Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points

“Alright, thanks! Then I’ll be off. If there’s anything you need help with, feel free to look for me at any time.”

Qin Niu chatted with her for a bit before leaving the shop and heading straight for the Dark Talisman Language Shop.

The shop didn’t give a good impression.

Out front, there was a hemp stone sign with the words “Dark Talisman Language” carved crookedly on it.

This hemp stone had a square hole, was long-bar-shaped, and clearly looked like a piece of a door frame salvaged from a demolished old building.

Looking at the shop’s exterior decoration, the walls were mottled, and areas closer to the ground were covered in moss.

There wasn’t even the simplest of decor.

Inside the shop was a long wooden cabinet, somewhat like the standard bookshelves, but more closely resembling a medicine cabinet used for storing Chinese herbs.

It was because this long wooden cabinet had a series of drawers.

The floor inside was made of uneven mud.

Customers didn’t even need to enter the shop, just one glance from outside was enough to make them feel the shop was unreliable.

Crafting talismans is an extremely precise task.

Whether it’s the materials or the process of drawing the talismans, every stroke must be meticulous, without the slightest error.

This shop couldn’t even write a proper sign, so how could they possibly draw a good talisman?

Qin Niu, on his first trip to the city to buy talismans, hadn’t even stepped foot in the shop.

Just a look from afar, and he had dismissed it.

If it hadn’t been for Bei Bing’s recommendation, he would never have known that this shop sold Advanced Contract Talismans.

After entering, he saw a middle-aged man around fifty standing at an old desk, carving a piece of wood.

It was a thick log, as wide as an adult’s waist.

The man furrowed his brow, carving meticulously with the knife in his hand, stroke by stroke.

Noticing a customer entering, the man didn’t look up to greet him but continued to focus intently on his carving.

“Excuse me, do you have any Advanced Contract Talismans for sale?”

“Yes, one hundred and twenty taels of silver each,” the owner answered without raising his head.

“I’ll take five,” Qin Niu said.

Even though Bei Bing had referred him and the price seemed steep, Qin Niu was in urgent need of them and reluctantly accepted the cost.

After all, what mattered was the quality.

With his current wealth, spending an extra hundred taels of silver on such critical cultivation materials was entirely acceptable.

“Wait a moment!” the middle-aged man replied indifferently, still focused on the wood he was carving on the desk.

Qin Niu instinctively looked at the man’s carving.

The wood was etched with smooth lines.

Every line the man carved was continuous from start to finish. Some were deep, some shallow; some thick, some thin.

“What’s the use of carving all these lines?” Qin Niu wondered to himself.

As time passed, the man’s carving gradually neared completion.

“Is this, wind?” Qin Niu couldn’t help but widen his eyes at the finished carving.

The man ignored him and picked up a strip of cloth, hanging it beside the wood carving. The cloth didn’t react at all.

The man shook his head in disappointment.

“You wanted five Advanced Contract Talismans, right?” He kept Qin Niu waiting so long with no hint of an apology.

Instead, he looked grumpy, his tone unpleasant, because the carving hadn’t produced the desired effect.

“Right,” Qin Niu replied, not taking issue with his attitude.

The man opened one of the drawers from the cabinet and took out five wooden boxes.

Each box bore a strange symbol on it, somewhat reminiscent of a child’s doodle. However, upon closer inspection, one’s spirit felt like it was being drawn in by an invisible force.

“That’ll be six hundred taels of silver. You can check them now, but once you leave the shop, no returns or exchanges are allowed.”

For someone to do business with such an arrogant attitude and yet not close up shop, he must either rely on his skills to get by, or because the profit on talismans was so high, selling one Advanced Contract Talisman could sustain him for three years.

“I’ll inspect the goods first.”

Qin Niu took the wooden boxes, opening one of them.

The talisman was actually black, not the most common yellow.

The runes drawn on it were a dark red.

It looked somewhat sinister.

Timid people probably wouldn’t dare to carry it on their person at all.

After looking over all five boxes, Qin Niu felt uneasy in his heart.

Are these five Advanced Talismans really reliable?

Bei Bing is certainly trustworthy, her recommended shops should be more or less the same.

The last time her grandfather recommended a grocery store, it was very dependable.

“Fine, I’ll take all five.”

Qin Niu gritted his teeth and spent six hundred taels of Silver Money to buy all the talismans.

“Do you have any other special talismans here besides Advanced Contract Talismans, like an Invisibility Talisman?”

He had fallen deeply in love with special talismans after using an Invisibility Talisman once.

Having one could save his life at a critical moment.

“Hmph, it was Old Bei who referred you here, wasn’t it? Only Old Bei can make Invisibility Talismans, and I bet he hasn’t fully mastered it yet.”

The middle-aged man mentioned Old Bei, which must be Bei Bing’s grandfather.

“Okay then, I’ll come back if I need anything else, goodbye.”

Without saying much more, Qin Niu carefully tucked the talismans close to his body and left the Dark Talisman Language Shop.

“An Earth Escape Talisman for one thousand taels of Silver Money each, want one?”

The middle-aged man called out to his departing figure.

“Yes.”

Qin Niu, upon hearing that an Earth Escape Talisman was available for just one thousand taels each, agreed without a second thought.

When it came to buying farmland worth nine taels per acre, he always hesitated.

But now, to buy an Earth Escape Talisman for a thousand taels each, he was exceptionally swift.

Not everyone could understand this kind of spending mindset.

“Wait a moment!”

The middle-aged man went inside and brought out a yellow wooden box.

It was about three inches long and two inches wide.

“Here’s the talisman. Once activated, it will give you a temporary ability to escape through the earth, allowing you to instantly travel up to five miles away. However, be careful to avoid rocky terrain, as it only works through soil. If you encounter rock, it won’t be effective.”

The middle-aged man briefly explained the talisman’s function.

“That’s already very powerful. Here’s a thousand taels of Silver Money.”

Qin Niu didn’t blink an eye as he threw down the money.

What if he was being swindled?

Unless this Talisman shop didn’t want to stay in business anymore, with his current abilities, he could easily shut down the small shop.

“Don’t breathe while using the talisman, keep your eyes closed, and hold your breath.”

“Alright, thank you for the advice, boss.”

Qin Niu had never used an Earth Escape Talisman, but after buying it, he kept it close. He planned to use it only if his life was in danger.

It’s best not to have to use such lifesaving items at all.

Upon leaving the Cultivation Market, he saw that many shops on the main street were displaying signs for sale at reduced prices.

But the price decreases weren’t significant, barely less than twenty percent.

If he waited patiently a while longer, the prices in the shops might drop to their lowest.

Qin Niu only bought clothes and shoes for his three maidservants before returning home.

This trip to the city was mainly to purchase Contractual Talismans.

There wasn’t anything particularly high-class to buy in Black Tiger City itself.

However, the black market was an exception.

Sometimes some rather good special items would appear there.

He had considered taking a demon feather to the black market to probe it, but ultimately decided the risk was too great and gave up decisively.

…

Once home, distributing the clothes and shoes to the maidservants went without saying.

The next day, Qin Niu, his wives, concubines, and Xiao Qing went to the mountain to practice cultivation together.

Only rainy days prevented them from cultivating in the mountains.

After it had rained for two consecutive days, they rested at home as well.

Qin Niu, however, was hoping for a heavy rain.

He could use it as an opportunity to head to the cave in the mountains and try to obtain the Fire Lotus.