Liu Wu led the few young girls along the road back to the Xuanpin Sect.
As a cultivator of the first level of Qi Refining, he could have moved as lightly as a swallow, treading upon the wind. But the girls behind him were ordinary mortals, their stamina limited. Even when exhausting themselves, they could only barely keep pace with his drastically slowed steps.
The rugged mountain paths and dense forests were trials to them.
After only half a day, they were drenched in sweat, breathless, and pale-faced. Liu Wu showed little pity. Only when they were truly unable to walk did he stop to let them rest briefly.
Night soon descended. The cold moonlight filtered through layers of canopy, casting mottled, eerie shadows on the ground.
From deep within the mountains ca the occasional chilling roars of ferocious beasts. The terrified girls instinctively drew closer to Liu Wu.
“Tonight, we rest here.” Liu Wu found a relatively sheltered hollow in the mountainside, his voice calm. “Start a fire. Keep watch in turns.”
He himself sat cross-legged upon a clean rock, eyes shut as though ditating in cultivation, though in truth his divine sense was spread outward, alert to every rustle of wind and grass.
…
Inside a distant cave abode, Liu Ming suddenly opened his eyes.
The familiar chi of the system echoed within his mind, arriving right on ti.
【A new day has co. A new avatar can be summoned.】
“Summon avatar!” Liu Ming gave the order in his heart without hesitation.
【Summoning avatar…】
【Randomly generating avatar’s appearance…】
【Please assign items to the avatar.】
“None.”
【Please na the avatar.】
“Liu Liu.”
The na almost slipped out, but at the last mont, he forced himself to stop.
A thought erged in his mind.
In Wangxian Town, everyone knew—the Master of Blood Banquet Valley sought to accept a disciple nad Shen Qingyun.
Countless mortals of that na, from all corners of the land, had rushed eagerly to the City Lord’s mansion, all for that faint and elusive chance at immortality!
Liu Ming, too, felt curiosity toward Blood Banquet Valley. Unfortunately, his own na was not Shen Qingyun; he had almost no chance of being admitted.
But what if… his avatar was nad Shen Qingyun?
He did not fully understand the system’s rules for naming, but he was eighty percent confident that if his avatar bore the na Shen Qingyun, it could slip through the test and infiltrate Blood Banquet Valley!
At that thought, Liu Ming stopped hesitating.
【Please na the avatar.】
“Shen Qingyun!”
【Na confird.】
【Avatar summoning… please wait.】
The air twisted slightly. A young man of seventeen or eighteen, carrying a faint scholarly aura, quietly appeared in the spacious hall.
Just then, the cave’s stone doors were struck with a dull dong dong.
Liu ng frowned. Who would co at this hour? With a wave of her hand, the door opened. A page from the Treasure Pavilion stood respectfully outside, holding a storage pouch.
“Senior Sister, the talisman materials you ordered have arrived—two hundred sets in total. That will be one Tri-Spirit coin.” The boy’s face wore a polished, professional smile.
Liu ng accepted the pouch. A sweep of her divine sense confird the talisman paper, spirit ink, brushes, and other supplies were all in order. She tossed over a Tri-Spirit coin and shut the stone door coldly.
It seed that thin, wiry man had not betrayed her trust—he had indeed reached the Tri-Spirit Market and bought the materials.
Yet, he had not returned. Whether it was because of his slow pace, or so unforeseen mishap, she could not tell.
Speculation was useless. Liu ng quickly gathered her focus and turned her full attention to the talisman materials before her.
Thanks to Liu San’s “contribution,” her mind was already brimming with knowledge—everything from the simplest Qi-Guiding talismans to various offensive and defensive charms. In theory, she was already a master.
All that was left was to put hand to practice.
Taking a deep breath, Liu ng dipped her brush in spirit ink and began to sketch upon talisman paper.
She was attempting one of the most basic talismans: the Guiding Talisman.
Stroke by stroke—drawing lines, infusing spiritual energy… every step was etched into her mory, seen countless tis through Liu San’s eyes.
But just as she was about to seal the final stroke, containing the spiritual force within the paper—
Zila!
A sharp hiss. The energy flared out of control, and the talisman dissolved into smoke.
Failure.
Liu ng frowned, but did not despair. She picked up a second sheet.
Puff.
This ti, the ink spread ssily. Another failure.
The third ti, her spiritual infusion was rushed, the strokes collapsing.
The fourth, the fifth…
Over a dozen attempts, and not one success.
Setting her brush down, Liu ng let out a breath of frustration. Knowledge alone was not enough—talisman crafting demanded precise control. A single slip ant instant failure.
Perhaps Liu San’s mindless, desireless state had been oddly well-suited for talisman making.
The thought stifled her, but she could do nothing except keep trying.
One after another, the talisman papers turned to ash. Yet with every failure, her strokes grew steadier, her movents smoother.
She lost track of ti. More than half the materials had been consud before—
Hum—
A faint azure glow rippled across the talisman. The runes sank inward, and a stable, mysterious energy fluctuation emanated from it.
Her first Guiding Talisman—at last, a success!
Liu ng exhaled deeply, a rare smile on her lips.
At that mont, Liu Wu finally returned, leading the weary, dust-covered girls.
They stood before Liu ng, their faces pale and frightened.
Only now did they recall Liu Wu’s earlier warning. Only now did they truly begin to wonder—what did this breathtakingly beautiful “fairy” intend for them?
What fate awaited them?
As the girls trembled, Liu ng also fell into contemplation.
To teach them the sub-manual of the Xuanpin Technique, to make them her attendants—that much was certain. But after that?
Should she be like Su ier—
Forbidding her attendants from harming the living, forbidding them from draining n’s yang energy?
Sending them out to build their own caves once they broke through Qi Refining?
And herself… also harvesting yang essence from n?
Liu ng shook her head. Though her body was female, her mind remained that of a man. The thought of dual cultivation with other n filled her with disgust.
Yet, if she did nothing and only relied on solitary cultivation, her progress would be far too slow.
A different idea began to form.
Why not let her attendants cultivate instead?
She could simply assign n to them, let them handle dual cultivation.
She had once thought those n were innocent victims. But after visiting Wangxian Town, she began to doubt—perhaps those n were all guilty.
The vicious brute Liu Ming had encountered before could hardly have been re coincidence. In Su ier’s prison, there must have been many like him.
If so, then why not make use of them? Let her attendants harvest their essence.
The faster her attendants cultivated, the faster her own cultivation would grow through the feedback of the mother-manual.
Though it ant sharing resources, her own progress might not lag behind in the long term.
Most importantly, she would no longer have to step in herself—freeing her from that inner sense of revulsion.
“That’s it, then.”
Her mind made up, Liu ng smiled faintly and beckoned the trembling girls forward.
anwhile, Liu Wu was preparing to set out once again.
He would first escort “Shen Qingyun” to Wangxian Town, so that he could slip into the City Lord’s mansion and probe Blood Banquet Valley’s secrets.
Afterward, Liu Wu would head for the dead city itself, carrying Liu ng’s Guiding Talisman, to seek out a Soul Banner within the city of Luo Feng.
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