Chen An was certain that scribbling crooked, uneven runes could never be called a talisman. If such low-quality items could be sold, then the talismans in his storage pouch were nothing more than worthless trinkets.
He took out a Swift Talisman from his storage pouch and handed it to the thin young man.
"Take a look at this talisman, fellow cultivator. "Tell me, how does its quality compare to yours?"
Chen An wanted to confirm whether the clarity and completeness of the runes affected the talisman's efficacy. However, the thin young man was utterly shocked upon seeing his talisman.
"This talisman is the best there is! In the market, people would pay top dollar for it. "Are you joking? You're comparing something of this quality to mine?"
Chen An was astonished by the young man's response. He had never known that talismans were graded by quality.
However, he had not studied talisman craftsmanship extensively. He simply followed the instructions from the sect's manuals, copying the designs as they were.
"I apologize, but I'm just an outer sect servant and wasn't aware that talismans had quality grades," Chen An replied, offering a simple apology, though still perplexed as to why his talisman was so much better than the young man's.
The thin young man was once again astonished. "What did you just say?" You're a servant? "A servant can make talismans of this high quality?"
"Maybe I just got lucky," Chen An stated confidently, his brow furrowed, unsure how to respond.
"Lucky?" The young man was not convinced by this explanation and pressed further. "How long have you been secretly practicing to be able to craft talismans of such quality?"
"About a month," Chen An replied confidently, not mentioning that he had mastered the Swift Talisman in less than ten attempts.
What Chen An didn't know was that even the revised answer of "a month" left the thin young man utterly speechless.
"A month?!" The young man looked Chen An up and down, his disbelief evident. "You must be one of those legendary, naturally gifted individuals destined to be a Talisman Master."
He waved his crooked talisman in front of Chen An's face with an air of confidence. "I trained for six months before I could craft a usable Swift Talisman. That's already considered fast enough to make others envious. You have such talent. There's no way you should be a mere servant in the outer sect. "You deserve to be an inner sect disciple!"
The young man studied Chen An intently, his piercing gaze assessing him. This made Chen An uncomfortable. Nobody likes being inspected so thoroughly.
The young man sensed this and quickly laughed, explaining, "Don't take it the wrong way." I was just taken aback. We are meant to be together, and we will stay in touch! My name is Li Muchen. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"Chen An," Chen An responded confidently, sensing that Li Muchen was leading up to something.
As expected, Li Muchen got straight to the point after introducing himself. "Chen An, you have incredible talent. Don't waste it. Use it to make something of yourself. Let's partner up and sell your talismans in the market. We'll split the profits—sixty percent for you, forty percent for me.
"Don't worry!" "With my silver tongue and your talent, we'll make piles of spirit stones and live a life of luxury!"
"I'm not interested in drawing too much attention right now," Chen An replied firmly, declining Li Muchen's proposal. He was not interested in making himself too conspicuous at this time.
"Wait, don't reject me so fast," Li Muchen quickly adjusted. "How about seventy-thirty? And on top of that, I'll supply you with talisman paper and cinnabar. You won't even need to show your face. I'll handle all the rest—what do you think?"
Chen An paused for a moment, his interest piqued by the prospect of remaining anonymous while still earning a decent profit.
He could make spirit stones without exposing his identity. Who wouldn't want that? He continued to ponder and then asked how much his talismans would sell for.
Li Muchen stated that Chen An's talismans were already of the highest grade and far more potent than ordinary talismans.
This level of quality is rare among Qi Condensation cultivators. Only Foundation Establishment cultivators who can craft second-grade talismans can create top-grade first-tier talismans.
This explained why Li Muchen was so astonished to discover that Chen An could so easily produce high-quality talismans.
Regular talismans are currently selling for around ten spirit stones. Li Muchen was certain that Chen An's superior talismans could fetch three per spirit stone—and demand would far outstrip supply!
"How about it, Chen An? With this kind of potential, we'll be swimming in spirit stones. "You can't refuse such an offer!"
Watching Li Muchen's excited calculations, Chen An agreed to the partnership. He needed spirit stones to aid his cultivation.
Once the deal was done, Li Muchen was even friendlier to Chen An. He called him "Brother Chen" with such affection that one might mistake them for blood brothers.
"Take these talisman papers and cinnabar, Brother Chen. Craft whatever talismans you like, but make them rare—things like Fire Talismans, Escape Talismans, or Thunderstrike Talismans. Bring out those, and they'll be snatched up in no time!"
While Li Muchen was giving his heartfelt advice, Chen An was lost in thought.
He immediately noticed a peculiar alteration in the sky.
In a matter of moments, massive dark clouds gathered overhead. The clouds were filled with serpentine streaks of lightning that coiled and flickered. A deep rumble of thunder rolled in the distance. What was even more bizarre was that this ominous cloud formation loomed over the highest peak of the sect alone; everywhere else remained clear and sunny.
Chen An had never witnessed such an extraordinary celestial phenomenon. Something monumental was about to happen. He immediately turned to look at Li Muchen.
He saw that Li Muchen was looking up too, but his gaze was fixed on the sect's highest peak, the very place where the dark clouds had gathered.
Following Li Muchen's gaze, Chen An's eyes widened and he inhaled sharply. He saw a figure standing on the peak.
It was an old man, dressed in white, with a youthful appearance despite his age, and he exuded an ethereal aura. He stood with a sword in hand, gazing up at the heavens.
At the same time, the swirling dark clouds began to twist and spiral into a vortex. From deep within the vortex, countless arcs of lightning converged with one purpose: to lock onto the old man.