Ye Chen felt a sense of despair regarding his talent. Without the system, he probably would've spent his entire life at the bottom of the cultivation world, with no hope of ever turning his fate around. But fortunately, he had the system. That made all the difference.

  So, Ye Chen didn't spend too much time brooding over his lack of talent. If he couldn't learn, it didn't matter. After all, his primary goal wasn't mastery of talisman-making, but to find a way to get closer to Sun Ruoxin.

  For the next few days, Ye Chen didn't focus on talismans anymore. Instead, he continued his daily routine of cultivation and pill refining.

  Notably, Lin Ke'er and Lu Jing's attitudes toward Ye Chen became even more passionate.

  Lin Ke'er's enthusiasm was naturally because of the storage bag. As for Lu Jing, it was all due to a sense of crisis. Ye Chen had gone an entire week without giving her any gifts, yet he had given a storage bag to Lin Ke'er.

  Did this mean Ye Chen was really starting to lose interest in her? Lu Jing couldn't accept this.

  At the same time, both women discovered that Ye Chen had somehow broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining. Small breakthroughs in cultivation were hard to detect unless one had a special detection spell. But Ye Chen's cultivation level now exceeded theirs.

  Naturally, this made both women pay even more attention to him. After all, women were inherently drawn to strength. They preferred men who were stronger than themselves. Thus, the competition between Lin Ke'er and Lu Jing grew even more intense. Both of them became even more attentive toward Ye Chen, offering him even more benefits.

  Ye Chen, on the other hand, had stopped giving away pills. Instead, he had turned to buying and selling for profit. The system didn't refund when he directly gave spirit stones, and the gifts had to be something the recipient truly needed, not something that far exceeded their demands.

  This meant Ye Chen had to be more generous with his spending. For instance, he gifted Lu Jing a set of robes worth two mid-grade spirit stones. He also gave Lin Ke'er a pair of white gloves made from heavenly silkworm silk, valued at three mid-grade spirit stones. If only there were black ones, preferably stockings, Ye Chen would have been even more thrilled.

  Overall, Ye Chen's generosity only grew. Despite both women looking down on his indecisiveness, his unwillingness to choose between them, and him two-timing them, they couldn't resist the lavish gifts. What he gave was simply too much for them to turn down. In their attempts to outdo each other and claim his favor, both women upped the ante.

  For example, Lin Ke'er had started allowing Ye Chen to touch her when they kissed. Though she hadn't fully opened up, she was definitely warming to him.

  As for Lu Jing, whenever they ate together in her room, it was like a show of indulgence. Her outfits became more and more revealing. Her modesty was becoming a thing of the past. She even sat on Ye Chen's lap, feeding him….

  It made Ye Chen feel quite content. Meanwhile, thanks to the tenfold rewards from his gift-giving, Ye Chen's finances had become rather robust. The system was incredibly considerate, distinguishing when Ye Chen was gifting out of personal desire or to profit. Thus, the rewards came in varying quantities, types, and functions, ensuring Ye Chen wouldn't be noticed when he sold them off.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The only downside was that Silver Moon Market was still a small-scale place. No matter how careful Ye Chen was, if he kept selling, someone would eventually catch on. Also, because he was selling to shops, the prices weren't very high, mostly around seventy percent of the retail value.

  Even so, Ye Chen's savings quickly grew to twenty mid-grade spirit stones, with more coming in steadily. Overall, Ye Chen's life was going smoothly, except for one thing: His lack of progress with Sun Ruoxin. He had given up on talisman-making. He had considered it money well spent, simply to get closer to her. But the problem was, he had already attended three lessons, and he hadn't even met Sun Ruoxin once.

  This left Ye Chen feeling rather frustrated. He hadn't come just to learn talisman-making. If he didn't get the chance to meet Sun Ruoxin soon, he might as well stop going to the lessons. Giving away money for nothing wasn't the way to go. He decided to wait for another opportunity.

  Green Cloud Shop.

  In the quiet room, Sun Ye stared at Ye Chen, who was still failing miserably at making talismans. Despite all his efforts, Sun Ye could barely contain his urge to scold him. Ye Chen was truly a lost cause. He had been teaching seriously, but after four lessons, Ye Chen hadn't made any progress at all.

  With this kind of talent, Sun Ye thought that he should just give up. Yet, despite his frustration, he couldn't help but feel greed at the sight of Ye Chen's spirit stones. This kid was loaded. If he could get Ye Chen to keep attending the lessons, that would bring in quite a few spirit stones by the end of the year.

  Thinking about this, Sun Ye forced a smile, attempting to hide his thoughts.

  "Not bad, not bad at all. You've made great progress. Look at this line, it's much better than before, closely aligned with the flow of spirit qi…. Keep up the good work, and you'll soon be a fine talisman master."

  Ye Chen could barely hide his own smirk at Sun Ye's praise.

  Man, how desperate are you for money?

  To keep him paying for lessons, Sun Ye was even willing to tell such lies. It was like the president of a football-strong nation on Earth, claiming to watch their national team play every day just to secure a deal with China.

  Ye Chen didn't comment on Sun Ye's words. But on this, the last lesson of the month, he still hadn't seen Sun Ruoxin. This frustration finally prompted Ye Chen to ask, "I heard from the shop attendants that your daughter, Senior Sister Sun, is also studying talisman-making. With your busy schedule, why don't you teach us both together? It'd save time."

  Sun Ye didn't suspect Ye Chen was trying to get closer to his daughter. Instead, he grumbled in response, "My daughter's already a proper talisman master, capable of crafting first-tier, mid-grade talismans. You, on the other hand, can't even get the basics down. I'd love to teach you both together, but with your skills… no, you're just not ready."

  Ye Chen, unfazed by the "trash" comment, ignored it and reflected on what Sun Ye had said. It was true. There was a huge gap between him and Sun Ruoxin. The difference in their skill levels was as wide as the gap between a kindergarten student and a middle schooler. If he could just improve his talisman-making, he might be able to attend class with Sun Ruoxin.

  But Ye Chen had to admit that he really was struggling. Even with all his effort, it might take him a year or more just to get the basics down.

  "Senior Sun, do you have any methods for quickly improving one's talisman-making skills? I'm progressing way too slowly. It's been a month, and I haven't even scratched the surface. If there's no way to speed up my progress, then maybe it's better to stop."

  Sun Ye's lip curled in annoyance. The more useless someone was, the more they expected a shortcut to mastery. Still, he wanted to get that spirit stone.

  After some hesitation, Sun Ye said, "I have a talisman-making manuscript from my master. It contains his insights and experiences when he was still a first-tier talisman master. It details his journey of learning and understanding the art of talismans. If you study this manuscript, your understanding of talisman-making will likely increase drastically, and your skill might improve in leaps and bounds."

  Ye Chen's eyes instantly lit up at these words. This seemed like just the thing he needed. Lu Jing was also learning talisman-making, so this could be perfect for her. If he gave it to Lu Jing, what would he get back from the tenfold reward system? Perhaps this could push his own talisman skills to a whole new level, allowing him to join Sun Ruoxin in class.

  But Ye Chen didn't speak immediately. He knew Sun Ye was too greedy to just give this away for free.