Chapter 34: Illusion Body Talisman

The elixir is fine; one pill restores 30% of his qi and blood, at the very least doubling his battle endurance.

It's just that the amount is less than ideal—only this one pill. Who does he think he's looking down on? Moreover, the name 'Spring-Returning Pill' is a bit strange, giving him a somewhat embarrassing sense of déjà vu.

And what the hell is this horny goat weed? What's the connection between yang energy and qi and blood? Are they part of the same system?

Thinking that the one who introduced him was a brothel's errand boy, Chen Shicheng, to avoid any misunderstanding, could only ask indirectly, 'Madam, I need an elixir to replenish my qi and blood; is this the right one for me?'

The old woman narrowed her pale eyes and sized up his complexion—rosy, lustrous, with abundant qi and blood, a healthy body; in no way did he look deficient in qi and blood.

Alright! Looks like another youngster who can't swallow his pride! 'Rest assured, I've been selling this for years, saved countless people—I absolutely couldn't deceive you. Just use it; I guarantee you'll be satisfied.'

'Good.' Chen Shicheng fiddled with the two pills in the box, still unsatisfied, and continued asking, 'How many? Is it really just this one? I might need more—take out all you have; I'll buy them all.'

Saying this, he took out a silver ingot weighing a full 50 taels, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward the old woman, saying, 'Three or five pills aren't too few; nine or ten aren't too many—I'm not short on money.'

"."

His words seemed to touch some taboo; the old woman's face instantly darkened, and after a moment she rose, walked to the offering table, and jerked down the red cloth covering the spirit tablet.

Beneath the red cloth, just as Chen Shicheng had guessed, was a spirit tablet used for venerating the Immortal Family.

However, this tablet now looks rather grim—a crack runs from top to bottom, splitting it in half; the characters in the middle have shattered and deformed, and only from the still-intact three words 'Hui Siye' can one see that the old woman venerates the Gray Immortal, i. e., a rat.

'The Immortal Family has met with an accident; they may have already fallen, and the pill in your hand is the last one.' The old woman stroked the crack on the tablet, her voice somewhat low as she said.

She too has unspeakable bitterness in her heart; lately it seems as if heaven itself is opposing her, with one aggravating matter after another.

First, wild monsters suddenly gathered outside the town; the mountain-goers dared not go up, causing her medicinal ingredients to dwindle, and she was about to run at a loss.

Before she could solve the ingredient problem, the offered Immortal Family tablet suddenly shattered, after which she could no longer contact the Immortal Family at all—whether burning incense or embodying them, she got no response.

Unlike ordinary cultivators, a Horse Immortal's own level is very low; all of its power comes from the Immortal Family it venerates.

Now Hui Siye has suddenly fallen for unknown reasons; she can basically announce her withdrawal from the cultivator ranks, becoming a sturdy old woman only slightly stronger than an ordinary person—but even if she were stronger, what good would it do? She's old; how will she get by from now on!

Thinking of this, the old woman glanced at the silver ingot on the table and suddenly said, 'Besides the Spring-Returning Pill, do you want anything else?'

'I can take a look, but if the stuff isn't good I won't take it.' Chen Shicheng said with some anticipation.

Anyway, it's still early; he doesn't mind staying a while longer—maybe he'll turn up some good stuff. Even a rotten ship has three pounds of nails; a woman who's been a Horse Immortal all her life ought to have a few good things left.

'In other words, I just want to earn some coffin money; otherwise I would never sell these things.'

The old woman muttered on and on while she brought out a small wooden box from the room and placed it on the table, indicating he should see what he needs.

Chen Shicheng looked at the thick layer of dust on the box's top; he actually had no expectations for what was inside. Still, having come this far, he felt he ought to at least take a glance. With that thought, he opened the box amid the flying dust, and a pile of things that looked rather aged appeared before him.

On top was a stack of ten talismans; the palm-sized yellow talisman paper bore cinnabar-drawn complex lines, and just one glance made him feel a bit dizzy.

【Illusion Body Talisman: A talisman drawn by a Horse Immortal borrowing the power of the Gray Immortal; after use it renders the body invisible, though it cannot conceal breathing, lasting 10 minutes.】

'Whoo!'

Looking at the talisman's description, Chen Shicheng's eyes lit up instantly.

Although these talismans seem to look after the head but not the rear—only granting invisibility without silencing sound—yet invisibility is invisibility; what man wouldn't know its use!

Of course, he absolutely does not intend to use these talismans to fulfill some shameful secret of his heart; he merely wants to experience this one‑use skill akin to a magic scroll.

Exactly, that's right! The very first item already has such a divine effect, and there are ten of them—well worth the trip.

Chen Shicheng happily set the talismans aside, indicating he would take them, then continued to explore the box before him, hoping there might be other treasures.

Below the talisman paper lay a row of incense sticks as thick as a forefinger, twenty in total—ten brown‑red on the outside, the other ten gray‑black.

Both kinds of incense look unimpressive, seemingly incomparable to the previous talismans, but as soon as he picked up one of each to check their attributes, his breathing instantly quickened.

【Soul‑Attracting Incense: Made from special materials; when lit it emits a special scent that draws wild monsters from within a ten‑li radius to gather.】

【Reverence‑God Incense: A special incense used by Horse Immortals to venerate the Immortal Family; it enhances the spiritual bond between them and increases the Immortal Family's power boost to the Horse Immortal.】

Reverence‑God Incense is of little use to Chen Shicheng; he merely glanced at its description and skipped it, but the Soul‑Attracting Incense made him unable to hold back.

When he was Level 4, he went head‑to‑head against the Level 11 Yu Wei, and Merit Points were absolutely crucial.

Although each victory was hard‑won, without Merit Points he probably couldn't even withstand a single move, being nothing but a five‑trash weakling easily killed in one hit.

Thus, to him Merit Points are absolutely the most important thing in the game, even surpassing level and skill.

Yet acquiring Merit Points is a headache—killing wild monsters and doing trivial good deeds yields only single‑digit points, akin to living on welfare, requiring massive time accumulation.

To reap more Merit Points in a short time, one must either save people or kill the utterly depraved Yu Wei.

However, he also discovered that the first time he killed Yu Wei, the Merit Points were three‑digit, but after his second kill they dropped to two‑digit.

Thus it is clear that gaining Merit Points by killing such utterly wicked individuals diminishes with each occurrence, eventually likely yielding zero return.

Moreover, there aren't nearly enough such utterly wicked people for him to kill, so this path is basically a dead end.

(End of chapter)