Ruthlessness

"Huh? You were gone so long-how did you end up looking like that?"

Chen Lin had just stepped out of his room when he saw the Sallow-Faced Female Cultivator enter the courtyard.

She staggered along, her hair a bird's nest and her clothes in disarray, as though she had just finished rolling around on the ground.

A strange odor clung to her as well.

Usually sharp-tongued, the Sallow-Faced Female Cultivator was unusually silent this time. She did not even dare look at Chen Lin. With her head lowered and both hands gripping a sack of rice, she hurried back to her room.

Chen Lin looked thoughtfully at her retreating figure, then shook his head and paid her no further attention.

This place was even more chaotic than a world ravaged by war. Everyone had their own way of surviving, and there was no need to pass judgment.

Carrying his bundle on his back, he left the courtyard and followed a narrow path that had already been cleared. He turned into an alley and checked his surroundings. Seeing no one passing by, he quickly dug a hole in a huge snowdrift piled up by the wind and crawled inside.

A long while later, a bulky, dark-faced man wearing a fur hat emerged from the snow cave.

The dark-faced man first checked his surroundings. Once he was sure no one was there, he shook the snow off himself in satisfaction and walked out of the alley.

Lianyun Inn.

By the time Chen Lin-the dark-faced man-arrived at the inn's entrance, night had fully fallen.

"Stop. The entire inn has been booked today. If you need a room, please go elsewhere!"

He was stopped just as he was about to enter.

"Oh, I'm a talisman master. I heard Third Young Master Lu was offering a reward for talismancrafting here, so I came to try my hand."

Chen Lin's voice had changed as well, becoming somewhat hoarse.

Both the Disguise Mask on his face and the Voice-Changing Pill had been made using his Ten Attempts One Hit ability. They were experimental products from his tests of his talent ability.

"A talisman master! Please come with me!"

Upon hearing that he was a talisman master, one of the two doorkeepers immediately welcomed Chen Lin inside with a smile.

Chen Lin was slightly surprised.

He had thought getting inside would take some effort and had been considering what to say if they checked his identity. He had not expected them to ask nothing at all.

He did not know whether Lu Li was simply that desperate for a Soul-Detaining Talisman or believed no one in Kaiyuan City would dare act against a disciple of the Lu Lineage.

At least it saved him some words.

Following the attendant into the inn's main hall, he found more than a dozen people already there, some sitting and others standing.

Lu Li sat in a chair in the center of the hall, his expression unreadable.

His junior martial sister sat behind him.

After leading Chen Lin into the hall, the attendant withdrew. Seeing that no one was speaking, Chen Lin found a corner and quietly sat down.

Several more people were brought in one after another.

After that, no one else came.

They waited a little longer before Lu Li raised his eyebrows and rose from his chair.

"My thanks to all the talisman masters who have honored me with their presence!"

He first cupped his hands in greeting, then looked around and said, "Since you've come here, I assume you all know what needs to be done. My time is short, so I won't waste words. Here is the method for crafting the Soul-Detaining Talisman. Please take a look first!"

With that, he took out a jade slip-the very one he had obtained from the Old Shopkeeper at the Multitreasure Pavilion.

Chen Lin noticed that everyone's eyes lit up at Lu Li's words.

Whether or not they earned the spirit stone reward, obtaining the crafting method for an obscure talisman would make the trip worthwhile.

He reckoned that a large portion of these people had come precisely to get the crafting method for free.

"I'll go first. Let's see what's so remarkable about this Soul-Detaining Talisman that Third Young Master Lu had to hold a Talismancrafting Convention to make it!"

A red-faced man stepped forward first and took the jade slip with a sidelong glance and a sneer.

The information inside the jade slip had to be read with spiritual sense. After pressing it against his forehead, his expression began changing repeatedly.

Soon, the man pulled the jade slip away, his face livid. He seemed about to say something, but after glancing at Lu Li, he held his tongue and handed the slip to the second person.

The second person took it with a puzzled look. Like the red-faced man, his face turned ashen after reading it.

The jade slip then passed through everyone's hands, and none of them looked pleased after reading it.

Finally, it was Chen Lin's turn.

He pressed the jade slip against his forehead and extended his spiritual sense inside.

Images appeared in his mind, one after another.

It was a wondrous sensation, something ordinary people could never understand.

He soon finished reading the method for crafting the Soul-Detaining Talisman.

According to the jade slip, crafting this Soul-Detaining Talisman did not require high cultivation, nor was the process complicated.

It did, however, have one drawback.

The talisman was extremely unstable. Crafting it normally offered virtually no chance of success.

To improve its stability, the crafter had to use their own divine soul as a catalyst, merging it into the talisman.

The more they merged into it, the higher the success rate.

Even then, the final success rate remained quite low, and the finished talisman was still highly unstable. At most, it would last one day and one night.

Besides the method for drawing the Soul-Detaining Talisman, the jade slip contained a secret method for splitting the divine soul.

This secret method was even cruder and simpler, and using it caused tremendous harm to the practitioner.

Chen Lin returned the jade slip to Lu Li, his expression equally unpleasant.

Of course, he was pretending.

With Ten Attempts One Hit, he only needed to follow the normal crafting method to successfully make a Soul-Detaining Talisman. There was no need to resort to an evil technique like using his soul as a catalyst.

At the same time, he inwardly regretted the missed opportunity.

This talisman's drawback was too severe. Its effects only lasted a day. Otherwise, it would have been an excellent way to make money with his talent ability.

The talisman was also far too specialized. It was neither offensive nor defensive, but intended to hold souls.

Something that held souls yet lasted only a day-he truly had no idea what use it could have.

Even if he made some, he would not know whom to sell them to.

"All right, now that everyone understands how to make the Soul-Detaining Talisman, you can see that the process isn't complicated. The success rate is merely somewhat low. But I've prepared plenty of materials, and the rooms are ready. Make your preparations, then begin!"

Lu Li took a large pile of materials out of his Storage Bag and spoke loudly.

Yet no one moved.

After a long silence, the red-faced man was once again the first to speak. "Fellow Daoist Lu, crafting this Soul-Detaining Talisman of yours causes too much damage to the soul. You never made that clear beforehand. Forgive me, but I cannot help you!"

Immediately, an Emaciated Old Man gave a sidelong glance and sneered. "Indeed. Although Fellow Daoist Lu's reward is extremely generous, the soul is the foundation of cultivation. Once it is damaged, one's connection to the Great Dao is severed. A mere handful of spirit stones is not enough to make me do such a thing!"

"Pfft!"

The old man had barely finished speaking when Lan Yuqing, the junior martial sister who had been sitting silently all this time, burst out laughing.

She too gave a sidelong glance and sneered. "This fellow Daoist must be sixty or seventy, yes? At such an age, you're only at the third layer of Qi Refining, yet you still stubbornly pursue the Immortal Dao. This humble girl truly admires you!"

Her voice rang like silver bells, but every word stabbed at his heart.

The old man flushed, yet stiffened his neck defiantly. "Even if my Dao path is dim, damage to the soul would still greatly affect my talismancrafting. I will not craft such a talisman. Farewell!"

With that, he headed for the door, his face livid.

"Hmph!"

Lu Li's expression turned cold.

"What do you take this place for? Somewhere you can come and go as you please?"

As he spoke, a streak of black light shot from his hand. With a soft thud, it pierced the old man's chest, then darted back as swiftly as lightning.

The entire process ended in the blink of an eye. Before the old man could react at all, he fell to the ground, dead.

"Hah!"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Lu Li with shock, fear, and anger.

Yet not one of them dared step forward.

Even the two who showed the pathological signs of sidelong glances and sneers forcibly held their tongues.