"Do you want to come in? I've got more here."
Niannian glanced at him and took out a stack of talismans from her small satchel.
Ordinary people couldn't see the faint spiritual glow on the talismans, but the young cultivator could see it clearly.
The characters on the talismans were scrawled, yet each stroke exuded a unique charm. They were rare high - grade talismans.
A little girl could casually take out so many high - grade talismans. How wealthy must her family be?
The young man felt a bit lost in self - doubt. He stared blankly for a long time, then silently turned to look at his master.
Seeing his master's stunned and envious expression, he sighed helplessly.
Their Taoist temple wasn't poor; it even boasted a prosperous stream of pilgrims. After generations of inheritance, there were also many precious items in the temple. But they never had the luxury of being as generous as this little girl.
In comparison, the young man, who always thought of himself as a well - off Taoist priest, suddenly felt impoverished.
He surveyed the village and then looked at Niannian and Shen Weixun, who had already activated their protective golden lights. Finally, unable to resist his inner desire, the young Taoist priest nodded firmly.
"Thank you, little Taoist friend."
Seeing him nod, Niannian let go of her third senior brother's hand and trotted over to the young Taoist priest on her short legs. She pasted a talisman on his leg.
Immediately afterwards, the young Taoist priest's master came over brazenly, looking at Niannian with a kind yet eager expression.
The little girl, who never quite understood the adult world, seemed to understand his meaning just by looking at him. She casually took out another talisman and pasted it on his leg.
When the golden transparent light enveloped their bodies, the master and disciple clearly felt an unusual fluctuation in the surrounding space.
The golden light seemed to isolate them from the outside world. The unpleasant smell that could be smelled from afar in the village disappeared completely under the protection of this light. And the sense of crisis that had been weighing on their hearts also weakened a bit.
"Wow, it's so amazing! I've never seen such a talisman before. Little Taoist friend, what kind of talisman is this?"
The old man took a few steps forward and was amazed to see the golden light following his movements. He had never seen a talisman with such a visible and tangible effect.
Among the spells he knew that could achieve such an effect, the most famous one was the Golden Light Spell.
Niannian proudly puffed out her chest, raised her little head high, and her eyes curved into a smile.
"Hehe, this is a talisman I developed myself. I haven't given it a name yet. Its effect is to isolate space. Back on the mountain, it used to be foggy in the morning. The fog would make my clothes damp, and I didn't like it, so I created this talisman."
Besides practicing formal talismans, Niannian also liked to develop all kinds of strange talismans on her own. Although her master always said that she was wasting her time and the talismans she developed were of little use, Niannian didn't think so.
Now, the talisman that her master considered useless was proving its worth, and Niannian was extremely happy.
"Oh, you can even develop new talismans on your own? You're so amazing!"
Hearing that the talisman was developed by Niannian herself, the old Taoist priest couldn't help but let out an exclamation and gave her a thumbs - up. He didn't spare any praise.
Niannian loved being praised, especially when it was about her intelligence. It greatly satisfied her vanity. Her good impression of this kind - looking old man soared.
Niannian usually had no one to share her creations with. Seeing that the old man liked her inventions so much, she quickly took out one talisman after another from her satchel and stuffed them into the old Taoist priest's arms.
While stuffing, she explained, "This is an improved ghost - expelling talisman, this is a speed - up talisman, this is a shrinking talisman, this is a cleaning talisman..."
One after another, talismans that the old Taoist priest had never seen or heard of were presented in front of him. He was almost shocked to the point of dropping his jaw.
These talismans were of little practical use to Taoists. After all, Taoists mainly focused on expelling ghosts and evil spirits, while most of the talismans Niannian took out were more suitable for daily life.
But the fact that she could develop so many different types of talismans was enough to show how talented Niannian was.
Every stroke of the characters on the talismans had its own significance. The ancient characters passed down for thousands of years couldn't be comprehended overnight. Not to mention fully understanding them and being able to create new talismans by combining them.
This was a quite difficult task even for someone who had practiced for many years like him.
Many novice or young Taoists had to burn incense, take a bath, and sit respectfully in front of the statue of the founding master when drawing basic talismans. Even then, they might only succeed in a few out of a hundred tries with the help of the master's blessings.
But the talismans developed by oneself couldn't rely on the master's blessings. The person drawing the talisman had to be fully dedicated, abandon all distractions, and achieve a state of unity between mind and body, and even between man and the divine, to have a chance of success.
Judging from the number of talismans Niannian took out, her success rate in drawing talismans must be very high. This meant that Niannian could even reach the state of unity between man and nature when drawing talismans. Even if she hadn't fully comprehended the great way, she was at least on the right track.
"Did you draw all these?"
"Yes! I drew them all! Grandpa, if you like them, I have a lot more!"
Seeing the old Taoist priest carefully examining each talisman one by one, Niannian felt as if she had met a kindred spirit. Her strong desire to share welled up. She casually took out another large stack of talismans from her satchel.
One of the talismans, emitting a faint purple light, completely caught the attention of the old Taoist priest and the young Taoist priest.
The two were stunned for a moment, then began to look around warily, like they were guarding against thieves.
The little girl was completely confused. She didn't know why the two Taoist priests in front of her suddenly acted like this.
Then, the old Taoist priest suddenly took her hand and pressed it down. He quietly hid the talisman behind Niannian, picked her up, and strode into the village in a hurry.
In their haste, they didn't even have the time to think about which path they were taking. They only stopped when they saw that there was no one else around.
After Niannian was put on the ground, Shen Weixun immediately stepped forward and pulled her back to his side. His expression remained calm, in sharp contrast to the slightly flustered master - disciple pair.
The old Taoist priest looked at the charred houses around him, then suddenly squatted down and asked with a wrinkled smile, "Little Taoist friend, was there a Purple Qi Talisman among those talismans you just took out?"
Niannian tilted her head and thought carefully. She had drawn so many talismans, but she rarely used them, so she stored them all in her satchel in a big pile. The most commonly used ghost - expelling and evil - slaying talismans were placed on top, while the less - used ones were at the bottom.
She had given all the ghost - expelling and evil - slaying talismans to Grandpa Chu to sell. Now, the strange talismans in her satchel were so numerous that she couldn't even remember exactly what was in there.
"The one emitting a purple light!"
Seeing that Niannian didn't answer for a long time and looked confused and lost in thought, the old Taoist priest couldn't wait any longer and quickly reminded her.
With this reminder, Niannian suddenly had an epiphany. After all, most talismans emitted golden or white light, and the one emitting purple light was indeed very special. There seemed to be such a talisman in the stack she just took out.
"Ah! Are you talking about this one? But this isn't a Purple Qi Talisman. It's a Heavenly Thunder Talisman."
Niannian casually took out the only talisman emitting purple qi from the ones in her hand. The faint purple light coiled around the yellow talisman paper, looking extremely beautiful.
"May I... May I take a look?"
The old Taoist priest's eyes were fixed on the talisman. He subconsciously swallowed his saliva, and his eyes were as eager as a seventeen - or eighteen - year - old young man seeing his beloved girl.
"Sure. These are all for you, Grandpa Taoist priest."
Seeing that he liked it, Niannian didn't even hesitate and directly stuffed the talisman into the old Taoist priest's hand.
Taking the talisman, the old Taoist priest held it carefully with both hands as if he had received a rare treasure, afraid that if he used too much force, he would poke a hole in the paper.
He stared intently at the characters on the talisman and could feel the huge energy contained within it. The more he looked, the brighter his eyes became.
After a moment, he reluctantly handed the talisman back to Niannian, shifting his gaze for fear that if he looked at it one more time, he wouldn't be able to let it go.
The old Taoist priest cleared his throat and carefully stuffed the talisman back into Niannian's hand. "No, this is too precious. I can't accept it. You little girl don't know the value of good things. This kind of talisman is very likely to be snatched. Not all cultivators have a firm mind. You must keep it well. Don't take it out easily next time, and don't give it away casually. It might be very useful one day."
Niannian had no idea that she had already been labeled as a prodigal by the old Taoist priest. The Purple Qi Heavenly Thunder Talisman!
Even a ghost king would have to take a few steps back if this talisman was used. In some small sects or Taoist temples, it might even become a precious treasure to be enshrined every day.
But this little girl took it out so casually and wanted to give it away so casually.
Although the old Taoist priest was heart - broken to reject this opportunity, he wasn't that kind of person.
He thought that Niannian didn't recognize the value of the talisman and thought it was just an ordinary one. The child was innocent, and he, as an adult, couldn't take advantage of the child's innocence.
Looking at the talisman that was suddenly stuffed back into her hand, Niannian tilted her head and blinked in confusion, while Shen Weixun's expression also softened a bit.
"It's not precious. I have a lot more. If others like it, as long as they tell me, I can give it to them. If Grandpa likes it, I can give it to you too."
There was no reason to take back a gift that had been given out. Niannian was a very generous child, and she didn't think this talisman was particularly special.
After all, it was all her work, and she could draw it anytime. Although the success rate of drawing purple - light talismans was much lower than that of other talismans, it wasn't particularly difficult for her.
Even when drawing a hundred talismans, there was always a half - chance of success.
After saying that, Niannian gave the talisman to the old Taoist priest again. Seeing that he still wanted to decline, Shen Weixun said, "Senior, please accept it. These are all drawn by my junior sister when she was doing her coursework in her spare time."
The implication was that this kind of thing was common for them and not worth much.
Hearing this, the master and disciple were completely stunned.
The level of Niannian's talent and the shock she brought to them completely exceeded their expectations.
Apart from being stunned, they were more in awe and amazement of Niannian's talent.
The old Taoist priest holding the Purple Qi Heavenly Thunder Talisman suddenly felt like crying. He glared at his disciple beside him angrily.
He was already jealous of Niannian's master, whom he had never met.
What a great talent! What a high level of talent! What a remarkable little Taoist novice!
Why couldn't he meet such a talent?
He had taken in this disciple, his most promising one. Not only was his talent far inferior to Niannian's, but he was also stubborn, meddlesome, and a soft - hearted good - for - nothing.
Sure enough, comparing people could make one angry, and comparing goods could make one discard them.
The young Taoist priest, who was suddenly glared at by his master, looked up at the sky speechlessly. So it was his fault that his talent wasn't high enough?
"Thank you, little friend. But this talisman is indeed very valuable to us, and I can't take it for free. I just heard you say that you came to this village to look for someone. May I ask who you are looking for? We can help you look together. My useless disciple and I may not be extremely powerful, but more people mean more strength."
Originally, the old Taoist priest wanted to buy the talisman, but seeing the bearing of Niannian and Shen Weixun, he knew that they must not come from an ordinary family, so he swallowed the words. Talking about money would be an insult.
After all, this was a kind gift from the child, so their return should also be full of sincerity.
"We don't know much about Yunjia Village. Since you two have been guarding outside for several days, you should have a certain understanding of the terrain here, right?"
Shen Weixun no longer thought the master - disciple pair was annoying.
They knew how precious the Purple Qi Heavenly Thunder Talisman was. Even if Niannian had no concept of money, he, who was always dealing with family business, couldn't be ignorant.
The reason he didn't speak up before was to test the character of the master - disciple pair. If the old Taoist priest had readily accepted the talisman at that time, he would never have said another word to this person.
But the other party didn't have the idea of taking the talisman for himself and deceiving the child just because Niannian was a little girl. This was enough to prove that this person had good character.