Chapter 2

Yunzhong City is located at the center of the Five Great Sects. This place is akin to the ancient imperial city, where you could randomly encounter disciples from major sects, and everything is exorbitantly expensive.

“Boss, how much for a bun?” She swallowed her saliva, unable to resist asking after smelling the aroma. Only after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage can one live without eating, and she was only at the third level of Qi Training, far from reaching that stage.

“Three mid-grade spirit stones.”

Ye Qiao quickly calmed down, “Sorry to bother you.”

There were only a hundred mid-grade spirit stones in her mustard seed pouch, and she needed them not only for food but also for lodging. At these outrageous prices in Yunzhong City, she would run out in less than three days.

Ye Qiao finally understood why the original host refused to leave the mountain despite her miserable situation.

Living outside the sect was genuinely unaffordable for most people.

In the cultivation world, the most profitable professions were talisman makers and alchemists. The Yueqing Sect was one of the Five Great Sects, not just because they had many talisman makers but also because of their immense wealth.

Ye Qiao casually grabbed a wandering cultivator and asked if there was a place to buy wolf hair brushes and talisman paper.

“The shop has them,” the person replied enthusiastically, “Are you a talisman maker?”

In the cultivation world, talisman makers and alchemists held high status. Ye Qiao shook her head, “No.”

The original host was a sword cultivator, and Ye Qiao had never drawn a talisman, but sitting idly and waiting for resources to deplete was not an option; she had to try.

In the modern world, she was a diligent worker, doing both design and modeling. In the cultivation world, she couldn’t escape the fate of working hard either.

Thanks to her profession, Ye Qiao had a photographic memory, and it seemed this body inherited that ability. She could clearly recall the talisman drawing techniques from Yueqing Sect’s books.

Since it was her first time drawing talismans, she could only rely on intuition. Following the instructions from the talisman book, she calmed herself and carefully channeled her spiritual power into the wolf hair brush.

As soon as the brush tip touched the talisman paper, a slight tingling sensation came from her consciousness. Ye Qiao steadied herself, realizing this was the first step in drawing a talisman.

Recalling how talisman makers drew talismans from the original host’s memories, she didn’t hesitate. Complex talisman patterns appeared on the paper, and as the outline completed, her movements became faster until the final stroke.

Golden light shimmered along the talisman lines.

Ye Qiao stared at it for a few seconds.

As long as it didn’t burn, it was a successful talisman.

Is drawing talismans this easy?

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she felt something dripping from her nose.

She touched it and found her hand covered in blood.

Ye Qiao: “…” Okay, she had overestimated herself.

Clearly, drawing talismans wasn’t something just anyone could do.

Since she didn’t feel any physical discomfort and considering her nearly empty mustard seed pouch, she gritted her teeth and continued to draw talismans with the spirit brush on the paper.

After drawing seven talismans, she couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed on the table, passing out from mental exhaustion.

This was the aftereffect of overusing her spiritual sense.

Ye Qiao would faint after drawing, then wake up and continue drawing with determination, to the point of tears streaming down her face.

Is it love?

Is it responsibility?

No, it was poverty.

Poverty drives progress, and this saying wasn’t without reason.

Ye Qiao drew some of the lowest-level talismans, such as Wind Speed Talismans and Sleep Talismans.

She held a Wind Speed Talisman between her fingers and tentatively stuck it on herself.

It was said to make one run very fast.

After sticking it on, Ye Qiao waited, feeling nothing special. After a while, realizing it might have failed, she wasn’t disappointed. After all, in the original host’s memories, even the personal disciples of Yueqing Sect couldn’t succeed on their first try.

Failure was expected.

Just as she was about to remove the Wind Speed Talisman and draw again, her steps suddenly became uncontrollable, and she shot forward like an arrow.

She couldn’t stop her legs and crashed through the inn’s wall, leaving a gaping hole.

Ye Qiao: “…”

Cultivators’ bodies were far superior to ordinary people’s. Even after crashing through a wall, she didn’t feel any pain. After a while, she struggled to get up from the ground, looking at the now ineffective Wind Speed Talisman on the floor.

My respects, this is what being a talisman maker is like?

In the end, Ye Qiao tearfully paid twenty spirit stones to repair the wall under the innkeeper’s angry glare.

After the sun set, Ye Qiao took her completed talismans to the black market to sell.

This was the largest black market in the cultivation world, attracting many people for transactions. Prices varied, and she set her talismans at ten mid-grade spirit stones each, not expensive, even considered cheap.

However, her cultivation level was too low, and the passing cultivators didn’t even bother to glance at her.

Ye Qiao waited at her stall for a long time, realizing that even the stall selling erotic books next to her had more business.

She patiently endured, planning to switch to selling erotic books if no one came by soon.

Perhaps even the heavens pitied her, for instead of waiting for customers, a young man descended from the sky and landed right on her stall.

The red-clad youth landed gracefully on his sword, his foot stepping right onto Ye Qiao’s collapsed stall without him noticing. He coldly warned, “No drawing swords near the Five Great Sects.”

The man being warned initially wanted to argue, but upon glimpsing the special pattern of a personal disciple on the youth’s robe, he was startled and decisively turned to flee.

Great.

Ye Qiao had achieved a world where only she was injured.

“Fellow Daoist, could you please move your foot?” she asked sincerely, “You’re stepping on my stall.”

If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t win in a fight, Ye Qiao would have loved to transform into the notorious horse master and grab his shoulders, roaring, “Do you know how hard it is for me to set up a stall?”

The youth was startled and only then noticed he had stepped on something. He quickly moved his foot aside and saw the trampled stall, hastily apologizing, “Sorry. Are you hurt?”

“No,” she replied righteously, “but your actions have caused me severe emotional trauma.”

The youth hadn’t expected her to be so sensitive. Seeing Ye Qiao’s serious expression, he felt a bit embarrassed, “How about I compensate you with some spirit stones? Would one high-grade spirit stone be enough?”

Ye Qiao, ever practical, gladly accepted his compensation and bent down to pick up the scattered talismans, “I forgive you.”

One high-grade spirit stone was equivalent to a hundred mid-grade ones.

This guy was loaded, she thought to herself.

Mu Chongxi hurriedly helped her pick up the talismans. When he saw a small stack of talisman papers, he couldn’t help but ask in surprise, “Are you a talisman maker?”

Ye Qiao vaguely hummed in response.

After picking up the talismans, she noticed a crowd of wandering cultivators gathered around, some openly discussing.

“Judging by the clothes, he must be a personal disciple of the Changming Sect, right?”

“Probably. To be able to ride a sword, he must be at least in the Foundation Establishment stage. Aside from those personal disciples, there wouldn’t be anyone else.”

As more people gathered, some of the wandering cultivators noticed the talismans in Ye Qiao’s hands.

With Mu Chongxi’s conspicuous personal disciple robe, people naturally assumed Ye Qiao was also a disciple of a major sect.

Trusting the reputation of the major sects, a wandering cultivator approached and asked, “Little sister, what talismans do you have here?”

“Sleep Talismans and Wind Speed Talismans.”

Though they were low-level talismans, they were still very useful to wandering cultivators. Without the protection of a sect, they traveled far and wide, and carrying a few talismans was always a good idea.

However, talismans from official channels were prohibitively expensive, and cheaper ones often turned out to be fakes sold by swindlers. Thanks to Mu Chongxi’s presence, Ye Qiao’s talismans were snapped up in minutes.

This experience further solidified her resolve to join a sect.

“You’re just leaving?”

After collecting her spirit stones and preparing to head back to the inn, she heard Mu Chongxi’s words and felt puzzled, “What else?”

Mu Chongxi was stunned, “Don’t you need more compensation from me?”

Ye Qiao: “Didn’t you already give me a spirit stone?”

Mu Chongxi: “But your feelings were hurt.”

Ye Qiao: “…” Where did this naive person come from?

Or were all personal disciples of the Changming Sect this naive?

Did he really take her words seriously?

Ye Qiao asked, “What’s your name?”

In novels, good-looking characters always have names. She was curious about this naive boy’s role in a popular cultivation novel.

“Mu Chongxi.”

Ye Qiao was slightly taken aback.

She had indeed heard this name before.

In the novel, wasn’t Mu Chongxi the tragic character who destroyed his own Dao heart for the female lead?

Her expression became complicated, shifting from viewing him as a fool to feeling pity.

The youth’s eyes widened slightly, “What do you mean by that look?”

Ye Qiao realized her pitying gaze was too obvious. She coughed to cover it up, not wanting to dwell on the trivial novel plot.

“I heard you’re a personal disciple of the Changming Sect. Can you tell me how the outer disciples are treated?”

She was now more inclined to find a sect where she could lay low.

“Changming Sect?” Mentioning his sect, Mu Chongxi’s expression turned a bit complex. Seeing Ye Qiao’s eager look, he answered honestly, “Our sect is quite poor. When I first joined at ten, I ate nothing but plain buns every day.”

As a pampered young master from a wealthy family, suddenly joining such a poor sect made Mu Chongxi very unhappy.

“I felt deceived and conspired with my senior and junior brothers to escape the Changming Sect.”

“Then the sect leader caught us.”

“He chased us, shouting all the way. We even lost one of our shoes while running.”

Ye Qiao: “May I ask what your senior and junior brothers’ names are?”

“Xue Yu and Ming Xuan.”

Ye Qiao was silent for a moment.

Great.

The bootlicker and the backup lover from the novel were all here.

Moreover, Mu Chongxi spoke so earnestly that Ye Qiao could vividly imagine the scene: the sect leader running behind them, shouting, “Xue Yu, Ming Xuan, Mu Chongxi, how can I live without you guys!”

The imagery was too strong. Ye Qiao completely gave up on joining the Changming Sect. “What about the Wanjian Sect? Can disciples there sleep and eat?”

The number one sect in the world should have decent benefits for its disciples, right?

After experiencing the shocking prices in Yunzhong City, Ye Qiao now just wanted to find a sect and be an inconspicuous outer disciple.