Chapter 91: A Year Passes

Wasting a little time was nothing to He Song. As someone who sought immortality, anything that could be resolved with time was, in his eyes, not a problem at all.

And so, another year quietly passed.

During this year, He Song's life remained relatively peaceful. Although the conflict between the immortal city's enforcement team and the rogue cultivators outside the immortal market had intensified, it hadn't affected He Song's daily life.

However, six months earlier, Meng Guan had sent a message informing He Song that he had joined the immortal city's enforcement team.

After discussing the matter with Wei Fan, He Song decided not to intervene. While joining the enforcement team at this time was dangerous, Meng Guan's late-stage Qi Refining cultivation meant that as long as he was careful, he should be safe.

Additionally, with Meng Guan in the enforcement team, He Song and Wei Fan would have access to firsthand information about any movements by the rogue cultivators, significantly improving their safety within the immortal market.

Moreover, the enforcement team offered excellent benefits, and the more resources Meng Guan could gather, the better it would be for him.

For these reasons, neither He Song nor Wei Fan had any grounds to interfere. They simply sent message talismans at the beginning of each month to confirm Meng Guan's safety.

Aside from this, over the course of the year, He Song's understanding of the introductory chapter of talisman crafting had improved dramatically.

He had spent a long time studying the Earth Talisman, Swift Movement Talisman, and Golden Light Talisman, and by now, he was thoroughly familiar with the methods for crafting each of them.

When his annual stipend was issued, He Song used the one hundred-plus spirit stones to purchase low-grade talisman crafting materials.

Through continuous practice, he eventually raised his success rate for crafting low-grade Earth Talismans to over fifty percent.

With this achievement, He Song no longer needed to worry about running out of spirit stones. Once his success rate for crafting low-grade Earth Talismans exceeded fifty percent, he could start earning spirit stones through talisman crafting.

As long as he kept crafting, his spirit stone reserves would grow steadily.

This growth would only slow or stop when He Song began attempting to craft other types of talismans.

When a talisman master started learning a new talisman, it was normal to operate at a loss during the initial period of familiarization.

Only after achieving a success rate of over fifty percent with the new talisman would the talisman master's profits increase again.

With a steady income, He Song could purchase more materials for practice. In this way, he quickly mastered the crafting methods for low-grade Earth Talismans, low-grade Golden Light Talismans, and low-grade Swift Movement Talismans, raising his success rate for all three to over fifty percent.

Once he was proficient in crafting these three low-grade talismans, He Song planned to announce his identity as a talisman master. At that point, his wealth would begin to grow rapidly.

However, a year had passed in the blink of an eye, and He Song had only managed to raise his success rate for low-grade Earth Talismans to fifty percent.

As for low-grade Golden Light Talismans and low-grade Swift Movement Talismans, his success rate remained low.

After some hesitation, He Song decided to focus his efforts on improving his success rate with low-grade Earth Talismans.

The higher his success rate, the more spirit stones he could earn, and the more materials he could purchase to practice crafting the other two talismans.

Only with an ample supply of spirit stones and materials could He Song rapidly improve his talisman crafting skills. Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes.

One day, He Song opened his eyes in his quiet room and retrieved the small cargo storage bag he had hidden away for a year.

His figure then vanished as he left the room. Today was the day to harvest the spirit rice and replenish the formations in his spirit fields.

Using his earth escape technique and concealment technique, He Song moved swiftly underground, heading toward his spirit fields.

Several hours later, after passing through several mortal cities, He Song arrived at the valley where his spirit fields were located.

The valley was serene and picturesque, with ten acres of spirit rice shimmering like gold.

He Song's head emerged from a dark corner, and he scanned the area. The valley was quiet, with no signs of disturbance.

Activating his spiritual vision technique, He Song confirmed that there were no other cultivators nearby. Only then did he step into the valley, holding two mid-grade Earth Talismans in hand.

First, he replenished the spirit stones in the formations.

Then, he began harvesting the spirit rice.

Having done this once before, He Song finished harvesting all ten acres and replanting the seeds in just half an hour.

As he looked at the small cargo storage bag, now filled with an additional eleven thousand pounds of spirit rice, a satisfied smile crossed his face.

Combined with last year's harvest, He Song now had over twenty-two thousand pounds of spirit rice.

At market price, this amount was worth over two thousand two hundred spirit stones.

With this many spirit stones, He Song would have no shortage of resources even as he advanced to the late stages of Qi Refining.

Returning to the immortal market, He Song decided not to continue cultivating. Instead, he took the low-grade Earth Talismans he had crafted and headed to the market area.

The market area was a crucial part of the immortal market. Whether they were rogue cultivators or residents of the immortal market, anyone who came to the market would inevitably visit the market area.

The immortal market existed to facilitate trade among nearby cultivators, and the market area was where that trade took place.

The market area had high foot traffic, fast information dissemination, and a variety of rare and unusual items for sale.

When He Song had first transmigrated to this world over a decade ago, he had taken the time to familiarize himself with the market area.

Naturally, when he decided to announce his identity as a talisman master, the market area was his first choice.

As a talisman master, selling Earth Talismans in the market area was perfectly reasonable.

All He Song needed to do was set up a stall on days when he wasn't required to oversee the herb garden.

In no time, his identity as a talisman master would become widely known. With this additional source of income, He Song could gradually legitimize the spirit stones he earned from selling spirit rice.

In addition to selling talismans in the market area, He Song planned to use the connections he had built over the past decade in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market to spread the word about his new identity. Within a month, He Song was confident that news of his becoming a talisman master would spread throughout the entire immortal market.

And once that happened, as the manager of the herb garden, He Song could use his position to sell spirit rice without drawing any attention.

(End of Chapter)