Yunzhong City was located at the center of the Five Great Sects. It was no less prestigious than the imperial capital in ancient times. Anyone you ran into on the street could be a disciple from a major sect, and the prices here were absurdly high.
"Boss, how much for one bun?" She swallowed hard. The scent was too tempting, and despite herself, she asked. One could only go without eating after reaching Foundation Establishment. The original owner of this body was only at the third level of Qi Refinement—far from being able to fast.
"Three mid-grade spirit stones."
Wang Xiaoxiao instantly sobered up. "Sorry to bother you."
She had only a hundred mid-grade spirit stones in her storage pouch. That had to cover food and lodging. At this rate, she'd be broke in three days in this outrageously expensive Yunzhong City.
Wang Xiaoxiao finally understood why the original owner refused to descend the mountain despite their miserable circumstances.
Life outside the sect was truly unaffordable for the average cultivator.
In the cultivation world, the most lucrative professions were talisman and pill makers. Yueqing Sect had risen to become one of the Five Great Sects not only due to their many talisman cultivators but also thanks to their enviable wealth.
Wang Xiaoxiao randomly stopped a rogue cultivator and asked if there was a shop selling wolf-hair brushes and talisman paper.
"There's one right over there," the person answered warmly. "Are you a talisman cultivator?"
Talisman and alchemy cultivators held high status in the cultivation world. Wang Xiaoxiao shook her head. "No."
The original owner was a sword cultivator, and Wang Xiaoxiao had never drawn a talisman in her life. But sitting around waiting for resources to run out was not an option. She had to try something.
In the modern world, Wang Xiaoxiao had been a diligent worker—handling both design and modeling. Even in the cultivation world, she couldn't escape the fate of working hard.
Thanks to her profession, she had an eidetic memory, and this body seemed to have inherited that trait. A quick mental review brought Yueqing Sect's talisman drawing techniques clearly to mind.
As a complete beginner, she could only follow her intuition. Following the instructions in the talisman book, she took a deep breath, focused her mind, and carefully channeled spiritual energy into the wolf-hair brush.
The tip of the brush barely touched the talisman paper when her spiritual sense tingled with a sharp sting. Steadying herself, Wang Xiaoxiao realized this was the first step in talisman crafting.
Recalling the scenes from the original owner's memories, she didn't hesitate. Complex talisman patterns flowed from her brush, and as the outline neared completion, her movements grew faster. With the final stroke, the paper glowed with golden light.
She held her breath, staring intently.
As long as it didn't burn up, the talisman was complete.
Was it really this easy to draw a talisman?
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she felt something trickle from her nose.
She touched it—blood.
Wang Xiaoxiao: "…"
Okay. She'd spoken too soon.
Clearly, talisman crafting wasn't something ordinary people could handle.
Since she didn't feel any other discomfort and was painfully aware of her empty storage pouch, she grit her teeth and kept drawing.
After finishing seven talismans, she passed out on the desk.
This was the consequence of spiritual overexertion.
She drew until she fainted, then woke up and continued drawing. Her relentless diligence even moved herself to tears.
Was it love?
Responsibility?
No.
It was poverty.
Poverty drives progress—that saying wasn't wrong at all.
Wang Xiaoxiao drew the lowest-level talismans: Wind Speed Talismans and Sleep Talismans.
She picked up a Wind Speed Talisman and stuck it on herself to test.
It was supposed to make her run faster.
Nothing seemed to happen at first. She waited for a while, and when there was still no effect, she assumed it had failed.
She wasn't disappointed. Even among Yueqing Sect's top disciples, succeeding on the first try was rare.
Just as she was about to peel off the talisman and draw a new one, her legs suddenly shot forward uncontrollably.
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, she bolted forward at high speed.
She couldn't stop. She crashed straight into a wall, smashing a person-shaped hole through it.
Wang Xiaoxiao: "…"
Fortunately, cultivators had much tougher bodies than mortals. Even crashing through a wall didn't hurt. She slowly crawled up, looking at the now-spent talisman on the ground.
Respect. So this was the power of a talisman cultivator?
The innkeeper, however, wasn't impressed. Under his furious glare, Wang Xiaoxiao tearfully paid twenty spirit stones to repair the wall.
By sunset, she took her freshly drawn talismans to the black market to sell.
This was the largest black market in the cultivation world. It was bustling with traffic and varying prices. She set hers at ten mid-grade spirit stones apiece—cheap, even dirt cheap.
But her cultivation was too low, and passing cultivators didn't even glance at her.
She sat at her stall, pitifully watching as even the stall selling smut books next door had better business.
Determined to wait a bit longer before switching careers to selling smut, her luck suddenly turned.
A red-robed teenager descended from the sky, landing right on her stall.
He stood elegantly on a flying sword, stepping squarely onto her poor stall without even realizing it. His tone was cold as he warned, "No drawing swords in the territory of the Five Great Sects."
The man being warned was about to argue, but when he saw the emblem of a personal disciple on the teen's robe, he turned pale and fled without a word.
And so, Wang Xiaoxiao became the only injured party.
"Excuse me, could you move your foot?" she asked sincerely. "You're standing on my stall."
If she could beat him, she'd love to grab his collar and yell, Do you know how hard it is to set up a stall out here?!
The teenager froze, finally realizing he'd stepped on something. He quickly moved his foot and apologized, "Sorry. Did I hurt you?"
"No." She answered righteously. "But my soul suffered a serious injury."
The boy was stunned by how fragile her 'soul' seemed. Seeing her serious face, he offered shyly, "How about I compensate you with a spirit stone? One high-grade one—okay?"
Wang Xiaoxiao, ever practical, accepted with a smile and picked up her scattered talismans. "I forgive you."
One high-grade spirit stone was worth a hundred mid-grade ones.
This guy was loaded, she thought with admiration.
Lin Ximo quickly bent down to help her pick up her things. Noticing the talismans, he exclaimed, "You're a talisman cultivator?"
Wang Xiaoxiao mumbled a vague "Mm."
As she gathered her things, more and more rogue cultivators gathered to watch the commotion, some even whispering aloud.
"Judging from the robes, he's probably a personal disciple from Guiyuan Sect, right?"
"Probably. He can fly on a sword, so he's at least Foundation Establishment. Besides the personal disciples, who else could it be?"
The crowd thickened. Some began to notice the talismans Wang Xiaoxiao held.
Standing beside Lin Ximo and wearing plain robes, many assumed she was also from a major sect.
Trusting in the prestige of the great sects, some rogue cultivators approached her stall. "Little miss, what kind of talismans are these?"
"Sleep Talismans and Wind Speed Talismans."
They were low-grade talismans, but still valuable to rogue cultivators who had no sect to rely on. Having a few for emergencies was always useful.
Buying through official channels was expensive, and cheap talismans often turned out to be fakes. Thanks to Lin Ximo's presence, Wang Xiaoxiao's talismans sold out in minutes.
The experience made her more determined to join a sect.
"You're just leaving?"
After she packed up her stall, Lin Ximo sounded surprised.
"What else would I do?"
"You don't want more compensation?"
"Didn't you already give me one spirit stone?"
"But your soul was hurt."
"…Where did this sweet fool come from?" Wang Xiaoxiao wondered.
Was Guiyuan Sect full of sweet idiots?
He took her sarcasm seriously?
"What's your name?" she asked.
In novels, handsome characters usually had names. She was curious what role this sweet boy played in this world.
"Lin Ximo."
Wang Xiaoxiao blinked.
She had heard of him.
Wasn't he the tragic simp in the novel who destroyed his cultivation for the female lead?
Her expression grew complicated—she went from looking at a fool to looking at a pitiable fool.
Lin Ximo's eyes widened. "What's with that look?"
Realizing her gaze was too blatant, Wang Xiaoxiao coughed and changed the topic.
"I heard you're a personal disciple of Guiyuan Sect. Can you tell me—what's the treatment for outer sect disciples like?"
She just wanted to find a sect to lie low in and live peacefully.
"Guiyuan Sect?" Lin Ximo looked conflicted. Faced with her eager eyes, he answered honestly, "We're… kinda poor. When I joined at ten years old, I ate plain buns every day."
He came from a wealthy family, so entering such a poor sect was jarring.
"I thought I'd been scammed and planned to run away with my second and third senior brothers."
"But the sect leader caught us."
"He chased us for miles, yelling after us. We even lost a shoe while running."
"What are your senior brothers' names?" Wang Xiaoxiao asked.
"Xilan and Chongyue."
Wang Xiaoxiao was silent.
Wonderful.
She'd just collected the simp, the backup guy, and the doormat—all the tragic male leads from the novel.
Lin Ximo had been too sincere. She could already imagine the sect leader running behind them shouting, Xilan! Chongyue! Lin Ximo! What will I do without you?!
The mental image was too much. Wang Xiaoxiao gave up on joining Guiyuan Sect. "What about Wenjian Sect? Do they let their disciples eat and sleep? They're the top sect, after all—they must treat their disciples well."
After seeing Yunzhong City's horrifying prices, she just wanted to join a sect and be an invisible outer disciple who could survive in peace.