Snow and wind lashed down.
Evening.
A hunched figure appeared at the alley entrance, wiped the snow from his face, and pushed open the wooden door of a dilapidated courtyard.
There were several rooms in the courtyard, and he familiarⅼy walked towards one of them deeper inside.
"Chen Lin, why are you still going out in this weather? Aren't you afraid of running into something strange?"
As if hearing the door open, the window of another room was pushed open, revealing a sallow female face.
"Oh, we ran out of rice at home, so I went out to buy some. I'm preparing to go into seclusion for a while now."
Chen Lin pointed to the large bag in his hand, then replied with an "Oh."
The woman's eyes instantly lit up. She eagerly poked her head out, shielding her forehead with her hand to keep the snowflakes out of her eyes, and stared at the bag in Chen Lin's hand, saying, "You bought rice! Can you spare me some?"
"No!"
Chen Lin decisively refused and pulled open the door to his room.
"I can trade something for it!"
The woman's voice became more urgent; she was about to run out of food.
"Do you still have anything valuable to trade?"
Chen Lin paused, looking at her suspiciously.
The woman opened her mouth, then suddenly gritted her teeth and puffed out her chest, "How about I accompany you for a night?"
"Bang!"
Her answer was the dull sound of a closing door.
Seeing this, the woman showed disappointment.
Suddenly, her demeanor changed drastically, and she squinted, revealing a strange, cold smile. "Damn old geezer, serves you right for being a bachelor! I curse you to eat and not be able to shit! Just you wait until this old lady Breaks Through to Qi Refining Middle Stage; you'll see!"
"Pah!"
After spitting fiercely, the woman slammed the window shut with a bang.
Large goose-feather snowflakes instantly covered the footprints in the courtyard, and the entire city was enveloped in the blizzard.
Chen Lin stood inside, silently watching the woman's disappearing face through the window, then turned around.
He took off his hat, shook the snow from his body, and put the rice into the rice jar.
He found a few pieces of firewood and re-lit the extinguished stove, and the indoor temperature slowly rose.
After staring at the fire for a while, Chen Lin sighed, stood up, and began to cook.
He placed the washed rice on the stove and turned to a dilapidated wooden table.
After sitting down, he opened the drawer.
First, he took out a stack of palm-sized yellow paper from his pocket, then a silver brush.
Finally, he carefully pulled out an ink-colored bottle from his pocket and placed them all on the table.
These items were the Talisman paper, Talisman brush, and Spirit Ink used for Talisman crafting.
His adventurous outing this time wasn't just because of the lack of rice; the main reason was to buy this Spirit Ink.
A small bottle cost several Spirit Stones, so expensive it made one's heart bleed.
He glanced at the porridge simmering on the stove, took a breath, picked up a piece of Talisman paper, and laid it flat.
He dipped the silver Talisman brush in Spirit Ink, adjusted his posture to the optimal state, and his expression became solemn.
The brush tip lightly touched the paper, and thin, glowing lines of Spirit Ink appeared on the Talisman paper, slowly forming one profound Talisman after another.
The seemingly effortless drawing made Chen Lin's nose begin to sweat, and the speed of his brush strokes became slower and slower.
When the entire Talisman was half-drawn, the Talismans on it suddenly flickered rapidly twice, then exploded with a bang.
Looking at the small burnt patch on the table in front of him, Chen Lin grimaced.
"Medium Grade Tier 1 Talismans are indeed much harder than Strength Talismans, and they require more magical power. My Qi Refining Second Level cultivation is too strained."
He shook his head, mumbled to himself, and then picked up another piece of Talisman paper and laid it flat.
The repetitive process continued.
This time, more Talisman lines were drawn than before, but it still couldn't escape the fate of failure, exploding midway.
However, Chen Lin showed no signs of discouragement; he calmly picked up another piece of Talisman paper and laid it flat again.
Another failure.
Laid flat.
Failure.
Laid flat.
Failure.
Chen Lin was like a robot, constantly repeating the action of drawing Talismans.
And so it went.
This was repeated nine times.
Then.
The tenth time.
This time, the action remained unchanged, and the Talisman began to flicker and explode midway again.
But.
Just as the Talismans on the Talisman paper flickered for a while and were about to explode.
It was as if an invisible large hand roughly gathered the already exploded energy back into one place and then fiercely pressed it back into the Talisman paper.
Immediately after.
The Talisman paper flashed, and the Talisman lines on it became clear and bright, quickly calming down again.
A subtle fireball pattern then appeared on the Talisman.
"It seems the Golden Finger ability is also effective for refining Medium Grade Tier 1 Talismans. Now I have another source of income, it's just that the ability is a bit weak, only succeeding once every ten tries."
Chen Lin held the Talisman in his hand, nodded, then shook his head.
As a Transmigrator, no matter how bad the acquired identity was, the necessary welfare was still there.
It's just that this Golden Finger was a bit useless.
It was an innate ability, which he called 'Ten Times Guaranteed Success'.
The full name could be: "Theoretically feasible, and using the correct method to create any item, it will definitely succeed once out of ten attempts."
If there wasn't the restriction of 'using the correct method', then this ability would be Heaven-Defying, but with this restriction, it was quite frustrating.
What is the correct method?
Suppose one wants to refine a Medicinal Pill; first, one must master the Pill Formula for that Medicinal Pill, be familiar with the refining steps, possess a matching Pill Furnace and fire source, and the cultivation must be within a reasonable range.
Only then could it succeed once out of ten attempts.
"Forget it, it's better than nothing."
Chen Lin didn't continue to complain.
Transmigrating to such a dangerous world, with such a poor starting point, having an 'ability' to rely on was already quite good.
At least, he could survive.
The aroma of rice permeated the air.
The porridge was ready.
Chen Lin stopped thinking, took the porridge pot off the stove, served a bowl, and began to slurp it down.
Although this was just rice porridge, it wasn't ordinary rice but Spirit Rice. Not only did it taste endlessly delicious, but it also had certain benefits for cultivation.
The price was naturally not cheap, one Spirit Stone per catty.
Normally, he wouldn't dare to be so extravagant. This time, it was because his cultivation had reached the peak of Qi Refining Second Level, and he wanted to see if he could Break Through with the help of the Spirit Rice's energy.
A bowl of porridge was quickly consumed.
A gentle spiritual power began to spread from his stomach throughout his body.
It was warm and very comfortable.
Unfortunately, the spiritual power was too little and quickly dissipated.
Chen Lin, still wanting more, was about to serve another bowl when a knock on the door suddenly sounded.
"Bang bang bang!"
"Fellow Daoist Chen, it's me, Zhao Zhengyuan."
Hearing the familiar voice, Chen Lin quickly covered the porridge pot and put it aside, then took out a Bixie Talisman and held it in his hand, before walking to the door and opening it.
"Is there something at this late hour?"
Looking at the honest-looking middle-aged man outside, Chen Lin had no intention of inviting him in.
The other party was also a tenant in this courtyard, and his relationship with the original owner of this body was quite good, but everything here was strange, so the necessary vigilance had to be maintained.
"Hehe, I smelled the aroma of your Spirit Rice from inside. Just so happens I cooked the last piece of Black Spotted Tiger meat and have a bottle of wine. I came to have a drink with you."
The middle-aged man held up the items in his hand and said with a chuckle.
After speaking, he suddenly looked up, squinting his eyes and revealing a strange, cold smile.
This change was extremely sudden.
It was as if the other person had suddenly changed, and their temperament had shifted accordingly, with a hint of that evil, charming, and arrogant feeling from legends, which made people very uncomfortable.
But Chen Lin was not surprised.
Ever since he Transmigrated, he had noticed that everyone here would occasionally reveal such a cold smile.
For no reason, at any time, they might do it.
After showing such a smile, the person would instantly become extremely arrogant, defying everyone.
And the person himself seemed to feel nothing about it.
There was something wrong with everyone here.
A big problem!
Unfortunately, his cultivation was too weak to do anything, so he could only suppress his fear deep down and slowly look for a way to break free.
Moreover, to avoid drawing attention, he would also occasionally perform this action.
Chen Lin squinted and said with a cold smile, "Alright, then let's have a drink together."
Just right, he had some things to ask the other party, so he nodded in agreement.
Just then, the window of another room was pushed open again, and the sallow-faced woman's head poked out.
Seeing the wine and meat, her eyes instantly glowed with captivating light.
"Zhao Zhengyuan, what's the point of drinking with a stingy man? Come to my place; not only can you drink wine, but you can also have soup!"
Chen Lin heard this, looked at the woman, then at Zhao Zhengyuan, with a half-smile.
Zhao Zhengyuan, on the other hand, grimaced and walked directly inside the door.
With a bang, he closed the door behind him.
Outside, the woman's furious curses immediately rang out.
"You're also a spineless coward who can't even have a proper child! Men are all useless! When this old lady Breaks Through, I'll throw all of you out into the wilderness to feed the Yao Beasts!"
The two exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly.
Since the other person had brought wine and dishes, Chen Lin could only bring out his hidden Spirit Rice porridge and served two bowls.
He sliced the cooked Black Spotted Tiger meat, filled the cups with wine, and began to drink slowly.
"The city has been getting more and more restless lately. Haven't you heard? The head of the Zhang family mysteriously disappeared. No body found, no corpse seen. That was a Foundation Establishment cultivator!"
Zhao Zhengyuan took a sip of wine and said with an amazed tone.
Chen Lin's eyes flickered.
He thought to himself that in this strange place, it wouldn't be surprising if an entire city of people died overnight, let alone a single Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Although he complained inwardly, outwardly he still showed an expression of deep agreement.
"Yes, even Foundation Establishment cultivators can disappear just like that. This city is getting more and more chaotic."
After speaking, he drained the wine in his cup.
A refreshing and mellow liquid flowed down his throat into his stomach.
It was cool at first, then it emitted waves of warmth, extending from his chest to his limbs and bones, making the magical power within his body become active.
The energy of this Spirit Wine was much stronger than Spirit Rice porridge!