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

"Changqing, your analysis makes a lot of sense. Neither the Ye family, the Ning family, nor the Zhou family wants to see another Foundation Establishment cultivator in our Zhou family!"

Zhou Ruoyun said through gritted teeth, "Especially the Ye family!"

She closed the brocade box, then added, "I'll go and reject him in a couple of days!"

"Don't rush... If they want to harm the Zhou family," Chen Changqing stopped playing with the talisman brush in his hand, "we are not at the late stage of Qi Refining, so it's not very meaningful for us to hold them back... The key is to find out what their real purpose is."

"How about that?"

"I see." Chen Changqing immediately had an idea. "Since he gave us a gift, let's accept it. You don't need to refuse him directly in two days!"

"and then?"

"Just say our shop is small and can't handle big orders, but for the sake of the neighborhood, we can take thirty orders. He'll provide the materials, and we'll settle the payment in cash. Let's see how he performs!"

Zhou Ruoyun's eyes lit up.

This method is brilliant.

If Manager Wu is truly committed to cooperation, he will agree to these harsh conditions, as they will solve his immediate problem.

If he had ulterior motives, he would never accept it.

Because his goal was never those thirty talismans.

Instead, they would dedicate all of Baiyunfu Shop's production capacity to this single order for the next month.

"Okay." Zhou Ruoyun stood up, a smile curving her lips. "I'll go meet this wonderful person in two days."

Chen Changqing picked up the talisman brush again, dipped it in cinnabar, and said, "Be careful then."

Zhou Ruoyun looked at his profile, then suddenly leaned down and gently touched his forehead. "Changqing, it's so good to have you."

……

Hiss, hiss~

After Zhou Ruoyun left, Chen Changqing seemed to sense something amiss with the spirit beast pouch. He opened it and, sure enough, found the little guy had woken up.

"Good heavens, that's big enough to be considered a half-tier spirit beast!"

Today's Black Widows are the size of an egg, brightly colored, and have hard shells.

More importantly, it has excellent concealment capabilities. Its black armor can automatically avoid the divine sense of those in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, but it has not been able to completely avoid those in the later stages.

According to records, when it advances to the first-tier spirit beast, it can even evade the divine sense detection of Foundation Establishment cultivators!

A born perfect assassin!

Chen Changqing was secretly pleased, as this meant that it could continuously vomit poison, and the poison was even stronger!

Hiss, hiss~

What!

Don't want to vomit poison, do you want to eat?

Don't worry, it's already prepared for you.

Chen Changqing took out the poisonous toad skin and poisonous herb juice that he had bought at Qianchong Market.

Hiss, hiss~

The Black Widow, who has been asleep for a long time, must be very hungry. It's unexpected that she won't eat the foods she used to love.

It smacked its lips, seemingly reminiscing about the deadly poisonous meal that had once put it to sleep.

there is none left!

But I'm at the market now, so I'll buy you whatever you want to eat!

Let's come back first; there are too many people here.

Chen Changqing reopened the spirit beast bag.

Black Widow glared at him, then jumped toward the roof, hanging there straight on the central wooden beam.

What a great speed!

It turns out that it had already spit out a thread sometime beforehand.

That strand was almost transparent; even Chen Changqing couldn't notice it unless he looked closely.

"No wonder he's ranked eleventh on the 'List of the Most Deadly Poisons'; he's practically an invisible killer!"

With Black Widow revealing this skill, Chen Changqing was no longer worried about its safety.

Don't hurt people indiscriminately, especially the two young ladies in the house.

Hiss, hiss~

Don't worry, I'm not stupid, and I'm not blind.

Ok?

You've developed consciousness too?!

I'm going to find something to eat; I have a feeling my favorite food is here.

Be careful then, come back if you encounter any danger.

I will, little master.

Immediately, Black Widow disappeared.

Why add the word "small"?

I'm obviously very big, okay!

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.

At the same time, at the end of Fangshi West Street.

Manager Wu walked slowly into a small alley with his hands behind his back.

The alley was dimly lit, and moss grew in the cracks between the bricks, giving off an old and worn smell.

He stopped in front of a somewhat dilapidated wooden door and knocked three times.

Soon, the door opened.

There were no lights inside, only a beam of light reflecting down from a narrow window high up, making one vaguely see a sinister middle-aged face.

"Is it done?" the man asked.

Shopkeeper Wu bent down, his kind smile from when he was at Baiyun Talisman Shop completely gone, replaced by an expressionless old face.

"I've said my piece and given the gift. She said she needs two days to think about it."

The middle-aged man nodded.

"She'll agree in two days," Manager Wu said confidently. "No small shop can refuse the profit from two hundred mid-grade talismans."

"I understand. You may go."

"Yes."

Manager Wu slowly withdrew.

Before long, the middle-aged man, his face covered with a mask, stepped out of the door!

……

……

Another market town belonging to the Ning family is Fu Market Town, Feifei Talisman Shop.

Feifei Talisman Shop is a three-story house with a very large area and luxurious interior decoration. There are even five talisman masters on duty on the first floor, making it a very large-scale establishment.

No matter how many people there are or how luxurious the shop is, the spiritual energy of this location is pitifully low.

Although the overall scale of Youfu City is not large, the spiritual vein buried beneath it is only of the first rank.

Originally, Liu Feifei's talisman shop was just a very small storefront.

After she and Zhou Guang visited the talisman shop opened by Zhou Ruoyun, they immediately replaced it with a larger one and invited many people.

The main theme is "Compete and win"!

Yesterday, Zhou Guang took the Breakthrough Pill from the family and luckily broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining, successfully becoming a family elder and ranking eighth.

If Zhou Ruoyun sees him again, she should take the initiative to greet him.

Right now, he's on the third floor making love with Liu Feifei.

He didn't like Liu Feifei because she wasn't considered very attractive.

Who knew that Liu Feifei's skills in bed were becoming increasingly refined, even surpassing her progress in drawing talismans, making him linger and unable to stop.

"call out!"

Just as Zhou Guang was charging into battle with great enthusiasm, a poisoned needle pierced through the window and stuck in the cabinet next to the bed.

"Damn, what bad luck!"

Zhou Guang recognized the person who threw the needles, spat a mouthful of phlegm on the ground, and withdrew!

Liu Feifei was abruptly pulled down from the mountaintop, her face daring not to show the slightest displeasure. She could only shout at the departing figure, "Be careful!"

……

"Didn't I tell you not to come looking for me during this time?" Zhou Guang shouted at the masked man from outside the woods.

"Hey, you got promoted. No wonder you dared to yell at me!"

The masked man let out a strange laugh. "Hmph! Don't you even think about it? Without the supplies we gave you, do you think you could have obtained that invaluable Limit-Breaking Pill?"

"Last time, last time I told you to spare Zhou Ruoyun's life, why didn't you listen?!" Zhou Guang's voice was almost a roar. "She almost died!"

"You think I didn't want to? Zhou Ruoyun was at the peak of the sixth level. I had no choice but to kill her first and then save her!" The masked man seemed still in disbelief as he recalled that day. "Who knew, who knew..."

"Who knew you'd get beaten up and injured by a mere fifth-level Qi Refining trash?" Zhou Guang retorted sarcastically.

"That... brat, if he hadn't been hiding in the talisman shop... I would have chopped him up long ago!" the masked man gritted his teeth. "He's getting so close to Zhou Ruoyun, the one you've been longing for day and night, why didn't you kill him?"