As the sun settled over the horizon, the last bit of snow melted from the town's rooftops and cobblestone streets, water running in small rivulets toward the drainage channels. Shops closed down one by one, their owners pulling shutters across windows and locking doors with heavy iron keys. The clamor of the market calmed to scattered voices and distant footsteps as people headed home for the evening. Oil lamps were extinguished throughout the town, darkness spreading like ink across paper.
But in one small inn room, a flickering light talisman remained on, casting its pale glow across a desk covered in papers.
Chen Yu stayed late into the night, planning and drawing everything extensively, making sure he didn't lose any small detail in the blueprint spread before him. This would be what he showed the crafters later when he commissioned the pen's creation, so every measurement needed to be perfect, every specification clear and unambiguous. His hand moved across the paper with practiced precision, marking dimensions and annotating design features in small, neat handwriting.
After several more hours, he finally set down his brush and stretched, rubbing his face with both hands as exhaustion settled into his bones. His eyes burned from staring at detailed drawings by talisman light. His back ached from hunching over the desk. He got up slowly and shuffled to the bed, collapsing onto it without bothering to remove his outer robe.
His eyebrows remained furrowed in concentration even as he lay there staring at the ceiling. He'd been able to plan most of the pen's design, working through the mechanical challenges and material requirements with methodical precision. But some aspects were still giving him trouble, particularly the circulation array. He'd never actually made an array himself before, had only studied them theoretically from manuals and observation. Designing one from scratch, even a simple one, would be significantly harder than just copying existing patterns.
Chen Yu closed his eyes and entered the Inner Void, his consciousness slipping into that familiar white-black space. He commanded the clone to work on designing the circulation array, setting it to focus on simplicity and reliability over power or efficiency. He wasn't sure if this would work, if the clone's enhanced mental processing could extend to array design, but considering how he had created the Mind cultivation method, this seemed plausible. Worth trying at least.
When the sun spilled its light across the earth once again the next morning, Chen Yu woke slowly, his body stiff from sleeping in his clothes. After a quick shower in the inn's washroom, cold water shocking him fully awake, he entered the Inner Void again to connect with his clone and absorb the daily cultivation progress.
Surprise flickered through him as he realized his body cultivation didn't seem to have changed at all. The fourth layer of Body Refinement remained exactly where it had been yesterday, no advancement whatsoever. But he could feel his Mind had increased in power somehow, a subtle expansion of processing capacity and mental clarity that was hard to quantify but definitely present. Remembering that the clone was now using the Mind cultivation method exclusively, he didn't worry about the lack of physical progress. He could increase both his body and Mind cultivation with spiritual stones later once he had money again.
Chen Yu focused on the transmitted information about the circulation array, his consciousness sifting through the knowledge the clone had generated overnight. A happy smile spread across his face as he discovered it was complete, every component designed and ready for implementation. It was a basic Tier 1 array of the lowest grade, nothing complicated or particularly elegant, just functional and simple. Exactly what he'd asked for. The array would use ambient spiritual energy to create gentle circulation currents within the ink reservoir, just enough movement to prevent crystallization without causing the ink to spray or leak.
Now all he needed were the actual materials and components. But he sadly couldn't have those ready considering he was currently broke, without even a single gold coin left to his name after buying all those spiritual stones for his breakthrough. All he could do was wait until after a week of making talismans, then sell them for the initial resources. Not to mention he had the trip to the forest with Xie Jun coming up, which would hopefully net him some additional income from beast materials.
Chen Yu spent the next several days falling into a familiar routine. Wake at dawn, practice sword forms in his room for an hour to keep his skills sharp and his body limber. Meditate and absorb the cultivation progress from his clone, feeling that strange split between his unchanged Body Refinement and slowly growing mental capacity. Then sit at his desk and draw talismans for the rest of the day, his brush moving across paper in careful strokes as he created Ice Arrow after Ice Arrow. The work was meditative in its repetition, requiring just enough focus to keep him engaged but not so much that it exhausted him.
By the evening of the sixth day, he had a decent stack of completed talismans ready to sell. Not his best work considering his distraction with the pen design, but good enough to pass merchant inspection. He'd take them to the Treasure Pavilion tomorrow after his hunt with Xie Jun.
Chen Yu stood waiting at the east gate as morning light painted the sky in shades of orange and pink. His sword hung at his side, familiar weight reassuring against his hip. His armor was still worn out from the last fight, the leather scored with claw marks and one strap repaired with a hasty knot, but it was better than nothing. He'd need to get it properly fixed soon, or just buy new armor entirely if he made enough from this hunt.
He didn't have to wait long. The large frame of Xie Jun came into view, walking down the main street with that easy confidence that came from genuine strength. The young master wore better armor than Chen Yu, boiled leather reinforced with metal plates at vital points, and his heavy dao sword was strapped across his back. He carried a pack that probably held supplies and tools for harvesting beast materials.
"Chen Yu!" Xie Jun called out with a wave, his expression bright and eager. "Ready for some hunting?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Chen Yu replied, checking his sword one more time to make sure it moved smoothly in its scabbard. "Though hopefully we don't run into any more spirit beasts. Once was enough."
Xie Jun laughed at that, the sound booming and genuine. "That's why you're with me this time. If we do run into one, I'll handle it." He clapped Chen Yu on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble slightly. "You just focus on the normal beasts. Get that combat experience you wanted."
They started heading toward the forest together, walking side by side down the road that led out of town. The morning air was cool and fresh, carrying the scent of dew on grass and distant wood smoke from early cooking fires. Other people were out and about already, farmers heading to their fields and merchants setting up their stalls, all of them nodding respectfully when they recognized Xie Jun.
"So what are we hunting for today?" Chen Yu asked as the town walls fell away behind them and farmland opened up ahead.
"Whatever we find," Xie Jun said with a shrug. "Boars are always good, their tusks sell well and the meat's decent. Tigers if we're lucky, though after last time maybe we've had enough tiger excitement. Mostly I'm hoping to track down a few more spirit beasts. My family needs cores."
Chen Yu nodded, falling into step beside the larger man as they walked toward the tree line in the distance. The forest waited ahead of them, dark and green and full of danger.
And hopefully, profit.