After an uncertain span of time, Lu Chi jolted awake.

  The wooden beams of the roof came into view, and light seeped through the window paper—bright and quiet.

  His first instinct was not to rise, but to will his mind into motion, summoning the status panel.

  The familiar interface unfolded before him.

  Numbers, entries—all present, none missing.

  It hadn’t collapsed or glitched.

  Lu Chi let out a silent breath of relief.

  Last night hadn’t been an overly vivid dream.

  His gaze immediately fell upon the [Talisman Mastery]? column.

  Beneath Vermin?Repelling Talisman, a new line now clearly appeared.

  [Name: Lu Chi]?

  [Realm: Qi Refinement — Third Layer]?

  [Profession: Talisman Master Lv.1 (1/30)]?

  [Ice Arrow Talisman: Novice (10/100)]

  “One talisman completed, ten proficiency points gained, plus one profession experience point…

  Going by this, it wouldn’t take more than a few days to advance another level, would it?”

  Lu Chi’s breath hitched.

  Before this surprise could fade, an even clearer sensation spread through his mind:

  How to start and end the brushstroke, how the spiritual energy should flow, which part of the talisman pattern to tighten and which to release—it all became self?evident, no longer requiring repeated deliberation.

  In other words, aided by the talent, he had genuinely acquired the complete method for drawing the Ice Arrow Talisman.

  As for whether he could complete a talisman in one attempt without using [Fiery Will]… that was another matter altogether.

  Even so, Lu Chi couldn’t help the leap in his heart.

  Ordinary talisman masters who wished to advance had to train hard to improve their cultivation while also seeking out methods everywhere, repeatedly contemplating higher?grade talisman patterns and techniques.

  But with the aid of his talent, he could forcefully bypass that threshold.

  From now on, many of the obstacles ahead would be halved.

  Lu Chi remained dazed for a moment before noticing something odd about the light in the room.

  He had slept through to the next morning.

  Though a trace of fatigue still lingered in his sea of consciousness, it didn’t slow him down.

  His thoughts flowed smoothly enough, and when he drew upon his spiritual energy, it merely felt a little soft—nothing like yesterday’s hollowed?out exhaustion.

  Quietly, Lu Chi began to weigh things in his mind.

  Last night, from completing the talisman to exhaustion, it took less than half an hour.

  After sleeping through the night, although not fully recovered, he could already walk and circulate spiritual energy.

  Judging by this recovery rate, as long as he didn’t activate his talent consecutively and acted cautiously every other day, there shouldn’t be a problem.

  What truly made a talisman master valuable was never a momentary burst of power, but this kind of stable, measurable output.

  This way, as long as the rhythm was well controlled and he steadily drew talismans, slowly accumulating spirit stones and cultivation, this path would only grow clearer.

  “In the future, when my cultivation improves further, the backlash and consumption of [Fiery Will]? should lessen accordingly.

  By then, perhaps the interval for using it can be shortened.”

  Once the thought was settled, Lu Chi no longer felt rushed.

  Standing in the room, he straightened his clothes slightly and had already planned his next move.

  First, he would take a stroll around the market district and stock up on more talisman paper at home—he would only need it more and more from now on.

  After all, judging by this momentum, his identity as a “talisman master” was bound to become solid before long.

  No sooner had the thought arisen than the Warning Talisman beside the door suddenly trembled faintly, a subtle ripple of spiritual intent spreading across its surface.

  Someone was coming… Lu Chi’s brow twitched. He took a step forward and pushed the wooden door open with his hand.

  The man outside wore a short blue cotton robe, the hem of his clothes carrying a fresh, earthy spiritual aura. His expression was gentle and composed.

  Seeing the door open, his gaze lingered on Lu Chi’s face for a moment before he revealed a smile.

  “You finally woke up, kid. I thought you’d left the talisman shop and, in a fit of despair, run off to Xiangyun Tower to seek pleasure and squander all your spirit stones.”

  Lu Chi recognized the man. His name was Zhou Jinyan, a few years older than him, at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  This man owned a plot of spiritual fields at the foot of Azure Sparrow Mountain, where he grew some spiritual rice and herbs, selling them in the market district after harvest—a proper spiritual farmer’s trade.

  The two had become acquainted precisely because of Lu Chi’s previous identity as a talisman?mender.

  When Zhou Jinyan first established his spiritual fields, what troubled him most was that the spiritual energy would sometimes gather and sometimes scatter, and the talismans used to suppress the fields often wore out and lost effectiveness.

  Later, by chance, he got to know Lu Chi and privately asked him to repair and redraw some Spirit?Gathering Talismans and Pest?Repelling Talismans, which he specifically pasted on the ridges and irrigation channels of the fields.

  Lu Chi didn’t charge much. Over time, the fields became easier to manage, and their relationship grew closer.

  As for the Xiangyun Tower he mentioned, it was a shop located on the east side of the market district, a place where cultivators went to drink and enjoy themselves. Most of the female cultivators in the tower were exceptionally beautiful.

  That place was expensive and most likely to disturb one’s state of mind. Lu Chi had always kept his distance… Naturally, he had only gone once or twice by chance.

  Lu Chi stood inside the door, met Zhou Jinyan’s eyes, stepped aside, and said casually, “It’s chilly outside. Why don’t you come in and sit for a while?”

  Zhou Jinyan wasn’t polite either. He lifted his foot over the threshold, walked in while sizing up Lu Chi, let out a soft tut, and said:

  “I went to Luo’s Talisman Shop looking for you this morning, but I didn’t see you. After asking around, I found out you weren’t there anymore.”

  “Old Man Luo also said you failed at talisman?mending, made a mess of things, and left too ashamed to stay.”

  He waved his hand dismissively and said, “It’s just a bit of hardship—what’s the big deal? If you have nowhere to go, come to my spiritual fields. We can manage them together.”

  Hearing this, Lu Chi understood about seventy or eighty percent of the situation. Zhou Jinyan probably had other matters to discuss, but the phrase “failed at talisman?mending” made him somewhat suspicious.

  “Did he really say that?” Lu Chi asked.

  “I heard it with my own ears. Could it be wrong?” Zhou Jinyan retorted.

  Lu Chi’s finger paused slightly, then he understood at once.

  It was true that Shopkeeper Luo had driven him away, but if word got out that the shopkeeper was heartless and unjust, it would damage the shop’s reputation and chill the hearts of others.

  Far better to put the blame on him—say he was “incompetent, made mistakes, and left in shame”—thus preserving the shop’s dignity while making the shopkeeper appear generous.

  A chill crept into Lu Chi’s heart, though his expression remained unchanged. He only said calmly, “What a clever scheme.”

  Zhou Jinyan was taken aback, looking utterly bewildered.

  Lu Chi gave a faint smile and recounted the whole story from beginning to end in an even tone.

  “That old scoundrel! How shameless!”

  Zhou Jinyan’s face flushed red with anger. He slapped his thigh, turned, and started pulling Lu Chi. “Come on, let’s go find him and demand justice!”

  But Lu Chi shook his head and reached out to stop him.

  That Shopkeeper Luo was at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement—a figure who could hold his own in the market district. With their level of cultivation, even if they joined forces, they might not withstand a single palm strike from him.

  Not to mention, this Luo Family Talisman Shop was the Luo family’s business.

  If they really kicked up a fuss, justice might not be served, but a beating would land on them first.

  Zhou Jinyan’s fists clenched until they creaked. Only after a long moment did he forcefully swallow his anger and let out a heavy sigh. “This is humiliating.”

  Lu Chi, on the other hand, smiled faintly. He could still suppress the fire in his own heart, but Zhou Jinyan had exploded first—truly a straightforward temper.

  He didn’t dwell on the matter further. Changing the subject, he asked directly, “Brother Zhou, did you come today just for this?”

  Only then did Zhou Jinyan remember his real purpose. His expression softened slightly, though a trace of anger still lingered between his brows. He snorted, took a talisman from his chest, and handed it over.

  “That spirit field of mine has been gathering spiritual energy slowly lately. After investigating, I found it’s because this Spirit?Gathering Talisman has gone wrong.”

  “I’d hoped to hold out a little longer, but now I can’t delay any more… I came looking for you, hoping you could repair it for me.”

  Lu Chi took it and glanced at it, already having an idea of what was wrong.

  This talisman was familiar to him—a common Spirit?Gathering Talisman from the talisman shop.

  Used to gather spiritual energy and nourish spirit plants, Zhou Jinyan had brought him two or three of these before, all old talismans with worn corners or faint patterns.

  But this time, the talisman paper was brittle, the texture deeply cracked, and several of the spirit?channeling lines were blocked—as if it had been overloaded with spiritual energy, forced to keep working, and had long lost its intended efficacy.

  To repair it now would be like patching mud onto a broken beam in an old house: it might hold today, but tomorrow the whole thing would likely collapse.

  Lu Chi pondered for a moment, then carefully folded the talisman and handed it back. “This talisman… can no longer be repaired.”

  Zhou Jinyan was stunned. He took the talisman, examined it closely with unwilling eyes, but his tone already deflated. “So I have to buy a new one?”

  Lu Chi’s voice was calm. “If you took it to an ordinary talisman artisan, they might barely make it work for a while. But in my opinion, repairing it is useless—less than ten percent of its spiritual effect remains. If you trust me, you’re better off buying another.”

  “I see.”

  Zhou Jinyan looked as if someone had whacked him on the back of the head with a firewood stick. His whole body slumped, and after a long moment, he frowned and muttered under his breath:

  “But… this is just a first?rank, low?grade talisman. In that talisman shop, they dare to charge a whole spirit stone for it! Do they really think we rogue cultivators farming spirit fields are made of gold?sand spirit ore?”

  He carefully put away the useless talisman and sighed again. Though he complained, he didn’t make a scene—in his heart, he knew that if he really delayed the maturation of the spirit plants in his field, the loss would be even greater.

  Zhou Jinyan then turned to look at Lu Chi, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, “Now that you… are also free, if you don’t mind, why not come with me to the fields and help out for a while?”

  In this market district, if your spirit?stone income was cut off and you had no connections to rely on, your cultivation would naturally stall. On top of that, you’d have to bear the burden of rent.

  He understood this clearly—obviously wanting to give Lu Chi a hand.

  Lu Chi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. His tone was calm. “Thank you for your kindness, Brother Zhou. I already have plans.”

  Zhou Jinyan eyed him suspiciously, his brow slightly furrowed as if he didn’t quite believe it.

  He remembered that Lu Chi came from a mortal background and had kept to himself these years at Azure Sparrow Mountain, not mixing much with the people in the market district. Where could such “plans” have come from so quickly?

  He pursed his lips but didn’t press further, only saying, “If you change your mind, there’s often a shortage of helpers around the fields. Just say the word.”

  Zhou Jinyan, after all, had been around. He could see clearly that Lu Chi was just unwilling to admit defeat and was holding onto a stubborn breath of air.

  Lu Chi didn’t argue. He lowered his head and glanced at the ruined talisman on the table, his fingertips lightly rubbing together. But a faint idea stirred in his heart:

  Since he could draw Ice Arrow Talismans, could he also try his hand at a first?rank Spirit?Gathering Talisman?

  If it were yesterday, he wouldn’t have dared entertain such a thought. But after forcibly completing an Ice Arrow Talisman with the help of [Fiery Will], he had gained some confidence.

  Zhou Jinyan would eventually have to go to the talisman shop to buy a talisman—starting at one low?grade spirit stone, and if the shopkeeper was particularly black?hearted, he’d even add a floating price on top.

  Why not try drawing one himself and sell it to him at a discount?

  For spirit farmers, Spirit?Gathering Talismans were everyday items, consumed quickly.

  If he could use this to build a connection and gradually open up a path among the spirit farmers, it might well become a decent source of income.

  With that thought, Lu Chi already had a plan in mind. Without revealing it immediately, he simply took an item from his cloth bag and handed it over.

  “Brother, why not take a look at this talisman? Does it catch your eye?”