Jiang Xueqi's eyes were shining brightly: "Master Shen, no wonder my husband is willing to work for you. What a generous gesture!"
She married Zhao Chunsheng and had always been accustomed to saving on food and expenses for their two children.
She never encountered such a generous friend who would freely give away over a dozen premium talismans.
Shen Xuan quickly waved his hand and said, "Friend Jiang, you jest. This concerns my life and my wife's, I will need to rely on you in the future."
"Don't worry! I won't take these talismans for nothing."
Jiang Xueqi had lived in this area for more than ten years and was somewhat familiar with Shen Xuan.
A cautious ascetic, in his sixties, who accidentally broke through to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.
Although a middle-grade Talisman Master, she never heard of him fighting anyone.
Jiang Xueqi packed up at home and moved into Shen Xuan's place, sharing a room with Ding Yuyao.
Shen Xuan, on the other hand, rested in the Practice Room or Talisman Making Room.
To be safe, Shen Xuan didn't leave the market, nor did he go to the bottom of Longze River to cultivate. Instead, he focused on producing Rejuvenation Talismans to earn Spirit Stones.
Subsequently, in the shantytown area of Cyan Dragon Bay Market, corpses of cultivators began to appear continuously.
The Ding family's Law Enforcement Team conducted on-site investigations, confirming that the deceased were loose cultivators from the shantytown area.
For a time, the loose cultivators in the shantytown area were in a state of panic.
Some gathered their Spirit Stones and hid inside the market.
Others moved out of the market shantytown, seeking new places to develop.
Most loose cultivators, however, remained indifferent.
Being at the lowest level of the Cultivation Realm, if they truly had Spirit Stones, they wouldn't be living in the shantytown area.
As a result, the Ding family increased their patrols and law enforcement in the shantytown area.
More than ten days later, news came.
High-tier cultivators of the Ding family had acted and captured a group of Tribulation Cultivators who were robbing and killing.
After a public trial, they were all hanged at the market gate.
"Great, those Tribulation Cultivators deserved to die!"
"As expected of the Ding family of Cyan Dragon Bay!"
"It's a great relief!"
Living in the shantytown area, benefiting from the Spiritual Qi of Cyan Dragon Bay Market, one also had to pay rent to the Ding family.
However, it's much cheaper than inside the market, requiring only two Spirit Stones a year.
The act of the high-tier cultivators of the Ding family was also to stabilize the mood of the loose cultivators in the market.
After all, these loose cultivators worked tirelessly year-round, earning Spirit Stones for the Ding family.
Shen Xuan did not leave the market again.
Cultivating, making talismans.
A life both fulfilling and monotonous.
Looking at the growing number of Spirit Stones, Shen Xuan felt full of energy.
Since the Ding family announced the capture and hanging of that group of Tribulation Cultivators, the law and order of Cyan Dragon Bay Market returned to its previous calm, and there were no more robbed and killed cultivators in the shantytown area.
As for outside the market, the reach of the Ding family was limited, and they could not nor would they manage it.
On this day, Shen Xuan received a letter.
The letter was sent from Dragon Gate Market in Qing Yun Mountain.
It was where Master Yan had settled later on.
A location directly under Cyan Cloud Sect, with good law and order.
"Master has passed away?"
After reading the contents of the letter, Shen Xuan felt a pang of grief in his heart.
Master Yan was his teacher who discovered him from the secular Mortal World.
Taught him Daoist Techniques, showed him how to introduce Qi into the body, and took him to participate in the Cyan Cloud Sect's sect test.
Even after being found to have an Inferior Spirit Root, Master Yan did not give up, gifted him the Divine Hidden Sea Technique, and wrote letters to his old acquaintances to recommend him.
Master Yan's old acquaintance was a seasoned Spirit Plant Cultivator, who, acknowledging Master Yan, taught Shen Xuan the Cloud Rain Technique for free.
Finding the life of a Spirit Plant Cultivator too harsh, Shen Xuan switched to talisman making after a year of farming and saving a little.
Now, learning that Master Yan had passed away, Shen Xuan suddenly realized it had been forty-nine years since they parted.
He wondered how his old classmates were doing now.
...
The Cyan Cloud Sect is a top sect in Song Country, with several Golden Core True Masters overseeing it.
From Cyan Dragon Bay to Qing Yun Mountain, the journey is three thousand miles.
Old Liu's carriage used blood-sweating horses, making it very fast.
Hearing that Shen Xuan was in a hurry, they rushed all the way, day and night.
He arrived at Dragon Gate Market in just three days.
It was already very close to Qing Yun Mountain, serving as a forward base for the Cyan Cloud Sect.
Going west to the Cyan Cloud Sect, reaching Dragon Gate Market is a must.
At the market gate, Shen Xuan took out his Identity Jade Token from Cyan Dragon Bay, registered, and entered.
Old Liu drove the carriage to the secular Mortal World to rest.
Shen Xuan left a Communication Talisman.
When he leaves the market, he will send a message to Old Liu for their return to Cyan Dragon Bay.
Following the address provided in the letter, Shen Xuan quickly found Master Yan's former residence.
At the entrance, a chubby man wearing mourning clothes signaled him over.
"Shen Xuan, come here!"
Shen Xuan's eyes lit up.
This was none other than his old classmate Wang Fugui.
Approaching, Wang Fugui skillfully dressed Shen Xuan in sackcloth and put on a white cloth.
"You came just in time. We're keeping vigil tonight, and the funeral will be tomorrow."
Shen Xuan followed Wang Fugui inside and, looking at the portrait of Master Yan on the altar, couldn't hold back his tears.
He wore a solemn expression, bowed deeply in respect.
Then he took three incense sticks, lit them on the candle flame, extinguished the fire, and once again knelt before Master Yan's shrine, bowing to the ground.
After getting up, Shen Xuan steadily placed the incense sticks into the incense burner, his eyes already glistening with tears.
Fifty years, gone in the blink of an eye.
The youthful enthusiasm for learning, the vivid image of Master Yan, felt as if it were just yesterday.
Master Yan had no offspring; those kneeling beside him as family were the final two Immortal Seeds he guided.
That night, Shen Xuan and Wang Fugui personally kept vigil for Master Yan.
"What about the other classmates?"
"Letters were sent to all of them."
Wang Fugui, possessing a low-grade Spirit Root, was brushed off in the sect test and promptly chose to marry into a Liu Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clan nearby.
He was the most lively among the seven classmates from back then.
"Ling Zhenfeng died twenty-seven years ago. Rumor has it he perished in a Cultivation Clan war."
In Shen Xuan's mind, the image of a sixteen-year-old, resolute-eyed boy in black resurfaced.
Ling Zhenfeng was a descendant of a Jianghu family and had good skills.
To think, despite sharing the same Inferior Spirit Root, he perished so early.
"Li Chang'an is doing well, like me, and married into a Yu-named Cultivation Clan, with a large family."
Regarding his status as a son-in-law, Wang Fugui mentioned it with no anomalies.
Being accepted as a son-in-law into a Cultivation Clan isn't easy.
The Spirit Root, background, character, virtue, and more are all under scrutiny.
Although Li Chang'an also had an Inferior Spirit Root, his Earth Spirit Root was as high as 9 points, making him very suitable for farming.
"As for Zhao Sujin, she married well, and her two sons both have Spirit Roots."
Zhao Sujin possessed a low-grade Spirit Root and was also a female cultivator.
After the sect test, Master Yan personally ensured she was matched with a good marriage.
"The Little Marquis and New Moon Commandery Princess entered the Cyan Cloud Sect, as you know."
Wang Fugui suddenly hesitated.
"Just hear-say, only hear-say. The New Moon Commandery Princess has established her Dao Foundation, and it's of extraordinary quality!"
"Really?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Xuan was a bit surprised.
In his impression, the New Moon Commandery Princess was still that aloof girl akin to Celestial Snow Lotus.
"What about the Little Marquis?"
Wang Fugui gave Shen Xuan a sidelong glance.
"Brother, Foundation Establishment! It's not that easy!"
"When the Little Marquis arrives, don't mention the matter of Foundation Establishment."
"Alright."
At midnight, nearing dawn.
A carriage rushed in, stopping at the entrance of the altar.
Soon, a female cultivator dressed as a matron walked in; it was Zhao Sujin, whom they hadn't seen in years.
She bowed, lit incense, knelt, and performed the ritual of kowtowing.
After inserting the incense, Zhao Sujin also donned sackcloth and put on a white cloth.
"You're here!"
Zhao Sujin didn't speak, just nodded, quietly kneeled to the side, softly sobbing, her face covered with tears.
After a while, a burly man ran in, hastily lighting incense and kneeling.
It was Li Chang'an, who had married into a Cultivation Clan, a scent of earth about him.
"Shen Xuan, Wang Fugui, Zhao Sujin, I've arrived late!"
Li Chang'an mumbled, as if he had done something wrong.
"Not late. Change your clothes quickly, join us in keeping vigil!"
Wang Fugui comforted him.
"Alright."
As soon as the words fell, outside the altar, a sudden sound of sword resonance was heard, sharp and urgent, like thunderclaps.
Someone dared to perform sword flight in Dragon Gate Market!