Chapter 9: Hidden Concerns (Part 1)

Luo Jie and Wu Qirong sat cross-legged. Guo Shier deliberately sat next to Luo Jie; he didn’t want to leave at all. Listening to the two masters chat, even casually, could yield a lot of useful information.
Wu Qirong asked eagerly, “What happened? Tsk tsk, only ten days of training… I can’t believe it.”
Luo Jie said, “You know that kid, Chang Yeren, right? It was him who oversaw the tests when Shier came. Dozens of heads from various sects were there. When they saw the test results, their eyes turned red with anger. Chang Yeren wanted to take disciples, and so did others, which led to a dispute. They argued all the way to the sect leader. Heh, they got so heated they almost started fighting.”
“You know Sect Leader Qi’s temper—he slammed the table and scolded them severely. In the end, the sect leader personally assigned me to take a disciple. Heh, I originally just planned to observe. If Shier wasn’t that outstanding, I wouldn’t have bothered. Haha, but as soon as the kid arrived, I knew something was off. His potential was terrifyingly good…”
Wu Qirong sighed, “Why haven’t I encountered such good fortune?”
Luo Jie smiled and said, “Shier has potential in talismans.”
Wu Qirong retorted irritably, “I knew it! You discriminate against us spellcasters!”
Luo Jie laughed politely, “How could that be? But someone with talisman potential can’t be a disciple of a spellcaster. Should we find him another talisman master?”
Wu Qirong smiled and said, “I’m too lazy to argue with you.”
Luo Jie smiled slightly and asked, “What did you gain from this trip?”
Wu Qirong replied, “I gained a lot, but I also made enemies this time. I killed a few fools.” His expression darkened slightly, and he added, “One of my Talisman Warriors… couldn’t be saved. Damn it, those bastards from the Western Talisman Sect targeted me. I killed three of them in one go—two Talisman Warriors and one Beast Talisman Master. The rest fled. If I hadn’t been busy saving others, I wouldn’t have let even one of them get away!”
Luo Jie asked, “Who? Who was killed?”
Hate filled Wu Qirong’s voice as he said, “Xiao Ganmeng. The worst part is he didn’t die in a fight but from a despicable ambush by the other side. Sigh, such a tragic death… The Beast Talisman Sect… Damn it! If I see anyone from that sect again, I won’t spare them. I’ll kill every last one!”

Luo Jie smiled bitterly, shook his head, and sighed, “So it’s Little Mengzi.” He waved for a Rune Warrior over and whispered a few words to him. Guo Shieru sat nearby and heard every word clearly. Luo Jie instructed his subordinates to send some Black Rune money to Xiao Ganmeng’s family and to ask about their needs, offering to help resolve them.

Guo Shieru found the people of the Northern Rune Sect to be very kind-hearted, and he really liked that about them.

Wu Qirong let out a sigh and said, “Forget it, let’s not talk about this. It’s rare to meet up; let’s not spoil the mood. Old Luo, this time I killed an adult Black Kuiniu!”

Luo Jie was so shocked that he stood up. Pointing at Wu Qirong, he stammered, “You… you… are you trying to die? You dared to provoke an adult Black Kuiniu… You actually entered the Wild Beast Secret Realm? Weren’t we supposed to go to the western grasslands?”

Wu Qirong laughed and said, “Old Luo, let me finish speaking!”

“That’s right. We were heading to the western grasslands, but coincidentally, the Wild Beast Secret Realm opened. If we hadn’t gone in, it would have been a huge loss, right?”

Luo Jie smiled bitterly. “That’s the sacred land of the Northern Rune Sect. You went in… Ah, no wonder. Tell me, how did you manage to hunt down the Black Kuiniu? You need a top-tier Rune Warrior to lead the way; otherwise, how could you kill it? Did you find a Rune Warrior to cooperate with?”

Wu Qirong replied, “Without a Rune Warrior’s help, it was just good luck… That Black Kuiniu was fighting a Earth Dragon. It killed the Earth Dragon but was severely injured in return. We took advantage of the situation and killed it. That’s how it happened… We also suffered several injuries; otherwise, we wouldn’t have been ambushed by some young members of the Northern Rune Sect.”

“An Earth Dragon? Which kind?”

Luo Jie’s eyes lit up as he asked eagerly.

“A Blood Earth Dragon! Hehe, a very rare one!”

Luo Jie immediately became excited and said, “So the Blood Earth Dragon is also your loot? Damn, you’re really lucky. You must have collected quite a bit of its blood, right?”

Wu Qirong said, “Unfortunately, not much. We did collect quite a bit of the Black Kuiniu’s blood. The Blood Earth Dragon died first. By the time we killed the Black Kuiniu, most of its blood had already flowed out. We only managed to collect a few bottles…”

Luo Jie interrupted him and said, “Sell them to me! Or I’ll trade runes for them!”

Wu Qirong replied, “The blood and bones of the Blood Earth Dragon can be used to craft high-grade Blood Runes. They’re the most special among physical enhancement runes. Hehe, if you help me craft two Blood Runes, I’ll exchange them for four bottles of Earth Dragon blood!”

Luo Jie replied firmly, “Five bottles for two Blood Runes!”

Wu Qirong sighed, “You sorcerers and spellcasters are nothing but vampires. Fine! Deal!” He waved for someone to bring in the wooden box he had brought, then said, “We’ve had a good harvest this time. I’ll give you a small gift—hehe, mainly to show you the quality of what we’ve obtained.”

When the box was opened, a pungent smell of blood filled the air. There was a row of crystal bottles as thick as fingers, each containing different types of blood. Although all were red, there were variations—from light red to pink, from crimson to bright red—plus a few bottles with a dark red color, somewhat resembling human blood. There were also four bones, each inscribed with runes—some vivid, some subtle—clearly small bones. Additionally, there were furs cut into book-sized pieces; upon closer inspection, there were six types of beast furs, two of each. There were also four palm-sized blood-red scales. The rest was frozen meat, wrapped in oilpaper.

Luo Jie took out one of the blood-red scales and examined it carefully for a while before saying, “Good stuff. A very intact blood scale with over 300 horizontal lines. This Blood Earth Dragon must have lived for more than 300 years. Hehe, this is excellent material for crafting a life talisman. Old Wu has really made a fortune this time.”

Wu Qirong smiled bitterly. “I haven’t made that much. I used most of my offensive talismans this time, and many of them exceeded their usage limit and became useless. So I want to use these materials to exchange for some offensive talismans from old friends. Otherwise… I won’t be able to go out. Without offensive talismans, we sorcerers are like toothless tigers—unable to deal with anything.”

Only then did Guo Shieru understand the hardships of sorcerers. They relied on the talismans in their hands, yet they couldn’t create their own, so they had to exchange them for various rare materials. If they had a sorcerer or spellcaster by their side to support them, they wouldn’t have to worry and could focus solely on hunting and gathering materials.

The pain for sorcerers lay in their growth process. Since sorcerers were relatively weak at the beginning, they were the poorest during their early stages because they neededlarge amounts of materials for learning. Only once they grew stronger could they escape poverty and gradually become wealthy.

Spellcasters faced even greater difficulties at first, so those with potential for spellcasting often consciously chose to pursue a certain profession, such as becoming a sorcerer or a spellcaster. Unless they belonged to a major sect like the Northern Talisman Gate, where they could be trained gradually, even in such sects, there weren’t many spellcasters.

Luo Jie was very satisfied with Wu Qirong’s gift. He took out a wooden box and said, “Let me first give you two more precious talismans. Once you bring me your list of materials, we can discuss what to exchange. Don’t worry—my talismans are even better than those made by great talisman masters and are more suitable for your usage habits.”

Wu Qirong immediately spat out a puff of red mist, and instantly, a horizontally rolled talisman formed. Guo Shier watched carefully—it was a great sorcerer’s life talisman scroll, which reminded him of ancient bamboo slips from his past life.

Wu Qirong pointed, and the life talisman scroll opened. He tossed the two precious talismans onto it, which were then sucked into the scroll. Guo Shier saw clearly as the two talismans sank into one of the talismans within. Wu Qirong opened his mouth and sucked in the scroll. Smiling, he said, “I’ll replenish a little at a time; otherwise, I won’t be able to fight at all.”

It was a great sorcerer who said such things, which surprised Guo Shier greatly. The old man didn’t seem aggressive at all—just a gentle-looking old man, much like a sage from his past life, with a deceptive appearance.

Wu Qirong tapped his forehead and said, “Ah, as one gets older, memory fades. Here, kid, this is a gift from your grandfather.” He took out a talisman book and said, “There’s a talisman book that’s been with me for many years. Hehe, I’ll give it to you as a gift from your grandfather. This is the talisman key.”

After thanking him, Guo Shier immediately used the talisman key to open the book. There were two volumes, titled “Curses and Formulas.” He asked, “What are Curses and Formulas?”

Wu Qirong replied, “This is a book specifically for spellcasters. Since you have potential for spells, you can also use it. Curses and Formulas are methods to quickly activate talismans. You can’t use them yet, but once you advance to a spellcaster, you can learn them. It contains my annotations and explanations.”

Guo Shier was very happy. He loved books, and it was truly fortunate to receive a book from a great sorcerer. He thanked him earnestly repeatedly.

As for the materials from the earth dragon and the Black Qiu Ox that Wu Qirong brought, he had no interest in them. Those things were given to him for now, but they were useless unless he sold them later. Of course, Wu Qirong wouldn’t be foolish enough to give such precious materials to an apprentice.

“Oh, right, I also have a pretty interesting beast talisman for you. I stole it… I forced my way into this beast talisman. Here’s how to use it. I’m giving it to you now. When you get home… open it by yourself. Hehe, remember, the talisman itself is the key to control.”

A piece of paper wrapped around a talisman.

Knowing that his master still needed to have a private talk with Wu Qirong, Guo Shier stood up to take his leave after receiving the gift. Luo Jie gave a few more instructions before calling a martial artist to escort him home. Wu Qirong watched Guo Shier leave before saying, “Lao Luo, your disciple is quite good—full of potential.” Luo Jie shook his head and replied, “Wu Lao, just speak out if you have something to say. We’ve been friends for so many years; nothing in your mind can hide from me.”