Talisman Crafting

Back at his residence, Li Yuan took the booklet Old Zhang had left behind from his sleeve and opened the cover.

The handwritten script was crooked and uneven, but every step was explained clearly.

The booklet contained three sections.

The first covered the basic principles of talisman crafting. From the method of injecting spiritual power into talisman paper, to the direction in which Spirit Patterns flowed when cinnabar touched the paper, to the rhythm of sealing when lifting the brush—everything was described in great detail. It was clearly the accumulation of Old Zhang's many years of experience drawing talismans.

The second section contained crafting insights for Cleaning Talismans and Warding Talismans. Each type of talisman listed several places where mistakes were easily made.

The third section was not about talisman crafting. It listed three names and addresses, all sellers of basic talisman-crafting materials.

"Wu's Talisman Materials, third alley entrance in the southern section of East Street. Their talisman paper is of average quality, but it is cheap and reliable."

"Zhao Family Material Shop, middle section of North Alley. Their cinnabar is the best, but the price runs high."

"Granny Sun's sundries stall. Its location is not fixed. She has a bit of everything, and the quality varies wildly, but you can occasionally pick up something good."

Old Zhang had even left behind the merchants he had dealt with before.

Li Yuan closed the booklet, and the panel appeared:

[Detected equippable item: Talisman Crafting Manual (Complete)]

[Trait Preview: Talisman Crafting Insight (White)—time and spiritual power consumed while crafting talismans reduced by ten percent]

[Permanentization Condition Preview: Craft fifty Basic Talismans or five Low-grade First-Order Talismans (one low-grade talisman counts as ten Basic Talismans) (0/50)]

[Current Equipment Slots full (3/3). Replace currently equipped item?]

A White Trait. The time and spiritual power consumed in talisman crafting would be reduced by ten percent.

The permanentization condition was also clear—make fifty Basic Talismans, or five Low-grade First-Order Talismans. One low-grade talisman counted as ten basic ones.

Cleaning Talismans and Warding Talismans both counted as Basic Talismans. Fireball Talismans and Ice Spike Talismans were the Low-grade First-Order ones.

Li Yuan put the booklet away without equipping it in a hurry.

He would cultivate first.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and circulated the Spirit Guiding Art.

After completing one circulation cycle, Li Yuan did not continue circulating the Spirit Guiding Art. Instead, he switched to the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art.

The route through which his spiritual power flowed changed accordingly.

One cycle of the Spirit Guiding Art increased the rate at which he absorbed spirit qi.

Then one cycle of the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art followed, sorting through the spirit qi absorbed by the Spirit Guiding Art anew. After his spiritual power circulated once through the subsidiary meridians, it returned to his Dantian, its quality rising by a notch.

First, he used the Spirit Guiding Art to absorb a large amount, then used the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art to sort and refine it.

The effect was immediate.

After the two cultivation arts alternated through several cycles, Li Yuan could clearly feel the changes in the spiritual power within his Dantian. Its total quantity grew slightly more slowly than when he used the Spirit Guiding Art alone, but its solidity surpassed what either cultivation art could achieve on its own.

Of course, that was also because of the Spirit Qi Filtration Trait he carried. The spirit qi absorbed by the Spirit Guiding Art contained barely any impurities.

Without that Trait, spirit qi laced with impurities would have flowed through his limbs and bones, and the result would have been far inferior to what it was now.

The effect of the Hundred Rivers Return to Sea Trait became especially apparent when switching between the two cultivation arts—from the circulation rhythm of the Spirit Guiding Art to that of the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art, his spiritual power barely paused at all, naturally slipping into the other route of circulation.

Li Yuan stabilized this alternating cultivation rhythm and continued for more than a dozen cycles.

The spiritual power in his Dantian was much fuller than before cultivation, and its texture had become heavier and deeper.

By the time he finished, the sky beyond the window had already darkened.

With a thought, the panel appeared:

[Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art: Entry Level (0/200)]

He had reached Entry Level in about one shichen.

The complete understanding granted by equipment worked just as well on immortal cultivation arts, saving him the time of studying the manual.

Then there was the boost from the Spirit Qi Condensation Trait—his spiritual power density was already a notch higher than that of cultivators at the same level. When he circulated the Hundred Meridians Origin Return Art, spiritual power encountered less resistance flowing through the subsidiary meridians, and the connections between nodes became smoother as well.

Li Yuan dismissed the panel and took out Old Zhang's manual.

The booklet stated it very clearly—the core of talisman crafting was to inject spiritual power into talisman paper along specific patterns.

The direction of spiritual power was the direction of the Spirit Patterns. The order in which the brush strokes fell determined how the Spirit Patterns were activated, while the rhythm of lifting the brush controlled the talisman's stability.

It did not sound complicated, but there were many hidden intricacies within.

The speed at which spiritual power was injected could be neither too fast nor too slow. Too fast, and the Spirit Patterns would not have time to take shape before the talisman paper burned through. Too slow, and the spiritual power would linger on the paper too long, causing the lines to blur and spread until the talisman ultimately failed.

The connection between each stroke was even more crucial. If the residual spiritual power left behind at the end of one stroke was not properly controlled, it would interfere with the start of the next. At best, the lines would skew; at worst, the entire talisman would be ruined.

After reading through it, Li Yuan calculated the Spirit Stones he had on hand.

He had already spent a good portion of the large sum taken from the cultivator bandit—on the Spirit Gathering Ring, talismans, Medicinal Pills, and so on. There were noticeably fewer Spirit Stones left in his sleeve than before.

But basic talisman-crafting materials were not expensive. The cheapest yellow talisman paper cost one Spirit Stone for a hundred sheets. A small bottle of ordinary cinnabar cost half a Spirit Stone and was enough for dozens of talismans. Spirit Ink was somewhat pricier, at one Spirit Stone per small bottle, but very little was needed, and one bottle would last a long time.

Buying a full set would only cost three or four Spirit Stones, enough for a beginner to practice with for quite a while.

Li Yuan left his residence and walked along East Street to the third alley entrance in its southern section.

Wu's Talisman Materials was a small shop with a narrow storefront, wedged between two larger stores. It would be easy to miss if one was not paying attention.

There was not much in the shop, but everything was neatly arranged. A row on the left held talisman paper of various grades, from the cheapest yellow paper to somewhat better Spirit Pattern Paper, arranged by price from low to high. On the right sat cinnabar, Spirit Ink, and several supplementary materials, all stored in small porcelain bottles or cloth bags.

Behind the counter sat a man in his forties with an ordinary face. When he saw Li Yuan enter, he glanced at the waist token, then rose politely.

"Deputy Captain Li, what do you need?"

"Twenty sheets of yellow talisman paper, one bottle of ordinary cinnabar, one bottle of Spirit Ink, and one Fine-Hair Brush."

The shopkeeper swiftly gathered the items and wrapped them in oiled paper.

"Four Spirit Stones altogether."

Li Yuan paid the Spirit Stones. After returning to his residence, he dismissed the Iron Ox Technique with a thought, then equipped Old Zhang's manual.

The booklet turned into a faint glow and merged into his body.

Just as Li Yuan had guessed, the entire booklet merged into him, including the names and addresses Old Zhang had written down.

Li Yuan had considered tearing out that page to see whether the rest could still be equipped, but he did not dare try.

Unlike when he had equipped cultivation manuals before, what was instilled this time was not a cultivation formula or circulation route, but a vast amount of experience—all of it the experience Old Zhang had recorded in the booklet. Compared to simply reading it, this infusion was far more potent, as though Old Zhang were personally teaching him at every moment.

When the infusion was complete, Li Yuan's fingers twitched slightly. A strange feeling surfaced—he seemed to have drawn countless talismans already, every variation in the weight of each stroke engraved in his heart. Yet when he truly picked up the brush, his fingers remained utterly unfamiliar with it.

[Equipped: Talisman Crafting Manual]

[Obtained Trait: Talisman Crafting Insight (White)—time and spiritual power consumed while crafting talismans reduced by ten percent]

[Permanentization Progress: 0/50]

Li Yuan picked up the Fine-Hair Brush. Spiritual power surged from his fingertips. With a turn of his wrist, the spiritual power traced an arc as he began crafting a Cleaning Talisman.

The experience instilled in his mind guided the direction and force of every movement, but the muscles in his fingers were doing this for the first time. Halfway through the arc, his wrist tilted slightly off angle, and the spiritual power's path across the talisman paper skewed with it.

The cinnabar bled into a blotch across the paper. What should have been an even, fine line became a vague red stain.

Ruined.

Li Yuan set down the brush and placed the talisman paper to one side.

He picked up a second sheet, dipped the brush in cinnabar again, and set it down.

Ruined again.

The third sheet... the fourth... the fifth...

Five failures in a row.

Li Yuan put down the brush and looked at the five ruined talismans on the table. He flexed his wrist, stacked the failed talismans to one side, and picked up the sixth sheet of talisman paper.

Spiritual power flowed in from his fingertips, and the cinnabar slowly spread across the talisman paper.

Li Yuan's wrist kept turning, growing increasingly fluid.

The spiritual power slowly withdrew from the brush tip. The end of the pattern naturally tapered thin, and the final dot landed in the center of the talisman paper.

The Cleaning Talisman was complete.

[Detected item: Cleaning Talisman (Complete)]

[Trait Preview: Clean Physique (Trait of the same name already possessed; cannot equip repeatedly)]

"So talismans I craft myself can be equipped too?"

Joy appeared on Li Yuan's face. If his guess was correct, he would have a stable means of obtaining Traits.

But he still could not make a judgment yet. He had to try crafting a Warding Talisman as well.

The panel displayed a notification.

[Tier 1 Talisman Crafting Art: Not yet Entry Level (9/100)]

[Cleaning Talisman: Not yet Entry Level (12/100)]

[Talisman Crafting Insight (White) Permanentization Progress: 1/50]