Chapter 10: Advanced (Part 2)

Guo Shier repeatedly blinked. He had seen foolish people before, but never ones this stupid. The price he had offered earlier—he had only reduced one decimal place! This guy was really good and powerful. With a smile on his face, he said, “Ah, Young Master Qian, we seem to get along well right away. Hehe, since Young Master Qian has made the offer, I definitely won’t bargain. Whatever you say is fine! Young Master Qian, how much do you want to buy?”
The price was still too high. Young Master Qian didn’t dare say, “I’ll take whatever you have.” What if the other party asked for tens of thousands of pounds? He didn’t have that much money. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “One… one thousand… no, two thousand pounds!” He waved to call over one of his followers and whispered a few words. The martial artist immediately turned and left.
Guo Shier knew he had sent someone to fetch the money but didn’t reveal it. Smiling, he said, “Two thousand pounds is forty thousand Da Fu coins. Hehe, for Young Master Qian, it’s just a small amount.”
Young Master Qian was already confused. His mind was in chaos, and he spent nearly eighty thousand Da Fu coins in a daze—almost as much as an ordinary martial artist’s entire fortune. Although it was just a drop in the bucket for a great martial artist, such reckless spending would surely earn scolding even from them.
Before Young Master Qian could realize what was happening, his subordinate came in and handed him a coin storage bag, saying, “Young master, it’s all in here—forty thousand Da Fu coins in total.”
Without even looking, Young Master Qian tossed it to Guo Shier. This time, Guo Shier didn’t check it, as he believed there would be no mistake. He waved for Luo Zhan to bring over another coin storage bag and said with a smile, “Here, two thousand pounds of flour. Young master, would you like to check it?”
Young Master Qian took the bag and said, “No need. I trust there won’t be any mistakes.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “In that case, I’ll take my leave. Young Master Qian, if you have time, come visit me. Hehe, goodbye.” He bowed to Wan Daitou and left the shop with a smile.
Young Master Qian stayed in Wan Daitou’s shop for half an hour before taking the flour home. He still hadn’t realized what had happened. He only felt something was off, uneasy, and a bit dizzy.
Wan Daitou watched the whole thing and couldn’t help but marvel. In fact, Guo Shier’s tactics weren’t particularly clever. He just went with the flow; it couldn’t really be called deception. From trading precious talisman materials to trading flour, everything was done openly. What puzzled Wan Daitou the most was Young Master Qian—how could he agree to such a clearly problematic deal?

Guo Shier returned home happily. Today had been a fruitful day—he obtained several talisman scripts, a pile of books, eight sets of materials for crafting precious talismans, and also sold 2,000 jin of flour, earning 40,000 Da Fu coins. It felt great. Just thinking of Young Master Qian’s somewhat dull expression made him want to laugh; that guy was truly too naive.

However, Guo Shier no longer felt any hostility toward Young Master Qian. He realized the man was simply inexperienced, having never been out in the world and unaware of the cruelty of human nature. In the future, he might even become a friend to work with.

Guo Shier had an idea—he hoped to craft precious talismans as soon as possible. Ordinary talismans no longer posed a challenge to him. He remembered back in Ye Guancheng how a Frost Arrow talisman was countless times more powerful than lower-tier ordinary talismans. As for becoming an advanced talisman master, he didn’t care much. As long as one had the strength to protect themselves, the rest was meaningless.

For several days in a row, Guo Shier worked in the laboratory to craft precious talismans. The eight sets of materials he bought were the most basic ones, sufficient to create simple fireball talismans that could only be used three times before needing repair. Such talismans were expensive and impractical, essentially worthless, but crafting them was an important step in an apprentice’s progression. Once one mastered this type of talisman, they basically understood the entire process of making talismans.

Thus, the fireball talisman was something every talisman artisan and master must learn to craft. This hurdle wasn’t easy to overcome—skills and cultivation could be accumulated and learned, but not everyone could afford the materials. Many people were thus stuck at the apprentice stage, forced to collect materials on their own. Those with the support of sects or families didn’t face this problem; they could obtain materials from their sects or families.

The first precious talisman he tried to craft failed. Guo Shier wasn’t discouraged at all. The second one also failed. He analyzed his mistakes and reviewed many books. The third talisman still failed. But Guo Shier became excited—success was just within reach, giving him a glimmer of hope.

Sure enough, on the fourth attempt, Guo Shier successfully created his first precious talisman. Then, two more succeeded in a row. He was convinced he could craft precious talismans now. Through reflection, he realized the high success rate was thanks to his powerful soul. After this period of cultivation, his soul had grown several times stronger than when he first awakened.

If one can create fireball talismans, they can create other talismans as well. Of course, there are still many difficult challenges to overcome, but with effort, success is surely achievable. Guo Shier was very happy. He took the three fireball talismans he had made and rushed to his master Luo Jie’s house, hoping for an evaluation. Additionally, he had many questions from his talisman-making process that needed resolving.

Luo Jie had been quite pleased these days. Taking advantage of the crisis in Beifu City, he had stockpiled a large amount of food, which had made him very wealthy—his wealth had at least doubled. After all, he was a great talisman master and already a well-known wealthy man in the Beifu Sect. With Guo Shier’s reminder, his total wealth had multiplied several times, something he never expected.

When he saw Guo Shier arrive, Luo Jie acted as if he had seen moving money—his enthusiasm didn’t seem like that of a master toward a disciple. He wasn’t greedy; he just had to support a large family that consumed vast amounts of resources each year, all of which needed to be funded by talisman wealth. With his wealth now doubled, life would be much easier from now on.

Guo Shier didn’t understand why his master was so enthusiastic. He asked, “Master, what’s wrong?”

Only then did Luo Jie realize he had lost his composure. After all, he was an old freak who had lived for over two hundred years. He quickly controlled his emotions and said with a smile, “Shier, this isn’t class time. Do you have any questions?” He was very satisfied with this diligent and inquisitive disciple.

Guo Shier flipped his hand, revealing three fireball talismans in his palm.

Luo Jie glanced at them and said, “Fireball talismans? Hmm, why did you make so many? This is just a practice talisman with little real use. You didn’t buy them from the talisman market, did you? That would be a huge loss!” He never imagined they were made by Guo Shier, because no one could create talismans at the age of nine. It wasn’t a matter of talisman power but of comprehension and thinking ability—how could a child do what adults do?

Guo Shier said shyly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t buy them. Master, I made these… I’d like you to point out my shortcomings.”

Luo Jie’s expression changed—confused, skeptical. After a while, he sighed, “How is this possible? You’re only nine years old. Sigh, you really are as others say… extraordinary! Three successful out of ten talismans?”

Guo Shier replied, “I made six in total—three failed, three succeeded.”

“Ah? Ah!”

Who is this person? As Guo Shier’s master, Luo Jie was no longer filled with shock but rather extreme envy. At the age of nine, he himself had understood nothing, yet Guo Shier in front of him had already advanced to the level of a Spellcaster. With such a terrifying pace of cultivation, he had no idea how far Guo Shier could go in the future.

Guo Shier said modestly, “Master, I’m not sure if I’ve advanced, so I came to ask you… if I have.”

Luo Jie shook his head. “You have indeed advanced—definitely successful! You’ve reached the level of a beginner Spellcaster. Ah, it’s terrifying. In just half a year, after living for so many years, this is the first time I’ve seen someone advance so quickly… and it’s my disciple. Haha, great!”

“Then in a month, bring Huo Bao and the others with you. I’m going to the West Spell Gate in a month, and you should come along too. This is a large-scale hunting expedition—go and experience it.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the Spell Hall in the inner sect to get your advancement recognized as a Spellcaster… Hehe, a nine-year-old Spellcaster—this must break the record of the North Spell Gate.”

Guo Shier was surprised. “Go to the West Spell Gate? Is that the famous Beast Spell Gate?”

Luo Jie couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s right, the Beast Spell Gate. Hehe, this sect is quite unique. You can learn something from them too. Their specialty is using beasts—well, at the lower level, they use beasts, and at the higher level, they use the spirits of beasts. It’s a very powerful skill.”

Guo Shier thoughtfully said, “Master, the West Spell Gate is also called the Beast Spell Gate. They can use beasts to create spells. The South Spell Gate has the Plant Spell Gate and the Insect Spell Gate. So what are the East Spell Gate good at? And what are we, the North Spell Gate, good at?”

Luo Jie smiled. “The East Spell Gate, also known as the Sea Spell Gate, uses the spirits of fish in the sea and some marine creatures… to create very magical spells.”

“As for us, the North Spell Gate, hehe, we have a rather famous name— the Mixed Spell Gate. We don’t have any major specialties, but we’ve absorbed the characteristics of all sects. That’s our feature: diversity. Actually, our true alternative name is… the Five Elements Spell Gate, as we use the power of the five elements. But no one mentions it anymore.”

Guo Shier sighed. “It’s so complicated.”

Luo Jie said, “You’ll understand when you come with me to the West Spell Gate this time. Hehe, the four great sects appear friendly on the surface, but secretly they’re in constant conflict and fighting each other. You need to be careful, but following me should be fine.”

Guo Shier was shocked and asked, “Fighting each other secretly?”

Luo Jie said, “Be careful when you go out on adventures in the future. Be wary of people from other sects; don’t die without even knowing what happened.”
Guo Shier didn’t help but smile bitterly. He thought there would be no conflicts here, but it turned out to be similar to his past life.
As they spoke, a beautiful woman walked in. Upon seeing Guo Shier, she exclaimed happily, “Oh, isn’t this Shier?”
Instantly, Guo Shier was at a loss, thinking, “Why did this crazy woman come here…”
Book 3: The Mysterious Realm