In the world of cultivation, one grinds for proficiency and longevity.

"Hello, Miss Feifei, here you go!"

At the door, Chen Changqing encountered Liu Feifei walking towards him. He spoke first and returned the notebook.

Why?

Liu Feifei was surprised. In her opinion, Chen Changqing would need at least two or three months to learn the three runes. Now that he was no longer lending them, he must be tormented by those obscure runes.

"It's no longer needed."

Chen Changqing's tone was dejected, giving the impression that he "couldn't learn" or "didn't want to learn."

"Oh?"

Seeing this, Liu Feifei was secretly pleased, but she calmly comforted her, saying, "You must have been tormented by those runes, right? I was the same way back then, and I almost wanted to throw away my notebook."

Immediately, she stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and said in a coquettish tone:

"Brother Chen, the difference between having someone to teach you and not having someone to teach you this delicate skill is huge. How about... I teach you?"

"No need."

Chen Changqing took a half step back to create some distance. "I think what I said before was a bit unrealistic. Let's study those three simple runes thoroughly first."

"Like this..."

Liu Feifei wasn't annoyed. She chuckled and pushed the notebook forward again. "This stuff will just gather dust if I leave it here. Why don't you leave it with Brother Chen? It'll be more convenient for you to study later, won't it?"

Liu Feifei was unwilling to give up, thinking that once Chen Changqing agreed, she could ask to borrow cultivation resources.

Ugh, this is really troublesome.

They must have tasted success last time.

"Miss Feifei, no need. Just looking at this thing gives me a headache!"

Chen Changqing had completely mastered the three runes, so how could he give the other party any opportunity to take advantage of him?

"Alright... come find me when you need me."

Liu Feifei's smile froze completely, replaced by a look of embarrassment and anger at having her thoughts exposed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Zhou family.

A spiritually rich area between the island in the middle of the lake and Cuiya Mountain Villa.

"Oh my, that's strange, miss. You're even stumped sometimes?"

In a room filled with the fragrance of books, the maid Xiaoyue saw that Zhou Ruoyun had failed to draw talismans seven or eight times in a row without succeeding once. She opened her mouth wide and ate.

In her memory, her young mistress was incredibly intelligent and could handle anything.

"This talisman is indeed not my forte. However, everything is difficult at the beginning, and I will persevere so that I can open a talisman shop in the market in the future." Zhou Ruoyun's expression was firm.

"If even the young lady finds it so difficult, then it must be even more difficult for that young master who is so skilled in martial arts."

"Huh, why is my little Yue worried about someone else? Could it be...?"

Zhou Ruoyun looked strange and kept giggling.

Hehehe~

Seeing her young mistress teasing her, Xiaoyue's eyes flickered. Far from being happy, she pretended to be mysterious and spoke again, "Miss, you're still laughing at me? Don't you know?"

After saying that, he started laughing to himself again.

Seeing this, Zhou Ruoyun's curiosity was piqued, and she feigned annoyance, saying, "Xiaoyue, you've completely affected my talisman-drawing. If you don't explain why, I'll punish you by making you copy a book!"

"Hehehe, I won't copy books, Miss, listen carefully," Xiaoyue cleared her throat, "You know that Young Master Chen rejected many of our ordinary women before..."

"Yes, I know that."

"Later, after the last competition, the young master performed exceptionally well and was appreciated by the Fifth Elder of Chongwu... After some time, three beauties were selected for him again."

Xiaoyue took a sip of tea. "And, Miss, do you know? You know all three of these women: Sister Youran, Sister Azhu, and Sister Laiqing."

"Oh, they're all cultivators with spiritual roots, so who will he choose?" Zhou Ruoyun's beautiful eyes darted around. "I guess it'll be You Ran. She's not only voluptuous but also looks young, which most men would like."

"No, no. He won't choose anyone, not even when the Fifth Elder is furious..."

Xiaoyue spoke vividly and even imitated Zhou Hao's tone when he was in a bad mood.

"Not choosing? This talisman... I don't even think it's easy to draw... Could it be that he wants to go and reclaim wasteland in five years?" Zhou Ruoyun was quite puzzled.

"That's right, no one knows what Young Master Chen is thinking... Anyway, there are all sorts of rumors going around."

"What rumor?"

"Rumor has it that if it's not that he's impotent, then... it's that he can't forget you and can't have room for other women in his heart!"

"Still thinking about me? What makes you say that?" Zhou Ruoyun was truly surprised.

Xiaoyue said very seriously, "That means that when Young Master Chen met you three years ago, he fell in love with you at first sight and his feelings for you were deeply rooted."

"This is utter nonsense, utter rubbish!" Zhou Ruoyun said sternly.

"Xiaoyue, people are spreading rumors, and you're just joining in. If you ever mention this ridiculous thing in front of me again, I'll punish you by making you copy a book a hundred times!"

"No! People already know."

Xiaoyue didn't want to copy the book, so she quickly changed the subject and said in a soft, sweet voice:

"Miss, when we open a talisman shop in the future, will we be competing with Zhou Guang for contribution points?"

That guy was really something. Last time, with so many people competing, he didn't even give you a break, only getting second place.

Zhou Guang was originally surnamed Xiao, but after being adopted by the Third Elder, he changed his surname to Zhou. He has a cultivation level of the late stage of the fifth level of Qi Refining.

"It's not about vying for contributions; it's just that my spiritual roots are lacking, and I need to acquire a skill to protect myself. Besides, why should I ask someone to let me win in a fair and square competition? Are you saying I can't accept defeat?"

Immediately, Zhou Ruoyun adopted a rather serious tone:

"Also, Xiaoyue! The Ye family is eyeing our Zhou family covetously. You said something detrimental to unity, so go and copy some books for me now!"

"Ah?! No, Miss, I was wrong!"

"No way, you won't learn your lesson if I don't copy it!"

"..."

After Xiaoyue left, Zhou Ruoyun picked up the talisman brush again, but unexpectedly, she failed to draw it successfully three times in a row. She thought to herself:

This talisman for warding off evil is way too difficult...

If low-grade talismans are difficult to make, high-grade talismans are even more so.

Could it be... that my Dao heart has been affected?!

Immediately, the image of a young man in white flashed through her mind.

Immediately afterward, he shook his head and continued drawing talismans.

……

Six months later, Li Erniu had three children, named Zhou Quan, and remarried, living like a wealthy old man.

Liang Shenggang's wife, Zhou Qiao'er, hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy, perhaps because of her previous injury.

In the past six months, in order to obtain more cultivation resources, Liu Feifei has been manipulating multiple men and women in the Zhou family, and has even taken the meat of some poor immortal seedlings' spirit beasts...

She is obsequious, deceptive, and even willing to sacrifice her sexuality, all in an effort to get promoted by any means necessary.

She already had a good talent for drawing talismans, and with such hard work, her success rate in producing low-grade first-tier talismans reached 50%; she could also occasionally produce mid-grade talismans.

The path to becoming a guest advisor is in sight.

Chen Changqing's low-grade talisman making appears to be 30%, but with the help of his cheat system, it actually reaches 70%.

He also had 20% mid-grade talismans, which was far higher than Liu Feifei, who had been drawing talismans for three years longer than him.

Even so, Chen Changqing still greatly admired Liu Feifei, who didn't have any special abilities.

The day Miss Zhou learned that Chen Changqing had become a lower-level talisman master, she immediately rewarded him in her own name with a set of tools for drawing exquisite talismans, worth about fifty spirit stones.

Chen Changqing initially refused because the gift was expensive, and he thought the other party had some ulterior motive towards him.

Moreover, deep down he didn't want to get too close to any of the women in the Zhou family, especially those who were exceptionally beautiful.

"Without sufficient strength, a beautiful woman is a danger!"