Talismancrafting

Chen Lin was startled by Lu Li's methods as well.

He killed at the slightest disagreement. Disciples of a lineage truly thought nothing of rogue cultivators like them.

Naturally, Chen Lin would not stick his neck out either. He shrank back in his chair and remained silent.

Seeing that his show of force had achieved the desired effect, Lu Li sneered again. "My belongings aren't something you can take so casually. You want a talisman-making method and a Soul-Splitting Secret Art for free, without doing anything in return? Where would you find such a sweet deal?"

He swept his gaze around the room.

When no one spoke, he cast them a sidelong glance and sneered. "Now you have only two choices. Take the materials and find a room to craft talismans, or pay fifty medium-grade spirit stones for the talismancrafting method you received. If you try to force your way out, you'll have to ask whether my flying sword agrees!"

As he spoke, he waved a small black sword in his hand.

That was the very thing that had killed the Emaciated Old Man in an instant.

With a clatter, the red-faced man pushed his chair aside, strode forward, took a set of materials, and headed upstairs without looking back.

He seemed to have the fiercest temper, yet he was also the first to back down.

But he had little choice.

The talisman masters who had come were all rogue cultivators without any backing. They usually scraped together a living with their craft. None of them could produce fifty medium-grade spirit stones.

That was the equivalent of five thousand low-grade spirit stones!

And even if they paid, who knew whether Lu Li would keep his word?

With someone taking the lead, the others immediately had a way to save face. One by one, they took their materials and went upstairs to find rooms in which to craft talismans.

Chen Lin joined the stream of people and collected a set of materials.

Lu Li glanced at him as he collected them, but did not recognize him.

Chen Lin quietly went upstairs and chose an empty room. He hung something on the door to show it was occupied, then entered, shut the door, and slid the bolt into place.

Only then did he let out a soft breath.

His decision to come here had been somewhat rash after all. He had underestimated how lawless this world was.

Never could he have imagined that Lu Li would kill someone so casually!

It took quite some time for Chen Lin to calm himself. Then he went over to the table and opened the bundle of materials.

He no longer hoped for any payment. Getting out safely would be enough.

Still, with so many talisman masters here, surely Lu Li could not kill them all to silence them. Even for a lineage disciple, the repercussions would be too great.

Killing that old man had merely been a show of force, to prevent them from refusing to use the Soul-Splitting Secret Art out of reluctance to damage their souls.

After turning it over in his mind and deciding that being killed to ensure his silence was unlikely, Chen Lin closed his eyes and began recalling the method for drawing the Soul-Detaining Talisman.

A long while later, he opened his eyes, took out a sheet of talisman paper, and laid it flat.

The materials provided were very comprehensive. Besides talisman paper, a talisman brush, and talisman ink, there was also a stick of Jingxin incense and a Qi Replenishing Pill.

Lu Li really had put thought into this.

That further indicated that all his measures were meant to obtain a Soul-Detaining Talisman, rather than to take their lives.

With his mind settled, Chen Lin prepared to craft the talisman.

Suddenly, Lu Li's voice rang out from the corridor. "Everyone, I am determined to obtain a Soul-Detaining Talisman. To avoid distracting you, I haven't sent anyone to supervise you. But don't imagine you can go through the motions without making an effort. Once you finish, I have a way to check whether you used the Soul-Splitting Secret Art. If I catch you, heh!"

Chen Lin drew a breath. Ignoring the threat, he picked up the bottle of talisman ink and examined it.

According to the jade slip, this talisman ink was made from three substances. He recognized only one of them, black leaf grass, an expensive spirit herb. He had never even heard of the other two.

Lu Li had obtained the jade slip barely half a day ago, yet he had already gathered so many sets of materials. That alone spoke volumes about both his status and his wealth.

He lit the Jingxin incense, and his thoughts immediately grew still.

Chen Lin lifted the talisman brush, dipped it in talisman ink, and channeled mana into it before slowly tracing lines on the talisman paper.

Poof!

He had drawn only two talisman patterns when the paper abruptly shuddered, then burst into a cloud of black light and turned to ash.

That was perfectly normal.

After all, this was his first attempt at this kind of talisman. Completing it in one go would have been the strange outcome.

He cleared away the ashes, took out another sheet of talisman paper, and began drawing again.

Another failure.

After repeating the process several times, wasting several sheets of fine talisman paper and taking a Qi Replenishing Pill along the way, he finally managed to draw half of the complete talisman pattern.

Chen Lin did not know how the other talisman masters were faring, but he felt that this was as far as he could go.

With his level of skill, without using his soul as a catalyst, there was no chance of finishing all the runic inscriptions, let alone producing a completed talisman.

He shook his head and continued drawing.

Soon, he reached his tenth attempt, and the familiar scene finally appeared.

Just as he finished half the talisman pattern and the entire talisman began trembling on the verge of destruction, an invisible, mysterious energy abruptly appeared. It enveloped the talisman paper and contracted sharply, leaving a completed talisman on the table, emitting faint fluctuations of energy!

Every time Chen Lin saw this, he was deeply awed, but he had no time to investigate it now.

He gathered the remaining supplies and stuffed them into his pockets. If he could not get any spirit stones, these things would have to serve as his payment.

Then he went to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening for movement.

He decided to wait until everyone else had gone downstairs before following them. If anyone else had successfully crafted a Soul-Detaining Talisman, he would keep his own hidden.

If everyone else had failed, however, he would have to produce his. Otherwise, he felt that Lu Li might kill them all to vent his fury under the sting of overwhelming disappointment.

Chen Lin reckoned that as long as a talisman had been successfully made, Lu Li would not care whether everyone had used the Soul-Splitting Technique.

What Lu Li wanted was a talisman, not for them to mutilate themselves.

Time passed little by little. At last, footsteps sounded in the corridor, heading downstairs at intervals.

He silently counted the people. Only after the last set of footsteps had gone downstairs did he leave his room. Putting on a vacant expression, he descended the stairs with a wavering step.

The twenty-odd talisman masters all stood with their heads drooping, looking utterly drained.

One glance at the scene was enough to tell him that none had succeeded.

"What were the results?"

Lu Li, who already suspected the answer, looked at them with a face as dark as storm clouds.

Once again, the red-faced man spoke first. "My deepest apologies. My skills were inadequate. I exhausted all the materials and used the Soul Secret Art twice, but I still failed!"

Having said that, he cupped his hands, looking ready to accept whatever punishment came.

Without that sidelong sneer, the man was actually quite humble.

Lu Li slowly rose from his seat and took out a brown bead the size of a pigeon's egg. With a gesture of his finger, the bead floated up on its own and moved to the point between the red-faced man's brows.

Then the bead emitted a dim gray glow and flickered gently.

"All right. Step back."

Lu Li put away the bead and waved his hand.

The red-faced man cupped his hands again and retreated to the back of the crowd.

Chen Lin glanced at him. He had actually used the secret art twice. Even in a situation like this, he had to outdo everyone else-what were the others supposed to do now?

Sure enough, the other talisman masters looked at the man with resentment in their eyes.

But they could only curse him inwardly. None dared lash out.

Next, a Cyan-Robed Old Man stepped forward, described his crafting process, and submitted to the examination.

The brown bead floated up again and rested against the point between his brows.

This time, its glow was slightly brighter than before, while its flickering was slower.

"You only used the secret art once? Hmph!"

Lu Li snorted.

Normally, using the secret art once would have been enough, but after the previous man's performance, it made him seem insufficiently committed.

The Cyan-Robed Old Man hurriedly explained, "Fellow Daoist Lu, to tell you the truth, this talisman is far too difficult to craft. Based on my many years of experience in talismancrafting, even using the secret art five or ten times, let alone twice, would certainly not produce a completed talisman. Besides, I am advanced in years. Using the secret art once was already my limit. If I used it again, I fear I would die on the spot!"

Lu Li waved his hand expressionlessly, but said nothing more.

The old man quickly retreated to the back of the crowd, then shot the red-faced man a fierce glare.

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