Spells and Talismans

Otherworldly, forest.

Sunny, light breeze.

In a relatively flat area, a simple folding table was set up. On the table lay a brush, an inkstone filled with cinnabar ink, and a stack of yellow paper.

Gu Zhao had already tried all the spells from the Taoist scriptures he had learned.

The Taoist tradition spanned over two thousand years, experiencing ups and downs, periods of flourishing and decline, mergers and divisions. It began with the Southern Register Sect, followed by the Northern and Southern Schools of Inner Alchemy, and finally formed the two major factions of Zhengyi and Quanzhen, along with various branches.

Of course, over the centuries, Taoists traveled, interacted, and learned from each other. Apart from the ancestral temples of each sect, the situation had long become one where "you are in me, and I am in you."

For example, the three Taoist scriptures his grandfather taught him clearly reflected this situation.

Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method.

Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method.

Golden Gate Jade Lock Art.

One was a visualization method from the Upper Clarity Sect, focusing on nurturing qi and refining spirit, and it also recorded various talisman arts.

One was the Thunder Magic of the Divine Firmament Sect, specifically for combat, containing various thunder incantations.

One was the Inner Alchemy cultivation method of the Quanzhen Sect, solely teaching breathing techniques, qi circulation, and the condensation of the golden elixir.

As a result, Gu Zhao could be said to be concurrently cultivating multiple schools of Taoist scriptures and spells, with spirit and qi unified, and both practice and method possessed.

Of course, he had only cultivated for ten years and had to balance his studies, not dedicating himself entirely to cultivation. Therefore, his spiritual sense was not strong, and his mana was insufficient. Even a genius in cultivation could not achieve instantaneous success.

Indeed, in his recent experiments, he found that the number of spells he could actually cast was not many.

The Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method primarily consisted of talisman arts. Its only combat spell was the Fire Shield Technique, and Gu Zhao's casting distance and power were very limited.

The Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method was indeed a combat method, but he couldn't cast the more powerful ones like the Great Heavenly Thunder Duke Incantation and other complementary and antagonistic thunder incantations. He could only use simpler incantations like Palm Thunder and Thunder Driving Incantation.

The Golden Gate Jade Lock Art was an Inner Alchemy cultivation method with no spells recorded within. However, according to the Inner Alchemy school, once the Dantian qi is complete, spiritual power would naturally manifest.

Gu Zhao tried it out, but things like soaring through clouds and riding the mist, shrinking the ground into an inch, returning to youth, the primordial spirit traveling, invulnerability to water and fire, moving mountains and filling seas...

He couldn't do any of them!

Gu Zhao: ╮(╯▽╰)╭

With his current cultivation level, he was merely strong and healthy, with sharp ears and keen eyes, able to jump higher and run faster.

"Whoosh!"

Gu Zhao leaped onto a tree branch, then with a push of his foot, he was on another branch.

"Does this count as learning Qinggong?"

Gu Zhao smacked his lips, feeling that combined with the martial arts he learned from his grandfather, he could now be considered a martial arts master. At least fighting Ke Zhen'e shouldn't be a problem.

"Now, let's draw talismans!" Gu Zhao's eyes shone brightly, filled with anticipation.

Martial arts were just the beginning; Taoism was his ultimate goal. He couldn't cast the Five Thunder Incantation alone, but if he combined it with the Five Thunder Talisman, would it work?

Although the Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method had more talismans, Gu Zhao decided to draw the Five Thunder Talisman first. It was simply because Thunder Magic looked the coolest.

Gu Zhao stood before the table, took out a piece of yellow paper, and placed it flat. He then dipped his high-end wolf hair brush, which he had bought, into the inkstone, letting it absorb the thick cinnabar ink. After lightly wiping it on the edge of the inkstone, he moved it above the yellow paper.

He had tried it at home before. The effect of cinnabar and yellow paper in storing spiritual power was indeed better than ordinary ink and paper. Logically, there was almost no spiritual energy in the modern world, so he wondered how the ancients had figured this out.

But no matter what, this was a good thing, indicating that there would be more usable things in the Taoist scriptures.

Gu Zhao cast aside distracting thoughts, calmed his mind, straightened his back, channeled qi from his Dantian down to his feet, and up to his right hand, with power flowing to his fingertips, guiding the wolf hair with spiritual energy.

He began to write!

Gu Zhao circulated the mana within his body, infusing it into the cinnabar, and started drawing the talisman on the yellow paper.

First, he drew the Eastern Heavenly Thunder, nine dots. Then, he turned to the Southern Divine Thunder, starting to write...

When he reached the second stroke, Gu Zhao found he couldn't continue.

Unlike the Five Thunder Talisman he drew at Yuanfa Palace before, Gu Zhao infused his mana into the cinnabar from the very beginning this time. He then discovered that as he drew the Eastern Heavenly Thunder, each stroke formed a connection with the previous one.

Within these connections, the cinnabar brushstrokes infused with mana seemed like individual components, gradually forming a whole on the yellow paper. During this process, his spiritual sense and mana were consumed rhythmically.

In practical terms, this meant that with each stroke Gu Zhao made while drawing the Five Thunder Talisman, it became harder to control than the last.

He managed to finish the first part, the Eastern Heavenly Thunder inscription, but failed shortly after starting the Southern Divine Thunder.

With one stroke, the entire construction process collapsed. The rhythm of inputting mana was broken, and the spiritual energy that had been contained in the cinnabar dissipated significantly, leaving only a small amount of natural residue.

"The Five Thunder Talisman is indeed difficult!" Gu Zhao grumbled.

His mana wasn't depleted, but he couldn't maintain control during the process. Furthermore, both his body and mind felt subtly fatigued.

To put it bluntly, his cultivation was still insufficient, which was the same reason he couldn't cast the Great Heavenly Thunder Duke Incantation.

However, Gu Zhao wasn't disappointed. After all, he had managed to draw the Eastern Heavenly Thunder, which meant he could at least control the thunder of one direction. And in the Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method, besides the Five Thunder Talisman that integrated five thunders, there were also individual thunder spells.

So, Gu Zhao rested for a moment and decisively began to write again. After wasting two sheets of yellow paper, he finally drew his first talisman.

The Wind Thunder Talisman!

Wind and thunder come from the east, belonging to wood in the Five Elements, and are the function of heavenly thunder.

Gu Zhao formed the Heavenly Thunder Seal with his left hand and picked up a yellow talisman with his right. As he moved his hands, Mana circulated within his body, and he chanted, "Wood virtue, Chen star, spirit of the East. Follow my nine Qi, expel evil spirits."

A faint stream of Mana flowed into the yellow talisman. The Cinnabar within it instantly flickered, then suddenly ignited.

The next moment, a fierce wind arose, and thunder roared.

A gust of wind blew out in all directions from Gu Zhao's center, and a bolt of lightning condensed above his head. As it crackled, it swept out along with the wind.

"Swish—"

Where the wind passed, trees swayed and leaves flew. After a burst of raging thunder, the area within ten meters of Gu Zhao was a mess. If he hadn't specifically controlled it to avoid the folding table, his experiment for today would have ended right there.

After using it once, Gu Zhao understood. The Wind Thunder Talisman acted like an expulsion aura, used in combat to drive away close-range enemies and maintain distance.

Just like the spell he had just tested, Palm Thunder was a single-target attack, the Thunder Driving Incantation was a group attack, and the Fire Shield Technique was a slow-down, binding, and continuous damage spell.

Gu Zhao couldn't help but sigh, "It's just like playing a game. Today's game designers are still copying our ancestors' homework. There's no progress at all."

Speaking of which, Gu Zhao looked forward to the subsequent talisman arts even more. However, at the same time, he was afraid the remaining yellow talismans wouldn't be enough.

Gu Zhao stroked his chin. "Should I 'borrow' some more from Yuanfa Palace tomorrow?"