Teaching a Son and Drawing Talismans

"You killed it?"

At noon, Zhou Qiankun came as usual to deliver food. When he saw the Ironclad Boar lying there, his brows knitted slightly.

"Brother Qiankun, your Changwang is quite something."

Upon seeing Zhou Qiankun, Old Xu greeted him warmly. He was also trying to ease his relationship with Zhou Changwang.

He truly felt guilty about the night watch, but from Zhou Changwang's recent string of changes, he could clearly sense that the other's growth and transformation—and his future prospects—would certainly not be limited to the spirit fields alone.

Therefore, even though his pride had been wounded, he remained as warm as ever.

This was, in fact, also the principle by which he had conducted himself for many years: strive not to offend anyone.

Especially promising young people like Zhou Changwang.

Seeing Zhou Changwang nod, Zhou Qiankun's brow furrowed even more deeply. "Changwang, let me tell you a story."

"What story?"

Zhou Changwang was startled.

He had considered his father's reaction, but he had never expected him to tell a story.

Had he heard and read too few stories in his previous life?

"When I was young and had just begun roaming the martial world, there were three supreme experts among the younger generation. They enjoyed great renown in the martial world and were known as One Emperor, Two Sovereigns, and Three Fairies. They were peerless geniuses universally acknowledged in the martial world as capable of rivaling the older generation.

"After them came the Five Young Masters, the Seven Great Heroes, and the Thirteen Heavenly Prodigies.

"At that time, I could not even touch the edge of being called a Heavenly Prodigy.

"Then, the realm was in turmoil, and the nation faced threats from two neighboring countries. The emperor summoned all under heaven, decreeing that every major martial sect had to send someone to answer the call and enter court.

"The peerless Heavenly Prodigies of the younger generation were naturally included in the summons.

"People of the martial world had always disdained joining the imperial court, often scorning it as becoming hawks and hounds. Thus, every one of those prodigious experts defied the order.

"The court flew into a rage and immediately dispatched experts to arrest them. Then, in merely half a year, One Emperor fell, Two Sovereigns had their martial arts crippled and were thrown into prison, while the Three Fairies escaped disaster only because they married the sons of marquises. Of the Five Young Masters, three died and one fled; the remaining one transformed himself and became a martial guard of the imperial court. The Seven Great Heroes all died, and half of the Thirteen Heavenly Prodigies were subdued..."

At this point, Zhou Qiankun sighed softly.

No matter how powerful an individual martial artist was, before the tide of the times, they were as frail as ants.

"Three years later, the three nations erupted into war. Not one of those former figures of the age survived; every last one died on the battlefield.

"Even I—if I had not always avoided battle and never placed myself in danger, and if, whenever I had no choice but to take risks, I had not made every possible preparation... only then could I have endured that battlefield, a grinding mill of flesh and blood, and returned to a martial world already reduced to devastation..."

"Changwang, although the cultivation world differs from the martial world I once lived in,

"The principles of the world are all connected.

"Those skilled in water drown in water; those skilled in battle die in battle.

"There will always be someone stronger than you in this world.

"These years, I have seen too many cultivators die at the hands of demon beasts.

"Among them were sect disciples, so-called prodigies from cultivation Lineages, and even experienced Rogue Cultivator experts who had hunted countless demons... Yet the dangers of the wilderness have never been something that can be explained in a sentence or two.

"Not to mention that the most dangerous thing in the wilderness has always been people.

"I do not want you to become reckless and head out to hunt demons just because you have mastered a few means of fighting.

"This time, you were lucky. You killed this Ironclad Boar—but what about next time?"

Zhou Qiankun spoke, his face carrying a rare severity.

"I know.

"This time, I was also furious, and I had a certain degree of confidence..."

Zhou Changwang nodded, knowing that his father's words made perfect sense.

He began reflecting on himself as well.

He truly had been somewhat reckless before, allowing the emotions of the moment to sway him.

Though everyone had moments of anger, once his emotions faded, he understood that there had been better ways to handle the matter. It was only that, at the time, he had thought his spells were fairly powerful, that he carried many talismans, and that he had even mastered a Magical Flying Sword... With a sharp weapon in hand, the urge to kill arose on its own.

Naturally, he had chosen to head straight up the mountain.

"You have already grown up, and I will be leaving soon. I will not be able to keep watch over you in the future.

"Consider this my final warning to you.

"In all things, preserving your life comes first."

Seeing Zhou Changwang admit his mistake, Zhou Qiankun felt somewhat relieved.

What he feared was that after speaking, his son would not listen; after listening, he would not understand; after understanding, he would not act; after acting, he would still do it wrong; after doing it wrong, he would refuse to admit it; after admitting it, he would not change; and after changing, he would remain unconvinced...

Old Xu stood at the side, feeling thoroughly awkward.

He had just been praising Zhou Changwang. Who would have thought that his flattery would land on a horse's leg? He had stumbled right into someone teaching his son. At this moment, neither leaving nor staying felt appropriate.

Very soon, Zhou Qiankun carried the Ironclad Boar away on his shoulder.

Just as Zhou Changwang had said before, his father had long followed Rogue Cultivator teams into the mountains to hunt demons, so he naturally had some channels for selling demon beasts.

With him handling it, Zhou Changwang felt entirely at ease.

In the cultivation world, learning any craft was no simple matter.

After several days of study and deliberation, Zhou Changwang finally began his first attempt.

An attempt at drawing talismans!

What came from paper alone always felt shallow. He had long understood the uses of talismans.

During his battle with the Ironclad Boar, though talismans had not been the decisive factor, it could not be denied that without their assistance and interference, he could never have slain it so easily and accurately.

Talismans played an enormously important role in battle.

If there were enough of them, they could even determine the outcome of a fight.

Just imagine two people of equal realms. One was assuming a proper stance, preparing to cast a spell against his opponent, while the other suddenly pulled a stack of talismans from his robes and scattered them out, endless wind blades, ice spikes, fireballs, and lightning roaring forth...

Even if low-grade talismans were relatively weak, ants could bite an elephant to death. With so many talismans smashing down together, they would be enough to bury someone alive.

"So talismans must be learned and drawn."

Zhou Changwang took a deep breath, then took a stack of talisman paper, a talisman brush, and a small dish of Talisman Spirit-Blood Ink from his Storage Bag.

Of this pile, the talisman paper was what remained from the Storage Bag he had opened earlier. As for the talisman brush and Talisman Spirit-Blood Ink, he had dug them out at the Rogue Cultivator Market.

The talisman brush had likely been secondhand goods used by some talisman apprentice. Even the spirit-conducting hairs at its tip had split somewhat, but it was cheap. After haggling back and forth with the stall owner, he finally got it for seven Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

As for the Talisman Spirit-Blood Ink, it had also been made by a Rogue Cultivator stall owner himself. After comparing it against the contents of Fundamentals of Talisman Runes, Zhou Changwang judged that the ink basically met the requirements for drawing talismans, so he bought some.

But it was absurdly expensive too—two Low-Grade Spirit Stones for a single jin.

Other than what was on the small dish, he stored the rest away in his Storage Bag.

Next came the stage of formally drawing talismans.

For his first time drawing a talisman, Zhou Changwang naturally decided to start with the easiest one.

Thus, he planned to draw a Fireball Talisman.

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