Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 35: Ironhead Technique

According to the reports, a small secret realm east of Tushou City was set to open sometime this month.

Ye Su and her group had been traveling as fast as they could and finally arrived in a small city called Jidong. Many cultivators had already arrived ahead of them, and there were plenty of other groups traveling together, just like theirs.

However, their arrival still drew the quiet attention of nearby cultivators.

There weren’t many Core Formation cultivators in Jidong, but their group had three sword cultivators at the Core Formation stage. Anyone seeing that would be quietly muttering to themselves.

"We usually don’t come to secret realms this small," Xu Chengyu said to Ye Su as he sat down. "Disciples of Sword Sect have our own training grounds, or we go on missions down the mountain with our seniors. Only after reaching Core Formation do we start exploring secret realms. Zhou Yun and Chongqiu just returned from one not long ago."

The bigger the secret realm, the more dangerous it was. Core Formation cultivators could die just like that inside. Disciples from large sects had protective magic tools given by their masters or elders, but rogue cultivators had nothing and had to rely entirely on themselves. Any powerful cultivator who managed to rise from a rogue background was no ordinary person.

In the history of cultivation, such tenacious figures were rare—but whenever one appeared, they could shake the entire world for centuries.

"Brother Xu," Ye Su glanced over at Ming Liu Sha’s group at the next table, "once we enter, don’t act immediately. Wait until real danger appears—if we can’t handle it ourselves, then you step in."

Xu Chengyu nodded. "Alright."

Since the secret realm hadn’t opened yet, Ye Su had dinner with the group, then went out to explore Jidong City. She had been planning to make a simple magical tool and wanted to prepare the materials beforehand.

Jidong wasn’t even a third the size of Dinghai City, but it had all the essential shops.

Ye Su visited a small material shop to buy some components for crafting, and while taking a different path back, she stumbled upon a small talisman shop.

It might’ve been because this side of the city was closer to the Wuxing Sect.

She stepped inside. The shop was tiny—only enough room for one person to turn around. There were no display shelves; just a row of wooden plaques on the wall, each engraved with the name of a talisman.

She saw familiar names like the Vajra Talisman and Sleep Charm, as well as others she hadn’t heard of.

There were no actual talismans in sight—just the names on the plaques.

Her gaze landed on the last plaque in the last row: "Curse Reversal Talisman"?

"Boss, what does the Curse Reversal Talisman do?" Ye Su asked the old man sitting on a small stool inside.

The old man lifted his eyelids and replied in a hoarse, weathered voice, "It’s a luck-altering talisman. Stick it on yourself and your opponent will get unlucky. It lasts about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense."

"What about the Binding and Barrier-Breaking Talismans?"

The old man coughed a few times. "Binding Talisman paralyzes the target for a short moment. Barrier-Breaking Talisman can shatter magical barriers."

"Effective against which cultivation levels?" Ye Su asked.

"Depends on how good the talisman maker is at channeling energy and locking it into the charm. But generally, the higher the target's level, the less effective these talismans are," he explained.

Channeling energy into the talisman?

Ye Su only half understood. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I’ll take one Binding Talisman and one Barrier-Breaking Talisman."

"Three hundred mid-grade spirit stones," the old man said, shakily pulling the talismans from his robe and handing them to her.

Ye Su handed over the stones and asked as she accepted them, "What level are these most effective against?"

"Core Formation."

Anyone with a basic understanding of talismans would’ve thrown them back at that point and called the man a scammer. Talismans that worked on Core Formation cultivators wouldn’t sell for just three hundred mid-grade spirit stones—unless they were fake.

But Ye Su didn’t know. Her first experience with talismans had been with ones improved by the seniors of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect—those could even affect cultivators at the Body Integration stage. So she wasn’t familiar with how normal Core Formation talismans worked.

She stored the talismans away and turned to leave. As she reached the shop entrance, she couldn’t help turning back.

"You... didn’t fix one of your ears properly."

The old man was stunned. Then he conjured a mirror and checked his ears.

Sure enough, one ear was covered in age spots like an old man’s, but the other looked smooth and youthful—completely mismatched.

The "old man" muttered something under his breath, then crushed a talisman in his hand. In the next instant, he disappeared entirely.

Ye Su shook her head as she walked off. There’s no shortage of weirdos these days. In the cultivation world, the younger you look, the stronger you tend to be—who in their right mind pretends to be an old man?

Back at the inn, she took out a Curse Reversal Talisman she had drawn previously and stuck it on herself. Looking down, she didn’t feel anything unusual.

…It didn’t seem like she was getting any bad luck either.

Thinking back to the man who pretended to be an old man—was he lying, or had she drawn the talisman incorrectly?

Ye Su hadn't figured it out yet when, suddenly, a roof tile fell from above and came crashing straight toward her.

Hearing the noise, she quickly dodged to the side—only to trip over her own foot and fall. Her head just happened to lean right into the tile’s path, and it struck her directly.

The tile shattered into pieces.

Ma Chongqiu, who happened to be walking by, stopped at the door, turned his head, and saw the whole scene.

"Are you training the Ironhead Technique?" he asked. So artificers also have to train their bodies, huh.

Then he turned back around and went to his room.

Ye Su: "…"

She raised her hand, gathering spiritual power in her palm, and sent it toward the doors on either side to close them. The doors did close, but the hinges immediately broke off and came flying straight at her.

Ye Su didn’t even try to dodge this time. She was determined to see just how much damage this Curse Reversal Talisman could actually cause.

"What are you doing?" You Fushi appeared from who-knows-where. He propped up the door, then gave it a shove, too lazy to hold it up any longer. The door fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that rushed toward Ye Su.

Ye Su was choked by the dust and scrambled up with a blank expression.

"Junior Brother, maybe next time hold the door up a little longer."

At that moment, the Curse Reversal Talisman finally wore off.

You Fushi tilted his head thoughtfully, then raised his hand and cast a cleansing spell on her.

"There. All clean."

"What did you come here for?" Ye Su decided she’d test the talisman on Ming Liu Sha later. It didn’t seem to be life-threatening, just bad luck.

"I’m hungry," said You Fushi. "I want a Fasting Pill."

He was probably used to being poor while traveling with Ye Su. If there was spiritual food, he’d eat it; if not, he’d ask for a Fasting Pill, though he didn’t really like taking them.

Ye Su frowned and took a bottle of Fasting Pills from her Qiankun bag, along with some spirit stones.

"Take these. If I’m not around, you can buy food yourself."

You Fushi glanced at the spirit stones, stepped back, and shook his head.

"No. They’re ugly."

He clearly had no intention of putting them into his Qiankun bag.

You Fushi suddenly paused—Qiankun bag?

He looked down at the Qiankun bag on his waist. He’d picked it up in a secret realm. It was ugly and small, but still usable.

Ye Su frowned again. What kind of weird habit is this? Saying mid-grade spirit stones are ugly?

She said, "Take them. Otherwise, if I’m not with you, you’ll just go hungry."

You Fushi didn’t look at her and pretended not to hear.

Ye Su: "…You can return the Mistflower Fang now."

You Fushi immediately frowned.

"Ye Su, you said last time I could borrow it for ten days if I learned fifty characters."

Senior Sister smiled.

"There’s only half a day left. Your time’s almost up."

You Fushi turned his head away, opened his Qiankun bag, and muttered, "Put them in. I just won’t look at them when I need to use them."

Ye Su raised an eyebrow and dropped the spirit stones in. This trick always worked on her junior brother.

The door and tiles were broken, so Ye Su took some time to fix them. She informed the innkeeper before returning. You Fushi still hadn’t left.

"Something else?"

"Teach me fifty more characters," You Fushi said, holding out a book. "Then I can borrow the flower for another ten days."

As long as he kept borrowing, the Mistflower Fang would always be his.

Ye Su rubbed her forehead.

"Fine."

You Fushi picked things up quickly—usually, she only had to teach something once for him to remember it. But his handwriting was… let’s just say, less than impressive: weak, shaky, and crooked.

"Practice these few sheets first," Ye Su said, writing one character on each page for him to copy.

She sat across from him and took out the two newly bought talismans, intending to redraw them.

She wasn’t planning to sell them—just wanted to save some money for personal use.

Ye Su carefully examined the two talismans. The paper was the typical yellow charm paper, but the ink didn’t quite look like cinnabar. She sniffed it—no noticeable scent.

The symbols on the talismans were complex and difficult to understand. Most people wouldn’t even know where to start drawing them. But Ye Su could see how to begin and end each stroke. She silently traced the lines in her mind over and over, etching them into memory. When she picked up her brush, the image of the talisman was already deeply carved in her mind.

She dipped the brush in cinnabar, guided her spiritual energy into the tip, and began to draw the Binding Talisman with steady focus.

Compared to what she usually drew, the Binding Talisman was clearly harder. She could feel the resistance—her brush moved with effort, like it was pushing through thick mud.

Standing at the table, one hand gripping the brush, the other braced against the surface, Ye Su slowly moved the brush, stabilizing her energy, making sure each stroke was even, without any hesitation.

Across from her, You Fushi noticed something. He stopped writing and looked up at her.

He didn’t realize her face had gone deathly pale, sweat beading across her forehead. She had entered a deep focus, completely detached from her surroundings.

She was just about to finish the last stroke—when suddenly, the brush in her hand snapped. She coughed up a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the talisman paper. It sizzled and evaporated instantly, taking the unfinished symbol with it.

—She’d failed.

Ye Su put down the broken brush and calmly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Her cultivation level was too low. This talisman wasn’t something she could draw—at least not yet.

"That brush was no good," said You Fushi, sitting across from her.

"Mm," Ye Su responded casually, tossing aside the ruined talisman paper and broken brush.

"I have a brush," You Fushi said after thinking for a moment.

"…You can borrow it in the future if you want."

Ye Su looked at his clearly reluctant expression and finally let out a laugh.

"I'll remember that."

She pulled out another brush, planning to try drawing a Barrier-Breaking Talisman. This one was even harder than the Binding Talisman she attempted earlier. It was obviously beyond what someone at her cultivation level could handle. She stopped in time to avoid a complete disaster, but still suffered backlash from the attempt.

When Ming Liu Sha and the others saw Ye Su downstairs, they couldn’t help looking a little surprised.

"Senior Sister, what happened to you?" Xia Er asked, frowning.

"I drew two talismans and got hurt a little," Ye Su replied. She was already looking much better than before.

Ma Chongqiu, who was sitting next to Xu Chengyu, muttered under his breath, "Wasn’t she hit in the head by a roof tile?"

"What was that?" Zhou Yun turned her head, curious.

"I saw Ye Su practicing the Ironhead Technique," Ma Chongqiu whispered as he leaned closer to Junior Sister Zhou, gossiping. "I think she might’ve knocked something loose up there."

"Ironhead Technique?" Zhou Yun blurted out in shock, failing to lower her voice.

Everyone else, who had been listening clearly from the start: "…"

Compared to the gossip, Xu Chengyu was more interested in something else.

"Ye Su, you can draw talismans?"

"Just a few," Ye Su replied. In her mind, she’d already decided to change the target for her next Curse Reversal Talisman—from Ming Liu Sha to Ma Chongqiu.

"We should go check out the eastern region sometime," Xu Chengyu said. "The Wuxing Sect is over there, and they have a strong tradition of talisman techniques."

As the senior brother of the Sword Sect, Xu Chengyu wasn’t too surprised to learn that Ye Su could draw talismans.

The origin of cross-sect disciples came from the fact that some cultivators in the cultivation world were multi-talented—Ye Su was probably one of them.