Talisman complete

Before leaving, Ye Jingyun gave Chen Lin another bottle of pills.

They were the Spirit Restoring Pills she had mentioned.

These pills were several times more effective than Qi Replenishing Pills and were worth a considerable sum.

Yet when Chen Lin poured the pills out of the bottle, his expression began to fluctuate.

There were exactly ten, no more and no less.

Was it a coincidence, or had she discovered something?

He stared at the ten pills for a long time before putting them away again with a solemn expression.

Then he picked up the Jade Slip containing the Spirit-Connection Secret Art and studied it carefully.

Although this secret art was uncommon, it was hardly anything extraordinary. It was an advanced version of the Object Manipulation Art that allowed finer control over a target object.

Of course, it did offer some additional abilities. For example, an object "refined" through this secret art could be implanted with one's own spiritual mark, preventing others from interfering with or seizing it while it was being controlled.

In that respect, it was far superior to the Object Manipulation Art.

Of course, if the object fell into someone else's hands, they could still erase the mark and refine it anew.

With his foundation in the Object Manipulation Art, he understood the secret art fairly smoothly. He grasped most of it without using an Enlightenment Pill, then began trying to refine the cold nether flame in the Jade Box.

The process went extremely smoothly. In less than a quarter of an hour, he established a connection with the strange fire and made it float.

The main reason it was so easy was that the flame bore no other cultivator's spiritual mark. Ye Jingyun had apparently erased her own before giving it to him.

Besides making it float, Chen Lin discovered that he could use this secret art to change the flame's shape. Increasing or decreasing his spiritual sense could also make the flame grow or shrink.

That brought out his playful side.

One moment he shaped the flame into the character for "one," the next into the character for "person." Sometimes he made it as small as a silver needle, and sometimes he spread it into a sheet.

He could also control the flame's power, making it roll back and forth over paper without burning it, or instantly burn a large hole through an iron basin.

What a treasure!

The more Chen Lin used it, the more he liked it.

Unfortunately, no matter how wonderful it was, it was not his. After playing with it for a while and feeling confident that he could use it proficiently, he returned it to the Jade Box.

Next, he began studying the talisman-making method in the other Jade Slip.

The method for making this talisman was extremely complicated, and some of the Jade Slip's contents had clearly been deleted. Only the instructions for making it remained; its name, purpose, and grade were all unlisted.

Clearly, Ye Jingyun did not want him to know.

Chen Lin did not want to investigate, either.

Whatever relationship this woman had with Yu Yuehai, and whatever her reason for secretly making this talisman, it had nothing to do with him.

Since they both wanted to use him as a tool, he would be a tool.

The less he knew, the greater his chances of staying alive.

He calmed his mind and immersed himself in his studies.

After a long while, Chen Lin put down the Jade Slip and began refining Enlightenment Pills.

This talisman was too abstruse. With his own powers of comprehension, there was no telling how long it would take him to fully grasp it. He would still need an Enlightenment Pill.

Something this advanced would not be easy to obtain again if he let the opportunity slip by. He would master the method first.

As for its purpose, he would naturally find out once Ye Jingyun used it.

Indeed, after careful consideration, he still decided to make the talisman. He wanted to see just what she intended by having it made behind Yu Yuehai's back.

The ingredients for Enlightenment Pills were cheap, and he had recently bought plenty. After a round of work, the pills were ready.

As soon as he took one, his mind shifted into gear.

It was not quite as though the gods were guiding him, but he could draw three inferences from a single example, transforming from a poor student into a star pupil in an instant.

By the time the pill's effects wore off, he had basically mastered the talisman-making method. He took out a sheet of talisman hide and began preparing to make it.

His talent-based crafting method did not require him to know the principles inside out, nor did he need all sorts of preparations. He could simply get straight to work.

He opened the bottle of talisman ink, picked up the talisman brush, and dipped it until it was fully loaded with ink.

Then, following the instructions, he used his spiritual sense to wrap the cold nether flame around the brush tip.

Finally, he placed a Spirit Restoring Pill in his mouth before beginning his talismancrafting.

It was his first time making a talisman in such a strange way, and he also had to split his attention between two tasks. It felt extremely awkward.

Controlling the talisman brush with mana while controlling the cold nether flame with his spiritual sense clearly exceeded Chen Lin's abilities. He had drawn only two strokes when a puff sounded and a burst of black light erupted.

Startled, he hurriedly pulled back.

When the light dissipated, he stared in astonishment.

Not only had the sheet of talisman hide burned to ash, but a large hole had also been blasted through the table beneath it, and black smoke kept rising from it.

He hurried over to remove the nearby bottle of talisman ink and the Jade Box, then scooped up a ladle of water to extinguish the embers, averting a fire.

Only then did a wave of lingering fear wash over him.

The consequences of failing to make this advanced talisman were truly outrageous. Had he been a step slower, half his hand might have been burned beyond repair.

He examined the talisman brush in his hand. Seeing that it was undamaged and the cold nether flame was still floating quietly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, he suddenly recalled that when the energy erupted, the golden hoop on the talisman brush seemed to have released a ring of golden light. It had blocked the blast rushing toward him, sparing his hand from injury.

Chen Lin felt certain he had not been mistaken, and his opinion of the talisman brush rose another notch.

Besides the golden hoop, the shaft made from cold ice profound jade had also escaped completely unscathed thanks to its material.

Clearly, this talisman brush had not been chosen at random. It had been specially prepared to make this talisman.

The more Chen Lin learned, the more curious he became about the talisman's purpose.

With so many treasures used to assist its creation, the cost had already reached an astonishing figure. The finished product was bound to be extraordinary.

Shaking his head, he buried his curiosity and began cleaning up.

He found a wooden board to cover the hole in the table. Rather than starting again immediately, he practiced the drawing process for a while using ordinary talisman ink on ordinary talisman paper, without any mana.

Then he spent some more time practicing his control over the cold nether flame.

He practiced for over two hours, only resuming the crafting once he felt there was nothing wrong with his technique.

This time, things went much better. He drew the first few lines in one smooth sequence, and it was only when the first Minor Talisman Array was about to close and be completed that he failed and it burned up.

Even though he failed, it did not cause nearly as much commotion as before. The blast merely burned the talisman hide and left a charred mark on the wooden board.

This time, however, he saw it clearly. The golden hoop on the talisman brush did indeed produce a ring of light when the energy erupted, keeping the blast below it and thus preventing his hand from being burned.

What a fine treasure!

After a word of praise, he continued making talismans.

Since he had no intention of hiding his ability, he naturally worked very quickly.

Although making this talisman normally would take a long time to draw all its talisman patterns, he only drew the beginning each time, which took hardly any time at all. He finished ten attempts before even two hours had passed.

And now, he held a talisman as black as ink, with a faint, indistinct design on its surface, emanating powerful yet obscure, peculiar fluctuations.