Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

For Qin Wei, those three months were the calmest period he had experienced since arriving in this world. No life-and-death battles. No reckless gambles. No desperate escapes. Everything moved forward smoothly, just as he had planned.

His cooperation with House Griffin continued without interruption. Through their channels, meaning, officially, Qin Wei focused on selling only three types of talismans.

Storage Talismans.

Exploding Talismans.

Binding Curse Talismans.

The Binding Curse Talismans were especially useful. As long as the target was under rank-6, once the talisman was activated, escape became nearly impossible. It was different from Spirit Locking Talisman, where he used Paralysis Seal.

Unlike the Spirit Locking Talisman, where one has to attach to the person to create a paralysis state that even suppresses the target's mana, the binding curse talisman is more like a trap. It needs to be set on the ground or an object, like any non-living thing.

And then, when a living thing comes in contact with the object, the trap will come into effect, and the target will be faced with a binding curse, where dark patches spread across their body and immobilize them. Of course, since they won't feel any suppression on their mana, they can use their mana to dispel the effect, but when combined with the Spirit Locking talisman, this becomes an incredibly strong trap.

Because of this, it quickly became popular among mercenary groups and private guards.

At the same time, he also expanded his business through the second channel that he established through Blossom Tower.

Using Luna as his intermediary, Qin Wei began trading with Blossom Tower, her guild. This cooperation was kept completely secret from House Griffin and the rest of the world.

Through Blossom Tower, he supplied several additional talisman types:

Barrier Talismans, capable of creating a defensive field effective up to rank five. By stacking ten Barrier Talismans together, a temporary rank-six defensive barrier could be formed. Using one hundred at once could even reach rank seven.

Energy Absorption Talismans, which absorbed mana and energy from the target they were attached to, allowing the captured power to be used later.

Spirit Locking Talismans.

And additional storage talismans.

Through these two business routes working in parallel, over the span of three months, purely from these talismans' sales alone, Qin Wei earned more than 785,000 gold coins. It is still considerably distant from his goal of 1 million, but Qin Wei didn't splurge the money.

Every coin entered his inventory quietly.

After all, he can only unlock the Exchange function when he completes the quest, but he was no longer anxious as everything moved at a steady and controlled pace.

One of the most terrifying aspects of Qin Wei's talismans soon became known across multiple forces.

They could not be replicated. After all, they were created by the system.

No matter how many talisman masters tried to analyze them, none could discover how Qin Wei printed his seals on ordinary rice paper. They could imitate the effects of an Exploding Talisman using fire-element manipulation, but the structure itself could not be copied. Everyone only had one thing on their mind: What ink did Qin Wei use to create those talismans?

As for Storage Talismans, no one managed to replicate them at all.

Storage pouches already cost tens of thousands of gold coins. Storage rings and bracelets were even more expensive. Compared to those, Qin Wei's storage talismans became absurdly cost-effective. Their popularity soared almost immediately.

This gave him an entire monopoly on those

Despite having the ability to create more advanced storage tools, Qin Wei deliberately restrained himself. He did not produce storage rings or higher-tier storage artifacts. He kept selling only storage talismans.

As long as the demand remained high, the gold kept flowing into his treasury without drawing too much attention.

Even while raking in huge amounts of money every day, Qin Wei still only sold six types of talismans in total. This was not because he lacked sealing techniques.

Inside the system library, there were dozens of sealing techniques available. Any one of them could be converted into a new talisman.

The real problem was the credits.

Qin Wei didn't have any.

The only way to acquire credits now was through treasures, which he could trade to the system and exchange them for credits, but there were two problems with this. First, the trade request should come directly from the system, and second, he did not know what the future exchange rate would be after unlocking the exchange system.

He refused to spend blindly. As a result, he stuck to talisman sales.

First, he would unlock the exchange function.

Then, he would consider the Master Talisman mission.

Another reason for his caution was secrecy.

Qin Wei never intended to let the world know his true wealth.

Even to the eyes of House Griffin's elders and their lord, his total earnings were only 315,000 gold coins, the amount he had officially made through their partnership with those three talismans.

The remaining hundreds of thousands were hidden.

At the same time, Qin Wei's private life continued quietly in the background.

Because he hadn't formally gotten permission from his wife, his relationship with Luna never made it public. On the surface, nothing seemed different. However, Vanessa was not blind. At some point during those three months, the matter reached Kaelan's ears as well.

Qin Wei did not try to explain anything.

Kaelan also did not question it.

Whether it was because of Qin Wei's value as a Talisman Master or because of the weight of the future cooperation between him and House Griffin, Kaelan simply chose to turn a blind eye.

To him, Qin Wei had already become someone far more important than a simple romantic scandal. Since Luna didn't have any powerful background that she could steal him away from House Griffin, Kaelan didn't summon him to question, even for the sake of his own daughter. But then again, even if Qin Wei was a matrilocal son-in-law of House Griffin, polygamy is pretty much common in noble circles. So, it wasn't a big deal in Kaelan's eyes.

Even the young lord, Thea's cousin, no longer caused Qin Wei any trouble.

After the news of Qin Wei's duel with Prince Zion spread and his identity as a Talisman Master became known, most of the hostility aimed at him quietly disappeared. For a time, people spoke of him everywhere.

But rumors faded quickly.

As the days passed, the story of his battle with Zion slowly lost heat. Qin Wei rarely left his residence during this period, and without fresh incidents to fuel curiosity, the public's attention naturally drifted elsewhere.

To most people, Qin Wei gradually became a name of the past.

But behind closed doors, he never stopped moving forward.

During these three months, Qin Wei spent most of his time sparring with Vanessa and Luna. The battles were frequent, controlled, and relentless. He used every opening to sharpen his senses, his reactions, and his control over power.

At the same time, using Heaven's Eye's copy ability, he successfully copied five additional skills.

Each one was gathered through direct combat.

Each one carried the marks of real experience.

While the outside world believed Qin Wei had settled into a silent life of business and luxury, his foundation was quietly being refined every single day.

The storm had not vanished.

It was simply waiting.

Present day;

The sound of clashing energy rang out across the courtyard.

Qin Wei leapt high into the air, his body twisting as light gathered in his palm. The glow stretched and sharpened, forming a blade of pure energy. Wind kicked up beneath his feet as he came down in a slanted arc toward Vanessa.

His pupils, one with radiant white and the other with abyss black, shimmered faintly.

Heaven's Eye was active, making everything seem like it was going at slow motion.

However, just as his sword was about to strike her, Vanessa shifted at the last moment.

Her foot slid across the stone tiles, her body tilting just enough for the blade to cut past her shoulder instead of striking cleanly. Qin Wei's energy sword smashed into the ground. Light scattered. The blade collapsed into drifting particles.

Vanessa did not retreat.

Her fist pulled back, tightened his muscles, then shot forward.

The moment her knuckles moved, the world stopped as Qin Wei muttered, "Time Freeze."

His Heaven's Eyes glowed brighter than ever as Vanessa's body was locked in the middle of her strike.

Ten seconds.

For the next ten seconds, while Qin Wei's body remained unable to move, his eyes still worked. His gaze swept across the scene. He saw her fist hanging in front of his chest, close enough that he could feel the pressure even through stopped time.

He drew a slow breath.

His heart beat once.

Then time returned.

Qin Wei threw himself to the side just as her fist passed through the space his chest had occupied a heartbeat earlier. The shockwave tore through the air behind him. He rolled across the ground and pulled an energy absorption talisman from his sleeve in a single smooth motion.

As he tore the talisman, energy was released from it. Qin Wei took control of it and then compressed it.

Shaped it.

A new energy sword formed in his grasp.

"Ha..."

Qin Wei lunged forward and drove the blade toward Vanessa's waist.

However, Vanessa reacted on instinct. Before he managed to strike her, her palm snapped out. in reflex. A burst of energy exploded from her hand, striking Qin Wei head-on.

"Gaaah!"

His body flew backward like a rag doll and smashed into the stone tiles several meters away. The impact sent cracks crawling across the courtyard floor.

"Master Icarus…"

Vanessa's eyes widened. Blood drained from her face as she stared at where Qin Wei lay.

"Master!"

Luna's voice broke through from the side at the same time. She ran toward him without hesitation, reaching him before Vanessa did, and dropped to her knees beside his body.

Qin Wei's chest rose unevenly.

Dark bruises spread beneath his clothes where the blast had struck him. His breath came out rough and shallow.

Meanwhile, a line of light flickered briefly in his vision, on the holographic screen.

*Ding!

[Warning: Host will lose consciousness in 6.5 seconds based on current condition.].

Luna hurriedly pulled a small bottle from her sleeve with trembling hands. She uncorked it and pressed it to his lips.

"Drink. Hurry."

As the liquid slid down his throat, warmth spread through his chest and limbs. The burning pain eased slightly. The worst of the surface injuries closed, leaving only dull aches behind.

Qin Wei let out a strained breath. "Fuu..."

Vanessa reached them a moment later. Her hands trembled as she clenched and unclenched her fists.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly, with a bow. "I didn't mean to go that far."

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