Chapter 19
Nine lay on the bed and browsed the community a little longer.
Since Nine couldn't leave the room, the community was about the only place to find useful information.
[Talent: Five-Element Spiritual Roots 9755 / 10000]
[Cultivation Art: Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art 6th Star 1204/2000]
[Current Realm: Qi Refining 1st Star 98.5%]
Even now, the automatic training of the Cultivation Art Dao continued.
After a while, Nine came across a post.
[An Analysis of the Multiple Factors Behind the Market Crash]
Talisman Master | Views 3,352,201 | Likes 114,339 | Comments 33,214
It was the top post in the trending section.
The author was a certain venerable expert with a verified handle.
A verified handle was one of the many immense privileges enjoyed by Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The name Talisman Master made Nine feel an instant kinship.
What a bold name and impressive presence.
Someday, she wanted a verified handle like that, too.
Then, an unpleasant memory suddenly flashed through her mind.
[The fact that talismans were even part of the cultivation world was ridiculous to begin with. Sword Dao should take their place now.]
Sword Dao Emperor
She'd scrolled past it without giving it much thought.
Sword Dao Emperor.
That lunatic had a verified handle, too.
So the lunatic who camped out in the community every single day, posting crap, was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
“Heh, madness and genius are only a step apart….”
Doing her best to accept that, Nine erased Sword Dao Emperor's name from her mind.
Then she clicked on Senior Talisman Master's trending post.
[An Analysis of the Multiple Factors Behind the Market Crash]
Talisman Master | Views 3,352,201 | Likes 114,339 | Comments 33,214
Anyone with a halfway decent eye can tell this situation isn't simple.
It started with the lowest-grade talismans.
With the government leading the way in building talisman factories, even the most basic talismans are now worth less than paper.
That's because the government is deliberately flooding the market with them at low prices.
And now it's the low- and mid-grade talismans.
The details vary depending on the type and purpose, but most talismans have fallen to one-fifth of their former price.
You're all focused on the fact that prices have dropped, but does anyone know why?
Of course you don't.
How could ants possibly grasp Heaven's grand design?
Even I have only glimpsed its vague outline……
Many factors are intertwined.
First, the colonization of external star systems.
Over the past five years, the value of Might Talismans, which enhance physical abilities, has steadily declined.
The number of ordinary people has grown exponentially, and there aren't enough planets for them to live on.
The government decided to expand the territory occupied by humanity.
Might Talismans have little effect on cultivators, but they're incredibly effective for ordinary people.
They can turn a frail body that could barely lift 300 kilograms into one capable of lifting tons.
Spirit stone mines, colonizing other planets, fighting native creatures.
They're convenient for all sorts of work, so demand outstrips supply.
Then why are prices falling instead of rising?
I already gave you the reason.
As cultivation technology keeps advancing, the lowest-grade talismans can now be churned out in factories.
The second reason follows the same logic.
Anyone who took a close look at which low- and mid-grade talismans had lost value might have figured it out.
Every talisman that dropped in price is related to combat.
Talismans for daily life or special purposes have actually gone up in price.
Fire Bomb Talismans, Water Bomb Talismans, Golden Wall Talismans, Earth Dragon Talismans……
Only the basic combat talismans based on the Five Elements have crashed.
Here's some news from the research institute of the government department where this fellow Daoist used to work.
They say the technical bottleneck for mass-producing low- and mid-grade talismans has been broken.
It's a blessing for humanity, but a disaster for talisman makers like us.
If any youngsters still think prices are going to bounce back, give it up.
If you have a brain, you should know what that means.
……
Countless other causes were intertwined with those two.
Though the endless scrolling was wearing her down, Nine read the post carefully to the end.
Then she came to a conclusion.
“I-I don't think this has much to do with me, does it?”
In other words.
The prices of the lowest-, low-, and mid-grade talismans had fallen.
And every one of them was a basic combat talisman.
Nine understood the situation perfectly.
“So it's only a problem for talentless mediocrities, right?”
She hadn't drawn a wide variety of talismans on her path toward the Great Talisman Dao.
She was one of those people who only drew combat talismans that made money.
And the easiest ones to make, too: talismans based on the Five Elements.
If those people had learned a variety of talisman-making techniques and steadily built up their foundations, they wouldn't have taken such a big hit.
Their profits might have shrunk a little, but their cultivation wouldn't have suffered.
“What the heck is this…?”
The Talisman Gallery she'd once admired was starting to seem pathetic.
Now that the illusion had shattered, she could see the truth.
She immediately closed the community and got out of bed.
Flap~
Pou, who'd perked up again, slipped into the bed Nine had warmed.
Nine shot Pou an incredulous look, then ignored it and leaned back against the bed.
Thinking about it calmly.
A hundred thousand or so Credits would be enough for her current cultivation.
It was the cultivation art she'd learned that cost an absurd amount; an ordinary early-stage Qi Refining cultivator could train with just tens of thousands of Credits.
But Nine couldn't be satisfied with that.
Ordinary? Average? Enough? Those were words that only talentless mediocrities were content with.
A special person like her needed a special cultivation method.
“Huaaah…”
She took one deep breath.
Her chest rose and fell.
It was a routine Nine always performed when making an important decision.
Strictly speaking, Nine couldn't mock the people in the Talisman Gallery.
They at least knew how to draw Five-Element talismans, while all she knew how to do right now was make three basic lowest-grade talismans.
So she decided to learn.
‘I needed to learn talisman-making techniques worthy of my core cultivation art anyway.’
[Hundred Talisman Method - 700,000 Credits]
For an Earth-grade cultivation art whose name even ended in “Method,” the price was surprisingly low.
Talisman-making techniques were generally this cheap.
What was truly expensive was alchemy for making pills, artifact refinement for making magical items, and formations.
‘So they pick on easy targets like talismans…. Damn cartel bastards.’
Nine inwardly wept as she worried about the future of talismans.
Then she made up her mind.
Someday, she'd root out those entrenched parasites.
[Balance: 140,000 Credits]
She squeezed her eyes shut and bought the talisman materials.
3,000 sheets of lowest-grade paper for 30,000 Credits, 30 bottles of lowest-grade ink for 30,000 Credits, and 10 low-grade spirit stones for 80,000 Credits.
[Balance: 0 Credits]
Low-grade talismans were worth a third of what they used to, and mid-grade ones a sixth.
The profit margin didn't matter to Nine.
Since she only used the cheapest materials, she could draw as many as she wanted without worrying about the cost.
It only meant earning a little less.
As soon as the materials arrived, she began drawing talismans.
This time, too, she was drawing Might Talismans.
She'd reached the point where she could draw them with her eyes closed.
She cultivated the Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art with one side of her mind while channeling her Talisman Dao spiritual power to draw talismans with the other.
Once the Introductory Talisman Dao Art reached 10th Star Great Perfection, her odds of producing a mid-grade talisman increased.
A full three out of every ten talismans she drew came out mid-grade.
Shhk!
Two sheets were filled at once by her dazzling strokes.
Nine was drawing talismans with both hands.
It took less than a minute to draw one.
At that rate, working with both hands, it took her less than two days to draw 3,000.
The sturdy body of a Qi Refining cultivator could easily go two days without sleep.
[User: Eun Nine]
[Talent: Five-Element Spiritual Roots 10000 / 10000 (Breakthrough Available)]
[Constitution]
[Talisman Dao Sacred Body Rank 1 7190 / 10000]
[Cultivation Art: Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art 7th Star 500/5000]
[Current Realm: Qi Refining 1st Star 100% (+47% Spiritual Power Compression in Progress…)]
[A deposit of 530,000 Credits has been made by Ryu Yeonhwa.]
“Ah……”
So it wasn't going to happen in one go, after all.
Well, of course not.
Nine gave a hollow laugh, then spent 60,000 Credits on another 3,000 sheets of paper and 30 bottles of ink.
She still had plenty of spirit stones left.
She started drawing talismans again like a machine.
This time it took another two days, and Nine was beginning to feel sleepy.
[Balance: 1,000,000 Credits]
The perfectly round balance in her account was beautiful.
But something was even more beautiful than that….
“Pou.”
Nine called out to Pou, who'd fallen fast asleep on the bed.
Pou~?
Nine unfurled Pou, who fluttered and made a strange sound, and gave a proud smile.
[User: Eun Nine]
[Talent: Five-Element Spiritual Roots 10000 / 10000 (Breakthrough Available)]
[Constitution]
[Talisman Dao Sacred Body Rank 1 10000 / 10000 (Breakthrough Available)]
[Golden Sea, Azure River (金海滄川) 0/ 10]
[Cultivation Art: Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art 7th Star 1900/5000]
[Current Realm: Qi Refining 1st Star 100% (+100% Spiritual Power Compression Limit)]
[Body Refining Dao (煉身道)]
Spiritual Power Density: 71.9
Physical Activation: 24.5
Divine Sense Strength: 0
[Cultivation Art Dao (功法道)]
[Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art 1/1]
“Today, I always surpass who I was yesterday.”
Nine let Pou go and gently closed her eyes.
Familiar darkness covered her eyelids, and she laid a hand over her faintly pulsing heart.
Thump, thump—!
Inside her pretty pink heart was nothing but pure Talisman Dao spiritual power.
Unable to grow any further, the Talisman Dao spiritual power lay uncomfortably packed inside her.
Nine looked at it with pity and whispered softly.
“Talisman Dao Sacred Body, breakthrough.”
Boom, boom!, boom!!
Her heart began to pound violently.
The pure symbol of life sprang to its feet, scattering pitch-black blood.
As if proclaiming its presence, the heart roared fiercely and swelled until it seemed ready to burst.