Water Cloud Talisman Scripture

The next morning, Su Fan squatted in the small courtyard, looking at the door on the ground.

The wooden door, three inches thick, had several cracks splitting open from the center.

This was Black Ironwood, which only grew in places with spiritual veins.

Nearby, the mountains and plains were covered with these trees, so they weren't worth much.

In the shantytown around the market town, the beams and wooden doors used for building houses were almost all made of this wood.

Moreover, it had extremely high density and tough texture, making it the main material for crafting low-grade puppets.

These weren't the important points.

The important point was how he had managed to kick such a thick Black Ironwood door and split it open.

He had tried it just now, and his strength had nearly doubled compared to before.

This strength had come so inexplicably that it made him a little fearful.

Even more terrifying was...

After waking up, the skin on his face had become dry and rough.

When he rubbed it with his hand, it flaked off in large patches.

His body wasn't as itchy anymore, but he still couldn't remove the bandages.

Su Fan examined his body but found no abnormalities in his internal organs or meridians.

He took out a talisman from the talisman pouch at his waist and examined it carefully.

This was an Evil Warding Talisman that had lost its spiritual energy. Now he finally knew what this kind of talisman was used for.

Damn it, ghosts really existed in this world.

It was too damn scary.

Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside, and Su Fan immediately tensed up.

He stood up and glanced at the courtyard.

The bloodstains from last night had already been cleaned up inside and out with ash or dirt.

"Who is it..."

"Old Li, it's me, Wang Yang..."

Su Fan thought for a moment, and fragmented memories surfaced in his mind.

This person used to go into the mountains with him to hunt Demonic Beasts, and his home was not far from here.

He walked over and opened the door.

Standing outside was a man in his thirties, stout, with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

When the other party saw Su Fan, he was stunned.

"Old Li, are you injured?"

Seeing the worry on the other person's face, he suddenly realized he wasn't wearing his daoist robe.

His body was wrapped in layers of bandages, with some dried bloodstains.

Seen at a glance, it was quite creepy.

Su Fan coughed lightly a few times and said with a wry smile, "It's a long story..."

Wang Yang didn't ask anything further. He entered the house and started complaining.

"Last time you weren't here, a few of us were ambushed at Old Crow Ridge. Only Jiang Hai and I escaped. The others..."

He sighed after speaking.

"Jiang Hai is seriously injured, and his Spirit Stones are gone. I was thinking of coming to you... Never mind, I'll find someone else."

Su Fan put on a difficult expression and said weakly, "I've just recovered a little, and I'm a bit short on funds..."

Wang Yang laughed heartily, "It's okay, you focus on recovering. I'm leaving."

Su Fan called out to him, took a cloth bag from inside the house, and opened it. Inside were one Spirit Stone and dozens of Magic Coins.

"This is all I have left. Take the Spirit Stone. Jiang Hai's injury is urgent."

Wang Yang was taken aback and quickly waved his hands, "This won't do..."

After saying that, he turned and walked out. Su Fan chased after him, but the man had already left the courtyard.

Su Fan stood at the courtyard entrance, watching Wang Yang's receding back, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

This was the survival state of rogue cultivators in the market town.

Even if his previous self hadn't been struck to death by lightning, he wouldn't have had a good ending.

He and these people should no longer have any entanglements in the future.

Since transmigrating here, he had always felt a sense of inexplicable crisis, suppressed deep in his heart.

The cultivation world was very dangerous; it was better to lie low.

Su Fan was about to turn back into his courtyard when he heard someone call his name from beside him.

He turned around and saw a middle-aged cultivator cupping his hands towards him.

He looked to be in his forties, with a Mid Qi Refining Stage cultivation.

He had faint eyebrows and long eyes, thin cheeks, and a goatee fluttering below his chin.

"Brother Su, long time no see..."

Su Fan cupped his hands towards him as well and said with a smile, "Senior Xu, I hope you've been well."

This person was Xu Wen, and he lived right next door to Su Fan.

He was quite capable, managing to procure some resources from the Lesser Yang Sect, and he usually thrived in the Market Town.

The two of them had no conflict of interest and generally got along well.

Being neighbors, they often used to get together for a drink.

Xu Wen looked around and leaned in mysteriously.

"Hurry up and stock up on some Spirit Rice. If you have some extra money, it wouldn't hurt to buy more Talismans and pills."

After saying that, he cupped his hands and turned into the adjacent courtyard.

Su Fan was a bit bewildered. Xu Wen was usually well-informed, so had something happened at the Lesser Yang Sect?

Tomorrow, he should still make time to go to the Market Town.

No matter what happened, it was better to be prepared.

For the past couple of days, for some reason, his appetite had increased significantly, and he didn't have much Spirit Rice left.

He entered the courtyard and went into the inner room.

Sitting on a futon on the heated brick bed, he took down the Storage Bag of the Bandit Leader from his waist.

This Storage Bag was from the two of them, twice as large as the one he had sold.

In the shops at the Market Town, it would cost at least two hundred Spirit Stones.

He took out the contents and poured a large pile onto the heated brick bed.

Su Fan picked up a small knife. The handle was carved with the name of a Magic Tool, "Azure Cloud Saber," a Low-grade Magic Tool.

It was only palm-sized, completely black as ink, with a sharp edge that exuded a cold gleam.

Last night, Su Fan had witnessed the power of this Magic Tool.

Not only was it extremely fast, but its power was also immense, rendering the magic sword utterly useless.

A Mid-grade "Golden Shield Talisman" only managed to withstand two strikes before collapsing.

If it hadn't been a surprise attack, and they had fought head-on, he would have had no chance at all.

Even with the advantage of the first strike, if his movements had been even a little slower, he wouldn't be sitting here now.

He'd keep it for now; he couldn't use it anyway.

If he ever couldn't make ends meet, he could take it to exchange for Spirit Stones.

There were quite a few pills, a total of fifteen bottles.

Only two bottles were "Yellow Spirit Pills" for mid-stage cultivators, which were somewhat valuable.

The twenty pills inside had not been touched.

The price per bottle in the Market Town was eighteen Spirit Stones, and each pill was two Spirit Stones.

The rest were Qi Replenishing Pills, Detoxification Pills, Hemostatic Pills, Life Extending Pills, and other essential medicines for cultivators in the wild, not worth many Spirit Stones.

In addition, there were also quite a few medicinal supplies like "Tianji Bone-Mending Paste" and "Dragon Tiger Creation Powder."

There were over a hundred Talismans, but not a single offensive talisman.

However, there were three Mid-grade "Wood Armor Talismans" for defense, the same kind that the bandit had used to protect himself last night.

Any talisman that could save his life or protect him was a good talisman in Su Fan's eyes.

The rest were Low-grade auxiliary Talismans, with a wide variety of types, likely all stolen.

Su Fan picked out a few Talismans from the pile, all Evil Warding Talismans and Evil Exorcising Talismans.

He decided he must always keep a few of these Talismans on hand in the future, so he could deal with those "dirty things" if he encountered them again.

What surprised him the most was that there was a complete set of talisman-making tools.

This included two Talisman Brushes, several bottles of Talisman Ink, over a dozen pieces of Talisman Skin, and two stacks of Talisman Paper.

The remaining items were forty-five Spirit Stones, Demonic Beast materials, Spirit Herbs, Spirit Minerals, and various other miscellaneous items.

The other bandits were much less fortunate.

They only had a few magic swords, over twenty auxiliary Talismans, fifty-odd Spirit Stones, and a few hundred Magic Coins. Other items were negligible.

Although this group wasn't professional bandits, they had done their fair share of dirty work.

The Storage Bag contained a wide variety of items, truly a motley assortment, and their origins were likely illegitimate.

It's a shame I couldn't find that Secret Technique to track him without following, that would've been amazing.

Su Fan put the items into his Storage Bag, leaving only a stack of books.

He looked through them one by one, keeping one and putting the rest away.

"Water Cloud Talisman Scripture," the first volume, written by a Talisman Master from the Water Cloud Sect in the Qin State.

This wasn't some common item like the "True Explanation of First-Order Talismans."

It was the talisman-making experience passed down through generations of Water Cloud Sect Talisman Masters, incredibly precious.

Even though it was only the first half, the beginning covered the fundamental knowledge of talisman making.

In Su Fan's opinion, this book was an absolute treasure, very friendly to beginners like him.

It elaborated meticulously on basic skills like the various brush strokes for drawing talismans and the application of spiritual energy.

Over a hundred years ago, the Water Cloud Sect was destroyed by the Demonic Sect.

The person who owned this Talisman Scripture was likely a descendant of the Water Cloud Sect's inheritors.

That set of talisman-making tools probably came from this Talisman Master.

And all those auxiliary Talismans, many of them were likely drawn by him too.

It's just that this Talisman Master's fate was probably tragic.

The Talisman Scripture also recorded twelve types of first-order Talismans, along with the talisman-making experiences summarized by past Talisman Masters.

Among them were nine types of low-grade auxiliary first-order Talismans.

Including the Cleaning Talisman, Muting Talisman, Green Lamp Talisman, Night Illuminating Talisman, Water Repelling Talisman, Disease Dispelling Talisman, Armor Horse Talisman, and Arrow Repelling Talisman.

There were three mid-grade Talismans, also all auxiliary types: the Thousand Jin Talisman, Evil Exorcising Talisman, and Quicksand Talisman.

The Evil Exorcising Talisman should be similar to the Evil Warding Talisman, specifically for dealing with evil spirits and monsters.

The other two Talismans were also good, both very practical auxiliary Talismans.

The Thousand Jin Talisman could impose several times the normal gravity on an enemy, making them clumsy and slow.

The Quicksand Talisman was even more impressive, capable of creating a patch of quicksand over several yards, hindering and slowing down enemies.

Unfortunately, both were mid-grade Talismans, and he could only attempt to make them when he reached the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

Because of that "True Explanation of First-Order Talismans" he had, Su Fan had also wanted to learn the Way of Talismans back then.

But when he went to the Market Town, the cheapest Talisman Brush cost over ten Spirit Stones, while high-grade ones could go for hundreds.

Adding in the talisman skins, Talisman Paper, and Talisman Ink, the initial investment would be at least nearly twenty Spirit Stones.

Compared to learning the Way of Talismans, his life was naturally more important.

So he had to give up and instead invest his Spirit Stones in life-saving Talismans.

The facts proved how wise his choice was back then.

If not for those few mid-grade Talismans, his corpse would have long been dumped in a ditch in the shantytown.

Moreover, the investment back then had yielded generous returns.

Not only did he earn back several times his Spirit Stones, but he also obtained a complete set of talisman-making tools and the Water Cloud Sect's talisman scripture inheritance.

Last night's haul, just the Magic Tool "Azure Cloud Saber," was worth over a hundred Spirit Stones.

Over a hundred Spirit Stones, nearly a thousand Magic Coins.

The Storage Bags from both sides, even sold to a shop, could fetch over a hundred Spirit Stones.

Adding in the other gains, the total would be around four hundred Spirit Stones.

Tomorrow, he'd go to the Market Town again to replenish some daily necessities, enough for him to relax for a while.

This crisis had given Su Fan a deeper understanding of this world.

Before, he habitually used his past life's mindset to explain this fantastical and bizarre cultivation world.

If he hadn't been lucky, he would have died last night.

Ultimately, it still came down to his realm being too low.

He'd set a small goal: break through the bottleneck of the Qi Refining Second Layer.

Then, a long-term goal: advance to the Mid Qi Refining Stage as soon as possible.

Thanks to Old Monster Is Also a Monster, Net Novel Second Generation, Feng Huo Lian Cheng V Kai Tian, Ah Today I Didn't Take Medicine YesirNoNo, Book Friend 20220920151710454, Liu Xian Zi Zhu Chui Kou Shao De Ren, and all the great supporters and encouragers, Old Bu is deeply grateful.