Chapter Fourteen: Selling Talismans and Charms

  "It's too expensive." Li Muran smiled awkwardly and left the talisman shop.

  The sky was getting late, Li Muran remembered Qingfengzi's words and did not linger, leaving the market town and returning to the sect.

  In the library, he saw a large number of Taoist scriptures and spellbooks, and in the market, he saw all kinds of ingenious treasures. Li Muran's vision was already greatly different from that of a few days ago.

  This time, he wanted to recalculate his cultivation plan.

  Li Muran thought to himself: "Since I couldn't find the reason for the dissipation of yuanqi, why not just refine these yuanqi into yuanqi symbols and sell them as ling stones."

  "With the Ling Stone, you can buy many treasures, read more classics, and slowly find clues again."

  It is often said in classics that cultivating immortality is a work of ten thousand years, how can it be achieved overnight? Following the order and advancing gradually is the principle.

  After some deliberation, Li Muran made a decision. During the day, he would cultivate for half a day and rest for half a day. At night, he would focus all his energy on meditation and breathing exercises, then use the absorbed heaven and earth primordial energy to create talismans.

  Li Muran was already a formal disciple, but he had not received any chores or miscellaneous tasks. Although this meant that he did not have any salary income, it also left him with plenty of free time.

  So, during this period of time, he devoted himself to making talismans. As he became more and more skilled, one night, he could make four or five talismans, twenty-two sheets of talisman paper, and after five nights, he used them all up.

  With a solid foundation and skilled techniques, Li Muran only lost twice, obtaining twenty first-grade yuanqi symbols.

  Twenty pieces of Yuanqi symbols, the total amount of heaven and earth's yuanqi contained in them is astonishing. If it were other disciples, how could they bear to use a large amount of yuanqi that they had cultivated with great difficulty to make symbols!

  Li Muran had no choice but to do so, anyway these yuanqi would be wasted if not used.

  Li Muran immediately went to the market again, exchanging all these yuanqi symbols for a total of 100 first-class symbol papers, which he stuffed into his bosom.

  "The means of making talismans by Little Brother are quite good! In such a short time, he has already made all those talisman papers into yuanqi talismans?" The shopkeeper was somewhat surprised.

  Generally speaking, making twenty one-star yuanqi symbols would take at least a month or even longer.

  "This isn't just my own credit," Li Muran said, reciting a speech he had already prepared: "These yuanqi symbols were made by me and seven or eight fellow disciples working together through the night; I'm just here to sell them."

  "Ah, I see." The shopkeeper nodded with a hint of a smile. This method of forcing the pace, although faster, would stagnate his progress in cultivation. Whether it was worth it or not was hard to say, but this was something the shopkeeper wouldn't mention to Li Muran.

  Li Muran had read many classics and naturally understood this, after getting these 100 talismans, he didn't rush to make more with all his might. Instead, he cultivated himself while making the talismans, every night, only before dawn when the primordial energy was about to dissipate, would he make two or three primordial energy talismans.

  Having learned from the previous lesson, Li Muran did not dare to take out all the yuanqi symbols at once this time. Instead, he went to the market every now and then, selling a few yuanqi symbols each time, without arousing any attention.

  Moreover, many shops are willing to buy yuanqi symbols, and the prices are all uniform. The use of yuanqi symbols is more extensive than Li Muran imagined, and apart from the disciples of Yuanshu Zong, other sects also need yuanqi symbols to supplement the yuanqi of symbol papers, talismans, etc.

  After several trips, Li Muran also accumulated some spiritual stones. Some were used to exchange for talismans, while the rest were kept to visit the library and read books.

  Three months later, Li Muran went to the library again early in the morning. He was already familiar with Xiao Shusheng, so he put down a piece of spiritual stone, greeted him, and then headed straight to the second floor to read some books that introduced various talismans.

  "Zhao, slow down," Xiao Shusheng suddenly called out to Li Muran: "Brother, you've come at just the right time. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

  "What's going on? Is Master Xiao going to exchange a few more Yuanqi symbols?" Li Muran asked curiously.

  Xiao Shusheng said, "It's like this, I promised Mo Shixiong and plan to go with him to complete a task, which requires leaving the sect for half a month. I don't know if Zhao Shixiong can help me take care of the Cangshu Pavilion during this time?"

  "What's with the 'Hidden Book Pavilion'?" Li Muran was taken aback.

  "Yes, it's very simple! The library is usually quiet and rarely visited by fellow disciples, making it a leisurely task. However, this task comes with no pay, and the sect doesn't offer any rewards either. The only benefit is that you can browse through all the books for free. I think Brother Zhao is also a book lover, would you be willing to help your brother out?" Xiao Shusheng looked at Li Muran with expectation on his face.

  "It's just like reading books in my own study at home!" Li Muran's heart skipped a beat, and he asked: "I'm afraid I'm not qualified for this important task?"

  Xiao Shusheng saw Li Muran's intention and said with a smile: "Haha, that's no problem. With my recommendation, it's definitely okay. And it's just a temporary appointment as the executive of the Cangshu Pavilion, there won't be too high requirements. If Zhao Shidi is willing, why not go through the formalities today, and then Shidi won't need to spend spirit stones to read books again!"

  Li Muran thought carefully and agreed. Xiao Shusheng was overjoyed and immediately took Li Muran to the office of the person in charge to report this matter to his elder brother.

  At first, the manager disagreed because Li Muran was too inexperienced, but Xiao Shusheng strongly recommended him and said there was no other suitable candidate to replace him. In the end, the manager agreed and asked the two to hand over the formalities.

  "The rules of the Book Pavilion are simple, every seven days can be closed for one day to tidy up books, and at night it is not open to the outside... " Xiao Shusheng introduced Li Muran in detail, finally taking out a palm-sized Bagua-shaped jade plate, saying: "This is the array plate of the Cold Condensation Method. In the Book Pavilion, there is a set of cold condensation arrays, which are used to guard the Book Pavilion on weekdays; if there is a fire hazard, just activate this array plate immediately, and a cold air will envelop the entire Book Pavilion, extinguishing the flames instantly. The use of the array plate is also simple, you only need to follow the method to input some magical power into the symbols on the array plate; as for the consumption of the array's yuanqi, it comes from the spiritual stones that have been laid out in the array, without consuming one's own yuanqi..."

  Xiao Shusheng gave a detailed account, and Li Muran carefully took note. That night, after closing the door of the three-story library, he was the only one left to guard it.

  Li Muran quickly adapted to life in the library, after all, he had spent countless nights like this with books as his companions before.

  The only inconvenience is that during the day, if other disciples come to read books, he can't cultivate, but he can freely browse through various books in the library.

  Li Muran reads books during the day and paints one or two talismans at night before resting. After all, reading is mentally taxing, and Li Muran is a meticulous reader who can remember most of the content after just one read.

  On this day, the library had no other disciples visiting, and Li Muran was alone, holding a biography book and reading it with great interest.

  This biography tells the story of a five-hundred-year-old elder of the Yuanfu Sect, whose natural talent was not particularly impressive, but who had an unusual fate and loved to travel and have adventures, leaving behind many legendary stories.

  The biography is recorded in great detail, and even the ordinary events of the elder's opening ceremony and his apprenticeship as a beginner are written in several chapters. However, Li Muran didn't find it dull at all. From the words and phrases, one can see the elder's dedication to cultivating immortality, his plans for his own cultivation, and the various details of his practice, which moved him deeply.

  As I read on, the biography suddenly mentioned that the elder participated in a sect mission and then became vague, only mentioning that this mission involved many disciples, with no small danger, and many disciples were unwilling to participate. However, the elder voluntarily requested to execute the mission and made significant contributions. After completing this mission, the elder instantly transformed from an ordinary disciple to a renowned figure, deeply respected by the sect's upper and lower echelons. He did not disappoint everyone's expectations and step by step became a legendary elder.

  This biography is written in a realistic style, characterized by its detailed content and true-to-life portrayal. The elder's life story is told clearly, except for this one mission of the sect, which is glossed over with just a few simple sentences.

  "It's strange, this task is very important for the elder's cultivation path, but it's one of the few major turning points in his life's cultivation trajectory. Why is it so brief? Why not elaborate on it?" Li Muran closed the book, but the doubts in his heart couldn't be dispelled.

  Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind like lightning:

  "Sect mission! Ah, didn't Master say that three years later, we few disciples must participate in a sect mission? That task also has danger, could it be that there's some connection between the two?"

  At the beginning, when Zixia Dao people took in a few of their disciples as apprentices, Li Muran remembered the scene vividly. Participating in that mysterious "sect mission" was the only requirement put forward by Zixia Dao people. What kind of task made the master attach so much importance to it?

  Li Muran carefully re-read the biography about the sect's mission, which mentioned that the elder had spent a lot of effort and prepared many methods before executing the task, all of which were to enhance his actual combat ability, rather than for cultivation.

  "After all, it was something that happened hundreds of years ago, perhaps it has nothing to do with anything." Li Muran thought to himself, then continued to browse more books related to the history of the sect, searching for clues about that "sect task".

  This discovery, however, gave Li Muran a fright. He found that at least dozens of classics mentioned a certain sect task, but all were brief and evasive in their words, as if intentionally avoiding the topic. If it weren't for Li Muran's deliberate search for related content, he might have easily overlooked it.

  At the same time, although the events recorded in these classics span a huge range of years, from hundreds to tens of years ago, when mentioning this sect's mission, there are several obvious common characteristics:

  First, this task was completed by the disciples rather than the senior members of the sect; second, this task is not without danger, some disciples have gone and never returned, many disciples are unwilling to participate; third, those who complete the task smoothly often gain a rich harvest and receive the respect of the sect.