Wanting to Draw Only Ordinary Talismans Was Truly Difficult!

Cheng Fan?

Yue Shuo had some impression of that name.

He had heard Chong Ying or Tian Wan mention him, saying the man had a strange, irritating temperament and had offended an old guest disciple as soon as he arrived.

He was very unpopular among the prospective disciples.

In Yue Shuo's words, this man was a thorn in the flesh!

Originally, this thorn in the flesh had nothing to do with him.

But this thorn in the flesh had come to resent him just because Yue Shuo passed by and had not offered him a hand... He resented him, right?

Yue Shuo lowered his eyes.

When he heard his name called, he calmly raised his head.

That Cheng Fan seemed to have practiced martial arts...

Yue Shuo stepped through the gates of the External Affairs Pavilion. The interior was divided into two areas. He paused at the entrance and looked toward the tall martial guard nearby.

The martial guard immediately gave him a brief explanation and directions.

"If you wish to participate in Mu Spirit Planter's disciple selection, please go to the inner hall on the right. If you wish to participate in Qi Talisman Master's disciple selection, please go to the left..."

Yue Shuo stood where he was and pondered.

There was definitely no need for him to take a spirit planter as his master.

Even if a spirit planter possessed some special planting inheritances, relying on having maxed out the Three Planting Arts was enough for him at present.

He did not want to move elsewhere yet.

Besides, there were a full ten people gathered around that spirit planter surnamed Mu.

Were spirit planters really that sought after?

"May I ask, sir, what requirements do the two masters have for accepting disciples? What level of professional rank is needed?"

Yue Shuo politely asked the martial guard in a low voice.

The martial guard was a dark-faced man. He did not show Yue Shuo any alarm or unease, his expression remaining calm.

His tone was courteous, but not servile.

The martial guard replied neither obsequiously nor arrogantly, "It is difficult for me to know the requirements for the two masters to accept disciples. Young Master may go forward and ask them yourself!"

Only the most outstanding among First-Rank Martial Servants could change professions into martial guards.

They could be considered seedlings of the Innate Realm, their status different from that of martial servants.

Of course, they were still inferior to those in the Innate Realm.

Yue Shuo found it unsurprising that this man was polite but did not rush to curry favor.

After thinking briefly, he turned toward the left.

As for planting, he still had opportunities to obtain planting insights and improve himself. There was absolutely no need to take a master and relocate.

But he was somewhat curious about talisman masters.

If he could obtain some new runes, it would naturally save him much more trouble than grinding his way upward from Foundational Talismans himself.

And if there could be some resource support in the form of First-Grade Blank Talisman Paper and Talisman Ink...

He felt this master was worth taking!

As for any requirement to move to his master's place, after considering it, Yue Shuo felt Gu Jiu had overthought things.

Cultivators learning arts and skills were different from ordinary people learning trades.

Cultivators needed independent space.

He did not believe a talisman master would need to accept an apprentice just to wait on him.

Were martial servants not efficient enough at their work?

Or were maidservants not beautiful and gentle enough?

He had heard that after becoming a Formal Guest Disciple, one could have three servant slots.

Many people would choose one or two maidservants.

Naturally, Yue Shuo had no such intention.

He did not want anyone getting too close to him. That would make it easy to expose some of his unusual traits.

Yue Shuo headed toward the inner hall on the left.

Someone inside already looked dejected, as though they had been rejected.

Yet they remained where they were, apparently wanting to see the results of the others' tests.

The middle-aged man with a maidservant gently kneading his shoulders sat reclining in a luxurious grand chair, his eyes half-closed.

He paid no attention whatsoever to Yue Shuo's arrival.

A maidservant approached with light steps, gracefully saluted, and guided Yue Shuo to sit at a desk to the side. Two rune diagrams lay atop it.

There were also some talisman-crafting tools.

Yue Shuo's eyes lit up.

But after examining them closely, he was slightly disappointed.

They were two Foundational Talismans.

One was the Water Condensation Talisman he had practiced countless times already, while the other was one of the five foundational talismans Gu Jiu had just purchased.

The Evil-Repelling Talisman!

Yue Shuo memorized the Evil-Repelling Talisman.

The rune diagram differed slightly from the version drawn upon talisman paper.

On the diagram,

the beginning and ending strokes of the rune were recorded very clearly, saving much of the trouble and experimentation of dismantling talismans.

Therefore, even though Qi Talisman Master looked rather improper,

Yue Shuo felt somewhat grateful to him.

What a good man!

He spent a little Divine Sense to memorize the complete diagram of the foundational rune.

However, to fleece more wool more effectively—no, to better seize this opportunity to study talisman crafting further!

He decided to choose the Water Condensation Talisman for his drawing!

He remembered the maidservant's soft explanation of how the test worked.

One simply had to choose one of the two talismans and draw it once.

Then submit it.

Qi Talisman Master would naturally make his selection.

Yue Shuo glanced over. There were ten sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper on the desk in total.

It seemed one needed to possess at least a ten percent success rate.

Of course, that was for everyone else.

Yue Shuo currently,

only needed to focus a little when drawing a Water Condensation Talisman.

Calling it a hundred percent success rate might have been a slight exaggeration, but a ninety percent talisman-crafting success rate was absolutely in the bag!

However, there was only one thing he needed to watch out for.

He needed to be careful not to draw an exquisite talisman.

"Hmph!"

Just as Yue Shuo was about to begin, he heard a disdainful snort. Looking across from him, he saw that Cheng Fan had also chosen talisman crafting, seated behind the desk opposite his.

At that moment, Cheng Fan was looking at him with undisguised contempt.

Yue Shuo: "..."

Was there something wrong with this man's brain?

No wonder Chong Ying and Tian Wan had both worn such gleeful expressions whenever they mentioned him, as though delighted to see him suffer.

He hurled taunts everywhere he went.

This man was simply incredible!

Yue Shuo was about to ignore him and start drawing when he suddenly froze.

Hurled taunts?

Offended everyone on the map the moment he appeared?

If this man also had good luck with women... Yue Shuo looked toward the maidservant who was instructing Cheng Fan on how to use the talisman-crafting tools.

The maidservant's face was a little red.

Yue Shuo: "..."

His feelings were somewhat complicated, but Yue Shuo was, after all, someone who could practice Tai Chi Fist without interruption for ten years.

Within several breaths, he adjusted his emotions.

He put brush to paper!

To avoid drawing an exquisite talisman, he paused slightly on the final stroke, as if there were a problem with his mana flow.

Sizzle!

The talisman paper turned to ash.

Failure!

Yue Shuo heard a mocking snort in his ears. He paid it no mind and continued, following his earlier experience to reduce the fluctuations in his mana.

Sizzle!

It still failed.

However, he had gained further experience in how to draw only ordinary talismans.

Wanting to draw only ordinary talismans was truly difficult!

Again!

In one smooth flow!

An ordinary Water Condensation Talisman!

Success!

Yue Shuo smiled.

Two failures and one success—a one-in-three success rate was not low, right?

He had also been watching the others craft talismans.

One person had failed all ten attempts.

He stood in a corner, utterly dejected.

Someone else had failed five or six times and was still gritting his teeth as he continued trying.

Another had already drawn one successfully. Two blank sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper remained on his desk, and he waited meekly with lowered eyes for Qi Talisman Master's appraisal.

At present,

one person had succeeded, two had failed, one was still trying, in addition to Yue Shuo and Cheng Fan, the two who had arrived last.

But Yue Shuo had also succeeded in crafting a talisman.

When the person still trying looked up and saw a maidservant come to take away the Foundational Water-Condensing Talisman Yue Shuo had successfully drawn,

his mentality seemed to collapse.

Sizzle!

He failed again.

Yue Shuo observed everyone's expressions in the room. When he noticed Qi Talisman Master look over after examining his Water Condensation Talisman,

he lowered his eyes, rose, and respectfully saluted.

"Not bad!" Qi Talisman Master said, then added:

"Sit!"

Yue Shuo was delighted. After still giving a respectful salute, he sat back down.

At that moment, Cheng Fan also finished drawing his talisman.

He had actually succeeded as well.