Youth Edition Talismans

Smack!

The nearly bald talisman brush was slammed onto the desk. A figure with vacant eyes and a deathly pale face slumped into the chair behind him, his voice hoarse and trembling.

"Finally... finished drawing them..."

Feeling utterly wrung dry, Qi Yun rested with his eyes closed for a good while before barely mustering a trace of strength and forcing his aching back and waist upright.

Fall behind one step, and you fell behind at every step.

After a fierce internal struggle, he had ultimately decided against sitting around waiting for the automatic update to finish.

Once a person's laziness took root, it would grow like a snowball.

Besides, he was inside a demonic sect now. Every extra bit of slacking in his daily life could cost him his life at a critical moment.

Gently rubbing his sore eyes, Qi Yun looked around. Ruined yellow talisman paper littered the floor, while a small stack of roughly seven or eight talismans lay on the desk.

In three days, he had used up almost all the talisman paper he had bought, yet successfully drawn only eight talismans.

"No wonder demand has always outstripped supply in the low-grade talisman market.

"Without solid attainment in the Talisman Art, the costs are too high.

"But people with sufficient attainment in the Talisman Art disdain drawing these ordinary talismans.

"I'm afraid only those geniuses with low cultivation but exceptional talent for talismans are the main force supporting this market!"

After persevering for so long, Qi Yun had to admit that he truly had little talent for the Talisman Art.

These few successful talismans had come about purely through a huge number of attempts and a tiny bit of luck.

"I hope this Talisman Art update can change my current predicament."

Taking the talismans he had drawn into his hands, Qi Yun summoned the Law Technique Panel with a thought to refine them.

[Law Technique automatic update complete. This is a minor version update. Law Technique effects have been adjusted as follows.]

[Talisman Art: removed the talisman-drawing failure mechanic. Now only affects talisman quality.]

"Hm? Could this be the legendary..."

As he looked at the update log appearing on the Law Technique Panel, a sharp gleam suddenly lit Qi Yun's eyes. He sprang to his feet and snatched up the nearly bald talisman brush from the desk.

He smoothed out a fresh sheet of talisman paper and casually dipped the brush tip into the crimson spiritual ink in the inkstone.

He did not even hold his breath and focus, nor did he make any preparations. Relying on muscle memory, his wrist swept across the talisman paper like flowing clouds and running water.

The rune patterns he had traced hundreds upon thousands of times now flowed with incomparable smoothness, yet carried a careless sloppiness.

One final upward hook of the brush!

Qi Yun stared fixedly at the talisman paper on the desk.

Based on his previous experience, this hastily drawn talisman, made without holding his breath, focusing, or preparing thoroughly, was certain to be a failure.

But now...

An extremely faint glimmer, seemingly ready to go out at any moment, actually flickered on the talisman paper.

Immediately afterward, a thread of the world's Dao intent, fine as gossamer, was drawn down.

It merged into the sloppy runes with the greatest difficulty.

It worked!

Though that glimmer was pitifully dim and the Dao intent so thin it was almost imperceptible.

It had truly succeeded.

It had not turned into wastepaper!

"A hundred-percent guarantee!"

His heart surged. Having endured the torment of countless failed attempts at drawing talismans, Qi Yun understood better than anyone what this mechanic meant for talisman makers like them.

This was a god-tier skill!

"No more worrying about rejects. A hundred-percent production success rate.

"Hiss!

"I might... be about to strike it rich."

Settling his turbulent thoughts, Qi Yun quickly calmed himself and silently considered his plans for the future.

Although these poor-quality talismans were considerably weaker than normal talismans.

No matter how poor a talisman was, it was still a talisman.

If one wasn't enough, I'd use two. If two weren't enough, I'd use ten!

Leaving high-grade talismans aside, quantity could absolutely make up for quality when it came to low-grade talismans.

The Wuji Treasure Market allowed sellers to set their own prices, but only below the official price, and by no more than ten percent.

At worst, I'd just set the price as low as possible.

Small profits, high volume.

I could even... organize group buys! Sell wholesale!

With a modern person's mindset, Qi Yun did not dwell too much on the talismans' quality.

Everything had its own audience.

Ordinary talismans worked well, but their unit price was high, and they were single-use consumables.

Many Outer Mansion disciples were painfully stingy when using them, wishing they could split one into two.

But my [Youth Edition] talismans were different.

With a low unit price, using them wouldn't hurt at all.

In a cultivation environment like the Outer Mansion, where most people struggled on the edge of survival, they might prove even more popular.

The light in Qi Yun's eyes grew brighter and brighter. The exhaustion of grinding for three straight days seemed to vanish like smoke and clouds at that moment.

"Let's get to it!"

Seemingly already seeing great heaps of Sacred Yuan beckoning to him, a thoroughly motivated Qi Yun scooped up the talisman brush and plunged headlong into the sea of talisman drawing.

"Out of stock? Fucking out of stock again! I've been trying to snag them for three straight days, and they're still out of stock! There's definitely something shady going on!"

In an Outer Mansion disciple's private residence and courtyard, a red-eyed Ruan Bai stared fixedly at the panel on the screen wall, his fingers swiping nonstop as he tried to refresh the Wuji Treasure Market and find the things he had been waiting days for.

Unfortunately, no matter how many times he refreshed, the item listing he eagerly awaited remained empty.

"Ah..." Seeing no hope in refreshing, Ruan Bai deflated like a punctured ball, his shoulders sagging as he let out a resigned, helpless sigh.

"I really wonder which brilliant talent in the Holy Sect managed to develop talismans like these...

They understand the suffering of us Outer Mansion paupers all too well!

Over the past few days, a batch of Evil-Dispelling Talismans and Baleful Intent-Breaking Talismans called [Youth Edition] had suddenly appeared in the Wuji Treasure Market.

These talismans cost only one-fifth as much as normal talismans.

Although their effectiveness likewise fell short of the originals.

The full eighty-percent discount still sent countless Outer Mansion disciples into a buying frenzy. Within just a few breaths of being listed, they sold out.

With that, these [Youth Edition Talismans] became an overnight sensation.

Almost every day, Outer Mansion disciples camped in front of their screen walls just to snatch up these talismans the moment they appeared.

Unfortunately, that mysterious talisman maker's output seemed extremely limited.

The stock released each day was a cup of water against a blazing cartload of firewood.

And as more and more people learned about these "divine talismans," the difficulty of buying them soared exponentially.

Ruan Bai had kept vigil before the screen wall for two days and still come away empty-handed.

"Forget it. I'll rest for a few days first..." Slowly shaking his head, Ruan Bai was about to stand and remove the Great Void Jade Token from the screen wall.

But a glance seemed to catch the words [Youth Edition Talismans].

Hm?!

His heart felt as though an invisible hand had clenched it hard, then abruptly released it. A surge of wild joy shot through Ruan Bai's entire body like an electric current.

My chance had finally come.

His pupils contracted sharply, and his body unleashed unprecedented potential. His finger moved like lightning, whistling through the air as he jabbed hard at the listing.

"Hahaha! Heaven hasn't forsaken me!" Ruan Bai laughed wildly, eagerly looking at the successful purchase notification.

But when he saw clearly what he had selected, his flushed, delighted face instantly turned livid.

[Youth Edition Talismans proxy purchasing service (50% markup)]

A roar of utter grief and fury instantly rang through the little courtyard.

"Damned scalpers! I *&%￥..."