My dreams can simulate the future.

Fourteen days have passed in the blink of an eye, and Jiang Chen will be leaving Blackstone Mountain Market tomorrow.

These days, he continues to draw and submit talismans as usual. He still spends four hours each day practicing the Nourishing Spirit Technique to enhance his spiritual awareness and replenish the Dream Butterfly Diagram's energy.

Of course, he still insisted on practicing magic in his dreams every day and improving his talisman-drawing skills.

Sometimes, they even simulate being ambushed on the road to optimize the process.

As for dealing with the Sun family, he had absolutely no desire to improve the situation. They were truly despicable; it was pointless to do anything without thoroughly eliminating them.

Meanwhile, Sun Yulin, the eldest son of the Sun family, had already redeemed himself by performing meritorious service at Changyuan Mountain.

Although the rest of the Sun family were not convicted, they were implicated in the Ghost Soul Sect's spies, and the town garrison commander personally issued a warning.

I heard that Sun Yuhuang begged her Foundation Establishment husband to help protect her younger brother, and now she has fallen out of favor.

Sun Yunlong's position as the head of the family is now precarious, and he dares not make any further moves.

After this setback, the Sun family no longer dared to be arrogant.

Just yesterday, Hou Ming married Li Cheng's sister, and Jiang Chen gave Hou Ming the house that the garrison had granted him as a wedding gift.

That afternoon, Jiang Chen washed up and went to the garrison headquarters to hand over the talisman, and also to say goodbye to Steward Zhao.

When simulating the future in a dream, these formalities weren't necessary, but now that we're in reality, the proper etiquette still applies.

After handing over the talisman, Jiang Chen went to the backyard of the Hundred Arts Room.

At this moment, Zhao Changzhou was drawing talismans. Upon seeing Jiang Chen approach, he immediately put down his talisman brush.

After scrutinizing Jiang Chen for a long time, he finally spoke up jokingly, "I never noticed you were so unkempt before. But this time you've cleaned yourself up; you're quite handsome."

"If I looked like you, I'd definitely marry into a family of extraordinary beauty. Why would I need to draw talismans?"

Jiang Chen was tall, but his physique was not particularly strong, making him appear somewhat thin, though his appearance was indeed handsome.

Although she has minor cleaning spells like "Immaculate" to remove dirt, she is too lazy to take care of herself. She usually wears a somewhat worn-out Taoist robe, her hair is crooked, and her beard is unkempt, which makes her look quite slovenly.

If it weren't for the fact that he was going to enter the Golden Cauldron Sect's mountain gate this time, he really wouldn't have bothered with all this trouble.

"Now that you've said that, I feel embarrassed."

"Senior brother, I'm leaving the market tomorrow to return to the mountain gate. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

Zhao Changzhou shook his head: "I don't have anything to instruct you on, but I'm a thorn in the side of the direct line faction."

Even though I recommended you, they won't treat you well.

Once you join the sect, avoid going to the territories controlled by the direct lineage unless absolutely necessary, to avoid getting into trouble.

"And that Crimson Thunder Pearl might attract the attention of the loyalists. Unless your life is in danger, try not to use it."

Jiang Chen immediately cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I will be careful with my words and actions after entering the sect."

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Early the next morning, Jiang Chen arrived at the dock outside the east gate of the market, boarded a shuttle boat, and headed to the Jin Ding Sect's mountain gate.

The journey was just like the simulation in the dream. They were attacked at Qinglu Beach and used the array diagram to fight against the ambush in the water, killing dozens of Black Stone Society cultivators, including Black Wolf.

The Breaking Pearl broke through the formation, and then the Dragon Dividing Water Formation was used to protect the shuttle boat as they fled north.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Black Stone Society pursued them for a long time, but were unable to defeat Li Wusheng and the Flood Dragon Water Dividing Formation, so they had to retreat. The fast boat safely arrived at the territory of the Golden Cauldron Sect's Guard Hall.

The next day, Jiang Chen was taken to Iron Case Mountain by Guo Lang, the manager of Talisman Hall.

After settling in, Jiang Chen went to the Transmission Hall at the top of the mountain to review the inheritance.

Although he had already memorized all the useful inheritances, he still needed a source to use the corresponding methods in the future.

After spending an hour in the stone building of the Transmission Hall, Jiang Chen returned to his small courtyard.

"I'm currently at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and it's difficult to break through in a short time. Without sufficient cultivation, my talisman-drawing skills also cannot improve."

"The best option for a rapid breakthrough is to switch to a different cultivation technique."

The more compatible a cultivator is with their cultivation method, the faster they can cultivate and the higher the level of magical power they can achieve.

"The Talisman Hall's Transmission Department doesn't have this kind of technique, so I still have to go to the Transmission Hall of the Golden Cauldron Sect to take a look."

That's the territory of the direct line; going directly there is too risky. Let's explore it in a dream first.

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[First day of entering the dream]

It was still morning, and Jiang Chen immediately left his courtyard and took out a small boat the size of a palm.

After being infused with magical power, the small boat instantly expanded to more than five feet in length and hovered in mid-air. This was the flying magical artifact, the Wind-Riding Boat, which all beginner disciples of the Golden Cauldron Sect possessed.

This thing has the ability to fly, so Qi cultivation disciples can also use it to fly through the air.

However, this thing flies slowly, and it consumes a lot of mana for Qi Refining cultivators.

Even with Jiang Chen's magical power, he could only propel this treasure a little over a hundred miles, and it would take an hour to fly there.

Jiang Chen jumped onto the Wind-Riding Boat and headed towards the Hall of Skill Transmission.

Before long, he arrived at a mountain peak whose summit resembled a millstone. This was Stone Mill Peak, the location of the Transmission Hall.

Jiang Chen maneuvered the Wind-Riding Boat to land on Stone Mill Peak, and then hiked up the peak.

This is also one of the rules of the Golden Cauldron Sect: unless there is an emergency, Qi Refining cultivators are not allowed to fly over the grounds of their respective halls.

Upon reaching the top of Shimo Peak, one sees a five-story building covering more than ten acres in the center of the flat land at the summit.

The tall building constantly emitted golden light, seemingly forged from some kind of metal.

This is the main building of the Chuan Gong Hall – the Chuan Gong Building.

As Jiang Chen entered the first-floor entrance, he saw a rather large counter where a middle-aged cultivator was dozing off.

This person was obese, and the fat on his face squeezed his eyes so much that they were only slits.

However, this guy's aura was not weak, comparable to the Black Robe Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Black Stone Society.

Jiang Chen immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, Steward. This disciple wishes to exchange for a Qi Refining stage cultivation technique."

The middle-aged cultivator stretched, his face contorted with fat.

"A new disciple? Let me see your disciple token."

Jiang Chen immediately took the token from his waist and handed it to the fat cultivator.

The fat monk glanced at the token and pursed his lips.

"Tch, so he's just a country bumpkin from the Talisman Hall."

After saying that, he probed the token with his divine sense, his face showing impatience.

"Disciples within the sect need to deduct merit points when choosing cultivation techniques. You have no merit points, so you cannot enter."

The so-called merits are a special kind of currency within the Golden Cauldron Sect.

Exchanging for special spiritual items, entering treasure lands for cultivation, and selecting cultivation techniques all require merit points. Within a sect, merit points are more useful than spirit stones.

Merit is hard to come by; it can only be obtained by completing tasks set by the sect or by offering special treasures.

Jiang Chen remained calm: "As a new disciple, according to the sect rules, new disciples can choose one cultivation technique for free."

The fat cultivator wore a disdainful smile: "The disciples recruited by the Talisman Hall and the Guard Hall are not registered with the Administrative Hall. How am I supposed to know if you're a newly recruited disciple?"

Go back and have the head of your Talisman Hall or the person in charge of recruiting disciples write a letter of certification.

This is blatant harassment. How could a newly initiated disciple be qualified to ask the hall master and manager for a certificate?