[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-ascending-to-the-jade-palace":3,"chapter-ascending-to-the-jade-palace-ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-36":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Ascending to the Jade Palace",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2320498,4538,"Chapter 36","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-36",36,"\u003Cp>At night, on the street outside the Garrison Cultivator’s residence gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think anyone will buy our talismans?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu’an, wearing a wooden mask, looked at his elder brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They came to the Ghost Market precisely because they couldn’t afford anything—between them, they had barely more than ten spirit stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If no one buys them, lower the price. Our Thousand-Li Talismans aren’t well-drawn anyway; tonight’s goal is to recover the material losses from making them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Losses are normal—anyone studying the Dao of Talismans must go through this step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sell the Thousand-Li Talismans quickly, buy cheap spiritual material, and directly forge low-grade magic treasures to sell!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou came to the Ghost Market solely to sell his talismans—break even is fine, and making a little profit is even better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they lost spirit stones, making the Thousand-Li Talismans itself helped the Jade Ruyi in Yu Lou’s mind accumulate Golden Light, so the net loss was still minimal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hongdengzhao had already passed both of them on their Dao Trials; now, they could forge low-grade magic treasures with ease—even though it wasn’t particularly difficult to begin with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Dao of Forging is hard: first hard to enter, then hard to master seals, and hardest of all are the details and secret transmissions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forging low-grade magic treasures isn’t hard to enter, requires few seals, and involves no details or secret transmissions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I say, borrow two hundred spirit stones from Father first—we could start buying materials and forging right away.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kid Yu’an truly didn’t treat Yu Lou like an outsider—not even hesitating when it came to squeezing their father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha, no need. Master has already agreed to let us sell our own forged magic treasures through Hua Feng Residence—that’s enough. Have faith in me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou didn’t believe the Wang clan, having been stripped of their marrow once by Hongdengzhao, still had much left to spare, so he politely declined Yu’an’s suggestion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have more faith in myself.” Yu’an lifted his chin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gatekeeper outside the Garrison Cultivator’s residence was Gao Jian’s subordinate; he noticed something odd from Yu Lou’s height and build.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re... Wang Yu Lou?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou was speechless—they were all familiar faces. Even if he wore a mask, wearing a night-robe wouldn’t help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost Market of Qingxi Fang had nothing to do with underground trading—it was purely an immortal-style tax-free market set up by the Garrison Cultivator to replenish his personal stash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shh, here’s the invitation. Take a look.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gatekeeper pushed back the invitation Yu Lou handed him and said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yu Lou, you’re being too formal—just go in, hurry up and go in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cultivation world, Gao Jian, no matter how brutal, was still just a dog—he couldn’t hoard everything for himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He and his men weren’t entirely beasts—at least when facing Wang Yu Lou, they pretended to be human.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell Senior Gao I won’t be attending his evening banquet for taking a concubine tomorrow—I’m leaving the market with my Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou gave the notice and led his younger brother into Qingxi Fang’s monthly Ghost Market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingxi Fang’s Ghost Market rarely held grand auctions; the last one happened only because several major families and Jiang Bao wanted to cut the grass early and hastily organized it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, the Ghost Market was just a temporary night bazaar, but its location was unusual—it was held in the back courtyard of the Garrison Cultivator’s residence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This seemed bizarre: Hongdengzhao’s local head had innovated a model, turning Qingxi Fang’s underground market into the Garrison Cultivator’s own back courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But... everyone preferred coming here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Garrison Cultivator’s residence was safe!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as what you sold wasn’t utterly outrageous, Foundation Establishment elders wouldn’t care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you treat Foundation Establishment elders as threats, everyone is terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if they can’t threaten you, isn’t setting up a stall in the Garrison Cultivator’s back courtyard like having a Foundation Establishment elder act as your security guard?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Foundation Establishment cultivators as security guards—Hongdengzhao’s debt can never be repaid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One word—worth it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as Yu’an stepped into the back courtyard, he was stunned by the bustling market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some stalls were piled high with books and jade slips—these sold scriptures, but such street-corner scriptures were rarely authentic and came with no after-sales guarantee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the poorest hermits bought spells, cultivation methods, or secret transmissions from these stalls; anyone with even modest wealth went to stores run by major clans or sects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some stalls were giant carts loaded with cages holding live creatures—these sold young demonic beasts and spirit pets for mounts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Demonic beasts were divided into edible types and trainable types: the former were for eating, the latter for combat companions or family guardian beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermits couldn’t afford the edible kind, but often gritted their teeth to buy one trainable beast to raise at home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount types varied widely—even mounts capable of growing to Qi Refining stage were available as pups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most special were spirit pets—they were the most expensive, being fully tamed demonic beasts ready for immediate use.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These spirit pets were usually bred by cultivation families or affiliated sects, and their value was considerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Yu Lou found a cultivator whose stall was filled with all kinds of talismans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, do you buy Thousand-Li Talismans?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cultivator looked up, glanced at Yu Lou, then at Yu’an behind him, and said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Show me. If the quality’s good, I’ll buy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou pulled out a stack of talismans from his robe; the stall owner probed them with his spiritual sense and quickly sensed something off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thousand-Li Talismans grant the user the endurance of a thousand-li horse, enabling long-distance pursuit—so they’re usually drawn with the blood of a low-grade demonic beast, the Qingcong horse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But the blood in your talismans doesn’t seem to be Qingcong horse blood—no way they’ll grant a thousand li; at best, they’ll let the user run a hundred li!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, you don’t know—I used spirit donkey blood, specifically blood from a spiritual creature, not demonic beast blood. It’s not the same as demonic blood talismans—far fewer side effects.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, he owed thanks to Shopkeeper Tang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forging requires learning seals; learning seals requires accumulating talisman-making experience. If the Spirit-Attracting Talisman is the basic activation switch, then the Thousand-Li Talisman is one of the foundational entry-level talismans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the spirit donkey blood from Zhiwei Fang, Yu Lou saved a lot on material costs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Old Tang had charged even a little for the spirit blood, the brothers wouldn’t have had a single spirit stone left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, while Wang clan’s spirit donkey Thousand-Li Talismans lasted slightly shorter, they had other unique advantages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Demonic beast blood talismans disrupt the user’s spiritual energy flow; spirit donkey blood doesn’t cause this issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Yu Lou’s explanation, the stall owner studied him and asked cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Spirit donkey? You’re Yu Lou, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only was Yu Lou stunned—Yu’an was startled too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We understand if Gao Jian’s men recognize us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a random hermit in the Ghost Market knows us? Is this a bit too much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha, it’s me—Wu Jinyan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Jinyan, Hong Mei’s close friend and the witness to their apprenticeship under Hong Mei—Yu Lou naturally knew him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior Wu, why are you selling talismans?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wu family mines—they should be selling spirit ore and spirit gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, just supplementing household income. But you two—did you tell your Master you were coming to the Ghost Market?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This... of course we did.” Yu Lou replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Jinyan smiled knowingly and said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, I’ll take these dozens of Thousand-Li Talismans for twenty spirit stones total—fair deal, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty spirit stones for a stack of uneven-quality Thousand-Li Talismans—this price was indeed fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Lou nodded. Since Wu Jinyan was a familiar face, he decided not to trouble him twice and asked,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior Wu, we also want to buy a spiritual material for forging, but even counting these twenty spirit stones, our budget is only thirty-five. Do you have anything suitable?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1321,"2026-06-20T15:48:26.995Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9d5e129b58cd79b92c6f89aea43966a0797aaa4a3499e2f853464fe9a0775fdf","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-37","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-35",243,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fascending-to-the-jade-palace-cover.jpg"]