Chapter 23: Talisman Room Level 1
When Ji Yuan saw Lu Wan, she was sitting inside a talisman room, wearing a light green long dress.
She held an ancient book in her hands, her brows furrowed like distant mountains, and a fine layer of sweat covered her forehead.
"Junior Sister Lu, your younger brother is here to see you."
The soft call from a man in white interrupted Lu Wan's deep concentration.
As she lifted her head and saw Ji Yuan, her eyes lit up instantly.
"Why are you here?"
The man in white grew nervous at her reaction, but when Ji Yuan returned with a question of his own, he finally relaxed.
"What? I can’t come visit Sister Lu unless I have something going on?"
"Of course you can."
Lu Wan stood up with a smile, then gave a slight bow to the white-robed man who had led Ji Yuan here. "Thank you, Senior Brother Zhou."
Her tone was neither cold nor warm, carrying a hint of distance.
"No trouble at all. You two have a good chat. I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll leave you to it."
"Thank you, Daoist Zhou."
Ji Yuan thanked him, while Lu Wan had already brought over a cup of tea. "Speak, what’s going on? Hmph, if nothing happened, I doubt you would have remembered me."
Ever since she had moved to Zengtou Market, Ji Yuan could hardly be said to have visited her.
Only when Ji Qingyun came in past years did Ji Yuan follow along.
As they grew older, Ji Yuan had stopped visiting altogether.
"There is something I need..."
Before Ji Yuan could finish, footsteps sounded again outside the door.
A young man in white entered, his appearance truly fitting the description of handsome and elegant.
In any case, he looked much better than the previous Zhou fellow.
Moreover, the aura surrounding him faintly pressured Ji Yuan a little. Judging by that, he had probably reached the sixth level of Qi Refining?
"Senior Brother."
Lu Wan, who had just sat down, stood up again, and Ji Yuan also cupped his hands in greeting.
"Junior Sister Lu, no need for formalities." The newcomer returned the gesture with a smile, then turned to Ji Yuan and said with a warm smile, "I heard that we had a guest at the Wu residence, a relative of Junior Sister Lu, so I came to take a look."
Relative?
Lu Wan looked a bit surprised.
But Ji Yuan already knew who this man was—Wu Yan, the legitimate son of Wu Wenbin.
He was somewhat famous here in Zengtou Market.
Gifted in talisman crafting and backed by a powerful father.
So even though he was only in his thirties, he had already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining.
It was rumored that his entry into the Water Dragon Sect was already guaranteed, only a matter of time.
"Greetings, Daoist Wu."
Ji Yuan greeted with a smile. "I came in a bit of a hurry and didn’t prepare any gifts. I’ll make it up next time. Please don’t take offense, Daoist Wu."
"You're too polite, Daoist Ji."
Wu Yan replied naturally and took a seat nearby, smiling as he gestured. "Both of you, please sit. Go ahead with your conversation."
Since this was Wu family territory, Ji Yuan naturally couldn’t say much.
Besides, the reason he had come to see Lu Wan was about talismans.
Having Wu Yan here was even better.
It would save him from being accused of stealing techniques later.
"Here’s the thing..."
Ji Yuan then explained the problem he had encountered.
Lu Wan listened attentively, and Wu Yan also paid close attention.
"I’m not sure if this touches upon your sect’s inheritance. If so, I apologize for the disturbance."
Ji Yuan cupped his hands again and sat back down.
After listening, Lu Wan gave Ji Yuan a suspicious look, her expression rather strange.
Wu Yan, however, smiled and asked, "Daoist Ji, do you happen to have an unawakened Tranquility Talisman on you?"
"I do."
Ji Yuan reached into his sleeve, though in reality, he took one out from his storage pouch and handed it over with both hands.
Wu Yan accepted it, and a flash of water-blue spiritual energy shimmered in his hand.
The talisman didn’t burn; instead, the runes on the talisman paper glowed faintly with a blue light.
The talisman... had succeeded?!
Ji Yuan froze for a moment.
Reflecting on Wu Yan’s actions just now, he seemed to understand something.
He took out another completed Tranquility Talisman and tried to channel a bit of spiritual energy into it.
Unlike the previous night when the talisman had burned, this time the energy flowed in smoothly, and the talisman succeeded.
In that moment, Ji Yuan finally understood where he had gone wrong.
Damn it, the final step wasn’t to activate the talisman using the talisman brush, but to directly channel spiritual energy into it with his hand... Ji Yuan couldn’t help but blush.
"Ahem."
"That Introduction to Talismans really should have pointed that out. It doesn’t even mention that you shouldn’t use the brush for activation."
Wu Yan spread his hands and chuckled. "Most people probably wouldn’t even think of using the brush to activate it."
Lu Wan grew even more suspicious.
She didn’t believe that Ji Yuan wouldn’t figure out such a basic thing.
It seemed more like he had made up an excuse to get closer to her.
But she still patiently explained, "The spiritual energy released by the brush only affects a single point, making it hard to activate the entire talisman paper. That’s why using your hand is better."
Ji Yuan nodded in understanding, then showed an excited and expectant expression as he eagerly said:
"Thank you both for clearing that up. I’ll head back and give it another try."
"Of course. Feel free, Daoist Ji." Wu Yan smiled and nodded. "If you have any more questions about talisman crafting in the future, don’t hesitate to come by and ask."
What a good person... but Ji Yuan knew very well that Wu Yan was being so accommodating mostly because he thought Ji Yuan was truly Lu Wan’s relative.
After all, the way Wu Yan looked at Lu Wan was something Ji Yuan had seen countless times in his previous life.
It was the look of someone eyeing their possession.
Fortunately, Ji Yuan had no romantic feelings for Lu Wan.
Reborn in this life and having embarked on the path of cultivation, he had only one goal—to see what lay at the end of the great Dao!
Ji Yuan came, and Ji Yuan left.
Of course, the main reason for his eagerness to return was because his Panel had refreshed—Talisman Room could finally be upgraded!
After Ji Yuan left, Wu Yan’s gaze toward Lu Wan grew even softer.
Indeed, he did harbor feelings for Lu Wan. And it wasn’t just him; even their families were encouraging the match.
First, Lu Wan was quite pretty, a true little beauty.
Second, she was highly talented in talisman crafting and was almost guaranteed to enter the Water Dragon Sect.
If he could win her over and join the Water Dragon Sect together in the future, they would undoubtedly be seen as an immortal couple in the eyes of the world.
More importantly, it would greatly benefit his own cultivation journey.
This second point was Wu Yan’s true motivation.
After all, looks were cheap. If he wanted, he could easily find a young female cultivator who looked even better and had a more graceful figure than Lu Wan.
"Junior Sister Lu, who exactly was that Junior Brother just now?"
"Lu? He isn’t surnamed Lu. His name is Ji Yuan."
Lu Wan quickly clarified for Ji Yuan.
Wu Yan’s smile didn’t fade. "Then he’s not your cousin; he must be a distant relative."
"Not even a distant relative."
This made Wu Yan a bit surprised. "But he called himself your brother and even called you Sister. If he’s not your cousin, not your distant cousin, then what kind of brother is he?"
Lu Wan pondered this for a moment, wondering the same herself.
After thinking it over, she hesitantly suggested:
"A neighbor’s younger brother?"
Wu Yan’s smile froze on his face.
...
"Talisman Room, upgrade now!"
Returning home, Ji Yuan couldn’t wait to activate the Panel in his mind. As soon as he willed it, the number changed from 0 to 1.
Talisman Room had been upgraded to Level 1.
The Panel refreshed immediately, revealing the requirements for upgrading the Talisman Room to Level 2.