Chapter Forty-Five: Estrangement

  Sister Li's temperament has become more and more sentimental, Luo Yu decided to clarify things, not letting these unfounded matters affect their relationship.

  "Sister Li, listen to me," Luo Yu put down her own teacup, "Yesterday morning, I went to find you, but didn't see you in the room—"

  "I went back the night before last —" Li Da Yu opened her mouth to explain, she wanted to say that she had returned to the original courtyard and chatted with Wang Shi sisters for a whole evening.

  "Sister, this isn't important, I wasn't checking up on you." Luo Yu waved her hand, "I didn't see you at the time, so I went to the market by myself..."

  Luoyu told Li Dabao the reason why Song Ning came to find her.

  "Will he come looking for you again?" Li Dabiao was conflicted, hoping Song Ning would come but also not wanting him to come again.

  "No, I just need to send the symbol to Fang City and don't need to see him."

  "What about you, what do you have for him..." Li Da Yu stuttered.

  I've made it clear enough, how can you still be like this?

  Luoyu felt weak and solemnly promised: "I have no thoughts about him, now or in the future!"

  Li Da Yu opened his mouth again, but Luo Yu quickly took over the conversation: "He doesn't have any thoughts about me either. If you want to see him, help me deliver the finished talisman to Qingning Small Shop ten days later, and maybe you can see him there."

  "Thank you, sister!" Li Dabai's face lit up with joy. "Actually, I just wanted to say that I've changed my name. My new name is Li Yanran, which was thought of by me and Wang Shi together."

  What's the matter with Luo Yu? Why is she so anxious and flustered, like a trapped bird trying to escape? Her eyes are red from crying, her face is pale, and her voice is trembling. What's wrong, did something happen?

  "Li Yanran, sounds pretty good." Luo Yu smiled and praised.

  "Then I won't disturb my sister anymore, you can focus on drawing talismans. I'm leaving." Li Yanran stood up and left.

  Are you urging me to hurry up and draw a symbol? Luo Yu sighed, it's really like having a sister who has forgotten about her sisters!

  Luoyu stood up, spread out the blank talisman paper, adjusted the cinnabar, and slowly calmed down. He picked up the talisman brush, and with a swift and bold stroke, the talisman was completed. The spiritual light flashed, and the talisman took shape, turning out to be a top-grade fireball talisman of Zhang Yi's style.

  Luoyu didn't stop, when she was tired, she would meditate and then continue drawing talismans. After seven days, she finally completed 100 talismans, of which 80 reached the first-class superior grade.

  Luoyu was relieved that she had finally stabilized her skills to a first-class level. Unfortunately, not even one of them reached the extreme grade, it seemed that this was related to the strength of her cultivation and divine consciousness, if she didn't advance, she wouldn't be able to improve her talisman-making skills in a short period of time.

  Luo Yu handed the token to Li Yanran, who was extremely excited and rushed to the market. When she returned, she looked very disappointed, obviously not having seen Song Ning.

  Looking at her pitiful appearance, Luo Yu finally changed his training plan and made 5 batches of talismans within a month to let her send them to Fang City. However, Li Yanran still didn't meet Song Ning, but instead, Luo Yu received his transmission.

  "Huang Shizhong, I recently received the 5 batches of talismans you sent over, and I'm truly grateful for your support towards our shop! ...However, as your senior, I'd like to offer some advice: improving your talisman crafting skills is directly related to your cultivation. I still hope you can focus your main energy on cultivating. If you urgently need spirit stones, you can advance half a year's salary; just send me a transmission talisman and I'll have someone deliver it over. For the next half year, you can focus on cultivating without worrying about our shop's goods."

  At this time, Luo Yu understood that Song Ning had already understood the small trick played by her sisters. He sent a transmission symbol to remind Luo Yu tactfully that he was very clear about Li Yanran's thoughts, but he couldn't accept it and hoped they would calm down for half a year.

  It's not just Song Ning who can't bear it, Wen Shu can't bear it either. Except for the days when he sends symbols, Li Yanran would go to Qingning Xiaodian every now and then to ask about Song Ning's news and ask when Song Ning can come to the store for inspection. Since Li Yanran is a friend of Luo Yu, Wen Shu doesn't want to drive her away, but it's also very annoying after a long time, so he urges Song Ning to send a message to Luo Yu.

  Luoyu handed the transmission token to Li Yanran, and immediately saw her eyes brimming with tears. However, she was no longer willing to intervene, after all, the other party had clearly refused, how could she still cling to it in a pitiful manner? Moreover, Luoyu had drawn a month's worth of symbols, and she was truly somewhat exhausted by this matter, so let's just end it here.

  "Sister," Li Yanran grasped Luo Yu's hands, "Teacher Song should like people who can make talismans. Do you think if I could also draw talismans, he would like me?"

  Please, he just likes the talismans I draw for him, not me as a person. Luo Yu couldn't help but feel helpless. But it's also good that Li Yanran starts learning a skill from now on. Usually, cultivators start considering this during the middle stage of their Qi training, but after Li Yanran advanced to the middle stage, she has been focusing all her thoughts on Song Ning, and even rarely sits in meditation to cultivate.

  "If you want to learn how to draw talismans, I can teach you." Luo Yu gave Li Yanran the jade slips and records of the talisman pens she had used, letting her study them before coming back to learn how to draw talismans on the spot.

  It's been a while since I've had a good rest! Luo Yu got into bed, ready to sleep well, but suddenly got up and checked the storage bag, only to find that this month's symbol income was actually 15 middle-grade spirit stones and 80 low-grade spirit stones, which is even more than the annual allowance given by the Huang family.

  It seems that technical personnel are in demand everywhere! Luo Yu was delighted to imagine, if she could draw a few more symbols for a year, she would have earned enough spirit stones to go to the Spirit Beast Peak and choose a demon beast cub that could advance to the Golden Core stage. Later, she could bring her demon pets to gang up on others, but one demon beast was too few...

  Luo Yu fell asleep.

  ————————————————————

  "Sister, I came so early to find you, didn't disturb your sleep?"

  Luoyu's eyes were blurry with sleep, but she could see that Li Yanran looked tired, guessing that she must have stayed up all night to finish reading the jade slip before coming to knock on her door.

  "It's okay, I'm already awake. Now, let me show you on the spot how to make the Zhu Sand adjustment." Luo Yu took out various symbol-making materials and tools, "One hand slowly pours the demon beast blood into the Zhu Sand, while the other hand holds a spoon and quickly stirs in one direction..."

  But by the end of the day, Li Yanran didn't succeed in drawing a single talisman, and what she drew was the short-distance transmission talisman that Luo Yu had drawn at first, not even reaching the level of quality. Either her spiritual power wasn't evenly distributed or her brushstrokes weren't continuous, and finally, an entire batch of blank talisman papers were all burned to ashes.

  Looking at Li Yanran's pale face, Luo Yu knew that her spiritual energy was no longer sufficient to support her continued painting.

  "Sister Li, let's stop for today, you go back to your room and rest first, we'll continue practicing tomorrow."

  The cost of talismans is low and it's easy to get started, so most lower-level disciples in the Cultivation of Four Arts choose this path. However, not everyone has a talent for making talismans, and Li Yannian was clearly one of them.

  "I've done everything you said to draw the symbol, so why didn't it work? Is there something else I need to know that you haven't told me?" Li Yanran looked at Luo Yu anxiously.

  So you thought of me like this in your heart! But am I a person who hides things from others?

  "I said it before, making talismans also requires talent. It seems that sister's talent is average, and with a few more days of practice, she can succeed."

  "But... alright, I'll go back first. That sentence just now, I said it unintentionally, don't take it to heart."

  Luoyu seemed indifferent to this, Li Yanran gave Luoyu a faint glance, and left with a sense of loss and fatigue.

  In the following half month, Li Yanran still came to learn the control symbols. The transmission symbol was completed in 5 days, but the attack symbols only succeeded in creating one first-grade lower-quality fireball symbol. Such a symbol had too low an attacking power and Qingning's small shop wouldn't accept it.

  Slowly, Li Yanran stopped visiting Luo Yu often. At this time, Luo Yu was busy going to Lin's trial and didn't notice these small changes. Until one day, Li Yanran returned the Spirit Gathering Array Disk to her, and when she left, she wanted to say something but hesitated, not waiting for Luo Yu to ask before pushing the door and leaving. Not long after, Luo Yu discovered that a new junior sister had moved in next door, only then did she realize that Li Yanran had already left Peach Blossom Garden.

  Although there were only a few places where the outer disciples of Chaoyang Peak could stay, Luo Yu didn't go to look for them. Since Sister Li had already made up her mind that Luo Yu had ulterior motives, no matter how Luo Yu explained herself, she wouldn't believe it. Luo Yu felt a pang in her heart, but didn't know who to blame. In the end, it was just that their goals were different, and even though they had spent several years together as children, they would gradually drift apart because of their different paths. Now that they were distant, they might as well be distant...

  "Jade sister, you haven't practiced for several days, but today you can't escape again. Come on, let's have a match first."

  A loud and rough voice came over, interrupting Luo Yu's thoughts, and she lamented that today she would inevitably be beaten up by Sun Dabao again.

  It's already been half a year since then.

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