Chapter 1: Compensation (Part 2)

Guo Shier looked at Wu Shenxi, who kept begging for mercy, and felt conflicted. He was the type who would yield to softness but not force—unless there was a special reason, and as long as it didn’t involve life-threatening danger, he wasn’t willing to go to extreme measures. He said, “I accept your son’s apology. But, Young Master Wu, if I find you up to no good again, hehe, I might not kill you, but I’ll make your life worse than death from now on!”
Wu Shenxi felt as if he’d been pardoned and kept repeating, “I’ll never dare again… I’ll never dare again…”
Seeing that Guo Shier had spared his son, Wu Qing finally relaxed and gave up on fighting back. He lowered his head and said, “Alright, how much compensation do you want?”
Guo Shier quickly did some calculations. After a while, he smiled and said, “My demands aren’t high. Well, one million Da Fu coins as compensation for my mental distress. For material losses… well, another one million Da Fu coins. Ah, right, my four companions were also greatly frightened, so another million Da Fu coins… And… um, my talismans need repair. These aren’t ordinary talismans—they’re very expensive. The repair cost will be… two million Da Fu coins…”
Wu Qing was stunned. His hair stood on end at what he heard. This wasn’t compensation at all—it was outright robbery! Even though the representative in Qin Guang City held a lucrative position, no one could afford such a huge sum. He said, “Even if you killed me, I couldn’t come up with that much money!”
Guo Shier found it amusing and said, “Can’t afford it? You’re really a pauper. Never mind…”
Wu Qing felt relieved, thinking Guo Shier would just let it go. But what came next almost made him vomit blood.
“Well, since you have no money, use collateral then. I remember some books from the West Talisman Sect are quite unique, like those on how to make beast talismans. Those can be used as partial payment. How about that?”
“That’s impossible! Those are secret books of the West Talisman Sect! They’re not allowed to be spread around!”
Guo Shier was momentarily confused before realizing they weren’t the same books. He said, “How about this… We can cut off one of your son’s arms as payment for one million Da Fu coins. One thigh would be worth the same amount. What do you say?”
Luo Zhan couldn’t help but laugh. He had to admit that Guo Shier was truly unique—his methods of tormenting people were so ingenious. Wu Qing was in real trouble for getting involved with him.
Wu Qing was at his wits’ end. What kind of terms were these? Wu Shenxi’s face turned pale. He cried out to Wu Qing, “Dad, dad, save me!” Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly added, “I have the books you want… I’ll give them to you…”

“These are talismans, and these are key talismans. There are ten sets in total…” Wu Shenxi handed them over readily, pulling out all his talismans and giving them to Guo Shier. Wu Qing didn’t know whether to be angry or cry. He let out a long sigh and said, “Is this enough to cover the compensation?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Not enough. Everyone knows the value of a set of talismans—it’s at most a thousand Da Fu coins, and even then, only if they’re masterpieces by renowned artists. Hehe, these are just basic talismans… Well, I’ll be generous. Since your son has given me ten sets, I’ll count it as one hundred thousand Da Fu coins. A few hundred more sets will do.”
Wu Qing felt like he might faint. Giving up all hope, he took out the talismans he carried with him and said, “These are from the Western Talismans Sect’s secretariat. If you’re still not satisfied, just kill me!”
There were over sixty sets of talismans and key talismans in total. Guo Shier whistled, put away the talismans, and turned away nonchalantly, saying, “Uncle Luo, let him go. Let’s go…” He didn’t even want money. Compensation was just an excuse. His goal was the professional talismans of the Western Talismans Sect. Since he had achieved his goal, he wouldn’t trouble Wu Qing any further.
Wu Qing was surprised that Guo Shier let him go so easily and was stunned for a long time. Wu Shenxi shouted, “Dad, they’ve left!”
Smack!
Wu Shenxi covered his face and said, “Dad, why did you hit me?”
This sentence ignited Wu Qing’s fury even more. He vented all his anger at being tortured by Guo Shier on his son, beating and shouting at him, scaring Wu Shenxi half to death.
Although Wu Qing was furious, he was actually relaxed. Losing just a few dozen sets of talismans had no impact on him. In Qin Guang City, he was the highest representative of the Western Talismans Sect, with loyal subordinates under him. Nothing that happened here could be reported to the sect without his permission, so he wasn’t worried about any problems. If Guo Shier really extorted millions of Da Fu coins from him, he definitely wouldn’t accept it. That was Guo Shier’s cleverness.
Although the sect’s specialized professional talismans were important, compared to his personal wealth, the sect’s losses were still bearable.
This was why Wu Qing was only annoyed, not enraged.
After venting his anger, Wu Qing said viciously, “Stay at home and behave properly for half a year. Don’t go anywhere! Cultivate hard. If you cause trouble again, I won’t spare you!”
…

Guo Shier was overjoyed. He never expected things to go so smoothly—he had actually obtained a talisman book from the West Talisman Gate, which was a tremendous gain. As for money, he didn’t care at all; such talisman books couldn’t be bought even with wealth.

Zhu Dachang followed behind, having witnessed the entire process clearly. He was deeply shocked. What puzzled him the most was how Guo Shier could defeat a beast sorcerer. After all, sorcerers were known as the most powerful fighters, yet they were defeated by a nine-year-old talismanist—this was completely incomprehensible.

Zhu Dachang felt a sense of awe toward this child and no longer dared to treat him as just a kid. He was also secretly glad that he hadn’t acted like an adult or elder when first interacting with Guo Shier. If he had done so or tried to bully him, the consequences would have been terrible. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he once again felt grateful for his wisdom.

Before they went far, they heard the sound of hurried horse hooves. A group of talisman warriors rode swiftly toward them, led by Talisman Warrior Yan Ge. Upon seeing Luo Zhan and the others, he immediately reined in his horse and called out loudly, “Old Luo…”

Luo Zhan smiled and said, “It’s okay. Go back, everyone!”

Yan Ge dismounted, handed the reins to a nearby talisman warrior, and stepped forward, saying, “I heard you had a conflict with someone. Old Master Qi asked us to come and help.”

Guo Shier said, “Uncle Yan, don’t worry. Everything’s resolved. We can talk about it when we get back.”

Yan Ge replied, “Shier, the old master is waiting for you at home.”

Guo Shier said, “Okay. I’ll go see my master. Uncle Luo, please take care of Uncle Zhu for me…” He whispered, “Uncle Luo, be polite to Uncle Zhu. I’ll go see my master and talk to him when I return.”

Luo Zhan didn’t know what Guo Shier was up to, but he was used to following his orders, so he nodded in agreement.

Yan Ge ordered someone to spare a few horses. Guo Shier gave a call, and along with his four companions, they mounted the horses and rode off at full speed.

……

Guo Shier followed Yan Ge to the family’s main living room of the Qin clan. Luo Jie and an old man were sitting there. When they saw Guo Shier enter, Luo Jie smiled happily and said, “Shier, come quickly to meet your senior brother Qin Han.”

Qin Han looked even older than Luo Jie. His hair was already thin and white, his beard was as white as snow, his face was full of wrinkles, and he exuded a strong aura of violence. He stood up, looked at Guo Shier with some surprise, and asked, “Master, is this Shier? The nine-year-old talismanist?”

Luo Jie smiled broadly and said, “He’s not just a talismanist—he already has his own life talisman!”

“This… how is this possible?”
Qin Han was well aware of the difficulty of advancing. He was just one step away from becoming a Grand Spellcaster, but he had been stuck at this stage for nearly a hundred years. To overcome this, he returned to his hometown and led a team on battles, growing stronger in combat skills, yet still unable to advance. As time passed, he gradually lost hope, giving up on the possibility of advancement and instead staying in his family, focusing on having children and raising them wholeheartedly.
When he heard that Guo Shier already had his own life talisman at just nine years old, his shock was immeasurable.
Qin Han took Guo Shier’s hand and said with a smile, “It’s clear… your master dotes on you. Hehe, it makes me jealous. Come! Sit down first. This is a gift from your senior brother.” He flipped his hand and took out a talisman, handing it to Guo Shier with a smile.
Guo Shier replied respectfully, “Thank you, senior brother!” He could feel the care from his senior brother.
Taking the talisman in his hand and examining it briefly, he exclaimed in surprise, “A spiritual talisman?”
Luo Jie also stood up in surprise and said, “Xiao Han, quite the gift! It’s actually a spiritual talisman. What kind of spiritual talisman is it?” Spiritual talismans were extremely rare and highly valuable among the four major sects.
Qin Han said with a smile, “I got it from a secret realm. It’s a very strange spiritual talisman. Its power isn’t that great. Maybe I didn’t use it properly…”
Luo Jie said, “Let me take a look.” He took it and examined it briefly before widening his eyes and saying, “Xiao Han, this isn’t just a spiritual talisman—it’s a true spiritual talisman! No wonder you couldn’t utilize its power!” Then he handed the talisman to Guo Shier.
At that moment, Guo Shier felt his life talisman pulsing.
His heart stirred slightly, and he spat out a green glow, quickly forming a fist-sized green light sphere in front of his chest. Surrounding the green light sphere were two small dots: one red and one silver. Luo Jie knew very well that the silver dot was the Talisman Sect’s spiritual talisman, while the red dot was the true ancient talisman.
Qin Han cried out in shock, “That’s my life talisman! How is this possible… Ah, I… I…” He started screaming in panic. Luo Jie laughed triumphantly and said, “Haha, truly a little demon! Scaring people to death—worth it! Haha, hahaha!”
However, Guo Shier’s expression remained serious. He stretched out his palm, and the true spiritual talisman began to pulse violently.
Qin Han stared in awe. He had tried countless times to incorporate this talisman into his own life talisman but never succeeded, which had delayed his advancement to Grand Spellcaster. He didn’t realize it was because his life talisman was too weak to withstand the power of the true spiritual talisman.

A faint golden glow rose from Guo Shier’s palm, quickly entering the range of his life sigil sphere, transforming into a faint golden dot that spun rapidly around it.
Qin Han was speechless: “It… it worked? This… is it really that easy?”