Inside Heavenly Dao Temple, A-You moved all his belongings in.
There was not much: an earth-yellow Daoist robe, a Peach Wood Sword he had used for many years, and a brass compass nearly half a meter in diameter.
The compass was strangely designed. Its outer edge was shaped like the Eight Trigrams, while the inner disk resembled a blooming lotus, with five spikes protruding from its center.
A-You set the compass down securely and raised a hand to pat its surface.
"This is the Five Elements Compass."
"To use it, you need a person's Essence Blood to activate it, and it requires two people working together. One person guards the compass and drives the formation, while the other enters the barrier to kill ghosts. Once the compass starts turning, it can produce five kinds of barriers: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth."
As he said this, his expression grew more serious.
"Remember this: once the formation disk is activated, the person guarding it cannot leave. The moment they let go, the barrier will immediately disperse."
"If we ever truly need to use this thing, I'll guard the formation. You're still young. It wouldn't be worth crippling one of your hands for the formation."
After hearing him out, Huang Bai did not reply immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Qian Hao in the corner.
"What about having him do it?"
"The two of us can go in. That'll make things faster."
A-You froze.
"Ahao?"
Huang Bai beckoned Qian Hao over.
"Come here. Show A-You what you can do."
"Sure."
Qian Hao walked over. Under A-You's puzzled gaze, he pulled out a small knife without another word and slashed his own arm.
Scht.
The blade sliced through flesh, and blood immediately began to flow.
"Hey, what are you doing—" A-You instinctively moved to stop him.
Before he could finish, though, he saw the wound had already stopped bleeding. The flesh beneath the skin wriggled as fresh tissue grew, healing at a visible speed.
A-You's eyelids twitched.
"What kind of technique is that?"
Without changing expression, Huang Bai said, "A little medicinal technique left behind by an elder."
He made it sound casual, then immediately steered the conversation back.
"So, can Ahao handle this job or not?"
A-You frowned and circled Qian Hao halfway. Though he did not ask any more questions, the strange feeling in his heart only grew stronger.
This kid Huang Bai seemed to have planned everything out before anyone else.
From having him move here, to bringing up the Five Elements Compass, to pushing Ahao forward to take over the formation—it was as though he had already thought through every contingency.
"He can," A-You finally said with a nod. "With that kind of recovery ability, even if his hand really gets injured, reattaching it should be easy."
"Then that settles it."
In the days that followed, A-You officially moved into Heavenly Dao Temple.
In the temple's rear courtyard, A-You set up a new Dharma Altar.
The altar was packed from five-colored earth. Statues of deities were enshrined atop it, while tablets for the Earth God, City God, and Five Directional Gods were arranged beside it.
Three kinds of fruit and five grains were laid before the altar, along with three cups of clear tea and three cups of rice wine, arranged precisely in the Three Talents positions of Heaven, Earth, and Man.
A-You changed into his Daoist robe and stood quietly before the altar for a moment. Only then did he pick up a brush, dip it in cinnabar, and let it glide across yellow paper.
The brush moved like a dragon and snake, completed in one fluid stroke.
Huang Bai stood nearby, watching silently.
Talismans might appear to be nothing more than sheets of paper, but they carried countless intricacies.
[Talisman Head] [Talisman Body] [Talisman Core] [Talisman Foot]—not one layer could be disordered.
As Huang Bai watched A-You draw talismans, he gradually formed his own understanding.
"A Daoist's register might be a kind of key—a key for borrowing techniques from deities and nature, as well as a method for storing spells in paper."
Huang Bai did not believe Daoists could truly communicate with deities through talismans. Deities did not have the time to answer them every day, either.
Soon, A-You drew more than ten Exorcism Talismans in one go. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, clearly having expended a great deal of spiritual power drawing so many talismans.
"Can you really not draw talismans without receiving a register?"
Huang Bai still refused to give up. He had drawn Mount Mao talismans before, but they had not had the slightest effect.
Still, talismans were simply too convenient. They were like pre-made meals: no extensive preparation was needed, and they could be used as soon as they were taken out, saving an enormous amount of effort.
A-You immediately rolled his eyes.
"Of course not."
"If scribbling a few lines was enough to make them work, wouldn't print shop owners be the strongest Daoists in the world?"
Huang Bai chuckled at that and did not argue.
A-You set down his brush and continued explaining.
"Receiving a register isn't the key point. The key is gaining recognition from that lineage. Only when the lineage acknowledges you can you borrow its techniques."
"For example, I can draw the talismans of my own lineage. But as for other lineages' talismans, even if the design were placed right in front of me, copying it ten thousand times would be useless."
As he spoke, he raised a hand and tapped one of the talismans he had just drawn.
"Look at the talisman heads. Every school writes different deities and different principles. Some invoke Three Mountains Nine Marquises, some invoke the Purple Tenuity Great Emperor, some invoke Marshal Tianpeng and the Six Dings and Six Jiǎs. Others do not write any divine names at all, instead writing the sun and moon, heaven and earth, stars, seasons, and hours."
"Our lineage invokes the Black Baleful God in the talisman head."
"Without this lineage, I can neither draw these talismans nor borrow their techniques."
Huang Bai fell into thought after hearing that.
He slowly sat down on the steps and stared at the talismans for a long while.
The structure of a talisman resembled a complete miniature spell framework.
The talisman head was the source, like a person's head and divine intent.
The talisman body stated its purpose, like a body and its bones and tendons.
The talisman core contained the spiritual power and served as the pivot.
The talisman foot was like the limbs, responsible for truly sending out the command.
In the end, it was still borrowed power placed onto paper, not something created from nothing.
That was why Daoists who had not received a register could not borrow any techniques at all.
As Huang Bai pondered, he suddenly lifted his head and looked at A-You.
"What if I don't borrow anyone else's techniques?"
A-You was taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
"What would happen if I wrote my own name and borrowed my own techniques?"
The moment those words left his mouth, A-You fell silent.
He stared at Huang Bai for several seconds before finally saying with a laugh of disbelief, "What do you think you are? A deity? Or the founding patriarch of a sect?"
"Even someone as audacious as Zhong Jiu wouldn't dare play around like that. Yet you actually dare to think it. Don't end up suffering qi deviation."
Huang Bai did not think he was indulging in wild fantasy.
What A-You had said earlier had instead reminded him of something.
Gods... Huang Bai's eyes gradually brightened as he looked at A-You. "What if I really do create my own lineage? What are we betting?"
A-You could not be bothered to persuade him anymore and casually replied, "If you really succeed, I'll give you this family heirloom."
"If you fail, this temple belongs to me."
Huang Bai immediately answered.
"Fine. It's a deal."
After saying that, he turned to Qian Hao.
"Ahao, you be the witness. Watch closely. Don't let this guy go back on his word later."
Qian Hao pointed at his own eyes and grinned mischievously. "Don't worry. I'm watching."
A-You could not be bothered to keep talking to the two lunatics. He waved a hand and turned to leave.
"Boring."
It was not that he coveted the temple. He simply did not believe he could lose.
No matter how talented Huang Bai was, he could not be arrogant to such a degree. Create a talisman lineage? Found a school? How could such a thing be accomplished just by talking about it?
After returning to the side hall, A-You casually snatched the remote from Little Bai's hand and leaned back in his chair to watch horse racing.
Over the next several days, Huang Bai seemed determined to prove him wrong and shut himself away in seclusion.
At night, the fluorescent light shone with a harsh glare.
Huang Bai's hair was a mess. A thick stack of drafts was piled on the table before him, while crumpled waste paper littered the floor.
He had sat there for three days and three nights, barely closing his eyes.
If others saw him, they would likely think he had gone mad.
But Huang Bai knew clearly that he was not merely fantasizing.
After all, he had cultivated the Corpse-Liberation Immortal Method and had successfully undergone Corpse Liberation and left his body before.
Strictly speaking, even if he was not a proper immortal, he had at least stepped halfway through the door.
"A half-baked immortal is still an immortal."
Huang Bai muttered to himself, then laughed at his own words.
And he still possessed an Inner Elixir.
Talismans needed to borrow techniques, so he could borrow his own. Talismans needed to store power, so he could use the Inner Elixir as the core of that power.
In that case, others needed registers, lineages, and patriarchs to draw talismans, but he might not need any of them.
"If I can truly establish this lineage, then I'll finally be truly free in the future."
Given a choice, Huang Bai did not want anyone holding him by the throat. Whether deities, ghosts, patriarchs, or immortal masters, he cultivated the Heavenly Dao.
He wanted to walk his own path.
Not borrowed prestige, but a path of Physical Body Sanctification and Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life—a path that would let him stand straight and speak with true authority.
So over the next few days, Huang Bai dismantled and analyzed the structure of Mount Mao talismans piece by piece, then fused it with the techniques he excelled in.
Solar Curse, Lunar Curse, Brightsight Curse, Wall-Piercing Curse, Divine Sword...
If once was not enough, then twice. If twice was not enough, then ten times.
Stack after stack of paper was ruined, and the pile of drafts grew ever thicker.
Finally, another day passed.
The night was dark and the wind was strong, the starlight sparse and cold.
Huang Bai sat alone before the Dharma Altar, letting his mind sink between inner and outer as he slowly adjusted his breathing.
Only when heaven and earth had fallen completely silent, and his own soul had gradually become clear, did he lift his brush and begin pouring power into its tip bit by bit.
At that moment, the outer world and his inner soul seemed to faintly echo one another.
A spark of divine light stirred within his spiritual platform.
Huang Bai finally put brush to paper.
"Immortal Lord Huang Bai, transform the ten directions, answer every prayer, grant passage to every request, within the Three Teachings, within the Six Harmonies..."
The talisman head bore his own title.
The talisman body contained the principle of the Solar Curse.
The talisman core directly drew upon the power of the Inner Elixir.
Once the talisman foot was completed, the entire talisman became connected from beginning to end.
Whoosh!
As the final stroke fell, the yellow paper suddenly lit up.
The light was not dazzling, but it was incredibly steady, as though something had truly been invoked at that very moment.
The Sun Talisman was complete.
Huang Bai pinched the talisman paper between his fingers, feeling the familiar yet unfamiliar power within it, and finally could not stop himself from smiling.
"It worked, just as I thought."
"Creating my own talisman lineage. Founding a school."
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