Nan Yan ran to the market entrance, covering her face. Unlike the casual stalls elsewhere, there was a shop with a signboard simply reading “Mechanical Armor.”
Ji Yang was waiting at the door and waved as she approached.
“I couldn’t find you, so I had to resort to this… What’s wrong? Did you encounter trouble buying medicine?”
Nan Yan felt slightly embarrassed. She had intended to buy something for Ji Yang but ran into Chu Jing instead. Now, empty-handed, she felt awkward.
“I got the medicine, but I met a sucker and sold the two talismans you gave me for spirit stones…” Nan Yan explained, briefly recounting her encounter with Yin Ya while avoiding mentioning Chu Jing.
“Silver Mermaid Gauze?” Ji Yang listened, then looked at Nan Yan with an odd smile. “He indeed got a bargain. With that gauze, he should be able to move freely in the outer areas of the Filthy Valley hunting grounds.”
Nan Yan had heard this term several times and felt it was familiar. “What’s the Filthy Valley?”
The shop owner, looking up from a pile of wooden parts, chimed in, “Little girl, you don’t know? Cultivators need materials for pill refining and tool crafting. These materials come from secret realms or beast corpses. Hunting beasts requires suitable hunting grounds. The cultivation world has three major hunting grounds: the outer Filthy Valley, the Northern Sea Demon Vortex, and the Mountain Sea Forbidden Region. The latter two are in the upper States and too dangerous, only explorable after Core Formation. But the Filthy Valley is right here in Fan State. It’s perpetually foggy, with beasts occasionally emerging to wreak havoc in nearby mountains. Every year, groups of cultivators venture there to hunt.”
Nan Yan asked, “But what does this have to do with the Silver Mermaid Gauze?”
Ji Yang explained, “While the beasts in Filthy Valley are dangerous, what truly deters cultivators is an evil entity called ‘Yin Zhu.’ You should have read about it in ‘Fan State Geography,’ which I asked you to study carefully.”
Nan Yan recalled reading about it. It was so terrifying that she had knocked on Ji Yang’s door one sleepless night, seeking comfort.
‘Yin Zhu’ were evil entities formed when deceased cultivators lingered at their place of death, merging with earth energy. Formless and incorporeal, they had human faces and ghost bodies, resembling flying heads with fangs. Upon encountering cultivators, they would swarm, first draining spiritual energy, then devouring life force, leaving the cultivator an empty shell before possessing the body, turning it into a walking corpse.
Though vicious, Yin Zhu depended on Earth’s energy and couldn’t leave the inner Filthy Valley. Cultivators wishing to enter the inner valley for treasures needed items that could completely conceal spiritual energy, with mermaid items being the best for this purpose.
“The beast breeding season is approaching, and the outer Filthy Valley hunting grounds will open soon. The Foundation Establishment cultivator you mentioned who obtained the Silver Mermaid Gauze won’t miss this opportunity.”
Nan Yan realized, “No wonder Chu Jing mentioned the hunting grounds opening soon. He forcibly bought my brush for this reason.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ji Yang turned to her. Nan Yan immediately covered her mouth.
“You encountered Chu Jing?” Ji Yang raised an eyebrow, looking her over again. Seeing she wasn’t hurt, he deduced she must have compromised.
Nan Yan nodded silently.
“You did the right thing. You shouldn’t conflict with them when I’m not around… But, if I hadn’t urged you, you rarely hold a brush. Why would you choose a brush-type magical tool?” Ji Yang asked, immediately noticing Nan Yan’s evasive gaze. He understood instantly. “You wanted to give it to me?”
Nan Yan pressed her lips together. “…It didn’t work out, so let’s not talk about it.”
As the Book of Songs says, “To reciprocate a peach with a plum.”
Ji Yang’s only expectation for Nan Yan was for her to cultivate safely and successfully. Once their fate-binding lock was removed, Nan Yan could search for her family, and he could seek revenge, each following their destiny.
Now, he felt a bit delighted.
“Friend, here are the mechanical armor parts you ordered. Please check them,” the shop owner said, laying out various components. “Twenty square tenons, three chi of iron-plated wooden flowers, six rhinoceros horn beaks, a box of spirit-isolating teeth, a bamboo tube of binding sap, four first-grade wind snake cores. Our shop offers top-quality goods and craftsmanship. As for assembly, hehe~ that depends on individual skill.”
Nan Yan stood on tiptoe, watching Ji Yang pack these wood and metal parts into his storage bag and pay. Though it didn’t seem like much, it cost over 500 spirit stones. She asked curiously, “Are you making a mechanism?”
The shopkeeper, having made a good profit, answered enthusiastically, “In cultivation, one should dabble in pills, tools, talismans, and formations. Mechanical armor is among the easiest yet most challenging to learn. With enough intelligence, even a Qi Refinement cultivator can create armor to resist Foundation Establishment attacks. However, it’s prone to errors, and how much wealth your friend can afford to waste remains to be seen.”
Nan Yan, always trusting Ji Yang unconditionally, tugged at his clothes and whispered, “Do you need anything else for the mechanical armor? I have money now.”
Ji Yang chuckled, “I don’t need anything. Keep it for yourself. It’s getting late; we should head back to the sect.”
Disappointed at not being able to give a gift, Nan Yan remained dejected until they reached her residence. Ji Yang called out to her before she entered.
“Wait a moment.”
Nan Yan turned, “What is it?”
Ji Yang said, “Don’t take petty victories to heart.”
Nan Yan nodded as if she understood, but the regret in her brow was hard to conceal. Ji Yang found it amusing and knelt, speaking gently, “A’Yan, hold out your hand.”
Puzzled, Nan Yan extended her palm. Ji Yang revealed his hand from behind his back, fingers slightly spread. A cool sensation fell into Nan Yan’s palm, followed by a blue glow seeping through their fingers. A space-swimming fish swayed its tail, slowly circling Nan Yan, illuminating her eyes brilliantly.
Nan Yan was momentarily stunned, then felt the urge to burn all the books under her bed.
…No scholarly gentleman or gallant hero could compare to her brother in the slightest.
She quickly pinched her waist to calm herself: “Brother… Shao Cang, why did you think of giving me this?”
“…”
Ji Yang paused briefly. He couldn’t recall why he had been motivated to stop at that stall earlier. Perhaps he simply thought Nan Yan would want it, so he acted on that impulse.
Occasionally entertaining children wasn’t so bad, Ji Yang thought. He found a suitable explanation: “Consider it a return gift for what you wanted to give me earlier.”
Nan Yan looked puzzled. “But… I didn’t give you anything.”
Ji Yang stood up, his eyes filled with a subtle emotion. “You already have.”
Later, after closing the door and lying down, Nan Yan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She improvised a fish tank using an ink-wash bowl, placing it by her bedside. Watching the空行鱼 (a type of flying fish) swim up and dive back down, she giggled for a while.
If only Shao Cang were her real brother, she mused. Her mother might say he shouldn’t be, as it would allow for… other possibilities. But Nan Yan’s plump figure always forced her to maintain a composure beyond her years.
Pinching her belly to clear her mind, Nan Yan used the fish’s bioluminescence to retrieve the jade box from her qiankun pouch. She remembered its peculiarity, feeling an inexplicable desire to possess it.
Carefully opening the box, she found no spiritual light emanating from within. Instead, several items lay quietly inside:
1. High-quality beast skin talismans, superior to paper ones. Ji Yang could create even better talismans with these.
2. A water-repelling pearl that allows cultivators to stay underwater for an hour – more effective than common water-repelling techniques and useful even after Foundation Establishment.
3. Half of a black jade talisman, is typically used to record cultivation techniques or exchange important information among cultivators.
Nan Yan examined the jade talisman, seeing only the characters “… ye shu” (possibly part of “业书” or “Karma Book”). When she pressed it to her forehead and probed with her spiritual sense, she was repelled, glimpsing only fragmented text.
Realizing the talisman was damaged and its contents unreadable, Nan Yan understood why the old man named Qiu had included it.
Suddenly inspired by her pearl necklace, which could deceive Foundation Establishment cultivators, Nan Yan wondered if she could use it to bypass the talisman’s defenses. She sat cross-legged, pressed the talisman to her forehead, and channeled spiritual energy into the pearl while probing the talisman again.
This time, her consciousness penetrated a dark red barrier. Five ancient, blood-red characters appeared in her mind: “Seven Buddhas’ Karma Book.” They rearranged to form a preface: “I am the Buddha of killing and karma, enlightened to offer wisdom to demons!”
The phrase unleashed a torrent of images in Nan Yan’s mind as if thousands of golden Buddhas were chanting demon-slaying mantras. She could only endure for three breaths before losing consciousness.
When she awoke at dawn, Nan Yan found the talisman had crumbled to dust, leaving a fragmented Buddhist cultivation technique imprinted in her mind. She realized its value but also its potential connection to demonic practices. Cautiously, she decided to attempt the first level, ready to abandon it if necessary.
As she practiced, Nan Yan discovered the technique compressed her spiritual energy, making it more potent but potentially depleting it faster in prolonged battles. However, her naturally abundant spiritual energy made her well-suited for this intensive cultivation method.
After several cycles, Nan Yan finished her practice. As she retracted her spiritual energy, a light sound emanated from her dantian, and impurities seeped from her body. Surprisingly, her newly transformed energy, now glowing with a golden light, aggressively eliminated these impurities.
When Nan Yan opened her eyes, they briefly shone with a Buddha-like radiance. As her consciousness returned to normal, she couldn’t help but be shocked by the technique’s intensity.
“This cultivation method… it’s so ruthless!”