Chapter 38

"You guys aren't going to fool me!" The Earth Fruit Spirit exploded into a porcupine shape, its countless green spines quivering, its voice cracking with anger. "You say this is a First-Class Spiritual Tree, and it is a First-Class Spiritual Tree??"0

Jian Huan sighed softly.0

She reached out and poked it, feeling like she was poking into a soft pile of sand: "Hey, take a look behind you."0

The Earth Fruit Spirit turned around and saw nothing but a run-down little wooden house.0

"Shen Jizhi and I live there," Jian Huan said with a sad expression. "Do you think we, living in such a place, could afford a Second-Class Spiritual Tree?"0

Earth Fruit Spirit: "……"0

Jian Huan's tone was gentle, her eyes bright as she looked at it: "We're counting on selling your fruits to afford a better house. Yet, you're expecting us to buy you a Second-Class Spiritual Tree?"0

Earth Fruit Spirit: "……"0

"Be good," Jian Huan said, "and produce those fruits well."0

The Earth Fruit Spirit didn't want to speak. It glanced at the shabby house again, then at its so-called First-Class Spiritual Tree. Suddenly, it didn't seem so displeasing.0

Actually, if you looked closely, it wasn't bad at all. At least it looked like a tree.0

The Earth Fruit Spirit self-comforted itself and then listlessly hopped onto the First-Class Spiritual Tree. It climbed along the branches and burrowed into the roots, disappearing into the soil.0

Jian Huan followed and crouched down, gathering the soil around the roots and patting it down. She tilted her head and looked up at Shen Jizhi: "Unfortunately, it only produces fruit once a year."0

In ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‍front of the sparse tree, a girl in a pale pink dress was squatting, hugging her legs.0

The bright moonlight gently fell on her face, casting a silvery frost over her fine, dense eyelashes, making them look like glowing wings.0

"As long as it produces fruit," Shen Jizhi said, his gaze returning to the distant mountains hidden in the twilight. After a while, he added, "It's almost dawn. Let's rest."0

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the wooden house in front.0

The Jade Clarity Sect's library was located not far from the Talisman Hall. The gilded signboard was adorned with lifelike wood carvings.0

The library had three floors, each with its own unique space. The books were arranged by categories such as Sword Cultivation, Talisman Cultivation, and Artifact Forging.0n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The interior was somewhat aged, reflecting the long history of the place.0

The Jade Clarity Sect had been in existence for nearly ten thousand years. Countless disciples had come, read, and left.0

People came and went. Only the books on the shelves remained the same.0

Ancient books always had a unique scent, a mix of faint ink and a hint of wood, which unintentionally calmed the heart.0

Jian Huan entered the library and climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor.0

The north side of the second floor was dedicated to talisman arrays.0

The talisman techniques Elder Yu Qing had taught them were just the basics.0

Various talisman combinations and techniques needed to be learned from books.0

After all, the master leads the way, but personal practice determines the outcome.0

"Jian Huan, over here!" Jiang Mian waved from a corner table.0

Jian Huan pulled out a few books from the shelves and sat down across from Jiang Mian.0

She opened a book and began to read intently.0

It had been nearly a month since the Qi Wan incident.0

Over the past month, Jian Huan had been busy with meditation, talisman classes, reading talisman books, drawing talismans, and learning various spells.0

The repeat customers on the Xuantian Mirror had been increasing, and Jian Huan had shifted from taking orders to a different approach.0

Every time she collected a hundred talismans, she would post a message.0

[Money Bags Has Talismans: Today, one hundred invisibility talismans. First come, first served. Priority for pick-up in Approaching Immortal City. Today, ten artifact-forging slots, limited to Approaching Immortal City.]0

Usually, within a stick of incense's time, they would all be sold out.0

Her and Shen Jizhi's wallets were steadily growing.0

Jian Huan's lips curved slightly as she glanced out the window.0

A few tall ginkgo trees, amidst her busy days, had already turned yellow without her noticing.0

The afternoon sunlight bathed the ginkgo trees, turning them into a dazzling golden hue.0

She gazed at them for a moment before continuing to read.0

This was a book on various talisman cultivation tips.0

It mentioned that only cultivators at the Golden Core stage could draw talismans in the world to form arrays.0

However, under special circumstances, cultivators below the Golden Core stage could use their own blood to stain weapons, forcing the formation of an array.0

Additionally, by drawing teleportation talismans on items imbued with a person's aura and slightly modifying the talismans, one could locate that person.0

The latter tip was something Elder Yu Qing had taught her before.0

Elder Yu Qing must have read this book when he was around her age.0

Jian Huan read through the remaining talisman books, noting useful information in a blank notebook.0

By the time she finished, the sky outside had already darkened.0

Jiang Mian had left a note saying she had gone to eat.0

Jian Huan stretched, took out a pigu dan (a type of spiritual pill) from her jiezi pouch, and slowly chewed it.0

Then, she carefully moved the other books aside, leaving a large open space. From her jiezi pouch, she took out a scroll.0

The scroll was a blank one she had bought from a small shop in Approaching Immortal City.0

It was already half-drawn, depicting the layout of her mountain villa in the eastern slope.0

Entering through the main gate, one would first see a screen wall, then turn left to reach the front courtyard filled with spiritual bamboo. After passing through a hanging flower gate and a corridor, one would enter the inner courtyard. The inner courtyard was filled with spiritual flowers and housed the main house. On either side of the main house were side rooms and east and west wing rooms.0

Behind the main house was the back courtyard. She wanted to dig a lake there, raise a pond of koi, add a few rockeries, and build a pavilion in the middle of the lake.0

In the wooden house, the candlelight quietly burned, casting a dim glow over the two inside.0

Shen Jizhi was sitting on a straw mat, holding the scroll.0

Jian Huan squatted beside him, full of anticipation: "Shen Jizhi, how much spirit stones would I need to prepare for all this?"0

Shen Jizhi thought for a moment before answering: "It depends on whether you want top-tier, mid-tier, or low-tier materials. Different tiers have different prices."0

Jian Huan, feeling her legs go numb from squatting, decided to sit down.0

She propped her head with her hand: "I think I can definitely reach the Golden Core stage. At the Golden Core stage, one can live up to five hundred years. If I accidentally reach the Nascent Soul stage, I can live for several thousand years. If I reach the Deity Transformation stage, I can live for ten thousand years. So, since I'll be living for so long, I should at least go for—mid-tier, right?"0

She had originally wanted to say top-tier but thought better of it. Mid-tier was more than enough.0

Shen Jizhi informed her: "When you reach the Nascent Soul stage, you can become a sect elder. The Jade Clarity Sect will provide an estate for elders."0

Jian Huan: "Can't I have two houses?"0

Shen Jizhi: "……"0

Jian Huan: "Do you remember my friend Gong Feihong? The one from a very wealthy family."0

Shen Jizhi: "Yes."0

Jian Huan: "He's renting an elder's estate, and I asked about it. The annual rent is thirty thousand spirit stones."0

Her eyes sparkled with longing: "When the time comes, I'll rent out the elder's estate and build my own place to live here."0

Shen Jizhi handed the scroll back to her: "Oh, then you'll need at least a million spirit stones." He emphasized the word "at least."0

Jian Huan: "……"0

She opened the scroll again and leaned over, pointing at the main house: "What about this? If I start with the main house, how much would that cost?"0

Shen Jizhi glanced at it: "At least fifty to sixty thousand."0

Jian Huan silently looked at him, then suddenly leaned closer, her eyes blinking with anticipation: "Shen Jizhi, can I cut in line? Just pay me back first. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, no one will know."0

Shen Jizhi's eyelids twitched.0

He looked at her, reached out, and pushed her head back, creating distance between them. Then, he slowly said two words: "No way."0

Jian Huan couldn't understand, muttering: "Why? Look, we've been through life and death together. Aren't we good friends? Why can't you just pay me back first?"0

Shen Jizhi tossed the scroll back into her lap, his tone calm: "The creditor of the next debt is constantly urging. I've promised to repay him in three days. After that, I'll be broke. What's the point of you cutting in line? Should I write you a note saying ten thousand spirit stones is worth ten thousand spirit stones?"0

Jian Huan's lips twitched: "……That won't be necessary."0

She wasn't the Earth Fruit Spirit, after all.0

Three days later was the fifteenth of September, the Jade Clarity Sect's unchanging day off.0

Shen Jizhi had left the sect the previous night to repay his next debt (221).0

Jian Huan finished drawing the last of the hundred talismans and stored them in her jiezi pouch. She pushed open the wooden door and stepped outside.0

The autumn sun was warm, and the spiritual tree in front of the wooden house was bathed in the afternoon sunlight. The previous withered leaves had all fallen, leaving it bare.0

But upon closer inspection, despite it not being spring, tiny buds were sprouting on the branches.0

Fortunately, spiritual trees were not bound by the usual seasonal growth cycles. Otherwise, if someone saw this, it would be hard to explain.0

Jian Huan measured the height with her hand. A month ago, the tree was about her height, but now, it was taller than her by the length of an index finger.0

Hmm, it grew faster than her. Jian Huan was quite satisfied.0

She crouched down and instructed the tree roots, "Fruit, I'm going down the mountain, okay? Don't come out; be careful not to be seen."0

A voice full of frustration came from the ground: "Do you and Shen Jizhi ever finish? He told me not to come out before he left last night, and you're here early in the morning to say the same thing! Can you stop disturbing my sleep? If I don't sleep, how am I supposed to bear fruit?"0

Jian Huan muttered, "We're just concerned about you, you know...?"0

"No!" The Earth Fruit Spirit could already anticipate the response. "Nothing has grown yet. It's only been a month. Come back in eleven months, not every few days."0

Jian Huan: "Alright, I got it."0

She glanced at the sky. With a thought, the emerald green spirit bamboo from her mustard seed pouch appeared at her feet.0

This was a seventh-grade spirit bamboo she had picked up from a stall at the Immortal Storage Tower while delivering talismans to a seller a while back. It cost a hundred each, more expensive than even first-grade spirit trees.0

However, the first-grade spirit trees were a discounted deal from a familiar contact, and they were already half-dead to begin with.0

Such bargains are hard to come by.0

Jian Huan's hem danced in the wind as the emerald green spirit bamboo lifted her into the air, heading towards Approaching Immortal City.0

She handed over the hundred talismans to the customer on the Xuantian Mirror, collected the payment, and didn't linger. She set off back to her sect.0

This trip took an hour and a half. It was still early afternoon, with the sun not yet setting and the sky bright, the weather pleasant.0

Jian Huan lightly stepped on the spirit bamboo, humming a tune as she glided through the woods, thinking about her plans ahead.0

Selling talismans to make a living was manageable, but to achieve her dream of a luxurious mansion, save up a million spirit stones, and advance from Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul to secure the sect-issued house, well, that was a different story.0

She had been resting in the sect for a month. It was time to hit the road again and pull off something big.0

Fortune favors the bold.0

At that moment, a burly figure strangely burst out from the forest below, a large blade carrying a murderous aura, directly slashing towards Jian Huan!0

Jian Huan's eyes sharpened instantly.0

She bent backward forcefully, like a branch on the verge of breaking under the fierce wind of a storm.0

A few strands of black hair were sliced off by the blade's edge, falling towards the dense forest below.0

Her cheek was cut by the blade's aura, and blood quickly seeped out, sliding down her delicate chin, leaving a sticky, chilling sensation.0

Jian Huan quickly rolled in the air, and with the four talismans pinched between her five fingers, she threw them simultaneously at the burly man.0

But before the talismans could take effect, the man swung his blade, directly slicing the glowing talismans into yellow scraps fluttering in the air.0

Taking advantage of the man's distraction with the talismans, Jian Huan increased the distance between them.0

From that brief encounter, she could tell that the man's eyes were completely black, a clear sign of being infested with worms in his mind.0

This was likely the puppet who had escaped from the Imperial Pacification Office.0

Previously, Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi had been concerned about this matter, even venturing out several times late at night, trying to lure the puppet out.0

But the puppet never appeared, and eventually, they and the Imperial Pacification Office all agreed that the puppet might have been summoned back by the Demon Clan.0

She had gradually forgotten about it.0

Unexpectedly, a month later, in broad daylight, the puppet suddenly appeared, just when she was alone.0

The puppets weren't that clever, so adept at choosing the right moment.0

Jian Huan quickly glanced at the dense forest below, and her vigilance instantly heightened.0

She couldn't go down there.0

She feared there was someone behind the puppet.0

Jian Huan took out a teleportation talisman, but before she could finish the incantation, a blade slashed towards her teleportation talisman.0

Previously, when she used talismans, either Shen Jizhi was there to hold off the opponent, or she had the element of surprise. Now, with no one to hold them back, she couldn't use the talismans in time. The moment they left her hand, they were either smashed to pieces or dodged before they could take effect.0

She wanted to take out the Xuantian Mirror to call for help.0

The blade cultivator was at the fifth layer of foundation establishment, and both the blade and sword cultivators were known for their high attack power.0

Jian Huan was only at the first level of Foundation Establishment, a fragile target, and she didn't think she had much of a chance.0

But the puppet wouldn't give her that time. He swung his blade, one move after another.0

The blade was sharp, each move a ruthless attack, sacrificing his own safety for maximum damage.0

Jian Huan fled in a sorry state, her face and body adding more wounds.0

The pain from the cuts swept through her body, stimulating her nerves.0

She was already at a disadvantage, and now, thinking about using the Xuantian Mirror, she couldn't focus on either task, putting her in even greater danger.0

Jian Huan grit her teeth, her eyes suddenly bursting with determination, like two flickering flames.0

Was she going to rely on the Xuantian Mirror to call for help every time she faced trouble for the rest of her life?0

Jian Huan refused, and she wouldn't allow it!0

She took a deep breath, and the Xuantian Mirror that had been pulled out from her mustard seed pouch fell back into place, completely abandoned.0

Jian Huan's heart was pounding, fast and forceful.0

But her mind was calm, calm enough to think clearly.0

She dodged while analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.0

The opponent's cultivation was a few levels higher than hers.0

But he was infested with the Demon Heart Worm, making him fearless of death or pain, with extremely high attack power. However, his simple-mindedness from the Demon Worm made him the puppet's biggest weakness.0

Jian Huan pursed her lips, kicked her foot, and the spirit bamboo was now in her hand.0

She reached out, smeared the blood from her wounds on her face and neck onto one end of the bamboo.0

The crimson blood, like red plum blossoms blooming among the bamboo, glistened with a cold, eerie light under the sun.0

Jian Huan's face was smeared with blood, leaving only a pair of sharp eyes. She held the bloodstained bamboo, lightly landing on a tree branch, her body swaying with the movement of the branch, narrowing her eyes to watch the approaching puppet.0

On that day, Elder Yu Qing had trapped Qi Wan with a Prison Character Formation.0

When the formation was established, those trapped inside would be gradually tightened by the spiritual ropes; the more they struggled, the tighter it became. They would either die or surrender.0

Every stroke, how to draw it, Jian Huan still clearly remembered.0

The power she could draw naturally couldn't compare to Elder Yu Qing's, but the puppet wasn't Qi Wan.0

The puppet charged forward, Jian Huan lightly tapped her foot, taking the hit on her left shoulder as a sacrifice, and with her right hand holding the bamboo, she passed by the puppet's right side, drawing the first stroke.0

Then she feinted, pretending to dodge to the left. The puppet turned, the blade following to the left, but Jian Huan went upwards, quickly passing over the puppet's head, drawing the second stroke.0

She drew stroke by stroke, slow but determined, her body accumulating more wounds, the pain and blood instead igniting her unwillingness and fighting spirit.0

Jian Huan's movements became faster and faster, and in a blur, she felt like she had turned into a symbolic brush.0

Unaware of pain, only knowing how to draw symbols.0

She knew where she was going, even if it was a sea of blades and fire, she had to leave her mark where it was supposed to be, to find a glimmer of hope.0

Life wasn't in the seemingly safe rear, but in the perilous front.0

Fu Shi didn't have to always hide behind; they could also charge forward!0

A "puff" sound, Jian Huan landed on the top of a towering tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood.0

The evergreen crown, unmoved even by the autumn chill, was stained with red marks.0

Jian Huan closed her eyes and opened them again. She looked at the puppet trapped in the light golden array, quickly swallowing several spirit recovery pills.0

But this only slightly eased her spiritual power. The blood loss and the wounds all over her body made her head even more dizzy.0

She bit her tongue, barely holding on, her fingertips clutching four lightning symbols, ready to strike.0

The Magic Heart Worm was about to emerge.0

Thunder Talisman was the best talisman to deal with the Demon Heart Bug.0

She only had one chance, and if she missed, she would end up with the same fate as in the original story.0

Jian Huan calmed her mind, patiently waiting.0

Below the tree she stood on, a black-clothed man's eyes filled with hatred, a poisoned dart clutched between his fingertips.0

He had been looking for an opportunity, but Jian Huan's movements were too fast, and he couldn't get a clear shot.0

Now, this was his best chance.0

Almost simultaneously, Jian Huan's Thunder Symbols shot out one after another towards the Demon Heart Insect flying in the air, exploding upon contact.0

The crackling sounds continued, the Demon Heart Worm blown to pieces.0

Jian Huan's blood-covered face, a faint smile hadn't even fully formed, when a sharp snow sword suddenly swept through the mountain shrubs, making a "ding" sound as it knocked away the flying darts, embedding itself in the tree trunk below.0

Jian Huan only had time to glance back. In the distance, a figure was rushing towards her.0

It seemed to be Shen Jizhi.0

She wasn't entirely sure; her vision was blurry, and she couldn't see clearly. Her body felt icy cold, and a chill was rising from her limbs, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.0

Jian Huan was at her limit.0

But she knew someone was below, so she sat on the dense, canopy-like branches of the tree, clinging tightly to the trunk, refusing to let herself fall.0

Until, in a hazy blur, someone began to pry her hands away.0

Jian Huan struggled to open her eyes and saw a faint, ghostly face.0

She managed to recognize the person as Shen Jizhi.0

So, Jian Huan let go of the tree and instead grabbed his collar, pulling herself closer and speaking with great difficulty into his ear: "The... I, I only need the cheapest pharmacist..."0

Jian Huan: What keeps me from collapsing? Money.0