Another world, forest.
Clear skies, gentle breeze.
In a relatively level spot stood a simple folding table. On it lay a brush, an inkstone filled with cinnabar ink, and a stack of yellow paper.
Gu Zhao had just tested every spell recorded in the Taoist Scriptures he had learned.
The Taoist tradition had endured for over two thousand years, rising and falling, living and dying, splitting and joining. First came the southern Register-and-Talisman sects, then the northern and southern schools of Inner Elixir Method, until Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao eventually emerged as the two major lineages, alongside countless branches.
Of course, after hundreds and thousands of years, Taoists had traveled, exchanged knowledge, and learned from one another. Other than the ancestral courts of each sect, things had long become a case of you within me and me within you.
For instance, the three Taoist Scriptures Gu Zhao's grandfather had 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 an Upper Clarity Sect visualization method, nourishing qi and refining the spirit, while also recording all kinds of talisman arts.
One was a Shenxiao Sect thunder method, specially meant for battle and recording various thunder incantations.
One was a Quanzhen Dao Inner Elixir Method, devoted solely to teaching breathing exercises, qi refinement, and the condensation of a Golden Core.
As a result, Gu Zhao could be said to cultivate the Taoist Scriptures and spells of several schools at once, spirit and qi united, body and methods both complete.
Of course, he had cultivated for only ten years, and he had needed to keep up with his studies as well. He had not devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation, so his spiritual sense was weak and his Mana insufficient. Even a cultivation genius could not ascend to the heavens in a single step.
Sure enough, during his earlier tests, he discovered that there were actually not many spells he could cast.
Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method mostly consisted of talisman arts. Its only combat spell was the Fire Shield Technique, and both the range and power Gu Zhao could produce were limited.
<Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method> was indeed a combat art, but he could not cast more powerful spells such as the Great Heavenly Thunder Duke Incantation or the mutually generating and restraining thunder incantations. The only things he could use were simple incantations like Palm Thunder and the Thunder Driving Incantation.
Golden Gate Jade Lock Art was an Inner Elixir cultivation method and did not record any spells. However, according to the Inner Elixir school, once one's elixir qi was abundant and complete, divine abilities would naturally reveal themselves.
Gu Zhao gave it a try: Riding Clouds and Driving Mist, Shrinking Ground to an Inch, returning to youth, the Yang Spirit traveling beyond the body, immunity to water and fire, moving mountains and filling seas...
He could do none of it!
Gu Zhao: ╮(╯▽╰)╭
At his current Cultivation Level, he was merely stronger and healthier, sharper of ear and eye, able to jump a little higher and run a little faster.
"Whoosh!"
Gu Zhao leaped onto a tree fork, tapped off with his feet, and landed on the branch of another tree.
"Does this mean I've learned Lightness Skill?"
Gu Zhao smacked his lips. Paired with the martial arts he had learned from his grandfather, he felt that he now counted as a martial arts expert. At the very least, beating up one Ke Zhen'e should not be a problem.
"Now, time to draw talismans!" Gu Zhao's eyes gleamed as he looked forward to it eagerly.
Martial arts were only the beginning; Taoist arts were the final destination. He could not cast the Five Thunder Incantation by himself, but if he paired it with a Five Thunder Talisman, could he make it work?
Although Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method contained more talismans, Gu Zhao still decided to start with the Five Thunder Talisman. After all, thunder methods looked the coolest.
Standing before the table, Gu Zhao pulled out a sheet of yellow paper and laid it flat. He then swirled the high-end wolf-hair brush he had bought in the inkstone, soaking it full of thick cinnabar ink. Only then did he lightly wipe it against the edge of the inkstone and move it above the yellow paper.
He had tested it at home before. Cinnabar and yellow paper truly stored Mana better than ordinary ink and paper. By all reason, the modern world was almost devoid of spiritual qi, so he had no idea how the ancients had discovered this through experimentation.
But no matter what, it was a good thing. It meant there would only be more usable things in the Taoist Scriptures.
Gu Zhao cast aside distracting thoughts, calmed his mind, focused his gaze, and straightened his back. Qi rose from his Dantian, flowed down into both feet, surged up into his right hand, passed through his fingertips, and guided the wolf-hair brush with spirit.
He set the brush down!
Mana circulated within Gu Zhao's body and flowed into the cinnabar as he began drawing the talisman on the yellow paper.
First came Eastern Heavenly Thunder: nine dots at the brush's descent. Then he turned to Southern Divine Thunder: the brush descended...
By the second dot, Gu Zhao discovered that he could not continue.
It differed from the Five Thunder Talisman he had drawn at Yuanfa Palace. This time, Gu Zhao had infused Mana into the cinnabar from the very beginning, and while drawing Eastern Heavenly Thunder, he found that every stroke formed a connection with the stroke before it.
Within those connections, the cinnabar marks infused with Mana seemed like individual components, gradually assembling into some kind of whole upon the yellow paper. Throughout that process, both his spiritual sense and Mana were steadily consumed in a distinct rhythm.
In actual practice, this meant that while Gu Zhao drew the Five Thunder Talisman, every stroke became harder to control than the last.
He barely completed the first section, the Eastern Heavenly Thunder sigil, before failing shortly after beginning the Southern Divine Thunder section.
With one stroke, the entire construction process collapsed with a crash. The rhythm of Mana input broke, and most of the spiritual power previously contained within the cinnabar instantly scattered, leaving behind only a small amount of natural residue.
"The Five Thunder Talisman really is difficult!" Gu Zhao complained.
The Mana within him had not been exhausted, but he had lost control midway through the process. Both his body and mind also felt faintly fatigued.
Put bluntly, his cultivation was still lacking. It was the same reason he could not cast the Great Heavenly Thunder Duke Incantation.
Still, Gu Zhao was not disappointed. After all, he had managed to draw an Eastern Heavenly Thunder. That meant he could at least control the thunder of one direction, and aside from the Five Thunder Talisman that fused the Five Thunders, <Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method> also contained individual thunder methods.
So Gu Zhao rested for a moment, then decisively put brush to paper. After wasting two sheets of yellow paper, he finally drew his first talisman.
Wind Thunder Talisman!
Wind and thunder came from the east, belonging to Wood among the Five Elements, wielding the use of heavenly thunder.
Gu Zhao formed the Heavenly Thunder Seal with his left hand and pinched the yellow talisman in his right. As he shook it, Mana circulated through his body, and he chanted, "Star of the Wood Virtue, spirit of the east. Follow my nine qi and drive away wicked essences."
A faint stream of Mana poured into the yellow talisman. The cinnabar upon it flashed at once, then suddenly burst into spontaneous flame.
The next instant, a wild wind rose and thunder exploded.
A gale blew outward in all directions from Gu Zhao, while a bolt of thunder gathered above his head. Crackling and snapping, it swept outward together with the wind.
"Crash—"
The gale swept through, trees swaying and leaves flying. After the thunderstorm ravaged the area, everything within ten meters of Gu Zhao was a complete mess. Had he not deliberately controlled it to avoid the folding table, today's experiment would have ended right there.
After using it once, Gu Zhao understood. The Wind Thunder Talisman functioned like a repelling aura, used in battle to drive away enemies who came too close and maintain distance.
Just like the spells he had tested earlier: Palm Thunder was a single-target attack, the Thunder Driving Incantation was an area attack, and the Fire Shield Technique slowed and restrained enemies while dealing continuous damage.
Gu Zhao could not help sighing. "It really is just like playing a game. Game designers nowadays are still copying the ancestors' homework. They really haven't made a single bit of progress."
Having said that, Gu Zhao looked forward to the talisman arts to come even more. At the same time, however, his remaining yellow talismans probably would not be enough.
Gu Zhao rubbed his chin. "Should I go to Yuanfa Palace tomorrow and swipe some more?"
Before you continue