Elder Wu sat before a clean stone table, upon which lay two slips of paper with matching handwriting.
His face showed surprise when he saw Jia Ren.
"Thank you, Daoist Jia, for the warning that saved my life."
Jia Ren’s whereabouts were a mystery, shrouded in secrecy. They had met only once at the second trade fair.
Seasoned with experience, Elder Wu understood Jia Ren’s intentions.
"I originally had no objections to teaching you the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique, but I, Wu, have been infected by an evil energy and am too weak to help."
He sighed deliberately, wanting to confirm if Jia Ren possessed an Evil Warding Talisman.
Jia Ren sat opposite him, a Spirit Shield and Turtle Prime Spirit Armor activating around his body, adopting a posture of caution and defense.
"Daoist Wu, can you tell me what happened after I left?"
"As far as I know, all Loose Cultivators infected with the evil energy were forcefully conscripted by the Five Elements Sect; there should be no risk of infection in the Outer City."
"Why would you, a Talisman Maker, end up in such a plight? It’s impossible that you had no Evil Warding Talismans prepared."
Jia Ren was not in a hurry to ask about the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique. That would make Elder Wu think he was desperate, causing Jia Ren to lose the initiative in negotiations and allowing Elder Wu to drive a hard bargain.
Even if he obtained the technique, the price would likely be steep.
After several days, their roles had reversed; Elder Wu should have been the anxious one.
Seeing Jia Ren’s calm and composed demeanor, as if he were fishing patiently, Elder Wu couldn’t help but feel anxious.
He sighed lightly once more and recounted his experiences over the past half-month.
"Having been warned by Daoist Jia, I hurriedly left and hid in the South District."
"There are still more than a dozen Loose Cultivators in the South District, most of whom have been hiding underground and surviving until now. We’ve run out of food, and some people eat bark and grass roots to survive. There are also Loose Cultivators... who kill each other for food."
"You might wonder, Daoist Jia, why they didn’t go to the Five Elements Sect."
"It’s because Loose Cultivators are much weaker than the Cultivators of Thousand Beasts Mountain... Once you go to the battlefield, your life is out of your hands."
"Unlike you, Daoist Jia, who has a rich store of food, I could only hold on for three days."
"The main routes of the Great Wilderness Market are blocked, making it hard to leave to hunt Magical Beasts."
"I usually ate a few roots and barks and searched the rice bins of Loose Cultivators for any remaining grain. I didn’t find any food, but I did find coffins in the homes of some Loose Cultivators. Inside were the mummified corpses of those who had died from the evil infection, unburied."
"The bodies were well-preserved. Starving as I was, and relying on the Evil Warding Talismans I still had, I lost all restraint."
"In the end... I ate too much. The infection went too deep, and my Evil Warding Talismans were depleted trying to drive out the evil energy. Still, it didn’t resolve the underlying danger, and I was left neither human nor ghost."
"You must despise me, Daoist Jia... but I just wanted to survive."
Elder Wu relayed his story. It was unclear whether he embellished it, but his experiences could only be described as tragic.
"Daoist Wu, your courage to speak of such painful experiences surpasses that of many," Jia Ren thought.
Jia Ren asked himself, if he didn’t have enough Spirit Rice, what would his situation be today?
Would he have been forced to eat human flesh like Elder Wu?
Or become cannon fodder for the Five Elements Sect?
In this treacherous world, the living are forced to become like ghosts.
"If you help me resolve this evil energy issue and give me... fifty catties of Spirit Rice, I will teach you the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique without reservation," Elder Wu proposed.
Seeing that Jia Ren still hadn’t initiated a trade, Elder Wu finally grew restless and made the offer himself.
If he weren’t at his wit’s end, he would never trade the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique.
Elder Wu had lived comfortably and survived until now primarily by relying on his skill with Demon-Spotting Talismans.
It was a money-making opportunity he wouldn’t even share with close friends and family, let alone an outsider.
Elder Wu didn’t want others encroaching on his business, much less creating another competitor.
Times have changed, and survival is now more important, he thought.
"Your price is too high," Jia Ren stated, frowning upon hearing the price Elder Wu had set.
Elder Wu’s infection is serious; one Evil Warding Talisman likely won’t be enough to solve the problem.
He might have to use two or even three Evil Warding Talismans.
During normal times, three Evil Warding Talismans would cost thirty Spirit Stones, and fifty catties of Spirit Rice five Spirit Stones; thirty-five Spirit Stones for the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique would be considered cheap.
An Evil Warding Talisman sold for fifty Spirit Stones at the trade fair; that item alone would cost one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.
Not to mention the fifty catties of Spirit Rice, which couldn’t even be bought with Spirit Stones. A catty of Spirit Rice at auction could fetch the exorbitant price of five or six Spirit Stones. Calculated at the highest price, that would be two hundred fifty to three hundred Spirit Stones.
The highest combined price for both would be over four hundred Spirit Stones.
The price was outrageous.
He’s asking for the moon, so I’ll have to bargain, Jia Ren thought. I can afford it, but I don’t want to be a sucker.
"At most two Evil Warding Talismans. I don’t have much Spirit Rice left. Twenty catties of Spirit Rice, plus ten catties of regular rice."
Both parties argued fiercely over the price but couldn’t reach an agreement.
Eventually, both sides compromised.
"If two Evil Warding Talismans can cure your affliction, I won’t offer a third," Jia Ren declared.
"Twenty catties of Spirit Rice, and thirty catties of regular rice."
Jia Ren had an ample supply of Spirit Rice. He consumed Spirit Rice daily and still had over sixty catties of regular rice in reserve.
Twenty catties of Spirit Rice alone had not been enough to satisfy Elder Wu, so Jia Ren had offered an additional thirty catties of regular rice. Elder Wu primarily wanted to sate his hunger, and thirty catties of regular rice met his psychological expectations.
Fifty catties of rice wasn’t much. At worst, he could eat a tael or two less of Spirit Rice each day, or skimp on the Corner Worm’s rations.
"What I want is the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique. Daoist Wu, don’t try to deceive me with an inferior product."
"Daoist Wu, you wouldn’t want to attract trouble over this transaction, right?"
The Proficiency Panel could determine the authenticity of the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique Elder Wu provided, so he wasn’t worried about being deceived.
It was better to state the unpleasantries upfront to prevent Elder Wu from doing anything foolish.
"Daoist Jia, please rest assured," Elder Wu said. "I have navigated the Market for many years; I still have some reputation."
"Please wait a moment; I’ll engrave the Jade Slip right away."
Even though Elder Wu said this, he looked eagerly at Jia Ren, waiting for him to prove his financial capability.
What if he handed over the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique and didn’t receive the Spirit Rice and Evil Warding Talismans? Elder Wu worried.
As a Talisman Master, to avoid being killed by Bizarre Cultivators for his legacy, he never carried talisman crafting Jade Slips.
He absolutely couldn’t let those murderous Bizarre Cultivators take advantage.
Though Jia Ren had done him the life-saving favor of warning him, he couldn’t rule out the suspicion that Jia Ren might be a Bizarre Cultivator.
"These are Evil Warding Talismans!" Jia Ren announced, displaying three of them in his hand for easy verification.
"Twenty catties of Spirit Rice and thirty catties of regular rice. Daoist Wu, please verify the quality first."
Jia Ren took out the prepared bags of rice, one containing twenty catties of Spirit Rice and the other thirty catties of regular rice.
When the bags were opened, the grains of Spirit Rice were full and emitted a rich, fragrant aroma.
The quality was superior, not stale, old rice.
Elder Wu leaned in and sniffed the rice fragrance, his face a mask of intoxication. He felt his hunger intensify, wishing he could eat the Spirit Rice raw on the spot.
He swallowed hard and straightened up, not wanting Jia Ren to see his desperate state.
After the Jade Slip for the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique was engraved, Elder Wu tossed it to Jia Ren. He also took out a Demon-Spotting Talisman as a reference, his eyes fixed on the Evil Warding Talismans and the bags of rice.
Jia Ren stepped back two paces, creating distance. He activated the Spirit Eye Technique to confirm there was no evil aura on the Jade Slip and the Demon-Spotting Talisman, then immersed his consciousness into the Jade Slip.
"That’s right, it’s indeed the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique, no doubt."
The Demon-Spotting Talisman perfectly matched the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique recorded in the Jade Slip. The Talisman was authentic; upon activation, one could sense demonic qi fluctuations within a two-mile radius.
"Here are your Spirit Rice and Evil Warding Talismans!" Jia Ren said, throwing them to Elder Wu, thus concluding the trade.
After receiving the Evil Warding Talismans and Spirit Rice, no smile could be seen on Elder Wu’s face.
In the past, if someone had demanded fifty catties of rice and three Evil Warding Talismans in exchange for the Seeking Demon Talisman Technique, Elder Wu would have chased them down three streets with his Magic Sword.
Now, however, it was he who had offered to sell his talisman crafting technique for a pittance...