Talisman Making

Biodata

Power Progression

Lu Changsheng acquires complete second-rank mastery immediately. His subsequent progress concerns what his cultivation and materials allow him to produce, and how much skill he publicly reveals, rather than gradual acquisition of that mastery 6 7 14.

Ranking System

• Talisman-making aptitude is not determined solely by spiritual-root quality. The Myriad Treasures Pavilion shopkeeper explicitly distinguishes talent in a craft from cultivation talent 10.
• A second-rank master can become an honored guest or guest elder of certain lineages and factions. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators show such practitioners respect 6 44 45.

Crafting Methods & Requirements

Drawing a Talisman

• A working talisman requires a talisman brush, talisman paper, spirit ink, and spiritual power. Reproducing the markings with an ordinary brush and paper produces only a design 6.
• The maker prepares the ink, settles their mind, and channels spiritual power through the brush to its tip while drawing the markings 7.
• In Lu Changsheng’s successful Fire Bullet Talisman, the strokes are completed in a single breath. Spiritual light then appears over the paper as the ink sets 7.
• Disrupting the spiritual flow or making an error can ruin an attempt; failed talisman paper may emit bluish smoke 11 17 43.
• Brush techniques include dabbing, releasing, touching, gathering, flicking, gliding, and flashing. Lu Miaoge regards these as part of proper instruction 12.

Training

• Beginners normally prepare by bathing, changing clothes, regulating their bodies, calming their minds, and steadying their breathing 7.
• A hundred initial failures are considered normal. Poor aptitude can lead to several hundred failures on a single talisman type 6.
• Learning another design still brings a high failure rate, even after mastering an earlier one 6.
• Becoming a ranked master ordinarily requires thousands of attempts. Reaching the second rank may remain impossible despite a lifetime of investment 6 7.

Practical Limits

• Crafting consumes both spiritual power and mental energy. Technical mastery alone does not guarantee sufficient stamina to finish a talisman 7 10.
• Lu Changsheng’s early failures on harder middle-grade designs result from running out of spiritual power, not from lacking knowledge 10.
• Higher cultivation improves production capacity, but inadequate brushes, paper, and ink remain separate obstacles 14 38.
• After an exhausting crafting session, Lu Changsheng notices slightly more effective cultivation during meditation. He treats a possible connection as a question, not an established benefit 7.

Tools & Materials

Material Grades

• Ordinary talisman paper is mostly made from low-grade spiritual materials; Green Bamboo Mountain’s green spirit bamboo is one example 16.
• Second-tier paper and ink require first- or second-tier spiritual materials as raw ingredients, increasing the expense of advanced practice 16.
• An ordinary wolf-hair brush is suited to basic, low-grade, and middle-grade talismans. Attempting higher grades greatly reduces its reliability and can rapidly wear it out 7.
• Lu Miaoge uses a top-grade, golden-yellow Golden Bamboo brush, with its name engraved on the shaft 11.
• The Lu Lineage supplies Lu Changsheng with a Golden-Hair Talisman Brush for his assigned production work 20.

Recorded Prices

Documented Talismans

Activation & Combat

• A trace of spiritual power activates a Fire Bullet Talisman, allowing a weaker cultivator to release an attack stronger than their own ordinary spellcasting 7.
• Multiple talismans can be activated together. Against three bandits, Lu Changsheng combines protective golden light, water curtains, and vines with a barrage of offensive effects 29.
• Quantity does not ensure victory: the sixth- and seventh-layer bandits block his initial talisman barrage with their defenses 29 30.
• Message-transmitting talismans also serve emergency communication; Lu Yuanding burns one to call for reinforcements during the Chen Lineage ambush 3.

Talisman Treasures

• Talisman Treasures seal part of a magic treasure’s power inside a specially made talisman, allowing low-level cultivators to wield a portion of that power temporarily 15.
• They are refined by Core Formation True Persons from their own magic treasures, rather than being presented as ordinary products of first- or second-rank talisman crafting 15.
• Lu Changsheng’s Golden Light Brick is a system reward refined by True Person Golden Light. It contains 20% of an upper-grade magic treasure’s power and supports three full-power uses 15.
• Full power requires Foundation Establishment magical power. Qi Refining cultivators can release only part of its might, and every use depletes its stored power 15.
• Its talisman is made from high-rank demon beast hide. Lu Changsheng uses it to kill the three bandits after his ordinary talismans fail to overcome them 16 29 30.

Economics & Lineage Support

• Lu Changsheng funds his initial equipment by selling his rewarded flying sword for 50 spirit stones 7.
• He estimates that materials for 100 attempts cost roughly 22 spirit stones, while low-grade first-rank talismans sell for 1–2 spirit stones each. His projected five- to tenfold return assumes every attempt succeeds 7.
• The Lu Lineage buys basic talismans through a craft-training incentive program at three for one spirit stone. Their ordinary demand is low because most offer only everyday conveniences 8.
• The shopkeeper makes an exception for Lu Changsheng’s first sale, buying five Cleansing Talismans for two spirit stones 8.
• Advanced paper and ink at Ox-Head Mountain cost five times their ordinary counterparts; using them for middle-grade talismans leaves little profit 28.
• Under his Green Bamboo Valley agreement, Lu Changsheng receives 100 material sets and must submit 20 Fire Bullet Talismans within a month. The lineage expects quantity and quality requirements to rise after his training stage 20.
• The Fourth Elder’s first-rank top-grade craft generates substantial, steady annual income for the Lu Lineage 45.

Role in Lu Changsheng’s Rise

Lu Changsheng initially hides his mastery because an unexplained second-rank skill could invite suspicion or exploitation. He borrows introductory books to support the appearance of ordinary study, stores his ranked talismans privately, and first reveals only basic designs 6 7 8 10.

The shopkeeper’s reports bring his apparent talent to the lineage leadership. After assessment by Lu Miaoge, he receives formal support. Publicly demonstrating first-rank production later secures direct-descendant benefits, ends his child-quota obligations, and allows his household to move into Green Bamboo Valley. His new contract also requires talisman service and imposes twenty years’ notice or repayment of three times the resources received if he leaves 11 12 17 18.

His public middle-grade advancement makes the elders seek stronger ties through marriage. The Fourth Elder offers both her granddaughter Lu Miaoyun and personal instruction in talisman-making. After the proposed match with Lu Miaohuan fails, Lu Changsheng marries Lu Miaoyun and enters the lineage’s inner circle 43 44 47 49.

Notable Practitioners