Chapter 022

Chapter 22: Peace Talisman

At the Spirit Market, voices and tones can change at will, which helps sellers and buyers hide their identities; but when a lazy drawl sounded, Ye Wan Wan’s eyelid still twitched. That drawl was so leisurely it made her picture a wastrel lying on a noble consort chair while a maid fed him grapes, eyes barely open. She felt a strange sense of closeness and thought: [I bet I will make a sale today.]

Ye Wan Wan named her price: “Ten thousand spirit stones.”

The lazy voice paused, then asked with a tease: “Oh? Is your Peace Talisman special? A normal Attack Talisman goes for a thousand spirit stones at most, which is already high for the Talisman Arts. How are you selling a Peace Talisman for ten thousand?”

In the same category, Peace Talismans often sell for five or ten spirit stones just for comfort. Ten thousand was sky high, close to daylight robbery. The question carried open mockery.

Ye Wan Wan answered without guilt: “Expensive for a reason. This Peace Talisman blocks one instance of harm.”

The lazy voice gave a short laugh, then said: “I can buy a defense talisman that also works, and it’s cheaper than yours.”

Ye Wan Wan kept an even pace: “It works against both spell attacks and physical attacks.”

The voice sharpened: “Physical?”

Ye Wan Wan explained with plain words: “It can stop damage from knives and swords. For spell damage, exorcisms, soul snatching, slander by petty people, car crashes, and illness, it will protect you once. In short, it keeps you safe.”

She finished softly: “A true Peace Talisman.”

Across from her, the buyer muttered: “You’re just bragging, right?”

Ye Wan Wan said with calm certainty: “Refund if it fails.”

Silence followed.

She wasn’t in a hurry. She had put these up to see what would happen. The two Peace Talismans were her practice pieces for the month. After reading the fates of Fang He An and Bai Jian, and after the Eye of Rebirth in the Archive Pavilion showed its warning, she was nine-tenths sure those were events from their previous life. In that past life, at this time, she had still been an outer disciple at the Supreme Sect and didn’t know them, so she had no idea how things happened and couldn’t verify any of it. But she knew one thing: fate had changed. In this life, her cultivation hadn’t been crippled; she had even become a disciple of the Heavenly One Sect. So she wanted to try. If those were Bai Jian and the others’ set fates, then this life, she wanted to change them.

These Peace Talismans had cost her a month of effort to draw. Her cultivation was still weak, so two of them took a whole month. But the effect was real. They could block any harm.

The other voice returned, now cautious: “Any level of harm?”

Ye Wan Wan answered: “Below Golden Core, a ninety percent chance. Above that, the effect weakens. You’ll have to test it yourself.”

Because she herself was only at the Golden Core realm right now. She had tested it. The talisman could block her strongest blow.

“Fine,” the voice said.

A crisp coin chime sounded, and a cheerful notice popped in her mind: “Congratulations, stall keeper. Buyer ‘Money to Burn’ purchased your Peace Talisman. Seven thousand spirit stones credited.”

Ye Wan Wan went blank for a beat, then thought: [They took thirty percent. Crooked.]

The buyer asked at once: “Why can I only buy one? I can’t purchase the second.”

Ye Wan Wan answered: “Limit per person.”

“…”

She added, practical as ever: “A Peace Talisman blocks one harm. One is enough. Why buy more?”

“For me, one isn’t enough.”

“Then use it and come back.”

“Alright.”

He sounded a little unhappy. The moment he finished, another bright chime rang: “Congratulations, stall keeper. Second sale complete. Buyer ‘Just Looking’ purchased your Peace Talisman. Seven thousand spirit stones credited. Keep it up.”

Ye Wan Wan heard it. So did Money to Burn, because the Peace Talisman on the stall vanished.

He asked, puzzled: “Where did it go?”

Ye Wan Wan said: “Sold.”

He gave a laugh and said: “So there’s another guinea pig like me? Quick hands. I was going to find someone to buy it for me.”

Ye Wan Wan fell silent.

Once the goods were sold out, she packed up. The buyer’s projection faded and drifted off toward other stalls.

She slung her bundle over her shoulder and looked around, then said to herself: “Go home.”

With a sweep of her spiritual sense, the street vanished, and she appeared on an empty stretch of sand. Ye Wan Wan clicked her tongue and said: “So poor.” [Not even a home in the Spirit Market.]

Sometimes she felt the Spirit Market was like a game made by a programmer who pulled too many all-nighters, died at his desk, and crossed into the cultivation world. The game had trading and housing. The combat system wasn’t finished yet, but all the basic trade features were there. If you swapped code for cultivation runes and Teleportation Arrays, then that programmer had to be at least a Fusion Stage expert in the Array Dao. Only someone at that level could build a Void Realm this vast, covering half the Nine Provinces and countless experts.

She paced off the land and found it wasn’t easy to put up a house. Land cost money, and the house cost money.

She opened her account page and read: “Fourteen thousand spirit stones.”

These were kept in the Spirit Market vault. She could withdraw anytime. She tapped the cave-dwelling page. The cheapest house was fifteen thousand spirit stones, and it was only a thatched hut.

She sighed: “Can’t afford a house anywhere.”

She moved one thousand from the three thousand she had made yesterday on Mystic Spirit Grass into the account, reached fifteen thousand, and bought a thatched hut the size of two square meters. If Li Wan Zhi were here, he would have scolded her for wasting money. That was fifteen thousand spirit stones. But Ye Wan Wan, who had touched the Spirit Market and knew some of its secrets, also knew the money was worth it. Even if it was just a two-square hut.

She stepped into her own cave dwelling. It was empty. That didn’t matter. She didn’t want lodging. She wanted the cave’s bonus ability.

She sat cross-legged and cultivated. The Qi Refining method cycled again and again. When she finished the day’s work that normally took her a whole day, she exited the Spirit Market. Outside, only six shichen had passed.

She pinched her jade token and said to herself: “One day outside equals two days inside. A two times flow.”

She reentered the Spirit Market and looked at the thatched hut, then nodded: “Even the cheapest house has this effect. Good enough.” She breathed out and added in a low voice: “When I earn more, I’ll upgrade the cave. The time bonus will stack.”

The Spirit Market would buy her time. She could sprint for next year’s Grand Sect Tournament. She did not want to miss the excitement.

She sank into practice. She had planned to stay inside for two full days, but a rule force popped her out. She clenched her teeth and muttered: “There’s even an anti-addiction mode? Seriously.”

She had only stayed inside about twenty six hours, and the Spirit Market had ejected her. The rule was clearly tied to one outside day. After a day passed, she had to enter again. That was one drawback of using the Spirit Market as a training cave.

“Forget it,” she said. “Time to head up the mountain.”

She looked toward the peak of Snow Mountain, eyes thoughtful, and said softly: “Time to meet the new master.”