Two Little Pink Dots

"Ahem!" Wang Yan naturally could not question Card Fairy at that moment, so he could only clear his throat.

"Nothing! These talismans were made using a rather unusual method! I wonder who made them?" Card Fairy understood and spoke inside Wang Yan's mind.

Just then.

"You want them all?!" the fair-skinned girl exclaimed in delight. There were three whole dozen, after all, so she was naturally overjoyed... She counted them and hurriedly said, "Three dozen in total!"

"Good!" Wang Yan nodded, then glanced at the cinnabar and other supplies. "How much is your cinnabar?"

"I'll charge you five Spirit Stones a box!" Having closed a sale, the fair-skinned girl grew more enthusiastic. She leaned down to tally the Spirit Stones for Wang Yan...

As she bent forward!

A delicate girlish fragrance wafted into Wang Yan's face. It smelled lovely and sent a ripple through his heart. He could not help looking up, and that glance was quite something. The fair-skinned girl was leaning toward him, and below her little face, white as jade, the men's clothes she wore were plainly too large, hanging loose around her. Looking down through her collar, he could just make out a pink undergarment. Through the gap, skin as fair as jade showed, along with two cute little mounds and two pink dots... The sight sent another ripple through Wang Yan's heart, which gave an inexplicable leap...

But it lasted only an instant. The fair-skinned girl handed a box of cinnabar to Wang Yan and said, "Here! I made this cinnabar myself. It's very good, too!"

"Good!" Wang Yan came to his senses and hurriedly accepted it. Blinking, he opened it for a look. It was a brilliant red and carried a faint floral fragrance, unlike the Beast-Blood Cinnabar ordinary cultivators made, which had a slight bloody smell. He hurriedly said, "I'll take all this cinnabar, too!"

"Good!" The fair-skinned girl had no idea where Wang Yan's eyes had wandered. She quickly replied, "Four boxes in total!" She pushed the four boxes in front of him and looked at him expectantly. Clearly, she wanted him to pay, but she did not dare ask.

"Ahem! That makes fifty Spirit Stones altogether!" Wang Yan coughed, tapped his Storage Bag, and took out a bag of Spirit Stones, handing it to the fair-skinned girl.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist!" The fair-skinned girl happily accepted it. She glanced inside without counting, then began pitching her other goods to Wang Yan. "Would you like to look at anything else, fellow Daoist? I have some more talismans here. This Fireball Spell has good offensive power, and this Ice Armor offers excellent defense!"

"Ahem! No need for those!" Wang Yan naturally had no need for talismans and gave a light cough. Looking at the fair-skinned girl's large eyes and cute little face, he could not help picturing those two cute little mounds and two pink dots again... He felt as though he had turned into a little old man today, coughing so often. Then something occurred to him, and he hurriedly continued, "Right! Do you have an Array-Drawing Brush?"

"Well... no, I don't!" The fair-skinned girl hesitated at his question, then hurriedly answered. After a pause, she said, "I do have an Array-Drawing Brush, but I use it to make my own talismans. I can't sell it to you!"

"Hm? Are you a talisman maker, then?" Wang Yan nodded, a trace of surprise appearing on his face. As he put his purchases into his Storage Bag, he asked in astonishment, "Did you make all these yourself?"

"Yes!" the fair-skinned girl answered with a nod.

"Hmm! So young, yet she has quite a talent for making talismans!" Card Fairy said in surprise inside Wang Yan's mind.

"Oh! Ahem! There's nothing else I need!" Wang Yan nodded before speaking, then turned and left...

"Thank you, fellow Daoist!" the fair-skinned girl hurriedly called after Wang Yan, clutching the bag of Spirit Stones with a slightly excited look.

"Oh, right!" After walking several yards, Wang Yan suddenly stopped. He hesitated, then said, "You should be careful and leave this marketplace early!" Only then did he turn and walk away.

"!" The fair-skinned girl's expression changed. Suddenly recalling something, she murmured, "It seems... he was the cultivator who spoke up just now!" Then she suddenly remembered the Black Youth...

"!" The Black Youth had not said a word for quite some time. Whatever the reason, he had remained silent, but his gaze had drifted toward the bag of Spirit Stones in the fair-skinned girl's hand. When he saw her look over, he hurriedly said, "Oh! Hehe! Why... why don't you count the Spirit Stones and check the amount?"

"Ah!" The fair-skinned girl blushed, as though remembering something. She hurriedly opened the bag, took out seven or eight Spirit Stones with her small hand, and offered them to the Black Youth. "Big brother! Thank you for helping me! Here are your Spirit Stones back!"

"Ah! No!" The Black Youth furrowed his thick brows. He wanted to accept them, but hurriedly declined instead. "I only gave you three Spirit Stones. Just give me three back!"

"Don't stand on ceremony! I think you need Spirit Stones too, big brother!" the fair-skinned girl hurriedly said, pushing the stones directly into the Black Youth's hand.

"No, no, no!" The Black Youth accepted them but took only three. Repeating his refusal several times, he held the rest out to the fair-skinned girl. "I only need three! Take the others back!"

"Oh!" The fair-skinned girl did not know what to say and simply stared at the Black Youth with her large eyes...

"Anyway! I only need three!" the Black Youth said awkwardly. He placed the remaining Spirit Stones directly on the Fair-Skinned Girl's stall, turned, and dashed away. His somewhat heavy footsteps receded into the distance...

"Big brother!" The fair-skinned girl hurriedly called after him... That only made him run faster. She looked at her stall, pursed her lips, and murmured, "I haven't even asked your name yet...!" Then, as though remembering something, she hurriedly put the bag of Spirit Stones into her Storage Bag and began packing up her wares.

Just then!

Suddenly!

Whoosh!! A streak of gray light descended from the sky and landed in front of the fair-skinned girl in an instant. It was a gray figure of medium build...

"You little rascal, you made me search all over for you!" a somewhat aged voice said sternly. Then an enormous sleeve swept outward!

"Ah... how did you...!" the fair-skinned girl cried out.

Whoosh, whoosh! A whirlwind of gray light rose, sweeping up the fair-skinned girl, everything on the ground and on her stall, and the gray-robed figure.

They vanished after a few flashes. The entire process was astonishingly fast, and within a few breaths they had disappeared into the horizon...

The nearby vendors and cultivators were all stunned by the sight...

"Who was that?"

"So fast!"

"Could that have been a Core Condensation Realm cultivator?"

"Impossible, right? It must have been a Golden Core Stage cultivator!"

"...!"

Before long, word had spread throughout the Lü Family Marketplace that a cultivator of unknown origins had appeared...

Wang Yan, however, noticed nothing unusual, because his thoughts were no longer on those two little pink dots...

Instead!

"Tsk!" Faced with a dazzling variety of Array-Drawing Brushes, Wang Yan had no idea which to choose and found himself in a quandary.

After leaving the fair-skinned girl's stall, he still lacked an Array-Drawing Brush.

Naturally, he entered the Miscellaneous Goods Shop to buy an Array-Drawing Brush.

The Miscellaneous Goods Shop had quite a few counters and plenty of cultivators, but hardly any stood at the counter selling Array-Drawing Brushes. For one thing, this place probably had no particularly good brushes; for another, few cultivators studied talisman crafting or arrays.

Wang Yan surveyed the dazzling assortment of Array-Drawing Brushes. Some were lavishly made, with white-jade-like shafts, jadeite shafts, or snowy-white tips. Others were quite ordinary, worn, and so on.

These Array-Drawing Brushes were not the writing brushes ordinary mortals used, made from bamboo shafts and weasel hair. Their shafts were crafted from rare artifact-refining materials, and their tips were made from the fur of rare Demon Beasts. Wang Yan had never encountered Array-Drawing Brushes before, so naturally he had no idea how to choose...

Just then!

"Fellow Daoist! Are you looking for an Array-Drawing Brush?" A friendly-looking middle-aged clerk behind the counter had watched Wang Yan browse for ages without saying anything. One glance told him this was a greenhorn, so he addressed Wang Yan with a very cordial manner.

"Oh! Do you have any recommendations?" An idea stirred in Wang Yan's mind, and he asked casually.

"If you want something better, fellow Daoist, I recommend this Blue Jadeite Purple Tiger Brush! It's made from blue jadeite, a top-quality artifact-refining stone, and its tip is crafted from the fur of the extremely rare Purple Tiger Beast!" The clerk pointed to an Array-Drawing Brush over a foot long, with a blue jadeite shaft and a tip of purple fur, as he introduced it to Wang Yan. After a pause, he hurriedly added, "This brush can raise your talisman-crafting success rate by ten percent and save you more magic power! It's one of the finest items in our shop!"

"Oh!" Wang Yan responded and examined the Blue Jadeite Purple Tiger Brush closely. It truly looked captivating, plainly a fine item at first glance. Tempted, he hurriedly asked, "How much is this Blue Jadeite Purple Tiger Brush?"

"Not expensive! Only a hundred and fifty Spirit Stones!" the clerk promptly replied. Seeing Wang Yan hesitate, he hurriedly said, "We only have this one left in our shop, and it was made by the finest artifact refiner in our Lü Household. Think about it. If you use this Blue Jadeite Purple Tiger Brush to draw talismans and succeed more often, you'll earn more Spirit Stones!"

The clerk was clearly doing his best to persuade Wang Yan to buy the Blue Jadeite Purple Tiger Brush.

"It really does seem quite good!" Wang Yan was sorely tempted. He had just spent fifty Spirit Stones at the fair-skinned girl's stall and still had nearly three hundred left. Even if he bought this Blue Jadeite Purple Tiger Brush, he would have plenty remaining, and he might be able to bargain down the price. Mumbling to himself, he was just about to haggle. "A hundred and fifty Spirit Stones is a little expensive. If...!"

Before Wang Yan could finish!

"Trash!" Card Fairy said disdainfully inside Wang Yan's mind.

"Huh?" Wang Yan froze, puzzled. It seemed there was something fishy about this.