Cautiously Cultivating Immortality in a Strange World

Chapter 7: Ruthless

"Hey, you've been out for so long, why did you come back in this state?"

As soon as Chen Lin walked out of his room, he saw the wax-yellow-faced female cultivator walking in from outside the courtyard.

Her steps were unsteady, her hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and her clothes were disheveled, as if she had just rolled around on the ground.

She also had an unknown smell on her body.

The usually sharp-tongued yellow-faced female cultivator was unusually silent this time, not even daring to look at Chen Lin, and instead kept her head down, holding a rice bag with both hands, and hurriedly walked back to her own room.

Chen Lin looked at her back with a thoughtful expression, shook his head, and didn't bother to intervene.

Here, everyone had their own way of surviving, and there was no need to get involved in others' business.

With his backpack on, Chen Lin walked out of the courtyard and walked for a while along the narrow road that had been cleared. He turned around an alley and checked around to see that no one was passing by. He then quickly dug a hole in a large snowbank that had been naturally formed by the wind and crawled inside.

After a while, a stout man with a black face and a fur hat emerged from the snow hole.

Lianyun Inn.

Chen Lin, now the black-faced man, arrived at the inn's entrance when the sky had already completely darkened.

"Halt, this place has already been booked for the day. If you want to stay, please go elsewhere!"

Just as he was about to enter, someone blocked his way.

"Oh, I'm a talisman master. I heard that the Young Master Lu, is offering a reward for crafting talismans, so I came to give it a try."

Chen Lin's voice had also changed, becoming somewhat hoarse.

Whether it was the facial disguise or the voice-changing pill, they were all made by Chen Lin using his "Hit Every Ten Times" ability, which was a test of his innate talent.

"Ah, a talisman master, please follow me!"

Upon hearing that Chen Lin was a talisman master, one of the two guards immediately smiled and welcomed him in.

Chen Lin was slightly surprised.

He had thought he would need to go through a lot of trouble, wondering what to say if they asked to verify his identity, but it turned out they didn't ask anything at all.

It was unclear whether Lu Li was really enthusiastic about the Soul-Restraining Talisman or felt that no one in Kaiyuan City dared to harm a descendant of the Lu family.

In any case, it saved him from a lot of trouble.

Following the servant, Chen Lin walked into the inn's main hall and saw that there were already over ten people present.

In the center of the hall, Lu Li sat in a chair with an unreadable expression.

His junior sister sat behind him.

After Chen Lin was led into the hall, the servant retreated, and seeing that no one was speaking, he found a corner and sat down quietly.

Then, several more people were led in.

After that, no one else came.

After waiting for a while, Lu Li raised his eyebrows and stood up from the chair. 

"Thank you, esteemed talisman masters, for your presence!"

He first bowed and then looked around the room, and said, "I'm sure you all know why I've gathered you here. My time is limited, so I won't waste words. This is the method for crafting the Soul-Restraining Talisman. Please take a look!"

He then took out a jade slip, which was the one he had obtained from the old shopkeeper at Treasure Pavilion.

Chen Lin noticed that as soon as Lu Li finished speaking, the eyes of everyone in the room lit up.

Regardless of whether they could obtain the reward of spirit stones, being able to get the method for crafting a rare talisman like this was worth the trip.

He estimated that at least half of these people were here to take advantage of the situation.

"I'll go first. I want to see what's so special about this Soul-Restraining Talisman that it requires Young Master Lu to host a talisman-crafting conference to create it!"

A red-faced man stepped forward, gave a cold, sidelong glance, and took the jade slip.

The information inside the jade slip required spiritual power to view, and he attached it to his forehead. His face began to change color rapidly.

Soon, the man's face turned pale, and he seemed to want to say something, but after glancing at Lu Li, he didn't speak and instead handed the jade slip to the second person.

The second person received it with a puzzled expression, and after observing it, his face also turned pale.

The jade slip was then passed around the room, and each person's face didn't look good after viewing it.

Finally, it was Chen Lin's turn.

He attached the jade slip to his forehead, and his spiritual power transformed into a probing hand that entered the slip.

A series of images appeared in Chen Lin's mind.

This feeling was very strange, something that ordinary people could never understand.

Soon, the method for crafting the Soul-Restraining Talisman was understood.

According to the contents of the jade slip, the requirements for crafting the Soul-Restraining Talisman were not high, and the manufacturing process was not complex.

However, there was a major flaw.

That was that the stability of this talisman was extremely poor, and the success rate was almost zero if crafted normally.

To increase the success rate, the crafter had to use their own soul as a catalyst, and fuse it into the talisman.

The more soul energy infused, the higher the success rate.

Even so, the final success rate was still quite low, and the stability of the talisman was still poor. It was only able to maintain its effects for a day and a night at most.

The jade slip also contained a secret method for splitting one's soul, but it was a crude and simple technique that posed a significant risk to the user.

Chen Lin returned the jade slip to Lu Li and his face was also not looking too good.

Of course, he was just pretending.

With his "Hit Every Ten Times" ability, he only needed to follow the normal crafting method to successfully craft the Soul-Restraining Talisman, without needing to use the soul catalyst.

At the same time, he thought it was a pity.

This talisman had too many drawbacks, and its effects could only last for a day. Otherwise, it would be a great item for him to use his innate talent to make money.

Moreover, this talisman was too niche, neither an attack nor a defense type, but rather used for soul collection.

A soul collection item that could only last for a day, it was unclear what it could be used for.

It was unclear who would buy it even if it was crafted.

"Alright, everyone should now understand the method for crafting the Soul-Restraining Talisman. It's not complicated, but the success rate is a bit low. However, I've prepared sufficient materials, and the room is ready. Let's get started!"

Lu Li took out a large pile of materials from his storage bag and spoke loudly.

However, no one moved.

After a long silence, the red-faced man finally broke the silence, "Young Master Lu, crafting this Soul-Restraining Talisman will cause too much damage to our souls. You didn't make it clear earlier, so I'm afraid I won't be able to help."

Immediately, a withered old man gave a cold, sidelong glance and said, "That's right. Although Young Master Lu’s reward is quite generous, our souls are the foundation of our cultivation. If we suffer damage, we'll be cut off from the path of immortality. A few thousand spirit stones aren't enough to make me do this!"

"Hmph!"

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Lan Yuqing, who had been sitting silently, suddenly burst out laughing.

She also gave a cold, sidelong glance and said, "This Daoist friend is probably around 60 or 70 years old, and yet his cultivation is only at the Qi Refining third stage. He's still stubbornly pursuing the path of immortality. It's truly admirable!"

Her voice was like silver bells, but her words were piercing.

The old man's face turned red, but he still stubbornly said, "Even if my path is dark, soul damage will still have a significant impact on us talisman crafters. I won't create such a talisman, farewell!"

He then walked towards the door with a cold face.

"Hmph!"

Lu Li's face turned cold.

"Do you think this is a place where you can come and go as you please?"

After speaking, a black light shot out from his hand, piercing through the old man's chest, and then flashed back to Lu Li's hand.

The entire process was over in the blink of an eye, and the old man didn't even have time to react before falling to the ground dead.

Everyone gasped in shock, looking at Lu Li with a mixture of fear, anger, and horror.

But no one dared to speak out.

Even the two people who had shown signs of weakness earlier were forced to hold back their words.