"This Azure Dragon Flag is already quite impressive. I wonder what's in the other jade box?"
Lu Tiandu asked with a smile.
"Haven't you always wanted to acquire a talisman? We at Jinyu Pavilion were fortunate enough to acquire one not long ago."
The old man, his hand on the jade box, hesitated for a moment, his face full of hesitation. "This treasure is in no way inferior to the Azure Dragon Flag, but..."
"But what's wrong with this talisman?" Lu Tiandu asked curiously.
"That's not... Never mind, I'll tell you straight away!"
The old man opened the remaining jade box, revealing a golden talisman within. Above it appeared a cyan mirror with a gold rim. The mirror was lifelike, emitting rays of radiant light.
"This talisman is called the Azure Condensing Mirror? Do you remember anything?" the old man suddenly asked.
"Hmm?"
Lu Tiandu muttered, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "I remember this being the name of a magical weapon held by a certain Jindan elder of the Yanyue Sect."
The Lu family's Sutra Library contained numerous records concerning the Yue Kingdom's major powers and notable figures. Furthermore, Lu Tiandu still had memories of his past life. How could he not know that the refining method for this Qing Ning Mirror was unique to the Yanyue Sect?
"Indeed, this Qing Ning Mirror was the natal magical weapon of a female Jindan elder of the Yanyue Sect, named Yang. She once achieved great fame. But perhaps you didn't know that it's also a replica of a certain magical weapon?"
The old man chuckled, meeting Lu Tiandu's gaze. "This renowned Qing Ning Mirror is a replica of the Ningguang Treasure Mirror, once held by a Yuanying-stage expert of the Yanyue Sect. It's said to be an extremely powerful ancient treasure..."
"This shows that whether this Qing Ning Mirror is a magical weapon, a talisman, or a magical instrument bestowed upon disciples and direct descendants, it's unique to this lineage."
"And the talisman we acquired from the Jinyu Pavilion was obtained from a Foundation Establishment cultivator with whom we have a good relationship. Now, do you understand why that Foundation Establishment cultivator traveled tens of thousands of miles to Huangfeng Valley to acquire this treasure?"
Of course, the talisman's origins were shady. The Foundation Establishment cultivator was probably too afraid to use it, but felt it was a shame to throw it away, so he traveled thousands of miles to secretly sell it.
Lu Tiandu played with the talisman, unable to conceal his delight.
Although he already had the small sword talisman, it had clearly seen a lot of use and would likely become useless after two or three more uses. Although the talisman was illicit, he didn't care. He just wanted to make sure anyone who saw it vanished.
As for the Nascent Soul cultivator who possessed the Qingning Treasure Mirror, she must be Nangong Wan's middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. This meant that the female Jindan cultivator surnamed Yang might be her disciple, and the Duobao woman surnamed Zhao who participated in the Blood Forbidden Trial was undoubtedly the granddaughter of this Jindan master.
"So, what's your decision?" the Thirteenth Uncle asked, looking at Lu Tiandu.
The old man was happy that the Jinyu Pavilion had received a talisman that could protect the house, but he also felt sorry that this thing could not be seen by the public. Now he hoped that Lu Tiandu would take the talisman as a trump card to strengthen his foundation, but he was also afraid that it would bring some unnecessary trouble.
"Of course, take this talisman!" Lu Tiandu smiled casually. "If we miss such a treasure, we don't know when we will encounter it again. How can we let it go easily? As for the potential crisis, we practice cultivation to fight for our lives against the will of heaven, so how can we be timid..."
"Well, you have such ambition, it's really rare!" The Thirteenth Uncle's eyes also shone with some strange colors.
Cultivation talent is one thing, and character is another. With such a character, as long as this little guy doesn't die midway, he will definitely achieve something in the future.
"This kind of talisman costs about two thousand spirit stones, but the price is lower when purchasing this talisman. You can pay one thousand six hundred."
"Okay."
Lu Tiandu nodded. The price was already quite cheap; this trip to the Jinyu Pavilion had yielded quite a few gains.
He pulled out a low-level storage bag and said, "Uncle Thirteen, these are the talismans I brought this time—they're all I've got for the year!"
"Wow, so many mid- to high-level talismans! It seems you've been busy all year..."
The old man counted the talismans and looked at Lu Tiandu with a new appreciation.
"The quality of these talismans is exceptional, especially these fifty high-level ones—they're truly rare treasures. It seems you've made significant progress in both your technique and talisman drawing this year!" the old man exclaimed.
He had been immersed in the art of talismans for decades. If he were asked to draw fifty high-level talismans in a year, he'd only manage half, let alone the three hundred mid-level ones.
Lu Tiandu smiled and said nothing more. With his talent, he could certainly draw those three hundred and fifty talismans in a year, but doing so would significantly deplete his cultivation.
All of these talismans were the product of his consuming eight hundred spirit stones, using three hundred low-level talismans and fifty mid-level talismans, upgraded through the Creation Divine Furnace.
He originally had nearly nine hundred spirit stones, but synthesizing a single drop of the Heavenly Creation Fluid cost fifty spirit stones, and most of the remaining was spent on these talismans.
At this point, he only had a few dozen spirit stones on hand for emergencies.
"Okay, mid-level talismans are seven spirit stones each, and high-level talismans are thirty spirit stones each, for a total of three thousand six hundred spirit stones. Subtract the twelve hundred for the Green Dragon Flag and the sixteen hundred for the Green Condensation Mirror, and I'll give you eight hundred spirit stones.
Is that okay?" the old man asked.
"No problem, Uncle Thirteen."
Lu Tiandu nodded. Over a year ago, he began selling his hand-crafted talismans through his family's Jinyu Pavilion, which provided him with a stable supply channel and cash flow.
The family also attracted a large customer base through his high-quality talismans, a win-win situation.
In reality, the Jinyu Pavilion hadn't made much profit from the mid- and low-level talismans it had previously sold to them, but this time around, it should be able to profit handsomely from the high-level talismans.
Lu Tiandu believed that each of these high-level talismans, produced by the Creation Divine Furnace, could easily fetch forty or fifty spirit stones.
However, Lu Tiandu wasn't at all disappointed. He wouldn't imitate a casual cultivator and start selling talismans just for this small price difference. For one thing, selling them individually would take a long time, disrupting his cultivation. For another, hiding his true colors and pretending to be a casual cultivator for too long would surely lead to discovery and even a target.
After all, for a Qi Refining cultivator to periodically sell high-level talismans was clearly problematic. Many casual cultivators wouldn't even be able to afford a single high-level talisman with a year or two's worth of accumulated income.
Of course, if some within the family discovered his disloyalty, they would likely view him as a typical ungrateful act.
In reality, the family had compensated him in some ways, such as with the Green Dragon Flag and Green Condensing Mirror talismans he had just acquired at a low price.
After chatting with the old man for a few more words, Lu Tiandu said goodbye and went downstairs. He bought a large amount of blank primary talisman paper and monster blood at the counter on the first floor, and selected a few spiritual medicine seeds that were not available in his Hundred Medicine Garden, and then left the Jinyu Pavilion.
Next, Lu Tiandu went to several large stores, such as the Qiqiao Pavilion run by the Chen family, the Tiangong Building run by the Feng family, the Yinfengzhai run by the Dong family, and the famous Yue State chain store Wanbao Building, to search for spiritual medicine seeds.
After spending dozens of spirit stones, Lu Tiandu only found a dozen kinds of spiritual medicine seeds. After finishing his work, he left the market and rushed to the Lu family, which was built on a branch of the Taiyue Mountains.
(End of this chapter)