White Light

With the experience from before, he succeeded in injecting the white light into the talisman in half the time this round.

However, although the runes on the Minor Thunder Talisman also flashed, they only flashed once. The duration was even shorter than that of the first talisman.

"Three left."

Shen Luo gritted his teeth and picked up another talisman...

A moment later, Shen Luo had only two Yuan Stones left in his hand, while only one Minor Thunder Talisman remained.

None of the previous four homemade talismans had activated successfully. Ironically, the first attempt had produced the best result: it had at least triggered the runic patterns drawn on the yellow paper, making the entire talisman glow for about the span of a breath.

In the following three attempts, the light lasted less time each round. On the fourth attempt, fewer than one-third of the patterns had been triggered. There was clearly something wrong with the runic patterns.

Even though Shen Luo had long prepared himself mentally, he still could not hide the disappointment on his face.

After all, he had made extensive preparations this time and paid no small price. Such a result was enough to dishearten him.

His cheeks were now flushed with an unhealthy red. Activating talismans placed a heavy burden on him, and after four consecutive attempts, he was thoroughly exhausted.

"This body really is useless."

Shen Luo muttered, hid the talismans and Yuan Stones beside him, then sat down cross-legged and began circulating the Minor Transforming Yang Art, regulating his breath.

A faint red glow rose from his lower abdomen and slowly traveled along the meridians within his body...

Time passed bit by bit. After less than half an hour, Shen Luo opened his eyes. The flush had faded from his face, replaced by a hint of healthy color.

Come to think of it, Daoist Luo had not deceived him. After getting started with the Minor Transforming Yang Art, his recovery speed had indeed improved significantly. In less than half an hour, he had balanced the qi and blood in his body, and his energy had fully recovered.

In the past, it would have taken at least a full hour for him to recover to this extent.

Shen Luo stood up, glanced around twice more, and took out the final talisman.

This talisman differed slightly from the previous ones in that the black dog blood used to draw it had been mixed with Cinnabar.

"Come on, don't let me down!"

Shen Luo examined the talisman in his hand for a few moments. Clinging to his last shred of hope, he placed it on the huge rock, set a Yuan Stone atop it, and began activating it as before—forming a hand seal with one hand while pressing the stone with the other.

If there had been one greatest gain from the previous four experiments, it was learning to accumulate Yang Hardness Force in his body through circulating the Minor Transforming Yang Art, then using it to activate the Yuan Stone.

As the saying went, practice brought true knowledge. The experience of triggering the Yuan Stone four times had not only elevated his control over the Yang Hardness Force in his body by a great deal, but had also let him basically grasp how to use these stones.

Now, as long as he focused completely, he had a good chance of triggering a Yuan Stone.

With the familiar sound of a crack, the Yuan Stone shattered.

Shortly after the white light formed from the white vapor within the stone appeared, a thread of red had already condensed in Shen Luo's right palm. With a flash, it carried that speck of white light into the talisman.

The entire process flowed in one smooth motion, without the slightest hesitation.

Shen Luo held his breath, his bloodshot eyes fixed tightly on the talisman's surface, unwilling to miss even the tiniest change.

Yet after the white light entered the surface of the talisman, it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea, without stirring even a ripple.

Shen Luo's face flushed red again. Time seemed to crawl, and he could almost hear the rapid thump, thump of his heartbeat.

"Looks like mixing dog blood with Cinnabar doesn't work. That Zhang Tianshi didn't look very reliable to begin with. Just as I thought, he's leading people astray!" This thought flashed through Shen Luo's mind, and he could not help but smile bitterly.

However, in the next instant, a scene that filled him with wild joy appeared!

The middle of the previously still talisman suddenly lit up with a dazzling ball of white light. It rapidly spread along the runic patterns toward both ends, covering the entire talisman in an instant.

Looking at the talisman blazing with white light before him, Shen Luo felt a complex mix of excitement and anticipation rise in his heart. He hurriedly backed away seven or eight steps, putting a considerable distance between himself and it.

This was a Minor Thunder Talisman that even demons and ghosts feared. If he stood too close when it activated successfully, he would be in serious trouble himself.

The white light on the talisman's surface had long since drowned out the talisman itself. As it churned violently, it grew brighter and brighter, illuminating an area several yards around as brightly as day. It seemed as though it might explode at any moment.

Though the white light stung his eyes, Shen Luo did not look away. His heart surged with indescribable excitement, nearly rising into his throat.

"Is it going to work?"

But the moment that thought surfaced in his mind, the light before him suddenly dimmed. The talisman had changed again.

All the white light enveloping the talisman abruptly drew back. In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace, leaving only the yellow paper inscribed with the Minor Thunder Talisman's runes lying quietly atop the huge rock.

Shen Luo stared blankly at the sight before him, unwilling to believe it was real.

He rubbed his eyes hard and looked again. The Minor Thunder Talisman was still lying where it had been, as though the previous scene had never happened.

Shen Luo's heart went completely cold!

All five talismans had turned out this way. The problem probably was not that he had drawn them incorrectly, but that there was something wrong with the talismans themselves, right?

No wonder. This talisman had been found in a travelogue and miscellaneous book in the first place. The possibility that it was just made-up nonsense had always been high.

"Forget it. I'll think of some other way to get in contact with magic. It's just that I don't have much time left..." Unwilling thoughts circled through Shen Luo's mind as he prepared to go over and clean up.

A soft hiss rang out.

The sound was not loud, but it was especially clear in the silent back mountain, startling the already distracted Shen Luo.

On the talisman atop the rock, the runic character "Lei" in the incantation suddenly began flashing.

Immediately afterward, a soft white halo silently bloomed from the talisman's surface, covering an area four or five yards around it, as if a full moon had suddenly appeared.

Shen Luo moved, retreating another dozen or so steps with a rapid thud, thud. Yet he was both startled and delighted.

It seemed this Minor Thunder Talisman really did possess some mystery. It was not a fake talisman made up out of thin air!

Zhang Tianshi, I misunderstood you before. Please don't take offense!

But he soon noticed that something was wrong.

The talisman continued to hiss as though it were burning, white light steadily shining from it. It did indeed look quite miraculous.

But this phenomenon did not seem like the effect a Minor Thunder Talisman ought to have, did it?

Shen Luo's expression could not help shifting uncertainly.

As Shen Luo pondered this inwardly, he suddenly shuddered and hurriedly looked around.