I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

Lu Zhao didn't dare linger in the wilderness, fearing the evil creature would come after him. After getting his bearings and circling around, he finally spotted the low earthen walls of Qingmu Town in the distance before dusk.

He didn't immediately enter the town. Instead, he first washed away the mud and sweat from his body by a small river outside the town, treated the bruises on his shoulders that had been rubbed by the yin energy, and then chewed up some common herbs from the forest to apply as a mask to cover up the smell of blood. Only after confirming that he looked like an ordinary, tired boy returning from the mountains did he blend into the crowd of people returning to town at dusk and return to his dilapidated house on South Street.

"Brother Lu is back!"

"Young friend Lu!"

The refugees breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Lu Zhao return safely. Master Zhao hurried to greet him, noticing his pale face and torn clothes, and asked with concern, "Was it alright? What about Li Family Village…?"

Lu Zhao waved his hand, indicating that they should talk inside. After entering the house and closing the dilapidated wooden door, shutting out the noise from outside, he finally let out a long breath, his expression a mixture of exhaustion and solemnity.

"Master, that place is very troublesome." He succinctly recounted what he had seen and felt on the outskirts of the cemetery, including the evil runes, the polluted soil, the attack of the Yin Serpent, and the fact that its true form might be entrenched in the collapsed tomb, capable of creating illusions, commanding Yin spirits to attack, and seemingly injured by the exorcism talisman. As for the details of killing the Yin Serpent and obtaining the soul core, he omitted them.

Master Zhao's face turned pale, and his white beard trembled slightly: "This...this is indeed undoubtedly a demon! Moreover, its cultivation is probably quite profound! It can even command invisible and intangible Yin spirits to attack. If it weren't for you, young friend Lu...alas, what could we do?"

"Ordinary weapons and martial arts have little effect on it. Its methods are bizarre, it has the advantage of terrain, it is reinforced by formations, and it uses the souls of children as bait to bewitch people," Lu Zhao said in a deep voice. "Although I managed to injure it by chance, I'm afraid it's only scratching the surface. Its true form is hidden deep in its lair. If we don't destroy its foundation and cut off its claws, this matter will be difficult to resolve. Moreover, I worry that after it is injured, it will accelerate the consumption of living souls to recover, and may even target the remaining people in Li Family Village."

Master Zhao frowned deeply: "Young friend, you are right. But we are all mere mortals, how can we possibly defeat such demons? As for the bounty... let's not accept it! Our lives are more important!"

"We should accept the bounty," Lu Zhao said firmly, "but not now. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. I've already learned some of its methods and its weaknesses. Now, I need time to prepare."

He didn't utter the word "give up." This wasn't just about thirty taels of silver and reputation; it was about his own path to power growth. That evil creature was the strongest he had encountered so far, and perhaps the most suitable "boss" for him to "grind experience." Moreover, defeating it would greatly benefit the people of Li Family Village and his reputation in the town. High risk, high reward.

"Master," Lu Zhao said to Master Zhao, "I may need to go into seclusion for the next few days to study some things. Please tell the villagers to stay home as much as possible and guard their doors. Also, please try to find out if there are any shops in town that sell cinnabar, talisman paper, realgar powder, and even peach wood and rooster blood, and what the prices are. If so, please buy some for me, within my means. I'll try to raise the money later." He had some loose silver on hand, but he didn't know if it would be enough.

"This...alright!" Seeing that he was determined and his mind was clear, Master Zhao stopped trying to persuade him and nodded vigorously. "Leave this to me. Young friend, please prepare with peace of mind. I will take care of everything outside."

That night, Lu Zhao sat cross-legged in the dilapidated house, circulating the [Turtle Breathing Technique] to recover his strength and injuries while silently recalling the day's battle.

"Illusions, mental attacks, invisible serpents, manipulation of spirits, setting up evil formations... This evil creature's attack methods are mostly based on the mind and yin energy. It has high resistance to physical attacks, but it is extremely afraid of yang energy and the power to dispel evil. My [Refining Spirit Technique] and [Exorcising Talisman] are the key to restraining it."

"The Yin Serpent has no physical form, but it can be damaged by attacks infused with spiritual power. After killing it, you will obtain a [Soul Core]. Its main body is entrenched in its lair and dares not venture out easily, either because it is restricted or because its main body is fragile and needs the nourishment of Yin energy. I used an exorcism talisman to blow up its lair and was able to injure it, which means that it is not invincible and is also afraid of the power of exorcism. Moreover, its lair is likely to be its core weakness."

"I need stronger and more exorcising talismans. Perhaps I also need methods to enhance mental attacks, or ways to defend against mental shocks. The talismans need better materials. Mental attack methods…"

A thought struck him, and he took out the book "Detailed Explanation of Basic Exorcism Talismans" and the fragment of "Basic Corpse Control Techniques" that he had obtained by killing the sorcerer's apprentice. The former was "orthodox," and the latter was "evil magic," but both involved the use of mental power.

"Is it possible to deduce defensive techniques against mental attacks from evil magic? Or, based on righteous methods, borrow some ideas from evil magic to strengthen one's own spirit?"

He first picked up the fragment of "Basic Corpse Control Techniques," carefully using the [Spirit Refining Technique] to protect his mind, and then tried to use his mental power to analyze the descriptions of "mental imprinting" and "manipulating Yin spirits." This time, he did not try to comprehend its core method of controlling corpse puppets, but focused on analyzing its "thinking" and "method" of "how to use one's own mental power to invade, suppress, and guide the target's spirit."

[Attempting to analyze a fragment of "Basic Corpse Control Techniques," involving dangerous knowledge such as "Mental Imprinting" and "Mind Control." Warning: Insufficient mental resistance; forced comprehension carries high risk. Consume experience points for a limited, targeted analysis to extract "Mental Power Application Techniques" (excluding specific methods)? Experience points required: 200.]

"200 points? That's expensive?" Lu Zhao looked at his remaining experience points (80 points from killing the Yin Serpent, plus previous accumulation, only a little over 120 points in total), which was far from enough. "It seems that 'learning' from evil arts isn't so easy. Without sufficient mental resistance (high divine attribute?) and 'experience,' it's easy to suffer a backlash."

He put down the fragments of the evil magic book and picked up "Detailed Explanation of Basic Exorcism Talismans" again, his gaze falling on the "Tranquility Talisman." The function of this talisman is to "gently soothe the mind, dispel inferior illusions, and assist in entering a meditative state."

"Calming the mind... resisting illusions... perhaps this can offer some protection against mental shocks?" Lu Zhao pondered. "If its effects could be enhanced, perhaps..."

He decided to start by drawing talismans. Talismans are a readily available, replicable, mass-producible, and predictable means of long-range attack. Improving the power and success rate of talismans is currently the most direct way to enhance them. This requires better materials and a higher level of skill.

The next day, Master Zhao returned with both good news and bad news.

The good news is that there are indeed two shops in the western market of Qingmu Town that sell cultivation-related goods. One is "Baobaoge," which has a complete range of goods, but the prices are expensive. It sells cinnabar, talisman paper, peach wood swords, low-grade talismans, and elixirs. It is said that it is jointly run by several large families in the town. The other is "Liu's General Store," which has a small storefront and a variety of goods, but occasionally it has some strange mountain products at relatively cheaper prices. Sometimes you can find something worthwhile. Both shops have cinnabar and talisman paper, but the quality is poor and the prices are not cheap. One tael of silver can only buy half a tael of the lowest grade "cinnabar powder" and ten sheets of talisman paper.

The bad news was that Lu Zhao had less than two taels of silver in total, which was a small token left by Li, the head镖师 (bodyguard) of Changfeng镖局 (Escort Agency), before he left. This amount of money couldn't buy much at all.

"Cinnabar and talisman paper are too expensive, and the quality is poor. Realgar powder is not expensive, but its effect on that evil thing is limited. Rooster blood... there are places in town that specialize in selling live chickens, but the price is not cheap, and the effectiveness is hard to say. Peach wood..." Lu Zhao pondered.

"Looks like I need to find a way to make some money. And maybe I could try collecting the materials myself?" He looked out the window at the distant mountain range. "Perhaps there are substitutes in the mountains?"