A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 118: Chapter 109: Selling the Talisman Making Book

Considering their living situation, he also went and bought some daily necessities like bedding.

He then took them for a simple meal. Without a Cultivation Method, they couldn’t absorb the Spiritual Qi from the Spiritual Food, but they could still enjoy its nourishing effects, which would help condition their bodies.

Back at the small riverside courtyard, Lü Zhong channeled a trace of Spiritual Power into a Spirit Testing Talisman, which immediately lit up.

He placed the Talisman Paper on the girl in red, and it instantly glowed with three different colors.

’Water, Wood, and Earth? To think she has the aptitude of a Three Spirit Roots!’

’No wonder there was a faint Spiritual Light around her before she even began to cultivate.’

He carefully sized up the girl in red. Judging from her bone age, she seemed to be in her early teens.

’But she looked nothing like a girl that age should.’

Her skin was rough and dark. Even after being combed, her sallow, matted hair still resembled a clump of weeds. Her scrawny body was swollen in several places—a clear sign of malnourishment. She must have come from a mortal village; otherwise, she wouldn’t be in such a state.

’Yihong House probably bought her to train as a servant.’

”What’s your name?” Lü Zhong asked.

”E-Erya...” the girl in red stammered, clutching the hem of her clothes, timid and full of self-loathing.

Lü Zhong heard her. ’That name is a bit too plain,’ he thought. ”Hong Fu,” he said. ”That will be your name from now on.”

”Okay...” Hong Fu replied, lowering her head.

Lü Zhong then turned to the other girl.

In terms of appearance, she was a natural beauty and far prettier than Hong Fu.

’Unfortunately, looks alone are of little use in the Cultivation Realm.’

He placed a Spirit Testing Talisman on her. As expected, there was no reaction.

He couldn’t say he was disappointed by this.

Immortal Seedlings weren’t as common as cabbages; you couldn’t just find them lying on the street.

”What’s your name?”

”Hejun. Li Hejun... B-Big Brother, my father... is he really not coming back?” Li Hejun asked, her eyes red and her voice choked with tears.

”Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the way of the Celestial Dao,” Lü Zhong said, his expression blank.

’Once someone dies, they’re dead. Resurrection is impossible—at least, as far as he knew.’

Upon death, a living being’s soul would quickly and completely dissipate into the world. This was true even for cultivators; their True Spirit would also scatter after death.

Having lived in this world for so long, he had of course heard tales of life, death, and Reincarnation. He’d even heard of the Yellow Springs Underworld. But those were just fabricated rumors.

’This life is full of suffering; people need something to hope for.’

’Perhaps that was the origin of the stories about Reincarnation.’

Shaking his head, Lü Zhong put the matter out of his mind. He looked at the two girls and said, ”You can rest for today. After that, I will assign you tasks. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Understand?”

”Understood,” Hong Fu was the first to reply.

’Although she didn’t know what she would be doing, a vague memory told her that if you didn’t work, you truly wouldn’t get to eat.’

’Will I be cutting pig feed, or gathering firewood on the mountain...?’

Her little mind raced with possibilities, but her thoughts could never escape the limits of her upbringing.

”Understood...” Li Hejun said despondently.

He then arranged their living quarters: the small, tile-roofed building Lü Zhong had originally planned to use as a kitchen. The space wasn’t large, but it was big enough for two beds.

He also warned the eager Spirit-Seeking Rat. It wasn’t nearly as subservient to outsiders as it was to him. Without a proper warning, the two girls might have ended up in the Spirit Rat’s stomach.

After taking care of everything, Lü Zhong returned to his Quiet Chamber.

He consumed a Jade Solidification Pill, and another night passed.

Cultivation was this dull and monotonous, yet one couldn’t slack off in the slightest. Only by persevering for decades as if it were a single day could one have a chance to glimpse Longevity.

...

「The next day.」

Lü Zhong began to teach them how to use the book-printing tools.

He wasn’t going to have them do the actual work themselves; the Spirit-Seeking Rat would handle the physical labor. After all, a Demon Beast’s stamina far exceeded a mortal’s; it could print for an entire day without tiring. The two girls’ main job was to organize and collate the pages, and to promptly correct any of the Spirit-Seeking Rat’s mistakes.

He set them a workload of five books, then headed out.

He headed straight for the South City Market. Even though it was already noon, the place was still bustling with people.

He went to the management office, paid the stall fee, and received a round iron plaque inscribed with the two words ”South City.” This allowed him to pick a spot in the stall area without fear of being chased away.

A few wandering cultivators saw a new face and thought about coming over to squeeze him for some profit. But when they saw Lü Zhong’s practiced movements in setting up his stall, they knew he was an old pro and stopped in their tracks.

Once the stall was set up, Lü Zhong displayed the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talismans, pricing them at twenty-five Spirit Stones a piece.

He made his first sale quickly, to an Alchemist.

When the man heard the Secret Talisman was a third as effective as a Golden Light Talisman, he paid with Spirit Stones without a second thought, readily buying one.

Just like that, he’d made a profit of Seven Spirit Stones.

’It’s a shame the success rate for this talisman is still too low—less than thirty percent even now,’ Lü Zhong lamented internally. ’Otherwise, with this incredible profit margin and a creation speed far exceeding that of ordinary talismans, it would definitely surpass the Golden Light Talisman to become the most profitable talisman of the Qi Refining Stage.’

Lü Zhong sighed to himself, then, as usual, took out a book to pass the time and began to read.

Before he knew it, evening arrived, and he had sold four more Secret Talismans.

The Spirit Stones he earned were just enough to buy one Jade Solidification Pill and one Spiritual Universe Pill.

Pleased with his earnings, Lü Zhong felt satisfied and prepared to pack up his stall and return to the small riverside courtyard.

Suddenly, someone stopped in front of his stall.

”Fellow Daoist, did you by chance sell this Protective Jade Talisman?” The newcomer was a young man in purple robes. He held a Jade Talisman, and his voice trembled with unconcealed excitement.

Lü Zhong sensed the air of a fellow Talisman Maker about him. ’Business is here,’ he thought.

’Maybe I can sell my first Talisman Making Book to this person.’

At this thought, his expression became placid. He feigned ignorance and asked, ”That’s right. This Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman was indeed made by me. Why do you ask, Fellow Daoist?”

”The Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman! So it really is this talisman!”

The purple-robed youth grew even more agitated, his expression turning to one of excitement. He continued, ”Could you... could you possibly teach me how to make this talisman? Rest assured, I will not treat you unfairly, Fellow Daoist!”

Hearing this, Lü Zhong shook his head. ”Apologies, but my own skills are lacking.”

’Teaching someone to make talismans, while profitable, is time-consuming and exhausting,’ Lü Zhong thought. ’Selling a book is much easier.’

’Besides, if I start teaching others how to make this talisman, the value of the Talisman Making Book will drop. That’s why the Qingyang Remnant People only sold the book and never taught the method for the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman directly.’

Seeing the young man’s crestfallen expression, he quickly added, ”I can’t teach you, but I can sell you the Talisman Making Book. It costs two hundred Spirit Stones for one volume. I guarantee that after you learn from it, you’ll be able to create the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman.”

”Two hundred Spirit Stones...” The purple-robed youth hesitated.

’If he were teaching it directly,’ the youth thought, ’I’d agree without hesitation, not for two hundred Spirit Stones, but even for six hundred, as long as mastery was guaranteed.’

’But if it’s just the book, whether I can actually learn it is all up to me.’

At this thought, he wavered.

”Two hundred Spirit Stones, you say? I’ll buy it!”

The voice came from the side. It belonged to a silver-haired old woman.

She, too, was a Talisman Maker from Yongling City. When she heard someone was selling the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman in the South City Market, she had rushed over from her Talisman Workshop, arriving just in time to witness this scene.

The silver-haired old woman was well aware of the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman’s value. She had even gone through her own channels to acquire and test a few finished products. Unfortunately, due to the saber-rattling between the Heling Sect and the Golden Rainbow Sect, she had been unable to learn the method for creating this Secret Talisman.

Now that someone was selling the Talisman Making Book, there was no reason not to buy it.

After accepting the two hundred Spirit Stones, Lü Zhong promptly handed over the Talisman Making Book. The silver-haired old woman took the book and left, her face beaming with joy. She had to hurry back, learn the method, and add another profitable item to her Talisman Workshop’s inventory.

Seeing this, the purple-robed youth beside them finally made up his mind.

”Fellow Daoist, I...”

But before he could finish, Lü Zhong cut him off bluntly.

”Apologies. I only had one copy for today. If you’d like to buy one, Fellow Daoist, please come early tomorrow.”

With that, he turned and left.

He left the purple-robed youth standing there, stunned and filled with regret.