Deep within the Great Wilderness, bizarre demons and evil spirits abounded, making it impossible to guarantee safety when mining Spirit Stone Veins.
It was only natural for the Five Elements Sect to sweep the nearby regions to eliminate hidden dangers and spend a great amount of Evil Warding Talismans in the process.
Jia Ren couldn’t help but take a few more glances at Elder Mo, the Talisman Master, quietly releasing several insects.
They served as his eyes and ears, monitoring Elder Mo’s every move.
Jia Ren had never forgotten the grudge between himself and the Talisman Cultivators’ Association.
His sale of Demon-Spotting Talismans had been oppressed and pursued by the Association. If not for Yang Shengwu’s open support, he might have been the victim.
After Yang Shengwu left the Great Wilderness Market, Jia Ren never forgot his promise.
Another key factor in Jia Ren’s actions was the monopoly over Evil-warding Spirit Ink and his inability to sell his talismans.
The former prevented him from making Evil Warding Talismans, while the latter meant the talismans he accumulated were unsellable for Spirit Stones.
Want to sell talismans? The Talisman Cultivators’ Association was an insurmountable mountain.
Jia Ren wouldn’t act directly against the Association due to inadequate strength. Rashly confronting them would be no different than seeking death.
He currently lacked the strength to deal with the Association.
That didn’t mean he would sit idly by. He could start with those loyal to the Association and, incidentally, obtain the desired Evil-warding Spirit Ink from them.
Monopolizing Evil-warding Spirit Ink? Then I’ll find a way to acquire it from them.
Jia Ren didn’t linger, to avoid attracting the attention of the two Talisman Makers. After buying some of the medicinal herbs he needed, he hurriedly left.
As the sky grew dark, Elder Mo packed up his booth and returned to the large courtyard in Heavenly Arts Lane.
"Master, you’re back..."
A beautiful woman came running over, offering a basin of hot water and a towel for his face.
"Xiuxiu, tidy up the west wing room. In a few days, you’ll have a new sister."
"From tomorrow, you’ll take over the sales of talismans in the Market."
Had she fallen out of favor?
Xiuxiu’s complexion turned pale; she knew that with a newcomer’s ascent, the old was bound to be affected.
"Marrying a new concubine has added quite a few Spirit Stone expenses. The Evil Warding Talisman production quota has doubled, but the Spirit Stones earned don’t increase."
"Curse that damned Zhen Yi for causing me to suffer setbacks from the Talisman Cultivators’ Association, doubling my Evil Warding Talisman quota."
"Recent expenditures have been large. I can only make more talismans to earn Spirit Stones."
Thinking of the charming beauty he was about to marry, the heart of Elder Mo, the Talisman Master, grew hot with anticipation.
After dinner, he eagerly returned to the Talisman Crafting Room to make Evil Warding Talismans.
He didn’t notice the few inconspicuous little insects that had followed him from start to finish, watching his every move.
Dozens of Earth Corner Worm Kings swiftly dug tunnels, heading towards Elder Mo’s residence.
The tunnels branched out in all directions, with several key passages already near Talisman Master Mo’s residence. In merely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a tunnel to his location was completed.
In the Talisman Crafting Room where Talisman Master Mo was, a wormhole silently appeared and quickly vanished.
The focused Elder Mo didn’t detect anything amiss.
One after another, he completed Evil Warding Talismans, but soon, Elder Mo felt exhausted.
Age had taken its toll on his energy. While his craftsmanship was more skilled than in his youth, the number of talismans he could produce had declined.
I’m not in good form!
Time to call it a day.
His mind drained from excessive crafting, Elder Mo shook his head. He was about to leave when he noticed a stick of Ning Shen Xiang (Spirit Concentration Incense) lying on the ground.
"Xiuxiu has become more and more careless, not even storing the Spirit Concentration Incense properly."
Thinking of the heavy burden of producing a large number of Evil Warding Talismans, Elder Mo abandoned the thought of leaving.
Once the incense was lit, a clear smoke rose, intermingled with faint traces of five-colored smoke.
The scent isn’t pure enough!
Elder Mo’s face took on a strange expression. He sniffed several times and said in confusion, "Could it be that I’ve bought a fake?"
That damned Yan Lao Liu, daring to deceive me with an inferior product!
I must settle accounts with him tomorrow!
For Loose Cultivators, cheating was nothing out of the ordinary; occasional missteps were common.
Pulling out Blank Talisman Paper, Elder Mo picked up his Talisman Brush and once again prepared to craft talismans.
The expected surge of mental alertness did not occur. Instead, his mind grew heavier.
Initially assuming it was an aftereffect of the energy consumed in talisman crafting, it wasn’t until he saw the increasingly thick column of five-colored smoke that he realized something was wrong.
What was most outrageous was that he had lit the smoke himself...
Who would want to harm me? Xiuxiu? Is she resenting my taking a new concubine? Or is it...
Names rose one after another in his mind, but he never thought of Zhen Yi.
Who would associate their potential killer with a dead man?
Affected by the Bewildering Five-Colored Smoke, Elder Mo fell backward onto the ground, unconscious.
To ensure quiet and avoid disturbances, the Talisman Crafting Room was well soundproofed.
The sudden mishap went unnoticed.
The waiting Earth Corner Worm King emerged from the underground wormhole, easily biting through Elder Mo’s neck.
They took his Storage Bag with them.
The last to act were the surveillance insects. They gnawed open the wax pill left on Elder Mo’s body, spilling out hidden Bone-Dissolving Corpse Powder. The insects, along with Elder Mo’s corpse, disintegrated.
The wormhole was filled up, the tunnel destroyed, and everything was restored to its former appearance.
A silent murder, the body and all traces destroyed.
Jia Ren sat cross-legged on a stone bed, meditating, his spirit wandering beyond this world.
Moments later, he slowly opened his eyes.
One Earth Corner Worm King after another, dragging a Ten Directions Storage Bag, returned fully laden.
The poison really is effective!
Combining poison with insect control allows for long-range assassination without leaving home.
Jia Ren had placed the Bewildering Five-Colored Smoke in the Talisman Crafting Room as just one part of his plan. As a Talisman Maker, he knew the effects of Spirit Concentration Incense all too well. To enhance the deception, the surface layer was genuine Spirit Concentration Incense.
It is difficult for the naked eye to discern the authenticity of Spirit Concentration Incense, and ordinary people don’t tend to be too wary of their own possessions.
If Jia Ren had directly lit the Bewildering Five-Colored Smoke, it would surely have alerted Elder Mo, the Talisman Master, and failed to take effect, potentially causing unexpected complications.
The Bewildering Five-Colored Smoke disguised as Spirit Concentration Incense was only one part of the plan. If this action failed, he had a backup plan. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on N(o)vᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt
After brief observation, he knew that Elder Mo supported three women and exhibited strong desires in certain aspects.
If all else failed, he could wait a few days for the new concubine to enter the household. Then, on the wedding night, he could stealthily spread Soul-Sealing Powder or the Bewildering Five-Colored Smoke and strike without a sound.
Compared to disguising the smoke as Spirit Concentration Incense, involving more people increased the chances of complications.
Fortunately, the initial plan succeeded!
How much Evil-warding Spirit Ink did the Talisman Master possess? I hope I’m not disappointed.
The Storage Bag was opened, and a variety of items were taken out.
Talisman crafting tools, the better part of a Rhinoceros Horn, and other Talisman-Making Materials including Blank Talisman Paper.
There was no shortage of finished talismans: Soundproof Talismans, Mind-Calming Talismans, Heart-Cleansing Talismans, Path-Guiding Talismans...
A diverse array, with up to a hundred kinds of talismans.
One middle-grade Defense Artifact and one middle-grade conical Magic Artifact.
Five hundred and eighty-one Spirit Stones, five Fragmented Spirit Stones.
Two bottles containing a total of nineteen Spirit Enhancement Pills.
Does he possess Talisman Crafting Techniques? Jia Ren currently mastered seven or eight kinds of talismans, but they were not systematic.
Choosing to move against Elder Mo was not just because of the harassment from the Talisman Cultivators’ Association and Elder Mo himself, but also to acquire related talisman arts to form a complete Talisman Crafting Technique.
Not having found related Jade Slips, the idea of enriching his talisman heritage fell through.
Jia Ren always remembered Elder Wu’s words: ’Even if it benefits no one else, it should never benefit a Bizarre Cultivator.’ Some things, he knew, people would rather take to their graves than leave to their killers.
The majority of the Rhinoceros Horn was much more than expected. This item alone made the venture worthwhile.
Activating the Spirit Eye Technique, he swiftly scanned each Magic Artifact and item to ensure there were no tracking marks before he satisfactorily packed them away.
In the time to come, I’ll focus on creating Blank Talisman Paper and Evil Warding Talismans.
Improving the Proficiency Level of the Evil Warding Talisman was of utmost importance. All other skills could take a back seat.
From the Rhinoceros Horn, he prepared over seven hundred portions of Evil-warding Spirit Ink. Jia Ren did not rush to make Evil Warding Talismans; instead, he prioritized increasing his Proficiency Level in making Talisman Paper.
Only when the Proficiency Level of Talisman Paper reached Grandmaster Level, and every sheet of Blank Talisman Paper he made was perfect, did he begin crafting the talismans.
With Spirit Concentration Incense burning, he skillfully applied ink to paper, his movements fluid and swift.
In no time, an Evil Warding Talisman was completed.
The quality is good! Much better than before.
After a simple experiment, Jia Ren quickly obtained results.
Nine times the effect!
The combination of Grandmaster Level Evil Warding Charm Art, Grandmaster Level Evil-warding Spirit Ink, and Grandmaster Level Talisman Paper resulted in an Evil Warding Talisman with nine times the normal effectiveness, exceeding expectations.
With room for improvement in all three components, an Extraordinary Saint Level Evil Warding Charm Art combined with Great Grandmaster Level Evil-warding Spirit Ink and Talisman Paper should yield an effect at least twenty times that of a normal Evil Warding Talisman.
For the following days, Jia Ren devoted all his efforts to making Evil Warding Talismans, aiming to reach Great Grandmaster Level as soon as possible.
While Jia Ren was absorbed in talisman crafting, over ten senior members of the Talisman Cultivators’ Association gathered at Elder Mo’s residence.
"He was poisoned with Bone-Dissolving Corpse Powder."
"Such poison is relatively common, making it difficult to trace the source."
Is it a revenge killing, or is it specifically targeting the Talisman Cultivators’ Association?
The Five Elements Sect had just demanded a large number of Evil Warding Talismans from the association. Now, the death of a Talisman Maker in possession of a Rhinoceros Horn could not help but raise suspicions of deliberate targeting.
Although the association had a sufficient number of Rhinoceros Horns, most belonged personally to Meng Changlin, and any loss had to come out of their own pockets.
"Starting today, all Rhinoceros Horns are to be handed over to the Talisman Cultivators’ Association, which will distribute Evil-warding Spirit Ink on a daily quota."
Meng Changlin’s brows furrowed as he issued the command, then turned and left.
Wang Mingyan finished her makeup and gazed at her lovely face in the bronze mirror.
Without considering the Five Elements Sect Cultivators, Wang Mingyan had not forgotten the interrogation with the Heart-Questioning Charm. The Wang Family’s demise was definitely tied to the Five Elements Sect.
There weren’t many family cultivators mingling in the Great Wilderness Market. Most were those without a future in cultivation, only slightly better off than ordinary Loose Cultivators, and none caught her eye.
In the end, she was left with only Loose Cultivators, the most valuable being those skilled in the Four Arts of Cultivation.
The man she chose was old, with at most a decade or two to live, but when he died, she could inherit an inheritance.
More importantly, she aimed to learn the art of Talisman Crafting.
Without a special skill, one is forever dependent on men.
Although Wang Mingyan relied on men herself, she saw them more as stepping stones for climbing higher.
She might never have the chance to take revenge on the Five Elements Sect in her lifetime, so she would cultivate the next generation instead.
I must make the Five Elements Sect pay!
Just as Wang Mingyan was awaiting the matchmaker’s arrival, tragic news reached her ears.
"Elder Mo was killed by a Bizarre Cultivator."