A Legend of a Heavenly Cultivator

9 Five Hundred Pills and a Token

Liu Gaoyang stared at the characters on the testing device with a gaze that grew more and more unstable by the second.

"This cannot be real!" His voice rose into a shout that echoed through every corner of the lobby. "There has to be some kind of trick behind this. Or the talisman testing device is malfunctioning today. How could trash with a shattered dantian like him possibly make a talisman like this?!"

The silence that had been hanging over the room shattered, but not from laughter or comments from the crowd.

A slap landed hard on Liu Gaoyang's cheek.

Chang Gaochen stood with his hand still raised, his face flushed red, his rage boiling over until he failed to control the force channeled into that slap. Liu Gaoyang twisted, several of his teeth flying out along with a spray of blood, and his body collapsed to the floor before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

Chang Gaochen drew a long, trembling breath.

Five hundred Body Strengthening Pills was already painful enough. But that could still be swallowed if no one had witnessed it. The problem was, the entire lobby of Lingfu Pavilion was filled with people who had witnessed everything very clearly. His reputation as an elder of this pavilion had already been stained deeply enough in just half a day.

And now his idiot disciple still had the nerve to question the accuracy of the pavilion's talisman testing device.

Doubting the talisman testing device of Lingfu Pavilion was the same as slapping the entire pavilion in the face in public. The consequences went far beyond what even Chang Gaochen himself could bear, let alone a tier one disciple who had yet to prove himself. The only way to cut the problem off before it spread further was to cut it off directly at the source.

On the other side of the room, Liang Jiushan stood with an expression that was already far different from the anger he had brought in earlier. What remained on the law enforcement elder's face was a sense of shock that had not yet been fully digested.

'A tier one talisman of superior quality. Full doubling. And he made it himself, with no lineage, no known master.'

Liang Jiushan had been involved in the world of talismans long enough to understand what that meant. The quality of a talisman spoke of two things. First, the strength of the runes used as its foundation. Second, the depth of the maker's understanding of those runes. A high-ranked talisman expert would not necessarily produce a high-quality talisman if their understanding of the fundamental runes was still shallow. What made a talisman of superior quality was understanding that surpassed mere technique.

And the young man standing in front of him, who until a few days ago was still considered someone with a shattered dantian, had just produced something that no one in the entire Tianshui County could match.

"Boy." Liang Jiushan's tone shifted completely, no longer the cold and firm manner that had felt like a stone wall earlier. "Do you have any interest in joining Lingfu Pavilion?"

Chu Jianqiu was slightly taken aback.

'This was not part of my plan.'

He had come here solely to sell talismans, earn enough money to buy herb ingredients, and leave. Joining a pavilion was never something he had considered.

Before he could answer, a deep voice with a tone accustomed to being listened to cut in from the direction of the stairs.

"As long as you join this pavilion, all talisman-making materials can be obtained by you at full price. And the pavilion will not restrict you. You will remain free to do whatever you wish outside of here."

Every head in the lobby turned at the same time.

A tall man in robes different from the standard attire of the pavilion staff descended the stairs with dignified yet unforced steps. The staff and talisman experts who saw him immediately bowed.

"Pavilion Master!"

Yang Zhenhai. The official head of Lingfu Pavilion in Tianshui City. A name people knew but a face almost never seen in public.

Chu Jianqiu had never met this person directly before. He studied the face of the old man coming down the stairs and tried to read his expression. What he found was genuine curiosity, not pretense.

Joining Lingfu Pavilion.

Chu Jianqiu considered this in a very short time. The identity of a pavilion member provided a real layer of protection. The Liu family would not dare move too openly if he was under the shelter of a branch of the Talisman Array Alliance. Not to mention access to the materials he needed.

"Fine. I accept."

Yang Zhenhai laughed in a way that sounded sincere, not polite laughter. His eyes sparkled like someone who had just found something he had been searching for for a long time.

"Catch."

He reached into his robes and tossed a small object toward Chu Jianqiu.

Chu Jianqiu caught it in midair.

A token. Its front was carved with an intricate yet neatly organized array of runes, the official symbol of the Talisman Array Alliance of the Tianwu Continent. Its back bore the carving of a single small rune indicating the rank of its holder.

A tier one talisman expert.

Chu Jianqiu stared at the token, then raised his eyes toward Yang Zhenhai with slight confusion. Normally, obtaining this token required a series of rigorous examinations. Ability assessment, technique verification, and various other procedures that could take days.

Yang Zhenhai caught that confusion and waved his hand casually.

"You have already produced a tier one talisman of superior quality. What more examination needs to be done? Even I cannot produce a talisman of that quality. If I had to test you for this, then it would mean I am not fit to hold that judgment authority."

Chu Jianqiu accepted the token without arguing further.

Then he turned toward Chang Gaochen, who was still standing with a face that could not decide what expression to wear.

"Elder Chang, when can I receive those five hundred Body Strengthening Pills?"

Yang Zhenhai turned to Chang Gaochen with raised eyebrows. "Old Chang, since when have you owed pills to this child? You are a respected elder. Surely you would not go back on your word to a junior."

Chang Gaochen opened his mouth, closed it again, and ultimately said nothing meaningful. Liang Jiushan then explained the matter of the earlier bet to the pavilion master.

Yang Zhenhai listened to the entire story, and afterward his booming laughter filled the lobby again.

"Old Chang, a bet is a bet. You lost, and you must pay." He patted Chang Gaochen on the shoulder with a palm hard enough to be felt. "Five hundred pills, as you yourself promised."

There was no room for negotiation in Yang Zhenhai's tone.

Chang Gaochen swallowed his resentment deep down and took out five hundred Body Strengthening Pills from his storage pouch with a motion that looked like handing over a piece of flesh from his own body. He placed them into Chu Jianqiu's hand without making eye contact.

'Three hundred was what he asked for, and I foolishly raised it to five hundred myself.'

After the pills changed hands, Chang Gaochen did not linger. He bowed briefly toward Yang Zhenhai as a formality, then bowed even deeper to pick up Liu Gaoyang's still unconscious body from the floor, and walked out of the lobby at a pace that was not too hurried but clearly did not want to waste any more time in that place.

There was a very practical reason behind his quick departure. Liang Jiushan had not said a single word about Liu Gaoyang's offense, the fact that he had attacked someone inside the pavilion first. And with that law enforcement elder's nature of never letting violations pass unnoticed, the longer Chang Gaochen stayed, the more likely that conversation would begin.

His disciple had already lost a broken arm and several teeth. Additional punishment from Liang Jiushan was not something he wanted to witness, let alone bear the consequences of.

Lingfu Pavilion became lively again with the sounds of people processing everything that had just happened.

And Chu Jianqiu stood in the center of that room, five hundred Body Strengthening Pills inside his storage pouch, a talisman expert token in his grip, and nine days still remaining before the clan competition.

'More than enough to begin.'