Despite not wanting to take a Talisman Master test, not caring about becoming a Talisman Master, and even disregarding the entire profession in order to spend my time learning how to plagiarize cultivation manuals, I still become a Talisman Master. To be specific, I am now a One-Star Talisman Master— someone barely qualified to hold the title of Talisman Master yet, apparently, one of the most valuable people in Qiang City.

I’m one of hundreds of people who hold the exact same title, and there are even people who are Two-Star and even a couple of Three-Star Talisman Masters in the city, which is apparently a lot more significant than what I did, but, I did something… sort of. Sure, I cheated to do it, but it isn’t like anyone will ever figure that part out.

To commend me for my efforts, and to verify my new status for everyone who cares, which doesn’t include me, two characters meaning ‘talisman master’ are carved into the lower half of my new license by the proctor.

Of course, he gives me plenty of reason to not show anyone else my card ever again.

“Very good, very good! You are a bright star amongst our profession! Truly, as long as you set your mind to it, you will accomplish many great things! To think, another Variant Cultivator in the city, and one with complimenting elements!”

The proctor gushes on and on about my qualifications for five minutes while I grow irritated with the time he wastes. I want to tell him to fuck off and take his fake-ass flattery somewhere else, but this guy isn’t exactly a pushover. He doesn’t have as much qi as the Pavilion Master, whose flattery I was weirded-out by but not completely again, but his qi is still a world above my own.

While I may have gotten away with going at it with the clothing store guy, I would really rather not try my luck to see if I can cuss out every old man who irritates me. I know for a fact that it isn’t just younger people like Gang Feng who abuse the law, I just don’t know whether or not the proctor is one of those people. If he is, then with his power, I can only assume I wouldn’t have a chance to say ‘oops’ before getting disappeared.

Hell, I’m even pretty sure that the Pavilion Master, who still hasn’t left us, has a more distant relationship with the law judging by his actions after he broke the scrying orb. With my help, certainly, but he was the last one to touch it.

After another minute of flattery, the Pavilion Master saves me by softly clearing his throat.

The proctor responds in turn with an awkward chuckle as he smiles at me and asks, “Now then, with that taken care of, might you tell me what plans you have? Perhaps I can be of some assistance?”

I immediately respond with, “I just wanted to go to the lecture and was told I couldn’t get in without taking the tests first.”

The proctor gives me a look of confused wonder as he says, “Yes, I can understand that complication. Though, I do regret to inform you that you are a little late for the lecture. It began over an hour ago and there were explicit instructions given by Talisman Master Hui that no one, regardless of their status, would be allowed to enter after the doors closed.”

I stare at the proctor for several seconds in disbelief. The only reason I’m here is for the lecture, and now I’m being told that I can’t get into the lecture because of the steps I took to get into the lecture? What? Since when have I been so unlucky?

Not really knowing what else to do, I ask, “Are you sure I can’t get in? I thought the lecture was supposed to last several hours. It shouldn’t be that big of a problem if people came late, right?”

Unfortunately for me, the proctor shakes his head and replies, “My status is not so good that Talisman Master Hui would give me face to allow you in. Let alone me, I doubt he would give face to any save the uppermost echelon of experts in the city.”

“Aw, man!” I sigh out all of my disappointment while wondering whether I can just watch the lecture online. I was hoping to get out and do something, which I guess I technically accomplished, but I didn’t do what I wanted to do.

“Well,” I say, feeling a little dejected, “I guess I’m going to go find something else to do.” I look at the two men and continue with, “I hope you both have a good day,” before turning around and leaving.

***

The Pavilion Master and the test proctor stare at Lan Jin as he walks out of the room; neither knowing what just happened.

They had both seen young men and women tear themselves apart from overworking their minds and bodies in order to partake in opportunities like Talisman Master Hui’s lecture, yet this young man seems to lose interest as soon as he is told he can’t go?

The proctor turns to the Pavilion Master and asks, “Who is that boy? I can’t imagine someone with his qualifications is unknown, yet I’ve never heard of any Lan Jin before. Is there something peculiar about his status?”

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“This— I’m not entirely sure. I know he is the Great Physician, Bing Yao’s, apprentice. Yet, with his Master’s status, I would think that he could simply walk into the lecture and Talisman Master Hui would have no choice but to give him face. I can’t imagine why he would be so… passive in his desires.”

“Yes, it is very odd. I even know that Qiang Yu is supposed to be in attendance for the lecture. In fact, one might argue that, if three-fifths of the students are there to gain insights into drawing talismans, then the remaining two-fifths are there to show off in front of her. I had even thought that boy to be one of them after his attempts to show off his soul power with the most difficult path; but would any man of a suitable age give up an opportunity to woo a beauty?”

The Pavilion Master ponders his thoughts for a few moments before saying, “I do not know about any matters connecting him to Qiang Yu outside of the notion that she likely has a poor regard toward him. But, perhaps, there is a simple reason in that he doesn’t seem to flaunt his status as the Great Physician’s disciple. He even allowed himself to be spoken down to when entering the Martial Hall; and this is despite his beneficial circumstances.”

“Then, are you suggesting that he is not allowed to borrow his Master’s status for his own purposes?” The proctor asks, but his tone seems to suggest the uncertainty of his words.

The Pavilion Master nods, but says, “That, or he is simply to proud to benefit in that manner.”

Nodding his agreement, the proctor says, “Yes, I believe you must be right. It is disappointing that this Lan Jin had to give up a good opportunity because of his pride, but perhaps this is the better way of doing things. Like this, all of his achievements will be won through his own efforts instead of delivered to him.”

“Even still,” the Pavilion Master retorts, “that young man is very strange.”

The proctor agrees.

***

To satisfy my immediate curiosity, I search for ‘Qiang City, Talisman Master Hui lecture’. Unfortunately, whatever’s going on right now isn’t live-streaming.

“Man, this sucks. I spent all this time and I’m walking away with nothing.” I grumble, frustrated.

I didn’t really care too much about the lecture itself, I could easily find untold numbers of similar things online if I wanted to spend the time to browse over the very broad topic of ‘beginner writing tips’, but this was supposed to be a simple thing that I could do to hang out with normal people and get a handle on the city’s rhythm, and I got shot down.

What makes it worse is that the Pavilion Master probably should have been familiar with the events going on today as well as the process for the Talisman Master test, so he definitely should have foreseen how long it would take… unless I’m dumb and normal people usually finish it faster than me.

“Fuck, I can actually see that being the reason!” I face palm as I consider my actions during the test. First, I had to read up on a ton of runes online in order to answer the first part of the test. Sure, I was fast at looking them up and my browsing was supplemented by my implicit knowledge of whatever languages I seem to just understand now, but it still took a while.

Then, I also took forever messing around with the silver rod thing that tested my soul energy. If I had chosen an easier path, or if I had gone all-out and used the rotating trick with my soul from the very beginning, I might have cut off a lot of time.

Finally, I spent more time than was probably necessary to create the actual talisman. Sure, there was no saving myself at the point, but it could have been the thing that made a difference had I been smart about taking the other two parts of the test.

“Well, I guess I screwed myself over today…”

Not knowing what else to do, I open the Omega Browser and take a look around the Martial Hall to see if there is anything else I can do.

“Wait a minute…” I zoom in with the map until I can watch myself through the Omega Browser standing around looking at nothing while people in the background point at me. It’s obvious that they are making fun of my clothes, and a few of them even seem to be pointing jade cards at me for some reason, but I brush them all off as I have an epiphany.

The Omega Browser does have live-streaming! Sort of.

I begin walking in a random direction as I reorient what I’m looking at with the Omega Browser to the Talisman Hall. It has a ‘person-view’ function that is the live equivalent of street view on any normal map, but I ignore the word-usage as I try finding the room the lecture is in while also trying to find somewhere to sit down and be less conspicuous.

It’s more difficult than texting and walking, but only because I have to actively search with the Omega Browser. Thankfully, I find a small courtyard full of trees and a small stream running through them.

Looking around to make sure no one is watching me, I scramble up a tall oak tree and nestle myself in amongst its large branches before focusing all of my attention on the Omega Browser.

Without the normal distractions of the material world, it doesn’t take me too long to find the right room. I know when I’ve found it because the doors are bigger than normal doors, there are guards standing watch outside them, and on the inside of the room are hundreds of people sitting on cushions with small writing desks in front of them.

There is only one person in the room making any noise at all and it is an older man in voluminous white robes who is sitting in front of everyone with his legs crossed as he sits on his own cushion. Everyone else is sitting on their heels.

“Man, I’m already glad that I missed the lecture. Sitting on a cushion is hard enough as is. I think I’d die before I managed to sit on my heels for however long this lecture is supposed to be.”

The man in white is talking about various fundamentals of talisman crafting, but I only find myself paying a small amount of attention to his words as I look through all of the students there.

I might not really care about crafting talismans, but it is painfully obvious that everyone in the room does. There are only a few people who aren’t fixating their gaze with unwavering focus on the old man, and they’re all unconscious.

It’s actually a little creepy how much attention everyone is giving him, but, considering that the unconscious people all have what look to be off-white pieces of paper stuck to their bodies, and that Talisman Master Hui is probably more than a One-Star Talisman Master and deserves his title a lot more than me, I’m pretty sure I can guess the reason why everybody is paying so much attention.

“I changed my mind.” I announce quietly to myself. “I’m glad I wasn’t able to go to that thing. I’d definitely say something that would get me knocked out.”