In the center of the great hall.
Senior Brother Ding's eyes nearly split at the corners, and deep regret welled up within him.
He had never expected a moment's inattention to let this beast break free of him.
What would happen when the Black Tiger Demon, which he could barely fight to a standstill even after exhausting all his trump cards, charged toward his junior brothers and sister, whose cultivation was only at early Qi Refining?
The scene would be too gruesome. He dared not imagine it!
Senior Brother Ding cast aside every thought, squeezed the spiritual qi from his dantian, and drove the Law Artifact in his hand as he gave chase with all his might.
He would save as many as he could!
Yet the next moment.
The wretched figure of the Black Tiger Demon, blasted away by a miniature sun, suddenly appeared before his eyes.
A perfect opening!
With no time to spare for his astonishment, Senior Brother Ding roared, took out a pill, and swallowed it. All the spiritual power in his dantian erupted at once, pouring into the Jade-Green Bamboo Staff.
In an instant.
The dense Dao Patterns on the Jade-Green Bamboo Staff lit up bit by bit along its joints, radiating a trace of an aura as heavy as a mountain.
Everything in the great hall seemed to freeze at that moment.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Carrying an immeasurably vast force, the bamboo staff struck the Black Tiger Demon's forehead three times in heavy succession.
In a flash, the giant tiger's lantern-sized eyes rolled back, and scarlet blood spurted from its seven orifices, turning into streams of bloody mist.
Bang!
The enormous black tiger crashed heavily to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Its aura weakened rapidly.
At last, it stubbornly raised its head, staring fixedly at Zhang Jing a short distance away, and said bitterly, "You... ambushed me! You have no immortal virtue at all! Despicable and shameless! I curse you..."
Before it could finish, it breathed its last.
The spacious hall fell silent.
Tap, tap-
Senior Brother Ding stepped over the tiger's corpse and slowly walked up to Zhang Jing, looking at him with a complicated, guilt-ridden gaze.
"Junior Brother, I'm sorry. It was my momentary carelessness that cost you so many talismans."
At the same time.
Hiss-
A series of sharp intakes of breath suddenly sounded beside Zhang Jing.
"I-Junior Brother... I told you to prepare, but you didn't have to buy this many talismans, did you?" Tong Yao stared at Zhang Jing, dumbfounded, and muttered, "You really went all out. How much Dao Merit must that have cost? If this is how you carry out missions, won't you end up losing even your under... your robes?"
Coming back to his senses.
With a trace of terror still lingering on his face, Senior Brother Zhou said uneasily:
"Good thing Junior Brother Zhang came fully prepared, or our corpses would already be cold by now. Don't worry, Junior Brother. I'll share the cost of those talismans with you."
"That's right!"
Senior Brother Xia patted his chest and assured Zhang Jing, "Junior Brother, words of thanks can't repay such a great kindness! Work out how many talismans you used later. We'll find a way to scrape together enough to pay you back."
"Well, Senior Brothers, actually-"
Zhang Jing wanted to explain, but Senior Brother Ding's voice interrupted him:
"Junior Brother, say no more. This Black Tiger Demon's corpse and everything else we obtain from it are all yours."
"This middle Qi Refining demon tiger's pelt, fangs, claws, and bones are all excellent materials. Together, they should sell for around twelve or thirteen Dao Merit. Though that's nowhere near the value of the talismans you used, it's at least some compensation. Once we finish this mission, I'll make up the rest."
Hearing this, Zhang Jing felt warmth in his heart, then quickly ran through the figures in his mind.
His current success rate for making lower-grade talismans was forty percent, so these thirty Scorching Sun Talismans had cost no more than ten Dao Merit.
The materials from the demon tiger's corpse would cover his costs, with a small profit to spare.
These senior brothers and his senior sister had taken good care of him throughout the journey. Putting himself in their shoes, Zhang Jing felt he should not quibble too much.
Having thought it through.
Zhang Jing smiled shyly and said quietly, "Senior Brothers, Senior Sister Tong, the materials from this demon tiger are enough. You don't need to compensate me."
"How could that be right?" Tong Yao said bluntly. "How could we take advantage of you, Junior Brother?"
"Actually, I made all these talismans myself. If what Senior Brother Ding just said is true, the materials from this demon tiger are already enough to cover the cost of my thirty Scorching Sun Talismans."
Zhang Jing quickly explained.
At these words, silence fell all around.
After a long while.
"What! Those talismans were all... all made by you, Junior Brother?" Tong Yao cried involuntarily.
"Junior Brother Zhang, you've only been at the Dao Academy for two months. I can just about understand your cultivation reaching the third layer of Qi Refining, but knowing talisman making... and making so many-"
Senior Brother Xia gestured wildly with both hands in front of him, his mind a complete muddle.
"What a monster!"
Senior Brother Zhou sighed along with him, then thought of something extremely important.
Junior Brother Zhang had said twelve Dao Merit could cover the cost of thirty lower-grade talismans, and they were all superior-quality talismans... No wonder every one of those Talisman Masters in their Luodu Squad was so arrogant.
What outrageous profits! No, what a rip-off!
I'm still young. Could I save up some Dao Merit and exchange it for a talisman-making inheritance too?
What if I succeeded?
At that moment, Senior Brother Zhou was sorely tempted!
Wait! All of them were superior-quality talismans?
He looked at Zhang Jing in shock.
Across from Zhang Jing, the look in Senior Brother Ding's eyes quietly changed as well.
"A Demon Core! This beast actually had a Demon Core inside it! Junior Brother Zhang Jing has really struck it rich!"
Senior Sister Tong's delighted voice suddenly rang out, startling Zhang Jing, who had been about to inspect the Storage Bag in the tiger demon's mouth.
"A Demon Core?" He turned and asked in puzzlement.
"Yes. Look, Junior Brother."
Senior Sister Tong handed Zhang Jing a round, thumb-sized white object that gave off strong fluctuations of spiritual qi, explaining:
"Demon Cores are good things. They fetch very high prices. This middle Qi Refining Demon Core should sell for at least fifty Dao Merit. You really hit a lucky streak, Junior Brother."
Her voice was filled with delight.
"Haha, it wasn't luck on Junior Brother Zhang's part. Mainly, his talismans caught this beast completely off guard, and I struck quickly enough that it had no time to fully dissipate its Demon Core. I suspected there might be a Demon Core just now, but I didn't tell you, for fear we'd get excited over nothing."
Senior Brother Ding's voice rang out.
Turning the Demon Core over in his hand, Zhang Jing could not help asking:
"May I ask, Senior Brother, just what is a Demon Core?"
"Junior Brother," Senior Brother Ding said with a slight smile, explaining patiently, "demons don't have a dantian to store spiritual power like we humans do. Their demon power permeates their entire bodies. A Demon Core is a transfer point formed by the spontaneous condensation of demon power, as well as the place where the purest demon power in their bodies gathers."
"Of course, what I call 'demon power' is essentially spiritual power, only mixed with these beasts' resentment and malicious thoughts before death, as well as certain 'impurities' unique to demons."
"Ah, I was too slow. With such a fine opening just now, if I'd killed this beast in a single blow, its resentful thoughts wouldn't have had time to linger in the Demon Core, and its value would have doubled."
"Why would anyone pay a high price for it?"
"Ha, it's mainly Alchemists buying them. They use special methods to remove the lingering thoughts and impurities inside Demon Cores. Once purified, the cores can be used to refine spirit pills."
"Ninety percent of the high-grade spirit pills sold in the Thousand Techniques Pavilion are refined from diluted Demon Cores."
"But... didn't they say high-grade spirit pills were refined using heavenly treasures?"
A strange look showed on Zhang Jing's face.
"They do contain heavenly treasures, but a single portion can make dozens of batches of pills. Otherwise, where would all those high-grade spirit pills come from?"
Senior Brother Ding said teasingly.
Zhang Jing silently put away the Demon Core, no longer wanting to speak.