Chapter 49

Yao Qiao rested her head on the table for a while to recover, and soon she was full of energy again.

The girl waved her hand in front of him, “Second Senior Brother, should we go out and sell the talismans now?”

After spending three days and nights drawing so many talismans, it would be a shame not to sell any.

Ming Xuan hesitated, “The sect has rules against private sales, doesn’t it?”

He wasn’t short on spirit stones, so he hadn’t considered going to any market to sell them.

Yao Qiao shrugged, “It’s fine if we do it secretly. If we get caught, they can just lock us up in the forbidden area.”

— Though she wasn’t sure if Sword Sect had a forbidden area.

Hearing this, Ming Xuan relaxed completely.

Since Yao Qiao joined, the four of them had become as familiar with entering the forbidden area as if it were their own home.

Although their relaxed lifestyle might not make them stronger, it was very comfortable.

“Alright.”

……

In the city of Floating Life, there were almost no street vendors, only shops. During the day, the city was bustling, with various items for sale, including even fan fiction about a group of direct disciples.

Yao Qiao chose a conspicuous spot, set up a sign, and she and Ming Xuan eagerly set up their stall.

After waiting for a long time, no cultivators stopped by, which left Ming Xuan somewhat disheartened.

“Aren’t talismans supposed to be hard to come by? Why is no one coming to our stall?”

“Because there are too many scammers,” Yao Qiao lamented. “I had the chance to set up a stall once before.”

“At that time, even the business of the neighboring little yellow book was better than mine.”

She had envied the other stall so much that she almost considered changing careers on the spot.

Ming Xuan: “……Is it really that dismal?”

He pondered for a moment and thought it might be due to the lack of display effect. “How about we demonstrate the power of an explosive talisman in the street?”

Yao Qiao coldly reminded him, “If we do that, the next time I see you might be in the Sword Sect’s prison.”

Just as Yun Zhong City forbids drawing swords, Floating Life City had its own rules against destroying public property.

Ming Xuan pouted, disappointed.

Just then, a shop not far away suddenly opened its doors, and the surrounding cultivators rushed inside.

“The Yue Qing Sect’s talismans are on sale!”

“Hurry, or they’ll be sold out!”

“……”

“Yue Qing Sect’s talismans?” Ming Xuan immediately leaned in, “I’ll go take a look.”

He was quite formidable among the scattered cultivators. Ming Xuan soon elbowed his way in rudely, grabbed a talisman, and after examining it for a few seconds, he scoffed, “These aren’t impressive at all. When did Yue Qing Sect’s talismans become so trashy?”

This immediately angered many in the crowd.

His blunt remarks were unwelcome. Yao Qiao nudged him, “Have you really never been bundled up and beaten before when you go out?”

Ming Xuan grumbled, “Of course not. I’m a direct disciple.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he had an epiphany. He dashed back to their stall, grabbed their talismans, and declared loudly, “Our talismans are the authentic Yue Qing Sect products.”

“Priced at fifty high-grade spirit stones each, first come, first served.”

The scattered cultivators who were annoyed by the previous criticism felt even angrier now. After all, they had been buying talismans for a long time and suddenly being told they had purchased trash was infuriating.

Hearing the price, everyone was outraged: “Even the direct disciples don’t boast as much as you do. Fifty high-grade spirit stones? You might as well go rob someone.”

Ming Xuan couldn’t help but snicker, as if everyone was a direct disciple.

He maintained his composure, “These are indeed talismans crafted by direct disciples.”

It was true, but they were direct disciples of Changming Sect, not Yue Qing Sect.

Perfect.

Not only did they avoid punishment, but they could also shift any blame onto Yue Qing Sect.

Don’t ask, just know that Yue Qing Sect’s disciples were here.

“We’re both direct disciples of Yue Qing Sect,” Yao Qiao smoothly added, giving Ming Xuan an approving glance.

A scattered cultivator, with a sullen face, sneered, “Just saying so doesn’t make it true. Where’s the proof?”

Ming Xuan immediately grabbed a low-grade talisman, stuck it on someone, and that person shot out far away. He turned back and said, “See? The talismans you bought don’t have this effect, do they?”

**It was almost immediately effective.**

The expression of the scattered cultivators at the scene changed drastically, clearly struck at their core.

Ye Qiao seized the opportunity and took out the talismans she had in hand to show them. “Besides the talisman I just showed you, there’s also an explosion talisman that can instantly boost spiritual energy to its peak. The effect lasts for half a tea’s time.”

“And there’s this…”

Ye Qiao began to enthusiastically promote the items, and the people around were stunned, as most of them were novices who had never seen real talismans before.

After seeing the impressive effects, everyone was convinced of their identity to a large extent.

“But I remember that the Moon Qing Sect’s direct disciples from the big competition a few days ago didn’t look like this?” Some people raised doubts.

Ye Qiao turned to him with a warm smile, “How didn’t they look like this? Look more closely. Don’t all the direct disciples look very handsome?”

After recalling, it seemed they did.

They were all quite good-looking.

“Good-looking people are all the same. Maybe you’re just mixing things up.”

Her confidence was so strong that the cultivator became somewhat convinced, “Oh, really.”

With the talismans quickly sold out, the senior and junior disciples high-fived each other in tacit agreement.

“Oh, great.” It felt good.

Before this, Ming Xuan’s spiritual stones had all been provided by the Ming family. This was the first time experiencing the joy of earning money himself.

…

The five sects had a break of about half a month, and with the next secret realm about to open, Qin Fanfan repeatedly instructed her disciples to rest early to avoid being late again the next day.

The next morning, they indeed did not arrive late.

But it wasn’t particularly early. By the time they arrived, the audience seats were already full, with many people eagerly awaiting the opening of the secret realm.

In fact, after the first round, the discussions about the secret realm on the immortal cultivation world’s jade slips were overwhelming. Some people analyzed the strength of the direct disciples, while others criticized Ye Qiao for taking shortcuts and predicted that she would eventually fail.

In addition, more praise was given for her cunning behavior.

Most people believed that a big competition would be interesting only if there were some commotion. After all, the daily life of immortal cultivation was already boring enough; who wants to see a bunch of direct disciples just fighting demonic beasts every day?

As a result, when they arrived at the scene, the previously somewhat quiet atmosphere was immediately pushed to a climax.

“Ah! The Changming Sect has arrived.”

Ming Xuan was the kind of person who was charming and flirtatious. Little girls liked this type, and when someone saw him come out, they excitedly threw flowers at him.

Ye Qiao: “So showy.”

Xue Yu blinked: “Can’t be helped. The next round is the talisman cultivator’s home ground, so let him show off.”

That said, Xue Yu also had quite a few flowers!

Ye Qiao silently moved a little further away from this group of showy people; she didn’t want to get covered in flowers.

“Ye Qiao, Ye Qiao, the best in the whole place.”

“Ye Qiao, Ye Qiao, you are the most outstanding.”

“Ye Qiao, Ye Qiao, defeat them all!”

Ye Qiao turned around and was almost blown away by their high-spirited chants.

“Ye Langlang! Can you take first place?”

She was thick-skinned and immediately waved her hand with a smile when she heard the chants around her: “Sure.”

Song Hansheng’s expression twitched from the seat next to the direct disciples and couldn’t help but ask, “What makes you so confident?”

Ancient battlefields, the realm of talisman cultivators—what gives her the nerve to speak so arrogantly?

Ye Qiao glanced at him, not really wanting to engage with Song Hansheng.

So, after a while, she said something nonsensical: “Those who understand, understand.”

Song Hansheng’s head was full of question marks: “What do you mean?”

Ming Xuan, seeing the confused expression, suddenly appreciated the brilliance of the little junior sister’s nonsensical talk.

He immediately looked disdainfully at Song Hansheng and lifted his chin: “Those who understand, understand.”

Song Hansheng gritted his teeth and looked at the only normal person, Xue Yu.

“I don’t have much to say either.” Xue Yu responded, very much in the know: “All I can say is that those who understand will naturally understand.”

Their junior sister was the first person in the immortal cultivation world to achieve dual cultivation of sword and talisman since the great beings of the Five Sects ascended.

Clearly, they had decided to let loose.

What Sect of Questioning Sword, Sect of Wind, Changming Sect was the most impressive.

They all became confident.

Mu Chongxi couldn’t help but poke Zhou Xingyun: “What are they playing at with these riddles?”

“Don’t ask.” Zhou Xingyun was also brainwashed by the younger disciples’ words, fell silent, and replied to the junior: “Just say that those who understand, understand.”

“Alright.” Mu Chongxi immediately exploded: “You four are isolating me, right?”

Each of you understands the meaning but refuses to tell me, right?

The audience murmured: “…Honestly, after watching so many matches, I’m really a bit worried about the mental state of the Changming Sect’s direct disciples.”

The Changming Sect had always been so obedient and just getting by; how come they are now so arrogant they almost seem to be walking with the wind?

Song Hansheng was even more puzzled: “What exactly are they being so arrogant about?”