Chapter 378: The Old Cat and Jia Sheng Gui Si! Pure Yang Treasures, Three Methods

Since Zhang Fan met Li Li Miaoyin, their fates have gradually deepened.

Leaving other matters aside, when Zhang Fan successfully merged his spirit, Li Li Miaoyin lent great aid—she risked life and death to enter Great Night Unlit and retrieved Zhao Zhao Jiexuan's nascent soul.

Not to mention later, when they returned to Bai Yujing City and met with Ge Ge Shuangxiu, Zhang Fan forcibly used the 【Divide Spirit Great Art】, nearly triggering the Three Corpses calamity; again, Li Li Miaoyin risked herself to merge her spirit with his, indistinguishable as one.

Since then, Zhang Fan and Li Li Miaoyin's relationship became extremely subtle and unique.

"Don't talk nonsense," Zhang Fan said, feeling guilty.

"Why are you guilty? What's mine is yours…" Li Li Yishan slung an arm around Zhang Fan's shoulder and grinned.

At these words, Meng Qi's gaze toward their spirits grew even stranger.

"Women only slow down my grave-digging speed!" Li Li Yishan shook his head.

Originally, the matchmaking with Li Li Miaoyin wasn't arranged for him.

"When you two marry, I'll give you a grand gift."

"You're getting more absurd by the minute," Zhang Fan shot him a look.

"Have you chosen a name for the child yet?"

"… "

"Let's go!"

Zhang Fan quickened his pace.

Moments later, under Meng Qi's guidance, they arrived before a shop—the storefront was modest, its sign boldly inscribed with the three characters: 【Treasure Pavilion】.

"Treasure Pavilion…"

Li Li Yishan gazed up at the sign, feeling its aura was extraordinary, subtly sharp as the contours of Mount Zhongnan, growing more profound the longer he stared.

"This shop has something to it—just this sign isn't ordinary."

"Not bad for a human… sharp eyes," Meng Qi hesitated, then fell silent.

"Who wrote this inscription?"

As Li Li Yishan asked, he spotted the signature in the corner of the sign:

Zhou Kongchan Daoist!

"Zhou Kongchan Daoist… Zhou Zhou Kongchan… Master of Mount Zhongnan?"

Li Li Yishan's expression turned astonished.

A sign personally inscribed by the Master of Mount Zhongnan carried far greater weight—just this sign revealed the shop's owner was no ordinary person.

"The owner's surname is Zhao; his father once cultivated on Mount Zhongnan and was of the same generation as the Master, but his Dao affinity was shallow, so he returned to secular life and opened this shop," Meng Qi said solemnly.

"Dao affinity was shallow?" Zhang Fan mused.

This phrasing was polite—plainly put, it meant he lacked talent.

In truth, most cultivators spend their entire lives achieving no progress; many cannot even awaken their nascent soul, naturally having no connection to the Dao.

Though Zhang Fan now stands at Great Scholar Ninth Reckoning, encountering him seems to meet only experts—even he has met Masters of Heaven more than once.

In fact, what he has encountered is already a height most cultivators will never reach in their lifetimes.

Like the elder Meng Qi mentioned, such people are not rare—they know they have no Dao affinity, so they return to secular life, indulging in the world, not wasting their journey through this mortal realm.

This also indirectly reveals their Dao hearts lack firmness.

A weak Dao heart naturally means no connection to the Dao.

No connection to the Dao leads to a weak Dao heart.

They are cause and effect of each other—both cause and effect, effect and cause, as if fate itself had already decreed it.

Perhaps this is also a trial of the Great Dao, without sequence or distinction of cause and effect.

"The Master, remembering their fellow-disciple bond, wrote this sign," Meng Qi continued.

Even wealthy families have poor relatives.

If the Dao is wealth, then with Zhou Kongchan Daoist's cultivation, he must be a colossal fortune.

The owner's father was Zhou Kongchan Daoist's childhood friend, bound in loyalty during his poor, youthful years; now that he was rich, he naturally helped his poor brother.

In earlier years, when the owner's father was still alive, Zhou Kongchan Daoist had personally visited—back then, it was even a sight in the black market.

But after the father passed away, Zhou Kongchan Daoist came less often.

Precisely because of this, though the shop appears small, its business is enormous, ranking among the top two even within this black market.

"Let's go."

Meng Qi pushed open the door—the shop was small but chaotic, goods piled haphazardly on shelves or heaped in corners, looking less like a store and more like a warehouse.

"This is too sloppy," Zhang Fan couldn't help saying.

Suddenly, Zhang Fan caught sight, in his peripheral vision, of a scroll hanging on a worn-out shelf—the silk was yellowed, covered with crooked, strange talismans resembling a blazing flame.

"This is… the Maoshan Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman!?" Zhang Fan paused, then recognized it.

The Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman is a treasure of Maoshan.

Legend says, in ancient times, strange fire fell from heaven onto the great rivers of the West; Maoshan's founder passed by and saw crimson light blazing skyward, entered the deep mountains, heard dragon roars, and found this object in an ancient cave—a dragon-shaped jade with mysterious seals and sacred scripts, which he brought back to the mountain and enshrined for generations.

This treasure was inherited by Fang Fang Changle, fused into his nascent soul, utterly exquisite.

The scroll depicts the exact talisman of the 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】; if it fell into the hands of a master of talisman arts, with high cultivation and superior materials, it could be forged into an extremely potent fire talisman.

Though it cannot rival the true 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】, it is still worthy as a family heirloom.

"It really is—but incomplete."

Zhang Fan bent over, examining every stroke of the talisman with meticulous care.

He had seen Fang Fang Changle's 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】 several times; there were subtle differences.

This scroll's talisman was only about six or seven percent of the original.

"You recognize it?" Meng Qi couldn't help asking.

Though she sensed its rarity, she was not skilled in talisman arts—she could only admire it superficially.

"It's Maoshan's 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】, but missing many parts," Zhang Fan whispered.

"Young man, sharp eyes."

At that moment, a cheerful voice rang out.

Zhang Fan looked up and saw a refined middle-aged man emerge—his temples were streaked with gray, his hair slicked back, two iron balls spinning in his hands, his face flushed with health.

"Uncle Zhao," Meng Qi stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Zhao Zhao Menglang, owner of Treasure Pavilion, was a man in Chang'an whose footsteps made others give him due respect.

"Little Meng, this is your friend—remarkable eyesight. Which sect is he from?" Zhao Zhao Menglang sized up Zhang Fan.

"Maoshan?"

Someone who instantly recognized the origin of the 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】 must have ties to Maoshan—perhaps even a Maoshan disciple.

At this moment, Zhao Zhao Menglang had already guessed seven or eight out of ten—that this young man was likely Fang Fang Changle, Maoshan's heir.

"Uncle Zhao, he's Zhang Fan, a disciple of Zhenwu Mountain," Meng Qi introduced.

"Zhenwu Mountain!?" Zhao Zhao Menglang froze.

"Greetings, Elder."

"A disciple of Zhenwu Mountain… no wonder… sharp eyes," Zhao Zhao Menglang couldn't help saying.

"I've had this fragmentary talisman here for years—no one has ever recognized it before."

It wasn't that Chang'an lacked talisman masters; rather, the Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman was Maoshan's greatest treasure, rarely shown to outsiders, so few knew of it.

"Uncle Zhao, Maoshan keeps the Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman secret—how did you get a copy?" Meng Qi couldn't help asking.

"To be honest…" Zhao Zhao Menglang hesitated, then chuckled bitterly: "Many years ago, a talisman master sold it to me. Back then, I was ignorant and didn't realize it was a fragment—I paid a high price."

A fragmentary talisman, missing even a single stroke, cannot function—like a broken circuit, one hair's breadth off and the current won't flow.

"Boss, you got scammed," Li Li Yishan laughed.

Zhao Zhao Menglang's gaze sharpened slightly as he glanced at Li Li Yishan.

"Not exactly a scam—it truly is a fragment of the 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】; to have captured seven or eight tenths of it is already exceedingly rare in this age."

"Uncle Zhao, if this man could paint such a fragmentary 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】, his skill in talisman arts must be formidable," Meng Qi asked.

Such a person could not be unknown.

"You're right—he possessed terrifying talent in talisman arts. He saw Maoshan's 【Crimson Dragon Fire Talisman】 only once, and he painted this fragment," Zhao Zhao Menglang said solemnly.

"So powerful?" Meng Qi's expression changed slightly.