Chapter 190 - 185: Trade Fair
The collaboration with Shen Yue and Zhou Tie was smoother than Li Yuan had expected.
The Spirit Grass from Shen Yue was about ten percent cheaper than market price, and the quality was consistent.
Every five or six days, Li Yuan would go to his stall to pick up a batch of Cyan Spirit Grass and supplementary materials for concocting medicinal liquids. The Spirit Stones he saved weren’t much, but every little bit added up.
The talisman pens made with Zhou Tie’s components were comfortable to use. The Spirit Wood talisman pen he’d bought last time was a cut above those from the Loose Cultivator stalls. Its Spiritual Power conduction was smooth, and the failure rate when drawing Talismans dropped a little more.
Li Yuan also kept up a steady supply of Talismans for the two of them. Shen Yue wanted Fireball Talismans and Rejuvenation Talismans to protect himself when he went out to gather herbs.
Zhou Tie wanted Qi Gathering Talismans, as he occasionally needed to replenish a large amount of Spiritual Power in a short time during Artifact Refining.
The three of them each got what they needed, and their interactions became more and more frequent.
This afternoon, Li Yuan went to Zhou Tie’s workshop to pick up a batch of newly made talisman pen components.
Zhou Tie was squatting in front of his artifact-refining furnace, hammering a piece of Spirit Iron and sending sparks flying. When he saw Li Yuan come in, he put down his hammer and pulled a few pen shafts from a wooden box nearby, handing them over.
"The pen shafts you wanted are ready. Spirit Wood, three of them."
Li Yuan took them and inspected them one by one. The wood of the shafts was fine and the grain was even. When he infused them with Spiritual Power, the conduction was smooth.
"How much?"
"The usual price. Forty for the three of them."
He set down the Spirit Stones and put away the pen shafts.
Zhou Tie swept the Spirit Stones into his apron pocket, clapped the iron filings from his hands, and suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. There’s something I wanted to tell you."
He glanced toward the door and lowered his voice slightly.
"The artisans of Yunyang Market have a circle. Did you know?"
"No."
"Right. You haven’t been in the market for long." Zhou Tie rubbed his chin.
"The circle isn’t big, maybe twenty or thirty people. There are Pill Refiners, Talisman Makers, and Artifact Refiners, plus one or two who know Arrays."
"Usually, everyone does their own thing, but we get together every so often to trade skills and materials."
He gestured with his hands.
"There happens to be one tonight. If you’re interested, I can take you."
"Where?"
"A teahouse on the east side of the market, in a private room on the second floor. The Shopkeeper is part of the circle, so we always meet there."
Li Yuan thought for a moment.
’An artisans’ circle, where you can trade skills and materials. If I can find a new Talisman Making Skill or pill formula there, it would be a huge help.’
"Alright."
That evening, Li Yuan left with Zhou Tie.
Shen Yue came along as well, and the three of them walked east along the main street together.
The teahouse was on the north side of East Street. It was a two-story stone building with a small but tidy storefront.
The first floor was an ordinary tea parlor where a few Loose Cultivators sat drinking tea and chatting. The top of the stairs to the second floor was covered by a cloth curtain. An attendant stood beside it, and upon seeing Zhou Tie, he nodded and lifted the curtain to let the three of them pass.
The second floor was a spacious private room. A long table stretched from one end of the room to the other, already covered with several pieces of coarse cloth on which various items were scattered.
A few bamboo slips, several bottles of medicinal pills, some differently crafted Magical Artifact components, and some assorted Spirit Grass and ores.
There were already about a dozen people in the room, standing or sitting in twos and threes, talking in low voices.
Their Cultivation ranged from the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refining to the seventh or eighth. They were dressed differently, but their hands all bore, to some degree, the marks of their craft—fingertips stained with medicinal powder, palms calloused from burns, cuffs smudged with Spiritual Ink.
After entering, Zhou Tie greeted a few people, then jerked his chin toward Li Yuan.
"This is Li Yuan, a Talisman Maker. The one registered with the Purple Abyss Trading Company."
Several gazes turned to rest on Li Yuan for a breath or two.
A Pill Refiner in his fifties nodded. "I’ve heard of him. I saw the plaque at Shopkeeper Han’s place. The quality of your Talismans is indeed excellent."
Another Cultivator in his thirties stood up from the table and cupped his hands toward Li Yuan. "It’s an honor. I sell Magical Artifact components at my stall over in the Loose Cultivator gathering area. I bought two of your Fireball Talismans before. Your skill is truly excellent."
Li Yuan nodded at them.
There wasn’t much small talk; the artisan circle wasn’t into that sort of thing.
Zhou Tie led Li Yuan to a seat at the table, while Shen Yue found a spot at the other end.
A few more people arrived one after another, bringing the total to about twenty.
No one was presiding, and there was no fixed procedure. Everyone simply laid out the items they wanted to trade on the table, and if something caught their eye, they would go over and negotiate.
Li Yuan scanned the items on the table.
Most were materials and finished products: Spirit Grass, ores, medicinal pills, and Magical Artifact components, with grades ranging from Tier One Low Grade to Tier One Middle Grade.
There were also some items related to skills.
In the middle of the table were several bamboo slips with small wooden signs next to them indicating their contents.
Li Yuan walked over to take a look.
There were three bamboo slips on Talisman Making Skill, two on pill formulas, and one on an Artifact Refining technique.
The three Talisman Making Skill slips were for: the Ice Cone Talisman, the Wind Traveling Talisman, and the Fireball Talisman.
All were Tier One Low Grade.
Li Yuan picked up the bamboo slip for the Ice Cone Talisman and flipped through a couple of pages.
The Ice Cone Talisman was a Water Element Combat Talisman that released an ice cone to attack a target upon use. Its Spirit Patterns were a combination of the Ice Condensation Pattern and the Piercing Pattern, sharing some similarities with the Breaking Charm.
The Wind Traveling Talisman was a Wind Element support talisman that could temporarily boost movement speed upon use. Its Spirit Patterns were a combination of the Gale Pattern and the Light Body Pattern, focusing on speed.
Li Yuan hadn’t learned either of these two Talisman Making Skills. Water Element and Wind Element Talismans had always been a gap in his repertoire; learning them would be useful for both personal use and for sale.
"How much for these two slips?" Li Yuan asked, holding them up to a Cultivator standing nearby.
The Cultivator was a thin man in his forties with fingers stained with Spiritual Ink—also a Talisman Maker.
"The Ice Cone Talisman is twenty Spirit Stones, the Wind Traveling Talisman is eighteen."
"I’ll take both for thirty-five."
The thin Talisman Maker thought for a moment. "Thirty-six."
"Done."
He set down the Spirit Stones and put the two bamboo slips into his storage pouch.
Li Yuan continued to browse around the table.
At the far end of the table, Zhou Tie was talking with a young Artifact Refiner.
Beside them lay a few talisman pens, their craftsmanship much more refined than what Zhou Tie usually sold.
Li Yuan walked over to have a look.
Three talisman pens were laid out side-by-side on a piece of velvet cloth. The shafts were made of different woods, with colors ranging from light brown to deep jade.
The bristles of the tips were all different; some were made from Demon Beast whiskers, some were woven from Spirit Grass fibers, and some were made of mixed materials.
One of the talisman pens, with a dark brown shaft, caught Li Yuan’s attention.
The shaft was about half a segment longer than a normal talisman pen. It was a deep brown throughout, the wood fine and solid, with a natural dark pattern on its surface.
The bristles of the tip were silvery-white whiskers, woven extremely tightly.
Li Yuan picked up the talisman pen to feel its weight. It felt solid in his hand. When he channeled Spiritual Power from his fingertip into the shaft, the conduction was incredibly smooth, with almost no degradation.
It was more than a single grade better than the ones Zhou Tie made.
"How much for this one?"
The young Artifact Refiner looked up at Li Yuan. "A fine-grade talisman pen. The shaft is hundred-year-old Spirit Sandalwood, and the tip is made from the whiskers of a Tier One Top Grade Silver-Maned Beast. Forty Spirit Stones."
"Thirty-five."
"Thirty-eight. Can’t go any lower. The materials alone are worth that much."
Li Yuan placed thirty-eight Spirit Stones on the velvet cloth and put the talisman pen into his storage pouch.
After making a round of the circle, Li Yuan chatted with a few more artisans.
One Talisman Maker was looking to exchange notes on talisman making. Li Yuan shared a few tips with him about connecting Spirit Patterns, and the man nodded repeatedly.
About two hours later, the gathering broke up.
Li Yuan left the teahouse with Zhou Tie and Shen Yue, and they parted ways at the street corner.
Back in his courtyard, he closed the door.
Li Yuan took out the two newly purchased Talisman Making Skill bamboo slips and the fine-grade talisman pen, laying them on his desk.
First, he examined the method for making the Ice Cone Talisman.
The flow of Spiritual Power for the Ice Condensation Pattern was the exact opposite of that for a Fire Element Spirit Pattern.
A Fire Element Spirit Pattern heated and expanded Spiritual Power before releasing it, while an Ice Condensation Pattern cooled and compressed Spiritual Power to make it congeal.
Li Yuan spread out a sheet of herbal talisman paper, dipped his new fine-grade talisman pen in Spiritual Ink, and set the tip to the paper.
The new talisman pen felt excellent in his hand. Spiritual Power was transmitted from the shaft to the tip with almost no loss, and the fine yet resilient bristles moved across the talisman paper, leaving clean, sharp lines.
He completed one spiral path of the Ice Condensation Pattern. As the Spiritual Power contracted, its properties shifted from neutral to Water Element, and its temperature gradually dropped.
When he reached the part for the Piercing Pattern, he directly applied his experience from the Breaking Charm. He had already practiced the precision required for the Piercing Pattern, so the technique was ready at hand.
He brought it to a finish.
A faint blue, cold and clear, glowed on the Talisman’s surface.
Success.
Li Yuan set the Ice Cone Talisman on the corner of the desk and switched to the method for the Wind Traveling Talisman.
A combination of the Gale Pattern and the Light Body Pattern. The Spiritual Power flowed outward before converging to form a thin film that would envelop the user, reducing their weight while forming a layer of Wind Element Spiritual Power under their feet for propulsion.
Li Yuan had never specifically practiced the conversion path for Wind Element Spiritual Power.
However, after reaching the Great Success stage in his Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, converting Spiritual Power between different elements was much smoother, and the process went more fluently than he had anticipated.
He spread out the talisman paper and put pen to it.
The path of the Gale Pattern was divergent, unlike the convergent path of most Talismans.
The Light Body Pattern followed, pulling the expanded Spiritual Power back in to form a thin film on the Talisman’s surface.
He finished the stroke.
A very faint, cyan-white light floated on the Talisman’s surface, light and ethereal.
Success.
Both new Talismans were successful on the first try.
With the foundation of his Great Success in Talisman Making Skill, augmented by the fine-grade talisman pen, his speed at mastering new Talismans was much faster than before.
Li Yuan placed the two finished products on the corner of the desk and stretched his wrist.
The sky outside the window was now completely dark. Light from the Spirit Lamps beyond the courtyard wall filtered in through the cracks, making the glow of the two new Talismans on the desk even clearer.
The faint blue and cyan-white, placed side-by-side next to a crimson Fireball Talisman.
His repertoire of Talismans had grown by two more types.