It was only because of this accident that the difficulty of the trial had increased.
According to Perfected Person Ye, if everything had gone according to the original plan, they would have passed as long as they worked together and stayed rational, even without a thunder spirit root or the 《Zongjiao》 technique.
If they hadn't been able to defeat the evil-tainted beasts due to a lack of means to deal with evil qi, the New Disciple Training Department would have teleported them out in advance.
Facing even stronger evil-tainted beasts and managing to kill them one by one meant they had exceeded the requirements of the trial.
Gu Ningyun felt a spark of anticipation, wondering what the reward would be this time.
The lively atmosphere of Yaoxian Residence gradually faded into the distance amidst their laughter and chatter, and soon, three days had passed.
Previously, while in Wuxin City, Gu Ningyun had sold off all her talismans that were below top-grade. She then purchased several thousand sheets of yellow-rank blank talisman paper and dozens of bottles of talisman ink.
In terms of low-grade spirit stones, yellow-rank blank talisman paper cost one spirit stone for ten sheets, while yellow-rank talisman ink was ten spirit stones per bottle.
Before coming to Wuxin City, thinking about selling her talismans, Gu Ningyun had specifically looked for information on the forum. In the cultivation world, the four arts—alchemy, arrays, talismans, and artifacts—were considered relatively scarce.
Among the many sects in the cultivation world, only Xiaoyao had a better heritage in these four arts.
Xiaoyao had always placed great importance on the four arts, so their heritage was quite complete, and many disciples studied them.
However, just as there were many cultivators who used swords as weapons but very few true sword cultivators, there were many disciples who studied the four arts, but few who were truly talented.
Even for talented disciples, the success rate of each refinement was not particularly high.
Someone like Gu Ningyun, who could achieve a one-hundred-percent success rate with top-grade talismans, was truly one of a kind.
After learning this, Gu Ningyun had a certain expectation regarding the purchase and selling prices of talismans. When she looked further into it, it was exactly as she had expected.
A yellow-rank low-grade Swift-Walk Talisman sold for ten low-grade spirit stones, a mid-grade one for twenty-five, a high-grade one for fifty, and a yellow-rank top-grade Swift-Walk Talisman for a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
Fire spirit roots were not as rare as wind spirit roots, so Fireball Talismans sold for five spirit stones less. However, compared to the cost of talisman paper and ink, it was still a massive profit margin.
Gu Ningyun had checked around Wuxin City and found that these prices were the standard rates across major chambers of commerce and shops. If a shop were to buy them from her, the purchase price would be sixty percent of the selling price.
If one felt the shop's purchase price was too low, they could choose to set up a stall in the market.
Because markets were privately run and the quality of goods was less reliable than in shops, items usually had to be priced cheaper to sell. Still, it was more profitable than selling directly to a shop.
Gu Ningyun was only clearing out her practice stock and didn't want to spend time running a stall for now, so she found a shop to buy them.
After deducting the cost of the talisman paper and ink, she still made a profit of over three thousand low-grade spirit stones.
Over the past three days, she had been learning the Earth Wall Talisman. By today, she could successfully refine yellow-rank low-grade Earth Wall Talismans every time, and occasionally, she could even produce a mid-grade one.
It was also today that she received her rewards for the evil qi trial: three hundred sect points and a mysterious-rank low-grade defense hairband.
According to the note on the reward list, everyone received the same amount of points. The hairband was a special award for her because she had played a definitive leadership role in the battle against the lynx.
A mysterious-rank low-grade defensive artifact could be used until the Foundation Establishment stage. It was quite good; the fight hadn't been for nothing.
Gathering the talismans from her desk, Gu Ningyun took out her peach wood sword and wiped it carefully with a blue handkerchief patterned with clouds.
Now that she had received the points, she planned to head to Governing Peak to collect the hairband reward after her sparring session with Si Puyu today.
On the message interface of her identity jade token, Si Puyu was currently bombarding her with messages, reminding her not to forget their appointment for a sword dao spar at the middle of the Wei hour on Fighting Peak.
Gu Ningyun silently tucked the identity jade token back into her storage bag. Out of sight, out of mind.
She had only spent a month in closed-door cultivation to learn 《Wind Walk》 and hadn't checked her messages. How did Si Puyu come to the conclusion that she was ignoring her on purpose and trying to flake?
...
The middle of the Wei hour, the west side of Fighting Peak.
Unlike the east side, which featured arenas specifically prepared for the competition, the west side of Fighting Peak was dotted with many small arenas along the mountain for disciples to use for daily sparring.
Gu Ningyun left the Fighting Peak transmission hall and followed the mountain path inward until she reached Arena 26.
Si Puyu was already waiting below the stage.
Gu Ningyun looked at the arena number, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar.
She thought back for a moment and immediately remembered the long string of messages Si Puyu had sent her over the past month.
“Si Puyu, why are you so obsessed with number twenty-six? When you invited me to twenty-six before, I didn't reply, and yet you still booked twenty-six today.”
Si Puyu looked at the number plate and then at Gu Ningyun with a confused expression. “Is there something wrong with this number?”
Gu Ningyun had originally felt something was off, but seeing that Si Puyu's reaction didn't seem faked, she suppressed her doubts.
“It's nothing.”
“Pfft—”
Gu Ningyun turned toward the sound and saw Ling Hanbai, who had set up a tea table by the arena. She was currently leaning over the table, laughing so hard her shoulders shook, with melon seeds scattered all over the surface.
Looking further, she saw Fu Mingzhi, Zhu Zijin, Xi Caixuan, and several other familiar disciples from their year sitting behind Ling Hanbai.
Gu Ningyun glanced at Si Puyu. “You brought this many spectators for a fight?”
“It wasn't me.” Si Puyu pressed her identity jade token against the array at the arena entrance, and a gap opened in the barrier.
She stepped onto the arena. “They somehow got word of it and came to watch the fun on their own.”
Looking at Ling Hanbai's behavior, Gu Ningyun felt there was definitely something fishy going on.
She sat down across from Ling Hanbai and stared into her eyes without saying a word, trying to see through her.
Being stared at so expressionlessly, Ling Hanbai gradually found it hard to keep laughing.
She stopped her laughter and held out the melon seeds in her hand. “Want some?”
Gu Ningyun didn't move.
Ling Hanbai felt a bit unnerved by the gaze.
“Fine, fine. I'll tell you quietly.”
Ling Hanbai put down the melon seeds and leaned close to Gu Ningyun's ear, whispering in a tiny voice, “I bribed one of Si Puyu's teammates to find out when she was planning to ask you to spar.
“Then, every time she went to Fighting Peak to reserve an arena, I would reserve all the other available ones, leaving only number twenty-six for her.
“Once she booked twenty-six, I would cancel the other reservations.”
“Why?” Gu Ningyun became even more confused as she listened.
Ling Hanbai gave a mischievous grin. “Because she's a ‘two’ and you’re a ‘six’.”
“...You really are childish.”
Gu Ningyun was silent for a long time before she couldn't help but suggest, “Next time you can leave us number twenty-eight. I've been selling talismans lately, so I'm more interested in ‘making a fortune’.”
Ling Hanbai nodded repeatedly, but then a thought occurred to her. “Are you two going to keep fighting after this match?”
“Appropriate sparring is always good.”
Gu Ningyun picked up a melon seed and cracked it. “Want to join in?”
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