8: Goodbye Yan Qingyao

Qin Yun picked up the three Talismans Liu Xuan had drawn and examined them carefully; although there were flaws, they were undeniably successful.

"Draw them again for me to see."

Qin Yun instructed.

"Yes!"

Liu Xuan picked up one of the few remaining sheets of Talisman paper, spread it out, pretended to calm his mind for a moment, and began to move his brush slowly.

Fortunately, he had saved a few sheets of Talisman paper; otherwise, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. How could he have succeeded just as he ran out of paper?

His brushstrokes were stiff and very slow, and it took quite a while before he successfully drew the first rune.

The second rune was the same; in several places, Liu Xuan deliberately made it look as if he couldn't control the brush, nearly failing.

For the third rune, Liu Xuan failed outright and only succeeded after redrawing it once.

A quarter of an hour later.

Liu Xuan was drenched in sweat—not faked, as this method of imitating a novice was more exhausting.

"What is your name?"

Qin Yun asked while examining the Talisman paper.

Liu Xuan bowed with cupped hands.

"This Disciple is named Liu Xuan."

"Is this your first time coming to the Talisman Hall to learn?" Qin Yun asked again.

"Yes!"

"Follow me!"

Qin Yun led Liu Xuan out, paying no further attention to the other Disciples in the classroom.

Leaving the room, Qin Yun led Liu Xuan upstairs until they reached a hall on the top floor.

Inside the hall, over twenty Disciples were intently studying Talismans. Seeing Qin Yun bring in a new face, a few of them looked over curiously.

"Sit here for now. Talisman Master Li will come to speak with you personally later."

Qin Yun arranged for Liu Xuan to sit at a desk near the back and said to him.

"Okay!"

Liu Xuan didn't understand anything, so he just followed the arrangements.

Qin Yun left in a hurry, unsure if she was going to notify that Talisman Master Li or do something else.

Liu Xuan curiously looked over the people in the room.

"Huh?"

Liu Xuan suddenly saw a familiar face: Yan Qingyao.

He had heard that she had entered the Inner Sect directly due to her talent; he hadn't expected to meet her here.

Yan Qingyao was concentrating on Talisman Drawing and did not notice Liu Xuan's attention.

Liu Xuan had ideas about Yan Qingyao, but he knew his own limits; given his current status, it was not the time to provoke her.

Withdrawing his gaze, Liu Xuan looked at the slightly higher-grade Talisman brush, Talisman paper, and Talisman ink on the desk in front of him.

Picking up the Talisman paper and Talisman ink to examine them closely, both were refined from metal-attribute Materials. The most suitable Talisman to draw was the 'Arrow Talisman'.

Arrow Talisman: After activation, it can shoot a metal arrow; its power is related to the grade of the Talisman.

From the lowest unranked to First-Rank High Grade, it was a relatively common offensive Talisman.

This stack of Talisman paper and bottle of Talisman ink were both First-Rank Low Grade, with a value exceeding twenty Spirit Stones.

Logically, Liu Xuan had just learned the three runes for the Dust-Avoiding Talisman, so he should be learning to craft the Dust-Avoiding Talisman now, not learning some Arrow Talisman.

It was possible that Qin Yun had only temporarily arranged for him to sit in this spot, so Liu Xuan dared not casually misappropriate the items on the table.

"Liu Xuan?"

"Why are you sitting in Senior Sister Qin's seat?"

While Liu Xuan was lost in thought, Yan Qingyao, who was not far away, finally noticed him and approached him, saying.

Yan Qingyao was very puzzled. Hadn't Liu Xuan failed the assessment? Why was he still in the Sect, and why was he sitting in Senior Sister Qin's seat?

"Senior Sister Qin?"

"Oh! She told me to sit here for now."

So it was Qin Yun's seat; no wonder it was all First-Rank Low Grade Materials.

Although Liu Xuan had never seen Qin Yun perform Talisman Drawing, based on the three runes she had drawn, he could simply judge that she should be a First-Rank Low-Grade Talisman Master.

"Senior Sister Qin let you sit here?"

Yan Qingyao was even more puzzled.

"Did you successfully draw the three runes for the Dust-Avoiding Talisman?"

Liu Xuan nodded: "Yes!"

Yan Qingyao was full of disbelief. She had started coming to the Talisman Hall to learn from the moment she joined, spending thirty Spirit Stones, and it took her a full three months to succeed.

Liu Xuan, a discarded student with no talent and no background—how did he succeed in learning it?

"You..."

Just as she was about to ask for the details, a handsome man also approached and asked with a smile:

"Junior Sister Qingyao, do you know this new Junior Brother? Why not introduce him to us?"

Yan Qingyao had excellent talent, was stunningly beautiful, and came from a humble background. Now she was quite famous within the Sect, and there were no shortage of people with designs on her.

Others in the hall also looked over, and a few echoed: "That's right, this Junior Brother is quite talented-looking, we would also like to get to know him."

In this group of Talisman Master apprentices, Yan Qingyao treated everyone coldly and had almost never taken the initiative to speak to anyone.

They were also very curious about who it was that could make Yan Qingyao take the initiative to step forward and chat as soon as they came in.

Liu Xuan was tall and had an extraordinary appearance; coupled with wearing a First-Rank magic robe, he really did look a bit like a Genius Disciple.

"He is..."

Yan Qingyao looked at Liu Xuan, thought of the scene of the Outer Sect assessment that day, and hesitated for a moment.

Back then, the six of them had come to the Red Pine Sect from Yongning together. Although her relationship with Liu Xuan was average, there was some connection after all.

On the road, she had sensed that Liu Xuan was interested in her, but there were so many people interested in her that she was long used to it.

Liu Xuan had not made any outrageous moves, and she had never cared, until that scene on the Illusion Heart Platform.

An illusion was, after all, an illusion. Many people made fools of themselves on the Illusion Heart Platform; it only proved that Liu Xuan really liked her, not that Liu Xuan had any malicious intent toward her.

In any case, Liu Xuan hadn't passed the assessment, so it would be difficult for the two of them to have any intersection in the future, and Yan Qingyao quickly forgot about it.

Now that she suddenly remembered, it was somewhat awkward.

"I am Liu Xuan, greetings to all Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters." Liu Xuan stood up and bowed with cupped hands.

"Liu Xuan!"

Everyone pondered this name; it didn't seem to be among the famous Geniuses of the Outer Sect.

"What a coincidence, I remember that among Junior Sister Qingyao's fellow students from her hometown, there was also one named Liu Xuan."

The person speaking was the man who had just approached, named Zhang Ye, an Outer Sect Genius Disciple with a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation base, and Yan Qingyao's most ardent pursuer.

Zhang Ye was twenty-one years old and had broken through to the Qi Refining Third Layer after three years of joining the Sect. He only needed to break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer before the age of twenty-five to become an Inner Sect Disciple.

He also had an older brother who was an Inner Sect Disciple and an elder who was an Inner Sect Deacon at the Late Qi Refining Stage, with a deep background.

"Uh..."

"I am that Liu Xuan you speak of."

Liu Xuan's expression was a bit ugly, not because he was afraid of losing face, but because he felt this was the predecessor's problem, yet he had to take the blame for it, and he couldn't explain it, so he was just a bit annoyed.

"Hehe~"

Zhang Ye chuckled.

"I remember Junior Brother Liu didn't pass the Outer Sect assessment, right? Since you're still in the Sect now, I wonder if you've been Cultivating a Cauldron Cultivation Technique, or if you've latched onto some Dao Companion?"

Yan Qingyao had joined the Inner Sect directly and was a prominent figure among this year's newly joined Disciples; Liu Xuan's story had thus become a joke that served to highlight Yan Qingyao.

Pursuers like Zhang Ye had even specifically looked at the profiles of the other five people who came from Yongning with Yan Qingyao, so he was very clear about Liu Xuan's situation.

Liu Xuan had no talent and no background; to be able to have Spirit Stones to learn Talisman Drawing courses, he must have joined the Dual Cultivation Hall.

Moreover, he estimated that Liu Xuan must have latched onto a Mortal woman from an immortal cultivation Family; otherwise, he wouldn't have the money to learn Talisman Drawing so quickly.