Glancing through the stack of jade talismans, every single one maintained a remarkably high quality.
Though jade talismans yielded slim profit margins, they sold exceptionally well and were in high demand among the children of wealthy mortals.
The previous six jade talismans had sold out in just half a day, and people had even come by the next day specifically asking for more. They were easy to sell and great for drawing foot traffic, so low profit margins didn't matter.
Jiang Qihe summoned an attendant to carefully store the jade talismans, then said, “Young Master Shi, these jade talismans are of top-tier quality. I can offer seventeen taels of silver for each. With eighty in total, that comes to one thousand three hundred and sixty taels of silver. Does that sound right to you?”
Jiang Qihe hadn't deliberately driven down the price just because she lacked cultivation and possessed no notable status. In fact, the price offered was more than fair, so Shi Yu naturally had no objections.
However, seeing the attendant about to turn and fetch the silver, she asked, “Could I exchange this for spirit stones instead?”
Jiang Qihe was not surprised and replied, “We do currency exchanges here as well. However, exchanging silver for spirit stones requires one hundred and ten taels of silver per spirit stone.”
Shi Yu nodded. “Then please exchange ten spirit stones for me.”
The attendant soon handed her ten spirit stones along with two hundred and sixty taels of silver.
Her pockets suddenly felt much heavier.
Seeing that she was in no rush to leave, Jiang Qihe knew there was more business to be done. Smiling, he asked, “Is there anything else you need to purchase, Young Master Shi?”
Shi Yu thought for a moment before saying, “I'll take another hundred blank jade slips, five Dew-Condensing Pills, and...”
“Do you have talisman pens and talisman ink?”
Hearing her request for talisman pens and ink, Jiang Qihe thought to himself, As expected. He had guessed correctly—the master behind Shi Yu was thoroughly proficient in crafting jade talismans and was now going to officially attempt making spirit talismans.
Logically speaking, one could not craft spirit talismans without having reached the First Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
However, Shi Yu reasoned that spirit stones were filled with abundant spiritual energy. Using a spirit stone as a medium to try drawing upon its internal spiritual energy while drawing talismans wasn't impossible—it was just more tedious, complicated, and costly.
“Young Master, please follow me.” Jiang Qihe personally led her to a counter and introduced, “We have thirteen talisman pens here, ranging from unranked to Tier-2. As for the materials used to mix talisman ink—spirit beast blood, spirit jade dust, and Five-Elements Sand—our selection is quite complete, with both Tier-1 and Tier-2 options available. The same goes for our talisman paper. Take a look and see what you need, then call for me once you've made your choice.”
Shi Yu nodded and leaned down to inspect them one by one.
When crafting spirit talismans, one had to use a talisman pen as a medium, dipping it in specially prepared talisman ink imbued with spiritual energy to draw source runes. The quality of the talisman pen not only affected the success rate of talisman creation, but also influenced the power of the finished spirit talisman.
When crafting high-tier spirit talismans, if the talisman pen used was too low in tier, its barrel often couldn't handle the surging spiritual power, resulting in the pen snapping, disintegrating, and causing the attempt to fail.
However, Shi Yu was an artifact refiner herself. Once her cultivation rose in the future, she could easily forge higher-tier talisman pens for her own use. For now, a temporary tool would suffice—it didn't need to be good, saving her from spending unnecessary money.
She directly selected the only unranked talisman pen among the dozen or so available.
The shaft of this talisman pen was made of red sandalwood, presenting a warm, deep-red luster with a smooth surface that emitted a subtle woody fragrance. The bristles at the tip came from the hair behind the ears of Spirit Stealth Rabbits, holding a faint sheen.
The materials used were utterly ordinary, and the crafting technique was nothing worth mentioning.
Unranked meant it didn't even qualify as Tier-1—in other words, bottom-tier.
Anyway, in the short term, she could at most reach for Tier-1 spirit talismans. Drawing Tier-1 spirit talismans with an unranked talisman pen might yield a terrifyingly low success rate for others, but Shi Yu had no such concerns. For mere Tier-1 spirit talismans, it was more than enough.
Considering her current situation, she planned to start with offensive and defensive spirit talismans, such as Blaze Talismans, Earth Shield Talismans, and Iron Skin Talismans. Crafting them either to sell or for self-defense were both solid choices.
She knew the mixing formulas for talisman ink like the back of her hand, from high-grade to low-grade recipes.
She picked through the spirit beast blood, spirit jade dust, Five-Elements Sand, and talisman paper, choosing a few metal, fire, and earth-attribute materials. Naturally, all of them were of the lowest grade and cheapest price.
Once everything was selected, Shi Yu notified Jiang Qihe. Jiang Qihe called someone over to wrap them up and calculated the total price.
One hundred blank jade slips cost one hundred and fifty taels of silver; five Dew-Condensing Pills cost five spirit stones; one unranked talisman pen cost one spirit stone; the ink materials—spirit beast blood, spirit jade dust, and Five-Elements Sand—totaled two spirit stones; and a stack of ten Tier-1 talisman papers cost one spirit stone.
Of the ten spirit stones she had just earned, only one remained in an instant. Shi Yu maintained a calm exterior, but her heart twitched with distress.
Money really vanished far too quickly.
Intending to build a good relationship with her, Jiang Qihe kindly reminded her as he handed over the items, “Young Master Shi, although an unranked talisman pen is usable, it might hold you back a bit.”
He hesitated for a brief second before suppressing his doubt, maintaining a warm smile. “Would Young Master Shi be interested in swapping to a Tier-1 talisman pen? If you don't have enough spirit stones today, I can front the cost for you first.”
A Tier-1 talisman pen cost at least twenty spirit stones. Offering to cover the cost meant he was taking on considerable risk himself.
Shi Yu appreciated his good intentions and gave a faint smile. “I appreciate your kindness, Manager Jiang, but this unranked talisman pen will suffice for now.”
Curiously enough, this young master looked frail and pale, with unremarkable features that could barely be considered neat. Yet when she smiled, it drew the eye inescapably, exuding a distinct poise and presence.
Jiang Qihe composed himself. Seeing that Shi Yu had made up her mind, he refrained from pushing further and escorted her to the entrance.
Just then, Manager Yan of Duize Tower, located directly across from Tongyi Pavilion, was seeing off a distinguished guest and happened to spot Shi Yu and Jiang Qihe.
Manager Yan recognized Shi Yu as the penniless kid he had kicked out a few days prior. Seeing Jiang Qihe escorting her out in person and treating her like a valued guest, he burst out laughing.
“I say, Jiang Qihe, what state has Tongyi Pavilion fallen into? Why are you accommodating every destitute beggar off the street, even going so far as to eagerly escort them out yourself? It's truly laughable!”
Jiang Qihe's face chilled, and his voice turned cold. “Whoever enters my Tongyi Pavilion is a guest. You would do well to mind your tongue, Manager Yan.”
Manager Yan sneered, rolling his eyes almost to the heavens. “I was merely giving a friendly warning. If Manager Jiang doesn't appreciate it, so be it.”
After speaking, he looked Shi Yu up and down with a contemptuous expression. Catching sight of another distinguished guest approaching nearby, Manager Yan hurriedly trotted over with an attentive smile, looking like a completely different person from a moment ago.
Shi Yu glanced at him, then looked away. She had no reason to get angry at someone so arrogant and self-important. Besides, Duize Tower was already on her blacklist, so she wouldn't be having any future dealings with them anyway. Let him bark all he wanted—he would suffer for it sooner or later.
While she was unbothered, Jiang Qihe beside her wore an apologetic expression. “Please do not take it to heart, Young Master Shi.”
“I won't.” Shi Yu smiled faintly and nodded slightly to him. “There's no need to see me off further, Manager Jiang. Until next time.”
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