Chapter 343: Taiqing Talismans

The underground cemetery, as a large-scale mana production base, saw a constant flow of corpses coming and going every day.

And as the corpses aged and were scrapped in the process of producing mana, how to dispose of them became an important issue.

Zhang Pianpian said, "Those with some residual value are used for blind boxes, or sold as second-hand organs on the market—that's one outlet."

"Many that are completely damaged and have no reuse value are often turned into bone ash and sold as waste."

"For example, making certain magical skeletons, performing certain Dao arts, or setting up formations all require bone ash."

"Some people also buy it to supplement calcium—it's cheaper than buying medicine..."

Zhang Pianpian picked up the brick of flour on the ground and said, "Just right, we'll transport these flour bricks as if they were bone ash."

A moment later, Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan stayed behind temporarily, sorting and arranging the scene under Zhang Pianpian's guidance.

Zhang Yu, on the other hand, hoisted a large box of flour onto his back, ready to leave the underground hideout.

Before leaving, Zhang Yu watched a video of a man appearing in his eye-scry, and the muscles all over his body rippled as he gradually transformed into the other's likeness.

This was the disguise image Zhang Pianpian had chosen for him—a worker who frequently transported bone ash at Huilong Garden.

Changing his appearance was not difficult for Zhang Yu.

As early as his first year of high school, he could already change his face by controlling his muscles with some skill.

Later, after specialized training from Starfire True Person, he could transform into a target image in an instant.

At the same time, Zhang Pianpian had once again cast a talisman for him.

Concealment Talisman—activate!

The concealment talisman Zhang Pianpian used this time was clearly far more powerful than the one she used on the first floor.

Her palm slowly wiped over Zhang Yu's body, and the data displayed in others' eye-scries—whether it was the name above his head, related information, or evaluations—had all changed to that of the transport worker.

Zhang Pianpian continued, "This concealment talisman lasts about ten minutes. Hurry up and go."

Carrying the large box of flour on his back, Zhang Yu left the hideout, unable to suppress a surge of nervousness—far more than he'd felt during the fight with the gang members just now.

He took a deep breath, focused on the Remnant Ox Mind-Heart Technique in his mind, and with each roar of the white ox, his nervousness gradually faded.

The next leg of the journey went smoothly until he reached the main gate, where a security guard stopped Zhang Yu and asked, "What are you carrying on your back?"

Zhang Yu turned to look, and his gaze suddenly tightened—the speaker was none other than the Immortal Capital sage, Sheng Jie.

The last time he'd run into this guy was at the top-floor construction site.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Has his shift been rotated over here?"

Despite his surprise, Zhang Yu's face remained unchanged as he calmly replied, "Bone ash."

And as a cemetery security guard, Sheng Jie exuded a hint of authority when facing the bone-ash worker before him. Now he said haughtily, "What are you taking it out for?"

Zhang Yu said flatly, "Selling it to people for calcium supplements."

Sheng Jie nodded. "Open it and let me see."

So Zhang Yu set the box down in front of him, opened it, and placed it before Sheng Jie.

"Is it really bone ash?" Sheng Jie frowned. "You're not smuggling flour, are you?"

As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of the powder from the box and said, "I need to taste it."

Zhang Yu's breath caught for a moment as he watched Sheng Jie scoop up a large handful and swallow it all at once.

He savored it, licked his lips, then suddenly frowned. "This tastes like... boar demon?"

The next moment, Sheng Jie laughed. "You sure know how to pick your goods."

"Go on."

Zhang Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief, Zhang Pianpian's words before the operation flashing through his mind.

"According to the intel I gathered, the security guards at the cemetery gate—skimming, taking bribes, and demanding things is standard. Even bone ash passing by has to be sampled."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, luckily Zhang Pianpian had prepared by covering the top layer with real bone ash, just to deal with these guards.

After leaving Huilong Garden, the rest of the journey was completely unobstructed.

Under Zhang Pianpian’s guidance, Zhang Yu arrived at a room on the 45th floor and set down the crate filled with flour.

Looking at the completely empty room, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Is this the room my sister secretly found?”

Next, Zhang Yu returned to the secret passage in the cemetery and successfully regrouped with Zhang Pianpian and the other two.

At this point, most of the work was done. Zhang Pianpian explained, “Even though the flour has been moved out for now, we can’t turn it into cash right away.”

“After the heat dies down, I’ll find a way to ship the goods as soon as possible.”

“But finding buyers and going through the money-laundering steps will take quite a while.”

“It might be two to three months before the money reaches your hands.”

Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan naturally said they understood, and both secretly looked forward to the day the money would hit their accounts.

Watching their excited expressions, Zhang Pianpian warned again, “Remember, absolutely no outsiders can know about this.”

“So from now on, you must control yourselves. Don’t act smug or complacent. Don’t even talk about this matter in private.”

“Also, don’t make any large unplanned purchases for now. Keep saving where you can. In short, act exactly as you did before.”

“Just pretend nothing ever happened.”

Then, after Zhang Pianpian proactively contacted them, the patrol squad soon arrived at the scene.

The officer in charge, seeing the floor covered in flour bricks and the large patch of Terrestrial Qi Wheat in the grow room, immediately grinned from ear to ear and lavished praise on Zhang Pianpian.

As for Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, and Le Mulan, being citizens who had acted bravely and selflessly, they were also taken back for questioning.

But with Zhang Pianpian’s care, the loose ends were handled very cleanly. Plus, the patrol squad was eager to close the case and claim credit. After receiving some commendations, the three were quickly released.

Before they left, the patrol squad said each of them would receive a bonus of 1 spirit coin, which would be deposited into their accounts in a few days.

Only after the three returned to their dorm together did they slowly begin to relax.

They exchanged glances, and in the next moment, all burst out laughing.

Yu Xinghan thought to himself, “90 spirit coins… damnit… I’d have to save up for years without eating or drinking to earn that much, right?”

“Even if it’s split four ways, it’s still a huge chunk of income.”

“Truly, no windfall, no wealth.”

Le Mulan thought, “With this money added in, when I transfer to the Foundation Establishment class next semester, I should be able to get a decent ranking.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu was already browsing through the website displayed by his eye bones, picking and choosing: “What should I spend the spirit coins on?”

Thanks to Wang Yin’s sponsorship earlier, Zhang Yu’s savings had already surged once, and he still had over 26 spirit coins left.

If he also counted the flour money due in two or three months, his disposable income could reach 40 spirit coins, maybe even over 50.

But at that thought, Zhang Yu couldn’t help sighing inwardly, “Ah, even a cutthroat business can’t beat fraud for making quick money, let alone the cash in the hands of a rich second-generation like Wang Yin.”

After a night of hard work, Zhang Yu missed Chief Wang even more, and the easy job of live-streaming.

“Even if a poor person breaks the law, they still can’t make as much legally as a rich person.”

Hearing Zhang Yu’s lament, Fuji said matter-of-factly, “No shit. How can a low-end job like robbery compare to fraud? Selling flour is far from being as profitable as fraud—otherwise, why would the gangs be involved? Fraud is the express shortcut on the path of immortal cultivation. Wait till you help me find more colleagues later and restore more of my power—then I’ll take you into fraud, scam a few rich folks, and then you’ll know what real money-making is.”

“As for this time, if it weren’t so convenient and we had Zhang Pianpian covering our backs, I definitely wouldn’t recommend you earn this money.”

Zhang Yu shook his head, feeling like Fuji was scamming him right now. He set the thought aside and continued pondering the use of the spirit coins.

Having such a huge sum in the future immediately made Zhang Yu consider many things he hadn’t dared to think of before.

For example, the Hammer Heart House’s Unity of Spirit and Flesh journey, which promised success for 30 spirit coins and a refund if it failed.

That was a higher realm of heart method operation: even if you lost consciousness, you could still keep a spark of spiritual light in your sea of consciousness, maintaining the heart method’s circulation.

It was also a prerequisite for practicing a second heart method after reaching Dao heart level 15.

“According to Teacher Fengjiu, to achieve Unity of Spirit and Flesh, you have to train hard and grind it out bit by bit.”

“Otherwise, there’s the Hammer Heart House’s Unity of Spirit and Flesh journey.”

Zhang Yu’s current Dao heart level was getting closer and closer to 15. Originally, he thought he would have to rely on hard work alone, grinding out Unity of Spirit and Flesh bit by bit, before he could cultivate a second heart method.

That could take a very long time—after all, many Foundation Establishment students hadn’t even achieved the Unity of Spirit and Flesh realm by the time they reached Dao heart level 20.

"If Spirit Coins can solve it, then using Spirit Coins is definitely faster."

However, it was still a huge expense of over 30 Spirit Coins, and Zhang Yu's savings hadn't yet reached 30 Spirit Coins, so he planned to try cultivating Body-Soul Unity on his own first.

"If I still haven't broken through to Body-Soul Unity after the Spirit Coins arrive, then I'll go to Hammer Heart Residence."

After the three in the dormitory got excited for a moment, they all suppressed their emotions.

They firmly remembered Zhang Pianpian's reminder: never get carried away.

For the rest of the night, none of the three went to work or overtime; they just silently cultivated in the dormitory.

When the next day arrived, after a night of cultivation, the three had already shifted their moods, and their faces no longer showed any signs of excitement.

And when Zhang Pianpian returned to the dormitory, Zhang Yu's eyes lit up as he looked at her chest.

Zhang Pianpian looked at Zhang Yu and sighed, "Thanks to your careful discovery at the construction site this time. With this contribution, along with my previous preparations, I estimate I can be promoted to deputy captain next month."

"You might not fully understand, but this matter is really important to me."

Zhang Yu smiled slightly: "Senior, you've helped me so much. I'm really glad I could help you."

While speaking, Zhang Yu's attention was mostly focused on the Dao Seed that had emerged on Zhang Pianpian's chest.

In the days before when he was with Zhang Pianpian, although he could occasionally sense the Dao Seed inside her, it always flickered in and out of perception, and he never got a clear feeling.

Zhang Yu could only barely tell that Zhang Pianpian's Dao Seed was called the Taiqing Talisman, but as for how to activate the Taiqing Talisman or what it did, he was completely in the dark.

But at this moment, whether because of this operation, having spent enough time together, or understanding his sister better... in short, now when Zhang Yu looked at her, it was like seeing Yu Xinghan and Le Mulan—he could truly and continuously sense the Dao Seed inside Zhang Pianpian.

When Zhang Yu focused his attention on this Dao Seed, he felt from it a mysterious, indescribable sensation, or rather, information.

As the sensing time increased, more and more information gathered, eventually coalescing into something Zhang Yu could understand.

"To activate this Taiqing Talisman... it requires 50 Spirit Coins?"

Zhang Yu stared blankly at Zhang Pianpian, thinking to himself that this requirement was both difficult and simple. Extremely simple for the rich, yet extremely difficult for the poor.

Sensing Zhang Yu's staring gaze, Zhang Pianpian asked doubtfully, "Is something the matter?"

Zhang Yu asked, "Sis... Senior, are you short on money?"