Chapter 2: Transactions (Part 2)

“Twelve, how did you know he would agree to this price?”
Guo Twelve smiled and said, “Uncle Luo, actually, if I had the patience, heh, I could even get two more pieces of currency for the talismans. Didn’t you see how eager he was to leave? Fire rat skin is the most common material for talismans, and only apprentices buy it. Ye Guancheng doesn’t have many apprentices. If I sold it to the inner sect, I could demand a higher price, but for just eight pieces of fire rat skin, it’s not worth it.”
Luo Zhan thought to himself that this kid was too shrewd.
Guo Twelve had no choice but to be shrewd. He had gathered quite a lot of materials and, whenever he had free time, kept making disposable talismans. Unlike other apprentices, as long as he had a method and materials, he would try to make any type of talisman, even if the failure rate was high—he never gave up.
At the talisman market, Guo Twelve bought more animal bones, which were also materials for making talismans. Many of these bones were natural talisman bases that could be used to create bone talismans, which were even more powerful than those made from animal skin.
In a corner, there was an unassuming small stall. Guo Twelve crouched down and glanced around, finding nothing interesting. Just as he was about to stand up, the stall owner asked, “Are you an apprentice in talisman magic?”
The man had no talisman patterns on his body, and his face was completely clean, so Guo Twelve was sure he wasn’t an apprentice of talisman warriors. Yet he didn’t seem like an ordinary person either. Guo Twelve replied, “Yes, I’m an apprentice in talisman magic from the inner sect.”
The man said, “I’m an apprentice sorcerer from the Sun Shi family. My surname is Sun, and my name is Sun Chenshuo. Heh, I have something good here. How about trading it for disposable talismans?”
Guo Twelve smiled and said, “My name is Guo Twelve. You can just call me Twelve. What is it? Show it to me first. If it suits me, we can trade.”
Sun Chenshuo took out a gray stone the size of a book and asked, “How about this ice stone?”
Guo Twelve reached out to take it, feeling a sudden weight in his wrist, slightly surprised. He had quite a few ice stones, all in the form of small particles that needed to be purified and processed—they were materials for making ice-type talismans. But ice stones shouldn’t be very heavy. He felt this stone was like metal and said, “What do you want in exchange? Ice stones aren’t rare materials.”
Sun Chenshuo replied, “I know. Ice stones are just ordinary materials. Since you’re an apprentice in talisman magic, they’re perfect for you to practice with… My request isn’t high—six disposable fire-type attack talismans, as powerful as possible.”

Guo Shier said, “After purifying this ice stone, you can use it to make ten core components for ice-type talismans. If used to create disposable talismans, well, even with a high success rate, you’d get only about seven. Adding other auxiliary materials and not counting my labor cost, what’s their value? Hehe, the value of disposable attack talismans of the ice type is roughly the same as those of the fire type…”

“Elder brother, though I’m young, I understand… If I agree to your terms, I might end up so poor that I can’t even afford pants! If I go back and tell my master, I’m afraid he’ll get angry…”

Luo Zhan snickered in the corner. He already knew Guo Shier’s bargaining skills. It wouldn’t be easy for this vendor to get a good deal.

Sun Chenshuo was left speechless. In fact, he wasn’t very clear about the market price either and had just guessed a number based on intuition. As an apprentice sorcerer, he could only use talismans but couldn’t make them, so he naturally didn’t understand how to calculate their value. With a wry smile, he said, “How much do you want? Um, how many talismans can I get in exchange?”

Guo Shier replied without hesitation, “At most two! And they have to be disposable fireball talismans.”

Sun Chenshuo said, “Are you joking? Two of the lowest-grade fireball talismans? Not to mention killing wildlings, even killing ordinary people would be difficult. They’re barely useful for starting a fire… I can’t see much value in fireball talismans.”

Guo Shier asked, “Then what do you suggest… how should we exchange?”

Already demoralized by Guo Shier’s demands, Sun Chenshuo said, “Well… then exchange one with extremely fast piercing speed and flame… a Flaming Arrow Talisman, plus one Fire Cloud Talisman! Give me those two talismans… and I’ll agree to the exchange!”

Guo Shier made a pained face and said, “That’s too much to ask. The Flaming Arrow Talisman is one thing, but the Fire Cloud Talisman isn’t easy to make—its failure rate is extremely high. I can’t even make it myself… Um, one Flaming Arrow Talisman and one fireball talisman. Let me tell you, this fireball talisman was given to me by my master. My master is a great sorcerer! His creations are truly amazing!”

Sun Chenshuo was just an apprentice sorcerer trained by his family. Although he was in his twenties, he hadn’t yet advanced to full sorcerer status. When he heard that the kid in front of him had a great sorcerer as a master, he couldn’t help but feel deeply respectful. Hearing that the fireball talisman was made by such a master, he no longer felt any regret at all. Instead, he thought he had gotten a great deal and quickly said, “Okay! I agree to the exchange!”

Guo Shier carefully took out two disposable talismans and said, “Check them. If there are no problems, then let’s exchange.”

Sun Chenshuo also carefully took the two talismans, a smile emerging uncontrollably on his face. As an apprentice spellcaster, he relied entirely on disposable talismans for battle. He was like a gun, with the talismans being his bullets—whose quality directly affected his life safety. Naturally, he was very happy to obtain a talisman crafted by a great spellcaster.

Luo Zhan wondered inwardly when the old man had ever crafted disposable talismans. He rarely even made precious talismans himself. Upon reflection, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly. From start to finish, Guo Shier never said that these talismans were made by a great spellcaster personally; he was misleading them. What a great spellcaster gave didn’t necessarily mean it was made by them themselves. This kid was too cunning.

In fact, Guo Shier wasn’t even willing to exchange these two talismans. Ice stone wasn’t some precious item—he already had plenty of it. What mattered was the weight of this ice stone, which made him suspicious that it might hide something special, which was why he used talismans to exchange for it.

Holding the ice stone, Guo Shier rushed home excitedly.

Back in his room—where there was no laboratory, only a temporarily set up long stone table—Guo Shier took out a special cutting talisman knife and began peeling away the surface ice stone layer by layer.

The special cutting talisman knife was an essential tool for spellcasters. Guo Shier’s knife had been used by Old Luo in his youth and had been modified for him, featuring functions such as cutting, digging, and grinding—making it a very useful tool.

The gray ice stone was gradually separated, revealing the black stone beneath. After collecting the cut ice stone, what remained was a palm-sized black stone, as heavy as metal. So far, Guo Shier hadn’t identified what the black stone was.

But Guo Shier wasn’t discouraged. He continued cutting, determined not to give up even if nothing appeared. Having exchanged two talismans for a chance at luck, he certainly wouldn’t let it slip away. He cut carefully, and gradually, a hint of transparency appeared on the black stone.

Guo Shier felt pleased—something appearing was better than nothing. He became even more cautious and began grinding slowly.

A bone-chilling cold gradually seeped out. Guo Shier’s hand holding the stone trembled uncontrollably. Helplessly, he found a piece of fur to wrap around his hand and continued grinding with the cutting talisman knife. An irregular, semi-transparent object emerged, its coldness far greater than that of ice. As the cold air touched the air, waves of white mist rose.

A word flashed through Guo Shier’s mind: “Deep Ice Stone!” He carefully wrapped the Deep Ice Stone in animal skin, then took out a book and searched quickly, soon finding its origin and uses. Deep Ice Stone, a product of ice stones and a stone of extreme cold, also known as Deep Ice Jade, is one of the best materials for making life talismans. Guo Shier let out a sigh of relief—he knew he had made a huge profit. This was a material even more precious than those used to make treasure talismans; it was a gem for crafting life talismans. Shaking his head, he thought that this small piece of Deep Ice Jade was enough to exchange for ten or eight treasure talismans, yet he had obtained it with just two of the lowest-grade disposable talismans—this deal was far too good to be true. Animal skin could effectively insulate against the cold. Guo Shier carefully picked up the Deep Ice Jade wrapped in animal skin and placed it in his talisman bag. This was his treasure; he was extremely happy to have obtained such a precious material for making life talismans. This was the charm of the Talisman Market—with enough luck, one could find valuable materials. As Guo Shier was still marveling at his good fortune, Luo Zhan came in and said, “Shier, go on an apprentice mission tomorrow. You must complete three inner sect apprentice missions before you can return to the inner sect.” “Huh? There’s such a rule?” Guo Shier inwardly groaned. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Are these three missions assigned or optional?” He had no interest in these so-called missions, but to return to the inner sect, he had to complete these damned tasks. If he could choose, he would pick the easiest ones; if they were assigned, there was nothing he could do but find a way to complete them. Luo Zhan enjoyed watching Guo Shier’s nearly frantic expression and laughed, “Both!” Guo Shier asked, “What do you mean?” He wasn’t sure what to think for a moment. Luo Zhan replied, “There’s one assigned mission and two optional ones. Go to the headquarters of the inner sect in Ye Guan City, where the apprentice missions are posted. Hehe, you should have registered long ago.” Guo Shier slumped in disappointment and said, “Alright, I’ll go take a look now.” He thought to himself, “Sigh, life is tough these days—forcing a nine-year-old child to do missions? Isn’t that child abuse? It’s unjust! Pretending to be innocent won’t help, and pretending to be stupid won’t help either… These times…” Muttering to himself, Guo Shier followed Luo Zhan out. It was already the second time he had gone outside today. Luo Zhan couldn’t help but laugh—this kid was so amusing. It seemed he understood the meaning of the missions well, but he looked reluctant, his little face twisted as if it might crumple together.

As if suddenly coming to his senses, Guo Shier asked, “Where have Baozi and Shitou gone? I haven’t seen them for two or three days.”
Luo Zhan smiled and said, “Shier, didn’t you let them roam freely?”
Guo Shier replied in confusion, “Huh? Did I?”
Luo Zhan shook his head helplessly—this kid was acting silly again. Having known Guo Shier for months, he was well aware of how tricky the little guy could be. He said, “If not, then it’s not…” With an indifferent smile, he added, “Do you want to find them?”
Guo Shier replied, “Of course! I can’t do the mission alone!”
Upon arriving at the Beifu Gate headquarters in Ye Guan City, Luo Zhan led Guo Shier to the hall where missions were assigned. Behind a row of tables, a few people sat sparsely, mostly outer court disciples.
“Name? Age? What’s your occupation? Are you an inner court disciple or an outer court disciple?”
The outer court disciple in charge of registration asked lazily, with an annoying tone. Guo Shier, already annoyed, spoke in a sharp manner.
“Look for yourself!”
He tossed his identity badge onto the table.
The man, seemingly upset for some reason, deliberately made things difficult for Guo Shier, saying sarcastically, “Look for yourself? I already know you’re an inner court disciple. Oh, so inner court disciples are so great… A little brat acting all high and mighty? If you don’t want to register, then please leave…”
Guo Shier was stunned—someone actually called him a little brat?