"Verbal encouragement can be prepared too."
"With the double stimulation of material rewards and spiritual chicken soup, I refuse to believe they won't work hard!"
Zhang Wan secretly refined his grand cultivation plan in his heart.
Zhang Lingshu and Zhang Yan looked at their elder brother, whose lips were nearly curling up to the corners of his eyes, and shuddered. That wicked smile was truly terrifying!
After making his plans, Zhang Wan simply let go completely and stopped managing his younger sister and brother, leaving them to cultivate on their own each day.
At the same time, every so often, he gave them rewards based on their cultivation progress.
The rewards were not substantial, consisting only of useful things that were not too valuable.
For one thing, Zhang Wan was himself penniless at the time, and the things he could afford were not suitable to take out. For another, Zhang Lingshu and Zhang Yan had not yet settled into their ways. Even if he gave them something too good, it would be difficult for them to use it properly, and they might even bring trouble upon themselves.
Of course, the main reason was still the first one.
Even so, Zhang Lingshu and Zhang Yan were quite delighted.
During this period, Zhang Wan's cultivation also broke through to the Third Level Postnatal.
Earlier, because of the situation in Fengliu Commandery, he had used some experience points to raise his cultivation to the peak of the Second Level Postnatal out of worry.
After that, he did not use experience points to raise his cultivation again.
But he had been cultivating diligently all along.
As time passed, he broke through from the peak of the Second Level Postnatal to the Third Level Postnatal.
He became the third Third Level Postnatal martial artist in their cohort.
Xu Hui followed close behind and also broke through to the Third Level Postnatal, preventing Zhang Wan from being the only one to shine.
Lin Fangyan was still a little short.
Compared with Zhang Yan and Xu Hui, his accumulation was still far behind, and he basically had no chance of breaking through to the Third Level Postnatal before graduation.
Even so, their cohort having four students at the Third Level Postnatal was already more than in previous years. They could even contend for first place with the most outstanding cohorts in the Beginner Martial Arts Academy.
After Zhang Wan's breakthrough, quite a few acquaintances came to congratulate him. After spending two days dealing with them, he shut the main gate and holed up in the courtyard to attend to his own affairs.
Although some people found it speechless, they did not think Zhang Wan was looking down on them.
Zhang Wan was famous for his diligence among their acquaintances.
He never missed his morning academic classes. In the afternoon, he was either farming or watching and taking part in arena betting matches. At night, people occasionally passing by his small courtyard could even see him guiding his younger sister and brother in cultivation, sometimes holding a jade slip and racking his brains.
Such self-discipline and hard work made those who knew him tremble, feeling as though they were about to be worked to death by the competition.
Now that Zhang Wan had shut himself inside his courtyard, the first thought that came to everyone else was: That bastard's started pushing himself again!
When Xu Hui heard the news, his brows furrowed. He immediately turned around and returned to his own courtyard, diligently cultivating and training.
In fact, after Zhang Wan holed up in his courtyard, he really was busy improving himself, just as his acquaintances imagined.
However, he was not improving his cultivation, but his overall combat strength.
He possessed an incomplete talisman master inheritance and had used experience points to comprehend the entire inheritance.
But limited by his cultivation and materials, he had previously only been able to draw Postnatal low-grade fire talismans.
Now that his cultivation had broken through to the Third Level Postnatal, he could try drawing Postnatal mid-grade fire talismans!
"Although the Jade Bamboo Talisman Brush has no talisman-brush-specific restrictions, it can barely be used to draw Postnatal mid-grade fire talismans."
"Although the success rate isn't high, I make the talisman brush, talisman paper, and talisman ink myself. Excluding the time cost of cultivating spirit plants, the other costs are frighteningly low."
"No matter how low the success rate is, as long as I can draw one successfully, I'll make a profit!"
Calming his mind, Zhang Wan picked up the talisman brush, soaked it in talisman ink, circulated his magical power and divine sense, and drew a Postnatal mid-grade Fireball Talisman on the talisman paper.
Even though he had long since comprehended talismans and had the experience of drawing a large number of Postnatal low-grade Fireball Talismans as a foundation,
he still only managed to successfully draw a Postnatal mid-grade Fireball Talisman after failing four times!
There was no helping it. The talisman brush, talisman paper, and talisman ink had all been made from Postnatal low-grade spirit plants, while Zhang Wan's cultivation was only at the Third Level Postnatal. Being able to succeed once out of five attempts was already quite good.
After that day, another two days passed, and Zhang Wan had accumulated four Postnatal mid-grade Fireball Talismans in his hands.
The Fireball Talismans were temporarily sufficient, so Zhang Wan began drawing other fire talismans.
But just as he was about to start, the talisman brush in his hand, made from Dwarf Jade Bamboo, shattered.
He was not surprised.
It had originally been made from ripened Dwarf Jade Bamboo, so its quality was flawed. He had also been drawing talismans nonstop. It would have been strange if the Jade Bamboo Talisman Brush had not shattered.
In fact, this was already the third Jade Bamboo Talisman Brush he had ruined in his hands.
When he had previously drawn a large number of Postnatal low-grade fire talismans, he had already worn out two.
Fortunately, he knew the Extreme Cultivation Method and could continuously use Dwarf Jade Bamboo to make Jade Bamboo Talisman Brushes.
Otherwise, just buying talisman brushes would have been a major expense.
And with talisman paper and talisman ink added in, tsk tsk, an ordinary martial artist would have to go bankrupt to grow into a qualified talisman master.
Zhang Wan also planned to return to drawing Postnatal low-grade fire talismans once he had accumulated enough Postnatal mid-grade fire talismans.
With the resources in his hands, drawing Postnatal low-grade fire talismans was the most cost-effective choice.
By the time Zhang Wan had accumulated more than two hundred Postnatal low-grade fire talismans and more than forty Postnatal mid-grade fire talismans, it was already the latter half of the tenth-grade school year, and graduation was close at hand.
After accumulating so many talismans, Zhang Wan stopped drawing them and began dealing with the pseudo-spirit plants and Postnatal low-grade spirit plants growing in the spirit field.
He sold what should be sold and kept what should be kept, and he also returned the spirit field to the academy.
The spirit stones in Zhang Wan's hands had once again accumulated to thirteen.
Six of them were cultivation resources issued by the sect during the latter half of the tenth-grade school year, one had been won from arena betting matches, and another six had come from selling the pseudo-spirit plants and spirit plants grown in the spirit field during the first and second halves of the tenth-grade school year.
His other sources of income remained at their usual levels.
Only his arena betting income had plummeted.
There was no helping it. As Zhang Wan advanced to tenth grade, his cultivation broke through to the Third Level Postnatal.
Among the academy's students, only those few people could contend with him.
The others would not come looking to be beaten for no reason, so his income naturally shrank drastically.
Zhang Wan did not mind.
He had already gained enough benefits from the arena betting matches and accumulated a wealth of actual combat experience.
Although it was a pity that he could no longer keep farming spirit stones, if he truly wanted to obtain spirit stones now, he could take the fire talismans in his hands and sell them, gaining a large amount of spirit stones whenever he wished.
There was no need to agonize over those few spirit stones.
After he left, the small courtyard where he lived would be taken over by his younger sister.
Zhang Wan handed all the spiritual items and pseudo-spiritual items planted in the courtyard to his younger sister and brother as cultivation resources for them.
As for whether they would sell them directly or plant them themselves for a steady, long-term income, that would depend on their own thoughts.
In any case, over these past few years, he had already taught them how to cultivate these spirit plants and pseudo-spirit plants.
Aside from the Vitality Catalysis Technique and the Extreme Growth Technique, he had held nothing back.
Following that knowledge of spirit plants, the two of them could cultivate them as well. They would simply be a little slower, but they could still raise them.
Before you continue