Lanterns hung at the intersection, resembling lighthouses on the sea at night.
Jian Huan dived into the alley, her body feeling like it had passed through a ripple of water, the cool sensation particularly noticeable.
She paused, not yet having time to ponder what this ripple was, when she found the scenery before her had changed.
From the street, the lanterns had been followed by a dark, narrow alley. But now, in front of her was a winding path through a forest.
A full moon hung in the sky, enveloping this dark bamboo forest. The evening breeze passed by, blowing the moonlight, which had been split by the bamboo, into a shimmering pool.
Beyond the bamboo forest stood a majestic high building, its dragon and phoenix-adorned eaves almost piercing the clouds.
At the entrance of the path, there was a wooden plaque with a few lines of neat small characters inscribed—
[The Immortal Storage Tower welcomes all cultivators. To prevent tracking by ill-intentioned individuals, we have set up ten thousand paths. Each path can only accommodate one person at a time and provides a black robe for each cultivator to take and return upon leaving. Thank you.]
Jian Huan read it carefully and raised her eyebrows.
This was quite coincidental.
Jian Huan had been eating and inquiring along the way, but she had never heard of any Immortal Storage Tower.
So the Immortal Storage Tower was behind the red lanterns. The lanterns must be a formation, splitting this piece of heaven and earth into two independent spaces: one for ordinary people to pass through, and one for cultivators to access the Immortal Storage Tower.
It was a pity that Shen Jizhi had lost track.
But there was always tomorrow, and Jian Huan wasn't too concerned. She stepped onto the path, took a black robe, and put it on.
The black robe could block other cultivators' prying eyes. Jian Huan tried speaking, and even her voice changed.
The Immortal Storage Tower had no guards, not even a door.
As soon as Jian Huan stepped in, the noise instantly surged, even more bustling than the outside market.
"Don't miss out! Just pulled from the ground, three-grade Dark Flame Grass, excellent for eating raw or for alchemy! Come and take a look!"
"Last three Speed Talismans, big discounts, buy two get one free!!"
"If you are lost, if you don't know where your path lies, come and have the old monk divine for you! Accurate for calculating cultivation, relationships, and wealth! No charge if not accurate!"
"..."
Jian Huan observed her surroundings and listened attentively, passing by various stalls without making a sound.
The Immortal Storage Tower was divided into two areas: one for buying and selling, and one for tasks.
Most of the tasks in the task area were about teaming up to hunt monsters, and Jiang Mian's swordswoman mother probably took such tasks to earn money.
The buying and selling area had everything. Some stalls were ignored, but others were quite popular. Among them, one stall had the most people, with about eleven or twelve queuing, not knowing what was going on.
Curious, Jian Huan walked over and stood on tiptoe to look for a while, but saw nothing.
The brothers in line were all tall and strong, blocking the view very solidly.
Next to her, a brother wearing ear rings frowned heavily, staring solemnly at the knife in his hand.
Jian Huan leaned over to take a look, and saw a long crack on the knife, striking fear into the heart.
"Wow, this knife is in a sorry state," she remarked.
The brother turned his head, his expression still dazed: "Yes, we encountered a Flying Fox Hawk, and when I used the knife to cut it, the knife turned into this. It's my fault, it had a small crack before, but I didn't take it to heart."
Jian Huan expressed her understanding and comforted: "Please accept my condolences."
The brother murmured: "If I had brought it here to repair earlier, it would have been better."
Jian Huan guessed: "Brother, is this place for repairing artifacts?"
The brother nodded: "Yes, repairing artifacts outside is too expensive. This newly arrived artifact refiner is cheaper than outside, and it's said that the repair quality is very good."
So it was an artifact refiner.
No wonder. She had noticed earlier that there were many attack-type cultivators like swordsmen and knife users in the Immortal Storage Tower, who gathered here to take tasks. During these tasks, artifacts inevitably got damaged, so good artifact refiners were in high demand.
Looking at this bustling popularity, Jian Huan couldn't help but feel envious.
After a night, this artifact refiner could earn quite a bit, right?
Jian Huan shook her head, just about to leave and find a suitable empty spot to set up a stall, when she saw the talisman seller next to her sell the last three Speed Talismans and pack up to leave.
Without a word, Jian Huan rushed over and took the spot!
First, this stall was originally for selling talismans, which was in line with her profession.
Second, there was a very popular artifact refiner next door, so she could benefit from his traffic.
Not bad, not bad, coming early is not as good as coming at the right time!
Jian Huan held eight talismans in her hand, stood at the stall, cleared her throat, and called out: "Talisman shop is open! Ten-kilometer Teleportation Talismans and Ten-kilometer Speed Talismans are only twenty spirit stones each! Limited quantities today, first come first served—!"
In the crowd, Shen Jizhi, who was inspecting the damaged knife in his hand, paused.
Now that he heard the words 'Ten-kilometer Teleportation Talisman,' he thought of last night's incident.
Shen Jizhi slightly frowned and subconsciously looked in the direction of the voice.
Naturally, he saw nothing.
The owner of the knife was standing in that direction. Seeing Shen Jizhi look over, his heart tightened with anxiety: "Master, what's wrong? Can't my knife be repaired? Please, no matter what, repair my knife. It's very important to me, I can't live without it!"
Shen Jizhi had to temporarily pull back his thoughts: "It can be repaired, but it will take time. Come back tomorrow afternoon to pick it up."
The owner of the knife hesitated: "This—you're taking my knife away?"
There were many scammers in the Immortal Storage Tower. What if the knife was taken and the master didn't come back?!
Such things had happened before!
Shen Jizhi handed the knife back: "Yes, think it over yourself. If you want me to repair it, pay fifty spirit stones first, and after I give you the knife tomorrow, pay another hundred spirit stones."
The owner of the knife hesitated, wanting to take it but not wanting to.
This knife had cost two thousand spirit stones to buy, but subsequent modifications had also cost six hundred? Taking it elsewhere for repair would probably cost another six hundred...
He currently had only two hundred spirit stones left in his pocket.
Seeing this brother blocking the artifact refiner and not moving, the people behind him angrily urged: "Are you going to repair it or not? If not, move quickly, don't you see so many people behind you?!"
"That's right, if you don't trust the master, don't ask him to repair it, move quickly, move quickly!"
The knife owner was pushed out of the circle in a daze.
As Jian Huan was talking to a customer who had been attracted by the noise, she subconsciously looked over.
When the knife brother was pushed out, he just happened to tear open a gap in the tightly packed circle.
Inside, the black-robed man sat on a low chair, his face hidden by his hood, his eyebrows and eyes invisible.
But beside him were two large sacks, the mouths of the sacks open, revealing a messy assortment of various parts.
Outside, the black-robed woman stood at the table, promoting her talismans to several customers.
The talismans were in her hand, the yellow color contrasting with her fair fingers, looking very familiar.
The two almost simultaneously confirmed each other's identities.
The knife owner was completely pushed out, and the gap was quickly filled by the crowd, breaking their gaze.
...
"Master? Master??" The customer buying the talisman waved his hand in front of Jian Huan, signaling her to come back to her senses.
Jian Huan suppressed the myriad thoughts in her heart: "What is it? Speak."
"How can I be sure your talismans work? What if you're a scammer?" There were many scammers in the Immortal Storage Tower, and everyone was cautious with new merchants, fearing they would scam money and run.
Jian Huan: "I'll be here tomorrow afternoon, you can buy it and try it, if it doesn't work, come back to me."
"Who knows if you'll come?"
Jian Huan spread her hands: "Fellow cultivator, if this doesn't work and that doesn't work, I can't do anything. The ten-kilometer Teleportation Talisman outside costs at least fifty spirit stones, I'm selling it for less than half the price, it's already very fair."
This was true.
The price of twenty spirit stones was really tempting, which was why, even knowing there was a risk of being scammed, he still came over when he heard it.
The Immortal Storage Tower had the risk of being scammed, but it was also a place where you could find bargains.
He held his broken sword, gritted his teeth, and said: "Then you make an oath!"
An oath?
Jian Huan didn't hesitate, raised her hand: "If I scam you, I will stay at the Qi Refinement Stage for life."
This was a toxic oath for cultivators.
Unexpectedly, the other party wasn't satisfied: "Change it."
Jian Huan, who was always patient with money: "Change to what?"
The other party: "If you scam me, you'll be poor for life."
The broken sword cultivator thought simply that these swindlers all loved money, and making them admit they were paupers was the real cure.
"Holy crap."
Jian Huan was shocked: "That's a pretty harsh oath!"
The other party raised their chin: "So, do you dare?"
Jian Huan looked around at the surrounding crowd.
She raised her hand solemnly and declared: "If my talismans are fake, I will be a pauper for life."
Having said that, the broken sword cultivator lifted his black robe, took out a Mustard Seed Pouch, and poured out a pile of spirit stones. He counted out twenty and handed them to Jian Huan: "One Teleportation Talisman."
Jian Huan: "Why not buy a few more? Tonight's the cheapest, tomorrow I'll raise the price."
The broken sword cultivator shook his head: "I still don't quite trust you. I'll buy one to try, and if it works, I'll come back for more."
Jian Huan: "…Alright."
The people around, seeing this, followed the broken sword cultivator and each cautiously bought just one.
Fortunately, Jian Huan didn't have many talismans, and the eight were quickly sold out.
A few more people came later, very annoyed at not being able to buy any.
Jian Huan, hiding her smile under her hood, said: "No worries, I'll be here again tomorrow afternoon. You'll have to come early, or you'll miss out again."
After selling the talismans, Jian Huan counted her earnings. Tonight's profit, plus what she brought with her, totaled over three hundred spirit stones.
She glanced at Shen Jizhi's still crowded stall and didn't leave. Instead, she wandered around and found a place selling talisman paper. She bought three hundred sheets for just two hundred spirit stones, much cheaper than at the Treasure Pavilion.
It was already the hour of Hai, and drawing three hundred talisman papers by tomorrow afternoon would be very tight.
Jian Huan didn't waste any more time and turned to leave.
Shen Jizhi looked at the repaired artifacts he had collected and estimated the time, feeling it was about right.
He stood up: "Thank you all for your patronage. Today's quota is full. Please come again tomorrow afternoon."
With that, he tied up two sacks, slung them over his shoulder, and left, following Jian Huan's footsteps.
As Jian Huan exited the Immortal Storage Tower and was about to enter the bamboo forest, she was stopped: "Wait."
She turned around and, seeing Shen Jizhi, was slightly surprised.
He still had a lot of people at his stall, so why had he come out?…
Despite this, Jian Huan showed no sign of surprise on her face.
She displayed just the right amount of curiosity: "Are you the master craftsman? What can I do for you?"
Shen Jizhi was silent for a moment, about to reveal who he was, when Jian Huan spoke again: "Are you looking to buy talisman paper?"
Shen Jizhi: "……"
Jian Huan smiled: "It's quite a coincidence, our stalls are right next to each other. I can give you a discount…"
Shen Jizhi lowered his eyes and said softly: "Jian Huan, it's me."
Jian Huan: "……"
Jian Huan was shocked: "How did you know it was me?!"
Damn, how did he recognize her?
Shen Jizhi was concise: "Your hands weren't covered."
Jian Huan immediately raised her hands to look at them, not seeing anything special.
The villain really was the villain, recognizing her just by her hands. Impressive.
Shen Jizhi paused slightly and then said indifferently: "And you recognized me too."
Jian Huan: "Didn't you just say who you were?"
Shen Jizhi calmly stated the fact: "I only said it was me."
Jian Huan: "……"
Alright then.
"Did you need something from me?" Since they had both recognized each other, Jian Huan didn't bother with small talk. She was in a hurry to find an inn to draw talismans.
Shen Jizhi took a step forward, stood beside her, and whispered softly: "Do you want to stay together tonight?"
Jian Huan looked up, caught off guard: "Huh?"
What the heck?
Shen Jizhi had overheard her saying she would be here again tomorrow afternoon: "You're not returning to the sect tonight, right?"
Jian Huan: "No…"
Shen Jizhi nodded: "Neither am I."
"I'll be repairing artifacts all night. I booked a room at the Cuihua Inn before coming, five hundred coins a night." Shen Jizhi lifted the pole on his shoulder, "You also need a place to draw talismans, why not share? You pay two hundred fifty, I pay two hundred fifty, how about it?"
"……"
Jian Huan looked up at him and refused: "Not how about it."
Shen Jizhi seemed surprised she would refuse: "?"
Jian Huan said seriously: "I can only accept two hundred forty-nine from me and two hundred fifty-one from you, how about it?"
Shen Jizhi was a bit puzzled, not understanding why she was so insistent on one coin.
But he didn't ask and nodded decisively: "Alright."
