PDLP Chapter 11 Exploitation
Chapter 11 Exploitation
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Du, on your advancement to Talisman Master! With a single stroke, talismanic arts are created!"
"The Dao of Talismans is profound; those who can even begin to understand it are one in a hundred. Fellow Daoist, you have worked diligently all these years and have finally made it through. Congratulations!"
"In the past, we were fellow paper-dryers, but today I see you alone holding a talisman... Congratulations on your promotion, Fellow Daoist Du! You will surely advance even further in the future."
The servants around him offered their congratulations, their expressions varied, some envious, some sighing, and some with an indescribable bitterness.
Among them were some cultivators at the second or third level of Qi Refining, whose true essence and magical power were already sufficient to meet the threshold for drawing talismans.
Unfortunately, he had no talent in the art of talismans and could only refine talisman paper day after day, not knowing when it would end.
Du Jianyuan did not put on airs as a talisman master, and politely and casually returned the greetings with clasped hands.
"Junior Zhu Huai greets Senior Du, wishing you a harmonious union of heart and spirit, and a seamless connection between intention and ink, so that from this day forward, every stroke of your brush will create a landscape!"
Zhu Huai stood up at the opportune moment, bowed deeply, and with a fawning smile on his face, began to cultivate a friendly relationship:
"As a newcomer, it is my great honor to have met Brother Quan and you seniors. I hope you will take good care of me in the future."
Du Jianyuan glanced at him, his expression remaining unchanged, and politely cupped his hands in reply:
"I don't deserve the title of 'senior.' We are both fellow practitioners in the talisman room, and it is only right that we look after each other."
Zhu Huai seemed oblivious to the indifference in his words, and shamelessly smiled as he continued:
"From now on, Brother Yuan will be my role model, and I should learn more from you."
"You're too kind, fellow Daoist."
Du Jianyuan said no more, took the ten refined talismans from Huang Quan's hand, and left the talisman room with him.
Zhu Huai watched the two figures gradually disappear into the distance, opened his mouth, but ultimately did not dare to mention the matter of borrowing spirit stones again.
Snowflakes covered the branches on both sides of the mountain road.
Huang Quan let out a long sigh of relief, a hint of gratitude in his smile, and said:
"Brother Yuan, thank you very much for earlier."
"It's nothing."
Du Jianyuan knew what he was thanking him for, and spoke up to advise him:
"Everyone has their own destiny. You should worry less about others and think more about yourself. Don't always suffer in silence."
"Sigh, why not help if you can?"
Huang Quan smiled helplessly, a hint of melancholy in his voice, and then said:
"My aptitude is only of the lowest level. With my limited abilities, I'm afraid I'll never even get close to the true Dharma in this lifetime... The only thing I can do is help a few people out of the way, hoping that some of them will become successful in the future and turn around and give me a hand..."
Realizing he had overstepped his bounds, he changed the subject and said with a smile:
"Forget it, let's not talk about that... Come on, let's go have a drink and celebrate for you!"
"Next time."
Du Jianyuan looked apologetic and said:
"I just received a task, and it involves a talisman technique that I only recently mastered. I need to produce a batch of Fiery Talismans within half a month, so I'm really overwhelmed."
He went to collect the materials just now, and the warehouse only registered 125 low-grade talismans for him.
Yan Jun told him to get the remaining twenty-five sheets from the paper craftsman. Once that was done, he could leave work normally without any punishment.
He had to draw sixty Fire Talismans in half a month, averaging four per day, and he couldn't afford to waste a moment.
Besides, I'm currently short of money, so even if I wanted to treat everyone to this meal, I simply couldn't afford the spirit rice.
"Okay, you go ahead and get busy. We'll get together again when you have time."
Huang Quan smiled. It wasn't that he was particularly interested in the drinks, but rather that he wanted to take the opportunity to get closer to Huang Quan.
At the fork in the road, the two wished each other well and then turned and left.
……
Back at Cave No. 3 of the Jia-class cave, it was still early.
In a quiet room.
Du Jianyuan counted the items he had brought back one by one.
One hundred and fifty sheets of low-grade talisman paper, corresponding spiritual ink, a brand-new low-grade talisman brush, plus forty catties of spiritual rice.
"Luckily, I have the bead... otherwise, just drawing four Fiery Talismans each day would leave me with almost no magical power or energy, let alone the strength to cultivate."
If something goes wrong and the required number of talismans cannot be delivered, the person will have to pay out of their own pocket to buy more talismans to make up the difference.
If even the status of a talisman master is stripped away, and the monthly salary is reduced, life will only become more and more difficult in the future.
"This wretched place is a death trap, forcing people to keep moving forward without stopping... One step back means falling into an abyss."
Du Jianyuan sighed inwardly, thinking that, in the end, this was also a kind of selection.
Those with ability climb the steps to the top, while those without are trapped in the same place until they are squeezed dry of their last bit of value.
After clearing his mind of distractions, Du Jianyuan spread out the talisman paper, mixed the spiritual ink with the power of the evil fire magic, picked up the brush, concentrated, and began to write.
Time passed slowly, and three Fiery Talismans appeared one by one on the stone table.
[Talisman Skill: 12/100 (Low-grade Qi Refining)]
"The success rate has stabilized at around 50%..."
Du Jianyuan pondered that once he had accumulated enough experience and insights, reaching 80-90% wouldn't be too difficult.
After all, low-grade talisman techniques are only the beginning and cannot be considered a very profound field of knowledge.
Once you reach the maximum proficiency level, you'll almost never fail at drawing the Fiery Talisman.
……
For the next two weeks, Du Jianyuan hardly left his house.
After drawing four Fiery Talismans each day, he would sit directly on the futon to cultivate his skills, not daring to waste a single moment.
[Talisman Skill: 69/100 (Low-grade Qi Refining)]
【The Infernal Flame Burning Heart Technique: 183/200 (Beginner)】
Looking at the two lines of text that appeared in his Qi Sea, Du Jianyuan's face showed a rare smile.
"One hundred low-grade talisman papers were used to draw sixty Fiery Talismans, leaving me with fifty for myself..."
He planned that after reaching the third level of Qi Refining in a few days, he would turn all these talismans into Fiery Talismans and then find a way to sell them.
After all, the cultivation and talisman drawing over the past half month had consumed a lot of spirit rice, and only about thirty catties remained in the storage bag.
"Although I will receive a spirit stone as a stipend later, my cultivation level will gradually improve, so it won't take long."
Du Jianyuan sighed softly, realizing he could only try to earn some spirit stones after his breakthrough.
He put the fifty low-grade talismans he had saved into a storage bag and carefully hid them in his cave.
"It's just a talisman; Yan Jun shouldn't send anyone to search my cave..."
Even so, before leaving, Du Jian still placed a Fiery Talisman on each side of the stone gate.
Then he slipped a thin strand of hair into the crack in the door, so that if someone sneaked in, they would leave a trace.
In the morning, in Fu's room.
Yan Jun took the sixty Flame Talismans and examined them carefully one by one.
After a moment, he placed the talisman back on the table, a genuine look of appreciation in his eyes:
"Dao Hui Gao is truly amazing! He can even draw a low-grade talisman quite well. Not bad at all, really not bad!"
"Your Excellency, you are so complimentary."
Du Jianyuan, however, did not want to waste any more words with this scoundrel, fearing that something else might go wrong, so he carefully cupped his hands and said:
"If there's nothing else, I'll go to the storeroom to collect the materials."
"Wait a minute."
Yan Jun narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled:
"With your Dao wisdom, your success rate in creating talismans should be around 50% by now, right?"
Du Jianyuan's heart skipped a beat.
Before he could answer, Yan Jun took out a stack of talisman papers from his storage bag, a total of one hundred and sixty sheets, along with a talisman brush, spirit ink, and a spirit stone, and pushed them onto the table with a smile:
"Handing in half of the Fiery Talismans for the next roll call shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
Du Jianyuan looked at the thick stack of talisman papers and sighed inwardly.
Although I had expected this to happen, I didn't expect the other party to add twenty cards directly!
He dared not show any dissatisfaction, and could only cup his hands and say:
"I have done my best."
Yan Jun stared intently at him, stood up with his hands behind his back, and said calmly:
"Don't worry, the real hardship is just these days. I'll earn what I'm supposed to earn, and you do what you're supposed to do... Once Senior Sister Ling comes back, your responsibilities will naturally be adjusted back, so don't complain too much."
What, do I have to kowtow to you?!
Du Jianyuan cursed inwardly, not believing the other party's nonsense at all.
When Ling Yue comes back, the workload will only increase, and I might have to spend most of my energy serving that bitch.
As for Yan Jun's current plans, they are nothing more than taking advantage of Ling Yue's absence to squeeze as much as possible out of her, even wishing he could extract every last drop of marrow from her bones and exchange it for spirit stones.
But he had no room for negotiation now, and could only obediently accept it, lowering his eyes and saying:
"Yes, sir."