The Talisman Maker's Ordeal

Han Li, his heart brimming with elation, tucked the wooden box containing the ‘Gold Bamboo Brush’ under his arm as he made his way back to his building.

He had traded three bottles of ‘Yellow Dragon Pills’ and four bottles of ‘Golden Marrow Pills’ with the young woman for this treasure and a bag of Seven-Star Grass seeds. After stopping at a few other stalls to buy some cinnabar, he had hurried back, eager to begin his talisman-drawing endeavor.

After breaking the formation seal and entering the building, Han Li saw that the young monk was still in meditation. Not wanting to disturb him, he went up to the second floor and entered his own room.

He laid out the talisman paper and cinnabar on the table, then took out the Gold Bamboo Brush, ready to begin crafting a ‘Spirit-Fixing Talisman’.

Following the talisman-making method described in the Spirit-Fixing Art, he slowly channeled the spiritual power in his body through his right hand, which held the brush, guiding it into the brush shaft. He then dipped the tip into the cinnabar and began to draw the talisman inscription onto a sheet of paper.

A quarter of an hour later, Han Li straightened up, a look of delight on his face. He stretched his sore back and gazed at the silver, shimmering talisman on the table, his heart swelling with joy.

In appearance, this talisman was identical to the one Doctor Mo had used. Although the spiritual energy contained within it was a bit thinner, it was still far superior to the shoddy, counterfeit items he had made during his practice sessions. Those practice pieces merely had the right shape but contained not a shred of spiritual power.

Han Li picked up the freshly made talisman and examined it with excitement. Satisfied, he prepared to try casting the Spirit-Fixing Art. But before he could even begin to chant the incantation, the spiritual power on the talisman suddenly became chaotic, showing signs of an imminent outburst.

Startled, Han Li did not hesitate to throw the talisman away.

With a ‘pfft’ sound, the Spirit-Fixing Talisman ignited in mid-air, turning into a fireball and burning up completely.

Han Li stared blankly at the empty space where it had been, speechless. After a long moment, he sighed. It seemed this attempt had failed too.

He felt a bit dejected, but his confidence was not lost. He felt that the previous talisman had been very close to success. He believed that if he tried a few more times, he would surely succeed.

And so, for the rest of the day, Han Li made one Spirit-Fixing Talisman after another, only to fail again and again.

Some of the talismans would spontaneously combust. Others would suddenly explode with a small pop. Still others would have all their spiritual power rapidly dissipate the moment they were finished, leaving them as useless scraps of paper.

When he saw the last talisman he had just finished also explode into pieces with a ‘crack’, even his usual calm couldn't hold. He looked up at the ceiling and suddenly yelled out loud:

“Damn you, Heaven! Are you messing with me? A dozen sheets of talisman paper, and I should have succeeded at least once! This is only a basic, first-tier Spirit-Fixing Talisman! Did I just pick the wrong day?”

After letting out that curse, Han Li felt the weight in his chest lighten considerably, and his mood improved.

Then, he tilted his head in thought. He glanced at the cinnabar box on the table, which was now a little less than half full, and then at the Gold Bamboo Brush. He didn’t think the problem was with them. The spiritual power flowed into the brush very smoothly, and the cinnabar, when painted onto the talisman paper, was brimming with spiritual energy, so it didn’t seem to be a counterfeit.

Unable to figure out the reason after a moment's consideration, he decided to go ask the young monk, hoping he could shed some light on the matter. At this point, Han Li realized how important it was to have a senior or a teacher to guide him on the path of cultivation. He felt a strong urge to find a master.

After listening to Han Li’s complaints about his failed talisman crafting, the young monk stared at him with an extremely strange look, as if Han Li had suddenly grown a beautiful little white flower on his face.

Seeing the monk’s expression, Han Li felt a bit unnerved, wondering what he had said wrong to make the other man stare at him like that.

“Benefactor Han, it seems you know very little about the art of talisman crafting,” the young monk finally spoke.

“You are correct, Master Kusang. This is my first time making a talisman,” Han Li admitted honestly.

“Amongst us cultivators, not many people actually make their own talismans. For any needed talismans, they generally go to the local trading grounds to exchange for or buy them. This is true even for members of the great clans.”

“Why is that?” Han Li was surprised.

“It’s very simple. Experienced, professional talisman crafters are extremely rare. And the cost of training a qualified talisman crafter is far too great. Only the large immortal sects have the resources to bear it,” the monk said with a small smile.

“Benefactor Han feels very frustrated after failing a dozen times in a row, isn’t that right?” the monk asked.

“Yes. The cost of the materials alone would have been enough for me to buy several ready-made Spirit-Fixing Talismans!” Han Li said, annoyed.

“But, do you know, Benefactor?” the monk continued. “It is perfectly normal for a beginner trying to learn talisman crafting to fail a hundred times in a row. If their aptitude is poor, failing several hundred times in a row is not unheard of! Only after making over a thousand talismans can the success rate gradually increase. And this is only for drawing the same type of talisman. If you switch to a different type of talisman, while you might not be a complete beginner again, the initial failure rate is still astoundingly high. Therefore, for a qualified talisman crafter to be developed, they cannot do without tens of thousands of practice attempts. But think about it, Benefactor Han, how many people can bear the loss of such materials? Even for the great immortal sects, the talisman crafters they train can only achieve results in basic talisman crafting. If they were to practice making mid-grade talismans, even those great sects would be driven to bankruptcy and be unable to bear the cost. After all, the higher the grade of the talisman, the more outrageously expensive the materials become.”

The monk’s words left Han Li completely dumbfounded.

“Then why were there people selling cinnabar and talisman paper at the stalls?” Han Li thought for a moment, finding it inconsistent.

“Haha! Those cinnabar and talisman papers are for people who practice talisman techniques,” the young monk said with a smile.

“Talisman techniques?” Han Li was puzzled.

“It’s just like the Spirit-Fixing Art you practice. It’s a spell that must use a pre-drawn talisman to take effect! This is different from talismans that store a spell within the paper, intended for convenient use by others. A talisman used for a technique cannot be simply activated with spiritual power; it requires a specific incantation or hand seal to be cast. However, these are generally not complicated and are quite easy to learn.”

“Because talisman techniques frequently require the use of the same type of talisman, such people find it too costly to constantly buy them. So, just like you, Benefactor, they practice drawing them themselves. Since the variety is often limited, the cost, while still significant, is bearable. So, if you truly wish to practice the Spirit-Fixing Art, crafting the talismans yourself is the best option in the long run. But if you don’t plan to use it often, I suggest you just spend a little money and buy a few ready-made Spirit-Fixing Talismans to have on hand,” the young monk explained in detail, concluding with a piece of advice.

“Thank you very much for your guidance, Master Kusang!” Han Li bowed deeply and sincerely.

“Benefactor, you are too polite!” The monk quickly returned the bow.

‘This little monk is quite easy to talk to. If I encounter any more troublesome questions in the future, I might as well seek his advice,’ Han Li thought to himself as he walked back to his room.

‘Devoting myself to practicing talisman crafting right now is out of the question. I’ll be better off finding time to go and buy a few Spirit-Fixing Talismans to have on hand. What’s more important is that I’ve already reached the peak of the eighth layer of the Eternal Spring Art. Now that I have the subsequent layers’ technique, it’s time to break through the bottleneck and enter the ninth layer. Also, I need to practice those few new spells I acquired. Mastering them as soon as possible will add to my overall strength.’

The moment he pushed open the door to his room, Han Li had already formulated his plan for the coming days.

And so, in the days that followed, Han Li spent his days inside his room, consuming a large number of medicinal pills and meditating to cultivate the Eternal Spring Art. At night, he would slip away to an uninhabited area in the valley to practice the new spells he had learned.

They were: ‘Quicksand Art’, ‘Freezing Art’, ‘Levitation Art’, ‘Entangling Art’, ‘Sound Transmission Art’, ‘Concealment Art’, ‘Fire Control Art’, and the most difficult to practice, ‘Earth Spike Art’.

After more than ten days of arduous cultivation, Han Li finally managed to break through to the ninth layer of the Eternal Spring Art just a few days before the Tailai Assembly was to end. This left men like Wu Jiuzhi stunned, and Blue Pattern Daoist even exclaimed that Han Li was a prodigy amongst rogue cultivators!

But Han Li knew in his heart that without those dozen or so bottles of medicinal pills, it would not have been so easy for him to break through! However, now that he thought about it, he didn’t have many pills left on him. It looked like he would need to refine some more.