The sun shone directly above his head, indicating that the time had reached noon. Gu Yan rushed to his house amid laughter. Since the incident at the grave where he was covered by Gu Xin'er, he was targeted less and less. This also confirmed his guess that Gu Ming was the one inciting the family against him.
He still remembers that a week after his father's death, various coincidences lined up, and a lot of debts were piled on his head. Gu Ming initiated a clan meeting with the agenda that the entire side branch is to be banished. The other branches wanted to decrease competition for resources too, but they didn't want Gu Ming to get too powerful, so they raised objections.
Gu Ming backed down but revealed his true purpose. He wanted Gu Yang's family out, as compensation for the losses the family incurred. The others made a symbolic protest and acquiesced with a heavy expression. It it weren't for the arrival of Ancestor Yuan, Gu Yan would have probably died in the harsh world.
Of course, Gu Ming only stopped inciting others to embarrass him. But habits die hard. Gu Shou never stopped. When he saw Gu Yan walking towards his home with a happy expression, he couldn't accept it.
He conjured a fireball and shot it towards Gu Yan. Under Lin Yuan's timely remainder, Gu Yan barely managed to use a water summoning spell. The sheer difference in cultivation means Gu Yan cannot block it.
But the perks of being a talisman maker includes mastery over spells, since talismans are recorded spells. However, his clothes were still burnt slightly.
Gu Yan ran at full speed, without giving a chance for Gu Shou to cast another spell. The robe was made using mortal fabric which barely cost a few taels of silver, not much for a first order middle grade talisman master. But the cost from burn injuries would break his wallet.
He reached his home within a few minutes, and walked inside. Gu Yan found that his mother and aunt were having lunch. Looking at his miserable appearance, Shen Ling was heartbroken, but she didn't make a sound, so as not to alert Shen Mei.
"Yan'er, you're back? Come, let's have lunch together."
"Later, Mother."
Gu Yan made his way to his room and went inside.
"This kid~"
Shen Mei chuckled and shook her head, saying young people are very energetic.
"I will talk to him."
Shen Ling excused herself and knocked on Gu Yan's door. Walking inside, she saw Gu Yan shirtless applying a cream on the red spots on his skin. Beside him on a floor lay a robe slightly charred.
She walked towards Gu Yan and took the cream from his hand, applying it on him. Gu Yan didn't object, since she had been doing it for years. After applying the cream, she picked up the robe and walked out of the room.
The cream is a basic cream for injuries. It works for all injuries, but its effectiveness is quite low according to immortal standards.
The Sima Chamber of Commerce used to sell it for a high price, but the recipe was very easy to deduce. In fact, it was considered so easy, that alchemist apprentices usually try to deduce it first to gain experience, forcing the chamber of commerce to cut prices.
Gu Yan waited for the burns to heal while talking to Lin Yuan inside the ring.
"Okay. Our first course of action is to get more money to buy resources and time to practice."
Gu Yan nodded upon hearing Lin Yuan's words.
"But there are only 24 hours per day, and we don't have any treasure that can slow time, so our goal is : Make Money."
Gu Yan nodded again.
"So the question is, what can you do to make more money?"
Gu Yan thought for a while and shook his head.
"Its not that I have not been trying to find a way to make more money over the past few years. The expenses for my mother's medicines take huge part of my income. If only she was a cultivator, her body would be able to handle stronger pills."
"Can't she just reach the first layer in Qi refining? It should be possible for her to reach that level."
"That would be for the worst."
The answer was vague, and Lin Yuan felt that they both were not on the same page, but he skipped the point for now.
"But as a first order middle grade talisman maker, you should be able to make more money, right?"
Gu Yan told Lin Yuan was almost kicked out of his clan when Gu Yuan helped him. "Part of the clause for me to stay was to make 30 talismans per month as clan contribution, and any extra I make must be sold only to the clan."
". . . How much do they pay you per talisman?"
"40 pieces plus materials."
"And the market price?"
"4 stones."
". . ."
A blatant ripoff. And a calculated move. Judging by the time it takes for Gu Yan to draw one talisman, he could barely make two per day. If he also cultivates, then he cannot practice his skills.
"Is it not possible to sneak some talismans to sell outside?"
"No, the contract states that all the talismans I make must be sold to the clan. No exceptions."
"So the only way for you to sell talismans you made at full price is not to make it?"
"Yes, but it doesn't make any sense."
Lin Yuan and Gu Yan were in deep thought. They did not expect that they would face a roadblock at the very first issue they were trying to solve. The silence lasted for a few minutes without any end in sight.
Then, Lin Yuan used his modern brain to think outside the box. The perk of having a modern ideology is having outrageous thoughts that just make sense.
"Ok, hear me out. What if you weren't the one who made it?"
". . . You would. Last I checked, you don't know anything regarding cultivation."
"Yes, but you could use me."
". . ."
"I feel like you are thinking something offensive. But I didn't mean it in the way you are thinking. All I know is that they will identify whether something was made by you by your soul, right? What if it was mine instead?"
". . . But that would require you to do it."
"What if you used my soul power instead?"
"Impossible! You cannot control another person's soul. Any art that uses another's soul power would be considered as demonic because of the danger to the soul being used."
"So, you can't?"
"No!!"
Lin Yuan read quite a few novels with MCs who practice demonic dao, so he has an observer's perspective. He forgot that most if not all demons are evil to their core, and Gu Yan being a resident of this world grew up listening to their horrors, so he will stay far away from anything demonic as possible.
". . . Let's put it in the back then. So the only way is for me to learn talisman making?"
". . . Maybe not. This does give me an idea. We could do it half and half."
Gu Yan then described the procedure. Lin Yuan needs to supply a steady stream of spiritual energy into the talisman pen at a constant rate without stop. G Yan would control the pen to draw the talisman.
However, this poses a challenge to Gu Yan. Without the control of spiritual energy, it would be similar to writing with a pen which releases ink without break. He cannot stop while writing softer strokes, and he needs to stop for a precise amount of time when writing harder strokes.
But the method is feasible. So the two of them put it to the test. Gu Yan took out a stack of talisman papers from his desk drawer. These aren't the ones he uses to make the Sharp Sword Talisman. These were the inferior grade talisman papers left behind when he was promoted.
Inferior grade talisman papers are very cheap, since most of them are based on 10 year old trees or skins of animals. As long as the tanning process involves one spiritual ingredient, the end product retains a faint spirituality.
The pair used these papers to practice their coordination. Because the ring itself is a boundless space made using a world tree seed, Lin Yuan is not short on spiritual power. So Gu Yan practiced his timing.
An hour passed unknowingly. After thousands of tries, the pair succeeded in making their first talisman. Even if they sold it for full price, they couldn't recover their costs. But this didn't stop the smile on their faces.
This was the first step in breaking their situation.
Gu Yan then carefully inscribed the date on it.
"Why?"
"Oh! The date? It's mandatory to inscribe the date of production onto any immortal product produced. And all products must be destroyed after a certain number of years have passed since the creation of the object."
"Again, Why?!"
"I don't know. But all the cultivators must follow the rules. Those who break the rules are considered a sinner by both the Dao Alliance and the Ten Thousand Demons Palace."
"'. . ."
Lin Yuan didn't know why there was such a weird rule, but it is apparent that Gu Yan didn't know the reason behind it.
Gu Yan stretched himself up and checked himself. He was shocked to find that his spiritual consciousness improved slightly. Although he was mentally exhausted, he could feel a slight improvement.
He straightened his clothes and walked outside, only to find two women sitting near the dining table chatting, while the dishes were untouched, and long cold.
Warmth spread across Gu Yan's heart. He walked towards the table and cast a fire spell. A fire ball formed in his hands, and he separated strands of it and made it travel around the dishes carefully, warming them up.
The two women were surprised by the display of skills and congratulated Gu Yan for making progress. After fulfilling his vanity, he sat down and the three of them had lunch.
He walked out in the evening towards the market. Time for the test. He walked around the market and found a target, a fairly large shop, but still a stall.
He hired a mortal kid to sell his talisman for him, since in case of failure, the shock he would feel would alert the Gu family guards patrolling nearby.
The kid took the sheet from the weird brother and walked towards the store he pointed at. He briskly walked to the store, intending to sell it quickly and get the money for his brother's medicine.
The shop keeper was a shrewd looking middle aged man, a mortal, but he had a fierce looking bodyguard who speaks trouble even for Gu Yan.
The kid reached the shop and tried to sell the talisman directly. The shopkeeper realized that the kid didn't know the value of the talisman in his hand, so he gave a low price of 10 pieces. The kid told the shopkeeper that he was selling it for someone else, and the person has named the price of 50 pieces.
The shopkeeper lost interest, but he tried again. He would give the kid 40 pieces and the kid could return 30 pieces to the person, pocketing 10 pieces.
The kid was tempted, but he remembered his brother's words of not harming those who didn't harm him. So he rejected and asked for 50. The market price of this talisman was 70 pieces, and shops usually buy it for 50-55 pieces to make profit. So Gu Yan gave the kid a reasonable target. But the shopkeeper got greedy, and named a price of 40 pieces to be his limit.
The kid was stuck in a dilemma. If he didn't sell it, he wouldn't get the money. If he did sell it for less, he might not get the money either. The confusion caused his eyes to redden slowly, and he started to cry, attracting the crowd around.
Now it was the shopkeepers turn to be confused. But he looked at the crowd and reacted instantly. He pulled the kid inside and tried to calm him down but it had the opposite effect. The shopkeeper's daughter, who was nearby, came quickly after hearing the gossip and quickly calmed the kid down.
In the end, the shopkeeper could only pinch his nose and give him 50 pieces, and he also stuffed a candy into his pocket as compensation.
The kid hopped back to find the weird brother. On the way, he felt hungry, so he fiddled around his body and found a candy. Without thinking much, he put it in his mouth. Then a thought arose inside his mind that the candy might also be a part of what he has to give back.
His eyes reddened again, but he didn't cry. This time, he decided to face it. He puffed his chest and walked forward with shaking legs.
He reached the corner. This was it. He steeled his heart and walked around the corner. Then . . . he stopped.
In front of him was a madman.
The young man stood in the center of the alleyway. His back was bent backward, his legs apart, as he looked into the sky and laughed. His smile almost reached his ears.
A Scary Madman. The kid thought.
He remembered the stories his mother used to tell him before her death when he tried to play outside late at night. There were madmen roaming the streets whom even the immortals were afraid of. These madmen were always on search to find kids who didn't listen to their parents and kidnapped them.
The kid always listened to his parents, so he didn't think the madman would do anything to him. But he was too afraid to consider his odds. He ran away without looking back.
Gu Yan was stunned when he saw the kid running away. He didn't even give back the 50 pieces. He just couldn't understand why the kid even came to him if he wanted to steal from him.
But he soon shook his head and forgot about the matter, because the plan was a success. This would increase his profits tremendously.
He walked back to his home, just in time for dinner. The three of them sat down at the table ready to start the dinner when Gu Zhen arrived. He brought with him a bottle of wine, but was kicked out after Shen Mei smelled it.
Shen Ling went to send off Gu Zhen, while Gu Yan spoke with his mother. They had nothing to speak with each other, but still made some chats once in a while.
While Gu Yan was describing his day, his mother interrupted him.
"You sound much happier."
". . . Really?"
"I'm your mother, Yan'er. Even if I cannot see, I can feel your burden everyday when you walk into my room to greet me. I do not know why, but I feel relieved hearing your voice back the way it was when your father was alive.
If there is one thing I regret in my life, it was to notarize those papers after incurring blindness. The weight of each of your steps filled with burden presses on my heart with the weight of a mountain.
Sometimes I wish it would stop, once and for all. But my wish to see you happy keeps me awake."
Gu Yan walked towards his mother, and took her into his arms, whispering "It's not your fault" softly. Even though she wanted to cry, she couldn't.
He took her back into her room and walked outside to meet with his aunt. He asked her to tug his mother in for the night and walked into his room. He didn't have the mood to cultivate, and he laid on his bed.
Lin Yuan didn't disturb him. He also waited for Gu Yan to collect his thoughts. A few minutes later, Gu Yan stood up and walked to his desk. He sat on the stool and held the talisman pen in his hand.
Lin Yuan didn't speak. He just sent Qi into the pen. The two men didn't share any words during the night, only understanding.
A week passed by.
Gu Yan kept a tight schedule for his days. He would wake up in the morning to practice spells needed for first order late rank talismans, since as mid stage Qi refiner, he could make them. In the afternoon, he has lunch with the two women after which he trains under Lin Yuan's guidance. Lin Yuan, as a veteran martial artist, is very knowledgeable about physical prowess. Although they would be nowhere near even the martial arts in this world, it can shape Gu Yan to be combat ready.
In the evening, he draws two talismans, one for a task and other for sale. And at night, he has dinner with the two women before starting his actual cultivation. He tries his best not to miss any extra moment spent with his mother and aunt after his talk with his mother that night.
A hectic schedule where he barely had any sleep. He was dead tired after just one week, mostly because he was never physically exhausted. Most monks never try to. Although their physique gets optimized as they progress in their cultivation, Qi training monks are weak physically.
But the progress was visible to the naked. He felt himself stronger. He made over 25 spiritual stones in just a week, an amount which he could barely collect after months of hard work previously.
But under the repeated urging of Lin Yuan to purchase a new brush and that he needs to rest once in a while to recover both physically and mentally, Gu Yan finally broke his schedule and went to the market.
Entering the market, he heard a lot of noise, much more than usual. He covered himself and asked a passerby what had happened.
"You don't know?! The Mad Sword, Jian Wumin, achieved the gold core a few days ago! He was only around 50 years old!!"
Gu Yan stood there, stunned. It wasn't because he felt something about the Mad Sword. It was because there was someone who was so talented that they compared him to Mad Sword.
Father . . .
He sighed slightly and shook his head. He had more important things to do. He walked towards the Sima Chamber of Commerce branch and walked inside. He walked to an empty counter and asked for talisman brushes.
The clerk patted his chest and boasted his expertise in the area. He walked inside and brought out multiple boxes, each containing a brush. The first one was the same modal as the one Gu Yan had with a price of 5 stones, the second uses the hair of a mutated demon horse with a price of 20 stones, the last one was made with hair from a horned horse, a tier 2 monster priced at 3000 stones.
Gu Yan skipped the last one without looking. Whenever he reached out to pick the first one, the ring on his right arm vibrated. With a heavy heart, he purchased the second one.
He lamented that the money was almost over before he knew it, and Lin Yuan chastised him that money must be spent to make more money.
Lin Yuan had another crazy idea. "Hear me out, why not use mortal paper when drawing?"
"Because it would burst."
"Isn't that because you inject Qi into it?"
"How else are you supposed to make a talisman?"
"Not a talisman, as a practice. Use normal paper and normal ink to learn how to draw the strokes. So when you actually attempt a Gold Sword talisman, you would make fewer errors."
"That's . . . That's actually . . . . "
Gu Yan's eyes widened. Looking at the shock on his face, Lin Yuan raised his head slightly and smirked.
"That's actually the first lesson a talisman apprentice learns."
The smirk broke.
"Pfft~!!"
A voice they didn't hear for over a week suddenly appeared. And as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.
Gu Yan walked around the market looking for anything worth purchasing. Not finding any, he bought two brooches and a martial arts manual and returned home. He gave the two brooches to his mother and aunt, and he sat down in his room and opened the book.
As a veteran, Lin Yuan instantly grasped the key concepts from the book. A common technique, Fierce Bull technique, which grants a burst of force. Gu Yan decided to learn a martial art to increase his cards.
A month passed by,
Gu Yan made considerable progress and he was very happy. But while some people were happy, some 'people' weren't.
---***---
On top of the nameless mountain, the Book opened again, attracting the Eye again.
"Gu Yan made much more progress than necessary, and the rate of divergence kept on increasing. Action mandatory."
The Eye wanted to leave immediately, but although it was the most powerful entity in the world, it was also restricted. Gu Yan is one of the key pieces in its master's plan. It sent a message to the book.
As its thought travelled, it mutated the mountains around it. The mountains were twisted, and on them many mutilated body parts appeared. As the thought passed by, they collapsed, dyeing the mountain red, which quickly seeped into soil.
"Why?"
The book reviewed what had happened with Gu Yan. Although there were traces of external stimulation, it could not find its source, which baffled the book, since there were no secrets left in this world to it after Heaven weathered.
So it deduced that there were no other influences, mostly a small rock causing big ripples. The Eye was silent for a second, and the entity behind it sent a whisper.
The whisper flew out of the forbidden zone, and flew with the wind in the direction of the Eastern continent.