Illusionary Light Talisman

Late at night, a night-luminescent pearl hung above the stone table in Wei Suo's hut by a small bundle of Ice Silk Spider silk, illuminating the small stone room brightly.

The Golden Silk Talisman Brush, gleaming with a crystalline sheen, glided across the talisman paper as smoothly as a swimming fish. Then, with a sudden stroke, it lifted. Red light flashed across the entire vermilion talisman paper, and all the talismanic patterns upon it seemed to flow at once. A First-Order Fireball Talisman had been successfully refined.

"This Golden Silk Talisman Brush really is a fine thing."

Wei Suo compared the newly refined Fireball Talisman in his hand with the ones he had made before. He found that not only were the runes on the new talisman softer and smoother, but even its fiery aura was slightly denser.

The higher the quality of a Fireball Talisman, the greater its power when activated.

By then, seven Fireball Talismans refined with the Golden Silk Talisman Brush already lay on the nearby stone table. Including the one in Wei Suo's hand, he had refined ten Fireball Talismans in succession this time, with only two failures. His success rate had exceeded eighty percent. Even the failed ones had merely minor flaws in tiny details; none had burst directly into flame.

Against one wall of the stone room stood a new iron rack, filled with many sealed bottles and jars containing useful Fire Scorpion Blood.

After casting a satisfied glance at the Golden Silk Talisman Brush and the newly made Fireball Talisman, Wei Suo pulled out the exquisite yellow Treasure Pouch embroidered with treasure-flower patterns from his robe. As a stream of hazy purple True Essence poured into it, the pouch's opening suddenly opened and sprayed out a mass of yellow light. The Spirit Stones, Fireball Talismans, and other items inside all floated strangely within that yellow glow.

Wei Suo reached out and grabbed a Mid-grade Spirit Stone from the yellow light before him. Then he lightly tugged the golden cord at the Treasure Pouch's opening, and the Spirit Stones and other objects floating in the glow withdrew back into the pouch along with the yellow light.

"Hmm?"

Holding the Mid-grade Spirit Stone, Wei Suo had originally planned to begin cultivating immediately. But at that moment, he suddenly heard the Green Robe Old Man give a hum, as if he had spotted some treasure.

"Did you find something good?" Wei Suo, who had been a little tired already, instantly perked up.

Inspired by the Azure Jade Talisman from last time, Wei Suo had bought back a whole pile of Jade Slips when he went out to collect Fire Scorpions a few days ago. These Jade Slips, which had no restrictions, recorded the sights and customs of Tianxuan Continent—introductions to demon beasts and spirit herbs, the origins of place names, and so on. They were practically encyclopedias and worth very few Spirit Stones. Yet Wei Suo felt they might be useful to both himself and the Green Robe Old Man. After all, what the Green Robe Old Man knew was from ten or twenty thousand years ago. Many places and things had changed beyond recognition. If, according to his experience, a certain place ought to be full of low-level demon beasts Wei Suo could handle, but Wei Suo rushed over only to find high-level demon beasts everywhere, he would not even have a place to cry. More importantly, the Green Robe Old Man knew so many talisman formulas and pill recipes. Although Wei Suo had told him about the common spirit herbs and demon cores he knew last time, his knowledge was limited. These records were far more complete, containing all sorts of herbs, minerals, and other materials for artifact refinement.

Having been cut off from the passage of time for ten or twenty thousand years, the Green Robe Old Man devoured these records like an old scholar, sometimes reading through an entire night. Over the past few days, he had improved greatly as well. He had even picked up quite a few popular phrases that had not existed ten or twenty thousand years ago, things like "you big-headed ghost" and "so depressing," which would pop out unconsciously whenever he spoke with Wei Suo.

"Something good, my big-headed ghost!" Sure enough, when Wei Suo asked, the Green Robe Old Man immediately said exactly that. Then he rolled his eyes at Wei Suo. "I have plenty of good things. As long as you can quickly break through to the Fourth Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm, there will naturally be many good things for you."

"Haven't I already been cultivating desperately day and night? It's not like I can help how slowly a Sea of Consciousness opens up." Hearing this, Wei Suo immediately became depressed again.

"Still, this time I really did discover that one material for a certain talisman is abundant nowadays. I just don't know whether you would be interested in refining this talisman." Yet the Green Robe Old Man followed with those words.

Wei Suo instantly became excited. "What talisman? As long as it's useful, I'll definitely refine it."

"It's an Illusionary Light Talisman." The Green Robe Old Man glanced at Wei Suo. "It has no real offensive power. Precisely because it has no offensive power, this talisman was already lost ten thousand years ago. That is why the materials for it have grown so plentiful now."

"No offensive power? Then what kind of talisman is it?"

"It produces unique sound and light, capable of completely imitating the form of a certain spell or demon beast. At most, it can only give an opponent a fright. It has no offensive power whatsoever. If the opponent uses some spell or magic treasure to block the spell or demon beast imitated by the talisman, they will immediately discover it is fake," the Green Robe Old Man explained. "Depending on the patterns used in refining, your Illusionary Light Talisman can produce only the phantom of a fireball, or it can produce the phantom of a high-level demon beast. But these Illusionary Light Talismans rely entirely on their own materials, with almost no spiritual energy fluctuations. They consume virtually no True Essence when activated, yet they are extremely covert."

"I'm interested!" Wei Suo immediately grinned and told the Green Robe Old Man to hurry and explain how to make them. Wei Suo thought that since this talisman had been lost for so many years, there must be very few people who knew of it now. When fighting someone, even if an opponent quickly realized it was fake, the instant it appeared would at least startle them and distract them for a moment. As for the vast majority of demon beasts below Level Three, they did not have such clever intelligence. This talisman should also be quite useful against them.

"Immeasurable Crystal?"

Wei Suo unconsciously repeated the name of the material. The materials the Green Robe Old Man gave for refining Illusionary Light Talismans truly were ordinary. The talisman paper was made from Yellow Silk Grass and Bitter Gold Chrysanthemum, while the talisman liquid was prepared from Immeasurable Crystal, Vermilion Green Stone, and Cuttlefish Fat.

"What? Is Immeasurable Crystal scarce nowadays?" The Green Robe Old Man found it strange that Wei Suo had repeated the name. "I clearly saw in the Jade Slips you brought back that there are quite a few of these crystals now, and they are not valuable."

"That's not it. I just happen to have a piece." Wei Suo grinned, though inwardly he broke into a slight cold sweat. Immeasurable Crystal was also called Image-Imprinting Crystal. If it was aimed at someone beneath sunlight, it could retain that person's image within it for a short time. It was said that when used with a certain type of Glazed Crystal and engraved with a specialized formation, it could preserve a scene for as long as a month.

Back then, Wei Suo had lewdly thought that if he happened to spy on some beauty bathing, he could preserve that fragrant, alluring sight in a crystal ball made from Immeasurable Crystal and watch it again and again after returning home. So when he saw someone selling Immeasurable Crystal at the Free Market outside the city, he had deliberately bought a piece. He had never found that kind of Glazed Crystal afterward, however, and after a long time, he had stopped thinking about it. He had not expected this piece of Immeasurable Crystal to be useful now.

"Damn, this Illusionary Light Talisman is even more troublesome to refine than a Fireball Talisman. It actually needs two overlapping rune arrays?"

Once Wei Suo had memorized the materials the Green Robe Old Man described, he immediately got to work in a whirlwind. These materials truly were not difficult to find nowadays. Aside from the Immeasurable Crystal, he bought a pile of the remaining materials for just two Low-grade Spirit Stones. But upon seeing the refining method and talismanic patterns the Green Robe Old Man formed from green light, Wei Suo was a little stunned.

This Illusionary Light Talisman actually required the talismanic patterns to be drawn twice. After making the talisman paper, one first had to grind the Immeasurable Crystal into fine powder, then boil it until it completely melted into the Cuttlefish Fat. This talisman liquid was used to draw the first talismanic pattern. Once the talisman was formed, this half-finished talisman was used to imprint an image. After the light and shadow had been imprinted into the half-finished talisman, a second talismanic pattern had to be drawn within the time it took two incense sticks to burn, using talisman liquid made from Vermilion Green Stone and Cuttlefish Fat. Only then would an Illusionary Light Talisman be complete. If the second set of talismanic patterns took more than two incense sticks to finish, the refined talisman would have no effect.

The complexity of each set of runes was no less than that of a Fireball Talisman. Moreover, an additional set of talismanic patterns meant another chance for error. In that respect, the chance of successfully making an Illusionary Light Talisman was half that of a Fireball Talisman.

"Damn it, I'm doing it!"

But after hesitating for a moment, Wei Suo still gritted his teeth and made his decision. After all, the more tricks he had in battle, the more likely he was to kill his opponent. Moreover, from the Green Robe Old Man's manner of speaking, Wei Suo could tell that he definitely knew several high-level talismans as well. The materials for those talismans certainly would not be as cheap as those for Fireball Talismans. Refining these Illusionary Light Talismans could also serve as training.

Watching Wei Suo thoroughly pound the Yellow Silk Grass and Bitter Gold Chrysanthemum according to the proper proportions and begin brewing the materials needed for Illusionary Light Talisman paper, a trace of imperceptible approval flashed through the Green Robe Old Man's eyes again. After all, this lecherous fellow still had many strengths—for example, he had a quick mind and did not aim too high.

Just as Wei Suo began refining Illusionary Light Talismans with full concentration, a richly dressed young man from Golden Jade Pavilion entered Ji Ya's room in Treasure Pavilion, exceedingly respectful and secretly excited.

Ji Ya, who possessed a breathtakingly beautiful face, wore an ordinary purple palace dress and sat before a table. Unconcealed fatigue lingered on her face. Her expression appeared calm, but her entire body seemed to radiate a frosty chill that kept others a thousand miles away. Her table was covered in herbs of every age, and the entire room was filled with all manner of strange medicinal fragrances.

Though it was not his first time seeing Ji Ya, the richly dressed young man from Golden Jade Pavilion still could not help trembling inwardly at her stunning beauty and icy demeanor.

What sort of man could win the favor of such a woman, make such an Ice and Snow Beauty smile?

After silently sighing in his heart, the richly dressed young man from Golden Jade Pavilion stepped forward with utmost politeness and placed the crystal bag in his hand on an empty spot on the table before Ji Ya. "Shopkeeper Ji Ya, because you have been busy refining pills, I did not dare disturb you. I waited until now to deliver the Spirit Stones. The Void Merging Pill you entrusted to our Shopkeeper Tian sold for four thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. After deducting the one thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones already paid and the fees, there are now two hundred and seventy Mid-grade Spirit Stones here. Please inspect them."

Ji Ya gently shook her head. "There is no need. I trust you and Boss Tian. Thank you for waiting so long."

The Golden Jade Pavilion youth named Liu Xiang said respectfully, "Shopkeeper Ji Ya, our Shopkeeper Tian also asked me to pass along a message. The pills you refine are all in extremely high demand. If you can provide a pill like the Void Merging Pill every month for Golden Jade Pavilion to auction, then for all other transactions between Golden Jade Pavilion and Treasure Pavilion in the future, we can waive half the fees."

"I understand. You may return." Ji Ya nodded. Yet as she watched the richly dressed youth respectfully withdraw from her pill-refining room, an indescribable bitter smile appeared at the corner of her lips. She knew that Shopkeeper Tian had made such a proposal because if Golden Jade Pavilion's auctions regularly had pills of her caliber for sale, they would undoubtedly draw much attention and attract many cultivators, making Golden Jade Pavilion's business even more prosperous. Naturally, the terms Golden Jade Pavilion offered were also highly beneficial to Treasure Pavilion. The problem was that Ji Ya was the only person in all of Treasure Pavilion capable of refining pills of this level, and the cost of such pills was not low either.

Furthermore, Ji Ya had many matters to handle in recent years. Whether she could refine one Void Merging Pill each month was uncertain.

After tiredly rubbing her temples and swallowing a white pill, Ji Ya called out, "Dugu Yuyun." As her voice rang out, a cultivator shrouded in a black robe appeared once more at her doorway.

"Young Miss has already broken through to the Fifth Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm. The Ice Chi True Art you gave her has also been cultivated to the third level." As if he knew what Ji Ya wished to ask, the black-robed man spoke directly.

"She has already cultivated to the Fifth Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm?" Ji Ya was sharply startled.

"That is correct." The black-robed man nodded, his expression still as calm as an ancient well without a ripple. "Her talent in cultivating techniques and spells is indeed extremely high."

"I understand. Continue having Tie Ce's people protect Young Miss." Ji Ya nodded. As she watched the black-robed man silently leave, an expression of comfort spread through her eyes.

(It was Monday today. Everyone, please cast a few more red votes in support. With the New Year approaching, averaging ten thousand characters every day was no easy feat!)