Chapter 7: Li Mao’s Deadly Intent

A few more days passed.

It was the time for the annual wages to be distributed to the miscellaneous disciples.

Jiang Min used her pass, which was about to expire, and took the ferrying flying boat to the place where she had first drawn lots to enter the sect. Looking around at the familiar bluestone square, seeing all kinds of disciples in gray servant robes gathered here, she felt a little dazed—it had already been a year.

Last year, she had still been a weak mortal, bullied here, falsely accused, shortchanged of her annual wages, powerless to resist. Now, she was literate, understood reason, and had embarked on the path of cultivation; even if she faced the chubby Li Mao again, she would have the strength to fight back.

Moreover, after absorbing all the demon core embryos, Jiang Min’s cultivation had improved markedly. The threshold to the second level of Qi Refinement no longer seemed so unattainable.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Though the peachwood branch could absorb all the demonic energy entering her body, Jiang Min was still somewhat affected. These past few days, she found her mind restless and agitated every time she cultivated, unable to find peace. The symptoms were identical to those of being eroded by demonic power.

But this was not insurmountable—money could solve it.

“As long as I get my annual wages, I’ll have enough to buy Talisman of Purification and Talisman of Tranquility and try them out. If they work, I can continue to use demon core embryos for cultivation.”

“It’s just that this means yet another expense—buying talismans.”

Jiang Min felt a headache coming on. This way, even twenty low-grade spirit stones would not be enough. Her illness could only be called poverty.

The main hall for collecting annual wages was crowded.

Jiang Min had hurried over right after finishing her chores, thinking she was early, but many had arrived before her. She had no choice but to queue up and wait for the line to move. After an hour, she finally received her annual wages with her servant token.

Twenty low-grade spirit stones and two Foundation Pills.

Jiang Min carefully put the spirit stones and pills into separate pouches and tucked them into her bosom. She recalled how she had once marveled that the sect would distribute the wages in advance. Now she understood—if they didn’t, someone really might starve to death… like herself, for example.

“I’ve heard these Foundation Pills are good for breaking through bottlenecks. I haven’t used the one from last year, so now I have three. I’ll save them for when I attempt to break through to the second level of Qi Refinement.”

“For now, I’d better hurry to the market and buy some Talisman of Purification and Talisman of Tranquility.”

Carrying the small fortune of twenty spirit stones, she hurried toward the ferry point, heading for the bustling market within the sect.

“Hey! Isn’t that wretched girl?”

Among the servants lining up for spirit stones, a broad-shouldered, thick-set, chubby youth stared at Jiang Min’s back. He was startled at first, then delighted, sneering coldly to himself:

“You cowered on Liuyun Peak with its tight security, and I couldn’t do anything to you, but now that you’ve left Liuyun Peak, don’t even think of going back!”

“Judging by the direction that wretched girl left in, she must be heading to Zixia Mountain, probably to shop at the market there. Once I get my spirit stones, I’ll go straight over. I won’t let her go this time.”

This was none other than Li Mao, the one who had stolen Jiang Min’s lot last year.

In his eyes, Jiang Min was already as good as dead. He hadn’t heard any news of her successfully opening her spiritual aperture; in his view, there was no way a peasant girl, illiterate a year ago, could possibly have started cultivating, especially since she’d always stayed on Liuyun Peak, with no chance to study or read scriptures.

Recently, he had acquired a rather powerful low-grade spirit weapon, more than enough to deal with a weak mortal girl. He had long wanted to get rid of Jiang Min and had made his preparations; there were plenty of ways to make her disappear quietly, without drawing attention.

Then, there would be no one left in the sect to offend his eyes.

...

“Senior sister, can’t you make it a little cheaper? You’re such a good person! How about this—if you let me have all these talismans for two spirit stones, I’ll also buy this Thunder Talisman and this Fire Sword Talisman!”

The Zixia Mountain market bustled with people coming and going.

Jiang Min was crouched before a scattered stall, her innocent eyes blinking as she pleaded with the young female cultivator behind the counter.

The young woman looked exasperated, waving her hand in resignation and transmitting her voice in frustration:

“All right, all right! Keep your voice down, will you? Do you want me to lose all my business? Two stones it is—take the Talismans of Purification and Tranquility. The Fire Sword Talisman is one stone, Thunder Talisman is three—six stones in total.”

This woman was an outer disciple of the Eastern Spirit Sect, skilled in drawing talismans and making a living selling them at market. She had met many hagglers, but never one as good as Jiang Min, who alternated between arm-twisting and sweet talk. If it weren’t for the fact that Jiang Min was only bargaining over basic, cheaply made talismans, she would never have agreed.

“Thank you, senior sister, you’re truly beautiful and kind!”

Jiang Min beamed, handing over six spirit stones, and tucked four Talismans of Purification, four Talismans of Tranquility, the Thunder Talisman, and the Fire Sword Talisman into her robe.

Originally, the asking price was one spirit stone for two Talismans of Purification or two Talismans of Tranquility—two stones for four basic talismans. In the end, Jiang Min managed to get twice as many for the same price!

Of course, Jiang Min didn’t bargain blindly. She had already wandered the market for an hour, checking out many talisman stalls and watching others haggle. She had a good sense of the real price and knew her offer was still acceptable to the seller.

As for the Thunder and Fire Sword Talismans, she decided to buy them on a whim while browsing.

A cultivator at the first level of Qi Refinement doesn’t have enough spiritual power to use any spells. Only upon reaching the fourth level does one have the foundation to begin learning immortal arts. So, if she wanted to protect herself before reaching the fourth level, she would have to rely on talismans, spiritual tools, and other external means.

She had already inquired about the cheapest low-grade spiritual tools, but even if she sold herself, she couldn’t afford one.

So she had to settle for talismans. Talismans could be activated by spiritual energy and, with the appropriate incantation, could mimic spell effects. They were relatively cheap but could only be used once.

“These are the incantations for the various talismans—just read them as written,” the young cultivator said, expertly pulling out a stack of prepared slips and handing a few to Jiang Min.

Jiang Min grinned brightly, taking the slips. “Thank you, senior sister. May your business flourish!”

After buying the talismans, Jiang Min visited another stall, haggled with the owner for quite a while, and finally spent two low-grade spirit stones on a copy of “Misty Steps” and “Clear Spirit Sword Technique.”

She knew her biggest weakness was a lack of martial skills; if forced into close combat, all she could do was punch and kick. Of course, one couldn’t expect to find anything truly valuable at a street stall—certainly not martial skills worth only one spirit stone—but anything was better than nothing, and she couldn’t afford anything more expensive anyway.

The market was filled with a dazzling array of things: spiritual food, pills, magical treasures, herbs, demon pets—it all made Jiang Min’s eyes swim, but she couldn’t afford any of it.

With her talismans and bargain martial arts, she didn’t hurry back but instead slipped to a quiet corner, took out the Talismans of Purification, Talismans of Tranquility, and the slips with their incantations.

The demonic energy had been troubling her for days—she just wanted to resolve it quickly. Besides, her situation was different from others who fell prey to such energy; she had no idea if the talismans would even work.

First, Jiang Min read over the incantation for the Talisman of Purification until she had memorized it. Then she picked up a talisman and focused a wisp of spiritual energy into it.

Immediately, the talisman glowed faintly, the runes on the paper shining with flowing light.

Jiang Min quickly and quietly recited,

“Radiance shines, all evil is swept away; the light of the Way dispels all filth.”