Acquaintance

Chen Fan stood in the medicine field, carefully flipping through the ancient text. His expression grew increasingly grave, but by the time he reached the final page, a faint smile finally appeared on his face.

The Nine Palaces Sword Art, just as the Fat Daoist had said, was a perfect match for his Blazing Heaven Sword Art. Moreover, the profound Nine Palaces Formation greatly amplified the Blazing Heaven Sword Qi.

The Yu Step moved like the wind, swift as lightning!

This aligned perfectly with the core of the Blazing Heaven Sword Art. Once he reached the Foundation Establishment Realm in the future, he would be able to cultivate this sword art, and his strength would only rise further.

"Hey kid, while you were gone these past few days, your Immortal Qi went up to 110 points," the Green-feathered Bird suddenly said.

"Oh?" Chen Fan was startled. He remembered that when he cleared the First Layer of the Heavenly Court, he only received 50 points of Immortal Qi as a reward. He hadn't expected that after being away for over ten days, he'd gained another 60 points.

"Someone entered the Recording Stone and sparred against your phantom from back then. They fought six times total, so you got 60 Immortal Qi. When are you going to reach 500 Immortal Qi and challenge the Second Layer? I've only got one star on my head—can't hold up the scene like this," the Green-feathered Bird said lazily.

"Five hundred Immortal Qi to qualify for the Second Layer? Is there any way to make Immortal Qi grow faster?" Chen Fan rubbed his chin and asked.

"Naturally, you take challenge matches. You can go to the Heavenly Court Hall and apply to fight cultivators of similar cultivation or similar Immortal Qi. The winner takes all of the loser's Immortal Qi, and dying in these matches isn't real death." Seeing Chen Fan's interest, the Green-feathered Bird grew excited and explained.

"I see. Then let's go take a look at the Heavenly Court Hall." Chen Fan nodded.

The Green-feathered Bird flapped its wings, and Chen Fan instantly appeared outside the Heavenly Court Hall. The bird turned back into a jade pendant hanging at his waist.

"Can't you manifest here?" Chen Fan asked.

"Mm. It's the restriction of the Heavenly Court Hall. In other parts of Lingxiao City, I can," the jade pendant replied without moving, but Chen Fan heard the Green-feathered Bird's voice transmission.

The area around the Heavenly Court Hall today was much livelier than when he first came. To his surprise, many people were asking around for a One-Star Heavenly Soldier at Qi Refining Layer 2, including a Foundation Establishment Realm expert.

When he stepped inside the Heavenly Court Hall, he was even more astonished. The people who had been hawking longswords and talismans were now holding up small signs, searching for that Grade A One-Star Heavenly Soldier.

It wasn't until he saw his own record on the Heavenly Soldier Ranking that he understood—he was the only One-Star Heavenly Soldier to receive a Grade A evaluation.

Many Foundation Establishment Realm experts were looking for him under the pretense of taking on disciples, even hiring street vendors to hold up signs and ask around.

Then Chen Fan spotted a familiar face in the crowd—the old man who had sold him talismans before.

The old man stood among the crowd holding a sign, while also hawking talismans to passing cultivators. His two shifty little eyes darted around until they landed on Chen Fan. His eyes lit up, and he walked over with a beaming smile.

"Senior." The old man's opening address nearly gave Chen Fan internal injuries. A man old enough to be his grandfather was calling a youth "senior." Though this was normal in the cultivation world, Chen Fan was only at Qi Refining Layer 4 in the Heavenly Court right now, while the old man was at least Qi Refining Layer 5.

"Long time no see. Do you still need talisman paper?" The old man flashed a mouthful of yellow teeth and grinned.

"Not for now." Chen Fan shook his head indifferently. He had only come to see how the duels worked in the hall, but now he had temporarily dropped the idea.

At his Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivation, it would be hard to find a One-Star Heavenly Soldier of the same level. If he matched opponents by Immortal Qi, 110 points was far too little. He decided to break through to Qi Refining Layer 6 in the Heavenly Court before joining the matches. Then he could also clear the Second Layer in one go.

"Hehe, I've got a deal. You interested?" the old man pressed on.

"Not interested." Chen Fan didn't trust him. If there were real benefits, someone with this man's nature wouldn't be willing to take a loss.

"Just hear me out first. Maybe you'll be interested after you listen." The old man chuckled mysteriously, pulling a tattered ancient book from his robes and waving it in front of Chen Fan.

Chen Fan squinted and barely made out the four-character title on the cover. Then he paused and said:

"Daoist Talismans?"

"That's right. The Daoist Talisman Compendium. It contains countless methods for refining and drawing talismans—a rare treasure of a book. And this was passed down from my ancestors. It's worn out, but a few pages are still intact." The old man nodded repeatedly.

"Not interested." Chen Fan shook his head. He focused entirely on the sword path. Talismans and pills held little appeal for him. Having a few on hand was enough; more would only distract him.

"Just take a look first." The old man shoved the book directly into his hands.

Chen Fan had no choice but to take the battered book and flip through it casually. Many of the talismans inside were ones he had seen before, but they were all ordinary—Fireball Talismans, Water Ball Talismans. Chen Fan could draw them with his eyes closed.

He finally came across a Pure Yang Talisman, but half of it was missing. The next few intact talismans were all Five Elements Strange Sword Talismans, which Chen Fan had already learned. He flipped slowly, since the old man insisted he look, there had to be something remarkable. When he reached the final section, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talisman?" Chen Fan's heart stirred. This talisman had no offensive power, but it could replenish a cultivator's essence, energy, and spirit. While it couldn't achieve the legendary feat of regenerating flesh from bone, it was still an excellent healing divine talisman.

"Only one Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talisman is useful to me," Chen Fan said, looking at the old man.

"Hehe, same rules as before. I give you this book, and you give me ten sets of Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talismans." The old man flashed his yellow teeth with a grin.

"Impossible. Not to mention that the mid-grade talisman paper needed for the Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talisman is hard to find, drawing even one nearly drains the Divine Soul. You're asking way too much." Chen Fan shook his head. The claim about draining the Divine Soul was, of course, an exaggeration.

A "set" of Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talismans, as the old man called it, referred to three talismans: the Human Flower Talisman, the Earth Flower Talisman, and the Heaven Flower Talisman. Three formed one set.

"Then I'll provide you with ten sets of mid-grade talisman paper. After you finish drawing them, you give me six sets. How about that?" The old man made a concession.

"Two sets," Chen Fan said flatly.

The old man's eyes flew wide open. He cursed, "Kid, is that how you haggle? Two sets of Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talismans—after selling them, I'd barely recoup the cost of ten sets of mid-grade paper, let alone this Daoist Talisman Compendium. There'd be almost nothing left."

"At least five sets. Half and half," the old man tested again.

"Three sets," Chen Fan said.

"Fine, you win. Let's each give a little. Four sets." The old man gritted his teeth.

"No. Three sets max. Honestly, this kind of talisman isn't that useful to me." Chen Fan said. If a sword art manual were on the table, he might have been tempted. But talismans held little appeal unless there was a major advantage.

Seeing that Chen Fan truly wasn't interested, the old man feared he might just walk away. After all, this tattered book was only worth a few dozen taels. Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talismans were hard to find, but finding someone who could draw them was even harder.

"Fine. Deal. When can you give them to me?" The old man finally nodded, pulling a stack of talisman paper from his bundle that made Chen Fan's eyes widen.

Thirty sheets of yellow talisman paper, all of them mid-grade without exception.

"Barring any surprises, it'll be half a month from now—see you here then." Chen Fan took the stack of talisman paper, sized up the old man once more, and thought to himself, This guy's got some real backing.

"What are you staring at? That's my entire life's savings—don't you dare run off with the paper, you little brat." The old man felt he'd gotten the short end of the stick and grumbled.

Chen Fan ignored him, turned, and walked out of Heavenly Court Hall. As for the old man's words, he didn't believe a single one. Who would trade their entire fortune for a pile of Mid-grade Talisman Paper? And who would carry a stack of Mid-grade Talisman Paper on them at all times? Those two types of people couldn't be compared—the first was a madman, the second had real resources. Given how shrewd the old man was, he was clearly no madman.

So he returned to his Immortal Cave, took out the talismans, and studied them. With his past life's experience, this talisman wasn't particularly difficult for him. The only drawback was how much True Qi and Divine Soul it consumed. At his realm in the Heavenly Court, he could only draw three at a time.

The next day, Chen Fan withdrew from the Heavenly Court. He'd spent the entire night completing a full set of Three Flowers Gathering at Crown Talismans. By now, his clone in the Heavenly Court was utterly exhausted, sitting in meditation in the Medicine Field.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside his room—someone seemed to be crying.

He frowned slightly. That voice didn't sound like Chen Jingjing or Zhang Rumeng; it was more like a child's.

"Little Medicine Boy?" Chen Fan recognized it. That was definitely Little Medicine Boy.

Without another thought, he stood up from his chair and walked toward the door...

"Xiao Tian, is Senior Brother Mo Bai still in that wooden hut?" Chen Jingjing asked.

"Mm. His injuries are severe. Those people were too ruthless. Master is healing him right now." Little Medicine Boy nodded, sobbing.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Fan's wooden door creaked open. Little Medicine Boy turned his head, called out "Brother Chen Fan," and ran over, hugging Chen Fan's leg and crying his heart out.

"What happened?" Seeing Little Medicine Boy cry like this, Chen Fan thought someone had bullied him, but he'd also just heard them mention Mo Bai.

He'd always been curious about Mo Bai. Nearly every disciple on Heavy Sword Peak respected and adored this senior brother. Word had it he was a good person in every way, especially treating his junior brothers and sisters like his own flesh and blood.

Chen Fan recalled that when this body had been gravely wounded in Demon King Valley, it was Mo Bai who carried him out of the danger zone and had disciples send him back. That was what gave Chen Fan the chance to be reborn, yet he'd never met the man face to face.

"Senior Brother Mo Bai is badly hurt. He's lying in Little Medicine Boy's wooden hut right now, and his master is healing him." Zhang Rumeng said to Chen Fan.

"Xiao Tian, come with me to see Senior Brother Mo Bai." Chen Fan directly picked up Little Medicine Boy, wiped away his tears, and continued, "If you want to avenge Senior Brother Mo Bai, you need to be a man. And men don't cry."

Hearing this, Little Medicine Boy slowly stopped sobbing, held back his tears with all his might, and clenched his little fists. "I won't cry. I'm a man."

"Mm." Chen Fan smiled and patted his head.

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng also smiled faintly, but deep down, they couldn't muster any joy. Senior Brother Mo Bai was like a brother to them, had always looked after them, and had even reached Qi Refining Eighth Layer. They never imagined someone could wound him so badly.