Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Carrying a Huge Sum

Jiang Xu was ecstatic, his mind racing with one guess after another.

He replayed the entire event from yesterday afternoon countless times in his mind, forming a theory.

’If I’m right, this Enlightenment Realm can be replicated!’

’Thinking back, the enlightenment yesterday probably happened because I took out 250 sheets of Talisman Paper at once. That must have been the foundation for it.

The key is to continuously increase the Skill Level on my panel, and keep it going for long enough.’

’Extraordinary comprehension... Isn’t that a perfect description of me, someone who can continuously raise my Skill Level?’

’As for being in harmony with the will of heaven and earth... I have no idea how I did that. But if it happened once, it can happen again. Who knows when it might reoccur!’

At this moment, Jiang Xu looked at his panel and suddenly felt a little dissatisfied.

’It seems the Enlightenment Realm isn’t a one-step ticket to heaven. I only broke through to Mastery Perfection, and the next Realm is still holding me back.’

’If only I could have broken through one more Realm. I still don’t know what comes after Mastery, or what kind of changes it brings compared to the Mastery Realm.’

’But based on past experience, the next Realm is bound to be much stronger than Mastery. There will likely be new, extended changes.’

’Right, I still haven’t figured out what changes happen to an individual Talisman in the Talisman Dao after reaching the Master Level!’

Jiang Xu had been so focused on Talisman Making that he hadn’t even noticed the changes to the Talismans after he leveled up.

He took out one of the newly drawn Cold Ice Talismans.

Just from a glance, Jiang Xu could clearly feel that this Cold Ice Talisman, whether in its Spiritual Charm or the strength of the Magical Power it contained, was a cut above the Talismans he had drawn before.

’The arrangement of the Runes has changed subtly, and it’s clearly drawn more smoothly and delicately than before. This will undoubtedly reduce the strain on the Talisman User’s Spiritual Sense, allowing a Cultivator to control more Talismans at once. And the power of the Talisman itself should be greater too.’

Jiang Xu clicked his tongue in amazement.

It was incredible that the panel could even enhance the Hundred Skills of Cultivation to this extent.

’In my opinion, Talismans drawn at the Master Level should fetch a higher price than the ordinary ones from before. But as for how much higher, I’m not too sure about that.’

His Talisman Making success rate had increased, and the Talismans he drew were now worth more. Naturally, Jiang Xu was delighted.

But this also brought no small number of problems.

’I have 20 ordinary Cold Ice Talismans and 35 of these special ones. Selling just fifteen yesterday was risky enough, never mind the situation now...’

Jiang Xu’s brows furrowed as he tried to think of a countermeasure.

In truth, outside of the Profound Origin Sect, the vast majority of Cultivators did not dabble in the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.

The main reason was poverty; they couldn’t afford the initial investment.

Even other Major Sects similar to the Profound Origin Sect didn’t place as much importance on the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.

Most Sects were content with having a few Alchemists. For the other skills, it didn’t matter much either way.

If they had them, great. If not, they wouldn’t go to great lengths to cultivate them.

They would just recruit a few already-established Honored Guest Elders to satisfy the Sect’s daily needs.

Therefore, outside the Profound Origin Sect, professions like Talisman Makers, Alchemists, and Artifact Refiners were extremely rare.

Even a Tier One Lower Grade Talisman Maker was a rare sight, let alone one who could draw a Cold Ice Talisman, which was considered one of the most difficult Talismans within Tier One Lower Grade.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Xu suddenly felt relieved.

He felt there was no need to worry about these things.

’I’m really overthinking this. After today, I’ll be leaving the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace and returning to the Sect. The Marketplace is overseen by a Golden Core, so fighting is forbidden. The chances of running into danger are extremely low.’

’So what if I’m a little different? I’m not a Loose Cultivator who can only tremble in fear when danger appears. Worst case scenario, I’ll just hide behind Yan Chunyu! Besides, I have the Concealing Breath Spell, it’s not like I can’t slip away!’

Jiang Xu slammed his hand on the table.

’Let’s go! To the Duo Bao Pavilion! I’d like to see them try and control me just because I’m a Talisman Maker!’

...

「Inside Wanxiang Tower.」

Jiang Xu sat in his chair, looking calm and composed as the old man before him carefully appraised the special Cold Ice Talismans he had made.

"How is it, Elder Qian?"

Steward Wang, who was in charge of receiving Jiang Xu, stared nervously at the appraiser, Elder Qian, as he studied the Cold Ice Talismans.

"...Marvelous! Simply marvelous!"

Elder Qian examined them from left to right, looked them up and down, and only after a long while did he exclaim in admiration:

"These are Top Grade among Cold Ice Talismans!

When certain great Alchemists are refining pills, they have a chance of creating a Top Grade Spirit Pill if the conditions are absolutely perfect. This is something everyone knows.

But I’d also heard that similar things could happen in the other Hundred Skills of Cultivation, not just the Alchemy Dao. I’d never seen it for myself, though, and always dismissed it as a rumor. To think I’d get to witness it today.

It seems I truly made the right choice becoming an appraiser for Wanxiang Tower!"

Steward Wang’s face lit up with a grin upon hearing this. He carried the stack of Talismans over to Jiang Xu.

"Fellow Daoist Zong—no, Grandmaster Zong, are you certain you want to sell these fifteen Top Grade Cold Ice Talismans directly to us at Wanxiang Tower? In my humble opinion, you could consign them to us for auction. That way, you’d get at least twenty percent more than the price we can offer!"

The face under Jiang Xu’s bamboo hat twitched slightly, but he then said firmly:

"That’s right. No auction. Just name a price. If it’s fair, I’ll sell."

"I see. Very well, then."

Steward Wang then whispered with Elder Qian for a moment before turning back to Jiang Xu and saying:

"According to our appraiser’s judgment, each Top Grade Cold Ice Talisman is valued at four Spirit Stones. Additionally, due to their rarity, we’ve added another Spirit Stone per talisman, for a total of seventy-five Spirit Stones!"

Jiang Xu’s hand trembled almost imperceptibly.

’Damn! The last two shops only offered me four Spirit Stones a piece. If I’d known, I would have brought all the special Cold Ice Talismans here to Wanxiang Tower to sell!’

In the end, Jiang Xu hadn’t gone to the Duo Bao Pavilion on this trip out. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Jiang Xu stuck to the principle he’d set from the start: make a sale and move on to a new location.

It definitely wasn’t because Jiang Xu thought it would be awkward to run into that female attendant again.

This Wanxiang Tower was the third shop he had visited to sell his wares.

He had already sold all his other Talismans at the first two shops, earning a total of one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones.

Adding the earnings from this sale, Jiang Xu now had a huge sum of two hundred and five Spirit Stones in his hands!

After accepting the Spirit Stones from Steward Wang, Jiang Xu didn’t leave immediately as he had at the previous shops. Instead, he said to Steward Wang:

"Do you have any Magical Artifacts? Attack-type, Defense-type, support-type... bring out a few for me to see!"