Chapter Fifty: The Modesty Study Opens for Business

Early the next morning, Yunqi was meditating inside his thatched hut when he heard someone calling outside.

“Daoist Cheng!”

“Daoist Cheng!”

The white dog outside his hut began barking fiercely, as if displeased with the caller shouting for Yunqi.

Unsure what was happening, Yunqi hurried outside. Fixing his gaze, he recognized the man as someone who had bought talismans from him the day before. He asked what had happened—was there an issue with the talismans?

The man's face lit up with joy.

“There was no problem at all with the talismans! Daoist Cheng, you have no idea—last night, in the second half of the night, our group tried to ambush a Demonic Sect outpost. But we fell into a trap and were nearly surrounded and killed. In desperation, I threw out the five fire talismans I bought from you yesterday—all in a row!

Guess what? The five fire talismans joined together to form a corridor of flames dozens of yards long! It blasted open a path through their encirclement, and we escaped by running behind the wall of fire!”

Yunqi smiled upon hearing this. “I’m glad to hear it, very glad indeed.”

The man called out loudly,

“Daoist Cheng, please, draw me fifty more fire talismans. I’ve already reported this to my elders back at the clan. They know how effective your talismans are and, since we need them in large quantities, the elders of Huangshi Village at Red Pine Ridge have already gone to Qinglong Cave to negotiate with the Daoist masters there. So you just focus on drawing the talismans—your payment will only increase!”

Yunqi nodded with a smile.

But someone else interjected, “Hey, Huangshi Village—you think your clan is the only rich one? The only ones who can talk to Qinglong Cave? You want fifty talismans at once, leaving the rest of us to wait around?”

It was still early, and most people in the market were resting, but a loud voice complaining like this immediately woke everyone up.

Some didn’t know what was going on, but soon others explained that someone had used Daoist Cheng’s talismans to break out of an encirclement last night. The Yang Fire Demon-Breaking Talismans were particularly effective for breaking through enemy lines!

But now that someone had tasted the benefit and wanted to order fifty at once, how could that be allowed?

Impossible!

The crowd quickly grew rowdy, blocking the Huangshi Village man from leaving.

Seeing this, Yunqi smiled and said, “Everyone, I can only draw at most twenty talismans a day. You’ll have to divide them among yourselves. Each evening at sunset, just send one person to my stall to collect them—no need to crowd around here all day.”

Hearing this, the people had no choice but to agree and dispersed to discuss among themselves.

The more resourceful among them were already contacting their elders to negotiate with Qinglong Cave directly. They realized nothing would be decided by arguing here.

Meanwhile, dozens of miles away, Daoist Tianfang—Yunqi’s guarantor at Qinglong Cave—soon heard of all these groups coming to negotiate business with Qinglong Cave.

He smiled to himself, thinking, “Just as I expected. In Sanqing Mountain, when Wen Suokong and Chen Suxing first emerged from Miaonan, they amazed everyone. Now their disciples aren’t even fighting on the battlefield—they’re just drawing talismans and forging things in the market, yet in only two days they’ve already caused a sensation.”

By Yunqi’s fourth day at the Qilihe Market, he had completed both his talisman-drawing and purification tasks. Now he could return to Qinglong Cave to exchange his work for payment, or save up and exchange multiple times at once.

But at this moment, Yunqi had another idea. Seeing how well his business was doing, he decided to cut some wood from the forest and built himself a small wooden shop. Hanging a wooden sign at the entrance, he named it: Humility and Prudence Studio.

Now, with people queuing at his stall at all hours, someone soon asked,

“Daoist Cheng, what is the meaning of this?”

Yunqi explained,

“Everyone, I am a wandering Daoist attached to Qinglong Cave. The talismans and purification services I provide are under the authority of Qinglong Cave and use their tokens.

“But now I wish to open my own shop, selling only my personal wares, which have nothing to do with Qinglong Cave. If you trust me, you may buy them; if any problems arise, come to me directly—don’t blame Qinglong Cave.”

Someone asked,

“And what do you intend to sell, Daoist Cheng?”

Yunqi smiled, “Humility and Prudence Studio opens tomorrow. You’ll see then.”

That night, he returned to Qinglong Cave and handed back the token.

Back at the administrative office, the lights were bright and there was still a queue of people reporting their completed tasks.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too crowded, so Yunqi soon reached the counter.

The reporting counter was next to the task-assignment counter. The same female Daoist was still on duty and immediately recognized Yunqi.

“Senior sister, it’s him—that’s Cheng Qieqing, Daoist Cheng.”

The female Daoist at the reporting desk took the ledger Yunqi handed her and saw a row of top marks.

She smiled, “I never imagined Daoist Cheng would be so capable. You’ve made Qinglong Cave’s reputation even brighter among the villages of Miaojiang these days—even outshining Red Pine Ridge and Immortal’s Cavern.”

Yunqi nodded with a smile. “As long as I didn’t bring shame to Qinglong Cave’s name, I am content.”

She continued, “Daoist Cheng, do you wish to collect your reward for this task, or are you also returning the token?”

Yunqi replied that he only wished to collect this time’s reward; he would keep the token, as he needed to return to Qilihe Market.

The priestess breathed a sigh of relief and added, “Daoist Cheng, you did an excellent job this time and are eligible for the highest rewards. There are several options—please choose two.”

As she spoke, she placed several items on the counter.

“A half-coin of Miluo Star Sand, a Whetstone, ‘Sword Manual of Yao Guang Piercing the Moon, Volume Five,’ ‘Heavenly Authority’s Shifting Steps, Part One,’ and ‘Turtle-Snake Seal Method, Turtle Seal, Part Three.’”

Yunqi chose the two jade slips containing the sword manual and the footwork. It was for these rewards that he had accepted the token in the first place, though he hadn’t seen them listed before—apparently, the selection had been upgraded.

He left the administrative office and descended the mountain. As he left, shrouded by ancient trees and night’s darkness, a bundle appeared on his back.

Under the cover of night, Yunqi returned to Qilihe Market. The others only saw him leave with a ledger and return with a large bundle, assuming he had gone back to Qinglong Cave to fetch supplies.

He patted the white guard dog at the door, entered his newly opened Humility and Prudence Studio, lowered the curtain, and opened the bundle to reveal a large stack of talisman arrows and unfinished arrow shafts.

Lighting a lamp, he worked through the night, painting talismans.

The next day.

A crowd gathered outside Humility and Prudence Studio, all eager to see what treasures Daoist Cheng would offer.

When Yunqi lifted the curtain, they saw the wares—laid out casually on the desk in neat rows. To the uninitiated, they looked like sticks, but the experienced market-goers knew at once: they were talisman arrows!

In these deep mountains, amidst endless feuds, talisman arrows were far more useful than mere talismans.

Having seen the power of Daoist Cheng’s talismans, the crowd was quickly convinced of the value of his arrows and clamored to buy.

Yunqi spoke up, “Everyone, previously, the purification and talisman work was on credit, but these talisman arrows are my personal items. For these, payment must be made at the time of exchange—or, if you prefer, barter is also acceptable.”

The crowd recalled Yunqi’s words when opening Humility and Prudence Studio, and their loud voices grew more subdued. Someone asked,

“Daoist Cheng, what would you accept in trade?”

Before answering, Yunqi introduced his talisman arrows.

“My friends, the talisman within these arrows is called the Brilliant Blaze Talisman. When the arrow bursts, it first unleashes blinding light—those unprepared will be unable to open their eyes for several breaths. Then, clusters of fierce flames erupt, more powerful than the Yang Fire Demon-Breaking Talismans. As for price: fifteen taels of snowflake silver per arrow. Alternatively, items of equal value—refined metal, rare stones, sword manuals, footwork manuals, visualization diagrams—are all acceptable. However, no one may purchase more than three arrows.”

The crowd fell silent. The price was higher than ordinary talisman arrows, but so was Daoist Cheng’s skill—far beyond the average practitioner.

“Daoist Cheng, I have a sword manual here, called ‘Water-Form Four-Aspect Sword Manual.’ It was taken from a demon. I don’t understand swordsmanship myself—would you exchange three arrows for it? Or two? No, one—just one would be enough.”

A burly man was the first to speak, but grew embarrassed as he went on, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Most were fire arts practitioners, and seeing Daoist Cheng so skilled with fire talismans and purification, it was amusing to offer him a water-based sword manual.

“Certainly, but let me have a look first.”

To everyone’s surprise, Yunqi agreed readily. His reputation for fire arts was only because he was focused on opening his Heart Palace first; he did not neglect any of the five elements—they would simply come in due course.

The sword manual was written on paper, not engraved in jade—making its value clear. Yunqi glanced over the first two pages, found its principles sound, and accepted it, giving the man two talisman arrows.

To avoid misunderstanding, Yunqi explained to the crowd that there was no need to worry about elemental compatibility—cultivation in all five elements could complement one another.