A job came in

After successfully activating the Yin-Gathering Talisman, Chen Miao kept observing the changes in the room.

For the first half hour, the temperature continued to drop. Chen Miao could clearly sense the yin energy drawn in by the Yin-Gathering Talisman.

But after half an hour, the yin energy in the room began increasing more slowly. Just over an hour later, its concentration stopped changing altogether.

This did not match the information Chen Miao had obtained from Zhong Family Talismans.

Soon, however, Chen Miao understood why.

According to Zhong Family Talismans, a Yin-Gathering Talisman lasted between six and twelve hours.

During that time, the rate at which it gathered yin energy would keep increasing for at least the first two hours.

Only after two hours would the concentration of yin energy around the Yin-Gathering Talisman stabilize at a constant level.

The discrepancy was probably because Chen Miao had already gathered the yin energy within the talisman's range.

It had gathered yin energy quickly for the first half hour because Chen Miao had already done some of the work for it.

But this was merely "drawing on reserves." The amount of yin energy within its range was fixed over any given period.

The places Chen Miao had already swept through naturally could not supply the Yin-Gathering Talisman with any more yin energy. To get more, it could only wait for yin energy from outside its range to slowly flow in.

No matter how powerful the Yin-Gathering Talisman was, it only "gathered." It could not create yin energy out of nothing.

Once he figured this out, Chen Miao's first reaction was that he no longer needed to draw Yin-Gathering Talismans. His Yin-Gathering State would suffice.

But he soon rejected that idea.

There were still some differences between his Yin-Gathering State and the way the Yin-Gathering Talisman gathered yin energy.

Once Chen Miao activated his Yin-Gathering State, he could keep it active indefinitely as long as yin energy existed within a certain range. But that range was very small: it only drew in yin energy within roughly a ten-meter radius of him.

As for the Yin-Gathering Talisman, although it had a time limit and did not gather energy particularly quickly, its range far exceeded Chen Miao's Yin Gathering. It could cover approximately the entire Funeral Home!

The difference between them might not seem that great. Could Chen Miao simply walk around with Yin Gathering active to replace the talisman?

No!

The Yin-Gathering Talisman did not gather energy across a flat plane. Its range was a spherical space!

No matter how capable Chen Miao was, his Yin-Gathering State could not gather yin energy fifty meters above his head, nor could he burrow fifty meters underground to absorb the yin energy there. But the Yin-Gathering Talisman could!

Thus, the two suited different situations and could gather different total amounts of yin energy. Which one to use would depend on the circumstances.

At present, Chen Miao had no immediate use for a Yin-Gathering Talisman.

So after making one to keep in reserve, he would try making other talismans.

Having thought it through, Chen Miao reached out and tore up the Yin-Gathering Talisman before its duration expired, stopping the gathering process.

There was already enough yin energy around him. Gathering more would do him no good.

But just as Chen Miao laid out fresh talisman paper to continue drawing, most of the yin energy the talisman had gathered around him suddenly vanished, leaving only a small portion behind!

The change left Chen Miao at a loss. Only when he saw the whitening sky outside his window did he realize he had been at it all night.

The Zhong Clan's Secret Manual of Corpse Driving stated that at dawn each day, the yang energy between heaven and earth would surge for an instant.

This surge of yang energy weakened the yin energy everywhere sunlight could reach.

The reason sinister yin entities and ghosts were rarely seen in the world was precisely this daily surge of yang energy.

That was why yin grounds were more likely to form in places that never saw daylight.

However, the appearance of a yin ground did not necessarily mean the place never saw daylight!

The Zhong Clan's Secret Manual of Corpse Driving contained records of special forces created by certain feng shui configurations. These could block the daily dawn surge of yang energy, leaving the yin energy within the configuration unaffected.

Logically, if yang energy surged, yin energy should surge as well.

But that was not actually the case.

After nightfall, yin energy gradually increased over time, reaching its peak around midnight. It did not change abruptly the way yang energy did.

This might have been related to the differing properties of yin and yang. The Zhong Clan's Secret Manual of Corpse Driving gave no detailed explanation of the exact reason.

Or perhaps its compiler had not known the reason either.

Chen Miao glanced at the discarded talisman papers strewn across his desk. He had worked all night and ended up without a single genuine talisman to show for it.

Shaking his head, Chen Miao decided not to continue drawing.

As the director, even though he had nothing urgent to attend to that day, he could hardly disappear right after taking office.

So he needed to get some rest.

The moment he relaxed, the effects of spending an entire night concentrating on drawing talismans hit him all at once.

With his heavy eyelids half open, Chen Miao staggered into the bedroom, fell into bed, and went straight to sleep!

By the time he woke again, it was already one in the afternoon!

The cafeteria's lunch hours were over, so Chen Miao could only order takeout.

While waiting for his food, Chen Miao took his book and made a circuit of the Funeral Home.

He did not know whether using the Yin-Gathering Talisman the night before would have affected the Funeral Home. That was something he needed to keep an eye on.

After finding nothing amiss during his inspection, Chen Miao chatted with Li Fu, the new attendant in charge of Cold Storage.

Li Fu was not a talkative man. Chen Miao had wanted to ask whether he had encountered anything supernatural during his decade-plus of guarding the tomb, but Li Fu showed no interest in discussing it with him.

Chen Miao was in no hurry. There would be plenty of time.

Time flew by.

A week had passed since Chen Miao became director.

Over that week, the private discussions at the Funeral Home about his appointment had also died down.

The main reason was that Chen Miao had managed everything very well since becoming director.

Whether it was contacting the paper goods factory to restock the shop with paper offerings, wreaths, and joss paper, ordering urns to replenish their inventory, or communicating with the bereaved families and arranging transportation, he handled almost everything personally.

He was even more conscientious and responsible than Chen Weiyi had been.

Moreover, Chen Miao was a Funeral Rites Specialist himself, so he coordinated with all the staff at the Funeral Home for practically every memorial service.

His professional skills and organizational abilities had earned everyone's recognition.

The employees who had previously been uncertain felt much more reassured after seeing how capable Chen Miao was.

At this rate, even if Chen Miao could not restore the Funeral Home to its former glory, he could at least preserve what they currently had.

For those who simply wanted a stable job to support their families, that was enough!

Over that week, besides attending to the Funeral Home's affairs, Chen Miao spent around two hours every night drawing talismans.

Succeeding with one out of three attempts the first time had led Chen Miao to mistakenly believe his success rate was around thirty percent. Only after another week of drawing did he discover his actual success rate.

Three percent!

He drew talismans for two hours each night. Because yin energy could injure his hand, he only drew two every seven or eight minutes. In one night, he would use up two qian of cinnabar and draw on thirty sheets of talisman paper.

On average, only one out of those thirty attempts produced a genuine talisman!

One night, Chen Miao had been unlucky and needed forty attempts over nearly three hours to produce a single one. Even with breaks, his hand had almost been unable to take it.

This success rate left Chen Miao rather disappointed.

He had the Iceheart State, and Yin Gathering could concentrate yin energy in his palm. Yet even with those advantages, his success rate was only three percent!

Then what would the success rate be for other people, such as Zhong Fa and Zhong Cai?

Afterward, Chen Miao calculated the cost of making his talismans.

The materials Xiang Shang had procured for him were enough for fifteen hundred attempts in total!

At a three-percent success rate, that meant he could obtain forty-five genuine talismans!

Chen Miao had given Xiang Shang thirty thousand yuan, which meant the cost of making a single genuine talisman was around seven hundred yuan!

The calculation left Chen Miao a little stunned.

That didn't seem all that expensive, did it?

Could talismans actually not be very valuable out there?

But then Chen Miao realized that was wrong. He was a special case!

If someone else drew talismans without the Iceheart State, their success rate would probably be several times lower.

But that was not even the most important factor.

Most importantly, ordinary people had to draw talismans inside a yin ground. The yin energy there surrounded them on all sides, naturally causing greater harm to their bodies.

Chen Miao could draw every day because he only needed to take care of his right hand.

But anyone else who visited a yin ground would probably need to rest for a long time afterward.

After all, they could not experiment on their hearts and other organs the way they could with their hands.

What if one careless mistake caused sudden death?

Besides, not everyone had access to Zhong Family Talismans. The saying that the arts must not be passed on lightly was no joke.

Thus, the material cost of drawing talismans was not the biggest issue at all.

Time, success rate, and the method of making them were what made talismans valuable!

Chen Miao had also considered trying to redeem materials to draw talismans. Perhaps that would improve his success rate.

But later, he decided it was unnecessary, since he currently had no situations that called for those talismans.

Slowly building up a stock of talismans using ordinary materials should be enough to handle most things.

Besides, as his proficiency improved, his success rate should rise a little as well.

After all, a new skill had already appeared in the [Skill list] under [Author information].

[Talisman Drawing · Beginner]

During this period, Chen Miao drew talismans at night, while still practicing carving and memorizing incantations during the day.

One thing worth mentioning was that Chen Miao had specifically followed the instructions for making a Corpse-Control Bell in the Zhong Clan's Secret Manual of Corpse Driving and commissioned someone to craft a bell in its shape.

He then used blood ink to draw the corresponding runes inside the Corpse-Control Bell.

After washing off and redrawing the runes on the inner wall three times, Chen Miao sensed yin energy being absorbed by the ink on the runes.

Just like that, he had successfully made a Corpse-Control Bell.

He did not know whether making a Corpse-Control Bell was simply easy to begin with, or whether it was because he had reached the beginner level in talisman drawing.

Just as Chen Miao thought these fulfilling days would continue, Kong Fang, the Funeral Home's business representative, suddenly told him about an unusual situation.

There was a job that was certain to pay very well. Kong Fang was unsure whether they could accept it and needed Chen Miao to decide.

Chen Miao immediately called Kong Fang into his office to learn the details of the job.

P.S.:

If you notice a chapter missing while reading, please don't panic. It isn't because the author forgot to post it, but because it got caught by the content review. It should be publishable after revisions, though it will arrive a little late.

I've already been very careful, but there are still details I overlook while writing that get flagged as violations. There's nothing I can do about that, so please bear with me.