Chapter 9: The Last Opportunity
Seeing a customer come her way, the dark-skinned female clerk was both surprised and delighted.
She jogged all the way up to Lu You. Clearly, she no longer remembered what Lu You looked like before, and she bowed respectfully as she spoke.
"Greetings, Immortal Master. What does the Immortal Master require? This servant will introduce it to you at once."
Hearing this, Lu You snorted inwardly.
Dress poor and you're 'sir'; dress rich and you're 'Immortal Master.' Realistic—and ridiculous.
Without replying, Lu You slowly strolled along the display counters lined with talismans. The dark-skinned clerk followed closely behind, step for step, head lowered, even her breathing restrained and polite.
"What is your name?"
After looking through all the talismans—most of which were Golden Light Talismans and Thunder Technique Talismans of varying grades, with only one unfamiliar talisman whose function he didn't recognize—Lu You didn't ask about the talismans first. Instead, he asked the clerk her name.
"Replying to the Immortal Master, this servant's parents were uncouth and didn't give me a proper name. Everyone just calls me Hei."
"Hei?"
Lu You immediately understood. Regarding the incident where he had been followed last time, he was now one hundred percent certain. This clerk was definitely suspicious—she didn't even leave her real name.
"Why was it that everyone else looked toward this venerable one just now, yet you ignored me entirely?"
Lu You's tone turned unfriendly, deliberately revealing the vulgar arrogance and ignorance of a newly rich upstart.
Hearing Lu You's deliberate provocation, the female clerk was not anxious, instead, she was secretly pleased. Though her expression looked aggrieved, a sharp glint flashed deep in her eyes.
"This servant was born with dark skin and dares not compare herself to the other elder sisters. I'm even more afraid the Immortal Master would look down on me. That's why, in the Myriad Talisman Pavilion, this servant never dares to approach customers. I only survive by helping with a bit of work whenever the elder sisters get busy."
"So that's how it is. Then today, you'd better introduce things properly. This venerable one will certainly not treat you poorly."
Lu You raised a finger and pointed from afar at the talisman he didn't recognize.
"What talisman is that?"
"Replying to the Immortal Master, this is a low-grade Beginner Healing Talisman. Once activated, it increases the recovery speed of injuries. The price is fifty low-grade spirit stones."
Lu You nodded. It seemed that the talismans sold by the Myriad Talisman Pavilion covered defense, offense, and recovery—already enough to meet the needs of any cultivator below the Foundation Establishment realm.
But these three talismans alone were far from enough for Lu You's learning needs.
"Other than the Golden Light Talisman, the Thunder Technique Talisman, and this Healing Talisman, does your shop have any better talismans? Even a talisman crafting manual would do."
"Immortal Master, higher-grade talismans must be purchased at the Myriad Talisman Pavilion's regularly held auctions. As for experiences consigned by talisman masters, the shop does have one book, but its price is far more terrifying than simply buying talismans."
"Do I look like someone who can't afford it?"
Lu You smiled and took out the same cloth pouch from his robes. This time, however, the pouch was stuffed full of spirit stones.
The female clerk glanced at it, hurriedly looked away, then quickly turned and ran to the counter. Opening a drawer, she took out a beautifully bound book and respectfully handed it to Lu You.
After flipping through it quickly, Lu You saw that most of the effort had gone into the binding. In reality, the book only explained the drawing methods for seven talismans—and those seven even included the Golden Light Talisman Lu You had already learned, as well as the Thunder Technique Talisman he already possessed.
"Is this the only one?"
"Immortal Master, this book was consigned by a Foundation Establishment realm talisman master. Each talisman in the manual is broken down stroke by stroke by the talisman master himself, containing his hard-earned experience and effort. Learning from it will allow you to achieve twice the result with half the effort."
"How many spirit stones for this book?"
"The talisman master's consignment price is five hundred low-grade spirit stones. The Myriad Talisman Pavilion charges a five-percent brokerage fee, so the total comes to five hundred and twenty-five low-grade spirit stones."
Good heavens, this Myriad Talisman Pavilion was truly ruthless.
After inflating the price, they still tacked on a brokerage fee. And this talisman manual could be copied endlessly. The Pavilion made it sound pleasant, but in reality it was a pure profiteering monopoly—after cornering the market, they squeezed both buyer and seller dry.
"Fine. I'll take this—and that Healing Talisman as well."
Lu You placed the cloth pouch on the counter. The female clerk respectfully counted out five hundred and seventy-five spirit stones. Even after that, Lu You's pouch was still stuffed full of spirit stones. The female clerk glanced at it with envy, then returned the pouch, the talisman, and the book to Lu You.
Looking at her expression, Lu You noticed that the envy held no greed. For a moment, he hesitated. Thinking back to her claim of being ostracized in the shop, he wondered whether that might actually be true. Could his earlier robbery have been a coincidence? If he acted on revenge and murderous intent so easily, would that be too rash?
Lu You sighed.
He decided to give this female clerk one last chance—and to give his own conscience a chance as well.
"This time, I need to purchase many things, and I need to keep a low profile. Do you have any way to help me avoid attracting attention?"
Lu You took out a low-grade spirit stone and tipped the female clerk.
"Of course." The female clerk happily put the spirit stone away and handed Lu You two black bags.
"Immortal Master, you can leave through the back door and throw out the trash on the way. The back entrance of the Myriad Talisman Pavilion is where miscellaneous waste is handled, very few people pass by. Even if someone notices you, they'll just assume you're disposing of rubbish and won't suspect you bought anything valuable."
"What an excellent idea."
Lu You's voice suddenly turned cold.
"One last question, when does your Pavilion's auction begin?"
"There will be one in fifteen days. Immortal Master can come a day early to register at the Pavilion. After paying the spirit stones, you'll be eligible to participate."
By now, Lu You knew everything he needed to know. Taking the two black garbage bags from the female clerk, he once again exited the Myriad Talisman Pavilion through the back door.
Those who kill shall themselves be killed.
Lu You strode forward, murderous intent already filling his heart. His earlier flicker of pity toward that female clerk only made his anger burn hotter. Facing murderers stained with blood, he had still hesitated and tested them—this kind of soft-hearted foolishness, just as his senior sister had said, was practically carving the words fat sheep onto his own face.
Instead of heading toward the place where he was supposed to meet his senior sister, Lu You hurried on alone, leaving the lower district entirely and taking the mountain road back to the Verdant Cloud Sect. He moved fast—so fast that he even began drawing on the spiritual energy within his body.
Once he reached a deserted stretch of the road, Lu You took out a spirit stone in his left hand and violently absorbed the spiritual energy inside it. With his right hand, he pulled out dozens of Beginner Wind Talismans and abruptly scattered them behind him.
Boom!
A howling gale erupted, blasting tree branches apart and flattening the grass. Because Lu You had been moving too quickly, the bandit cultivators following him hadn't dared to fall too far behind, afraid of losing track of him. But faced with the sudden violent wind, they were instantly exposed.
Sure enough, behind Lu You, there were four bandit cultivators dressed entirely in black.
"Be prepared!"
Lu You pulled his cloth pouch from his robes and slammed it onto the ground with a loud bang. The pouch burst open, revealing a dazzling pile of silver-bright spirit stones.
"Today, I will teach all of you a lesson in the law, and let you know what legitimate self-defense and eliminating evil for the common good really mean!"