[Talisman Room lv2]
[Spirit Effect: Success rate for Tier One Talismans +40%, Tier Two Talismans +20%, Tier Three Talismans +5%. Automatically learn "Transformation Talisman"]
[Upgrade Requirements: 20 Mid-grade Spirit Stones, 10 catties of Mica Crystal Cluster, 1 Red Marrow Thunder Jade, successfully draw a complete set of Five Element Talismans (Not achieved)]
Ji Yuan blinked as he stared at the panel text that popped up.
He even wondered for a moment if his eyes were playing tricks on him.
As for that stuff at the end—Mica Crystal Cluster, Red Marrow Thunder Jade—Ji Yuan had no clue, never even heard of them, but the Spirit Stones he knew—twenty... mid-grade!
If you traded that for low-grade spirit stones, that's gotta be 2,000 pieces!
With one look, Ji Yuan knew before he reached Foundation Establishment, there was no point even thinking about upgrading the [Talisman Room].
Thinking about it, it made sense. Tier One Talismans are for Qi Cultivation Stage, Tier Two Talismans mostly get used in early Foundation Establishment.
Now, even just level 2 in the Talisman Room, you get a 20% boost to Tier Two talisman success rate.
So requiring Foundation Establishment to upgrade to level 2? That's only natural.
"Whew—"
"No matter, this level 1 Talisman Room is already enough to let me dominate the Qi Cultivation Stage."
Looking at that 20% success rate boost, Ji Yuan dove back into grind mode again.
Ever since he realized activating Spirit Awakening didn't need a talisman brush, Ji Yuan's success painting the Calm Heart Talisman shot way up—now whenever he started, three out of two would reliably succeed.
But he only made two, then slapped one on himself to calm down and didn't waste any more.
The reason was simple: the Calm Heart Talisman... didn't make any money.
Ji Yuan had scoped it out before starting— the most profitable Tier One talisman in Zengtou City was the Water-Resistant Talisman!
This thing— every fisherman heading out needs one.
After all, if you're going into the water, you need the Water-Resistant Talisman; even if a handful know Water Avoidance Technique, they barely use it, since every shred of spiritual qi under the water is precious as hell.
The Water-Resistant Talisman goes for a decent price too—each sells for two spirit stones.
So for the next few days, except buying talisman paper at Zengtou City, Ji Yuan holed up and threw himself at talisman-making with single-minded devotion.
Whenever his spiritual qi ran dry, he'd chow down on eggs to recover.
Lucky for him, he had more than enough spirit eggs—seven or eight a day was plenty to cover the cost.
Not only that, but before two days were up, his second spirit pig matured. There was no helping it—besides eating eggs, he had to take on the "hard task" of eating spirit pig meat too.
Spirit pig meat didn't pack much spiritual qi, but still, better than nothing.
Ji Yuan braised some, roasted some, and stashed it in his room.
Whenever he got tired of painting talismans, he'd grab a bite; when he got so overheated it was unbearable, he'd switch back to painting again.
On and on he went, until soon enough he finally churned out his first Water-Resistant Talisman.
Inside the level 1 [Talisman Room], once you get a single success, your next success chance jumps up by 20%. After that, cranking out a second one's much easier.
As sheet after sheet of cyan hemp talisman paper vanished, more and more Water-Resistant Talismans appeared.
Ji Yuan could finally see victory… well, the light of breaking even!
Buying all those talisman brushes and ink before had run him nearly thirty spirit stones; to make his money back, he'd need at least twenty Water-Resistant Talismans.
Fortunately, last time Ji Yuan went to Zengtou City, he'd bought a hundred sheets of cyan hemp talisman paper.
Even if his own success rate was abysmal, just the [Talisman Room] alone would be enough to guarantee he broke even.
In the blink of an eye, three more days passed.
During those three days, even when he'd had a spirit fish and a half mature into full spirit fish, Ji Yuan didn't have the time to deal with it.
It wasn't until he'd finished the final talisman sheet, and looked into his storage bag at the big fat stack—thirty-two Water-Resistant Talismans in all—that he finally flopped backward and collapsed to the floor.
No other reason, he was just that exhausted.
Day in, day out—if he wasn't cultivating or eating, he was churning out talismans nonstop.
Even resting just meant shutting his eyes for a catnap before jumping up for more work.
Truly—cultivator life.
But the past few days weren't a total wash—the biggest payoff was naturally that thick stack in his storage bag—oh, I mean the talismans, not spirit stones.
Second, Ji Yuan's fine control of spiritual qi had improved a ton.
When painting talismans, he had to channel spiritual power into the brush, then release it precisely from the tiny tip. If you didn't have delicate control, forget about it.
In other words, if he had to square off in magical combat with someone again—
No matter if casting techniques or manipulating magical artifacts, Ji Yuan could pull off much fancier moves now.
Next came body tempering—all that meat over several days, even if it was only half a spirit pig, Ji Yuan felt his constitution had toughened up massively.
Most obvious? His skin was way tougher.
Sure, a freak ability like Water Drop Finger would still wreck him, but ordinary water ball techniques hitting his body barely made a dent now.
Getting stronger is always sweet. So Ji Yuan drifted off happily in the midst of that sweetness.
By the time he woke up again, it was already early morning the next day.
Refreshed and full of energy, Ji Yuan tidied himself up, collected seven more spirit eggs for the day, and butchered that spirit fish too.
Once he'd finished his morning routine and was about to head off to Zengtou City, he suddenly heard arguing from next door at the Lin Family place.
Ji Yuan had been holed up at home for five or six days straight, no idea what had gone down.
But with just a single wall between the two houses, and Lin Hu and Wu Qin shouting in the courtyard,
No matter how much Ji Yuan tried not to listen, he could hear it all loud and clear.
Turns out, Deng Yunliang had been heading to Zengtou City every night to hit up the gambling den, and somehow ended up dragging Lin Hu with him.
The first night Lin Hu won some money, and once he got that taste, he was hooked.
Fishing couldn't compete with gambling for quick, easy cash.
But in the next few days, Lin Hu started losing everyday—almost lost everything—but swore up and down he could win it all back.
Wu Qin had had enough and finally started fighting him over it.
Other people's domestic issues—Ji Yuan didn't want to get involved.
But just as he opened his door, out front of the neighbor's gate sat a middle-aged man, sighing and groaning.
Soon as he spotted Ji Yuan, Deng Yunliang jumped up, squeezing out a forced smile. "Ji... Daoist Ji, heading out are you?"
"Yeah."
Ji Yuan nodded coldly and indifferently.
Deng Yunliang acted like he didn't notice, rubbing his hands. "There's something... I wanted to discuss with Daoist Ji, if that's alright?"
"Whatever it is, wait till I'm back."
Now that Ji Yuan knew Deng Yunliang was a gambling addict, he wanted nothing to do with him.
Anywhere you go, gamblers never deserve sympathy.
"Just—could I borrow a few spirit stones? Just three, to pay my Immortal Residence fee this month. Next month, I'll pay you back—give you five spirit stones! Five!"
Deng Yunliang stuck out five fingers.
"No."
Ji Yuan hopped onto the White Boat, and Deng Yunliang looked like he wanted to chase after him.
Ji Yuan spun around, gave him a cold look, and released his mid-stage Qi Cultivation aura—Deng Yunliang blanched, stumbled back several steps before stopping.
"S-sorry to bother you."
Deng Yunliang finally snapped out of it, bowed to Ji Yuan, and let out a long sigh.
Ji Yuan ignored him, steering his boat for Zengtou City.
He wasn't worried. If Deng Yunliang knew his place, fine.
If not... well, the Cloud Rain Marsh old grandpa is famous for eating people.