Chapter 2: Sword Talismans (Part 2)

Ever since obtaining Wu Qing’s talisman books, Guo Shier’s entire focus was on them. The over seventy sets of books covered almost all of the Western Talisman School’s knowledge regarding beast spellcasters. Unfortunately, there were no books on creating beast talismans—most were about how to control them. Guo Shier gained great inspiration from them.

During this time, Zhu Dachang visited several times. It was only then that he realized this boy was not a mere spellcaster but a true beast spellcaster, just like him—a professional at the top level. Thus, he admired him greatly and willingly helped craft armor for him.

Three days seemed too short, so he asked reluctantly for an extension. Guo Shier, knowing he had ten days to stay, generously agreed to extend the time by a few days. It wasn’t until the eighth day that Zhu Dachang delivered all the finished soft talisman armor. Guo Shier kept one set for himself and gave the rest away.

Guo Shier was very satisfied with the soft talisman armor made by Zhu Dachang. He put it on. The set included a chest plate, a pair of leg guards, a pair of black high-waisted soft talisman boots, a pair of arm guards, a pair of wrist guards, and a soft talisman hat.

Zhu Dachang asked nervously, “Shier, are you satisfied? I used the best materials to make this armor.”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “With these sets of soft talisman armor completed, your armor-making skills must have improved a lot, right?”

Zhu Dachang replied happily, “Yes, this opportunity is truly rare, hehe.”

Guo Shier pondered for a moment before taking out a fist-sized crystal bottle and saying, “I know you lost a lot of money and materials making these soft talisman armor. This is a bottle of the blood of a talisman beast. You can keep it for future use… Consider it a gift from me.”

Zhu Dachang was surprised. “The blood of a talisman beast? That’s amazing!”

Guo Shier took another look and said, “Oh, I got it wrong… Never mind, it’s yours.”

Zhu Dachang was stunned and asked, “What?”

Guo Shier replied, “This is the blood of a mutated talisman beast—hehe, the blood of a earth dragon. Although there’s only a little, it’s still a quite rare material.”

Zhu Dachang could hardly believe it. He held the small crystal bottle tightly, as if cradling his own child. Stammering, he asked, “M-u-t-a-t-e-d… T-a-l-i-s-m-a-n… B-e-a-st? And… it’s the rarest… the rarest blood of an earth dragon lineage? You’re not… lying to me…”

Guo Shier said, “Why would I lie to you? What I gave you is blood purified on-site by a great beast spellcaster, refined using sixteen talismans…”

Zhu Dachang’s expression changed. As an expert, he naturally understood how rare this was—the value of this vial of blood was immeasurable. Fúbeast of the Earth Dragon lineage were already extremely rare, and even rarer were the mutated variants, which were extremely difficult to catch. Everything about them was top-tier material, with blood being one of the finest.

He held the crystal vial in both hands and brought it close to his eyes to examine it carefully. The blood was bright red, free of any impurities, with tiny golden sparks shimmering within—it was the essence of the blood. This small vial contained roughly half a pound of blood. Despite its small size, its value was incalculable, as it simply did not appear on the market and could not be purchased even with great wealth. Obtaining this vial meant not only no loss but also a huge profit.

Zhu Dachang carefully stored this extremely precious Earth Dragon blood, puzzled as to why Guo Shier would give it to him. He couldn’t help asking, “Shier, why did you give me this blood?”

Guo Shier replied irritably, “I took the wrong one! I’m too embarrassed to go back for it… Just leave it at that.”

Zhu Dachang nearly fainted. Overwhelmed with joy and anxiety, he asked, “You… you’re not taking it back, are you?”

Guo Shier, furious, almost kicked him and said, “I already said it’s fine! If you keep asking… I’ll take it back!”

Frightened, Zhu Dachang immediately covered his mouth, not daring to say another word. Luo Zhan couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter. Guo Shier rubbed his head in frustration and said with a wry smile, “Uncle Luo, stop laughing…” He then turned to Zhu Dachang, “Let’s be friends. I’m very satisfied with the soft talisman armor you made. I might ask you to make more in the future.”

Only then did Zhu Dachang breathe a sigh of relief. This kid was truly like a little tyrant, a little demon, with every word and action being unpredictable. He repeated, “No problem, no problem… Whenever you need it, Zhu Dachang is at your service.”

Guo Shier gave him a strange look, thinking, “What a way to put it—‘pig intestines are at your service’? How chaotic.” He said, “Well, if I need anything in the future… how can I find you?”

Zhu Dachang replied, “This is a message talisman. Just give it to anyone from the Zhu family’s merchant firm, and they can notify me.” With that, he politely took his leave, his face filled with a happy smile.

Luo Zhan asked, “Shier, did you really take the wrong one? Or did you do it on purpose?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Uncle Luo, whether intentional or not, it doesn’t matter anymore.” He then asked, “Does the soft talisman armor fit well?”

Luo Zhan said satisfactorily, “Pretty good talisman armor! I’m very pleased—the defense capability has increased by at least 50%. He’s indeed an outstanding talisman master.”
Guo Shier smiled, turned around, and went outside to the courtyard. There, Huo Bao and Hong Shi were fighting each other, exchanging blows vigorously, while Chen Bing and Chen Hong watched. Guo Shier approached them and asked with a smile, “Who’s stronger between the two?”
Chen Bing replied, “Baozi is fast, and Shishi has good stamina. Hehe, their strengths are about the same.”
Guo Shier asked again, “How about you compared to them?”
Chen Bing replied calmly, “Uncomparable.”
Guo Shier smiled slightly. He understood what Chen Bing meant—different roles meant different focuses. He said, “Everyone needs to get ready, especially in terms of food and dried meat. We’ll be setting off in a couple of days. Tomorrow night, the head of the Qin family will see us off, and there should be plenty of delicious food.”
Huo Bao and Hong Shi stopped immediately and came over excitedly. Huo Bao asked, “What delicious food?”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. “Baozi, there’s enough for you to eat… You guy, as soon as you hear about food, you even stop practicing.”
Huo Bao smiled happily and said, “Of course! In my hometown, many people can’t even get enough to eat. Hehe, having enough to eat is really important. There, aside from children, even most adults, including my dad, often go hungry.”
Guo Shier was a bit skeptical. “Your dad is the town head, and he still goes hungry?”
Huo Bao shook his head. “In winter, when heavy snow blocks the mountains, no family can eat their fill. If the snow lasts too long, hehe, people have to be sent up the mountains to hunt. Shier, you know… going up the mountains in snow means facing fierce beasts, and many die. If lucky, you might catch some wild animals, but it’s at the cost of your life. If unlucky and you catch nothing, people will really starve to death.”
“That’s why we learned from a young age that when we can eat, we must eat our fill…”
Among the four, only Huo Bao had suffered hardships since childhood; the other three came from professional families and had hardly experienced hardship. Guo Shier also came from a difficult background in his past life, so he understood his words well. He said, “Hmm, tomorrow night, go ahead and eat to your heart’s content!”
Huo Bao replied earnestly, “Yes! I’ll definitely eat more.”
Guo Shier laughed, “Just don’t overeat.”
Hong Shi suddenly blurted out, “Food that costs nothing tastes the best!”

Chen Hong kept giggling aside. Guo Shier asked, “Xiao Hong, why are you laughing?” She replied, “Both Bao and Shi are food wasters.” Guo Shier burst into laughter; in fact, he thought of himself as a food waster too. At nine years old, the amount he ate in one meal was equivalent to what someone would eat in two days in his past life. Huo Bao and the others were even worse off because they were apprentices with potential to become rune warriors and needed plenty of food to sustain their strength.

…

The next evening, Guo Shier, along with four of his companions, as well as Luo Zhan, Xiao Feng, Yan Ge, and others, followed their master Luo Jie, the great rune warrior Qi Nanshan, and their senior brother Qin Han to the VIP hall of the Qin family.

The VIP hall was quite simple. In Guo Shier’s impression, there were no refined places in this world. Aside from various runes, which were extremely exquisite, everything else—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—was simple and rough.

Guo Shier gradually got used to it and followed his master inside. Qin Zhuo came out to greet them, exchanged a few words, and then led them to the main seats. Guo Shier was seated next to his master because of his young age, and no one paid much attention to him.

There were many guests, arriving in groups, until the long table was filled to capacity.

Baskets of plain boiled meat were brought out, followed by baskets of flatbread and bowls of hot soup. Guo Shier sighed inwardly—it was the same old three dishes again. With a wry smile, he shook his head, took out three copper basins, mixed in the soy sauce and chili paste he had made, added a few crushed garlic cloves, and placed one basin in front of his master and another in front of Qi Nanshan. He said, “Master, Grandpa Nanshan, dip it in this… that’s how it tastes good.”

Luo Jie knew his young apprentice had countless strange ideas, so he nodded without surprise and asked, “Did you make this yourself?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “I’m really tired of plain boiled meat—it’s bland and unappetizing.”

Qi Nanshan said, “You’re quite strange, coming from an ordinary family and never having eaten rune-based food before. How do you manage to create so many unique dishes? Like that braised pork we cooked in the secret realm last time—ah, I still can’t forget that taste. It was absolutely wonderful.”

Here, people used chopsticks only when eating rune-based food; for regular meat and soup, they used knives and wooden spoons.

Guo Shier simply grabbed the plain boiled meat with his hands, cut it into small pieces, dipped them in the seasoning, and then ate them slowly with a knife and fork. With the seasoning, the meat became extremely delicious.

Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan carelessly picked up some meat, dipped it in the seasoning, and took a bite—their expressions immediately changed. After savoring it further, the two exchanged a glance and both smiled slightly; the taste was truly excellent. The two elders said nothing either and focused on eating.

Qin Han sat down across from Luo Jie, watching them curiously. When Guo Shier saw this, he felt a bit embarrassed. He prepared another portion and handed it to Qin Han, whispering, “Senior brother, use this to dip your food.”

At that moment, another group of people entered from outside. The person in charge spotted Guo Shier at once, slowed down, and his gaze turned uncertain. He thought to himself, “How is he here?”