Array Talisman

"Mm." After a while, Lin Xuan nodded, seemingly accepting Zhao Ming's explanation. Zhao Ming heaved a huge sigh of relief. How could he have known that although Lin Xuan's expression was calm, his heart was bursting with wild joy?

Becoming the Waste Pill Room's steward had originally been only the first step of Lin Xuan's plan.

The second step had been to familiarize himself with the situation and inspect the accounts, to see how he could exploit loopholes to falsify records and embezzle Waste Pills. The Deceiving the Heavens Technique required utmost caution; he could not be discovered and draw attention.

Yet he had never expected things to be even simpler than he had imagined.

The storage and management of Waste Pills was utterly chaotic. There were not even any accounts. In other words, no one knew how many Waste Pills were here. He did not need to rack his brains over embezzling them at all—he could take them freely and boldly, and absolutely no one would notice.

At that thought, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Lin Xuan's mouth.

"Immortal Master, Immortal Master."

A voice reached his ears. Lin Xuan turned around and found Zhao Ming looking at him in confusion. Lin Xuan's heart tightened, and he immediately warned himself, I cannot be so careless in the future. Those who seek great things must learn to keep joy and anger from showing on their faces. No one should be able to tell whether I am happy or upset just by looking at me.

"Nothing!" Lin Xuan shook his head, putting on an unconcerned expression. "I simply did not expect the duties of the Waste Pill Room's steward to be so easy. It seems I can live carefree from now on."

"Hehe, rest assured, Immortal Master. There is nothing much for our Waste Pill Room to do in the first place. Even if there are any miscellaneous tasks, this lowly one will handle them for you." Zhao Ming spoke ingratiatingly. From now on, Lin Xuan was his immediate superior, so naturally he had to curry favor with him.

Lin Xuan neither agreed nor disagreed. He had Zhao Ming lead him around to inspect the other areas, then chose a relatively secluded room as his living quarters.

Then Lin Xuan had Zhao Ming gather all the attendants and announced several rules to them. First and foremost, without his permission, they were absolutely forbidden from entering within ten paces of his living quarters.

The attendants had no objection whatsoever to this. Though they were merely outer disciples, they still understood some of the Immortal World's customs. Usually, every cultivator had secrets of their own. High-level cultivators possessed Cultivation Caves, surrounded outside by layer upon layer of Restrictions. Those who trespassed would be killed without mercy!

Although low-level cultivators lacked such power and could not possibly possess their own separate Cultivation Caves, outsiders were likewise strictly forbidden from entering or leaving their living quarters.

Therefore, they found Lin Xuan's demand perfectly normal and harbored not the slightest suspicion.

After the attendants dispersed, Lin Xuan returned to his room and lay on the bed to rest for a while. At the same time, he went over everything that had happened today in his mind and felt that there should be no flaws.

Everything had gone smoothly. There would be no problem with the source of the Marrow Cleansing Pills.

At different stages of cultivation, the pills required differed as well. Marrow Cleansing Pills were suitable for the Spirit Movement Stage and could be considered the lowest-grade pills. Cultivators one level higher, in the Foundation Establishment Realm, required more advanced pills such as Foundation Establishment Pills and Foundation Pills.

Although these higher-grade pills had even lower success rates in refinement, even Waste Pills had other uses. They would not be casually piled here like discarded Marrow Cleansing Pills.

But no matter what, at least at the Spirit Movement Stage, Lin Xuan's source of pills was now guaranteed. As for after Foundation Establishment, that was still too far away. He was only at the second level of the Spirit Movement Stage now; one could not aim too high.

After considering everything, Lin Xuan sat up from the bed. After some thought, he took a Bracelet from his robe. It was crystalline and emerald green.

This was Zhou Yan's Storage Bracelet, and now it belonged to Lin Xuan. Naturally, he would not foolishly wear it on his wrist—that would be no different from admitting that the disappearance of the two of them was connected to him. Lin Xuan hid the Bracelet close against his body.

He sent his divine sense inside and took out a Talisman.

It was an Array Talisman!

Cultivation encompassed all things. Besides all manner of miraculous cultivation arts, there were also wondrous formations. For instance, the formations used by various sects to protect their mountains, as well as the Restrictions high-level cultivators set up around their Cultivation Caves, were mostly formations.

Generally speaking, setting up a formation required various Dharma Treasures such as pre-refined Formation Flags and Formation Disks. However, such items were still far beyond Lin Xuan's reach. He could not possibly afford them, and even if he had them, his cultivation was insufficient to operate them. They were meant for high-level cultivators.

Then what were low-level cultivators supposed to do? Were there substitutes?

Of course there were.

Just as Spirit Tools were simplified versions of Dharma Treasures, formations could be set up without Dharma Treasures such as Formation Flags and Formation Disks. That substitute was the Array Talisman.

Array Talismans were a type of Talisman. Ordinary Talismans sealed Spells within Talisman Paper, while Array Talismans sealed formations.

Of course, these formations were all the simplest and most rudimentary kind, with limited power. But their advantages were also obvious. Their greatest feature was that they were easy to use and consumed only a tiny amount of spiritual power. Even low-level cultivators could use them with ease.

Lin Xuan hesitated. After all, unlike formations set up with Dharma Treasures such as Formation Flags and Formation Disks, which could be retrieved and reused as long as they were not damaged, formations laid with Array Talismans were single-use. Of the more than twenty Talismans obtained from Zhang Yu and Zhou Yan, there was only this one Array Talisman.

But after thinking it over, Lin Xuan still drew spiritual power from his dantian while muttering an incantation. In an instant, the Talisman blazed with light and began to burn.

With a wave of his hand, Lin Xuan tossed it into the air and shouted, "Rise!"

Immediately, the spiritual power triggered the sealed formation. The burning Talisman Paper transformed into a tiny yin-yang eight-trigram diagram, then rapidly expanded, flew outside the room, and enveloped the entire house.

Shortly afterward, the light forming the eight-trigram diagram grew dimmer and dimmer. Then all the strange phenomena vanished, and the surroundings returned to normal. But that was merely an appearance. The formation had already been laid around his living quarters. If anyone trespassed, they would trigger the Restriction.

After all, he carried secrets unknown to others. It would be disastrous if someone saw him purifying pills. Though the attendants, being outer disciples, would absolutely not dare disobey him, their steward, and trespass into his living quarters, one could never be too careful. Better to be safe than sorry. Thus, though it pained him to do so, Lin Xuan still used the Array Talisman.

This Restriction was simple, but ordinary people had absolutely no chance of breaking in. And cultivators would not come to the Waste Pill storage room either. With this arrangement, everything should be foolproof.