People Found Out About The Base I Built On the Moon

Chapter 979: Chapter 121 Talismans_3

Zhao Yu thought for a moment and headed straight for the streets of Jiuliufang, beginning to stroll around.

Soon, he saw a sign recruiting apprentices in front of a store selling talismans.

Zhao Yu rushed in eagerly, but emerged with a downcast face a quarter of an hour later.

“Ptui, demanding so many Spirit Stones just to take on apprentices, and requiring a life-binding contract, what stinginess…”

Zhao Yu felt somewhat helpless, and went on to visit several other stores. The conditions were almost identical; apprentices needed to make a one-time payment of a hundred Spirit Stones to be taken on, and then sign a contract for twenty years.

The content of the contract was like a life-binding pact, filled with overbearing clauses.

To Zhao Yu’s surprise, despite this, there were still quite a few apprentices in those stores he had just visited, looking at him with disdain.

Then, Zhao Yu had another thought, maybe he could just teach himself how to make talismans.

After making a few rounds, he found that there were absolutely no self-teaching books for making talismans.

Only after inquiring did he learn that inside Mount Shu, all self-teaching books for any art of immortal cultivation were sold in official stores, with copyright protection. If others sold them, they would be held accountable.

As for the prices of self-teaching books in the official stores, those were figures Zhao Yu couldn’t even dare to think about now.

“This is such a scam…”

Zhao Yu looked up to the sky and sighed. His Spiritual Power had already become refined; in theory, he could even perform Alchemy, but now he couldn’t even afford books on making talismans.

Just as he was about to return home, suddenly, Zhao Yu spotted an acquaintance.

“Liu Wenxuan?!”

Zhao Yu noticed that his new neighbor, Liu Wenxuan, was selling talismans at a stall not far away.

“She’s a talisman master?”

Zhao Yu was somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected that his neighbor from the Ninth Street would be a talisman master.

In his mind, a place like Ninth Street was supposed to be for fledgling Qi Cultivation practitioners on the first or second level, like him.

Talisman masters, even if they were at the bottom of the hierarchy among the myriad arts of immortal cultivators, were still professions that could earn a fair number of Spirit Stones.

Any talisman master, to say the least, could afford to live in places like the Third or Fourth Street.

With a hint of curiosity, Zhao Yu walked over.

On Liu Wenxuan’s stall, three types of talismans were displayed, and there was also a sign hanging beside it.

“Cleaning Talisman, one Spirit Stone.”

“Golden Light Talisman, five Spirit Stones.”

“Golden Shield Talisman, ten Spirit Stones.”

“Taking apprentices, 50 yuan, negotiable contract.”

“You are… Zhao Yu?!”

Liu Wenxuan naturally saw Zhao Yu as well, and a smile appeared on her face, “What a coincidence, you’re out shopping here too?”

“I had no idea that Fellow Daoist Liu was a talisman master, how disrespectful of me!”

Zhao Yu politely said.

“Ha ha, what do you think, do you need talismans? Since we’re neighbors, I’ll give you a good price!”

Liu Wenxuan looked somewhat proud; being a talisman master was one of the few things she felt proud about.

“I don’t have Spirit Stones to buy these!”

Zhao Yu shook his head bitterly, then asked casually, “Does Fellow Daoist Liu know where one can learn to make talismans for free?”

“Learn to make talismans, you want to be a talisman master too?!”

Liu Wenxuan sized up Zhao Yu and shook her head, “You should just forget about it, you’re so young, learning this could ruin you…”

Zhao Yu felt somewhat helpless, ever since he had arrived on Mount Shu, he had heard this kind of talk so often he was almost growing calluses.

But that was normal. Ordinary people spent all their effort and time just to increase their level progress; where would they find extra time and energy to study the myriad arts of immortal cultivators?

Over the years, countless individuals had neglected their cultivation because of the myriad arts and ended up languishing in despair.

Seeing Zhao Yu fall silent, Liu Wenxuan hesitated for a moment, then said, “However, if you really want to learn, you can come to me…”

She had initially intended to advise Zhao Yu, seeing his youth and potential future, not to stray from the right path.

But then she thought, she and Zhao Yu were neither relatives nor friends, so giving such advice seemed pointless. It might be better to treat him as a regular customer instead.

“I don’t have 50 Spirit Stones, can I pay on credit?” Zhao Yu coughed and asked with a hint of embarrassment.

“Pay on credit?!”

Liu Wenxuan was stunned for a moment, instinctively wanting to refuse, but considering that Zhao Yu was now a neighbor, and that they would see each other frequently, a direct refusal didn’t seem quite right.

“There’s no precedent for paying on credit. I’ve never heard of any talisman master apprentices doing that, but…”

She thought about it and then said, “However, if you really want to learn, it’s not impossible!”

“How so?” Zhao Yu perked up. The talisman shops he had visited earlier were so arrogant, demanding Spirit Stones and life-binding contracts, it drove him to frustration.

“If you become my apprentice, I’ll teach you how to grind ink for the first three years…”

“If you can refine your Spiritual Power to a refined state within five years…”

Liu Wenxuan listed a lot of conditions that essentially sounded like she wanted him to serve as free labor.

The only somewhat appealing offer was that after refining the Spiritual Power, he would start learning talisman-making and could keep thirty percent of the sales profits from the talismans he made.

For most people, wasting a few years only to fail in refining their Spiritual Power usually meant they would leave.

But Zhao Yu was different.

He lifted a fingertip and released a bit of Spiritual Power.

“Refined Spiritual Power?!”

Liu Wenxuan’s eyes widened, staring at Zhao Yu in disbelief.

Zhao Yu nodded, retracted the Spiritual Power from his fingertip, and asked, “So what are the conditions for someone like me who doesn’t need five years to reach refined Spiritual Power?”

After a brief moment of shock, Liu Wenxuan quickly showed a look of elation on her face, but she seemed afraid Zhao Yu would notice something and tried to hide her smile.

However, her acting skills were not that great; she gave herself away in an instant. Finally, Liu Wenxuan slammed the table and quickly packed up her stall.