Array Talisman

"Hmm." After a moment, Lin Xuan nodded, seemingly accepting Zhao Ming's explanation. This caused Zhao Ming to heave a massive sigh of relief. Little did he know that while Lin Xuan's expression remained calm, his heart was filled with wild joy.

Becoming the manager of the Waste Pill Room was merely the first step in Lin Xuan's plan.

The second step was to familiarize himself with the situation, examine the accounts, and see how to exploit loopholes to falsify records and misappropriate waste pills. This process of using the Deceiving the Heavens Technique had to be handled with extreme caution; he could not afford to be discovered or attract any attention.

Yet, he had not expected things to be even simpler than he had imagined.

The storage and management of the waste pills were in complete chaos; there were not even any accounts. In other words, no one knew exactly how many waste pills were kept here. This meant he did not need to waste any effort on misappropriation—he could simply take them openly and boldly, and absolutely no one would ever find out.

Thinking of this, a faint smile tugged at the corners of Lin Xuan's mouth.

"Immortal Master, Immortal Master."

A voice entered his ears. Lin Xuan turned his head to find Zhao Ming looking at him with a hint of confusion. A chill ran through Lin Xuan's heart, and he immediately warned himself: I must not be this careless in the future. Those who achieve great things must learn to keep their emotions hidden; one's mood should never be readable on one's face.

"It's nothing!" Lin Xuan shook his head, putting on an indifferent air. "I just didn't expect the duties of a Waste Pill Room manager to be so relaxed. It seems I can enjoy some leisure time from here on out."

"Hehe, rest assured, Immortal Master. Our Waste Pill Room doesn't have much work to begin with. Even if there are any miscellaneous chores, this little one will handle them for you," Zhao Ming said obsequiously. From this moment on, Lin Xuan was his direct superior, so he naturally had to curry favor.

Lin Xuan gave a noncommittal response and had him lead the way to tour the other areas, eventually selecting a relatively secluded room to serve as his living quarters.

Lin Xuan then had Zhao Ming summon all the young disciples to announce a few rules. First and foremost, without his explicit permission, no one was allowed to step within ten paces of his living quarters.

The young disciples had no objections to this. Although they were merely outer sect disciples, they still understood certain rules of the Immortal World. Generally, every cultivator had their own secrets. High-level cultivators possessed cultivation caves protected by layers of restrictions; those who trespassed were killed without mercy!

While low-level cultivators lacked the strength to possess individual cultivation caves, their own living quarters were strictly off-limits to outsiders as well.

Therefore, they found the requirement Lin Xuan proposed to be perfectly normal and felt not a shred of suspicion.

After the young disciples dispersed, Lin Xuan returned to his room, lay on the bed to rest for a while, and mentally reviewed the events of the day, concluding that there were no flaws.

Everything had gone smoothly, and the source of his Marrow Cleansing Pills would not be an issue.

At different stages of cultivation, the pills required were not the same. Marrow Cleansing Pills were suitable for the Spirit Movement Stage and could be considered the lowest-grade pills. Cultivators at the higher Foundation Establishment Realm required more advanced pills like Foundation Establishment Pills or Foundation Pills.

Although the success rate for refining these high-level pills was lower, even the waste pills had other uses and would not be piled up randomly like the discarded Marrow Cleansing Pills.

Regardless, at least at the level of the Spirit Movement Stage, Lin Xuan's supply of pills was guaranteed. As for after Foundation Establishment, that was still too far off; he was only at the second layer of the Spirit Movement Stage, and one should not aim too high too soon.

After pondering all this, Lin Xuan sat up from the bed. After a moment's thought, he pulled a crystal-clear, emerald-green bracelet from his robes.

This was Zhou Yan's Storage Bracelet, and it now belonged to Lin Xuan. Of course, he would not be foolish enough to wear it on his wrist, as that would be tantamount to admitting that the disappearance of the two was related to him. Lin Xuan tucked the bracelet away close to his body.

He projected his divine sense into it and retrieved a talisman.

This was an Array Talisman!

Cultivation encompassed everything. Beyond various miraculous techniques, there were also marvelous formations. For instance, the formations protecting the mountains of various sects or the restrictions set by high-level cultivators around their cultivation caves were mostly formations.

Generally speaking, setting up a formation required pre-refined items like formation flags, formation disks, and other Dharma treasures. However, such things were still far out of reach for Lin Xuan; he could not afford them, and even if he had them, his cultivation was insufficient to operate them—those were meant for high-level cultivators.

What, then, were low-level cultivators to do? Were there alternatives?

Of course there were.

Just as a Spirit Tool was equivalent to a simplified version of a Dharma Treasure, one could set up a formation without using items like formation flags or disks. That was the Array Talisman.

An Array Talisman was a type of talisman, except that while ordinary talismans sealed spells within talisman paper, an Array Talisman sealed a formation.

Naturally, these formations were the simplest and most elementary, with limited power. However, their advantages were also quite obvious; the greatest feature was their ease of use, consuming very little spiritual power, allowing even low-level cultivators to use them with ease.

He hesitated for a moment. Unlike formations set up with items like flags or disks—which could be retrieved and reused as long as they weren't destroyed—a formation set up with an Array Talisman was a one-time use. Among the twenty-some talismans he had obtained from Zhang Yu and Zhou Yan, this was the only Array Talisman.

But after thinking it over, Lin Xuan channeled spiritual power from his dantian while chanting a spell. In an instant, the talisman burst into brilliant light and began to burn.

Lin Xuan waved his hand, tossing it into the air as he shouted, "Rise!"

Immediately, the spiritual power triggered the sealed formation. The burning talisman paper transformed into a small Yin-Yang Bagua, which then rapidly expanded, flying out of the room to shroud the entire building.

A short while later, the light forming the Bagua grew dimmer and dimmer until all signs vanished, and the environment returned to its original state. However, this was merely an appearance; the formation had already been set around his living quarters. If anyone were to trespass, they would trigger the restriction.

After all, he harbored secrets unknown to others, and it would be disastrous if someone saw him purifying pills. Although the young disciples, as outer sect disciples, would never dare to defy the wishes of their manager by trespassing, one could never be too careful. He feared the "what if," so despite the sting of using it, Lin Xuan still used the Array Talisman.

Although this restriction was simple, it was impossible for ordinary people to break in, and cultivators would not come to the waste pill storage area. This setup should be foolproof.