A Legend of a Heavenly Cultivator

7 Talismans and Humiliation at Lingfu Pavilion

The Wanwu Trading Company was a name known by almost every person in the Great Qian Dynasty. Not merely known, but respected, even feared. Its business spanned the entire empire without exception, with branches in every major prefecture. Within it was bought and sold everything concerning the cultivation world, from pills, ancestral weapons, martial techniques, to talismans and formations. If there was something of value in this martial arts world, it was almost certain that Wanwu was involved in it.

And within the Wanwu complex lay the Lingfu Pavilion, the place where talisman masters sold their works and buyers came seeking their needs.

Chu Jianqiu arrived at the pavilion with more than ten talismans he had finished drawing, folded neatly in a small pouch at his waist. His plan was simple, rent a small stall and sell those talismans directly to buyers.

This choice was not without reason. He could have sold everything directly to the official counter of the Talisman Pavilion, but that method was not profitable. The pavilion would buy at a low price and resell at a higher price, the difference going into their pockets. In the condition of his money dwindling to the point of zero, Chu Jianqiu could not let that profit be wasted in the hands of middlemen.

He was not worried about whether they would sell or not.

Talismans were one of the most sought after commodities in the Tianwu Continent. Demand was always there, always large, and almost never able to be fully met because of one simple reason: talisman masters were extremely rare.

The art of composing runes was a field far more difficult than it appeared. Talent alone was not enough. What was needed was a deep understanding of how qi interacted with certain symbols, how energy flowed through special ink on talisman paper, how a simple pattern could store power far beyond its physical size. Even a person of high talent needed at least half a year to be able to draw his first talisman that truly functioned. Those less talented could spend two to three years without results.

Out of ten thousand people, perhaps only one succeeded in becoming a true talisman master.

And among those talisman masters themselves, almost all only mastered one field, be it runes or formations, it was very rare for someone to be able to master both at once. Those who succeeded in mastering both were fought over by every great family, every sect, every power that wanted to advance.

Chu Jianqiu finished putting up the signboard of his stall.

Before he could sit comfortably, a man with a firm face and simple appearance had already approached, looking at the signboard with an expression that did not hide his doubt.

"Young Master Chu, can this strength enhancement talisman truly double the strength of its user?"

Chu Jianqiu nodded. "Correct."

The man seemed uncertain, and that was understandable. Among the experienced talisman masters in Tianshui City, a good first level strength enhancement talisman could at most increase strength by thirty percent. One of very good quality could reach fifty percent. And full doubling, twofold, was something that had never appeared in the Tianshui City market as far as people knew.

Chu Jianqiu himself did not realize how extraordinary the inheritance he had received from the tower was. All he knew was that the talisman he drew felt imperfect because his hands were not yet accustomed, and he was instead slightly worried his talisman would not sell because it was considered too weak.

It turned out the problem was exactly the opposite.

"Tsk, tsk."

That voice came from the right, accompanied by the sound of a folding fan being opened with style. Chu Jianqiu turned.

A young man in a brocade robe with a face accustomed to feeling the most important in every room walked closer with steps very deliberately made to look graceful. Behind him, several followers followed with smiles not much different from the expressions of dogs waiting for their master to throw a bone.

Liu Gaoyang.

Liu Tianyao's biological younger brother.

Chu Jianqiu felt something cold creeping up his back, not from fear, but from anger that he chose not to release immediately.

'Before I even had time to deal with the Liu family, they came to me first.'

"Truly pitiful," Liu Gaoyang said while shaking his head with an expression feigning concern. "Young Master Chu who was once known as the number one genius in Tianshui City, now reduced to selling cheap talismans just to survive. And with an absurd claim like this too." He turned to the man who had asked earlier. "Zhao Cheng, you are not seriously considering buying a talisman from this person, are you? Even Master Yang at the pavilion would not dare claim his talisman could double strength. This is clearly a scam."

Zhao Cheng, the firm faced man from before, pulled back his steps slightly with an expression more doubtful than before.

Liu Gaoyang continued speaking, this time louder so the people around the stall could hear. "His dantian is destroyed. His cultivation is gone. A person who does not even have a drop of true qi in his body now claims to be able to draw talismans? This is not selling, this is blatant fraud."

His followers laughed.

"If Young Master Chu truly lacks money," Liu Gaoyang continued, his smile widening in an unpleasant way, "just kneel and kowtow before me a few times. Who knows, I might take pity and throw a few spirit stones."

"Exactly right! That is far easier than selling fake talismans!"

"Kneel and kowtow, get spirit stones. What a great offer!"

"After his dantian was destroyed, apparently his brain was also damaged!"

Those voices overlapped one another. A small crowd began to form around the stall, because the name Chu Jianqiu and the name Liu Gaoyang were both names not unknown in this city. A spectacle like this was too interesting to ignore.

Chu Jianqiu looked at Liu Gaoyang for two seconds.

Then he opened his mouth.

"Where did this pack of mad dogs come from, barking here all this time."

The voice was not loud, not shouting, but was heard very clearly by everyone standing around there.

Silence for a moment.

Liu Gaoyang stopped in the middle of his laughter. His folding fan stopped moving. The expression on his face changed layer by layer, from shocked, to disbelief, to deep red.

'Mad dogs. He called me a mad dog. In front of all these people.'

"You..." Liu Gaoyang clenched his teeth. "You dare..."

"I do not have time to argue with foolish people," Chu Jianqiu cut him off with the same calm tone. "If you do not want to buy, move aside. You are blocking the buyers."

If fighting were not strictly prohibited within the Wanwu environment, Chu Jianqiu might have ended this conversation in a much shorter way. But Wanwu's rules were not ordinary rules. Even at the peak of his strength before, he had never dared to underestimate the rules of the largest trading company in this dynasty. Compared to Wanwu, the four great families of Tianshui City were nothing more than small guests who had to queue.

But it seemed Liu Gaoyang did not have the same consideration.

Or perhaps the insult just now had completely shut down his ability to think clearly.

"You are the one asking for trouble!"

Liu Gaoyang advanced and launched a direct punch toward Chu Jianqiu.

Chu Jianqiu did not retreat.

'Very good. He started it, not me.'

His hand moved together with his body that shifted slightly to the side, evading the line of the attack by half an inch, and his right fist shot back with all the strength he could muster now, wrapped in a technique he had already fully mastered. Mountain Breaking Fist. A high grade Yellow Level martial technique, whose effectiveness even rivaled some high Yellow Level techniques.

When fighting Chu Bolin several days ago at the family training ground, Chu Jianqiu had still held back. They were after all of one blood, and as long as that relationship was not completely severed, there was no need to injure too deeply.

But Liu Gaoyang was a different matter.

The Liu family was his enemy. Not an enemy that needed to be fabricated, but an enemy created from the betrayal he had experienced himself with his own eyes and his own body. There was no reason to hold back.

The sound of a loud crack filled the air.

Liu Gaoyang was hurled backward like a sack of grain thrown away, his right arm twisted in a direction it should not go. His bone was broken in more than one place. He slammed into the floor several steps away and could not immediately rise.

The crowd that had been noisy instantly fell silent.

Zhao Cheng, the man who had almost left earlier out of doubt, stood frozen in place with his mouth not fully closed.

Everyone who witnessed that brief fight tried to digest what had just happened. Liu Gaoyang was at the sixth level of Body Refinement. Two levels above the current Chu Jianqiu. But the result was Liu Gaoyang flying and sprawled on the floor.

'So... the rumor about his destroyed dantian is false? Or is there something else?'

That question spun in the heads of nearly every person standing there.

Chu Jianqiu did not give them time to answer that question themselves. He had already stepped forward following Liu Gaoyang, his hand raised to continue what had been started. If the next strike landed, Liu Gaoyang would not only suffer a broken arm.

The followers of Liu Gaoyang who had earlier been so enthusiastic in shouting insults now stood like statues. Not one of them moved. The most basic instinct within them had already recalculated this situation very quickly.

'This is not a useless person.'

"Stop!"

A shout split the crowd.

Along with that shout, a shadowy figure moved very fast from the direction inside the pavilion, his palm shooting toward Chu Jianqiu with a force that even before touching anyone already felt heavy in the air.

Chu Jianqiu felt that pressure and immediately decided not to face it directly. He used the Ghost Movement Technique to leap backward several steps.

The figure did not stop. He moved following him like a shadow.

Chu Jianqiu assessed that person's strength in a fraction of a second and realized that continuing this was not a wise choice.

"Wait!"

The figure stopped.

The crowd could now see clearly who the newcomer was. An old man in a gray robe with a cold face that showed no emotion whatsoever other than a firmness that had hardened into a permanent expression.

Whispers immediately spread among the crowd.

Liang Jiushan. The Law Enforcement Elder of the Lingfu Pavilion, Wanwu branch. A person known for one thing, he sided with no one and knew no exceptions in enforcing the rules.

"What do you want to say?" Liang Jiushan asked, his voice not loud but felt heavy.

Chu Jianqiu did not lower his head, nor did he act arrogant. He stood calmly and said, "Why did Elder directly attack without first asking what truly happened?"

Liang Jiushan's brow rose slightly. "You acted violently inside the Pavilion, and you still dare ask why I attacked you?"

"Elder Liang should at least find out who started it first."

Liang Jiushan was silent for a moment. He looked at the situation around him. Liu Gaoyang was still sprawled with an arm clearly severely injured. Chu Jianqiu stood in a defensive position, not the position of someone who had just attacked. There was something that did not match his initial assumption.

He called a disciple on duty near that stall. "Tell me what happened."

That disciple did not dare hide anything. With a voice kept from trembling, he recounted everything he had witnessed from the beginning, from Liu Gaoyang coming to mock, the insulting words hurled, to the punch thrown first by Liu Gaoyang.

Liang Jiushan's face turned colder than before.

Liu Gaoyang was a disciple of one of the elders in this pavilion. He knew exactly the rules of Wanwu. A person who knew the law and deliberately violated it received a far heavier judgment than a person who violated it out of ignorance.

Liu Gaoyang realized the direction of the wind was turning. With a panic that made him almost forget the pain in his arm, he hurriedly spoke up.

"Law Enforcement Elder, wait. He is the one who is at fault. He is selling fake talismans here, claiming his talisman can double strength. I only wanted to protect buyers from fraud!"

Liang Jiushan turned to Chu Jianqiu, and this time there was something in his gaze that felt like a real warning. Selling fake talismans in the Lingfu Pavilion belonging to Wanwu was a very serious matter. If proven, the punishment would not be light.

"Your fake talisman," he said, his tone demanding an explanation.

"He has not even touched my talisman," Chu Jianqiu said calmly. "How can he know my talisman is fake?"

The crowd around them looked at each other again.

The question was simple, but its answer did not exist.