Dharmic instruments and pills

Chen Jianghe sank into thought.

Xiao Hei's cultivation speed had given him a pleasant surprise, lending him greater confidence about leaving the Yun Household in the future.

With his long lifespan, he certainly could not stay in one place for too long, or a face unchanged for decades would easily arouse suspicion.

He was now halfway through his twenty-ninth year, approaching thirty, the age of standing firm.

His previous plan had been to leave the Yun Household before sixty and find somewhere else to go.

He was confident he could cultivate to the sixth level of Qi Refining by then, giving him some ability to protect himself after leaving.

Now, however, he could bring that forward.

He had crossed the threshold of the talisman Dao. Before long, he could become a low-grade talisman master and gain another substantial source of income.

That would be more than enough to let him reach the sixth level of Qi Refining by fifty, the age of knowing heaven's mandate, or even break through to the late Qi Refining stage.

Moreover, Xiao Hei had the [Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art] and cultivated remarkably quickly. Given twenty years and sufficient resources, he should be able to reach the late first tier.

Thus, as things stood, leaving the Yun Household at fifty would be the safest choice. He would not only have the ability to protect himself but also have accumulated some wealth.

Having settled his mind, he continued reading the [Yun Household Miscellany]. It took him half a month to finally finish reading every part carefully.

This also gave him some understanding of pills and dharmic instruments.

Qi-Nourishing Pills assisted cultivation in the early Qi Refining stage. One pill was equivalent to two years of arduous cultivation, but its pill toxins took a year to expel.

Once one reached the mid Qi Refining stage, however, the medicinal power of Qi-Nourishing Pills became little more than a cup of water thrown on a burning cartload of firewood.

At that point, one needed the middle-grade spirit pill, the Qi-Nurturing Pill.

Qi-Nurturing Pills could help cultivators with five-element mixed spiritual roots break through the bottleneck between the early and mid Qi Refining stages.

They were also indispensable cultivation pills for mid Qi Refining cultivators. One Qi-Nurturing Pill was equivalent to a year and a half of arduous cultivation, and its pill toxins took over half a year to expel.

When breaking through from the mid to the late Qi Refining stage, cultivators with spiritual roots inferior to three-element true spiritual roots were best served by having an upper-grade spirit pill, a Calamity-Breaking Pill, ready.

Of course, they could break through without taking a Calamity-Breaking Pill, but overcoming the bottleneck would take a long time, and the breakthrough could fail.

Compared with pills, dharmic instruments are outrageously expensive!

Chen Jianghe sighed inwardly.

An ordinary low-grade flying sword dharmic instrument actually cost as much as ten spirit stones, while defensive dharmic instruments generally cost two to three times as much as offensive dharmic instruments of the same grade.

Early Qi Refining cultivators could forget about dharmic instruments altogether. Only at the mid Qi Refining stage could they accumulate enough wealth to buy a low-grade dharmic instrument.

Yet using a low-grade dharmic instrument at the mid Qi Refining stage would leave them somewhat bound hand and foot, unable to unleash their full strength.

Middle-grade dharmic instruments, however, were expensive beyond what mid Qi Refining cultivators could afford.

Generally speaking, only direct descendants of households or immortal sect disciples could use dharmic instruments that matched their cultivation realms.

Dharmic instruments are too expensive. Otherwise, having one at my side when I leave the Yun Household would make things safer.

Chen Jianghe shook his head. He dared not dream of owning a dharmic instrument anytime soon; that would have to wait until he had enough spirit stones.

He put the jade slip back into his pouch and tucked it close to his body. He would have to return it when the time came.

Then he tidied his desk, took out the fine yellow paper, and cut all of it into talisman paper.

He also took out the unfinished box of spirit ink and poured some into the inkstone.

Lastly, he moistened the brush and ground the ink.

He had only sixty-eight grains of spirit sand to his name, and after the New Year, he would need to buy Qi-Nourishing Pills for Xiao Hei.

Moreover, he would definitely have to visit Yu Daniu's home this New Year's Eve.

He needed to return the [Yun Household Miscellany], and Yu Daniu had specifically told him to return it on New Year's Eve. His meaning could not have been clearer.

He wanted to use the opportunity to catch up.

Yu Daniu had five sons. If Chen Jianghe visited, how could he go empty-handed? Drawing spirit talismans to earn spirit stones was quite urgent.

A quarter of an hour later.

The ink was ground, and the brush was moistened.

He picked up the Low-Grade Peachwood Talisman Brush. Calm and composed, his gaze blazing like a torch, he swept the brush like a roaming dragon, drawing a Water Arrow Talisman across the talisman paper in flowing strokes.

Until he became proficient at drawing Water Arrow Talismans, he did not intend to try any other low-grade water-element spirit talismans.

As for spirit talismans of other elements, or talismans such as Protection Talismans, he need not even consider them before obtaining a First-Tier Talisman Dao Inheritance.

Without an inheritance, attempts at the talisman Dao were limited to drawing spirit talismans of the same element as the cultivation technique one practiced.

Five months passed in the snap of a finger.

At night, candlelight stretched Chen Jianghe's shadow long inside the black canopy boat on the lake, extending beyond the cabin into the mingled hues of sky and water.

He withdrew his power and stopped his brush. Seeing a flash of radiance on the talisman paper, he smiled in satisfaction.

"My success rate has reached forty percent. Not bad."

Over these five months, he had used thirty-five sheets of talisman paper in total, averaging seven sheets a month.

His magical power was sufficient to draw three low-grade spirit talismans, but his mind could hardly sustain the strain.

The spiritual energy in the Inner Waters was abundant, so his magical power recovered reasonably quickly. Recovering his mental energy and restoring his mental state, however, required seven or eight days.

As he drew more Water Arrow Talismans, his success rate gradually rose, increasing from less than twenty percent at the start to forty percent.

Thirty-five sheets of talisman paper had yielded seven finished Water Arrow Talismans, which pleased him greatly.

Only, his spirit ink was almost used up again.

His proficiency was still too low, wasting too much spirit ink.

Otherwise, one box of spirit ink would have been enough to draw fifty low-grade spirit talismans.

"I still have sixty-two sheets of talisman paper, so there's no need to buy any for now. The spirit ink will last another seven or eight attempts. I'll have to buy another box."

"Selling seven Water Arrow Talismans back at eighty percent of their price will bring in nearly six spirit stones. That's enough to buy Qi-Nourishing Pills for Xiao Hei, as well as spirit ink."

Chen Jianghe did not intend to keep any Water Arrow Talismans. He was not leaving Mirror Moon Lake, so he had no use for them at all.

It would be better to exchange them all for spirit stones to improve his strength.

Nearly six spirit stones in five months was far more profitable than raising Small Blue Fish. Even at his current talisman success rate, he could earn a net income of ten spirit stones over a year.

No wonder talisman-making materials were sold at the Cultivator Market. With such considerable profits, naturally, many senior fisher-farmers would test their talent for the talisman Dao.

Even some more venturesome junior fisher-farmers would forgo cultivation resources and save spirit stones to buy talisman-making tools and materials.

After all, once they crossed the threshold of the talisman Dao, all the spirit stones they had spent would come back.

Seen this way, with Zhou Miaoyun's talisman Dao skills about to advance to first-tier middle grade, she could indeed become the foundation for the Zhou Household to establish itself in Qinghe Market.

A low-grade talisman master's earnings would certainly exceed those of someone who had merely crossed the threshold of the talisman Dao by a considerable margin, let alone a mid-grade talisman master's.

Moreover, the higher one's cultivation, the greater one's magical power and the stronger one's mental energy, allowing one to draw spirit talismans more often.

New Year's Eve.

Chen Jianghe briefly put things in order and spoke to Xiao Hei, telling him not to surface above the lake and to burrow into the mud at the bottom as much as possible while he was away.

After all, when he was present, if someone came, he could tell Xiao Hei to hide deep at the bottom of the lake at any time through the Spiritual Platform Mark.

Now he was heading to Heart of the Lake Island and could not take Xiao Hei along, so he could only have him hide at the bottom of the lake to avoid any mishaps.

The black canopy boat followed the fleet heading toward Heart of the Lake Island.

Its two oars, however, lay idle beside the boat. Chen Jianghe was using his magical power to propel the black canopy boat across the water.