With the second-tier mid-grade spiritwood in hand, even Li Ping's steps felt lighter.
After all his hard work, he had finally gathered all the nourishment needed for the second-tier mid-grade talisman-making inheritance.
He would even have whistled a few times to celebrate, had he not been mindful of his dignity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Soon, he could skip who knew how many years of studying talisman-making and ascend to the heavens in a single step, becoming a second-tier mid-grade Talisman Maker.
With second-tier mid-grade talisman-making skills, coupled with the hundred-percent success rate the Inheritance Tree granted him, he should no longer have to worry about spirit stones.
At that thought, Li Ping quickened his pace again. He could hardly wait to return to his courtyard and let the Inheritance Tree absorb its nourishment.
Inside the courtyard's main room, Li Ping carefully closed the door, then spread his divine sense and meticulously inspected everything within a radius of 150 zhang.
Only after confirming that nothing was amiss did he take three items out of his Storage Bag, one after another, and place them on the desk.
They were a Talisman Brush with a blue-purple shaft and a scarlet tip, three liters of blood-colored liquid brimming with spiritual qi in jade bottles, and a length of pale blue spiritwood with faint purple markings flickering across its surface.
The Talisman Brush was the very one Meng Qingyi had used for years, steeped in the authentic essence of his second-tier mid-grade talisman-making skills.
The blood-colored liquid was the second-tier mid-grade talisman ink Li Ping had purchased from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.
The spiritwood was the second-tier mid-grade purple-patterned wood Li Ping had just obtained from the Bai Family.
With a wave of Li Ping's hand, a small pile of thumb-sized spirit stones in assorted colors appeared on the desk as well-exactly one thousand, no more and no less.
He was just about to let the Inheritance Tree absorb the nourishment he had prepared when his expression suddenly shifted, and his gaze settled on the purple-patterned wood.
To preserve its vitality, the Bai Family had kept the roots attached to the purple-patterned wood they gave him. If he could find a plot of Spirit Land of second-tier mid-grade or higher, he could plant it and continue cultivating it.
Even with the roots removed, there would still be more than enough to meet the Inheritance Tree's requirement of three chi in length.
At that thought, Li Ping took a Magic Artifact out of his Storage Bag, infused it with magical power, and cut the purple-patterned wood across the base, dividing it into two pieces.
One piece, roughly three chi long, could serve as nourishment for the Inheritance Tree. The other was only a few cun long, including its roots. Li Ping sealed it back inside a Jade Box and put it away.
In the future, once he settled down, he could plant the remaining root section of the purple-patterned wood.
Then, like dead wood welcoming spring, the purple-patterned wood could sprout tender shoots again.
With all his preparations complete, Li Ping took a deep breath. Inside the Purple Qi Space in his mind, the Inheritance Tree on the gray island suddenly lit up.
Then transparent tendrils of qi spread from the ten fingers of Li Ping's hands. Visible only to him, as though they did not exist in this world, they enveloped the Talisman Brush, talisman ink, spiritwood, and spirit stones on the desk.
They wound around them and absorbed them... The many objects on the desk slowly vanished into thin air...
Li Ping seemed to enter a dream. In it, he became a Talisman Brush, held between the fingers of a soft, delicate, clean, fair-skinned hand.
Suddenly, the hand lifted, and the brush descended.
As the wrist turned, the tip, saturated with talisman ink, danced like dragons and serpents across the smooth talisman paper. In the blink of an eye, an immensely intricate spiritual power circuit was complete.
Next, the hand's owner cast a tremendously powerful spell and sealed it inside the spiritual power circuit.
At the same time, vast amounts of experience and knowledge concerning talisman-making and spellcasting surged into his mind like mountains toppling and seas overturning, drawing him into rapturous study.
Throughout this process, Li Ping's mastery of talisman-making rose at a tremendous pace...
While Li Ping was immersed in the illusion, the Inheritance Tree in his Sea of Consciousness absorbed enough nourishment. The lone branch on its trunk, representing his talisman-making skills, trembled slightly, then began growing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Even the Inheritance Tree itself seemed to be slowly growing taller.
When Li Ping awoke from the illusion, he discovered that the sky had already grown dark.
He remembered that it had only been around noon before he accepted the inheritance.
In other words, receiving the second-tier Talisman Maker inheritance had taken him nearly half a day.
Feeling the knowledge engraved in his memories, Li Ping could not help smiling.
After drawing spirit talismans countless times within the illusion and studying without pause, he was now a second-tier mid-grade Talisman Maker.
The Inheritance Tree in his Sea of Consciousness reminded him of that as well.
As Li Ping examined it with his consciousness, he saw that the lonely, frail branch at the bottom of the Inheritance Tree had become much thicker and sturdier. The words displayed upon it had also changed to: [Talisman Maker: second-tier mid-grade].
He did not know whether it was his imagination, but after absorbing the nourishment, even the Inheritance Tree itself seemed a little taller than before.
Inside the room.
Li Ping took out the second-tier lower-grade talisman paper and talisman ink he had prepared long ago and arranged them on the desk. Then he took out the Silver Wolf Brush Han Xingyan had given him on behalf of the Talisman Alliance.
With the brush tip saturated in talisman ink, Li Ping's expression instantly turned solemn.
Then his brush danced like dragons and serpents, completing its work in one unbroken flourish. In the blink of an eye, he drew an immensely intricate spiritual power circuit on the talisman paper laid flat before him. Finally, Li Ping formed hand seals and recited an incantation, drawing upon his Foundation Establishment Realm magical power to cast the second-tier lower-grade spell, Fire Rain Technique.
At the very instant the spell's power was about to erupt, he guided that terrifying force straight into the spiritual power circuit on the talisman paper!
The spell's power gradually dyed the surface of the Spirit Talisman scarlet.
The second-tier lower-grade Fire Rain Talisman was complete!
Holding the scarlet talisman between two fingers, Li Ping brought it before his eyes for a close inspection, a smile spreading across his face.
Second-tier talismans and first-tier talismans were entirely different things.
A first-tier talisman, even a first-tier upper-grade one, was only as powerful as a single strike from a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Thus, late-stage Qi Refining cultivators had no interest whatsoever in first-tier upper-grade talismans.
They would rather save up to buy Magic Artifacts. An artifact of the same tier had roughly the same power as a talisman and cost around ten to twenty times as much, but so long as it was undamaged, it could be used repeatedly, making it better value for money.
Meanwhile, the early- and middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators who needed first-tier upper-grade talismans had empty purses.
Precisely because the market was so small, Li Ping's mere five hundred spirit talismans had nearly brought the Immortal City's entire first-tier Spirit Talisman pricing structure crashing down.
Second-tier talismans were different. Their power equaled a single strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Such spirit talismans were hot commodities among Qi Refining cultivators and could readily serve as trump cards.
Even for a Foundation Establishment lineage like the Bai Family, second-tier spirit talismans were vital war reserves-treasures that could save the lineage in a critical moment.
Thus... even though second-tier spirit talismans cost dozens of times more than first-tier spirit talismans, demand still exceeded supply.
From what Li Ping knew, the second-tier lower-grade Fire Rain Talisman in his hand could easily fetch over fifty spirit stones, while its cost was only a single-digit sum.
Of course, that cost did not include the value of Li Ping's labor.
The intangible value of that labor was the greatest cost of all, and the reason spirit talismans could sell for so much.