Talisman Artifacts and Black Tickets, the One-Tribulation Long-Tongue Sword

Although he had already made up his mind to get rid of Cheng the Jar.

Fang Shu would not act rashly, especially not so soon after his second maternal uncle, Yu Le, had just been forced away.

In the days that followed.

Fang Shu remained in the daoist hall, tempering his body day and night and nourishing his artifact.

Because a knot of foul anger lay in his heart, his practice of the Insect Method had actually become faintly smoother than before.

Even though great amounts of his qi and blood were being used to nourish the Long-Tongue Sword, his body's qi and blood did not decline. Instead, they became even more condensed.

In just half a month, his entire bearing had continued to change. Not a trace of mortal air remained on him; all that was left was a sliver of harshness.

But such grueling cultivation consumed a great deal. The Essence-Nourishing Pills his second maternal uncle had newly given him had long since been exhausted.

Over the past few days, he could eat food the size of a calf at every meal. The cafeteria's stock of blood buns was nearly emptied by him alone.

One dawn.

Fang Shu sat cross-legged in the Training Hall, shaking out his sinews and bones. Bare from the waist up, the muscles across his chest and back were all twisted and bulging, forming shapes like ghost faces and insect faces, ferociously grotesque.

When the first ray of sunlight fell upon him, he calmly opened his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed.

He immediately felt an unbearable hunger in his belly, as though a fire were burning within.

Blood buns alone still cannot sustain this kind of hard training... I cannot keep going like this. Fang Shu thought.

After considering it, he ended his training unusually early and flipped up from the stone slab in one motion.

As Fang Shu gathered up his robe and headed outside, his gaze suddenly swept aside. To his surprise, he spotted another figure in the Training Hall at dawn.

That person was holding a stance in the corner. His muscles were even more knotted than Fang Shu's, twisting like the roots of an ancient tree, dense and hard.

The man was thickly built, and the qi and blood in his body were substantial as well. Like a savage bull, he was hard to overlook.

But after studying him for a few moments, Fang Shu found the man somewhat unfamiliar.

He looked to be around twenty, making him somewhat old among the daoist hall's members.

Judging from the weariness in his body and the sweat stains and salt crystals all over him, he had likely arrived at the Training Hall even earlier than Fang Shu to temper his sinews and bones, and showed no intention of leaving yet.

This was the first time Fang Shu had seen such a diligently training daoist boy.

The man had clearly noticed Fang Shu's gaze as well.

The man's muscles wriggled faintly like snakes and insects, but his eyes remained half-closed. He did not spare Fang Shu a glance and continued training as though no one else existed.

To think there was such a bitter cultivator in the same hall.

Fang Shu immediately felt his drive surge again and truly wanted to remain in the hall for another bout of grueling practice.

Yet he wisely withdrew his gaze from the man. Without disturbing him, he continued walking out of the hall.

Before long.

Fang Shu arrived at the cellar where the daoist hall's disciples stored their valuables.

The cellar had only one entrance and exit.

According to Li Hou'er, it was tighter than a prison. Copper slurry and molten iron had been poured into all four sides, and talismans had been pasted there. Even Refining Qi immortals would struggle to enter without a sound.

Guarding the cellar was an obviously aged python, whom the disciples of the hall called "Snake Master."

Because the daoist hall's disciples all slept in large communal sleeping quarters every day—even Yu'er, the hall master's granddaughter, could not avoid it—it was inconvenient for everyone to store valuables such as pills and artifacts, and theft could easily occur.

Thus, the hall master had set up a ring of chests around the outer edge of the cellar for everyone to store their valuables.

When Fang Shu arrived, the old python did not move at all, yet every hair on his body abruptly stood on end!

He did not dare be careless. He hurriedly activated the Insect Method throughout his body, displayed his identity, and bowed with cupped hands.

"Snake Master, daoist boy Fang Shu has come to retrieve an item from Box Three, Section C."

Hearing this, the old python's pig-like nostrils twitched. Then a snake tongue as thick as Fang Shu's wrist shot out and swept once around his body and neck. Only then did it slowly shift its fat, massive body aside, revealing the Section C chests.

Fang Shu stepped forward nimbly, opened the chest, and retrieved the item. In merely two breaths, he took out a bundle.

Aside from Box Three, Section C, none of the other chests had locks. They were merely secured with wooden slats.

Yet no disciple of the Solitary Gu Hall dared rummage through things at will, nor did they dare linger there.

Otherwise, once Snake Master swallowed them whole, if they were discovered early enough, the hall master could still drag them from Snake Master's belly. At most, their facial features would have been melted away by stomach acid.

If they were discovered too late, suffocating to death would actually be the better outcome. Worse still was not suffocating to death, but being forced to experience alive the miserable death of having every scrap of flesh on one's body digested from the inside out by stomach acid.

Moreover, the cellar was the most remote place in the daoist hall and lay underground. Even if someone swallowed by Snake Master wailed fiercely inside its body, it would be difficult for anyone outside to hear.

After retrieving his valuables, Fang Shu swiftly hopped back and hurriedly left the place.

Next.

He first found Li Hou'er and asked where Li Hou'er's father usually set up his stall. Then he left the hall and headed straight for the Paper Workshop and the market stalls.

After finding Talisman Master Li Yuan, he asked the man about the more reliable old-established pawnshops in the market.

The moment Talisman Master Li Yuan heard the words "pawnshop," he knew Fang Shu had most likely run out of pills and wanted to pawn some valuables for money.

And indeed, it was just as he had guessed. Fang Shu truly could not endure that slow grinding method of cultivation, which might even harm his body.

He urgently needed pills now. He had no choice but to do this.

"Ah, you child."

Talisman Master Li Yuan's lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but when the words reached his mouth, they became:

"Fine. Training well is better than anything else.

"You can visit Luo's Treasure House, the Zhou Family Shop... and a few other places.

"I'll write you a note saying you're my nephew. They'll still cheat you a little, but they won't cheat you too viciously."

He took a talisman brush from his sleeve, licked it against his tongue, then took a piece of rough yellow paper. After writing on it, he handed it to Fang Shu.

"Thank you, Uncle Li."

Having received the letter of introduction, Fang Shu immediately cupped his hands in thanks.

After taking his leave, he found those shops, but did not immediately produce Li Yuan's note.

He first took out only his artifacts and other goods, without using the note, and asked about their prices at two pawnshops and merchandise stores.

Only afterward did he take out the note and ask for prices at two other pawnshops.

After making the rounds, Fang Shu selected a merchandise store called Luo's Treasure House.

The store was somewhat like an antique shop. Though its old appraiser did not pay much attention to people either, he was not standing behind a lofty counter, looking down on visitors.

When he saw Fang Shu, and saw that Fang Shu had no intention of leaving after one circuit around the shop.

The man stopped flipping through his account book and said blandly, "Little brother, this is your second lap. Have you decided yet what you want to buy or sell?"

Fang Shu hesitated. He still did not take out Talisman Master Li Yuan's note. Instead, he lightly cupped his hands, flipped his palm, and revealed a bronze bell.

"A family heirloom. I ask the old gentleman to appraise it."

This was the Soul-Suppressing Bell, which had played a major role when he slew demons and monsters.

It could clear the mind and steady the spirit, dispel illusions, and even drive away demons to a certain extent.

Had the Soul-Suppressing Bell not assisted him back then, even if Fang Shu had succeeded in Fox Old Man's demon shop, his gains likely would not have been so great.

"Of course. Another family heirloom."

The old appraiser muttered, signaling Fang Shu to place the item on the counter first. Then he leaned over the surface, squinting as he examined it.

"Eh!" His brows twitched, and he suddenly said, "It truly is a family-inherited talisman artifact."

A talisman artifact was something that lay between a talisman and an artifact.

It was generally made when predecessors stored their own magical power within an item, transforming it into something like a talisman. It required no magical power to activate; one only needed to trigger it with essence blood, an incantation, or something similar to unleash its might.

Compared to an artifact, it required neither the support of spells nor the infusion of magical power. Compared to a talisman, it could be used repeatedly until the magical power inside ran dry, at which point it would fail. Occasionally, it could even receive some replenishment.

But alongside all these conveniences.

Its greatest flaw was that once an artifact was refined into a talisman artifact, its power would plummet. Refining a Two-Tribulation Artifact could only yield a One-Tribulation talisman artifact, while refining a One-Tribulation Artifact could only yield an Unranked talisman artifact.

Furthermore, refining such an item would draw out the refiner's essence blood, origin, and more. It harmed the body and endangered one's life, nor could it be completed in a short time.

Therefore, unless they had no hope on the immortal path and little lifespan left, and were making plans for their descendants, immortals would never refine such talisman artifacts.

This made talisman artifacts rather rare on the market, and their prices were not low either.

After all, these things were far too convenient to hand over for mortal relatives and descendants to use.

After examining it closely, the old appraiser clicked his tongue repeatedly.

"It is even a talisman artifact capable of safeguarding a family estate, useful for warding off evil spirits.

"To us immortals, it may be nothing special. There are plenty of similar talismans and artifacts. But placed within a mortal family, it can prevent demons from bewildering and throwing the entire clan into chaos. It is quite useful."

Hearing this, Fang Shu smiled. "The old gentleman has an eye for goods."

The man muttered to himself and continued examining the Soul-Suppressing Bell, saying without looking up, "This item's quality is good. Although it is an Unranked talisman artifact, it can be pawned as a One-Tribulation Artifact.

"How many days do you wish to pawn it for? The longer the term, the fairer the price. The shorter it is, the cheaper."

But Fang Shu said, "There is no need for a redeemable pawn. An outright pawn will do."

This made the old appraiser pause and raise his head to look at Fang Shu.

Clearly, Fang Shu's choice of an "outright pawn"—selling the Soul-Suppressing Bell directly to him and relinquishing the right to redeem it—had surprised the old appraiser.

The man could not help muttering, "Is it truly your family heirloom?"

Fang Shu nodded openly at those words.

What he did not say in his heart, however, was that this Soul-Suppressing Bell.

Was a treasure passed down through the Fang Family. What did it have to do with Brother Shu?

In any case, the Fang Family had already been torn apart by him. Those who should die had died, those who should split from the family had split, and even the ancestral hall was gone. The scattered remnants had no use for an item like this to suppress their clan.

And between the Long-Tongue Sword, Fox Fur, and the Soul-Suppressing Bell, the first two were of great use to him. If he had to sell something, it could only be this thing.

After pondering for a moment, the old appraiser of Luo's Treasure House said frankly, "Since you have chosen an outright pawn, this item will not be hard to sell. This old man happens to have descendants in the mortal world, and I find you pleasing to the eye... so I will give you this price!"

He stretched out five fingers and waved them before Fang Shu.

Five thousand talisman coins—roughly the price of a genuine One-Tribulation Artifact.

But Fang Shu frowned slightly at the sight. The price was merely fair; it was not yet the best bargain.

So he said unhurriedly, "If the old gentleman is truly sincere, this will not be my only visit. Besides, quite a few goods in your shop are exactly what this junior needs."

Those words instantly piqued the old appraiser's interest.

"Easy to discuss, easy to discuss!" The man hurried out from behind the counter. After hesitating for a moment, he held out six fingers, then changed them to seven.

He said, "If you can spend it all in our shop, I will value it at seven thousand!"

After considering it, Fang Shu finally nodded.

At once, the old appraiser directly picked up the bronze bell, hung it from his waist, and then pulled Fang Shu along to introduce the goods in Luo's Treasure House.

"Young man, come take a look. We have everything here. Look at these fine eyeballs."

The man said enthusiastically, "These were taken alive from One-Tribulation, Two-Tribulation, and Three-Tribulation demons. Not to your liking? We have human eyeballs too!"

One by one, eyeballs like those soaked in pickle jars stared half-dead at the two men who had lifted the lid.

Seeing that Fang Shu remained unmoved, the old appraiser continued muttering.

Many immortals even buy quite a few of our goods to collect. Then take a look at these..."

"These are excellent Tiger-Bone Essence-Nourishing Pills, far more potent than ordinary Essence-Nourishing Pills!"

"And this is a Spirit-Ear Artifact we just acquired. Its condition is somewhat defective, but its effects are not bad."

Pills, talismans, artifacts, scriptures, and all manner of other things.

The man pulled Fang Shu around to see an entire circuit, opening Fang Shu's eyes.

What opened his eyes even more was that, seeing Fang Shu remain unmoved, the old appraiser suddenly pulled him out of the shop and into the one next door.

The man said, "The owner here owes me payment for goods. Since you, young man, do not fancy the other things, you should find these goods to your liking."

The neighboring shop appeared to mainly sell paper effigies. Many of the paper figures were scantily clad, with red lips and pale bodies.

Just as Fang Shu chuckled, thinking the old appraiser wanted to fool him into buying some paper figures to take home and play with.

The man suddenly stopped, grabbed a paper figure by the face, and pulled out a tongue from it.

A living tongue.

The old appraiser said expertly, "A third-hand Beauty Paper Doll. Look at the quality: thick lips and a long tongue. She has only served three previous buyers. Of course, if you wish to use her for other things, that is naturally possible too."

Fang Shu's eyelids twitched at those words.

He stared fixedly at the Beauty Paper Doll and saw that it was indeed only a paper effigy.

Yet its tongue was extraordinarily fresh and lively. It even coquettishly wound itself around the old appraiser's finger. It had been modified a little too—the tongue could split apart and close together again, making one's scalp tingle and go numb.

Seeing the change in Fang Shu's expression at last, the old appraiser chuckled. He suddenly patted the paper figure's face.

The result was that the paper figure was not hollow inside, but solid...

"Not interested in goods that are half human, half paper?"

With the composure of an old sage, the man walked to one side and pointed at a row of goods in the hall.

"We also have Flesh Screens, Beauty Bowls, Tenderness Chairs, Human Chess and Flesh Double-Six... everything for eating, drinking, pleasure, and amusement!"

For a moment, the old appraiser's words made it impossible to tell whether this shop was a paper shop or a butcher's shop.

But after having his horizons thoroughly broadened.

Fang Shu did not linger in the paper-and-flesh shop for long. Following the list he had planned in advance, he spent lavishly at the old appraiser's Luo's Treasure House.

In one go, he bought a full three thousand worth of pills, mainly Essence-Nourishing Pills, mixed with other pills as well, such as those for invigorating the blood and dispersing stasis, and fasting pills.

He then bought roughly two thousand worth of talismans, including Breath-Concealing Talismans, Quiet-Step Talismans, Fire-Burning Talismans, and more. Most were Unranked talismans, but the selection was quite complete.

To this, Fang Shu said that he was planning a trip into the wilderness.

As for the remaining two thousand, he intended to keep them on hand and spend them after returning to the daoist hall, to try the effects of that so-called Ant Spirit Paste!

But the old appraiser was naturally dissatisfied with Fang Shu's plan to spend only five thousand while taking away the remaining two thousand.

The two remained at an impasse for a long time. Fang Shu truly would not yield, while the man had already packed all the goods for him.

The man had no choice but to back down, agreeing to advance Fang Shu another fifteen hundred coins, along with five hundred coins' worth of pills.

Fang Shu stopped while he was ahead and agreed to the arrangement.

When he went to collect the money before leaving, he noticed that the other party had also rummaged out several sheets resembling silver notes from a drawer. They were blackish-red in color, and Fang Shu had nearly assumed that mortal silver notes could be traded in an immortal market as well.

Only after asking did Fang Shu learn that these things merely served a function similar to mortal silver notes.

They were called "Black Tickets," jointly issued by the major merchants in the market.

They came in two kinds. One was bearer paper, usable as talisman money and redeemable at any time from market merchants; the other was likewise bearer paper, but what it retrieved was not money, but crates of goods stored in the merchants' money houses.

Such Black Tickets made it easier for Refining Essence immortals who still could not use storage artifacts to conduct trade and store treasures.

Disappointed, Fang Shu could only take his leave.

Having acquired a sum of resources, he returned to the Daoist hall and once more threw himself into tempering his body and refining artifacts.

One day, two days, three days... day after day without rest.

In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.

During that time, his second uncle Yu Le truly did send someone to deliver another bottle of Essence-Nourishing Pills. Fang Shu's heart eased slightly; he knew his second uncle was still safe.

And on this day.

He sat cross-legged in the Training Hall, his chest and belly seeming to burn with fire, while the urge to vomit surged without end.

Yet Fang Shu forcibly suppressed the discomfort in his chest and abdomen.

Unnoticed by anyone, the Dao Register in his mind trembled faintly, and words emerged:

[The Long-Tongue Sword, refined through the Mouth-and-Stomach Secret Sword Technique; its qi and blood are abundant. It has now become a One-Tribulation Artifact!]

The artifact section of the Dao Register finally changed to:

[Artifacts: Long-Tongue Sword (One-Tribulation Refining Essence Artifact), Fox Fur (Unranked)]

Noticing this, Fang Shu's gaze went momentarily unfocused. Then a surge of joy, mingled with killing intent, boiled up in his mind!

It churned the qi and blood within his chest and heart, making it roll and surge without cease.