Aksai wanted to keep the barrier-bypass talisman for himself.
However, Aunt Reta had already revealed its existence to a third party by giving it to Reman as a pre-wedding dowry for his marriage.
Even if Aksai were to force Reman to hand over the barrier-bypass talisman, it would eventually be taken away by the Lakir Family. Moreover, it would attract scrutiny toward him and Aunt Reta.
Thus, Aksai decided to end the matter completely instead of inviting future troubles. It was better to shift such potential issues to Reman and receive spirit stones from him in exchange.
As for his broken marriage proposal? Aksai couldn't deny feeling a pang of disappointment.
It was one thing to reject someone out of one's own volition. But to be rejected even before you voiced your opinions would certainly leave bitter taste in one's mouth.
However, he harbored no resentment toward Jasmine or her father for choosing the outer disciple of the Purple River Sect over him. Not really.
It was simply the way of the world – why fight it?
Instead, Aksai resolved to rise above such setbacks and make use of the opportunities presented by the established norms of society.
The gaze of the powerful holds a silent narrative of its own, conveying volumes without uttering a word. Meanwhile, the desperate pleas of the vulnerable fall upon deaf ears, a silent song disregarded by bystanders.
When he became strong in various aspects, he would use these norms to his advantage and assert dominance over the weak. In such a scenario, the world would be compelled to accept it because this was also the way of the world.
If the cultivation world was unfair to the weak, Aksai's job was not to fight the world but to become so strong that he would be able to take advantage of the unfairness in his favor.
If Aksai were a Foundation Building Expert, not only Jasmine but also her mother would throw themselves at him just to stand a chance of becoming his concubines. And Reman would himself bring his wife and daughter to warm Akasai's bed with a smile on his face.
In fact, the power and influence carried by a Foundation Building Expert in Wuyum County was even greater than what Aksai thought it to be.
If he really was a Foundation Building Expert, he could have claimed almost all the young women and mature ladies for himself, and nobody would bat an eye.
Why not become strong when that's all it takes to change his circumstances?
The whole incident only fueled Aksai's desire to progress further in his cultivation. His aspiration to achieve immortality grew stronger.
If initially, he had started walking the path of cultivation because of the promise he had made to his late father, then this incident added another aspect to his original motivation.
He didn't know how many more lessons life had in store for him, but he was ready to accept them all to further fuel his desire to achieve immortality.
As for seeking revenge against Reman for subtly insulting his lineage? Aksai believed that becoming a Foundation Building Expert in the future would be the best revenge against both the man and his daughter. Not that he was advancing on his cultivation journey with the intention of humiliating them.
However, to Aksai, observing these petty individuals from a position of superiority would bring a smile to his face before he pursued higher goals.
After giving the barrier-bypass talisman to Reman, Aksai didn't care what the latter was planning to do with it. As far as he was concerned, the riches and troubles the man and his family would attract their way using the talisman were entirely their own.
The next day, news about Aksai and Jasmine's broken marriage arrangement spread throughout the neighborhood. It seemed that Jasmine had been the one to spread the news to boast about her future husband.
People came to express their condolences to Aksai. However, they would whisper all sorts of things behind his back.
Aksai ignored them all. Instead, his attention was focused on calming Aunt Reta's fury over Jasmine's vixen-like behavior. She only calmed down when Aksai made her realize that they had dodged a bullet by not marrying Aksai to such a girl in the first place.
Of course, once she calmed down, Aksai asked Aunt Reta if she had another barrier-bypass talisman on her. He was ready to buy the item from her, provided the talisman was at least of 1st-order mid-grade quality.
After all, the isolation barrier erected by the mysterious Array Formation in the Enchanted Everwood farm was of the 1st-order low-grade type. The barrier-bypass talisman needed to be at least a grade higher for it to effectively work against the isolation barrier.
Unfortunately, Aunt Reta didn't have any fully functional barrier-bypass talisman in her possession. Her late husband had made the only functional talisman by chance and all the other attempts had resulted in failures.
However, she gave Aksai an incomplete barrier-bypass talisman that was supposed to be of 1st-order mid-grade quality. As long as Aksai repaired it by finding the right kind of resources and an expert talisman maker, he would be able to make use of it.
Aksai was glad when he received the incomplete talisman from Aunt Reta.
With the possession of the 2nd-order talisman inheritance and resources available to him due to the Everwood farm, he didn't need any talisman expert to fix the incomplete talisman.
In due time, he would be able to repair the talisman himself. When that happened, his exploration outside the Everwood farm would truly begin.
Aksai estimated that it would take him two to three weeks to repair the talisman using his current expertise in the talisman inheritance.
The work required on the talisman wasn't much. Plus, he had his neural link fabric to rely on for such complicated processes.
***
A few days later, Aksai arrived at Wilben City in Ragui County.
"I finally got here," Aksai muttered to himself as he gazed at the distant cityscape.
Having traveled on a giant hawk-type demon beast, Aksai paid the beast tamer and proceeded on foot toward the city.
After paying the standard entrance fee, Aksai quickly made his way into the city, where he began gathering information from locals and visiting various shops.