After Becoming the Hero's Ex-fiancée

After Becoming the Hero’s Ex-fiancée Chapter 154

A Messy Pot (1)

The first thing Zheng Wan did after returning to the sect was to go to the Sect Services Hall to turn in her task and get two Yuan stones—— she had now saved up thirty-three low-grade Yuan stones in total.

After that, she also went to the Internal Affairs Hall to get a new set of disciple robes. As she had gone up one rank, she didn’t have to pay additional Yuan stones.

The new disciple robes were also yellow, but there were small clouds embroidered on the hem of the skirt that served as identification.

Zheng Wan returned to her cave abode that was halfway up Zixiu Pkkk and let Ah Wan out.

“Zheng Zhenren, Ah Wan is really angry this time! Ah Wan is going to tell Zhenjun that you bullied Ah Wan and shut Ah Wan in a dark room!”
Ah Wan complained angrily, but once he saw the mess in Zheng Wan’s cave abode, he made an “ahhhr” sound and automatically lowered his head and started to clean up the house.

Zheng Wan had never done such trivial tasks in the mortal world. Also, she had been busy with cultivation previously and gone down the mountain after her cultivation, so it was already not bad that she managed to tidy up a little——
But it really wasn’t very clean.

With Ah Wan around, she was able to leave all these annoying things to him. After telling it to “clean up well”, she went to the peak master’s residence at the top of the peak amidst Ah Wan’s complaints of “I’m going to tell Zhenjun.”

“Master.”
Zheng Wan stood respectfully.

“You still know how to come back?”
Zi Xiu Daojun gave a light harumph. “You’ve only just gone up in cultivation level, but you left the mountain without first stabilising your cultivation stage, and was gone for five or six days in a row. Those who don’t know better would think you’ve gone missing.”

He threw an object from his sleeve.  Zheng Wan caught it and found that it was an extremely beautiful lotus-shaped glazed lamp the size of a palm. However, there was no lamp oil in the lamp, and it was dark.

“Master, are you giving this magical artefact to me?”

The corners of Zi Xiu Daojun’s mouth twitched.
“This is a spirit lamp.”

“Spirit lamp?”
Zheng Wan automatically recalled the contents in “The Complete Volume of Culture and Customs”.

Spirit lamps were so precious that only the elite disciples of major sects could have one. They were usually kept in the sect’s forbidden grounds and guarded by specially-assigned people. The flame in the lamp symbolises the cultivator’s life flame— when the flame is bright, it meant that everything was fine; when the flame is dull, it meant that the cultivator was either seriously injured or in danger. And when the flame went out, it meant that the cultivator was dead.

“Drip a drop of blood from your fingertip, then inject a trace of your soul consciousness into the lamp.” Zi Xiu Daojun propped up his chin lazily. “Should you run off on your own and get into trouble, I can go collect your corpse myself.”

“…”
Zheng Wan pouted, but she knew that her master meant well. She dripped a drop of blood into it, but when she was injecting her soul consciousness, Zi Xiu Daojun suddenly went, “Eh?”

The spirit lamp lit up with a boom.

Zheng Wan looked at her spirit lamp seriously. Her spirit lamp… seemed to be different from what’s written in the records.

Generally, the flames of spirit lamps were red, but her spirit lamp’s flames were a watery blue.

“Master, does this matter?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter. People who’ve severed their fates are bound to be different from ordinary people.” Zi Xiu Daojun took her spirit lamp away and waved his hand at her, indicating for her to go. Just as Zheng Wan was about to step across the threshold, he tossed a black metal token at her. “I heard that you’re selling ice talismans?”

Zheng Wan nodded, her eyes wide, “Master, how did you know?”

Zi Xiu Daojun rolled his eyes.
“I have many ears in the stall market. Take this token to the third floor of the Scripture Depository. There’s a section there that’s dedicated to talismans. Go have a look.”

“Thank you, Master.”
Zheng Wan was immediately happy, smiling so much that both eyes narrowed into two crescents. “Master, you’re so good-looking and kind-hearted. You’re simply the best!”

She had inquired about it before— one was only exempt from having to pay Yuan stones to enter the Scripture Depository when one first joined the sect. After that, one had to pay Yuan stones for each entry. It cost two low-grade Yuan stones to enter the first floor where the basic scriptures were, eight low-grade Yuan stones for the second floor, and one medium-grade Yuan stone for the third.

With her master’s black token, she would save a huge amount of money.

How could this not make her happy?

“Little flatterer.”
However, it was clear that the flattery had landed just right. Zi Xiu Daojun immediately assumed the manner of a nurturing teacher, and even generously “bestowed” upon his youngest disciple ten low-grade Yuan stones.

Zheng Wan didn’t mind the amount and happily accepted them.

“All right, go.”
Zi Xiu Daojun waved his hand. This time, he really let her go.

Having gotten the black token, Zheng Wan went down the mountain without stopping to the Scripture Depository.

Although the area before the Scripture Depository wasn’t exactly bustling with people, quite a few yellow-robed disciples were going in and out.

“Granny, you’re not going to disappear again, are you?”
Zheng Wan showed the Zixiao Peak’s peak master’s black token to the purple-clothed attendant at the registrar’s office.

“No. The place you entered on the day of your initiation was the Scripture Depository’s inner pavilion. The inner pavilion concerns the sect’s inheritance; without the activation of the five peak masters’ tokens at the same time, it won’t appear. What you’re entering now,” said Granny Jin, “is the outer pavilion.”

Zheng Wan went to the third floor, and just as her master had said, there was a whole wall of bookshelves with records of general knowledge about talismans.

She found two volumes among them— one was on universal talismans that can be used from rank one to rank five regardless of elemental type. Insights have even been recorded with a fine weasel-hair brush on the blank pages of the volume.

The other volume was about a cultivator’s varied ideas bout ice talismans.
The compendium of talismans she had previously purchased only had two ice talismans recorded— the frost arrow talisman and ice shield talisman. On the other hand, in this volume, there were about dozens of all sorts of ice talismans. The first seven ones had already been verified on the market, while the last three were creations of the author.

Zheng Wan spent five hundred Yuan beads to inscribe a copy of the two volumes onto a jade scroll. The books and scrolls of the Scripture Depository were not allowed to be taken out. In fact, they weren’t even allowed to be sold outside. However, inscribing copies were allowed.

Therefore, her life began to take on a regular rhythm from then on.

Early in the morning, she would go to the Scripture Depository to read for half a day—she knew too little about the Heavenly Realms and cultivation, and the Scripture Depository was rapidly filling up this gap.

Of course, if there were cultivators leading practice in the Illumination Hall that day, she would make time to listen. In the afternoon, after eating the special meals made by Ah Wan, she would return to her cave abode to cultivate.

All the time in the afternoon was used to purify and polish her vital energy. At night, when the moon was out, she would first practise the Illusion Creation Arts for four hours, then start drawing talismans. Of course, be it practising the Illusion Creation Arts or drawing talismans, Soul Consciousness Arts was a must.