Talisman Crafting

The "Yin" in the Peaceful Yin Talisman Scripture refers to "hidden and internal," while the "Talisman" refers to "alignment and conformity."

The core essence of this talismanic inheritance can be summarized in one phrase: "Observe the Way of Heaven, and execute the conduct of Heaven."

What is recorded in this jade slip is merely the introductory chapter of the Peaceful Yin Talisman Scripture, belonging to the most foundational part of the entire Profound Yin Sect's talisman system.

Yet even so, its content remains profound and obscure, involving the minute depiction of the trajectories of heaven and earth spiritual energy; it is simply not something Xia Dong can master or instantly comprehend at this moment.

Xia Dong was not impatient. He went through the contents of the jade slip in his mind. Afterward, he carefully stowed the jade slip and spirit stones into his dusty storage pouch, then released his divine sense to inspect the area, ensuring the secret mechanism leading to the outer snake cave was restored seamlessly before turning to walk toward another secret passage at the end of the chamber.

The design of this secret passage was extremely ingenious; it did not lead directly to the surface but sloped downward, eventually submerging into a bone-chilling underground river. Xia Dong took a deep breath, circulated his internal energy, and plunged into the water. After swimming for a distance along this highly concealed underwater passage while holding his breath, he saw a glimmer of light.

With a splash, Xia Dong broke through the surface.

He looked around and found himself in an exceptionally secluded pool. Above the pool was a small waterfall cascading down, its roaring sound perfectly masking any movement in the vicinity.

The surrounding cliffs were steep, ancient trees towered overhead, and vines hung down like natural curtains. Sunlight could only struggle to filter through the gaps above, creating a scene that felt like a world apart.

Xia Dong carefully observed the surrounding terrain, his heart filled with joy. If I have time in the future, I can renovate this place and use it as my secret cultivation cave outside the city. As for that giant snake guarding the entrance, once my strength improves and I have the means to keep it in check, I might consider taming it to guard the house.

Having made up his mind, Xia Dong changed out of his soaked clothes, cast the Wind-Riding Technique, leaped lightly out of the secluded valley, and set off silently on the road back to Pingyang County.

Upon returning to Changchun Medical Hall, Xia Dong closed his doors to all visitors, focusing his entire mind on studying the Peaceful Yin Talisman Scripture.

During this time, he quietly disguised himself and went to the marketplace, buying a batch of the most basic blank spirit paper, along with a set of talisman brushes and talisman ink essential for crafting.

The talisman brush was fine; as long as it was properly maintained, it could be used indefinitely.

However, the talisman ink was a true consumable. To draw spirit talismans containing magical power, the ink had to be mixed with the fresh blood of demonic beasts.

As a beginner, Xia Dong could not afford high-grade demonic beast blood and had to settle for the cheapest variety.

In truth, if one's success rate in talisman crafting is high, it is extremely easy to recoup the costs.

But like alchemy, the most difficult chasm to cross in talisman crafting is the appallingly low "success rate." Ordinary low-grade talisman masters can only succeed once in every ten attempts.

Fortunately, Xia Dong possessed the talent of One Proof Eternal Proof, so he believed that as long as he successfully drew one talisman, everything that followed would be much simpler.

His current cultivation was limited, so he planned to start with the most practical Wind-Riding Talisman and Breath-Concealing Talisman, intending to sell the Wind-Riding Talismans.

He intended to use the Breath-Concealing Talisman for himself, while the Wind-Riding Talisman had a wider range of applications and was easier to sell.

This was especially true for low-grade rogue cultivators who lacked sect backgrounds and were short on funds; proper flying magical artifacts were not only expensive but also consumed a massive amount of magical power during long journeys, which ordinary Qi Refining Realm cultivators simply could not sustain.

Therefore, when traveling, low-grade cultivators often preferred the affordable and effective God-Speed Talisman.

Compared to the God-Speed Talisman, which only allowed one to run on the ground, the Wind-Riding Talisman not only had similarly low consumption but also provided a slight effect of aerial flight.

When encountering enemies or needing to cross dangerous terrain like cliffs or poisonous swamps, the life-saving value of a Wind-Riding Talisman far exceeded that of a God-Speed Talisman.

On the other hand, the core essence of this Profound Yin Sect talisman inheritance lay in using one's own "Profound Yin magical power" to condense a "Talisman Seed" within the body.

Once the Talisman Seed is successfully condensed, a cultivator can bypass the limitations of talisman paper and directly manifest magical power to form talismans in the void to injure enemies.

However, because such void talismans lack spirit paper as a carrier, the magical power cannot be preserved for long and is triggered immediately upon completion.

Yet, there are requirements for condensing a Talisman Seed. It requires not only sufficiently pure Profound Yin magical power but also "divine sense" at the fourth level of Qi Refining or higher to act as the guide.

Because Xia Dong had practiced the Mysterious Yin Spirit Refining, his divine sense already met the requirements. However, his current efficiency in converting heaven and earth spiritual energy was only ten percent, and the accumulation of magical power in his dantian was still too thin to support the condensation of a Talisman Seed.

Xia Dong was not anxious. He suppressed the thought of condensing a Talisman Seed and poured all his energy into the drawing of the Wind-Riding Talisman.

When Xia Dong truly picked up the brush to begin deconstructing the spiritual patterns of the Wind-Riding Talisman, he realized something.

He discovered that the internal logic of spiritual power circulation in the "Wind-Riding Technique" he had previously deduced through the Bronze Ancient Bell was far more profound and mysterious than the Wind-Riding Talisman recorded in the Yin Talisman Scripture, even possessing a primitive charm of "the Great Way is simple."

If casting wind-based power were like solving a math problem, the Wind-Riding Technique deduced by the Bronze Ancient Bell was like an ultimate formula that was extremely concise and pointed directly to the source, consuming little while having great power; whereas the drawing method of the Wind-Riding Talisman in the Yin Talisman Scripture was like a clumsy solution pieced together from countless cumbersome primary formulas.

With the foundation of the Bronze Ancient Bell's Wind-Riding Technique, the veins and key points of these cumbersome Wind-Riding Talisman patterns were crystal clear to him.

Soon, Xia Dong began crafting. His Profound Yin magical power flowed slowly, channeling through his arm into the slightly coarse talisman brush.

Lift the brush, dip the ink, touch the paper!

The talisman ink, saturated with demonic blood, snaked across the dim spirit paper. Xia Dong's divine sense locked onto the tip of the brush, precisely controlling the magical power.

The first attempt: due to a slight tremor in his wrist, the magical power dissipated halfway, and the spirit paper instantly turned into a pile of ash.

The second attempt: upon finishing, the infusion of magical power was too intense, and the talisman script could not bear the load, exploding directly.

The third... the eighth...

After failing more than ten times in a row, fine beads of sweat had seeped onto Xia Dong's forehead, and the precious talisman ink had visibly decreased by a large margin.

But his brushwork became increasingly steady.

Finally, on the fifteenth attempt, Xia Dong's wrist seemed to be taken over by a natural rhythm; the brush moved like a dragon or snake, completing the task in one breath!

As the final stroke was outlined, he jerked the tip of the brush away.

Hum.

The complex, spiderweb-like vermilion talisman script on the spirit paper suddenly lit up with a faint yet pure cyan spiritual light.

Immediately following, the surrounding free-roaming wind-attribute spiritual energy seemed to be drawn by some contract, instantly converging and locking tightly into this thin piece of talisman paper.

The spiritual light retracted; the talisman was complete!

Looking at the Wind-Riding Talisman on the desk, which radiated a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy, a look of relief finally appeared on Xia Dong's face.