Mid-Tier Talismans

After hearing Xu Qingtong's words, Shopkeeper Gu smiled slightly and said, "You little rascal, are you afraid this old man will leave you unpaid?"

As he spoke, he took a spirit stone from his person and handed it to Xu Qingtong. "Consider this spirit stone payment for those six talismans of yours. From now on, hand any talismans you make directly to Wu Zheng, and he'll pay you in spirit stones." With that, Shopkeeper Gu clasped his hands behind his back and went upstairs.

The Jade Spring Commerce Association was usually crowded in the morning, but few customers came in the afternoon. So, after lunch, Xu Qingtong stayed in his room and made talismans.

With a spirit stone at hand, his Talisman Crafting efficiency improved greatly. In just one afternoon, he finished ten talismans, and roughly half the spiritual qi in the spirit stone still remained.

At dinner, Xu Qingtong handed ten Fireball Talismans to Wu Zheng.

Wu Zheng had grown somewhat accustomed to such surprises. Without saying much, he took out a spirit stone and handed it to Xu Qingtong.

Xu Qingtong gazed at the spirit stone in his hand, his heart brimming with delight. It looks like Talisman Crafting really does pave a road to riches!

But then he remembered a saying from a book: Do not pursue ventures that promise endless profit; do not enter places where everyone vies for gain! Easy money would attract covetous eyes. Worse, it could make him lose himself, neglecting his cultivation in pursuit of wealth.

Once he understood this, Xu Qingtong deliberately cut back on his talisman-making. He drew only ten a day, then stopped.

Even so, over the course of a month, he earned thirty spirit stones, considerably more than Wu Zheng earned simply working as a shop assistant.

Making ten talismans a day was effortless for Xu Qingtong. His success rate with Fireball Talismans was now extremely high, with almost no failures.

After a month of practice, Xu Qingtong's Talisman Crafting skills had improved noticeably. Now, he barely needed to think; he could draw a Fireball Talisman as soon as he picked up his brush.

Throughout that month, Xu Qingtong kept a very regular routine. He helped in the shop in the morning and made talismans in his room in the afternoon.

His other primordial spirit had not been idle either, studying the Talisman-Making Method every day.

By now, he could successfully make Water Arrow Talismans, Shield Talismans, and Rejuvenation Talismans within his niwang palace. He simply had not tried them on talisman paper yet.

Seeing that the shop had accumulated a sizable stock of Fireball Talismans, Xu Qingtong decided to make a different kind.

He chose Shield Talismans. Fireball Talismans were offensive, while Shield Talismans were defensive-he ought to have both attack and defense!

Shield Talismans were earth-attribute talismans. Xu Qingtong had not expected to draw them so smoothly. Apart from his first failed attempt, all the remaining ones succeeded.

When Wu Zheng saw the Shield Talismans Xu Qingtong brought him, he marveled once again. "I was just worrying that we had too many Fireball Talismans in the shop and might struggle to sell them, and here you are, making Shield Talismans!"

Shopkeeper Gu was also delighted to learn that Xu Qingtong had made Shield Talismans. He even specifically instructed Wu Zheng to give Xu Qingtong an extra spirit stone.

Time flowed on, the months flying like a weaver's shuttle. Before he knew it, Xu Qingtong had spent more than half a year at the Jade Spring Commerce Association.

He had gained a great deal during those months. Not only had his purse grown fat, but he had also learned how to make almost every kind of low-tier talisman.

His only regret was that his cultivation remained firmly at the first level of the qi refining stage. Still, there had been some changes. Emptying his Spiritual Power more than ten times each day and replenishing it fully had tempered his meridians, making them considerably thicker and stronger than before.

After deducting the spirit stones he had used, Xu Qingtong still had nearly a hundred left. He went to the shopkeeper and spent thirty spirit stones on a Low-Grade Storage Bag.

Although he had the Mid-Grade Storage Bag Lu Mo had left him, he had left it at his uncle's home.

Besides, even if he had it with him, he would not dare use it. Heaven knew whether someone might recognize it.

One day, after finishing a Fireball Talisman, Xu Qingtong stopped what he was doing and sat at the table, lost in thought.

He had already made over a thousand Fireball Talismans, each time following the same fixed pattern, step by step. He rarely made mistakes, but there had been little innovation either.

"Innovation is the foremost driving force of development; without innovation, there can be no progress." Xu Qingtong deeply agreed with those words and decided to try something new.

He had once tried increasing the Spiritual Power he infused while drawing a Fireball Talisman to enhance its power, but he had failed.

He wanted to try again. If he succeeded, it would greatly increase the Fireball Talisman's power.

True to his cautious nature, Xu Qingtong did not begin experimenting immediately. Instead, he first analyzed whether increasing the Spiritual Power was feasible.

There are two key factors in increasing the Spiritual Power infused, Xu Qingtong thought. The first is the talisman paper, which can hold only a limited amount of Spiritual Power. The second is the cinnabar, which also has a limit.

Testing how much Spiritual Power cinnabar could hold was simple enough. He only needed to dip his Talisman Brush in cinnabar and continuously infuse it with magic power until the cinnabar broke down. That would reveal its limit. Testing how much Spiritual Power the talisman paper could withstand, however, was not so easy.

After some thought, Xu Qingtong could only start by testing the cinnabar's capacity.

He dipped his Talisman Brush in cinnabar and began infusing it with magic power. Gradually, the amount reached twenty percent above what he normally used, yet the cinnabar remained unchanged.

When the magic power reached fifty percent above the usual amount, the cinnabar instantly turned into white powder and drifted down from the brush tip.

Watching the dust fall, Xu Qingtong understood that the cinnabar could withstand, at most, one and a half times the usual amount of magic power.

To be safe, Xu Qingtong decided to try an increase of forty percent.

He lifted his Talisman Brush, loaded it with cinnabar, and infused it with forty percent more magic power than usual. The cinnabar remained intact. Reassured, Xu Qingtong began drawing on the talisman paper.

However, he was only halfway through when the talisman paper dissolved into a wisp of smoke.

Xu Qingtong froze. After thinking it over, he suspected the talisman paper could not withstand so much Spiritual Power.

He took another sheet of talisman paper, dipped his brush in cinnabar, reduced the magic power by ten percentage points, and began drawing. This time, just as the talisman was nearly complete, it once again dissolved into smoke.

Xu Qingtong had no choice but to reduce the magic power again. This time, he used only twenty percent more than usual.

To control the Spiritual Power precisely, Xu Qingtong focused the divine sense of both his primordial spirits on the talisman paper.

Xu Qingtong gathered all his concentration, drawing with single-minded focus, free of distractions. He was so absorbed that he did not even realize when he lifted his brush and completed the talisman.

Only after he had lifted his brush and a brand-new Fireball Talisman lay before him did Xu Qingtong come back to himself.

Looking at the freshly drawn Fireball Talisman, he instinctively felt that it was different. Its power was surely greater than that of his previous talismans. After all, he had infused it with more magic power during its creation.

To test his guess, Xu Qingtong took the Fireball Talisman back to the shop and handed it to Wu Zheng.

"Big Brother Wu, I just made this talisman, and it feels different from the ones I made before. Could you take a look for me?"

Wu Zheng took the talisman and examined it carefully. "How strange. This is clearly a Fireball Talisman, yet it differs from the previous ones. It feels much stronger. It looks like we'll have to ask the shopkeeper to appraise it."

Before long, Shopkeeper Gu came downstairs. He walked behind the counter, picked up the talisman, and examined it.

After just one glance, Shopkeeper Gu immediately looked at Xu Qingtong and asked, "Did you really make this talisman?"

Xu Qingtong nodded and replied, "I just finished it. It felt different from my previous Fireball Talismans, so I brought it over for you to inspect."

Shopkeeper Gu said, "This Fireball Talisman has already surpassed the upper grade of the low tier and is approaching the lower grade of the middle tier. Although it looks much like your previous Fireball Talismans, it is considerably more powerful than an upper-grade, low-tier Fireball Talisman. I never imagined a Fireball Talisman could be made at the middle tier. I truly don't know how you managed it, lad!"