[Ayuan, is it really okay to draw the qi gathering talisman?] Shen Xu asked as they entered the assessment room.
[We are in disguise, and no one will be able to find us.] Zhen Yuan assured.
'Fortunately, taking the test doesn't require a name or other identification.' Shen Xu thought.
[Either way...] He started, but a loud voice interrupted him.
"Why did so many people enter the room?" The Great Elder asked.
Hearing the question, Elder Chu leaned over and whispered something to the Great Elder.
When the Great Elder heard everything, he was a little displeased but could do nothing.
Although he was the Great Elder of the Two Reeds town talisman association branch, his identity was not superior to the Rong family.
Unless it was necessary, he didn't want to offend the Rong family, so he only frowned and tacitly accepted the gamble.
"Don't disturb the assessment." He warned while glaring at the gathered crowd.
"We will follow the Great Elder's instructions." Several people said and retreated to stand with their backs to the wall.
"Little friend, you have one hour to draw a second-level talisman." The Great Elder said.
"Yuan understands."
After saying that, Zhen Yuan took out a second-level talisman paper and pen.
Ordinarily, he could draw a second-level talisman on a first-level paper.
However, he didn't want to reveal this, so he used the second-level paper.
'Well then…' Zhen Yuan thought and sighed.
In the previous assessment, he could hide his distraction because many people were in the room with him.
Unfortunately, this time, he was the only examinee.
Most importantly, there were more than a dozen spectators and a foundation establishment realm assessor.
If he tried to procrastinate, he would undoubtedly be discovered.
Considering this, there was only one thing Zhen Yuan could do...
As the spectators and assessors watched, Zhen Yuan bent over and began drawing on the talisman paper.
However, what he drew wasn't a qi-gathering talisman.
Instead, he drew and secretly activated a second-level illusion talisman.
'Unless something unexpected happens, the effect will last for half an hour.' He thought.
With the illusion in place, Zhen Yuan took out a monster bone and carefully etched a defence formation.
Since all their spirit stones were fed to the spiritual water lake, Zhen Yuan wanted to accumulate more talismans and formation disks.
As they travelled to the capital, he would find an opportunity to sell the goods, and the excess would eventually be sold to manager Zhang of the Myriad Treasures Pavillion.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
When the effect of the illusion talisman dissipated, Zhen Yuan was seen drawing the last stroke of a talisman.
A moment later, the qi in the room began to riot.
White mist rushed towards the talisman, and some qi drops fell on Zhen Yuan.
Unfortunately, heaven and earth qi was useless for his cultivation.
Rather than get absorbed into his body, the qi drops landed on his clothes, leaving them wet.
"How is this possible?" Rong Hao was dumbfounded.
Not only him, the assessors, spectators, and Shen Xu were also shocked.
In Shen Xu's case, he wasn't shocked because Zhen Yuan drew the qi gathering talisman.
He was shocked because the young man dared to draw a perfect grade qi gathering talisman.
'This is going to be troublesome.' Shen Xu thought and almost groaned in frustration.
However, when he thought about it, he realised it would be troublesome no matter the grade of the qi gathering talisman.
After all, the qi gathering talisman was a secret of the Talisman Association.
'Since it has come to this, let's go with the flow.' He thought and winked at Zhen Yuan.
Seeing the wink, Zhen Yuan smiled but didn't say anything.
For him, the purpose of drawing the perfect grade qi gathering talisman was slapping Rong Hao in the face.
When they first met, Zhen Yuan didn't care about the young master.
However, the person looked down on them and treated Shen Xu like a lesser person.
As Shen Xu's husband, how could Zhen Yuan tolerate such a person?
Although he and Shen Xu had just met, Zhen Yuan had already accepted the double.
With the acceptance came a powerful desire to dote on and pamper his wife.
Because of this, he couldn't let Rong Hao go.
While everyone was shocked, the Great Elder stood up.
"Little friend, follow me." He said in a voice that brokered no argument.
However, who was Zhen Yuan?
How could a mere foundation establishment realm cultivator threaten him?
When he heard the words and saw the great elder's impatient look, Zhen Yuan didn't flinch.
Instead, he turned to Rong Hao.
"Young master Rong, shall we settle the gamble?" He asked, and the room fell silent.
No one expected Zhen Yuan to disregard a foundation establishment realm cultivator.
Even Shen Xu was a little surprised.
'What about keeping a low profile? Has the plan changed?' He wondered and involuntarily rolled his eyes.
However, he was already riding a tiger and couldn't get off.
Seeing the Great Elder's angry face, Shen Xu took a few steps and stood behind Zhen Yuan.
At the same time, several assessors looked at each other.
[As expected, this kid has a background. If not, how could he dare to disregard the Great Elder?] One of the assessors transmitted to the other two.
[I think so too.]
[Keep quiet.] The third one said.
"Young master Rong..." Zhen Yuan called when Rong Hao didn't react to his previous question.
"You..." Rong Hao started but didn't know what to say.
"Your name is Yuan Shen right?" A spectator suddenly jumped out and then continued.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan, isn't it bad to cheat?" He asked with a sneer on his face.
"Cheat? Which eye saw him cheat?" Shen Xu questioned aggressively.
"Before we entered the room, young master Rong gave fellow Daoist Yuan a qi gathering talisman. How can fellow Daoist Yuan turn around and use the talisman to cheat in the assessment?" The person asked in a self-righteous tone.
When Shen Xu heard this, he was so shocked that he couldn't argue back.
'Is it okay to talk so much nonsense?' He wondered and looked at the person suspiciously.
There were dozens of cultivators in the assessment room.
Everyone saw Zhen Yuan draw the qi gathering talisman.
By implying that the talisman was exchanged, didn't he mean that everyone was blind?
Most importantly, couldn't the self-righteous man see the dark look on the Great Elder's face?
How dare he jump out to speak nonsense?
Who gave him the courage?
As Shen Xu was evaluating the situation, an angry voice resounded.
"Nonsense." The great elder roared, and a palm fell towards the 'brave' spectator.
A moment later, the person was smashed into a blood mist, and Shen Xu subconsciously shuddered.
Although he killed one of the Marsh Bandits, he was still not used to the lawlessness in the cultivation world.
'I must get used to it as soon as possible.' He thought and looked at Zhen Yuan guiltily.
However, Zhen Yuan did not blame him.
He understood that his wife needed time to adapt to the cultivation world.
[Sorry.] Shen Xu said.
[What is there to be sorry about? You grew up in a different world.] Zhen Yuan soothed.
[Mmmm.] Shen Xu nodded with a smile on his face.
"Settle your affairs." The great elder glared at Zhen Yuan and said.
In fact, he wanted to drag the person out of the room.
However, the great elder still had some scruples.
First, he didn't know if the young man was related to a powerful force.
If he made a mistake and offended the wrong person, the great elder wouldn't know how he died.
As such, he could only put down his face and let the two juniors settle the gamble first.
"Young master Rong…" Shen Xu called in a teasing tone.
From the moment they met, Rong Hao had looked down on them and even conspired to grab their spirit stones.
Now that Zhen Yuan had won the gamble, Shen Xu wasn't modest.
His eyes were filled with gloating, and his smile grew wider when Rong Hao gritted his teeth in anger.
"My clansman is the deputy great elder of this branch of the talisman association. Are the two fellow Taoists interested in talking to him?" Rong Hao asked with a good attitude.
However, everyone understood the connotation.
More than an invitation to talk to his clansman, Rong Hao was threatening Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan.
Unfortunately, the two did not care.
As long as they kept their tails hidden, they would become untraceable ghosts after they left the Talisman Association.
"Let's talk about it after we speak to the Great Elder." Shen Xu said in an insincere voice.
Hearing the perfunctory words, Rong Hao glared at the two.
However, he could do nothing but hand over the spirit stones.
'This isn't over.' He thought and threw a storage bag containing five million spirit stones before walking away angrily.
Seeing this, his cronies ran out, and the room quickly emptied.
[Ayuan, we are rich.] Shen Xu transmitted.
[It feels good to get free spirit stones.]
[I am glad you are happy.] Zhen Yuan said and gestured to follow the Great Elder, who looked extremely unhappy.
Without another word, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan followed the Great Elder to the top floor of the Talisman Association.
"The little Taoist friend is very talented." The great elder spoke as soon as they sat down.
"Is there something that the great elder wants to ask?" Zhen Yuan asked.
Rather than beat around the bush, he preferred getting straight to the point.
"In that case, from where did the little Taoist friend learn the qi gathering talisman?" The great elder asked, his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Senior, isn't your question inappropriate?" Shen Xu asked with a frown on his face.
Although he was still not used to the Canglan continent, he remembered some common sense from the book.
One such common sense was never asking where someone found a treasure or learned an art.
Doing otherwise could offend people and cause unnecessary conflict.
When the Great Elder was refuted, he became angrier.
This was the first time a qi refining ant dared to question him.
However, the more the two acted like this, the more the great elder became warier.
After all, only the descendants of powerful families would dare to disrespect a foundation establishment realm cultivator, who was also a great elder of the talisman association.
"It is indeed inappropriate." The great elder conceded, but he didn't look apologetic.
"The two little friends should know that our talisman association has recently released the map of the qi gathering talisman." The man stated.
Hearing this, Shen Xu sneered.
'Isn't this a roundabout way of accusing us of stealing the map?' He thought but didn't say anything.
Instead, he looked at Zhen Yuan and signalled him to take the stage.
Seeing the signal, Zhen Yuan looked at the elder indifferently before he spoke.