Jiang Hao carried a small wooden box and quietly entered the Old Daoist's room. Hong Lu the Old Daoist was sitting beside the tea table, steam rising from the teapot. A scripture lay open halfway across the table; Jiang Hao had no idea whether the Old Daoist had been reading it.
Seeing his disciple enter, Hong Lu the Old Daoist said nothing and pointed beside him. Jiang Hao obediently sat down, placed the wooden box on the table, and said, "Master, you told me to keep the intermediate Dao Talismans I drew. These are the ones I've drawn recently—seven in total."
The Old Daoist nodded. "You left five last time and seven this time. That means you can now draw twelve kinds of intermediate Dao Talismans. Very good. Take them to your martial uncle later and have him place them behind the patriarchal statues in the main hall to nurture them."
"Okay, Master."
As he spoke, Jiang Hao picked up the teapot and refilled the Old Daoist's cup, then poured himself a cup as well. He took a sip, and the fragrance of Biluochun Tea spread through the air.
"Master, I've mastered the Lesser Five Thunders Technique," Jiang Hao said.
The Old Daoist had just been looking calm and unruffled, but the moment he heard those words, delight immediately appeared on his face. "You mastered it?"
"I did!"
The Old Daoist looked Jiang Hao up and down, joy written across his face. "Quick, demonstrate it for your master."
Jiang Hao stood in the center of the room and took several Yu Steps, returning the inner and outer Five Elements to innate qi. He gathered the innate qi in his palms, combined the spoken incantation, heart incantation, and body incantation into one, then thrust out a palm.
There was no wind