Chapter 363 - The Agreement with Old Juan

The middle-aged woman was rather plump. Her long hair was tied up in a bun, with strands of stray hair falling down in front from her fringe. Just like the stubbled man, the middle-aged woman was at the Third Cycle Origin Core realm.

Yet despite having the same cultivation level, the stubbled man still hesitated.

While he was confident of beating most others at the same cultivation level, there were far too many entities in Sacred Cliff City that he simply could not afford to offend.

He did not know who the middle-aged woman was. But the sheer confidence exuded by the middle-aged woman was enough to deter him from trying his luck.

"Let's go!" the stubbled man ordered his subordinates before shooting a sly smile at Nanlan Qianxue. "I will come back for you again, sweetheart. Don't miss me too much."

After getting no reaction whatsoever from Nanlan Qianxue, the stubbled man clicked his tongue in irritation before leaving the scene with the rest of his subordinates. Those who had been injured earlier hurriedly got up to follow along as well.

"You are lucky to have met me, little girl," the middle-aged woman snapped at Nanlan Qianxue. "You should know that women with our looks are susceptible to this kind of trouble, so try to be more careful when you go out next time!"

"What nonsense are you spouting, Old Hag Pingxi! Your looks can't even compare to hers!" someone shouted out from the crowd.

"That's right! Stop calling yourself a fairy when you look like that!" another chimed in heartily.

"Do you blind bastards want to try repeating what you just said?" the middle-aged woman glared at them.

Her deadly stare and threatening words cut deep into their hearts, shutting them up instantly.

"Thank you for the help, Senior," Nanlan Qianxue put away her sword and clasped her fists towards the middle-aged woman. "If there is nothing else, I will be getting a move on."

"Did you not hear what I said? Where are you intending to run off to alone?" the middle-aged woman questioned. "What if those people look for you again? I won't always be there to save you, you know?"

"It's fine, I should be able to handle them," Nanlan Qianxue replied. "Well then, farewell"

With that, Nanlan Qianxue turned to walk away.

"What?" the middle-aged woman felt the corner of her lips twitch. "Wait! Hold it right there!"

"Is there anything else?" Nanlan Qianxue looked at the middle-aged woman who had dashed forward to stand in her way.

"You really know how to make others worry!" the middle-aged woman grumbled. "Drop whatever you are thinking of doing right now and come with me instead!"

Nanlan Qianxue blinked blankly, slightly confused by the middle-aged woman's sudden outburst.

She understood what the middle-aged woman was trying to say, and understood that the middle-aged woman only had kind intentions.

But Nanlan Qianxue had already told her that she was fine, so why would the middle-aged woman still insist?

Fortunately, she had nothing important on hand right now.

She had spent a long time cultivating at Mount Asui, and today was supposed to be a rest day for her. All she intended to do was to look around the city for anything that could help with her cultivation.

Seeing that the middle-aged woman probably did not mean her any harm, she decided to listen to the middle-aged woman and follow the latter for now.

After all, she was starting to become curious about the middle-aged woman as well.

Even if she was wrong and the middle-aged woman really had some sinister plan in mind, she would just have to defeat the middle-aged woman in battle.

After all, the middle-aged woman was a Third Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist just like the stubbled man from before!

***

Old Juan's eyes were focused as he scrutinised the sword in his hands.

To put it more correctly, he was scrutinising the inscription that had just been placed on the sword.

"How is it?" Lu Tianzi watched Old Juan's expression carefully, unsure of what the latter was thinking.

He might be sure of his ability, but it had still been a while since he last placed an inscription.

As Old Juan said, this was Sacred Cliff City, the renowned City of Artificers. Even the smallest of errors might just be considered a major flaw in the eyes of the locals.

"This is... excellent!" Old Juan exclaimed in joy. "The quality of the inscription can be considered above average, and is even comparable to the inscription master that I know. If I didn't personally hand this sword to you earlier, I would never have believed that you are the one who placed this inscription!"

Old Juan put down the sword and stared fervently at Lu Tianzi. "Why are you trying to pick up smithing when you are such a skilled inscription master? What a waste of your talent!"

"Aren't all artificers skilled in multiple fields as well?" Lu Tianzi shrugged.

In actual fact, Lu Tianzi was not feeling exceptionally pleased.

While Old Juan seemed to have recognised his inscription skills, he also said that it was only of an above average quality. It seemed that he still had a ways to go if he wanted to be truly good at it.

"Indeed, but it will take too long for you to master multiple different fields! If you are this talented in the art of inscription, you might as well take it all the way first. Other matters can come later! Your skills are rather decent, but not perfect. Fortunately, considering your age, there is still ample room for you to grow," Old Juan placed his hands on Lu Tianzi's shoulders. "How about this? I can provide you with the resources and connections to improve your inscription skills. In return, you will help me with the inscriptions I need at a discounted price."

"This..." Lu Tianzi did not expect Old Juan to suddenly make an offer like that.

"This is the City of Artificers! Once you manage to become a top inscription master, you will have all the fame, wealth, and women you want. What are you even hesitating for?" Old Juan urged. "If you are still worried, then let this just be a verbal agreement between us. You will not be bound by contract, so you don't even have to worry about being taken advantage of! How about that?"

Despite his excited smile, Old Juan was actually at the losing end of the deal here.

Without an actual contract, there would be nothing stopping Lu Tianzi from suddenly deciding not to honour their agreement any longer.

Even so, he had a feeling that if he missed this chance, he would regret it for the rest of his life!

Of course, if Old Juan had not been interacting with Lu Tianzi for a while now and understood him to a certain extent, Old Juan would never dare to make sure a gamble.

Lu Tianzi looked into Old Juan's eyes that were filled with earnesty before nodding.

As Old Juan said, he truly had little to lose.

Since the furnace was not yet available, Lu Tianzi might as well take this time to brush up on his art of inscriptions, something that he had neglected for a while now.

"Excellent!" Old Juan nodded in satisfaction. "Well for starters, let's get you warmed up. Are you familiar with the rest of the inscriptions on the list?"

"Yes," Lu Tianzi smiled, understanding what Old Juan was trying to say. "But now that we have an agreement, I'm going to start charging. At a discount, of course."

"Naturally!" Old Juan laughed. "At a discount, it will be!"

***

Nanlan Qianxue looked around the room curiously.

She thought that the middle-aged woman was leading her back home, but it seemed that she was wrong.

After following the midlde-aged woman for a while, Nanlan Qianxue had ended up in the back room of a small shop.

It was rather well furnished room too, probably meant for meeting up with important customers or business partners.

As for the shop itself, Nanlan Qianxue was actually unable to tell what it sold even after having passed through the front of the shop earlier.

All she saw was a single reception counter, with numerous chests of drawers behind it.

Whatever the shop sold, they had to be small enough to be stored in those drawers.

"Are you wondering where you are right now?" the middle-aged woman asked, amused.

With her sitting in the host's seat, others would usually take a seat in the guest's chair after being led into the room.

Not Nanlan Qianxue.

Nanlan Qianxue was doing nothing to hide her curiosity as she walked around, admiring the beautiful furnishing of the room.

Some might feel that Nanlan Qianxue was being rude to her host, but the middle-aged woman could not care less. She had never been one to abide by the norms and etiquettes of society.

Instead, the middle-aged woman rather admired Nanlan Qianxue's carefree behaviour.

Nanlan Qianxue might appear to be carelessly looking around with her guard down, but the middle-aged woman could see otherwise.

It was extremely faint, but she could sense a trace of Nanlan Qianxue's perception constantly stretching out in all directions, allowing her to detect even the faintest of movements around her.

If the middle-aged woman or anyone in hiding were to make a move, Nanlan Qianxue would be able to react instantly.

At this point, the middle-aged woman could not help but think back to what Nanlan Qianxue had said earlier.

Perhaps Nanlan Qianxue really did not require her help against the stubbled man and his goons?

"This is a nice room, the design is simple yet beautiful. Are you the owner here?" Nanlan Qiaxnue asked in return, her fingers gently tracing the wooden carvings on the window frame.

"Heh, it seems you know a thing or two about furnishing and design!" the middle-aged woman was pleased to hear Nanlan Qianxue compliment the room. "You are right. I am Pingxi, people usually call me Fairy Pingxi, so you can call me that as well. And this is my shop – Sacred Cliff City's Fairy Talisman House. I personally designed the interior and exterior of the place, that's why it looks so much better from the other shops in the city!"

"Talisman?" Nanlan Qianxue finally turned her gaze back to Fairy Pingxi.

"That's right, you know what talismans are, don't you?" Fairy Pingxi smirked, satisfied that she had finally captured Nanlan Qianxue's attention.

"Mm," Nanlan Qianxue nodded uncertainly.

She had seen talismans being used in battle before, but it was not common.

The talismans that she had seen usually appeared in the form of life-saving trump cards, which showed just how powerful they could be.

Considering that, was it really possible to specialise in selling talismans?

If she was able to create talismans on the same level of those that she had come across previously, would that not make Fairy Pingxi overpowered in the sense that she could just throw out countless life-saving trump cards to annihilate her enemies?

"Haha, you say yes, but your tone certainly does not sound convincing!" Fairy Pingxi laughed. "Come, let me show you around! If you are into designing, I am sure you would love this place!"