An Opportunity to Take on a Disciple

Shopkeeper Tao was the manager of a Treasure Pavilion in the Mortal city on Little Hemmu Island.

To cultivators, Foundational Talismans were of little use, yet they sold exceptionally well among Mortal martial artists.

It could be said that demand far outstripped supply!

Talisman Crafting consumed Divine Sense.

Spiritual power!

Yue Shuo could see this very clearly through his panel.

Cultivation also required Divine Sense.

Therefore, few cultivators were willing to expend their Divine Sense and spiritual power drawing Foundational Talismans in bulk just for a few taels of gold.

They might sell for one or two taels of gold apiece.

But that was the shop's selling price.

He could probably sell them for a similar price by setting up a stall in the black market frequented by Mortal martial artists, but that would take far too much time.

Selling normally to a shop meant supplying the shop.

He would probably receive sixty or seventy percent of the selling price.

Of course, there should still be some room for adjustment in that regard.

But!

Drawing nearly twenty Foundational Talismans... and that was counting only successful ones, just to earn one Spirit Stone. At the Spirit-Drawing Stage, the upper limit of Divine Sense was ten points.

Others did not have his ability to see their Divine Sense recovering.

Besides, Talisman Crafting seemed to depend on talent as well.

Yellow talisman paper and talisman ink also cost money.

Once he reached Qi Refining Level One, his upper limits for Divine Sense and spiritual power would increase, and there would be more ways to earn Spirit Stones.

Therefore.

There were certainly not many cultivators who focused on Foundational Talismans.

Yue Shuo thought it over.

He felt that earning Spirit Stones through Talisman Crafting would also give him a convenient excuse to spend them. After all, Gathering Spirit Grass could not be supplied in great quantities.

There was such a thing as talent in Talisman Crafting.

In truth, Zou Chongying and Tian Wan had already laid the groundwork for him.

It would not be too conspicuous for him to naturally reveal a high success rate in producing Foundational Talismans.

Of course, it would be best if he specialized in one of the three kinds of Foundational Talismans.

Yue Shuo thought of the Water Condensation Talisman at the consummate level. His current main cultivation method, the Thousand Waves Formula, and the Lesser Cloud-Rain Technique both leaned toward the water attribute.

At the same time, his Water Spirit Root truly was a little better.

In the future, he could present himself as having higher water and wood talent.

Better Divine Sense and comprehension.

Talent for planting and Talisman Crafting.

Of course, he still needed to be careful about how much of that talent he revealed.

After all, he was not a member of the Qin Clan and did not yet know much about the Qin Clan. It was better to be cautious in the early stages.

"Five days from now, deliver another batch of Foundational Talismans for me!"

After Yue Shuo finished calculating in his mind.

He planned to use a success rate of twenty Foundational Talismans a day. In five days, he would have a hundred talismans, which Gu Jiu could exchange for Spirit Stones on his behalf.

"Yes!" Gu Jiu had only just answered.

Yue Shuo was about to send Gu Jiu away to attend to his tasks.

Then he thought of something and asked again.

"When you went out today, was anyone still watching you?"

Gu Jiu shook his head. "No! Earlier, some stewards above were dissatisfied with this and severely punished several people..."

"Right now, whenever martial servants fight among themselves, regardless of the reason, both sides are severely punished!"

Gu Jiu's answer made Yue Shuo nod thoughtfully.

The Qin Clan's way of handling matters was the behavior of a normal Lineage capable of lasting for the long term.

If they encouraged infighting.

He would not dare stay in this place for long. Running away early would be the wiser choice.

Yue Shuo asked again, "Have Chong Ying and Ah Wan been affected?"

Gu Jiu respectfully reported:

"Young Master Zou and Young Master Tian are the most valued among the newly arrived guest disciples. They have not been affected so far!"

Yue Shuo grew curious.

"You even know about this?"

Gu Jiu showed a trace of shame.

"This servant paid too little attention to intelligence within the Lineage before and failed to report it to you in time, Young Master."

Back in the creek valley, aside from completing a small amount of work.

He had devoted himself entirely to practicing martial arts.

Without his young master's instructions, he rarely went out.

Life had been too peaceful.

"This servant learned from some old friends that Young Master Zou is said to be close to advancing. A steward has taken a liking to Young Master Zou and intends to accept him as a disciple!"

Yue Shuo frowned slightly.

Word had gotten out?

But then he remembered that Zou Chongying and Tian Wan were not fools either. The cultivation disciples in the Qin Clan did not seem to engage in overly complicated schemes and intrigues.

The rules were quite strict.

He relaxed a little.

"Young Master Tian has reportedly been serving as a fire-tending boy for an alchemist guest of the Lineage. There are rumors that Young Master Tian may become an alchemy apprentice..."

While Yue Shuo was happy for the two of them, he was also somewhat worried.

"Has this information spread widely?"

Gu Jiu seemed to understand what his young master was worried about. Hearing this, he smiled.

"Young Master, there is no need for concern. The two Young Masters, Zou and Tian, happen to possess talents that fall within the range favored by those two masters."

After saying that, he thought for a moment and lowered his voice.

"Actually, if you reveal a little of your talent for planting and Talisman Crafting, Young Master, you may also have a chance to be chosen by the Lineage's spirit plant masters and talisman masters..."

Yue Shuo paused and looked at him.

"If I reveal my talent, the Lineage's spirit plant masters and talisman masters will take me as a disciple?"

Gu Jiu nodded earnestly.

"There definitely will be! Young Master, your talent is exceptionally good!"

Yue Shuo's expression turned strange.

He could tell that Gu Jiu thought he was worried and uneasy about no one taking a liking to him.

Actually... it did not seem like such a bad thing.

Yue Shuo considered it briefly.

With someone to guide him, it might count as another channel for increasing his knowledge.

"Keep an eye on when someone is at the External Affairs Pavilion. Notify me immediately when there is. Go consolidate your cultivation now!"

After sending Gu Jiu away, Yue Shuo thought for a while, then continued cultivating.

He had already completed ten cultivation sessions today.

However.

His cultivation speed had increased now.

Thus, he had considerably more spare time than usual today.

He glanced at the proficiency for the Thousand Waves Formula.

It somehow felt a little awkward.

[Thousand Waves Formula (First Grade): 27/100 (Beginner)]

If he cultivated three more times, he could at least make it a round number.

Two hours of cultivation passed.

[Cultivation: 101.8/1000 (+3)]

[Thousand Waves Formula (First Grade): 30/100 (Beginner)]

That felt much more comfortable.

There had been no choice before, since his Divine Sense had been too limited. Now that he had a little more to spare, he naturally had to treat himself better.

Yue Shuo rested to recover his Divine Sense.

Then he planned to attempt crafting First-Grade Spirit Talismans again late at night, when all was quiet.

He only had two Qi-Concealing Talismans and one Invisibility Talisman.

He did not feel at ease.

After all, if he wanted to go to the External Affairs Pavilion to register his planting technique, he would need to demonstrate the technique, and using techniques consumed Qi-Concealing Talismans the most.

He said he had two Qi-Concealing Talismans.

But in truth, he only had one and a half.

He needed to make another one.

That would put his mind more at ease.

As for the Invisibility Talisman, he did not dare casually use it without a spare to test its effects. He could only keep it as a trump card.

He needed to prepare another one as well.

But he only had six blank talisman papers left.

Yue Shuo thought of how three Spirit Stones could only be exchanged for ten sheets of First-Grade blank talisman paper and talisman ink, and fell into thought.

Should he continue grinding Talisman Crafting proficiency?

He needed nearly five hundred more proficiency points to reach the next rank in Talisman Crafting.

That was, a First-Grade High-Rank Talisman Master.

Of course, if he gained a hundred proficiency points a day, he could still complete the Talisman Crafting rank-up before the first day of next month.

"Today is only the twenty-fourth..."

In the end, Yue Shuo decided to use Foundational Talisman paper to grind proficiency first. He would raise his Talisman Crafting rank before drawing First-Grade Talismans.

"It seems that if I do it now, I'll only have a chance of succeeding once or twice out of ten..."