This Magic Artifact Released a Ghost When I Repaired It!

Alchemy, talismans, artifact forging, and formations: the four arts of cultivation.

Shen Le often saw that phrase in the online cultivation novels he read. It referred to the four main trades cultivators used to earn a living:

Refining pills, making talismans, forging artifacts, and setting up formations.

Of course, there were plenty of other trades, such as growing spirit rice and medicinal herbs or raising spirit beasts and fish.

Some people ran restaurants serving spiritual food; others went into business...

But those four arts were considered the main trades because demand was high and the market was vast.

From low-end goods to high-end products, there was plenty to make and sell, and the profits were decent.

Talismans supposedly had the lowest startup costs and were the easiest to learn. With a little study, a beginner could reach the break-even point and start supporting himself.

But Shen Le had spent half a month studying talismans without making any progress.

He could just about carve the runes the Copper Fragment gave him onto the surface of wood.

Carving those runes inside the wood failed seven or eight times out of ten.

As for drawing the runes from the Complete Book of Talismans provided by the Special Affairs Bureau on talisman paper, or carving them into wood—he had tried brushes, specialized talisman pens and ink, and specialized carving knives. He had lost count of his attempts. Not one had succeeded.

"Good thing I didn't get transported to a cultivation world," Shen Le said from the bottom of his heart.

"If I had, I probably couldn't even support myself..."

[You're putting your effort in the wrong place.] Lan Zhuang's voice drifted from a corner of the workshop.

[Has it occurred to you that your abilities might not suit this kind of talisman?]

"For a