Su Luo hurried along and finally left the forest before sunset, following a winding stream until she reached a bustling town.
This town was called Bishui Town, the closest town to Tianyiji Sect. Most of the shops here were backed by Tianyiji Sect, which made the place extremely lively.
Besides shop owners and street vendors, disciples dressed in the attire of Tianyiji Sect could be seen walking around everywhere, looking thoroughly pleased with themselves. Even rogue cultivators and disciples from minor sects who came here on business wouldn't dare talk back to them.
Who could blame them? Tianyiji Sect was one of the most powerful sects in the Cultivation World today, and those rogue cultivators and minor sect disciples simply didn't dare provoke them.
Su Luo touched the veil on her face and pulled back her gaze. Fortunately, she had put the veil on before coming in.
Even though most of those people were outer disciples, they still recognized her face. To avoid trouble, this was her only option.
Before she had absolute strength, she just had to keep a low profile and develop in secret.
Su Luo took a breath, strolling along the bluestone-paved street while sizing up the quaint shops on both sides to find a place to rest temporarily. Eventually, she found a familiar tavern.
Su Luo had visited this tavern several times in her past life. The first floor was for dining, while the second and third floors were for lodging, much like a modern hotel.
After entering, Su Luo tapped the counter with her finger, and the tavern owner poked his head out.
"I'd like a top-quality room."
Even though the young girl in front of him wore a veil and dressed simply in a very low-key manner, the tavern owner could still sense the aura of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator coming from her. He nodded repeatedly without hesitation.
"Certainly! Esteemed guest, would you like a room on the second floor or the third floor?"
Su Luo pondered, "The third floor, then."
The higher the floor, the more expensive it was and the better the rooms. Besides, she had money now, so why not treat herself?
"Very well! Would you like any other services?"
Su Luo produced some Mid-grade Spirit Stone. "Have some of your signature dishes prepared and sent up. I won't be coming back down."
These Mid-grade Spirit Stones were enough for her to eat, drink, and laze around here for a week, though she only planned to stay three or four days.
Su Luo honestly had no choice.
Bishui Town was the most suitable place to stop right now. The towns further ahead would require two days and two nights of Sword Flight to reach, and Su Luo really didn't feel like flying on a sword anymore.
She would just take a break here, then go out and buy materials for making talismans and a flight tool. That would take at least two days anyway.
The tavern owner smiled broadly as he took the spirit stones. "Rest assured, esteemed guest, the spirit food at our Immortal's Welcome is the most famous around. We use ingredients brimming with Spiritual Energy—not only is it delicious, but it also replenishes Spiritual Energy!"
"Alright, bring plenty of it."
"You got it!"
Just like that, Su Luo was led up to the third floor by a tavern waiter, passing two Tianyiji Sect disciples along the way.
They didn't notice Su Luo, instead excitedly gossiping among themselves.
"Are you serious? Su Luo really left the Second Elder's tutelage and cut ties with Tianyiji Sect?!"
One of them hurriedly lowered his voice, "Shh! This can't be talked about openly yet; my senior brother told me in secret!"
The other lowered his voice as well, "Is that so? But is what you're saying true?"
"My senior brother's cultivation partner works in the inner sect, and she only found out by accident. Could it be false? Word has it that Su Luo was the one who brought it up herself. Who knows what madness has gotten into her, actually wanting to leave Tianyiji Sect..."
"Ha! It's just because she couldn't stay there any longer! If I were her, I would have left long ago..."
"That makes sense..."
Their voices gradually faded away. Su Luo didn't even lift an eyelid as she followed the waiter straight into her room.
As soon as she entered the room, she had them prepare the meals. Then she sat by the window at the table, poured herself a cup of water, and drank it while deep in thought.
She had only been gone for half a day, yet word had already spread all the way here. That shouldn't be happening. Aside from those main characters and supporting characters, nobody else should have known she was leaving, and she had kept an extremely low profile when she left...
Just who had a big mouth and leaked it, only for the inner sect disciples to find out? Liking to gossip everywhere like that, weren't they afraid someone would stab them in the back one day?
Far away in Tianyiji Sect, Sect Master Liu, who was checking the ledgers, suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body. He looked up at the bleak, quiet room, then shook his head.
Why did he feel like someone was cursing him? It must have been his imagination, right?
Looking down at the ledger before him, he noticed the massive expense for the spirit stones given to Su Luo. Sect Master Liu's expression twisted for a moment as his heart began to ache all over again.
That was simply too much! As soon as he handed the spirit stones to Su Luo, he regretted it, but he couldn't swallow his pride to ask for them back, and that girl ran fast. In the end, he could only storm off to settle accounts with Qingyazi.
Yet Qingyazi didn't care at all, instead calling him overly materialistic, which made steam practically shoot out of his ears!
That Qingyazi spent all day looking like an ethereal immortal and had no grasp of the value of spirit stones, throwing around High-grade Spirit Stones at the drop of a hat. He had no idea how much it actually cost to sustain a massive sect! If he hadn't firmly held onto the financial power and kept expenses tight, Tianyiji Sect would probably have gone down the same path as Lingxiao Sect sooner or later, pinching pennies day in and day out!
At this thought, Sect Master Liu put down the ledger and sighed.
Originally, Tianyiji Sect had dozens of Spirit Stone Veins rich in Spiritual Energy, which were more than enough to support whatever they needed to do. But for some unknown reason, ever since the ancestors of the Four Great Sects all went into seclusion at the same time, the Spiritual Energy in those Spirit Stone Veins had grown weaker by the day, constantly dissipating. Even though he ordered the sect's disciples and remaining handymen to quarry them daily, they still couldn't keep up.
By now, three Spirit Stone Veins had already turned into barren mines and could no longer be used. How could he not be worried?
"Sigh... Who knows when the ancestors will finally come out of seclusion..."
...
As the sky grew darker, the brightstones in Bishui Town slowly lit up, illuminating the entire town.
These brightstones were the equivalent of small electric lamps, a unique lighting tool in this novel. A fist-sized brightstone, as long as sufficient spiritual power was injected into it, could guarantee brightness for a month and was extremely useful.
The brightstone from the original owner's dwelling had also been brought out by Su Luo—she didn't want to waste it.
Just as she was thinking about it, someone knocked on the door and brought the food inside.
Looking at the table covered in prepared spirit food and dishes, Su Luo's eyes glowed green with hunger. However, she managed to restrain herself in front of the tavern waiter, waiting until he left to dig in heartily, almost stuffing herself to the point of bursting.
Su Luo rubbed her belly and sat down by the edge of the bed.
The taste was indeed excellent. It was just a pity that once she left this place, she probably wouldn't get to eat it anymore...
Right, since she had given so much money, she might as well have them prepare a lot more delicacies before she left, and then store them in a specialized storage bag...
The original owner's Storage Bag was a standard issue from the sect and wasn't high-grade. Time still flowed slowly inside it, so the spirit stones and spirit fruits placed within couldn't be kept for too long. It was best suited for keeping spirit stones, Dharma Treasures, and other useful items.
Su Luo had long wanted to buy a high-grade storage bag specifically for carrying all kinds of spirit food and fruit so she could grab whatever she wanted to eat—it would be too convenient. In her past life, she had owned just such a storage bag, even though Ning Wanshuang had given it to her...
Thinking of the female protagonist, Su Luo couldn't help recalling those glassy eyes in her past life, blazing with a morbid, bone-chilling light every time she faced her. Goosebumps instantly broke out all over her skin.
Su Luo hurriedly shook her head, tossing the image out of her mind. She crossed her legs, inhaled and exhaled, and prepared to settle her mind for cultivation.
Cultivation was the most important thing when venturing out into the world in the future; she had to raise her cultivation level.
On the afternoon of the second day, Su Luo went out to look for shops dealing in talisman-making supplies. She visited several, but the quality of the goods inside varied wildly. These shops were always desolate with very few visitors, nowhere near as popular as the surrounding spirit tool shops and the like.
So the moment Su Luo stepped through the door, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up as he rushed forward, his mouth chattering away for ages introducing things without stopping for even a second.
Su Luo's head began to ache from listening. She quickly bought the talisman paper she needed and slipped away as fast as she could.
In truth, it wasn't really the shopkeepers' fault for being so excited. While being a Talisman Master could earn you a fortune, it was also an absolute money pit.
Generally, drawing talismans required talisman paper, a talisman brush, and ink. The higher the grade, the higher the success rate and the greater the effect, but none of these items were cheap.
Low-grade green paper and mid-grade graphite talisman paper were priced relatively normally, but higher-grade gold paper was at least two to three times more expensive than other talisman paper. Furthermore, because talisman drawing consumed a massive amount of paper—most people might only produce one useful talisman out of hundreds or thousands of attempts—the paper alone constituted no small expense.
That didn't even factor in the costs of talisman brushes and ink.
Ordinary sects simply couldn't afford to support a Talisman Master unless those individuals belonged to a major sect or relied on a cultivation family. Talisman masters like Su Luo, who had no backing and relied on figuring things out on their own, were exceedingly rare.
As she walked down a quiet path toward the next shop, a young girl of eight or nine suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking Su Luo's path and looking at her earnestly.
"Immortal Sister, I have delicious spirit fruits here. Could you buy some to try?"