirit stones!"

By the time he reached the last few words, his voice was shaking.

The entire shop fell so silent that a pin drop could have been heard.

The female servant disciple, whose face had been full of disdain earlier, now stared wide-eyed, her lips moving without a word coming out.

The two outer sect disciples had long since put down the talismans in their hands and were staring blankly at Lu Yang, one thought going around and around in their minds:

Was this some scion of a Golden Core Aristocratic Clan who had come out to experience life?!

Spending over a thousand spirit stones on first-tier talismans—it was no exaggeration to say he was spending money like water!

Lu Yang's expression remained unchanged as he took spirit stones from his Storage Bag and piled them onto the counter with a clatter.

The crisp, pleasing sound of spirit stones striking one another rang especially clearly through the silent shop.

He put away the thick stack of talismans, sensing the fluctuations of spiritual power flowing through the paper, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

With these, he could try to kill even a Late Qi Refining cultivator!

Even if he couldn't kill one, he could still escape!