Free Web NovelChapter 20: Chapter 20: First Talisman Making
"All that hard work for half a year, and I’m right back where I started."
Jiang Xu’s Spirit Stone count was now back to zero.
Although the price of a Tier One Lower Grade Talisman Brush wasn’t as high as other Magical Artifacts of the same grade, it still came with a hefty price tag of fifteen Spirit Stones.
That brought his total spending to thirty-five Spirit Stones, leaving Jiang Xu with just five.
Fortunately, with his silver tongue and shameless persistence, Jiang Xu successfully... failed to get the stall owner to lower the price.
Ahem...
He didn’t get a discount, but the stall owner did throw in a bottle of Talismanic Ink and two dozen sheets of Talisman Paper—all Tier One Lower Grade. According to the owner, they were worth a total of three Spirit Stones, so Jiang Xu reluctantly let him off the hook.
Jiang Xu didn’t plan on saving his remaining five Spirit Stones, either. He immediately spent them on a bottle of Qi Replenishing Pills to restore his Magical Power.
All of his combat strength currently relied on Magic, and casting Magic required Magical Power.
If he ran out of Magical Power, Jiang Xu would be in an extremely dangerous situation.
This made the Qi Replenishing Pills incredibly important—a potential lifesaver in a critical moment.
...
He returned to his small house once more.
Stroking his newly acquired and treasured Storage Bag, Jiang Xu felt a sense of security for the first time.
’Eight major types of Magic, covering attack, Escape, Stealth, Defense, healing, Investigation, melee, and ranged combat.
Even though I’ve only just learned many of them, as long as I practice diligently, I can raise them all to a High-Level. When that time comes, there probably won’t be many Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage who can pose a threat to me!’
But there was still one thing about the panel that Jiang Xu didn’t understand.
He looked at his panel.
[Small Cotton Needle Technique (Mastery) (Max): 400/400]
After about ten days, Jiang Xu’s Skill Level for the Small Cotton Needle Technique had maxed out, but the ’+’ sign that had appeared before was nowhere to be seen.
’I have a little over one Limit-Breaking Point right now, but there’s no option to break through my current Realm. What does that mean?
Do I not have enough Limit-Breaking Points? Is Master Level the peak for a Skill? Or do I need to meet some other condition?’
Besides the Small Cotton Needle Technique, he had also ground the Light Body Spell and Concealing Breath Spell to the limit of their current Skill Level, unable to increase them any further.
Just like the Small Cotton Needle Technique at the Skilled Level, a ’+’ had appeared next to both of these Magic spells.
His Magic hitting a bottleneck was one of the reasons Jiang Xu had been in a hurry to purchase new spells.
’I only have one Limit-Breaking Point, and both the Light Body Spell and the Concealing Breath Spell offer powerful guarantees for my safety. It’s a really tough choice.’
After much consideration, Jiang Xu chose to upgrade the Light Body Spell to the Master Level.
The moment he did, Jiang Xu saw a vision of a figure, its form twisting and flipping as it moved, so fast that the naked eye could only catch fleeting afterimages, never its true body.
When the figure finally came to a stop, Jiang Xu was shocked to discover that its face was identical to his own!
WHOOSH—
A gentle breeze blew past.
And with it, Jiang Xu came to his senses.
But upon regaining his awareness, he was stunned to find he was no longer in his small house. He had somehow appeared outside on the Spirit Field. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
After a moment’s thought, he understood. The figure in his vision had been himself. He had unconsciously used the Master Level Light Body Spell, and what he had witnessed was a vision produced by his trance-like state.
’It seems upgrading a Magic’s Skill Level isn’t a simple affair. Different spells manifest differently when upgraded.’
Jiang Xu made a mental note of this.
...
’The Talisman Dao truly is broad and profound. Though it’s said to be one of the simpler of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, it’s not something you can just casually step into.’
After reading through the other four Magic books, Jiang Xu’s panel had registered all four spells.
But when he started reading "Talisman Dao Introduction (Upper Volume)," the panel showed no reaction.
The Talisman Dao encompassed many components, such as the creation of the Talisman’s medium. This included Talisman Paper made from plants and Talisman Skin made from animal hides.
Talisman Paper was cheap but couldn’t withstand too much Magical Power, making it suitable for creating ordinary Talismans. Talisman Skin was more difficult and costly to produce, but the resulting Talismans were more powerful and suited for crafting high-quality works.
At the higher levels of the Talisman Dao, one could even use the world itself as a Talisman, drawing upon heaven and earth as a medium to create them from thin air. One could use mountains and Spirit Veins as Talisman Paper, leveraging the power of the world to move mountains and fill seas.
And that was just the medium for the Talisman. Beyond that, there was the creation of Talismanic Ink, which was also meticulously detailed, followed by introductions to various Runes and how to draw Talismans.
Perhaps because the Talisman Dao was so intricate and complex, the panel couldn’t register the entire skill from just a single book.
No amount of theory could replace hands-on practice.
Jiang Xu cleared the table in his house, neatly arranged the Talismanic Ink, Talisman Paper, and Talisman Brush, and prepared to attempt his first drawing.
The book "Talisman Dao Introduction (Upper Volume)" contained methods for drawing eight different Talismans.
The unranked Talismans were: the Dust-removal Talisman, the Silence Talisman, the Water-Repelling Talisman, and the Fire-Extinguishing Talisman.
The Tier One Lower Grade Talismans were: the Fireball Talisman, the Golden Light Talisman, the Light Body Talisman, and the Cold Ice Talisman.
Of all these types of Talismans, the simplest was the first one—the Dust-removal Talisman.
Not only were its Runes simple, but it also had few Magical Power nodes, making it very suitable for beginners to practice drawing.
Although Jiang Xu had only learned to use an ink brush in elementary school, he still understood the basic ways to hold it.
He didn’t start drawing on the Talisman Paper right away. He knew he would be very clumsy at first, and since Talisman Paper had to be bought with Spirit Stones, he couldn’t afford to waste it.
At first, Jiang Xu just used an ordinary ink brush on regular paper to practice, imitating the motions. Only when his practice reached the point where his strokes flowed like a master calligrapher, allowing him to draw the entire set of Runes for the Dust-removal Talisman in one smooth motion, did he switch back to the Talisman Brush.
"Time to start real Talisman Making!"
...
Before beginning Talisman Making, one must bathe and change clothes, burn incense and wash their hands, sit upright and still, and clear their mind of all distracting thoughts.
Once his body and mind were adjusted to their optimal state, Jiang Xu finally pulled out a sheet of Talisman Paper, placed it before him, dipped his Talisman Brush in the Talismanic Ink, and brought the tip down.
The Dust-removal Talisman consisted of eight Runes in total. A faint, cool breeze seemed to hover over the paper.
Soon, the first Rune was complete. Jiang Xu’s emotions remained perfectly calm, and the flow of Magical Power he channeled into the Talisman Brush was as steady as ever.
One, two, three...
Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The sixth Rune was successfully drawn, and the seventh was about to take shape.
But suddenly, Jiang Xu accidentally put a little too much force into his right hand, causing the seventh Rune to be drawn crookedly!
"Crap!"
With lightning-fast reflexes, Jiang Xu grabbed the pot lid he had prepared beforehand and slammed it down on the table!
PFFFT—!
A muffled, tiny explosion sounded from under the lid.
Only then did Jiang Xu unhurriedly lift the lid to clean up the mess.
"The Talisman Dao really isn’t easy, is it!"
