A blind cat caught a dead mouse?

After being pressed by the talisman mold and baked over a fire for a moment, a square, vermilion talisman paper was freshly produced.

"Boom!"

A ball of fire suddenly exploded in the small hut.

"You damn Green-Haired Old Man, what's going on? Why did this thing suddenly explode!" Wei Suo, with his entire face blackened and half his hair scorched, yelled furiously.

"You've never made a talisman before?" the Green Robe Old Man asked, stunned.

"Never, so what?"

"You've never made one and you dared to do this directly?" The Green Robe Old Man burst out laughing. "Looking at your confident demeanor, I thought you were a master talisman maker. Turns out you're just a clueless rookie who's never made a talisman before. The patterns on talismans are in harmony with the primal energy of heaven and earth. Each pattern is a small magic array. Even the slightest deviation in position on the talisman paper, or if the strokes are too thick or too thin, will prevent it from forming a talisman. Do you really think you can refine a talisman just by drawing something that looks similar? Do you think refining talismans and artifacts is that easy to fool?"

"Are you sure this talisman formula isn't fake?" The Green Robe Old Man roared with laughter, mocking Wei Suo. This time, Wei Suo didn't get angry; instead, he looked somewhat serious. Although the Fire Tail Flower had the word 'fire' in its name, it was only because the flower's appearance resembled a fiery dog's tail. And while the Fire Scorpion's tail possessed some fire malevolence, even the most powerful Fire Scorpion couldn't unleash such a ball of fire.

"Nonsense. If I were lying, then show me three things that inherently have no fire malevolence, but when mixed together, can explode into a ball of fire? I told you long ago that my talisman formula is one hundred percent real, yet you didn't believe me."

"Damn it, if you're really lying, you'll only be allowed to soak in a cesspool from now on." Wei Suo yelled at the Green Robe Old Man, but in his heart, he was determined to test this talisman formula thoroughly.

Wei Suo was currently dirt poor, and that prodigal beauty had only recently stimulated him with a First-Order Fireball Talisman. A fireball the size of a winnowing basket – forget being hit directly, even being grazed by the flames would likely be unbearable. The power of such a First-Order Fireball Talisman was comparable to the fireball technique unleashed by a cultivator at the Fifth Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm.

Furthermore, these First-Order magic talismans didn't consume much true essence. Take Wei Suo for example. The true essence cultivation technique he practiced was the Purple Profound True Art, and the only offensive spell he knew was the Azure Water Blade. With his cultivation at the Second Level of Sea of Consciousness Realm in the Purple Profound True Art, he could only unleash about twenty Azure Water Blades consecutively. However, if he were to use the type of First-Order Fireball Talisman that prodigal beauty used, with his cultivation, he could unleash a hundred of them without issue.

Therefore, these magic talismans that didn't consume true essence were always in high demand on the market. Ordinary cultivators, as long as they had enough Spirit Stones, would buy a few to keep for self-preservation. However, the value of these First-Order magic talismans was generally around half a Low-grade Spirit Stone. Apart from purchasing some defensive magic talismans for protection, Wei Suo had never bought any offensive magic talismans. Instead, he had bought the more cost-effective Exploding Flame Beads, which had half the power of a Fireball Talisman but cost only a third, to substitute.

If these three ordinary items could truly refine a First-Order Fireball Talisman, then this talisman formula would be as significant to Wei Suo as a hen that laid spirit stones.

"Kid, stop wasting the Fire Scorpion Blood. I told you long ago, even for a proficient talisman maker, it takes at least ten days to half a month of practice to successfully refine a new talisman. You've only been practicing for seven days and you expect to refine a Fireball Talisman? Stop dreaming. It's better to give me the wasted Fire Scorpion Blood to drink."

"Stop your nonsense. If you don't shut up, and if I fail to refine this talisman, I'll blame you and treat you to a cup of urine."

In the small stone house, Wei Suo took a deep breath and solemnly placed a blue talisman brush, held in his hand, into the bottle containing Fire Scorpion Blood, allowing the brush to soak up the blood.

After failing to make a talisman for the first time, Wei Suo had been practicing non-stop for seven days.

After carefully recalling every detail of the Fireball Talisman's patterns, Wei Suo took the talisman brush, now soaked with Fire Scorpion Blood, out of the bottle. Before him lay a square talisman paper, prepared from Silver Candle Grass and Fire Tail Flower.

Basically, everyone who hadn't refined talismans before had to train in talisman carving. Talisman carving involved first carving the talisman patterns onto a smooth wooden board, and then repeatedly practicing with the talisman brush along the carved patterns. This way, depending on the thickness and depth of the carved lines, after becoming proficient, one would naturally have a better grasp of the pressure to apply when drawing on actual talisman paper, greatly increasing the success rate of talisman refinement.

Apart from this, the value of ordinary talisman paper was also considerable. Most cultivators wouldn't waste it by practicing on real talisman paper. However, since Silver Candle Grass and Fire Tail Flower were abundant near Lingyue City, Wei Suo directly used the excess useless blood from the Fire Scorpion, absorbed by the talisman brush, to refine directly on the talisman paper.

By practicing directly on the talisman paper, Wei Suo also discovered that the quality of the talisman paper greatly influenced the success or failure of talisman refinement. After all, if the talisman paper had even minor flaws, or if some areas were rough, causing the talisman brush to not flow smoothly, it could directly lead to the failure of refining this First-Order Fireball Talisman.

Therefore, Wei Suo had also put in a lot of effort in refining talisman paper over these seven days. The talisman paper Wei Suo refined now looked much smoother and glossier than the first batch he made seven days ago. The one he had prepared now was the best quality among the recent batches, smooth as a mirror and shimmering with a faint glow.

Wei Suo's stroke was without hesitation; a smooth, round red line rapidly extended under the brush tip. The originally dark red Fire Scorpion Blood turned fiery red after soaking into the talisman paper, emitting a crystal-like luster similar to jade.

Tiny beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but his gaze was extremely focused, and every movement was precise.

In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, Wei Suo completed the final stroke on this Fireball Talisman. The moment this last fine pattern was completed, the fiery red, flame-like patterns on the talisman paper suddenly lit up, emitting a faint red glow. The entire talisman paper also emitted a trace of heat.

"It actually succeeded?" In the silent small stone house, Wei Suo stared blankly at the talisman before him, while the Green Robe Old Man's eyes widened in disbelief.

On the vermilion talisman paper, crimson patterns emitted wisps of heat, and a faint luster flowed along these patterns, as if tiny flames were flowing within the talisman.

A faint heat emanated from this talisman.

From any perspective, there seemed to be no problem with this First-Order Fireball Talisman.

"You really haven't made talismans before?" After a long pause, the Green Robe Old Man couldn't help but ask Wei Suo.

"No," Wei Suo replied, still seemingly dazed, shaking his head. "I used to just draw stripes on ordinary white sables and sell them to others as Black Wind Sables."

Here comes today's fifth update. What do you think, handsome guys and beautiful ladies, can you give a little more support? The gifts from the last YY event and the first new book event are all ready thanks to Sweetie's efforts. Because we will be flying back to Changsha with Shen Ji tomorrow afternoon to revisit the fallen street and search for the white flowers under Mount Yuelu, we will try our best to mail out the greeting cards tomorrow morning. T-shirts and mousepads will be mailed out on the 20th or 21st, so please don't worry. Also, the updates in the next few days will continue to be very strong. If you all are supportive, I will announce my daily whereabouts and photos on Tencent Weibo every day. I will take pictures of the places I wrote about in Rogue Master and Rogue Master 2, and the birthplace of the perverted secret manual.