Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Exposed
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New Year's Eve arrived once more.
After today, Chen Jianghe would be thirty-one.
He gave Xiao Hei a few instructions and then steered his boat towards Lakeheart Island. Although he could fly using his Qi, there were many cultivators in the inner waters with cultivation levels higher than his. Since the other senior Fishery Farmers all used boats, there was no need for him to stand out.
Because the guest artisans residing in the inner waters were forbidden from privately selling spirit pills or talismans, they would also head to Lakeheart Island on New Year's Eve to sell their stock and purchase a new batch of materials.
Arriving at the Lakeheart Island harbor, he saw guest artisans flying on their Qi or swords. Their numbers were noticeably greater than in the previous two years.
This puzzled him. When the chaos in Mirror Moon Lake had first begun, so many guest artisans had fled.
Now, with true turmoil looming, why were new guest artisans still arriving to settle here?
With just a cursory glance, he spotted several dozen cultivators dressed differently from the senior Fishery Farmers, but all had a silver cloud embroidered on their chests.
"Are they betting on the Yun Clan?"
Chen Jianghe wondered.
If a skilled cultivator wished to establish a cultivation family, they first needed the recognition of a Foundation Establishment immortal clan and then had to establish their family within that clan's territory.
The Yun Clan's current turmoil had caused the eight-hundred-li territory of Mirror Moon Lake to shrink to a two-hundred-li radius, and their vassal cultivation families had long since scattered.
Once the Yun Clan recovered, they would surely reclaim their lost territory. At that time, vast, empty lands with first-tier spirit veins would become available for cultivation families to settle.
Betting on the Yun Clan at this moment was extremely risky, but the potential rewards were also great.
Judging by the Yun Clan's way of doing things, once they gained the clan's recognition, they would likely receive support. After all, the Yun Clan was known for its compassion, even towards the lowest-ranking Fishery Farmers.
Chen Jianghe himself had been able to embark on the path of cultivation thanks to the Yun Clan's grace.
Without that one Spirit Accumulating Pill, ten grains of spirit sand, and a copy of the Guiyuan True Water Art, he didn't know how long it would have taken him to step onto the path of immortality.
He stopped thinking about whether these new guest artisans truly intended to establish cultivation families in Mirror Moon Lake.
He then strode towards the Bell Tower Market, needing to sell the twenty-six Water Arrow Talismans in his possession.
In the past three months, he had used up another nineteen sheets of talisman paper and successfully created seven Water Arrow Talismans.
His proficiency had increased significantly, but his success rate remained stubbornly unchanged, steady as an old dog.
Arriving at the talisman shop, he sold all twenty-six Water Arrow Talismans, receiving twenty-two spirit stones and ten grains of spirit sand.
After deducting his costs, he had made a profit of about eighteen spirit stones.
This was much more than he had expected.
The moment he stepped out of the talisman shop, he felt his future was bright. With the skill of talisman crafting, the magical artifacts he hadn't dared to dream of before no longer seemed so distant.
With spirit stones in hand, he had to consider converting them into resources.
As for talisman-making materials, he still had one hundred and twelve sheets of talisman paper, one full box of spirit ink, and another that was more than half full.
His talisman brush could still be used about a hundred more times, so there was no need to buy a new one. It was enough to last him the next year.
In that case, he would buy pills and spirit herbs.
Chen Jianghe walked to the spirit pill shop across from the talisman shop. Just as he entered, he saw a familiar back.
"Daniu."
Yu Daniu turned at the sound of his name, a look of surprise on his face. "Brother Jianghe."
He seemed unable to believe that Chen Jianghe would be in a spirit pill shop. He knew that senior Fishery Farmers wouldn't receive their pay until the following year.
The eight spirit stones he had lent Chen Jianghe, after paying back four, plus his own savings to buy a Spirit Accumulating Pill, should have been spent long ago.
There was no way he could afford another Spirit Accumulating Pill so soon.
He had even been thinking of discussing with his wife whether to help Chen Jianghe out again. After all, Yun Xiaoniu had been found to have a spirit root, and the Yun Clan had rewarded him with quite a few resources.
"Daniu, are you here to buy spirit pills?"
Chen Jianghe asked, not expecting to bump into Yu Daniu here either.
It seemed he could no longer hide the fact that he had begun his journey in the Dao of Talismans; otherwise, he couldn't explain the source of his spirit stones.
Besides, there was no need to deliberately conceal something like this.
His coming to Lakeheart Island to sell talismans would surely be noticed by the Yun Clan's upper echelons. It was better to tell Yu Daniu himself rather than have him hear it from someone in the Yun Clan.
"No, I have a fixed annual allotment of ten Blood-Qi Pills and three Spirit-Nourishing Pills. I'm here today to collect them."
Yu Daniu didn't hide anything from Chen Jianghe and stated his purpose directly.
"Brother Jianghe, what about you? Are you here to buy pills? I have three spirit stones on me; the rest are at home."
Yu Daniu's meaning was clear: he was asking if three spirit stones were enough, and if not, he could go home to get more.
"Since I'm here to buy pills, I obviously have enough spirit stones. Haha, wait for me a moment. We'll find a place to chat in a bit."
Chen Jianghe was touched and patted Yu Daniu's arm.
Then, he walked up to the counter and said to the young lady shopkeeper, "Two Spirit Accumulating Pills and a gourd of Fasting Pills."
Yu Daniu's expression changed, his pupils contracting. He watched in disbelief as Chen Jianghe took out eighteen spirit stones and handed them to the shopkeeper.
That was eighteen spirit stones!
His wife's annual stipend from the Yun Clan was only eight spirit stones, and his was even less, just five.
Of course, this was only because he had borne five children for the Yun Clan. Otherwise, a live-in son-in-law would only receive an annual stipend of two spirit stones.
Yet Chen Jianghe didn't even blink, directly taking out eighteen spirit stones to buy Spirit Accumulating Pills and Fasting Pills. This truly shocked him.
"Daniu, come on. I have some good news to tell you."
Chen Jianghe pulled the stunned Yu Daniu out of the spirit pill shop, turned a corner, and entered a restaurant.
He booked a private room and ordered a medicinal meal worth ten grains of spirit sand.
It wasn't that Chen Jianghe was being extravagant; it was simply that the cheapest set meal at the Lakeheart Island restaurants cost ten grains of spirit sand.
"Brother Jianghe, you... where did you get so many spirit stones?" Yu Daniu had been holding it in the whole way and finally asked.
"Look, what's this?"
Chen Jianghe took out the peach wood talisman brush.
"A talisman brush!"
Yu Daniu was naturally familiar with the peach wood talisman brush. He had tried it himself for half a year, but he had absolutely no talent for the Dao of Talismans and eventually had to give up.
Because of this, he had even been looked down upon by Zhou Miaoyun.
"Brother Jianghe, you can create spirit talismans?"
Yu Daniu was honest and simple, but he wasn't slow-witted. He immediately understood the implication and looked at Chen Jianghe with excitement.
"Yes."
Chen Jianghe nodded heavily.
"Back when you lent me eight spirit stones, after I paid back Peiyao and Fairy Miaoyun, I used my savings to buy a Spirit Accumulating Pill. I found I had some left over, so I thought I'd try my hand at creating talismans."
"So, you've started on the Dao of Talismans?"
"Yes, I can now create low-grade Water Arrow Talismans."
"You can create low-grade spirit talismans? That's wonderful! Brother Jianghe, you've actually become a Talisman Master! This is just fantastic."
Yu Daniu looked at Chen Jianghe excitedly and said, "I heard Huizhen say that of the four great arts—formations, artifacts, alchemy, and talismans—mastering any one of them can allow a person to cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining, with a hope of reaching Foundation Establishment."