Chapter 11: Lu Miaoge
by xennovelIn a courtyard within Qingzhu Mountain Estate.
“Old Gui, why are you suddenly interested in that Lu Changsheng?”
Uncle Fu thought his friend came to drink and chat. He didn’t expect they’d discuss serious matters.
He was surprised to hear about Lu Changsheng’s talent in talisman crafting.
They were both Lu Family elders, semi-retired, only handling simple tasks at Qingzhu Mountain Estate.
“If this boy has such talent in our Lu Family, we can’t waste it.”
“You know our family’s situation, don’t you?”
“The Ancestor’s condition is getting worse. The Chen Family is restless. If this continues…”
“This boy has a gift for talisman crafting. With some training, he could become a Talisman Master for our family. That’d be good.”
The Hundred Treasures Pavilion manager sighed and said.
Hearing this, Uncle Fu’s face grew serious.
Years ago, the fight with the Chen Family not only killed many young Lu Family members but also severely injured the Lu Family Ancestor.
The Lu Ancestor was already old. With this injury, he might not have much time left.
Now, the Lu Family had only one Foundation Building cultivator. If the Ancestor died, without a Foundation Building cultivator, they couldn’t keep their current property and Qingzhu Mountain, a blessed land.
He nodded, “True. If this boy can become a Talisman Master, it’d strengthen our family.”
“Let’s go see the family head. Let him decide.”
Then, they walked towards Qingzhu Valley.
Qingzhu Valley was the core area of the Lu Family on Qingzhu Mountain.
Below was a Second-Tier spirit vein, suitable for Foundation Building cultivators.
Normally, a live-in son-in-law like Lu Changsheng and ordinary Lu Family members couldn’t enter.
But as Lu Family elders, they could enter.
They arrived at a mountain manor.
“Uncle Gui, you say Lu Changsheng has talent in talisman crafting?”
Lu Yuanshan Ding, the Lu Family head, was surprised by the Hundred Treasures Pavilion manager’s words.
“Yes, Family Head.”
“This Lu Changsheng bought a set of talisman materials from Hundred Treasures Pavilion about half a year ago, saying he wanted to practice. I didn’t think much of it then.”
“Unexpectedly, after a few months, he made five talismans from a hundred sets of materials.”
“This time, he made eighteen talismans from a hundred sets of materials.”
“Though I don’t understand talisman crafting, I can tell this boy has extraordinary talent in it.”
The Hundred Treasures Pavilion manager nodded, speaking with some emotion.
“Before coming to our Lu Family, this boy hadn’t started cultivating and couldn’t have encountered talisman crafting. In this situation, he truly is gifted.”
Lu Yuanshan Ding nodded thoughtfully.
“This Lu Changsheng is indeed good. He’s been diligent in our Lu Family for over a year.”
“Other cultivator seedlings aren’t willing to have children yet, but this Lu Changsheng has already gotten five of our Lu Family women pregnant.”
At this point, Uncle Fu spoke up.
“This Lu Changsheng is just a farmer’s son. Before cultivating, marrying one wife would’ve been good enough.”
“Now with such an opportunity, how could he resist women?”
Lu Yuanshan Ding chuckled, not minding much.
He continued, “But this boy, coming from a farming background, willing to marry and have children like this, shows he’s relatively simple-minded and easy to control.”
“Since he also has this talisman crafting talent, we could consider accepting him as a Lu Family member.”
“Uncle Fu, go find Miaoge. Let her check Lu Changsheng’s talisman crafting talent and skill.”
“If it’s truly as Uncle Gui says and worth cultivating, then nurture him a bit.”
“But this boy has only been in our Lu Family for just over a year. He surely hasn’t given his heart to us yet. We need to observe him more.”
Lu Yuanshan Ding said after a brief pause.
“Yes, Family Head.”
Uncle Fu bowed and responded.
……
On this day.
Lu Changsheng was cultivating when his wife Lu Lanshu told him Uncle Fu and the young miss were coming. He immediately got up and went to the main hall.
In the hall sat two figures.
One was Uncle Fu, the steward of Qingzhu Mountain Estate.
The other was a young woman of eighteen or nineteen.
The young woman’s black hair was lightly pinned up, and she wore a pure white dress.
Her slender yet curvy figure sat gracefully on the chair.
Her face was extremely beautiful, as fair as snow. Paired with her snow-white dress and otherworldly aura, she was like a snow lotus from the celestial mountains, pure and flawless.
This young woman was Lu Miaoge, whom Lu Changshengghad met and remembered the name of when he came to Qingzhu Mountain a year ago.
She was also the young miss Lu Lanshu mentioned.
She looked exactly the same as when Lu Changsheng saw her a year ago, without any change.
Lu Changsheng glanced at her and then looked away.
Now that the system’s effects were showing, with Second-Tier Talisman Master skills, Lu Changsheng’s mind was clear.
He believed that through effort, his future achievements wouldn’t be bad.
Facing this young miss, he didn’t feel she was as unreachable and distant as when he first met her.
He bowed and said, “Uncle Fu, Young Miss!”
He was a bit curious. Uncle Fu coming was fine.
But why would the family head’s daughter, the Lu Family’s young miss, come here?
Someone like Lu Miaoge usually lived in Qiigzhu Mountain’s core area and wouldn’t come to Qingzhu Mountain Estate.
“Lu Changsheng, I heard from Ah Gui that you’ve been learning talisman crafting lately. Are you now a talisman apprentice?”
Seeing Lu Changsheng arrive, Uncle Fu spoke.
“Ah Gui?”
Lu Changsheng was startled by this name.
“That’s the Hundred Treasures Pavilion manager.”
Uncle Fu reminded him.
The Hundred Treasures Pavilion manager’s name was actually Ah Gui?
Lu Changsheng felt a bit strange but also vaguely understood what was going on.
They must have come because of the talent he showed in talisman crafting.
He immediately said, “I only have Ninth-Tier Spirit Roots. Knowing I have no hope in cultivation, I thought I’d learn a skill. So I’ve been practicing talisman crafting lately. Currently, I can draw three types of basic talismans.”
“It’s good that you have this idea.”
“I’ve seen your performance in our Lu Family over the past year.”
“So, this time the young miss and I came to see your talisman crafting skills.”
“If it’s truly as Ah Gui said, that you have talent in talisman crafting, our Lu Family will naturally give some support and nurture you.”
Uncle Fu praised and said.
Lu Changsheng thought, sure enough.
He immediately put on a grateful expression and bowed, “Thank you, Uncle Fu. Thank you, Young Miss.”
“What talismans can you draw now?”
At this moment, Lu Miaoge, sitting to the sidd, looked at Lu Changsheng with her beautiful eyes and spoke. Her voice was like a clear spring, very pleasant to hear.
“Reporting to Young Miss, I can now draw Cleansing Talismans, Clothes-Cleaning Talismans, and Dust-Repelling Talismans.”
Lu Changsheng bowed and said.
“Draw a Clothes-Cleaning Talisman and a Dust-Repelling Talisman for me to see.”
Lu Miaoge stood up, revealinggher graceful figure wrapped in snow-white clothes. She took out a set of talisman crafting tools and materials from her Storage Bag and placed them on the table.
“Yes.”
Lu Changsheng pressed his lips together and walked to the table. He immediately smelled a faint fragrance, the young miss’s body scent.
He steadied his wandering thoughts and picked up the talisman brush on the table.
This brush wasn’t the wolf-hair talisman brush he had bought before.
It was a brush that was completely golden.
The brush handle and tip emitted a faint yellow light, with the characters “Jin Zhu” engraved on the end of the handle.
Lu Changsheng could tell at a glance that this was a top-quality talisman brush.
Without thinking much, he lightly dipped the brush tip in the ink beside it and began to draw the Clothes-Cleaning Talisman.
At this time, Lu Changsheng naturally wouldn’t draw talismans as he usually did, with swift, flowing strokes.
Instead, he appeared very nervous, drawing slowly with stiff techniques.
A moment later, a Clothes-Cleaning Talisman was completed.
Lu Changsheng glanced at the graceful Lu Miaoge and continued to drrw the Dust-Repelling Talisman.
Just as he was almost finished drawing the Dust-Repelling Talisman, at the moment of finishing the last stroke, his hand trembled slightly, causing the Qi to break. A wisp of green smoke rose from the talisman paper.
“I’m sorry, Young Miss. I was a bit nervous just now.”
Lu Changsheng hurriedly said.
This was, of course, an act.
He had previously told the Hundred Treasures Pavilion manager that he only had about a 30% success rate with Dust-Repelling Talismans.
In this situation, almost succeeding but failing due to excessive nervousness at the last moment was quite normal, wasn’t it?