Unfortunately, his opponent had been insidious and vicious. Jiang Xu feared that if he hadn’t killed him instantly, unexpected complications would have arisen, so he never planned on interrogating him.

As for the poisons in the man’s Storage Bag, Jiang Xu didn’t dare to open and use them casually. He could only leave them untouched for now.

However, this didn’t mean Jiang Xu had forgotten about the incident.

On the contrary, Jiang Xu now valued the Poison Technique even more.

Jiang Xu had no intention of letting this opportunity with the Golden Silkworm Gu slip away.

As for the Mother-Child Spirit-Devouring Insect, after long consideration, Jiang Xu decided to ignore it for now and let it be.

’That Mother-Child Spirit-Devouring Insect... it’s just too dangerous.’

After failing to use his Insect Control Technique on that old woman’s flying insects, Jiang Xu had developed strong doubts about the technique, which was still only at the Beginner Stage.

’If I can’t even control a small flying insect like that, I can’t trust this technique against the Spirit-Devouring Insect.’

Perhaps while the Spirit-Devouring Insect’s power was at its lowest, his Insect Control Technique could still manage it.

But once it grew strong enough to reach Tier Two, he felt his Insect Control Technique would offer no guarantee of complete control over it.

Therefore, for safety’s sake, Jiang Xu decided to wait until his Insect Control Technique reached Mastery before attempting to raise the Spirit-Devouring Insect’s Realm.

As for the Insect Control Technique’s Skill Level, an hour of continuous cultivation increased it by two points.

This meant he could reach Mastery in just half a month.

...

「For the next while.」

Jiang Xu continued his routine life in the Marketplace.

He sold Talismans in the morning, created them in the afternoon, and focused on his Cultivation at night.

In between, he worked on increasing the Skill Level of his Insect Control Technique.

Jiang Xu also searched for the seven types of Spirit Insects needed to cultivate the Golden Silkworm Gu. He visited various shops and scoured the market stalls, but in the end, he only found five. The remaining two were nowhere to be found.

While in his shop, he also heard that the conflict between Cyan Island Valley and the Profound Origin Sect had intensified. He wondered if it had something to do with the events of the auction...

「Two weeks after the auction ended.」

Jiang Xu was in his shop selling Talismans, just like any other day.

DING-A-LING~ The bell on the shop door rang, signaling that a customer had entered.

"Welcome!" Jiang Xu said, looking toward the customer.

He saw that it was a Female Cultivator with a graceful figure, her face hidden behind a veil.

Upon entering and hearing Jiang Xu’s voice, the Female Cultivator suddenly froze. She looked him up and down, her voice filled with excitement.

"Oh my, so you’re not dead after all!"

"..."

Jiang Xu was both speechless and annoyed.

’Does this person even know how to talk? It’s like she was hoping I’d died!’

The Female Cultivator realized her slip of the tongue and quickly removed her veil.

"My apologies, I misspoke. Junior Brother Jiang, you must truly be blessed by fate. It seems you have great fortune to have survived a situation like that, especially when you were only at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer."

Hearing that she knew him, Jiang Xu took a closer look and replied with pleasant surprise,

"If it isn’t Senior Sister Yu! Ha, what great fortune? I just got a bit lucky. I fell into the water and managed to survive by a fluke. Anyway, let’s not talk about that. Senior Sister, what brings you here?"

Yu Wenfeng looked a little embarrassed. She coughed twice and said, a bit awkwardly,

"Well... the Talisman Shop where I work heard that another shop has been stealing a lot of business from its neighbors lately. I was sent to see what was going on, and I never expected to run into you here, Junior Brother."

Jiang Xu didn’t think much of it.

It was just business competition, after all. Although Jiang Xu had never experienced it himself, he’d certainly heard plenty of stories.

’To be honest, it’s strange that no one from the other shops has come to investigate after all this time. I was starting to find it strange.’

"Haha, I won’t hide it from you, Senior Sister. I’m the current Steward of this very shop."

"You?!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Yu Wenfeng was utterly shocked.

’The shop that cut her own store’s customer traffic by nearly half was being run by the same junior brother whose Talisman Pavilion entrance exam she had overseen?!’

"This shop is yours?"

"Oh, how could that be possible? I don’t have nearly enough Spirit Stones to buy a place like this. I’m just the Steward. The real owner is this old gentleman here!"

With that, Jiang Xu shifted to the side, revealing the old man who had been sitting behind him.

The moment the vacant-eyed old man came into view, Yu Wenfeng cried out in shock,

"Elder Li!! What are you doing here?!"

’Elder Li? An Elder?’

Jiang Xu’s eyes widened.

’Does that mean this old man really is a Foundation Establishment Cultivator? But why is he in this state? What on earth happened to him?’

Jiang Xu hurriedly asked,

"Senior Sister, you know this old man’s—no, this Elder’s story? Could you tell me about him?"

Yu Wenfeng looked at the old man, then back at Jiang Xu, and asked in confusion,

"You don’t know Elder Li? Then how did you end up in his shop? Did you just sneak in?"

"Please don’t joke, Senior Sister," Jiang Xu explained hurriedly, afraid of being misunderstood. "I was assigned here by the Profound Celestial Hall in the Purple Profound Celestial Marketplace. They told me there were no other openings for Talisman Makers, so they gave me this place."

"Oh, I see. In that case, let me tell you about Elder Li. Sigh... It’s truly a regrettable story.

"Fifty years ago, Elder Li was considered the foremost genius of our Talisman Pavilion. He broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm before he was even thirty, and his Talisman Realm had also reached the Tier Two Realm early on.

"It was said that the position of the next Talisman Pavilion Master was already reserved for him. You could say he had a boundless future ahead of him.

"All he had to do was successfully advance to become a Tier Three Talisman Maker."

Here, Yu Wenfeng glanced at Elder Li. Seeing that he had no reaction, she sighed and continued,

"But for the next forty years, Elder Li remained stuck at the peak of the Tier Two Talisman Maker level, unable to make any progress. The Cloud Seal Celestial Book was like an Outer Celestial Book to him; he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

"It was as if the Cloud Seal Celestial Book itself was rejecting him. When an ordinary person sees it, even if they can’t reproduce it, they can at least remember a character or two.

"But Elder Li would forget it the moment he looked away. Not a single trace would remain in his mind, no matter what method he tried. Even personal guidance from the Pavilion Master of that time was useless.

"This went on for forty years. Then, ten years ago, Elder Li vanished without a trace. No one knew where he went or why he disappeared.

"There was plenty of speculation, of course. Some guessed he had betrayed our Sect and joined another Major Sect to find a solution. Others thought he had left to wander the mortal world, hoping that kind of experience would allow the Cloud Seal Celestial Book to enter his mind.

"But that was all just speculation, because no one ever saw Elder Li again.

"To think I’d be the one to find Elder Li here in the Marketplace... I truly never expected it!"

Hearing that the vacant-eyed old man from the "World’s Number One Talisman" shop had such an incredible history, Jiang Xu was immediately filled with a sense of awe.

He had always suspected the old man wasn’t ordinary, but he never imagined he was such a renowned figure.

A Pavilion Master in the Profound Origin Sect held a transcendent status. While perhaps not on par with a Golden Core Ancestor, it wasn’t far off.

’So what in the world could have happened to make him end up like this?’