Lian Xing was livid. He shooed the two away as though swatting flies and barked, "Shoo, shoo! Wushuang is my personal disciple, the last one I'll ever take under my wing. How could you even dream of taking them to Hongfu Peak? Stop deluding yourselves! And fix your voices while you're at it—hearing you talk like that is making me queasy."
Zhan Fan and Jin Fuxi: "..."
Did he think they wanted to speak like that?
Their exaggerated tone was merely an attempt to placate the sect leader, empathize with the sect leader, and become one with the sect leader, all to avoid startling young Wushuang. After all, this was a twelve-year-old prodigy they were dealing with!
The two exchanged glances before each grabbing one of Lian Xing's arms.
"Master, please don't cause trouble."
"Indeed. Young Wushuang's talent is crucial to the future of our entire Yunlan Sect!"
If the grade of these talismans truly depended on the cultivator's spiritual energy, Yunlan Sect—with its abundance of Nascent Soul cultivators—could easily produce thousands, even tens of thousands, of supreme-grade talismans.
From then on, riches would flow like rivers; mountains of gold and silver would be theirs with but a beckoning hand.
Ji Wushuang, having watched these three bicker and clown around for a while, smiled lightly and said, "How about this? Peak Master Zhan, could you find two trustworthy disciples to test these talismans? It will help us understand their characteristics better. Oh, and I still have some Grade-3 talismans on hand that we could also try out."
Talismans like Speed Charms, Binding Charms, Fireball Charms, and Rainfall Charms were all Grade-1.
Invisibility Charms, Vajra Charms, and Rejuvenation Charms belonged to Grade-2.
As for Grade-3, there was only the Teleportation Charm.
Judging by Ji Wushuang's tone, it seemed even the Teleportation Charm was "successful"!
This was no trivial matter.
Ordinarily, one would need to reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage to even attempt creating Grade-3 talismans. Only at that level could one barely grasp their intricacies.
Could it be... that Ji Wushuang had already mastered them?!
Was such a thing even possible?
Lian Xing, seeing Zhan Fan standing there dumbfounded, couldn't help but urge him, "What are you waiting for? Go!"
"Ah, right away!"
To ensure Ji Wushuang's secret remained hidden, Zhan Fan specifically summoned his personal disciples.
He had six in total. The most advanced had reached Nascent Soul, while the youngest had only just started, currently at the fifth level of Qi Refinement.
The summons read: "Return at once. Immediately!"
The repeated urgency of the message startled the disciples, who dropped everything they were doing and raced back, using numerous supreme-grade Thousand-Mile Charms along the way.
Upon arriving at Hongfu Peak, they barely had time to ask what was happening before their master blindfolded them, sealed their spiritual senses, and led them through a winding path to a place brimming with rich spiritual energy.
The disciples were overjoyed. Could it be that their master was taking them to a secret realm for cultivation?
Just as they prepared to meditate, their master smacked each of them on the head.
"Meditate? Meditate? Is now the time for that? Forget it! Take what's in front of you and infuse it with your spiritual energy!"
The disciples hastily obeyed, unaware of the dazzling golden light erupting from the talismans.
One talisman after another appeared!
As Zhan Fan had suspected, talismans infused with Nascent Soul energy became supreme-grade; Golden Core cultivators produced high-grade ones, Foundation Establishment cultivators created mid-grade, and Qi Refinement cultivators yielded low-grade talismans.
Not a single failure.
Not a single exception.
Once his hypothesis was confirmed and the second disciple seemed eager to continue infusing energy, Zhan Fan snatched the talismans away without hesitation.
"Stop wasting resources, you scoundrels!" he growled through gritted teeth, making the second disciple shrink back in fear.
Waving his hand dismissively, Zhan Fan sent them all away, leaving only his eldest disciple to handle the laborious task of infusing energy. The poor senior disciple worked tirelessly like an ox, until he was finally dismissed as well.
Zhuang Xuan, the eldest, left exhausted, feeling utterly wronged. Holding back tears for the sake of his younger siblings, he cleared his throat and said, "Why are you still here?"
"Senior Brother, what happened in there?"
"Yes, why was Master so urgent?"
"Just for a moment, I felt something extraordinary!"
"Me too! I think my success rate for creating talismans will improve now!"
Hearing this, Zhuang Xuan realized he had felt it as well.
Frowning, he said, "Let's test it. Back to the cave—we'll draw talismans!"
"Right!"
Once there, Zhuang Xuan generously provided talisman paper and cinnabar for everyone.
These were Hongfu Peak's most gifted disciples.
Yet even for geniuses, breakthroughs were rare. Previously, their success rates varied: Zhuang Xuan's was the highest, at 70–80%, while the youngest managed only 30–40%.
This time, however, everyone's success rate increased—not just for lower-grade talismans but for higher ones as well.
Staring at the results, they were awestruck. Their admiration for their master swelled like an endless river.
So the master must have obtained a treasure to boost success rates!
Zhuang Xuan immediately sent a voice transmission: "Master! We understand your painstaking efforts now. We will train diligently!"
Zhan Fan, hearing this, had no idea what his foolish disciple was babbling about and chose to ignore him. His gaze remained fixed on Ji Wushuang.
"Little Wushuang, would you like to try a Grade-4 talisman?"
Ji Wushuang's spiritual consciousness was at a semi-saint level; creating Grade-4 talismans was as easy as drinking water.
With a little practice, even Grade-5, Grade-6, and higher talismans would pose no challenge.
But Ji Wushuang wasn't about to reveal this.
She wasn't foolish—admitting it would mean Hongfu Peak clinging to her forever, and she had no intention of being followed around like that.
"Peak Master Zhan, I lack spiritual energy and cultivation. Grade-3 talismans are already my limit. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."
Hearing this, Zhan Fan's heart ached. "Ah, my apologies! Grade-3 is already extraordinary! No matter—once you begin cultivating, you'll surely become the finest talisman master! By the way, is there anything wrong with your body? Your uncle here has many treasures. Just tell me what you need, and I'll see if I can help!"
Lian Xing: "..."
Ha! The nerve of this shameless Zhan Fan.
Keep calling yourself "Uncle."
The more you enjoy it now, the more it'll sting when you learn the truth later :)