Chapter 4

Lady Shi Sanniang.

Chen Ci was so busy racking his brains to recall the relationship between the two that he was a bit distracted, so he forgot to pull his hand back and just kept fiddling with it like that.

Hmm. It took a long time to sort through the messy memories.

This beautiful woman is the master of Yunshi Mountain, eighty miles west of Changping County, with three strongholds and six villages under her command and a population of over ten thousand; she can be considered to have some influence and belongs to the "miscellaneous" school of cultivation.

The so-called "miscellaneous school" is a collective term for all low-level practitioners outside of the orthodox sects.

Her Qi refining cultivation is less than ten apertures, and she possesses a handkerchief magic tool that can be used for self-defense and bewitching the mind.

As for her and the predecessor... they should be considered not-so-close bedfellows, a one-night stand kind of relationship.

However, this Lady Shi Sanniang comes from a mountain folk background and has always been uninhibited; she is fond of handsome men, and seeing that Chen Ci has a well-proportioned, tall build, comes from a major sect, and owns the vast property of the Sanyin Temple, she quickly latched onto him, hoping to gain both wealth and pleasure, but because the predecessor wasn't exactly well-off, she didn't manage to take much advantage of him.

More importantly, while this Lady Shi Sanniang looks like a beautiful woman, she is actually over sixty years old, though her exact age is unknown to outsiders.

Uh, Chen Ci silently pulled his hand back and inadvertently wiped it on his lower back.

The predecessor just committed a mistake that all men make, but Chen Ci is different; he decided to turn over a new leaf after finishing the touch.

But Lady Shi Sanniang didn't let him off; she placed her hand on his arm, squeezed it, and asked curiously, "I haven't seen you for a while, how did you get so sturdy? Your spirit is also good; I suppose your cultivation has improved quite a bit."

"Ha, haha."

Chen Ci laughed and gently pulled his arm away: "Is there something you need, Sanniang, for you to come to my Sanyin Temple this time?"

"Sigh, it's a long story. Small households like mine can't compare to Master Chen, who sits on such a treasure land; if I want to cultivate, I still have to collect all kinds of resources in the deep mountains."

Lady Shi Sanniang did have serious business on this trip, otherwise, she wouldn't have waited here for so long after being given the cold shoulder. She explained: "Some time ago, I finally found some Jade Yin Sand in an underground river, but I ended up bumping into a river-drifting Yin corpse, which was truly bad luck. I didn't take it too seriously at first, but these days, when I invite fellow practitioners to hold 'unrestricted gatherings' for pleasure, I always feel that the handsome men I used to like look a bit like that river-drifting corpse, not to mention that when the mood is at its peak, I faintly smell a foul stench, which is a real mood-killer. So, I came today to ask Master Chen for a few Soul-Stabilizing Talismans to ward off the evil energy."

Good grief, she doesn't call me for the orgy, but remembers me the moment she runs into a ghost, huh.

Wait, running into a ghost?

Chen Ci's heart skipped a beat; he walked a few steps away, keeping his composure, and only then said: "That's unfortunate, I don't have any Soul-Stabilizing Talismans in stock."

Talismans have a shelf life, usually only three to five days, with better ones lasting seven or eight days; after that, the spiritual power dissipates and their effectiveness is greatly reduced, so most talismans need to be drawn and used on the spot, or prepared two or three days in advance.

Talking about storing thousands of talismans and throwing them all at once to kill an enemy isn't really realistic.

"It's okay, I can stay in the temple for two days. I hope Master Chen can show some mercy and draw a few Soul-Stabilizing Talismans for this little woman."

Lady Shi Sanniang hugged her chest, making the most of her large and firm assets, and tried to rub against Chen Ci, her beautiful eyes full of flirtatiousness.

I don't know if it was just psychological, but Chen Ci felt that the skin under the beautiful woman's makeup seemed a bit pale, and even the scent of her rouge and powder seemed to be mixed with a faint, lingering smell of rot.

This, this, this... won't I get infected?

What a damn stroke of bad luck!

Chen Ci touched his own Five-Yin Evil Energy Bag, wondering if the old lady in front of him would cry for a long time if he unleashed a blast of his Five-Yin Black Evil.

Perhaps seeing Chen Ci silent, Lady Shi Sanniang cursed inwardly; these so-called major sect disciples are so stingy, unwilling to part with even a few talismans. She then said in a sweet, coquettish voice: "Master Chen, I am already yours..."

Seeing that Chen Ci wasn't taking the bait, Lady Shi Sanniang went all out and tugged at her clothes: "Five Soul-Stabilizing Talismans, and afterwards I'll let down my guard and let Master Chen enjoy a good round of dual cultivation, how about that?"

Chen Ci: "..."

Ahem, I have a friend who wants to ask, is this "dual cultivation" of yours... decent?

A beauty is like wine, the more mellow the better. In the world of cultivation, age isn't really a problem, but thinking that the beautiful woman in front of him is somewhat like the raw material for some kind of island wine, Chen Ci really couldn't bring himself to do it.

However, since things had reached this point, he moved his hand away from the Five-Yin Evil Energy Bag. Since such a person had come to his door asking for talismans, he couldn't just completely burn the bridge; if word got out, the Sanyin Temple wouldn't be able to stand its ground.

"Forget about the dual cultivation."

Chen Ci pondered for a moment. Since things had come to this, even if he drove Lady Shi Sanniang away, he would still need to use two Soul-Stabilizing Talismans on himself to clear away the evil, so he might as well do a good deed and earn some cultivation resources in the process.

"Five Soul-Stabilizing Talismans is easy to say, but how about ten wild beasts and five catties of Jade Yin Sand?"

Chen Ci estimated the value and quoted a high price.

Practitioners in this world don't have a pegged currency; they mostly trade in kind. The Five-Element Divine Sand is a type of cultivation resource widely accepted by everyone, somewhat similar to the spirit stones in the novels of his past life.

The Five-Element Divine Sand is produced by the interaction of the clear and turbid energies of heaven and earth, attaching itself to objects of the five elements. It is mostly produced in wild mountains and great marshes and can assist in cultivation, be used to plant spiritual materials, or be used in medicine and alchemy. This Jade Yin Sand is one of them; it belongs to the water element with a Yin bias, which Chen Ci can also use for his Sanyin True Qi cultivation.

"Gasp, Master Chen, you're really opening your mouth like a lion! The Soul-Stabilizing Talismans are expensive, but you can't just raise the price on the spot!"

Lady Shi Sanniang was so angry she almost fainted when she heard this. She hadn't even managed to get any benefits from the Sanyin Temple yet, and this Chen fellow was turning around to fleece her instead. Be a human, for heaven's sake!

Thinking back to when he used to call her "little sweetie," and now that he's put his pants on, he doesn't recognize her anymore. Bah!

"Five wild beasts and one pound of Jade Yin Sand, and not a bit more! If not, I'll just go to the Hongyun Temple in the next county; those bald donkeys there can drive away evil just the same!"

The astonishing curves of Lady Shi Sanniang's upper body shook violently. Seeming to notice that Chen Ci's gaze was a bit fixed, she simply crossed her arms over her chest, not letting this scumbag taste even a bit of sweetness.

"Fine."

Chen Ci wasn't going to pick up the predecessor's mess. If she won't let him look, then she won't let him look. He's seen plenty of "female bodhisattvas," so he's not missing out on this one: "Come back in five days to get the talismans."

Seeing that she couldn't get any benefits, Lady Shi Sanniang didn't continue to flaunt her charms. She huffed twice, dropped a small bag of Jade Yin Sand, and left in dissatisfaction, presumably returning to her stronghold to hunt for wild beasts.

Chen Ci withdrew his gaze from the peach-like curves, feeling a bit wistful.

In his memories, this Lady Shi Sanniang was very skilled in a few Yin-Yang secret arts and could suck the very marrow out of your bones, but unfortunately, the predecessor didn't leave him a single scene of actual combat.

"When my cultivation is higher, what kind of fairy, demoness, or witch won't I have? I'm not craving this one. Be good, keep yourself clean."

Chen Ci comforted his "little brother," then went back to the backyard while fiddling with the Jade Yin Sand.

"So this is Jade Yin Sand?"

It looks like jade and feels like ice to the touch, but the texture is more like diamond, making a 'creaking' sound in his palm.

However, Chen Ci was thinking about other things.

He seemed to have no clear understanding of his identity as an outer disciple of the He Mountain Sect, a major unorthodox school.

"This Soul-Stabilizing Talisman technique is ranked only in the middle-to-lower tier among the thousand mountains and thousand methods of the He Mountain Sect. It's only because He Mountain disciples are more or less 'inhuman' when refining their magic tools that they learn this method to drive away resentment and ward off evil. But even such a minor technique..."

Chen Ci shook his head and put the Jade Yin Sand away.

He hadn't taken minor techniques like the Soul-Stabilizing Talisman to heart before, but seeing that a miscellaneous practitioner like Lady Shi Sanniang would rather be "dual-cultivated" than go without this talisman, it shows that even minor techniques in the unorthodox schools aren't exactly common trash.

The difficulty of inheriting such techniques is evident.

"I didn't really look down on the unorthodox schools like the He Mountain Sect, but although I didn't say it explicitly, I have actually already had a faint intention to break away from them in my heart."

As a transmigrator, Chen Ci somewhat believed he had a bit of destiny; he would first stabilize his cultivation, then find a way to learn a wondrous technique, and afterwards leave the He Mountain Sect to join a profound orthodox sect, so he might eventually seek Longevity.

It was just like how the vast majority of people, before a certain age, only have eyes for top universities and can hardly see anything else.

But in reality, it seemed it was not yet his turn to be picky.

"I can also love the sect, and I also want to make progress."

Chen Ci rubbed his chin; managing Sanyin Temple well to serve as his foundation for standing within the He Mountain Sect was not a path that couldn't be taken.

(End of this chapter)