CHAPTER 25: CHAPTER 24: MONEY COMES FIRST

With Li Xing’s help, Tang Dou bought a necklace engraved with a Beauty-enhancing Rune. Li Xing guaranteed Tang Dou that Tang Li would wear it all the time because no woman could resist a beauty buff, only then did Tang Dou leave satisfied.

After parting with Tang Dou, Li Xing exchanged a few beginner-level Energy Stones and hurried home. She spent the whole afternoon patching up the blurry talisman lines on the tricycle.

She took out an Energy Stone, placed it into the slot, and with a gentle twist of the engine, the tricycle zoomed into the sky. After flying a few circles, Li Xing tested its land function and nodded in satisfaction, feeling that this deal was worth it.

The downside was, after today’s splurge, her pockets were emptier than her face; she’d have to make money in the Star Beast Forest tomorrow.

After dinner, Li Xing returned to her room and, as usual, turned on her light-brain to browse the website.

Recently, she discovered a talisman master forum filled with detailed posts explaining talismans, from line carvings to modulating nodes, from trigram positions to rune eyes and cores. Everything was explained clearly, even the minutiae of when to use spiritual power and how much, were detailed.

Li Xing felt that the forum was tailor-made for her, so she logged on whenever she had time to learn.

Li Xing had already comprehended the Array and talisman Jade Scrolls left in the ancestor’s library. By integrating this knowledge with the talisman insights from the site, her engraving ability had advanced rapidly, all thanks to the experts on this forum.

What Li Xing didn’t know was that forums like this were everywhere. Because there were no barriers to entry, anyone could register and browse, but very few could actually learn from them. After all, not everyone could become a talisman master, and even fewer high-level talisman masters could understand the posts.

In short, this forum was a place for talisman masters of all levels to exchange ideas, display their achievements, and boast a little. They openly shared their exchanges, allowing outsiders to view them, but those outsiders often couldn’t understand them. Even if they could, they couldn’t learn; wasn’t that infuriating?

Li Xing read a few posts and felt a bit tired, she was about to log off when she suddenly noticed a paid task post. Clicking it opened, it turned out it was looking for someone to repair a Rune Plate. Li Xing read the post carefully and clicked the private chat button.

Yang Dawei received a message. His post, hanging for over half a month, finally got a response. Yang Dawei was so excited, he nearly fell off his chair, he quickly opened it.

//Delicate White Flower: How much is the repair fee? Who covers the material cost if there’s any?//

Li Xing thought forum messages would take a while to respond to, but unexpectedly, the other party was online and instantly replied.

//Money Matters: Hello, Master. The repair fee is one thousand star coins, and I’ll cover the materials.//

"Money Matters"? Li Xing quite liked this ID; she was all about making money too, but one thousand star coins were a bit low.

//Delicate White Flower: How about two thousand?//

The other party instantly replied with a crying face and started lamenting online.

//Money Matters: Master, two thousand is enough for me to buy a new one. It’s a small business, making money isn’t easy, please understand.//

//Delicate White Flower: One thousand nine.//

Yang Dawei stared at the light screen, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry. He had never seen a talisman master haggling over a hundred star coins before.

//Money Matters: One thousand five, and you cover the materials. That’s my final offer. If you can’t accept that, then let’s agree to disagree and part amicably.//

Li Xing thought for a moment before replying "Deal," and a few seconds later, the other party sent another message.

//Money Matters: Master, could you possibly show your talisman master certification?//

//Delicate White Flower: I’m not a talisman master.//

//...//

Yang Dawei was so angry he nearly pinched himself to calm down. What kind of person is this, causing trouble here!

//Money Matters: Damn! What are you doing repairing talismans if you’re not a master! Get lost!//

Considering the ID sounded like a female’s, he was being very polite and didn’t insult the other party’s female relatives.

//Delicate White Flower: I’ve been self-learning talismans, doing quite well. I can engrave various household talismans; I even repaired a Flying Device today.//

Yang Dawei stared at the light screen, thinking, "Yeah right, why don’t you say you can fix a broken heart too?"

Seeing no response from the other party, Li Xing continued persuading.

//Delicate White Flower: I see your post has been up for half a month. Probably no talisman master would bother with such a trivial task, right? Since no one else is doing it, why not let me try?//

This statement really hit a nerve with Yang Dawei. Talisman masters are ranked from low to high as Spirit, Mysterious, Earth, and Heaven grades. Even the Spirit grade talisman masters would charge upwards of three thousand for a single talisman, and the paltry sum he offered really didn’t interest anyone.

//Delicate White Flower: If you don’t trust me, we can do post-repair payment. I’ll repair the Rune Plate and send it back for you to inspect; if satisfied, you can transfer the money. How does that sound?//

Yang Dawei admitted he was a bit tempted.

//Delicate White Flower: Your posts are all repair tasks; if I’m not mistaken, you’re in the second-hand recycling business, right? Think about it, if I can work, we could potentially cooperate long-term. You’d be getting a talisman master to work for half the price, it’s like striking gold! If it were me, I’d be so thrilled I couldn’t sleep! So, consider it, will you?//

Yang Dawei admitted, this "Delicate White Flower" really had a knack for persuasion.

//Money Matters: Fine, I’ll trust you this once! But don’t even think about trying any tricks. Your IP address is in Datang City, I’ve got people there. If you dare run off with the stuff, I won’t let you off!//

After leaving the shipping address, the other party immediately went offline. Yang Dawei stared at the gray avatar, feeling restless and uneasy. After a long time, he finally resigned himself and called a courier for pickup.

Damn it, it’s just a broken Rune Plate, landing a talisman master would be a big win. If not, it’s just a few thousand lost, worth the gamble!

The courier industry on Qianyuan Continent was very mature, with Transmission Arrays connecting cities thousands of miles apart, deliveries arrived within hours. In the morning, Li Xing received a reminder about a package for her. She rode her tricycle to the community’s public courier locker and picked up the parcel sent by Money Matters. She needed to repair the Rune Plate quickly and aim for long-term cooperation with Money Matters.

Returning home, Li Xing eagerly went upstairs, opened the package revealing a twenty-centimeter diameter metal disc with many serrated grooves along the edge, seemingly pried from a machine. There was also a printed manual downloaded from the internet. After quickly glancing through it, Li Xing understood this Rune Plate was a cooling component of a refrigerator.

Using Divine Sense, Li Xing carefully inspected the Rune Plate and found the engravings weren’t complex, belonging to an entry-level mid-tier rune. The reason it couldn’t cool normally was due to an issue with the rune for element conversion serving as the core.

Such runes are generally used in mid-range refrigerators. If repaired, reselling it would easily fetch six or seven thousand. And yet Money Matters expected her to settle for just one thousand five hundred?

Li Xing chuckled coldly, truly business savvy. It’s just unfortunate she had the skills of a talisman master but not the certification, making her an unlicensed practitioner.

As the saying goes, money can baffle the hero. Knowing it’s a thankless loss, she still had to swallow it down—such is the plight of being poor!