Nine Talismans Sect.
The Nine Talismans Sect was the largest talisman cultivator sect in the human world. But talisman cultivation prized stillness above all else; the slightest disturbance could cause a talisman drawing to fail. The Nine Talismans Sect had deliberately purchased vast stretches of barren mountains, encompassing several hundred peaks.
Each mountain peak housed only twenty or thirty disciples cultivating, making it exceptionally quiet.
Occasionally, a disciple would be severely injured and fall unconscious in an accident, or die during cultivation, only to be discovered many years later.
However, the Nine Talismans Sect's tranquility had suddenly been shattered several months ago.
The Nine Talismans Sect abandoned its leisurely, branch-spreading way of life. It hired Puppet Cultivators to design a New City on open land beyond the mountains, and all Middle Rank and Lower Rank disciples were to move down.
The streets of New City were much like those of ordinary cities, except that every independent courtyard was somewhat larger and more spacious. That was all.
Still, every courtyard was covered with soundproof talismans, shutting out the noise outside.
In Courtyard Number Seven on Rouzhaozi Street, the inner gates stood wide open.
Xu Zishan, his face slightly pale, stepped out. He narrowed his eyes at the sun-drenched sky, somewhat unaccustomed to it.
As he walked, he rolled his wrists and neck.
Ten palm-sized talisman pouches were strung together across his shoulder.
The ten pouches held several thousand spirit talismans.
He had barely left the courtyard gate when someone behind him called out breathlessly, "Senior Brother Xu, wait up."
Xu Zishan turned and saw a middle-aged man hurrying toward him, two water ripples embroidered over the left breast of his robes.
Xu Zishan lowered his head and glanced at the three water ripples on his own chest, sighing inwardly.
The path