Wei Yunxi adopted the same bartering method she had seen earlier. Holding back her spirit stones, she cupped her hands respectfully and asked, "Senior Sister, I don't have any spirit stones on hand. May I trade pills for your blank talisman paper?"
The stall owner glanced at her and asked bluntly, "What kind of pills are you offering?"
"I have some Yangling Pills. I've been saving them because I couldn't bear to use them."
"Let me see them."
Unbothered by the possibility of being swindled, Wei Yunxi handed over the small bottle containing her last five pills. The girl opened the lid and sniffed it, then smiled.
"These are mid-grade pills. How much talisman paper do you want in exchange?"
Wei Yunxi paused for a moment, then said, "I'm just a beginner, so I'm bound to waste quite a few sheets. I'd like to trade all five pills for everything you have."
The stall owner swept her eyes across her goods. There were ten stacks of first-grade blank talisman paper and one stack of second-grade. Each stack held a hundred sheets. After doing a quick mental conversion between the market value and pill prices, she grit her teeth and said, "Alright. Since you're sincere, I'll make the trade. Let's be friends. But from now on, you'd better come to me whenever you need talisman paper."
Wei Yunxi caught on immediately. This Senior Sister was trying to secure a long-term, stable customer. She smiled and replied, "Thank you for looking out for me. I'll definitely come to you from now on."
The stall owner stuffed the pill bottle into her storage pouch and grinned. "My name is Hua Xuánzǐ. I've been cultivating in the outer sect for five years. Just call me Senior Sister Hua."
"Yes, Senior Sister Hua. I'm Wei Yunxi. I joined the sect this year. You can just call me Yunxi."
With that, she swept all the blank talisman paper into her storage pouch.
"Junior Sister Yunxi, here's my communication talisman. If you can't find me in the market, just send me a message. I can deliver it to your door."
Hua Xuánzǐ was a tall girl with a straightforward attitude. Her cultivation had reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining, and she looked like she had a promising future. Wei Yunxi decided to accept the olive branch.
"Thank you, Senior Sister. But I don't have any communication talismans on me right now."
Hua Xuánzǐ immediately patted her storage pouch and said, "I've got some. I'll give you a discounted rate. One low-grade spirit stone for ten talismans. Want them?"
Wei Yunxi thought it over and decided to buy them. She would definitely need them when she left the sect. Pretending to be heartbroken, she handed over a Yangqi Pill in exchange.
Hua Xuánzǐ twitched at the corner of her mouth but didn't haggle. She took the pill and gave her the ten talismans, then cheerfully rolled up her carpet and said, "Take your time, Junior Sister Yunxi. I'm going to browse other stalls."
"Please go ahead, Senior Sister."
Wei Yunxi then turned to Wei Yunqing and Wei Zonghao beside her. "Now that I've got the talisman brush and the paper, all that's left is cinnabar ink. Let's keep looking."
Wei Zonghao had no objections and added casually, "I heard that mixing beast blood into cinnabar can strengthen the talismans. Want to give it a try?"
"That's true. One of the elders said the same thing. Let's see if we can find suitable beast blood."
She turned to Wei Yunqing. "Sister, done inspecting the brush? What do you think?"
Wei Yunqing returned the brush with a hint of disappointment. "It's old, but good enough for practice. Just make do with it for now."
Wei Yunxi accepted the brush and carefully stored it. "That's what I thought too."
The three continued wandering the market. Wei Yunxi was truly there to buy cinnabar ink, Wei Zonghao was there mainly to keep her company, but Wei Yunqing kept a close eye on everything Wei Yunxi looked at. If her gaze lingered, Wei Yunqing would act interested and pick up the item, even buying two she wasn't sure about.
Watching her so-called older sister, Wei Yunxi raised an eyebrow slightly. She confirmed again that the story she had read was a blend of truth and fiction. She, the cannon fodder supporting character, really did have unusually good fortune. But those opportunities were never handed to her. The novel must have glossed over how the female lead, Wei Yunqing, acquired resources—clearly through deception and manipulation.
Whenever Wei Yunxi encountered a chance encounter or hidden treasure, Wei Yunqing's protagonist halo seemed to flare up, locking onto her like a shark drawn to blood. Thankfully, Wei Yunxi was vigilant. Otherwise, she might have missed her own opportunities.
Take the empty pill bottles, for example. If Wei Yunqing had casually said, "I need some for pill refining. Want to trade two of them?" Wei Yunxi, unaware, might've agreed. Then Wei Yunqing would have seized the Bu Tian Dan fair and square.
But now that she knew better, that was never going to happen.
The three spent the entire afternoon in the market. Each gained something. Wei Yunqing picked up two broken items that might be treasures. Wei Yunxi exchanged for a full set of talisman-making tools. Wei Zonghao replenished his stock of spirit beast jerky.
They returned to their residences in high spirits. Wei Yunqing rushed straight into her room and started knocking on the items she had bought, hoping to discover something hidden.
Back in her own room, Wei Yunxi activated her barrier formation, then laid out the six empty pill bottles she had acquired. She inspected them one by one. The fourth bottle stood out. Its base was thicker than the others, suggesting it had been made in a different batch. This had to be the one with the Heaven-Mending Pill.
She tried smashing it on the floor. Nothing happened. The craftsmanship was solid.
Knowing brute force wouldn't work, she turned to magic. After cycling through Fireball, Water Arrow, and Gold Thorn, and draining nearly all her spiritual power, she used Lightning Strike. The bottle finally shattered, and a single pill rolled from its base.
Delighted, she picked it up, took a whiff, then sealed it in another pill bottle and stored it in her spatial storage.
As someone with a top-grade variant spirit root, her root value was already maxed out. Taking the Bu Tian Dan wouldn't do much for her. It was better saved for future trades.
Just as she swept away the shards, someone knocked on her formation.
Scanning with her divine sense, her brow furrowed. "Wei Yunqing again. Persistent as a plaster."
She set out the blank talisman paper and cinnabar ink she had bought, then stood with her brush in hand and dispelled the formation.
"What do you want, Sister?"
Wei Yunqing seemed to want to enter the room but found herself blocked. She gave a forced laugh. "Little Sister, what are you doing?"
Wei Yunxi replied, visibly annoyed, "Practicing talismans, of course. You knocking on my barrier ruined a nearly completed first-grade talisman. What is it you need?"
Wei Yunqing glanced at the desk and saw the spread of talisman paper and the nearly one-third-used cinnabar ink. She forced down her irritation.
"Won't you let me sit with you? We've grown distant since entering the sect."
Wei Yunxi rolled her eyes internally. Anyone with eyes could see what their relationship was really like. What was the point of pretending to be close?
"Yunqing, Yunxi, is there a problem between you two?"