One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

Jiang Shou sat in the chair, looking at the auction figures of millions on his phone screen, and then looked up at the half-finished antique calligraphy book on the table.

After a brief period of stiffness.

Jiang Shou suddenly jumped up from his chair.

He paced back and forth in the cramped room, clutching his hair tightly with both hands, his face flushed red. He opened his mouth, wanting to roar to the sky, wanting to completely release the wild joy in his heart.

However, in the dead of night, although there wasn't a soul in sight on the mountainside of Cuiwei Mountain, it would be a great loss if it attracted some poachers or petty thieves wandering around in the mountains.

Jiang Shou could only force his wild laughter back down his throat, his chest heaving until a series of whimpering sounds escaped his throat:

"Gaga gaga...gaga gaga gaga..."

Jiang Shou paced around the room more than a dozen times, taking several deep breaths and forcing himself to calm down.

He patted his burning cheeks, muttering to himself, "Calm down! Jiang Shou, you need to calm down! You're now a cultivator with true energy, after all. Money is just an external thing; you should treat it like dirt, don't you understand...?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his head and glanced at the Wen Zhengming original on the table, and his mouth instantly stretched to the back of his ears.

"What a load of crap! Hahahaha! Old man, the mere 250,000 in debt you left behind is nothing!"

Laugh it off, but let's not forget the important thing. If this treasure gets damp and isn't stored properly, the losses could amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Jiang Shou immediately turned around and began rummaging through the chests and cabinets. He found two clean and flat thin wooden boards in the corner of the storage room, and then took out several sheets of soft Xuan paper that were usually used to pad the scriptures from the scripture cabinet under the statue in the main hall.

Back at his desk, he first laid a layer of Xuan paper flat on the wooden board underneath, then carefully held the edge of the Wen Zhengming calligraphy copybook and placed it flat in the center of the Xuan paper. Next, he gently covered it with another layer of Xuan paper, and finally covered it with another wooden board.

He didn't even dare to breathe loudly throughout the entire process.

"Ancient paper is susceptible to damage from folding, rolling, and dampness... The paper from this type of mounting is too brittle and must be laid flat for safety."

Jiang Shou found a thin hemp rope and loosely secured the two wooden boards in a cross shape. Then he opened the desk drawer and carefully placed the "sandwich" containing the million-dollar sum together with the yellowed old talismans left by the old man.

"I'll go to the antique street tomorrow and ask around at some of the bigger auction houses or reputable collectors for prices." Jiang Shou dusted off his hands. "If the price is right, I'll sell it and pay off the 250,000 taels of silver I'm carrying. The rest will be the starting capital for our Shouyi Temple's cultivation!"

Having resolved his biggest worry, Jiang Shou felt completely relieved.

He stretched and glanced around, suddenly spotting the backpack lying on the bed.

"Oh right, there's still one blind box I haven't opened."

In high spirits, Jiang Shou walked over and pulled out a crumpled red plastic bag from the bottom of his backpack.

This is a tattered ancient book that I bought this afternoon for 500 yuan from that old man with the mustache after "bargaining". I hadn't had a chance to examine it closely before because I was keeping an eye on the middle-aged man selling paintings in the antique street.

Jiang Shou sat back down at the table and carefully untied the knot in the plastic bag.

A musty smell and the sour odor of old paper wafted out.

Jiang Shou took out the ancient book and examined it carefully under the lamp.

This book is indeed in terrible condition. It only has about twenty pages left. The cover is long gone, the paper is damp and yellowed, the edges are curled like dry leaves, and there are even holes of various sizes eaten by insects in the middle.

He turned to the first page.

It was covered with some crooked and distorted talismanic patterns, accompanied by annotations in traditional Chinese characters. However, most of them were incomplete.

For example, on the second page, the three characters "困锁符" can be vaguely recognized, but a large part of the lower half of the rune has been torn off.

Turning the page further, there was a diagram with the words "Thousand Mile Talisman" written on it. Unfortunately, a wormhole the size of a soybean was biting right into the core of the talisman, making it impossible for Jiang Shou to even begin to copy it.

There was also a "Lightning Strike Talisman". The runes were drawn so clearly that they were barely legible, but the annotation next to it about "how true essence flows through the brushstrokes" was smudged by water stains and turned into a blurry black ink.

"What a pity, if this were complete, it would definitely be a mage skill book." Jiang Shou shook his head with some regret.

However, he did not give up.

This book, under the "Art of Qi Observation," emitted a bluish light, indicating it was definitely not an ordinary item.

Jiang Shou patiently turned the pages one by one. Finally, in the middle of the book, he found two relatively intact pages that had escaped insect damage and water damage.

The first complete talisman is called: 【Soul-Gathering Talisman】.

Jiang Shou leaned closer to examine the annotations on the talisman beside him:

[Locust wood soothes the soul, the talisman calms its spirit.] [Purpose: Allows wandering, weak spirits to temporarily reside in a specific "vessel," nurturing their spirit and preventing them from being scattered by strong winds or scorching sun.] [Vessel Requirements: Must be made of locust wood over a hundred years old, carved into the shape of a house or memorial tablet. This talisman must be affixed to the roof or the center of the tablet for it to be effective.]

Following this annotation are detailed precautions for drawing the talisman, as well as how to inject true essence into the talisman core in a specific rhythm to achieve the "sealing" effect.

"A talisman to temporarily house ghosts?" Jiang Shou stroked his chin.

This thing sounds like a "portable storage container for spirits." Although it's not needed now, in this world where even dissociative identity disorder exists, it might have some practical value in the future when we need to contain wandering ghosts.

Jiang Shou nodded, carefully folded a corner of the page as a mark, and continued reading.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Shou's eyes widened instantly, and he even gasped.

The talisman on this paper is drawn with extreme grace, its lines flowing and graceful, like a woman dancing.

The name above it is even more suggestive: "Spirit Summoning Talisman"!

Jiang Shou quickly looked down to read the annotations below:

"The spirit uses its form to deceive people; it is not its true form."

Uses: [Summons a "Fox-skin Spirit" to transform into a human. For a short time, she can appear as a "stunning beauty," providing comfort and assistance with daily tasks such as serving tea and water.]

"Holy crap!" Jiang Shou cursed, his eyes gleaming with lust. "A fox... a fox beauty?! Do ancient Zhengyi sect Taoist masters go to such lengths? They can even summon their personal maids with talismans?!"

Jiang Shou was so excited that his hands trembled, and he quickly continued reading.

Following the description of its purpose, a small, crooked note was added in extremely tiny, tiny characters:

[Do not indulge in excessive sexual activity! Although the spirit is an illusion, the more vital energy it absorbs from a man through intercourse, the more solid its form will become, eventually developing self-awareness and refusing to return to its original state. Be careful! Be careful!]

"..."

Jiang Shou almost choked on his breath when he saw this private note filled with lessons learned through blood and tears.

He coughed twice, staring strangely at the line of small characters: "This...whose notes are these? Looking at the regret between the lines, I'm afraid he couldn't control himself back then and was drained dry by a vixen?"

"However... a beautiful woman to keep him company and serve him in his daily life." Jiang Shou swallowed hard, his mind already conjuring up a decadent image of himself lying on a grand chair, with a beautiful woman in ancient costume with fluffy fox ears, sweetly massaging his legs and feeding him grapes.

"This abbot possesses astonishing self-control and will absolutely not indulge in excessive desires! At worst, I'll just be used as a nanny!"

Jiang Shou rubbed his hands excitedly, looking at the last line: the material requirements for the talisman.

[Materials Required: To create this talisman, one must use top-grade pure yang cinnabar mixed with the blood of a fox demon over five hundred years old, and then draw it on purple talisman paper. Ordinary cinnabar will ignite upon contact and is completely useless.]

"..."

A deathly silence fell over the room.

Jiang Shou's smug smile froze instantly, and his lips twitched twice.

"Where the hell am I supposed to find you a 500-year-old fox demon?!" Jiang Shou slammed the book on the table in exasperation. "Are you going to the fox enclosure at the city zoo to draw blood? Forget about the fact that they're protected animals. Even if there really were a 500-year-old fox demon, with my pathetic skills—I've only just accumulated two drops of true energy in my dantian—I'd probably be delivering takeout to them, not drawing blood!"

Jiang Shou rolled his eyes. His previous romantic fantasy of "summoning a fox spirit maid" shattered instantly, leaving not a trace.

"I knew there was no such thing as a free lunch."

He carefully put away the incomplete copy he had bought for five hundred silver dollars, and placed it together with the Ming Dynasty calligraphy copybook.

Although I didn't learn any amazing lightning-generating techniques today, I did gain a [Soul-Containing Talisman] that can serve as a "containment facility," so the trip was worthwhile.

As night deepened, the cicadas outside the window occasionally chirped.

Jiang Shou turned off the table lamp, sat cross-legged on the bed, and focused his mind on his dantian.

Beneath the slowly rotating [Guardian of Oneness - Seed of the Dao], the true essence was quietly radiating a warm and gentle aura.