Just as planned, Zemirah fixed herself first and prepared her talisman as she kept all her belongings. The cave is now bare and empty again, erasing her traces of stay.
Zemirah was prepared to come in contact with the cultivators of this world.
"Let's go, Sia. We can do this," Zemirah cheered herself as she took a deep breath.
She walked for three hours before finding her way out of the forest and saw her destination, the Teal River Town.
The town is quite big, though still much smaller than the cities from her memory. This Town must be a mid-tier one, having a Foundation Building Realm cultivator as a guardian, especially since it is close to Teal River Forest, where many demonic beasts live.
She can see many cultivators coming and going, there are also twice as many mortals. It is quite lively.
It was easy to distinguish the cultivators, they have this different aura after cultivating. Something like being detached from mortal worries.
After days of not seeing a single human, Zemirah was happy to finally see so many people. Although she knew that cultivators have blood on their hands, both from humans and monsters, it didn't hinder her little joy.
In this world, mortals and cultivators have close interaction. Most cultivators came from mortal families. Though most people at the top came from various cultivator factions.
There are also dynasties and kingdoms that can rival sects with their power. The Teal River Town is part of the Golden Light Dynasty, where the reigning King is said to be in the Golden Core Realm.
Zemirah paid a dozen silver coins before entering the town. She asked the guard where the Inn could be found and went to the pointed street.
There are three main districts in the town: Rest District, River District, and Teal District.
The Rest District has the most establishments, from restaurants to inns. River District has been occupied by stalls provided by the Town to the cultivators and merchants, where they rent stalls temporarily to sell and trade. Teal District is where the Town Lord's Mansion resides. The whole district is owned by the Town Lord and his officials, and every shop is connected to the dynasty.
She went to the Rest District and chose a decent-looking inn. Zemirah's attire attracted looks from the crowd, but no one bothered her.
As for those brainless cultivators in the novels? They are not without, but most cultivators survive by using the brain.
The people can only guess that the face hidden by her veil must be a beauty, someone who could topple a dynasty.
"A single room, thank you," Zemirah said to the girl at the counter.
The girl blushed and nodded, "A single room will cost 15 silver per night. Can I ask how many days the lady intends to stay in our humble inn?"
Zemirah took out one gold coin that was equivalent to a thousand silver coins. "I hope no one disturbs my rest."
The girl widened her eyes as she held the gold coin and nodded repeatedly. "Of course, my lady. Let me take you to your room."
Zemirah didn't say how many days she'd be staying since she didn't want anyone to know the duration of her stay. As for the Gold Coin just now? A piece of a Common-quality Low-stage Grade 1 talisman she can easily make can be bought for 25 gold coins.
Gold coins can only buy resources for mortals and Energy Refining Realm cultivators, as the Foundation Building Realm was known to be the real beginning of the immortal journey.
What's more, now she have the ability to make talismans reaching Uncommon and Outstanding quality. Their value rises twice and thrice the common quality.
So for Zemirah, Gold Coins are easy to earn.
Although her act of easily using Gold Coins like that may have caught the attention of some greedy people, she's sure that powerful cultivators aren't one of them.
The ones that may make a move are just some little fish. She can handle them herself.
Zemirah followed the girl who led her to the second floor, where the rooms could be found. She was led to a room in a corner but had a good view, which she appreciated a bit.
"Here's your room, Miss. And the key." The girl handed the key to her.
Zemirah nodded, "Many thanks."
The girl saw her fox eyes smile at her and blushed. She can't believe that there is such beauty in the world.
Just as the girl was about to bid goodbye, Zemirah suddenly remembered something.
"What's your name, little girl?" She asked as she remembered her system.
"Miss, my name is Thea." The little girl answered honestly.
Thinking of her system's function, Zemirah took out a talisman from her storage bag.
"Here," She gave the talisman to the girl and went inside the room without waiting for a response.
The girl outside dazedly held the talisman in her hand. Although she's just a mortal, she knows stuff about cultivators.
The talisman in her hand is a commonly seen talisman called [Water Shield Talisman]. It was a good thing for mortals, but what made her dazed was the quality of the talisman. It was an Uncommon-Quality talisman. A talisman her family never touched because of its price.
She didn't expect this young miss to just give one to a mortal servant like her.
Seeing the talisman in her hand, she knew that this young miss must be treated like a distinguished guest. The servant girl hid the talisman on her sleeves and went to tell her mother and father about this guest and her encounter.
Her family manages this inn for their master who is an official to the government.
The most important rule in serving guests is to identify them and treat everyone with a good attitude. Their master doesn't want his servant to unintentionally offend someone he can't because of ignorance.
--
Inside the room, Zemirah smiled as she heard Sia's voice in her mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a talisman to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Outstanding-Quality Mid-Stage Grade 1 [Water Shield Talisman]*2.
Details: The user will be protected by the water shield, which can withstand a late-stage Energy Refining Realm attack for an hour.
"Good stuff." Zemirah is happy and took out the newly rewarded talisman. It was one quality higher than the one she gave and she even got two pieces. Sia was quite generous.
Zemirah was satisfied with her little experiment.
"I'll go to a tavern to listen to some news, then buy resources for my cultivation, especially for making talismans." Zemirah nodded to herself.
Then she checked the room first, making sure there were no booby traps or suspicious things before settling down.
When it was time for lunch, she went out of her room. She took a shower and changed her hairstyle before deciding to go out.
She ignored the eyes that followed her figure and went to the Teal District, where most official establishments resided.
There are many shops, ranging from shops that sell pills and herbs to treasures like magical artifacts and talismans. She went to a shop that sold materials for making talismans and bought two talisman inks that cost more than a hundred gold coins. One is made from [Blood Ink Tree] and the other is made from the body of [Abyss Water Octopus].
[Blood Ink Tree] will help her in making a talisman that has a wood element and [Abyss Water Octopus Ink] will be helpful for dark and water element talismans. Her last talisman ink was almost finished because of her enthusiasm in making talismans.
After that, she heads to the River District, where most of the crowd went. It was also called Outer District by the local people. That place isn't strictly managed by the Town Guards, so the products aren't guaranteed and even conflicts can arise.
Though most people restrain themselves from killing and looting since the River District is still part of the Teal River Town.
In the end, one can only rely on one's vision.
The difference between River District and Teal District is obvious at a glance. River District is messy and loud, while Teal District is orderly and is guarded by the Town Guards.
"This place is easy to attract trouble. I'll just look for what I need, then go to the tavern to collect news," Zemirah said to herself before entering River District.
"Newly hunted [Black Whisker Tiger], the fur is intact and the meat is savory!"
"[Water Snow Lotus] from Blue Frost Summit in the neighboring empire!"
"Leather made from the skin of [Lava Fire Lizard]!"
Sure enough, what welcomed Zemirah was the loud voices of the peddlers from various stalls.
Zemirah watched the excitement and looked at every stall to see if there was anything that caught her eye.
She saw an argument in the middle of her walk and listened to some words.
"This [Water Snow Lotus] is foraged deep in Blue Frost Summit! It even reached 100 years, so my price is just right!" A man said as he pointed to a blue flower on the table.
"Fart! The petals didn't even reach ten, every lotus petal represents a decade. Who are you trying to fool?!" The other man shouted.
Someone also whispered near Zemirah, "That guy has a good eye, [Water Snow Lotus] grows petals every 10 years. That Snow Lotus only has nine, and it didn't look like it came from Blue Frost Summit either."
"You're right, Flowers and Herbs from Blue Frost Summit has a blue shimmer that strengthens the Ice element. That one looks so white without a speck of blue glitter."
Zemirah happily listened as she was in awe of how knowledgeable the people were and how shameless the others.
She then went to other stalls after the [Water Snow Lotus] was bought by the man. The seller looks bitter at how he didn't manage to fool the man, but Zemirah feels the seller is actually happy. Maybe he still fooled the man in other ways.
After walking deep into River Street, she finally saw something that caught her eye.
An alchemist who sells some Grade 1 pills for the Energy Refinement Realm.
She neared the stall and saw the pill she needed, "Is this Grade 1 [Energy Replenishment Pill] almost reaching Outstanding-quality?" She asked, but Zemirah was almost certain.
The lady whose face is covered with a gray mask nodded.
"How many do you have and how much?" Zemirah is ready to buy more for her reserves. She lacks pills for her cultivation, and although it is widely known that spiritual energy from a natural cultivation site is the most beneficial for cultivation, followed by spiritual stone, pills can also be used as an alternative.
It was easier to access since the profession of an Alchemist is popular, though those who reach higher realms are harder to find.
"300 gold." The alchemist quoted a price.
Zemirah's mouth twitched as she heard the price, 300 gold for one uncommon-quality pill. So this is the reason alchemists are the richest among the professions of cultivators.
Alchemy products aren't separated by stages, which is unique compared to other items like talismans and artifacts. The way they were judged is based on the quality, which is why most alchemists pursue the extreme of one pill recipe most of the time. Learning one to the extreme is better than learning many but quality is trash.
There are also some pills that exceed restrictions or limitations called Special Pills.
It's obviously a loss since Uncommon-quality pills are usually priced at 125 to 250 Gold Coins, but Zemirah considered that the pills were near Outstanding-Quality, so she nodded, "Give me 10 pills."
The alchemist raised a brow at her before handing her a bottle. Zemirah checked the bottle and saw that the goods were right, so she handed a bag containing 3,000 gold coins.
The alchemist also checked before nodding.
Zemirah then nodded back and left.
She didn't buy anymore and went back to the inn. As for going to the tavern for news? She forgot.
That night, Zemirah practiced and felt her Dantain being full. She can feel that in at most three days, she can try advancing to the Late-stage of the Energy Refinement Realm.
She can use the [Energy Replenishing Pills] if ever needed in advance. She still has some spiritual stones in her space ring to use, but having a backup plan is also good.
"I should buy some books. It's so boring. I have nothing to do besides cultivating and making talismans." Zemirah kind of missed the modern technology on Earth.
Her hand itches thinking of the various entertainment from Earth that she will not have again.
That night, Zemirah wondered if she could receive a cell phone from Sia as a reward. Though it was unlikely.
The next day, Zemirah went to a Teahouse. There's a good teahouse in the Town owned by a noble family from the city near Teal River Town.
The teahouse is quite elegant, there is no loud noise but only low whispers from the customers. Zemirah happily went to order a good mortal-grade tea called [Teal Winter Tea].
The tea is quite good, refreshing and cool to the stomach. It was like the cold milk tea in modern Earth, but healthier. Though the spiritual energy is almost nonexistent, Zemirah liked it, so she bought a few bags of the tea before leaving.
Then she went to another tea house, but this teahouse was more noisy. Zemirah has heard more news here, so she stayed. The tea she ordered this time was different, it tasted average, so she only drank a sip before focusing on listening to others.
"Is it true that two nearby villages were destroyed by Demonic Cultivators?" A thin man asks his friend.
His chubby friend spoke in a loud voice, "It was said there are traces of Demonic Beasts too in the destruction remnants."
"Tsk, did those Demonic Cultivators join hands with the Demonic Beasts from Teal River Forest?"
"I don't know, but the Town Lord has already sent soldiers to investigate. If those Demonic Cultivators really joined hands with the Demonic Beasts, the Town may not be at peace in the next few months."
"It's a good thing for us though, chaos means opportunities." The man laughed.
Zemirah frowned at what she heard. She is quite sensitive to the words Demonic Cultivators these days after knowing the original owner died at their hands.
Now that two villages were actually destroyed by them, she felt her heart burn in anger.
'Soon, I'll beat those bastard Demonic Cultivators.' She said in her heart.
After hearing some idle news and gossip, she went out of the tea house. The most frequently heard news is about the two villages.
She can see that Teal District is busier than before. The soldiers are more frequently seen and walk in a hurry.
She wanted to find some books, so she passed by a bookstore, which only had some mortal books. The book about the talisman that she wanted is nowhere to be seen. She only remembered that most cultivation information is monopolized by the bigger factions.
It is only possible to buy at auctions when an opportunity arise.
She decided to ask around where she could attend an auction.
The servant girl in the inn happily answered her about the auction. She said that there would be a big auction in Wintea City, the only city in the surrounding area, in six months.
The Teal River Town will also hold a small auction and free trade in the Teal Treasure House at the end of every month. The end of the month is three days from now, so Zemirah still has time to prepare.
'My Outstanding-quality talisman can surely be traded for something good, though it may catch some attention. Let's see the situation first on that day, whether to use it for trade.'
Zemirah shrugged and went to make talismans so that she could have enough to trade in three days. She's also thinking about whether she should try randomly gifting something, so that the system can reward her with something good.
"No, it's too suspicious, and others may think I'm a fat sheep to slaughter." Zemirah denied the whimsical idea she just had.
Besides, gifting to an acquaintance only rewards Outstanding quality as the highest quality, even the level won't rise. The gift system means the closer the relationship, the better the reward from the gift.
"I need a reason where I can reasonably give gifts, the closer the relationship, the better." She whispered, but tossed the thought to the back of her mind.
Anyway, she should make a talisman first. More talisman means more money.
She mostly spends her time cultivating and making talismans like a real cultivator of this world.
That evening, she informed the servant girl that she would be in seclusion and that she would send food every morning, lunch, and dinner. She can also report to her the recent news in the town.
On the first day in the morning, Zemirah gave the servant girl an [Energy Replenishment Pill], the one she just bought from the alchemist in River Street.
+++
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a pill to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Outstanding-Quality Grade 1 [Energy Replenishment Pill]*3.
At lunch, the servant girl received a spiritual fruit after delivering lunch.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a spiritual fruit to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Outstanding-Quality Grade 1 [Azure Berry Fruit]*2.
Details: A fruit that is rich in water elements and the main ingredient in making a Grade 1 Special Pill called [Aqua Ring Pill]. A precious pill for healing, it can treat almost all negative damage like burn and frost, even some curses.
At dinner, the servant girl happily held a talisman given by the generous beautiful lady. This time, the talisman is an offensive talisman Grade 1 called [Fire Arrow Talisman]. And an Uncommon-Quality one again.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a talisman to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Outstanding-Quality Mid-Stage Grade 1 [Fire Arrow Talisman]*2.
The next day, the servant girl made sure to bring the best breakfast made by her family to the door of the lady. Sure enough, the beautiful lady gave her something again. This time, it's a spiritual flower.
The young miss said, "I'll give you this beautiful flower."
She happily thanked the young miss and asked her mother what is the name of the spiritual flower she was given.
The servant girl's mother knew the flower and smiled happily, "This is a [Purity Daisy Flower]. It can dispel evil. You can sell it or hang it around yourself to keep safe from evil."
The servant girl chose to keep the flower, as she thought the same as the beautiful Miss, this flower is indeed beautiful.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a spiritual flower to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Outstanding-Quality Grade 1 [Purity Daisy Flower]*3.
Zemirah happily took out the [Purity Daisy Flower] that was more beautiful than the flower she reluctantly gave to the servant girl.
This [Purity Daisy Flower] is a rare flower in the Golden Light Dynasty, and its evolution, the [Extreme Purity Daisy Flower], is rarer and more precious that can only be found deep in the territory of Spiritual Beasts in Rainbow Mist Mountain Ranges.
The flowers can dispel evil, clear the mind, and emit a good fragrance that cleans the surroundings from filth-like curses and negative emotions.
She felt her mind become clearer that her talisman-making was easier.
"Sia, this is such a good thing. I can't bear to sell it tomorrow in the auction."
Sia made a tutting sound, as if speechless with her words.
"So I won't sell it, hehe." Zemirah hehe-d and happily worked on her talisman. She felt that she could try to make a Rare-Quality talisman.
That feeling was faint, but she didn't give up. With the goal that Rare-Quality is more precious than Outstanding-Quality, she has endless energy to keep going.
For lunch, the servant girl got a hairpin artifact. The hairpin is only a Common-Quality Low-Stage Grade 1 Defensive Artifact, but it can automatically release a shield when the wearer is in danger, so it's quite precious for a mortal.
The servant girl happily wore the hairpin that Zemirah found after rummaging in her bag.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a hair accessory artifact to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Outstanding-Quality Mid-Stage Grade 1 [Hundred Flowers Bloom Artifact]*3
The hairpin is quite long, one look and one may think that hundreds of flowers are blooming on it. The flowers are white and pink, they look like real flowers. Zemirah fixed her hair with the newly gotten hairpin as she asked, "Sia, what's the function of this hairpin?"
She stared at herself in front of the mirror and saw that she looked like a princess fairy. So beautiful and graceful.
Details: The hair accessory has a basic function like making the owner smell like fresh blooming blossoms, and the main function is to release the flowers in the hairpin to take the attack.]
Sia sends some images in her mind, the thousand flowers as a whip as a shield to catch small attacks for her.
"This artifact is so good, thank you, Sia!"
[Ding! All the best for the host.]
At dinner, the servant girl received a precious stone. She had heard of it but had never seen one. Her parents knew it was a spiritual stone, so they panicked before deciding to give it to their master.
Their master is good as an official and as a person, they can rest assured to be compensated and divert the danger of having a treasure yet no power to protect it.
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for gifting a spiritual stone to an acquaintance and being rewarded with an Low-Grade Spiritual Stones *3]
"I feel like my spiritual stone split into three," Zemirah pursed her lips in amusement as she talked to Sia in her mind.