Chapter 60: Talisman Tome
On the street.
Bai Zhenzhen kept bumping Zhang Yu with her shoulder, a fawning look on her face.
“Yu-boy, you’ve been playing with that for a while now.”
“Let me have a turn.”
“This thing is worth a hundred thousand! A hundred thousand!” Zhang Yu clutched the Talisman Tome tightly. “You’re so strong, what if you accidentally break it? You could never afford to replace it.”
“And wipe your drool, you’re about to get it on my Talisman Tome.”
Bai Zhenzhen watched with longing eyes as Zhang Yu breathed on the Talisman Tome and polished it.
“Let’s trade,” she said, trying to curry favor. “You let me play with the Talisman Tome, and you can play with anything of mine you want.”
Seeing that Zhang Yu was still engrossed in his Talisman Tome, Bai Zhenzhen grew angry and grabbed his hand. Then, she put on a sweet smile and shook his arm.
“Brother Zhang Yu~ Please let me play with it.”
Zhang Yu quickly covered his eyes, feeling as if he had just stared directly at an elder god.
“Stop it, you’re grossing me out.”
“Hmph! Your weakness is exposed.” Bai Zhenzhen quickly snatched the Talisman Tome from his loosened grip.
Zhang Yu rolled his eyes. “Fine, you can play with it for a bit. Just give it back when we get to the station.”
Bai Zhenzhen shook her head and sighed. “A man with roots is a man with weaknesses.”
“Just look at Door-plank—he was completely unassailable today.”
“Yu-boy, I suggest you get snipped. Erase that weakness of yours…”
Zhang Yu snorted coldly. “Do you still want to borrow my Talisman Tome?”
When they reached the station, Zhang Yu parted ways with a reluctant Bai Zhenzhen under her lingering gaze and started for home.
At this very moment, in another part of the city.
A figure answered a call from Su Haifeng.
Su Haifeng’s voice came through the line, “…That’s the basic situation. He has become a Divine Assistant under Zhang Pianpian’s protection, so the usual methods at school are off the table for now.”
“Also, he has a Talisman Tome. As a temporary worker for the Inspection Team, he gets at least one free talisman a day…”
Zhou Tianyi nodded slightly and said faintly, “I understand. I have to make my move before he becomes familiar with the Talisman Tome and its spells. He also happened to use his one free talisman for the day… so today is the best opportunity, isn’t it?”
Su Haifeng urged, “If you’re going to do it, do it fast. You should go find him right now.”
Zhou Tianyi nodded. “I know. I’ll go find Zhang Yu as soon as I’m done with what I’m doing.”
Su Haifeng was perplexed. “Is there something so important it can’t wait?”
Zhou Tianyi shook his head. “Some things cannot be delayed by a single second.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t take long. It won’t affect my plans for Zhang Yu.”
After hanging up, Zhou Tianyi’s figure blurred into motion. A gale seemed to erupt from under his feet as he shot down the street ahead.
He tightened the delivery bag on his back, and with a loud crack, the pavement beneath his feet fractured as he accelerated again.
While dealing with Zhang Yu was important, his customer had paid for guaranteed on-time delivery, so he had to finish his current order before he could go after his target.
Ever since an evil god had unlocked his potential, Zhou Tianyi had discovered a unique trait: the more urgent his pace, the faster his magic power recovered, the stronger his body became, and even the cultivation speed of his leg techniques would increase.
Thus, to cultivate and earn money simultaneously, he had chosen to hide his identity and work as a delivery driver.
He still remembered his first day on the job, when the soups and drinks in his delivery bag had spilled everywhere. He was not only chewed out by the customer but was also docked several hundred in fines by the platform.
Back at the station, his manager poured him a cup of water and told him to carry it in his hand on his deliveries; as long as the water didn’t spill, the food would be safe.
From that day on, the number of orders he delivered daily grew, and his rating on the platform climbed higher and higher.
Then, at some point, Zhou Tianyi began to notice that everything on the road seemed to be slowing down. He later asked his manager about it and learned it wasn’t that the world was slowing down, but that he was getting faster.
If he were not hiding his true strength, he was confident he could place first in the entire grade every single month in their exams.
After completing his last delivery and seeing the payment arrive in his account, Zhou Tianyi let out a soft sigh of relief.
“Right then… time to find Zhang Yu.”
A short while later, Zhou Tianyi arrived downstairs from Zhang Yu’s apartment building.
According to Zhang Yu’s own words, he can’t cultivate in his rented room. He has to go to that abandoned building nearby to practice every day, he thought.
Then I just need to wait for him to head to the abandoned building before I strike.
…
Upon returning to his apartment.
Zhang Yu washed his face, then began to fiddle with the Talisman Tome in his hands, intending to study its functions properly.
After all, even though he had used a Detainment Talisman earlier, the entire process had been too rushed. He had been so busy with one thing after another that he hadn’t had a moment to himself to properly examine the tome.
He pressed his palm against the Talisman Tome, and with a surge of magic power, his fingerprint, palm print, and magic power signature were successfully identified.
A golden light flashed across the tome, revealing a yellow background like a sheet of talisman paper. By simply tracing a finger across its surface, he could draw various talismans.
Then Zhang Yu gently lifted his hand, and the Talisman Tome floated up with it, hovering just before his palm.
Zhang Yu waved his hand from side to side, and the tome drifted back and forth, closely following his palm’s every move.
“This follow-mode is pretty useful. I don’t need to hold it, I can just focus on drawing.”
He tapped the very bottom of the Talisman Tome’s display and swiped upward. The talisman paper background changed, replaced by rows of data.
[Follower Name: Zhang Yu]
[Realm: Qi Refining]
[Overall Faith Level: 1]
Zhang Yu looked further down and saw the names and symbols of the Eight Great Divine Ministries, with their respective faith levels listed next to them.
Because Zhang Yu had never done anything to raise his faith level, his standing with all Eight Great Divine Ministries was still at the default Level 1 that came with the tome.
He casually tapped on the first one listed, the Department of the People, and the image on the Talisman Tome shifted, displaying a divine hall in the Spirit Realm.
Past layers of red walls and golden tiles, celestial dragons danced and phoenixes circled. A great god, shimmering with five-colored light, stood majestically in the hall, one hand forming a Daoist seal. A compassionate aura washed over him, and the god’s slightly closed eyes seemed unable to bear the sight of the world’s suffering.
This was the first righteous god of the Department of the People, the All-Beings Innate God.
Three options appeared on the Talisman Tome.
- Worship God
- Make an Offering
- Consult
Below the “Consult” option was a shroud of gray mist, hiding further options that were presumably locked due to his insufficient faith level.
Looking at the three options, Zhang Yu wondered, What does ‘Worship God’ do?
He tapped it curiously, and a line of text appeared on the tome: The All-Beings Innate God has felt your reverence.