Chapter 12

Followed

After a while, the Communication Talisman flashed.

Shopkeeper Chen replied, “The cheapest alley is rented for five medium-grade spirit stones a year. A group of cultivators just arrived yesterday, so there’s basically no free houses. Now, only some of the places in the market that can still be rented are left with small courtyards. This kind of place is worth more than twenty medium-grade spirit stones a year, and it depends on the location and environment!”

Fine.

Shen Ping completely gave up on the idea. But just as he was sighing, the talisman flashed again. “Fellow Daoist Shen, if you want to live in the marketplace, you can wait a little longer. According to the internal news, the Golden Sun Sect has recruited a lot of cultivators to develop the Flame Gold Mine. Yesterday was only the first batch. There will be even more later.

“The entire market is a little small, so the Golden Sun Sect is planning to expand the market to the east. When the time comes, they will build some small courtyards to accommodate more high-level cultivators.”

Upon hearing this news, Shen Ping immediately replied, “Shopkeeper Chen, I can’t afford to live alone in a small courtyard!”

Shopkeeper Chen said, “Fellow Daoist Shen, you can share the rent with other cultivators.”

Shen Ping was dumbfounded. “You can rent a small courtyard together?”

One had to know that those who had the ability to rent a small courtyard to live alone were mostly late-stage cultivators above the eighth level of Qi Refinement. Some were even Foundation Establishment cultivators.

What they were considering was not the price, but the spiritual energy environment.

Not to mention, cultivators cared a lot about their privacy. No one was willing to share a house with other cultivators. They saw each other every day and it was easy to expose all kinds of information.

Shopkeeper Chen replied, “I’m not too sure about the details. We’ll know when the small courtyard is built. Fellow Daoist Shen, these are secondary. The most important thing now is to hurry up and make talismans. In the future, there will be more and more cultivators, and the price of talismans will increase.”

Shen Ping quickly replied, “I understand!”

After it ended, he fell into deep thought.

Shopkeeper Chen actually knew some of the Golden Sun Sect’s subsequent plans. This undoubtedly meant that there was an inner disciple of the Golden Sun Sect behind him, or even a cultivator of a higher status.

It seemed that he had to increase his cooperation with the Spring Embroidery Pavilion in the future. Like the news this time, the other party only gave it to him because they had worked together many times.

“I have to break through to the middle stage of Qi Refinement as soon as possible and make high-grade talismans.”

The market was much safer than Red Willow Alley. After getting rid of the poison in his body, Shen Ping would rather spend more spirit stones to move over. This was very important to him.

In Red Willow Alley, every time he went out, it was a matter of life and death. He had lived such a precarious life for many years and was already tired of it.

…

Next, Shen Ping began to reduce his rest time. He would wake up at three in the morning to make talismans. Such hard work made his wife and concubine’s hearts ache even more. Even Bai Yuying’s favorability towards him increased by 5 points.

Knock, knock.

A sound came from the door of the house. Shen Ping opened the door. “Fellow Daoist Shen, I’m a newly rented cultivator from nearby…”

It was their new neighbor.

In addition to Fellow Daoist Yu, the house next to him had been empty for more than half a year. That cultivator was the first to venture into the Cloudy Mountain Swamp to explore. Although no news of his death had spread, it seemed that he was most likely dead.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the other party left. In the days that followed, more and more cultivators came to visit.

After all, Shen Ping was one of the few mid-grade Talisman Masters in Red Willow Alley and had lived here for many years. Most of the newly rented cultivators would come over and ask about the general situation in Red Willow Alley.

There was no way he could refuse the visit. That would make him look a little arrogant and aloof. Therefore, he could only brace himself and talk to these cultivators. Until the beginning of July, the number of cultivators visiting decreased greatly.

It was mainly because there were basically no empty houses in Red Willow Alley.

“Fellow Daoist Shen, our Red Willow Alchemist, Fellow Daoist He, died in the wilderness two days ago.”

On this day, when Shen Ping went out to relax and ease his boring thoughts, Fellow Daoist Yu happened to splash bathwater and told him this news.

“Dead?” He was slightly stunned. He still remembered Fellow Daoist He’s arrogance when he first came to introduce himself as an alchemist. Later on, he was in a sorry state because he couldn’t bear to leave the brothel. He didn’t expect that not long after, he would die.

Yu Yan sneered. “What a loss. Who asked you to lend him spirit stones?”

Shen Ping ignored Yu Yan’s sarcasm and asked, “How did he die?”

“That guy’s reputation has long been tarnished. Recently, many unfamiliar cultivators have come. He took the opportunity to borrow a lot of spirit stones under the pretext of being an alchemist. Then, he spent them all on the female cultivators of the Heavenly Sound Pavilion. Two of the cultivators he borrowed were at the late stage of Qi Refinement…”

Yu Yan returned to her room and said, “Fellow Daoist Shen, it’s not easy for you to break through to become a mid-grade Talisman Master. Don’t die on the belly of a woman.”

Shen Ping smiled bitterly. It turned out that Yu Yan had told this news to take the opportunity to mock him. “Could it be that this widow has really taken a fancy to me?” He touched his middle-aged greasy face and shook his head secretly.

Another ten days passed.

Under the painstaking creation of talismans, he had finally used up all the talismans and materials he had bought last time. It was dozens of days earlier than he had expected.

“The price of the high-rank Poison Dispelling Pill has increased again. Fortunately, the price of the amulet and Fire Talisman has also increased slightly. After selling this time, I can buy the Poison Dispelling Pill!”

Shen Ping carried a large number of talismans worth nearly 30 mid-grade spirit stones and walked out of his house. Along the way, he was extremely vigilant. Currently, there were more unfamiliar cultivators in every alley, so no one knew how many robber cultivators there were inside.

He had just walked halfway when he sensed a cultivator following behind him.

Shen Ping immediately became nervous. He held the fire talisman, the earth trap talisman, and the freezing talisman in his hand. This time, he had pasted more than fifteen amulets on his body. They could activate his protective spiritual light more than ten times. As long as he was not an advanced cultivator, he could last for dozens of breaths.

He quickened his pace. After turning a corner, he saw a few cultivators conversing. The cultivators following behind him noticed and immediately hid in a dark corner. He felt a little more at ease and took the opportunity to quickly shake it off.

One of the high-level cultivators glanced at Shen Ping and saw that he was only at the third level of Qi Refinement. He passed three more corners in a row. The main road was right in front of him.

It was very rare for robber cultivators to make a move in such a place. As long as there was any movement, it would attract the attention of many cultivators. It was very difficult for robber cultivators to deal with corpses and plunder.

Not long after, Shen Ping arrived at the market safely.

This time, he did not go to the Spring Embroidery Pavilion directly. Instead, he went to other shops and sold half of the talismans. After deducting the materials he had bought, he had ten mid-grade spirit stones on him before entering the Spring Embroidery Pavilion.

“Fellow Daoist Shen, quickly enter!” Shopkeeper Chen welcomed him warmly.

It was the same old rules. Shen Ping took out the talismans from his storage bag. This time, in addition to the amulet, the fire talisman, there were also several Earth Trap Talismans and Freezing Talismans.

Shopkeeper Chen’s eyes lit up. “Fellow Daoist Shen’s talisman skills have improved again. Congratulations, congratulations!”

“I was lucky enough to succeed.” Shen Ping replied humbly. He was just showing off his value. Shopkeeper Chen’s background was not small. Perhaps he could obtain more information from him in the future.

Shopkeeper Chen settled the bill readily. After deducting the cost of the materials, he obtained eight mid-grade spirit stones from here. Including the savings in the storage bag, he now had 35 medium-grade Spiritual Stones.

“Shopkeeper Chen, I wonder if there are any high-grade Poison Dispelling Pills left?”