15: The Joy of a Garbage Collector

Cuizhu Lane, Courtyard Jia 15.

Gu Fan was sighing deeply as he looked at the yard full of scrap metal and junk.

As a low-level Formation Master with ideals but no resources, his life was even tighter than that of a Talisman master.

The Dao of Formations was extremely expensive.

A failed Talisman was just a piece of paper, but a failed Formation meant scrapping entire sets of Formation Flags and expensive spiritual Materials.

"Sigh... this pile of scrap is only worth two Spirit Stones at the shop, not even enough to buy a single new pole for a Formation Flag."

Gu Fan kicked the pile of broken Formation Flag poles at his feet, his Face full of worry.

Just then, the Restriction outside the courtyard was triggered.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, are you home?"

Zhou Wannian's gentle and honest voice drifted in.

Gu Fan tidied his appearance and opened the Restriction, only to see Zhou Wannian standing at the door with a smile, carrying a jar of spiritual wine and two catties of Yao Beast meat.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou? This is..."

"Thanks to the book you gave me a few days ago, Fellow Daoist Gu, I have benefited greatly."

Zhou Wannian raised the wine and meat in his hands.

"I happened to buy some meat at the market today and came specifically to have a few drinks with you, Fellow Daoist Gu. Also... I have a small favor to ask."

At the mention of wine and meat, Gu Fan's throat twitched. He had been eating Fasting Pills for half a month, and his mouth was craving flavor.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, you're too kind! Please, come in!"

...After three rounds of wine and several dishes.

Some color returned to Gu Fan's pale Face, and he became more talkative, starting to pour out his grievances, denouncing the inflated prices of Formation Materials and how difficult his clients—those Loose Cultivators who came to him to repair Formation Plates—were to serve.

Zhou Wannian listened quietly, occasionally chiming in and pouring wine for Gu Fan.

Once Gu Fan had vented enough, Zhou Wannian pointed seemingly casually at the pile of scrap in the corner of the yard.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, this pile of things... how do you plan to handle it?"

"How else can I handle it?" Gu Fan smiled bitterly.

"Sell it as scrap. The price the shops offer for recycling is outrageously low, claiming they have to deduct refining costs."

"Well..."

Zhou Wannian rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed.

"As you know, Fellow Daoist Gu, I've been studying that Formation book you gave me and wanted to find some physical items to practice with. Buying new ones is too expensive, so if you don't mind, could you... sell this pile of scrap to me?"

"Sell it to you?"

Gu Fan was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand. "Fellow Daoist Zhou, you must be joking. It's just a pile of trash. If you want it, just take it! We're neighbors; talking about money hurts our friendship!"

"That won't do."

Zhou Wannian said solemnly.

"Even brothers should keep clear accounts. It wasn't easy for you to accumulate these Materials, Fellow Daoist Gu. How about this: the recycling shop offers two Spirit Stones, I'll give you three! In the future, if you have any discarded Formation Flags or Formation Plates, I'll buy them all at thirty percent above the recycling shop's price. How does that sound?"

Gu Fan was moved.

Was this buying scrap? This was clearly a disguised way of helping him out!

"Fellow Daoist Zhou... you are truly noble!" Gu Fan's eyes reddened slightly as he raised his glass. "I, Gu Fan, have definitely made a friend in you!"

Zhou Wannian smiled honestly, but he was ecstatic inside.

Noble?

No, I'm a profiteer... Like a moving ant, Zhou Wannian took three trips to carry that pile of "trash" back to his own courtyard.

He closed the door and activated the Cloud Mist Formation.

Zhou Wannian looked at the yard full of broken flags and cracked plates, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Time to get to work!"

He pulled out a stack of "Earthworm Version Cleaning Talismans" and began his happy recycling work.

"Although the pole of this Formation Flag is broken, the flag surface uses First-Tier Medium Grade 'Cloud Silkscreen.' It's only because the Formation patterns were drawn incorrectly that the spiritual energy is blocked."

Slap!

A Cleaning Talisman was slapped onto it.

"Suck!"

As the spiral spiritual energy was drawn out, the incorrect Formation pattern ink on the flag surface was forcibly sucked away, revealing a pristine, white Cloud Silkscreen surface.

"Good stuff! If I trim this flag surface, I can make at least two new small Formation Flags!"

"This Formation Plate... although the core is shattered, the 'Star-Patterned Copper' at the edges is intact."

Slap!

Another Cleaning Talisman... For the entire afternoon, Zhou Wannian was immersed in the pleasure of "turning waste into treasure."

After his violent cleaning and dismantling, the pile of trash that was originally worth only two Spirit Stones had been organized into raw Materials worth at least twenty Spirit Stones!

This included: ten intact Cloud Silkscreen flag surfaces, three catties of purified Star-Patterned Copper, and a jar of Spirit-Guiding Powder scraped from discarded Formation Plates.

"High profit, absolute high profit."

Resources aren't just gained through looting; they're also gained through saving.

"With these Materials, I can try to set up the 'Lesser Five Elements Maze Formation' recorded in 'Introduction to Formations'."

Zhou Wannian looked at his courtyard.

Currently, the outer perimeter of the courtyard only had the "Cloud Mist Formation" uniformly set up by the market. This thing stopped gentlemen but not scoundrels; any Robber Cultivator with a bit of Formation knowledge could crack it in two moves.

He wanted to turn this courtyard into a veritable fortress.

Over the next few days, Zhou Wannian paused his plans to go to the Ghost Market.

During the day, he sewed Formation Flags in his room using the recycled Cloud Silkscreen—needlework was also a basic skill for a Talisman master, since drawing Talismans required steady hands—and at night, he carved Formation bases using the Star-Patterned Copper.

Although it was his first time setting up a Formation and his technique was clumsy, fortunately, the Materials were obtained for free, so he didn't feel the sting.

If he failed, he would just wash it and draw again.

Finally, after wasting a third of the Materials, he successfully created five palm-sized small grey flags.

These were the Formation Flags for the "Lesser Five Elements Maze Formation."

"Rise!"

Standing in the center of the courtyard, Zhou Wannian formed hand seals and struck the five Formation Flags into five positions around the yard, burying them three feet underground.

Buzz—

The air fluctuated slightly before returning to calm.

From the outside, the courtyard showed no change, still shrouded in a faint white mist.

But if someone were to force their way in without permission... Zhou Wannian picked up a stone and threw it toward the courtyard entrance.

As soon as the stone flew into the Formation's range, it was as if it had crashed into a mass of thick paste. Its speed plummeted, and then it weirdly spun in mid-air. It was originally flying forward, but it suddenly turned around and flew back, landing with a "thud" right at Zhou Wannian's feet.

"Ghost Wall."

Zhou Wannian nodded in satisfaction.

This "Lesser Five Elements Maze Formation" had no killing power; its main purpose was to trap and confuse.

Intruders would lose their sense of direction and walk in circles.

"It's not enough."

Zhou Wannian rubbed his chin.

Just trapping people wasn't enough; there had to be a lethal move.

He thought of the dozens of "Spiral Ascension Talismans" he had stockpiled.

"If I bury a few trigger-activated Spiral Talismans at several essential nodes of the Maze Formation..."

Zhou Wannian chuckled and pulled a few "Cow Dung Talismans" from his Storage Pouch, carefully burying them in the soil next to the Formation Flags, leaving only a tiny corner exposed to draw spiritual energy.

"This is a chain trap."

"You break the Cloud Mist Formation and think you're in, only to get stuck in the Maze Formation's Ghost Wall. While you're walking in circles, a spiral pillar of fire suddenly erupts from beneath your feet..."

The scene was too beautiful to imagine.

Having finished the setup, Zhou Wannian looked at the seemingly harmless little courtyard and finally felt a complete sense of security.

"Now this is a home."

...After finishing all this, Zhou Wannian didn't idle.

He calculated the days; it had been five days since he last sold Talismans to the Iron Blood Pavilion.

"Time to deliver the goods."

"This time, not only will I sell Scabby Vajra Talismans, but I also need to see if there are Legacies for other First-Tier defensive Spells or Breath-Concealing Spells."

Just as he finished packing and was about to head out, the courtyard's Restriction rang again.

It was Gu Fan again.

But this time, Gu Fan's expression was a bit strange, and he held a red invitation in his hand.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, are you in?"

Zhou Wannian opened the Restriction. "Fellow Daoist Gu, what's this?"

"Sigh, don't even mention it."

Gu Fan sighed and handed the invitation to Zhou Wannian.

"This was sent by Alchemist Zhao Feng. He says it's to celebrate his successful hunt of a First-Tier Middle Stage 'Iron-Backed Azure Wolf.' He's holding a victory banquet at the Drunken Immortal Tower and has invited all the Talisman masters and Formation Masters from the Outer District to... to appreciate his trophy."

"Hunting a Yao Beast? A victory banquet?"

Zhou Wannian was taken aback.

Wasn't this Zhao Feng just beaten up by a buyer a few days ago? How did he bounce back so quickly?

"I heard that to prove himself, he specially spent a large sum of money to hire a monster-hunting squad and took the Talismans he drew for a trip into the mountains."

Gu Fan lowered his voice, a hint of disdain in his tone. "He says he hunted it personally, but everyone knows it's just to pad his resume and salvage his reputation."

"But he is, after all, Immortal Master Liu's Named Disciple. No one dares not to give him this Face."

Zhou Wannian looked at the gold-embossed invitation, his heart unmoved.

This kind of boring socializing was simply a waste of life.

"Are you going, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Zhou Wannian asked.

"I'm going. Not only do I have to go, but I also have to prepare a small gift." Gu Fan smiled bitterly. "Living in the Outer District, if we offend this popular figure, our future days will be difficult."

"Then..." Zhou Wannian thought for a moment. "I'll go join the fun too."

It wasn't to curry favor with Zhao Feng.

Rather, it was because of a divination he performed last night; the hexagram said that in crowded places like this, there's often big drama or an Opportunity to be found.

Besides, he also wanted to see what kind of tricks this Genius, who was so eager to prove himself, could pull off.