Before long.
Tantai Feiyue took the initiative to visit, carrying a gift basket.
Lin Changheng welcomed her warmly, but among the gifts, he spotted a talisman with strokes like silver hooks and iron lines, brimming with spiritual radiance.
It was unmistakably a premium [Frost Talisman], and his pupils immediately contracted.
"I happened to acquire this while working outside, so I thought I would borrow a flower to offer to the Buddha and present it to you, Brother Lin."
With a smile on her face, Tantai Feiyue parted her red lips slightly and explained.
But how could Lin Changheng really take her words at face value?
She must have drawn this talisman herself, but could not say so openly. Most likely, she was hinting at her own worth.
She must be like me-able to refine premium pills, but afraid to show them to others...
Lin Changheng understood that feeling all too well. Tsk, tsk. She was quite a character herself.
After they discussed their cooperation, both host and guest were thoroughly pleased. As he saw her off, Lin Changheng gave her a gift in return.
Holding two square boxes, Tantai Feiyue returned to her little courtyard.
Remembering how Lin Changheng's pupils had contracted, she could not help curling her lips into a smile.
She felt rather smug.
You always act so unruffled by favor or disgrace whenever we meet. This time, I stirred up a few ripples, didn't I?!
She had indeed drawn that premium talisman, and giving it to him had been deliberate.
Her aim was to secure a say in their dealings.
In the cultivation world, when a Pill Master and a Talisman Master of equal rank stood side by side, the Pill Master naturally held the higher position, tacitly taking precedence.
After all, pills were closely tied to cultivation. Some even said that cultivators could avoid neither of two things: magical combat and popping pills.
That alone showed the standing of a Pill Master.
Thus, Tantai Feiyue had brought out her premium talisman to preserve her say through her superior Talisman Dao attainments, lest Lin Changheng come to dominate their dealings entirely.
Brimming with satisfaction, she opened one wooden box. Mm, [Wood Origin Pills]. Their medicinal fragrance assailed her senses, and their quality was good!
His pill-refining attainments were genuinely impressive.
This only strengthened her conviction that her thoughts, considerations, and actions had been entirely appropriate.
She went on to open the other wooden box.
Hm???
A perfectly round pill, like green jade, appeared before her eyes. She gave it a light sniff and found its medicinal scent clear and crisp, its fragrance concentrated rather than dispersing.
What was this?
A premium [Wood Origin Pill]?
He could refine premium pills too?!
After checking again and again in disbelief, the smile on Tantai Feiyue's face abruptly froze. Her lips parted slightly, but she could not utter a single word.
Recalling Lin Changheng's strange expression when he gave her the return gift, she finally grasped his meaning. Her teeth immediately itched with anger, and the ample wickedness of her bosom heaved violently, white waves rising without end.
Turning my own methods against me?
That fellow... was utterly infuriating!!
The end of the month arrived.
The lineage's trading gathering was held on the inner bank of the Blackwater River, and its location almost never changed.
By the time Lin Changheng and Xu Fugui arrived, many Xu Family cultivators had already brought tables, lined them up on either side, set out their wares, and begun calling out to customers.
Dozens of people came and went down the middle, browsing and choosing goods. It had something of Zichuan Market's former bustle.
"Brother Lin, let's set up here."
Xu Fugui spotted a gap among the stalls and hurriedly called Lin Changheng over.
"Sure."
Lin Changheng readily agreed and walked over, sweeping his gaze across the stalls on both sides. He found spirit grain, spirit tea, and medicinal herbs grown by the Xu Family cultivators themselves, along with talisman paper, talisman ink, and small chunks of ore... all low-grade, and of only average quality.
Reaching Fugui's side, Lin Changheng took the hammer Magic Artifact from inside his robe and placed it on the table.
He began to wait.
"Brother Lin, this Magic Artifact..."
Xu Fugui also took out some secondhand items he had used during early Qi refining and arranged them on the table. Turning his head, he spotted the hammer Magic Artifact and asked in surprise.
"I got it from that bandit cultivator last time. It's a little worn and not much use to me, so I might as well sell it."
He had barely finished explaining when a young male Xu Family cultivator came over. "How much for this Magic Artifact?"
"Twenty Spirit Stones."
Lin Changheng quoted a reasonable price.
"So cheap?" The young cultivator was delighted at first, then knitted his brows and deliberately began finding fault. "But this Magic Artifact really isn't in very good condition. There are these chips, too, and..."
"Sorry, no bargaining."
Lin Changheng knew perfectly well what he was trying to do and cut off his lead-in to haggling with a single sentence. "Those flaws are precisely why it's priced like this. Surely you don't expect to buy an intact Magic Artifact for twenty Spirit Stones? How about I give you the Spirit Stones, and you sell me one?"
"Well..."
The young cultivator smiled awkwardly. Seeing that Lin Changheng was no longer looking at him, he fell silent. After several changes of expression, he gritted his teeth and bought the Magic Artifact.
Hm?
Lin Changheng had not expected to make a sale so easily on his first time setting up a stall! After putting away the Spirit Stones, he told Xu Fugui, "Keep selling for now. I'll have a look around the nearby stalls."
"All right."
He browsed as he walked.
Suddenly, Lin Changheng's nose twitched as he caught a faint scent of blood.
Turning his gaze, he saw a Xu Family member standing before a talisman-material stall on the left, opening a white porcelain bottle to inspect its contents.
Talisman ink?
A thought stirred in Lin Changheng's mind.
He approached the talisman-material stall as well, examining the goods with keen interest while asking the stallholder one question after another.
After their conversation.
A look of understanding appeared in Lin Changheng's eyes.
So pill refining was not the only craft that required Demon Beast blood essence. Talisman crafting needed it too!
Because he had been so focused on pill refining, his horizons had narrowed, and he had overlooked this fact entirely.
For instance, the bristles of brushes used to draw talismans were usually made from soft Demon Beast fur;
The talisman paper that carried spiritual power was made from Demon Beast hide;
And talisman ink was made by combining Monster Blood with cinnabar and other ingredients.
Ordinary-quality talisman ink used ordinary Monster Blood. Only premium talisman ink required Demon Beast blood essence.
"Do you happen to have any premium talisman ink for sale?"
"No..." The stallholder shook his head.
Lin Changheng left, but planned to ask Tantai Feiyue about it later. Perhaps he could gain another channel for obtaining blood essence.
He returned to the stall he shared with Fugui.
After some thought, Lin Changheng took out another seven or eight standard-quality pills and placed them on the stall, chatting as he waited.
As though casually, he mentioned that with all the land clearing and beast slaying, blood essence ought to be overflowing. Why had he not seen any Demon Beast flesh or blood in the lineage? He had even wanted to try the meat.
"Demon Beast flesh and blood?" Xu Fugui paused, scratching his head. "I did hear Han Ling mention something about that."
"Oh? Tell me about it. I'm quite curious."
Seeing the thirst for knowledge in Lin Changheng's eyes, Xu Fugui chuckled. "Apparently, on the border of the Savage Wastes, the overseeing sect established a supply and trading outpost to help cultivators turn their goods into cash. Together with several Aristocratic Clans and a number of Foundation Establishment Families, they buy all kinds of resources from the Savage Wastes, saving cultivators the trouble of hauling materials all over the place."
"By now, that supply and trading outpost has grown enormous. It's no smaller than a Market Ward and has every facility you could need. Our lineage does the same as everyone else: only a small amount of urgently needed resources gets brought back. Everything else is sold right there."