A busy day came to an end.
In the young couple's home, the low-grade cinnabar on the table had nearly run out.
Lin He looked at Su Qiuran's exhilarated face, silently picked up the thoroughly cold tea on the table, and drained it in one gulp.
He had finally witnessed what it meant for "Heaven to chase someone down to spoon-feed them."
Two whole stacks, twenty sheets of the shoddiest blank yellow talisman paper in all-Su Qiuran had finished drawing on every last one.
Apart from two ruined midway through when her aching wrist trembled, the other eighteen Fireball Talismans had all succeeded.
"Wife, if you keep this up, I'm afraid Heaven will get so jealous it'll send lightning down to strike you."
At the time, Lin He had carefully stacked the finished talismans while making that helpless quip.
Su Qiuran had merely rolled her eyes. Mentally exhausted, she had fallen into a deep sleep in her wheelchair and had not woken until this morning.
Now, the two of them once again put on the oversized black robe made from an old quilt cover.
Lin He carried Su Qiuran on his back, the faint bloody smell of yesterday's chicken blood still lingering at the collar.
The same misshapen, burly figure, the same hoarse voice.
The cultivation market was even noisier this morning than yesterday, and the bloody smell in the air seemed a little stronger.
Word had it that the cultivation lineages deep in Green Mountain had fought until they were practically beating one another's brains out, and even the rogue cultivators on the outskirts had suffered.
Lin He could not be bothered with any of that. Carrying Su Qiuran on his back, he walked with steady steps straight into the Hundred Treasures Pavilion beneath its gold-painted sign.
The old shopkeeper with the goatee was working an abacus behind the counter. Looking up, he saw that the "fiend" who had bought talisman-making materials just yesterday had returned.
The corner of his eye twitched slightly, but a professional, false smile immediately spread across his face. "Fellow Daoist, you've come to our humble shop again today. Were yesterday's materials unsuitable? Or have you thought better of it and decided to buy some ready-made lifesaving talismans?"
In the old shopkeeper's mind, this rough fellow's purchase of materials yesterday had been nothing but fooling around.
How could anyone learn talisman-making simply by buying some shabby book?
He reckoned the man had covered all his talisman paper in chicken scratches and had come to restock, or to obediently buy finished products.
Lin He said nothing and deliberately gave a cold snort.
He pulled a thick stack of yellow paper from his robe and slapped it onto the counter with a smack.
"Selling," Lin He said, lowering his voice to a rasp.
The old shopkeeper gave it a casual glance and was about to dismiss him with a few polite words when his gaze suddenly froze.
It was a stack of Fireball Talismans.
The cinnabar lines on every sheet flowed like drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest hesitation or pause.
The faintly discernible, volatile fire-aspect presence was locked firmly within the intricate lines. The Spiritual Qi was contained, with not a single sign of leakage or dissipation.
"These... these are..." The false smile froze on the old shopkeeper's face. He snatched up the topmost Fireball Talisman and brought it close to his eyes, staring hard.
As the shopkeeper of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, he had handled at least eight thousand talismans, if not ten thousand.
This draftsmanship, this smooth flow of Spiritual Qi-these were absolutely not something a novice apprentice could produce.
This was clearly the work of a seasoned hand who had spent years immersed in the Dao of talismans!
But this man had plainly bought a copy of Introduction to Basic Talismans just yesterday!
The old shopkeeper's mind raced.
He abruptly raised his head and reassessed the burly oddity wrapped tightly in a black robe before him.
Could there be a reclusive talisman master backing this fellow?
Had that introductory book yesterday merely been for the master's amusement, or for teaching a junior?
"Fellow Daoist, these... did you..." the old shopkeeper ventured.
"What? The Hundred Treasures Pavilion won't buy them?" Lin He's tone turned cold, and he made to take the talismans back.
"We will! Of course we will!" The old shopkeeper pressed a hand onto the talismans, his attitude instantly making a complete about-face.
The false smile faded from his face, replaced by sincerity tinged with shrewdness and warmth.
"Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist. I merely noticed the exquisite workmanship and naturally formed spiritual resonance of these Fireball Talismans. They truly are the finest of their kind. Seeing such fine work, I couldn't help getting carried away."
Lin He laughed inwardly, but continued to look impatient. "Enough nonsense. Name a price."
The old shopkeeper knowingly lowered his voice. "You're a discerning man, Fellow Daoist. Right now, Yin Qi and miasma fill the Mass Grave over on Green Mountain. The venomous insects and fierce beasts there have been provoked and bite anyone they see. These Fireball Talismans are the best for driving off evil and warding off Yin Qi. They're in great demand on the market now."
He held up three fingers. "Normally, our shop buys these first-tier, low-level Fireball Talismans at two for one low-grade Spirit Stone. But the market is different now. I'm willing to pay two low-grade Spirit Stones each and buy the lot! Consider it making a friend of you, Fellow Daoist."
Su Qiuran lightly poked Lin He's back twice.
Lin He understood. That was the signal to quit while they were ahead.
Eighteen talismans meant thirty-six low-grade Spirit Stones.
This earned money far faster than farming, and it was less conspicuous, too.
"Deal," Lin He answered crisply.
The old shopkeeper deftly counted out thirty-six low-grade Spirit Stones, put them into a small cloth bag, and handed it to Lin He.
As they made the exchange, the old shopkeeper took a seemingly casual step closer and said quietly, "Fellow Daoist, if that master behind you still has strength to spare... allow this old man to share something in confidence."
Lin He raised an eyebrow without speaking.
The old shopkeeper continued, "Fireball Talismans are good, but the worst casualties over on Green Mountain right now are those poisoned by the miasma. Detoxification pills on the market have long since been driven to astronomical prices, and you still can't find any for sale. If that master could draw Spirit-Clearing Detoxification Talismans, or even lifesaving Vajra Protection Talismans... I'll take it upon myself to offer five low-grade Spirit Stones each, with no limit on how many we buy!"
Lin He's heart pounded wildly, but he merely left a hoarse "Understood" before turning and striding out of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
Only after running all the way back to the secluded wooden house in Golden Lake Village and shutting the doors and windows tight did Lin He lower Su Qiuran from his back.
Tossing aside the black robe, the two of them looked at the bag of Spirit Stones on the table and let out long breaths in unison.
"Thirty-six..." Lin He grabbed a handful of Spirit Stones, listening to their clear clinking. "Wife, this isn't drawing talismans. You're printing money!"
Su Qiuran leaned back in her wheelchair. Though her face was still a little pale, excitement sparkled in her peach-blossom eyes.
"You heard what the old shopkeeper said, right?" she analyzed calmly. "Fireball Talismans are ultimately just a means of attack. Poisonous miasma is rampant in the Mass Grave now. What they truly lack is detoxification and defense."
"But that Introduction to Basic Talismans doesn't contain the methods for drawing Spirit-Clearing Detoxification Talismans or Vajra Protection Talismans at all."
Lin He scratched his head. "Do we have to go buy a more advanced talisman manual?"
"We certainly need to buy a book, but there's no hurry to do it in the next day or two. We can't stand out too much. If someone sets their sights on us, we'll be in trouble."
Su Qiuran pointed toward the backyard. "Our most pressing task is cultivation."
Lin He chuckled and took out the handful of supreme-grade, second-generation Azure Jade Spirit Seeds left over from yesterday. "Got it. We'll keep farming today."
Over the next hour, Lin He dug holes in the backyard with practiced ease, crushing Spirit Stones and mixing them into the soil.
This time, he steeled himself and crushed five low-grade Spirit Stones for base fertilizer, then diluted the Essence of the Sun from the jade gourd and watered the soil with it.
As the final half-dipper of water splashed down, a green spiritual mist so dense it was almost visible to the naked eye rose from the soil.
In less than ten breaths, heavy ears of spirit rice, sturdier than before, swayed in the wind, their grains as translucent as tiny pieces of azure jade.
Lin He hurried to harvest and thresh them, then eagerly cooked a pot of spirit rice porridge.
Su Qiuran held her bowl and swallowed great mouthfuls.
The supreme-grade spirit rice turned into streams of pure, gentle Spiritual Qi that poured unhindered into her meridians and rushed straight toward her dantian.
Lin He sat beside her, watching her.
A faint ring of ripples even stirred in the air around her.
Humm-
An extremely faint, muffled sound came from within Su Qiuran.
Her eyes snapped open, spiritual light swirling in her pupils, which were several times deeper than before.
"Whew..." Su Qiuran let out a long breath of turbid air, an irrepressible smile curling her lips.
"How is it?" Lin He asked nervously.
Su Qiuran clenched her fists, feeling the spiritual power filling her body, and said softly, "Qi Refinement First Layer, perfection."