Fire Haze Grass and Talent [Spirit Medicine Reaction] (Requesting Follows Monthly Tickets Recommendation Tickets)

The lightning inscription within the Thunder Fire Engraving was something Zhou Ling had never encountered before. It was far more difficult than the basic Five Elements inscriptions.

Moreover, it was a Seven-Stroke Inscription, making it particularly strenuous to comprehend.

Even with his talent bonuses, Zhou Ling still needed two days to fully grasp it.

During that time, he also asked Instructor Fang about the method for drawing the Thunder Inscription.

Seeing how rapidly he had improved lately, Instructor Fang gave him a detailed explanation of the drawing methods and key points for both the Thunder Inscription and the Wind Inscription.

The Thunder Inscription was more difficult than the Fire Inscription. Its spiritual energy circulation was more intricate and demanded even more Precise Control.

That evening, after returning home and finishing dinner, Zhou Ling entered his room.

He took out the lightning- and fire-attribute Spirit Ink he had bought from Myriad Treasures Pavilion on Market Street.

It had cost him one Low-grade Spirit Stone.

Each bottle could roughly draw around a hundred inscriptions.

Since he now had to carry out actual artifact crafting, he did not dare buy Old Man Zhao's inferior Spirit Ink.

If something went wrong, the losses would outweigh the gains.

After spreading out the Spirit Paper, Zhou Ling first tried drawing the Fire Inscription. He completed four Fire Inscriptions in one smooth stroke, without any issues.

Then, using another newly bought inscription brush, he dipped it into the lightning-attribute Spirit Ink.

He set brush to paper and began to draw.

As he drew the final stroke, faint ripples of spiritual energy spread across the Spirit Paper.

But the next moment, an electric arc seemed to flash over the paper.

Then, as though from poor contact, the arc instantly collapsed.

With a puff, a wisp of black smoke rose from the Spirit Paper.

[You are drawing an engraving. Precise Control +1, Thunder Fire Engraving proficiency +1]

[You are drawing an engraving. Born to Excel +1, Thunder Fire Engraving proficiency +1]

Looking at the engraving marks on the Spirit Paper, Zhou Ling continued his analysis.

He quickly found the cause: the Thunder Inscription lacked sufficient spiritual energy and could not combine with the Fire Inscription to form an engraving.

[You are analyzing the Thunder Fire Engraving. Basic Analysis +1, Thunder Fire Engraving proficiency +1]

[Accumulated analysis attempts: 1001/10,000]

As [Basic Analysis] advanced, an adjustment plan for drawing the Thunder Fire Engraving surfaced in Zhou Ling's mind.

Zhou Ling was delighted. Previously, [Basic Analysis] could only point out where the problem lay; he still had to figure out how to solve it himself.

But the advanced [Basic Analysis] now provided several reasonable fine-tuning plans.

For him, this undoubtedly meant he would take far fewer detours in the future.

Following the plan derived from his analysis, Zhou Ling was about to continue practicing when he suddenly felt a faint pain in the meridians within his body. He hurriedly stopped.

He had not expected drawing a Seven-Stroke Inscription to consume so much!

After one attempt, more than half of his Internal Spiritual Power had been drained.

"This is most likely because it's my first time drawing a lightning-attribute inscription. I didn't get the hang of it, and I'm still unfamiliar with it."

Zhou Ling pondered inwardly.

He then sat cross-legged and circulated the Spirit Flame Art, restoring the magical power within his body.

That night, he drew it once more, but still failed.

Fortunately, the next day was another Rest Day.

Early in the morning, Zhou Ling got up and began drawing the Thunder Fire Engraving.

Wang Xin had originally invited him and Yuan Hu to fly kites that day, but Zhou Ling could only refuse in order to keep up with his progress.

Generally speaking, he rarely turned Wang Xin down.

After all, Wang Xin was his biggest creditor. The Qi Gathering Pills she had given him over the past two years alone were worth quite a few Spirit Stones.

But only six days remained until he had to deliver the Thunder Fire Beads, and time was pressing.

This was his first official collaboration with the Lu Family Workshop. He had to deliver the Thunder Fire Beads on time.

Yet after a morning of effort, he once again ended with two consecutive failures.

Zhou Ling could not help feeling rather helpless.

Fortunately, under the effects of [Stronger from Adversity] and [Born to Excel], his Thunder Fire Engraving proficiency was steadily increasing, and the consumption was no longer as severe as it had been yesterday.

"Looks like the key issue is still that my Spiritual Energy Cultivation is too low!"

At noon, Zhou Ling ate while summarizing his experiences from the morning.

The path of Artifact Crafting was vast and profound, but thanks to his talent bonuses, as long as he worked hard to comprehend it, he could keep up when it came to understanding.

But his cultivation had now become a limiting factor. He could only draw the inscriptions one by one, raising his proficiency bit by bit.

After Zhou Ling finished lunch and was about to return to his room, the door suddenly creaked outside.

Zhou Ling got up and walked out, only to see two people entering.

The man in front was his father, Zhou Shan, carrying a heavy oil-paper parcel and a jar of Spirit Wine.

The man behind him was a middle-aged cultivator with a short beard on his chin and sharp, spirited eyes, giving off an impression of unwavering resolve.

His aura was deep and solid.

"Uncle Chu, you're here!"

Zhou Ling quickly recognized the visitor as Chu Xing, the leader of his father's Medicine Seeking Team, a Late Qi Condensation cultivator.

He was righteous by nature and quite renowned among the Herb Seekers in this region.

Chu Xing looked at Zhou Ling, a smile appearing on his face. "Little Zhou Ling has grown taller again!"

Zhou Shan cleared the table, set the oil-paper parcel on it, and then opened it. The rich aroma of Sauced Beef immediately spread through the room.

Inside the parcel were several jin of sliced Sauced Beef.

"Ling'er, go bring out the Fried Peanuts from the Kitchen. Brother Chu and I will have a couple of drinks!"

Zhou Shan arranged the Clay Bowls and waved to Zhou Ling.

Zhou Ling went into the Kitchen, came out carrying a plate of Fried Peanuts, and placed it on the table.

Zhou Shan and Chu Xing had already taken their seats and poured themselves Spirit Wine. A faint fragrance of liquor filled the air.

"Brother Zhou, I truly never expected your son to have already reached the Third Layer of Qi Condensation—and he even knows Artifact Crafting!"

"I said long ago that this child survived that encounter with the Black Fur Wolf in the mountains. He was bound to have good fortune waiting for him!"

Chu Xing raised his Clay Bowl and drained it with Zhou Shan, praising him warmly.

Hearing Chu Xing praise his son, Zhou Shan's face was also full of delight.

Setting down his Clay Bowl, Chu Xing took out a vivid red Spirit Herb from his Storage Pouch and handed it to Zhou Ling with a smile. "Your uncle doesn't have anything good on him. I heard from your Father that you cultivate a fire-attribute technique as well, so I'll give you this Fire Haze Grass!"

"Fire Haze Grass!" Looking at the Spirit Medicine with its crimson leaves, Zhou Ling hurriedly waved his hands. "Uncle Chu, this is far too valuable!"

The Spirit Medicine before him stood half a foot tall, with several thumb-sized oval leaves, dazzlingly bright in color.

A First-Grade Low-Rank Fire Haze Grass would sell for six or seven Spirit Stones on the market.

[Growth Talent, Spirit Medicine Reaction: Able to efficiently absorb Spirit Medicine and activate the latent properties of Spirit Medicine. Requirement: Absorb ten Spirit Medicines.]

At that moment, a prompt surfaced on the panel.

"What kind of talent is [Spirit Medicine Reaction]?" Zhou Ling froze as he read the panel's description.

"What do you mean, valuable? It's all stuff found in the mountains!"

"If you don't take it, then you're looking down on Uncle Chu!"

Chu Xing stuffed the Spirit Medicine into Zhou Ling's hands, speaking with grave seriousness.

"Father, this..." Zhou Ling looked toward his father.

"What are you looking at your Father for?" Chu Xing said with a laugh. "I'm giving it to you, not to your Father!"

Zhou Shan scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. Then, as though he had thought of something, he picked up the wine jar and filled Chu Xing's bowl, saying with a smile, "Brother Chu, wasn't your Thick Earth Shield damaged last time?"

"Why not let Ling'er see whether he can repair it?"

In his view, this Fire Haze Grass was indeed rather valuable.

If his son could repair the Thick Earth Shield, that would make things just right!