Chapter 2
Breakthrough
Shen Ping stared at the virtual interface at the corner of his eye. Golden words slowly appeared on it.
[Obtained talisman crafting experience +2.]
[Talisman Master: Level One, Low Level (1,007/1,000). Can break through.]
Goldfinger! This was definitely his golden finger!
Shen Ping was extremely excited. He had never thought that he would activate his golden finger after wasting more than 20 years in the cultivation world, was about to accept his fate and married a wife. “I thought that I didn’t have a cheat code, but I didn’t expect that the way I opened it was wrong!”
He straightened up and took a deep breath. He suppressed his excitement. Although the cheat was late, Shen Ping had no regrets or complaints. No matter what, he finally had the cheat, and his future cultivation was once again ignited with hope.
“Husband, husband, I’m not feeling well. It’s really difficult for me to get up.”
Hearing Wang Yun’s words, Shen Ping hurriedly interrupted, “Yun’er, it’s all my fault for not knowing how to cherish you and causing you to hurt your body. Lie down in peace and I’ll get up to cook for you.”
As he spoke, he quickly dressed and washed up. Then, he started a fire to cook. His wife’s favorability should be related to the effect of dual cultivation. Previously, he did not care about anything else in order to test it. Now that he knew this, he had to take good care of his wife in the future.
A moment later, the fragrant spirit rice porridge was ready. He carried it to the edge of the bed and carefully fed it to his wife.
After finishing the porridge, Shen Ping used his spiritual energy to nourish his wife’s body.
Wang Yun’s face turned from worry to joy. She was also very touched. When Shen Ping forced himself on her, she thought that she had met a cultivator who did not know how to cherish her. She was afraid that she would have to suffer in the future. In the end, her husband was so attentive and even personally cooked to take care of her.
It was rare to see such a compassionate cultivator. It had to be known that she was a mortal. It was already very good that she was not treated as a slave by cultivators.
[Current wife’s favorability: 80]
[Bonus: 2]
He saw the changes in the virtual interface. Shen Ping was overjoyed, but he resisted the urge to continue having sex with his wife. He said gently, “Yun’er, you’ve just become a woman. Rest well and wait until you’ve fully recovered before getting out of bed.”
Wang Yun said gently, “I’ll listen to you.”
After cleaning up the dishes, he eagerly walked to a small cubicle in the wooden house. This was the place where he made talismans. He would stay here most of the time. The income from living and cultivation also came from here. He completed the series of procedures before refining the talisman with incomparable familiarity.
Then, Shen Ping opened the virtual interface and chanted in his heart, Breakthrough!
Boom.
The virtual frame shook slightly.
[Talisman Master: Level One, Mid-Grade (7/10,000)]
Almost at the same time, he seemed to have some kind of comprehension of the Dao of Talismans. He immediately dipped the talisman brush in spirit beast blood and began to draw spirit patterns on the talisman paper.
Not long after, a low-level talisman was completed in one go.
However, Shen Ping’s expression was very calm. Although he was a level-one low-grade Talisman Master previously, his proficiency in talisman crafting was very high. Usually, his success rate was more than 30%. It was common for him to make talismans as smoothly as flowing water just now.
Next, he changed the materials and prepared to make a mid-grade talisman. In the marketplace, such talismans could be sold for six low-grade spirit stones each. However, the chances of him making them were very low. Occasionally, he would succeed.
As the talisman brush drew on the special beast skin material, spiritual runes that seemed to be alive appeared on the paper. Compared to low-grade talismans, this mid-grade talisman required more than 30 spiritual runes to be drawn on it. There couldn’t be any mistakes or pauses in between.
With his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refinement, he had to expend a lot of mental and physical strength.
Time passed slowly.
Shen Ping’s forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He was fully focused on drawing the spiritual runes. When he drew the last stroke, his entire mind was extremely tense.
A moment later, the talisman brush stopped. The spiritual runes of the talisman were completed.
Shen Ping took a deep breath and looked at the successful talisman with joy on his face.
A mid-grade Talisman Master!
Only a mid-grade Talisman Master could make a mid-grade talisman in one go.
“If I can make mid-grade talismans often, the speed at which I can accumulate spirit stones will greatly increase. At that time, I can buy high-grade Poison Dispelling Pills to neutralize the demonic beast poison in my body!” His eyes were filled with anticipation and hope for the future.
…
In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. During this period, Shen Ping took care of his wife with all his heart and was very loving. He opened the virtual panel.
[Current wife’s favorability: 100]
[Bonus: 4]
[Talisman Master: Mid-Grade Level One (607/10,000)]
The four points of bonus was the limit of favorability. Every time he obtained 2 points, after four times, it would be 8 points.
The change in his hard work was that his success rate in making mid-grade talismans soared. It even caught up to his success rate in making low-grade talismans. On average, three sets of materials could steadily make a talisman.
This made Shen Ping very excited. After all, the success rate of making mid-grade talismans was so high, which meant that he could quickly accumulate wealth.
“Yun’er, stay at home. Remember not to go out. I’m going to the market.”
He stayed at home for half a month. Shen Ping had no choice but to go out because the talisman-making materials in his inventory had been completely consumed. There was also the spiritual rice and meat that had been almost consumed. If he did not have nutrition supplements for his dual cultivation every day, even a cultivator like him would feel his legs go weak and his waist hurt.
Moreover, Wang Yun also felt that she could not take it anymore. Her mental state had decreased greatly.
“Husband, you must be careful when you go out!” When she heard that Shen Ping was going to the market, worry appeared on Wang Yun’s face. Although Cloud Mountain Parlour was relatively safe, there were always accidents. In a situation where one’s strength was low, every time one went out, it was a life and death test.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of myself.” Shen Ping pushed open the door and walked out. When he stepped onto the potholed alley again, his spirit and appearance were completely different. His eyes were shining, and he was no longer like a walking corpse.
“Fellow Daoist Shen, you’re finally willing to go out.”
“You’ve married a beautiful wife. If it were me, I would also be reluctant to leave.”
“Fellow Daoist Shen, you’ve really gotten over it!”
On the way, he bumped into familiar neighbors and they teased him. Shen Ping laughed dryly and did not respond. He walked along the alley and made many turns before arriving at the main road. Then, he saw two cultivators walking towards him.
“Fellow Daoist Gong. Fellow Daoist Su.” He hurriedly greeted him respectfully.
These two cultivators were a pair of cousins. Their cultivation levels were not low. Among them, Fellow Daoist Gong was the only late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator who lived in Red Willow Alley. It was all thanks to Fellow Daoist Gong’s intimidation that Red Willow Alley had been relatively safe over the years. His cousin, Fellow Daoist Su, was beautiful and tall. She was admired by many cultivators.
Fellow Daoist Gong nodded and left with his sister. In their eyes, Shen Ping was just a low-level Talisman Master. He was not worthy of their attention at all. They could only reply to him because they lived in the same alley.
Shen Ping did not mind. After all, he was at the late-stage of the Qi Refinement Realm. It was normal for him to have the attitude of an expert. When he reached the main road, it became lively. The hawkers on both sides of the street shouted louder and louder.
He did not stop but followed the main road all the way to the end. A tall stone door stood tall with the words ‘Cloud Mountain Parlour’ written on it. It was said that this plaque was personally written by a Golden Core expert. Low-level cultivators could not stare at it as they would feel dizzy.
He entered the stone door.
A sense of security rose in Shen Ping’s heart. Very few cultivators dared to cause trouble in this market. Ever since it was established, there had only been three or four safety incidents where cultivators were killed.
When he first came to Cloud Mountain Swamp, he lived in Cloud Mountain Parlour. Unfortunately, his body was injured later, and his daily expenses soared. So he moved to Red Willow Alley outside the market. However, even in Red Willow Alley, the rent price had been rising in recent years.
Originally, he planned to move again in a few years, but there was no need for that now.
There were shops on both sides of the main road of the market. The decorations were much more grand. More than half of them had spirit gathering, defense, and other array formations.
Shen Ping stopped in front of a shop that mainly sold talismans and magic tools. Then, he walked in.
“What do you want to buy, Fellow Daoist?”
The shopkeeper’s cultivation level was at the seventh level of Qi Refinement. When he saw a low-level Qi Refinement cultivator like Shen Ping, his attitude was not cold. He still welcomed him with a warm smile.
“Shopkeeper, do you accept talismans here?”
“I do.”
“What’s the price of a mid-grade talisman?” As Shen Ping spoke, he took out a talisman that he had refined.
The shopkeeper glanced at it and said with a smile, “My shop is honest. We’ll buy it at the market price of six low-grade spirit stones. If you have any more talismans in the future, you can sell them to me. I can buy them no matter how many you have!”
Defensive talismans like amulets had always been in high demand. If he rented a stall outside to sell them, he could sell them for eight or even ten low-grade spirit stones each.
However, for safety and stability, Shen Ping specially came to the shop in the market to sell. He took out five amulets and handed them to the shopkeeper.
He left the shop.
Not only did Shen Ping not have any more spirit stones in his storage bag, but he also lost thirty low-grade spirit stones. The reason was that he had bought sixty sets of materials to make the amulets. Each set of materials required one low-grade spirit stone. Then, he went to other shops and bought a month’s worth of spirit rice, meat, and other nourishing ingredients.
His storage bag was almost empty, leaving only the spirit stones that he needed to suppress the poison daily.