"Why are you here?"
Shen Mo looked at the beautiful and charming young girl in front of him in surprise.
"I came here on my dad's orders to check on you, and also to bring you some Spirit Stones," the girl responded lightly.
This girl was none other than Chen An's only daughter, Chen Mengze.
She and Shen Mo had known each other since childhood, like two peas in a pod, and they had grown up together in the Riverside Sect.
They had a pretty good relationship when they were young.
However, as Chen Mengze reached her coming-of-age, she transformed into a svelte and graceful young lady, and the intimacy of their childhood friendship started to fade.
After she smoothly broke through to the Qi Gathering Realm and became an inner disciple, Shen Mo hardly had any opportunities to see her.
It had been two or three years since the last time they met.
Looking at the youthful girl in front of him, Shen Mo felt his heart race inexplicably and found it hard to meet her gaze directly.
This wasn't his own true feeling, but rather the previous owner's memories acting up.
It seemed that the previous owner, who lost his parents at a young age, had a vague affection for this childhood playmate.
However, Chen Mengze seemed indifferent to the previous owner. After they both reached adulthood, their relationship cooled considerably.
"Well, here, twenty Spirit Stones."
Chen Mengze, unaware of Shen Mo's peculiar state, took out the Spirit Stones from her storage bag and put them on the table. "My dad started closed-door cultivation a few days ago. He won't be able to check on your cultivation progress in the next few months."
"He asked me to remind you to work hard on your cultivation and not to give up on yourself."
"Hmm, please thank Uncle Chen for me," said Shen Mo, feeling grateful.
"By the way, from what my dad said, you don't want to stay at the Riverside Sect anymore, you're planning to leave?"
"I was thinking about it since I wasn't improving in my cultivation, but after Uncle Chen's instruction, I've given up on that idea," Shen Mo answered honestly.
"Oh." Chen Mengze nodded, seemingly disappointed. "Well, I've delivered the Spirit Stones and passed on my dad's message, so I should leave."
"How about having a meal before you go?"
"No need, I still have to go to the Lecture Hall for Elder's lessons this afternoon."
After putting down the Spirit Stones, Chen Mengze turned around and left.
After she left, Shen Mo carefully stored the Spirit Stones and sighed in his heart, We've indeed become distant.
The abrupt downturn in their relationship was due to them growing up and having different experiences, but it likely also had something to do with Uncle Chen.
From the memories of the previous owner, Shen Mo knew that Uncle Chen treated him like his own son because he was an old friend of his parents.
Not only did he take care of him in many aspects of life, but he also had the idea of matching Shen Mo with his own daughter.
The previous owner naturally welcomed this.
But Chen Mengze did not like it.
She was a typical strong-willed girl, who did not care much for romantic relationships and was single-mindedly focused on cultivating.
In her words, she wanted the stars in the sky, not the emotions of the world.
So, Uncle Chen's match-making attempts ended up backfiring, and the relationship between them gradually drifted apart.
Thinking too much about this is unproductive; I must focus on cultivating.
A man of ambition need not worry about finding a wife. It is only the previous owner's obsession that is at play.
For the past month, I have made substantial progress in making talismans.
Opening the Destinied Lord's attributes page, Shen Mo looked at his current experience bar.
[Talisman Path (Grade I) 242/1000]
In the past month, Shen Mo had made talismans nearly a thousand times.
Through constant accumulation, he finally reached the Grade I level.
"However, since I reached Grade I, making low-grade Lightness Talismans and Mind Concentration Talismans can no longer provide me with much experience," Shen Mo murmured.
At first, Shen Mo's experience in the Talisman Path skyrocketed with each talisman he made.
But, after reaching Grade I, the experience from making talismans drastically decreased. From the original two or three points of experience for each successful talisman, it gradually became a matter of luck, sometimes receiving experience points and sometimes not.
It looks like I need to make higher-level talismans to continue gaining experience in the Talisman Path.
Shen Mo had originally planned to reach Grade II by making cheap, low-grade talismans.
However, it seemed that reality was not giving him a chance to exploit such a loophole.
The extra experience provided by low-grade talismans was diminishing.
Although the Talisman Path doesn't yield much experience anymore, my proficiency in making the Mind Concentration Talisman and the Lightness Talisman is constantly increasing.
He took another look at his proficiency in making these two types of talismans.
[Lightness Talisman (Excellent) 105/5000]
[Mind Concentration Talisman (Excellent) 25/5000]
Over the past month, Shen Mo had made these two types of talismans hundreds of times each. His proficiency had thus increased significantly.
Starting from the most basic 'Unfamiliar' stage, his proficiency improved to 'Great,' then to 'Junior.' Ultimately, his proficiency in creating both types of talismans reached the 'Excellent' level.
The improvement in proficiency, combined with the effect of reaching Grade I in the Talisman Path, had greatly enhanced Shen Mo's success rate in talisman making.
From initially not being able to successfully make even one talisman out of ten, he now had a success rate of at least ninety percent.
With this efficiency, I can make a living out of it.
This level of success rate could already allow him to use talisman making as a source of income.
Despite the low prices of these two types of talismans, every little bit counts.
At least he could recover some of the costs of his cultivation.
Thinking of this, Shen Mo rummaged around the room to take out all the finished talismans he had made in the past month. He took inventory of everything.
There were 220 Lightness Talismans.
And exactly 100 Mind Concentration Talismans.
"Based on the market price, ten Lightness Talismans can be sold for one Lower Grade Spirit Stone, and five Mind Concentration Talismans can be sold for one Lower Grade Spirit Stone," Shen Mo calculated.
"Forty-four Lower Grade Spirit Stones! This is my earning for the past month!"
Forty-four Lower Grade Spirit Stones were quite a lot. For an outer disciple, it was a fortune!
Even if one were to rely on completing various sect tasks and receiving monthly wages, it would take two years to earn more than forty Spirit Stones.
"But, I have to factor in the cost of the raw materials." Shen Mo then looked at the consumption of Sandalwood Ink, beast blood, and yellow paper and made an estimate. "The cost was probably around twenty Lower Grade Spirit Stones," he concluded.
After calculating the cost, he was still left with twenty-four Lower Grade Spirit Stones, which was quite a lot.
If he were to add a bit more from his own pocket, he could even buy a Qi Gathering Pill!
"Good, this is really good!"
Shen Mo nodded in satisfaction, planning to take a day off tomorrow to go to the Market to sell all of these talismans and exchange them for Spirit Stones.
Along with the Spirit Stones, he planned to visit the Market to see if he could buy a cauldron and formally start exploring Alchemy!