Why Haven't You Left Yet?

Zhou Xuan's heart involuntarily clenched.

What was she trying to do?

As countless thoughts raced through Zhou Xuan's mind, Liu Ruyan had already walked up to him and stopped.

She looked at him, her gaze as still as a fathomless pool of icy water. Her red lips parted, and she said something that nearly made Zhou Xuan explode on the spot.

"Why haven't you left yet?"

Her voice was beautiful, cool as jade striking stone. But the words themselves were like an ice-tempered blade, stabbing straight into Zhou Xuan's heart.

Leave?

Zhou Xuan froze for a moment. Then an uncontrollable fury surged from his heart straight to the crown of his head!

Why should I leave? Where am I supposed to go?

Who did she think she was? Did she own the Spirit Sword Pavilion? She could break up with him whenever she wanted, and now she wanted to drive him out of the Sect too?

A flood of retorts and curses rose to his lips. But when Zhou Xuan met Liu Ruyan's eyes, devoid of the slightest flicker of emotion, he suddenly didn't want to say anything at all.

What was there to argue about with someone who already saw him as nothing more than a pebble by the roadside?

He suddenly felt ridiculous.

The muscles in Zhou Xuan's face twitched. In the end, all his anger turned into a derisive laugh.

He said nothing, only glanced at Liu Ruyan indifferently. His gaze was that of a stranger looking at someone he had never met.

Then he strode forward and brushed past her without a word.

Ignored, Liu Ruyan stiffened slightly.

She stood where she was without turning around, but the warmth in her beautiful eyes slowly dropped to freezing point.

She had thought that after severing their past and giving him Spirit Stones as compensation, that boy from her past would take the hint and disappear from her world.

But now, it seemed he hadn't left at all. Instead, he had shown up at Yunlai Market, a place where only Inner Sect Disciples were qualified to visit regularly.

His presence was like an insignificant thorn, pricking at the Dao Heart that was wholly devoted to the supreme path.

Liu Ruyan slowly clenched her jade-like hand inside her sleeve. Watching Zhou Xuan's retreating figure disappear into the crowded flow of people without a trace of reluctance, a resolute, icy glint flashed in her eyes.

"Looks like I'll have to drive him away!"

Zhou Xuan could only sneer at Liu Ruyan's self-important resolve.

He had no time to deal with a woman who lived in her own world. His mind was full of plans to make a fortune.

He hurried along, practically fleeing Yunlai Market. The precious copper fragment was like a hot potato; he didn't dare stay outside with it a moment longer.

Back at the Miscellaneous Affairs Department, Zhou Xuan frowned at his wooden hut, which had been blasted until only half of it remained.

It was crude, but at least it sheltered him from the wind and rain.

He pulled the boards and nails he had bought at the Marketplace out of his Universe Bag and got to work with a clatter.

The passing laborers all looked over, some with sympathy and others with schadenfreude, but no one offered to help. In fact, they kept their distance.

Zhou Xuan was glad to be left alone. He hadn't planned on making the place look good; he simply patched the hole so it would block the view from outside.

After a quick-and-dirty repair, he immediately slipped inside and eagerly shut the door. With a thought, he took out everything he had gained that day.

Twenty-two First-rank Demon Cores, a hundred sheets of talisman paper, cinnabar, beast blood, a wolf-hair brush, and the three treasures he had salvaged from the junk pile.

His gaze fell at once on the green copper fragment, mottled with rust.

[??? (Fragment), Enlightenment repair requires 1000 Gold Touch Value!]

Looking at that number, Zhou Xuan's heart still couldn't help pounding wildly.

He took a deep breath, then forcibly stowed the copper fragment and the other two pieces of junk in the deepest part of his Universe Bag.

Now wasn't the time to study them!

The most urgent thing was to get his hands on some Gold Touch Value!

His gaze finally settled on the fresh stack of talisman paper and materials.

"Heh heh, my Money Printing Machine is ready to get to work!"

Zhou Xuan rubbed his hands together, a crooked merchant's grin spreading across his face.

He sat cross-legged, laid a blank sheet of talisman paper on the ground, picked up the wolf-hair brush, and dipped it into the bottle of Demon Beast blood that gave off a faint fishy smell.

Making talismans—wasn't it just copying a picture?

With the strength of his soul and comprehension, honed over two lifetimes, how could this stuff possibly stump him?

Full of confidence, Zhou Xuan put brush to paper and drew the first stroke.

Sizzle.

With a soft hiss, the spot where his brush touched the thin talisman paper burned through instantly, as if struck by a red-hot iron. A wisp of black smoke curled up.

"Damn!"

Zhou Xuan's hand jerked, and he nearly dropped the brush.

He stared at the scorched hole, stunned for a long while.

What was going on?

Unwilling to give up, he took another sheet of talisman paper and this time moved the brush even more carefully.

Sizzle!

Another hole!

"Shit!"

Zhou Xuan's face darkened.

Only then did he realize he had oversimplified things!

This lowest-grade blank talisman paper was about as flimsy as ordinary paper from the mortal world.

Meanwhile, although the spiritual energy in the blood of the First-rank Demon Beast was impure, it was incredibly violent.

Writing on fragile paper with a brush full of violent spiritual energy—wasn't that like smashing an egg with a sledgehammer?

Of course it would break!

"What a blunder. I should've bought some trashy book like Detailed Introduction to Talismans at the Marketplace and read it!"

Zhou Xuan couldn't help scolding himself inwardly.

He calmed down and carefully recalled scenes from the novels he had read before.

Reinforce it with spiritual energy. Right!

Zhou Xuan's eyes lit up, and he picked up another sheet of talisman paper.

This time, he didn't rush to write. Instead, he carefully sent a thread of the pitifully little spiritual energy inside him into the paper.

Sure enough, with spiritual energy supporting it, a faint shimmer rose across the fragile paper's surface, making it much more resilient.

This might work!

Delighted, Zhou Xuan immediately dipped his brush in beast blood and began tracing the talisman markings.

This time, the paper didn't burn through.

But a new problem soon arose.

Maintaining the spiritual energy reinforcing the paper while controlling the beast blood's spiritual energy as it flowed steadily from the brush tip required doing two things at once. For a rookie like him, only at the third stage of Body Forging, the effort was staggering!

He concentrated with all his might. Fine beads of sweat quickly appeared on his forehead, and the spiritual energy in his body drained away like floodwaters through a breached dam.

When he finished the final stroke, the crooked, ghostly-looking Sharp Metal Talisman was finally complete. Zhou Xuan's vision went black, and his body sagged. He nearly collapsed on the spot.

The spiritual energy inside him had been drained completely!

"Phew..."

Zhou Xuan gasped for breath as he looked at the talisman on the ground, which could barely be called a success. He felt like crying.

"After all that, I only managed to draw one damn talisman?"

He picked it up, and the system's notification sounded.

[Poor-quality First-rank Sharp Metal Talisman; can draw on a faint trace of Metal-element spiritual energy for one quarter of an hour.]

It actually worked?

But the efficiency was way too low!

He'd worked himself to death and drained all his spiritual energy just to draw one lousy talisman.

By the time his spiritual energy recovered, it'd be dawn. How the hell was he supposed to print money like this?

Zhou Xuan sat on the ground, crestfallen, and stared at the cinnabar, beast blood, and talisman paper before him, lost in thought.

Where had he gone wrong?

Was his fortune-making plan about to go bankrupt before it had even begun?

His gaze shifted back and forth between the cinnabar and the Demon Beast's blood. Suddenly, inspiration struck!