Introduction to the Dao of Talismans

Sword-Coming Peak, Lou Metal lineage, inner sect disciples' residence.

Inside a quiet chamber, the dense aura of earth and stone permeated the air.

Lu Chen sat cross-legged in the center of the chamber.

Lu Chen had been in seclusion for over a month. Since the Qi-Gathering Ceremony, he had not stepped out of his courtyard. Elder Li thought highly of him, and the cave dwelling assigned to him was the best among the new disciples. The concentration of spiritual energy from its Spirit-Gathering Array far surpassed that of other places.

Within the qi sea of his dantian, earthen spiritual mist compressed continuously, condensing at its center into an ochre millstone.

Once the millstone had fully solidified, Lu Chen's cultivation broke through to the second layer of Qi Refining. His qi sea nearly doubled in size.

He opened his eyes, and the swirling currents in the quiet chamber all flowed into his body.

Lu Chen spread out his hand. A wisp of ochre spiritual energy emerged—the Qi Seed he had gathered that day, [Mountain-Quelling Draw], originating from the "Wèi Earth" lineage among the White Tiger Seven Lodges.

The spiritual energy remained condensed without dispersing, incomparably heavy.

With only that single wisp of spiritual energy, the stone table and stools in the chamber let out creaking groans, several cracks spreading across them.

Retracting the spiritual energy, Lu Chen rose and pushed open the stone door. The sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling.

Outside the courtyard, a young man in disciple robes had been waiting for a long time. It was Zhou Huan, the one who had greeted Shen Qingzhou at the mountain gate back then.

Upon seeing Lu Chen emerge, Zhou Huan's face piled up with smiles. He hurried forward and bowed.

"Congratulations on leaving seclusion, Senior Brother Lu. Your cultivation has advanced again!"

Although he was considerably older than Lu Chen, his cultivation had stagnated, and his potential was far inferior to Lu Chen's. Calling him senior brother came naturally enough.

Lu Chen nodded and settled comfortably into a chair. Zhou Huan understood the rules and immediately straightened up.

"How is the information I had you look into recently?"

"Zhao Heng has improved quite a bit. Elder Sun thinks rather highly of him," Zhou Huan reported item by item.

Lu Chen lifted his teacup, blew on the steam above the water, and nodded.

He remembered now. Third place in the entrance examination—barely worthy of notice.

"Fang Wuji of Cinnabar Glow Peak truly doesn't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth. He had just entered the first layer of Qi Refining, yet he dared accept a mission to gather Fire Yang Herbs. In the end, a Flame-Patterned Boar chased him for over ten miles, and he nearly lost his life outside..."

Zhou Huan spoke of the matter with unconcealed glee.

Lu Chen found it somewhat amusing. Most cultivators of Cinnabar Glow Peak were pill cultivators, practically walking slabs of meat.

It was good for Fang Wuji to suffer a lesson, lest he spend every day spouting nonsense.

Zhou Huan studied his expression before continuing, "There's also... Shen Qingzhou."

"Oh?"

"He... he's rather strange."

After thinking for a while, Zhou Huan said uncertainly, "A few days ago, I heard he went down the mountain, saying that he was going to settle his mortal ties."

Down the mountain? Lu Chen was puzzled.

What did that mean? Rather than staying within the sect to take missions and cultivate bitterly, he had actually gone out to settle worldly ties?

Lu Chen could not quite understand Shen Qingzhou's thinking. He did not understand it, but he respected it.

"After returning, he has remained in seclusion in his own courtyard. But... I heard Senior Sister Su Yu over there taught him a few methods of the talisman dao. He wants to use it to earn contribution points."

"Heh."

Lu Chen shook his head. Cloudveil True Person was acting as a hands-off shopkeeper.

Sect missions yielded little profit and took a long time. Without spirit stones or pills, how many years of the monkey and months of the horse would it take to improve on that paltry monthly stipend alone?

No wonder he had been forced to learn a handicraft like talisman drawing to earn extra money.

A sword cultivator was actually spending his time tracing lines and drawing.

His path had narrowed.

"Rather miserable... The path of the sword should press forward without turning back."

Back in the outer sect, Shen Qingzhou had placed some pressure on Lu Chen. For a time, Lu Chen had thought this person might become his formidable rival in the future.

Now, it seemed that concern had been entirely unnecessary. He had plainly left the other behind.

Who would have thought... in just a few short months, everyone had changed so much.

"What talismans is he drawing?"

Feeling refreshed in body and mind, Lu Chen set his teacup on the stone table and asked casually.

Zhou Huan recalled, "They seem to be... called Constellation Concealment Talismans."

"I heard that kind of talisman is difficult to draw, with a low success rate. As someone who has only just started, it probably won't be easy for him to make money from it."

Concealment talismans?

Lu Chen laughed. A sword cultivator was not thinking about charging ahead without fear, but instead expending effort on drawing talismans and studying how to hide. How could he possibly balance his energy and time?

It was simply laughable.

"Enough. You may leave." Lu Chen waved a hand.

"Yes, Senior Brother." Zhou Huan breathed a sigh of relief, gave a respectful bow, and withdrew from the courtyard.

Once more, Lu Chen was the only one left in the courtyard.

He rose to his feet and walked to the edge of the courtyard, standing there with his hands behind his back.

His gaze turned toward Sword-Coming Peak in the distance, its mountain silhouette appearing and vanishing amid the clouds.

He was already at the second layer of Qi Refining, while Shen Qingzhou was still worrying over a few spirit stones and several worthless sheets of talisman paper, stuck at the first layer of Qi Refining.

Very good.

This was very good.

What he needed to do was maintain this pace and leave everyone else behind.

Minor competitions, grand competitions... he wanted every first place.

His sights had already been set on the senior brothers and sisters. Among disciples of his own generation, there was no longer anything worth his attention.

He wanted the entire sect to see who was the one truly peerless disciple of this generation.

As for Shen Qingzhou...

Let him travel farther and farther down that path of drawing!

At the same time.

Shen Qingzhou passed through a back-mountain path and arrived before Cloudveil True Person's courtyard. The courtyard gate stood half-open, and everything inside was quiet.

Shen Qingzhou pushed the gate open and entered. At a glance, he saw Su Yu lying on a bamboo rocking chair in the courtyard, a thin blanket draped over her body, seemingly asleep.

He made no sound and walked to the side to stand there.

After a moment, the figure on the rocking chair shifted. The thin blanket slipped down slightly, revealing a stretch of snow-white neck.

Su Yu lifted her eyelids and gave him a languid glance, her voice still slightly muffled from sleep. "What are you standing there for, acting like a door god? If you have something to say, say it."

Only then did Shen Qingzhou step forward. He took the three completed talismans from his sleeve and offered them to her.

"Senior Sister, I did not fail your trust."

Su Yu's gaze fell upon the talismans, and she immediately woke up. She sat upright, took the talismans, and examined them one by one.

The expression on her face shifted from casual to mildly surprised, then finally became faintly amused.

"Not bad, Junior Brother."

She flicked the [Star-Felling Spirit-Breaking Talisman] with a fingertip, then turned to look at Shen Qingzhou. "In only a few days, you've grasped all three kinds of basic talismans? What's your success rate?"

"Just luck, around thirty percent," Shen Qingzhou answered truthfully.

"Thirty percent..."

Su Yu smacked her lips, tucked the talismans into her sleeve, and lay back down in the rocking chair. In a lazy voice, she said, "Fine. I'll take these. Consider the assessment passed. There are still a few days until the fifteenth. Keep drawing—the more you draw, the more spirit stones you'll trade for then. You won't lose out on this deal."

After saying that, she closed her eyes and waved a hand, looking as though she were saying, "You may leave now."

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Shen Qingzhou bowed, then withdrew from the small courtyard.