Talisman Crafting

Chapter 242: Talisman Crafting

Han Li carefully put the two golden pages away, then began to plan his next steps with focused concentration.

Since he would be cultivating the Azure Origin Sword Art and the Three Revolutions Heavy Origin Art, he would need to make full use of the mysterious vial’s green liquid. This meant he had to gather the alchemy ingredients for the two ancient formulas as quickly as possible. Whatever he already had on hand, he would accelerate the growth of immediately. Whatever he did not possess, he would need to collect or purchase from other places.

Thinking about it, the green liquid contained more than just spiritual power. Its other components remained a mystery to him. But he knew for certain that pure spiritual energy alone could not create the plant-accelerating effect.

After joining Yellow Maple Valley, he had studied it several more times. No matter how much he diluted the liquid, any creature that drank water containing even a trace of the green liquid would inevitably explode. This was not a question of dilution ratio—something unknown in the liquid’s composition was the cause.

After repeated failures, Han Li had no choice but to abandon that line of inquiry.

But restricting the vial’s miraculous effects solely to alchemy seemed far too narrow an application! Han Li was certain that such an extraordinary function had far more applications than just that. Relying on it solely for pill refinement felt like a waste.

After careful consideration, Han Li concluded that in Foundation Establishment stage combat, aside from magical tools and cultivation techniques, mid-grade talismans and above would be indispensable. These mid-grade talismans were prohibitively expensive—dozens of spirit stones for a single piece. Han Li could only shake his head at the prices.

But mid-grade elemental spells and above included many with tremendous power—potentially life-saving techniques. However, because of their high grade, even Foundation Establishment cultivators needed considerable mana and time to cast them. This made purchasing several for emergency use a necessary precaution.

Thus, Han Li turned his attention to talisman crafting—specifically mid-grade talismans.

The reasoning was simple: blank talisman paper, whether low-grade or mid-grade, was made from aged spiritual herbs. For Han Li, this was where the vial’s power could shine. He could produce the raw materials continuously.

Of course, high-grade talisman paper was beyond this method—it required the hide of certain special demonic beasts, which was far beyond Han Li’s current reach.

As for the cinnabar used in talisman crafting, there was little to choose from. It was made from the blood of spirit beasts, most of which could be extracted from captive beasts for next to nothing.

The talisman brush was somewhat important, but Han Li still had the Gold Bamboo Brush, which should suffice.

Thinking of the Gold Bamboo Brush naturally brought the shy Han Yunzhi to mind. A faint smile crossed his lips. She was probably still at Spirit Beast Mountain by now.

But Han Li quickly pulled his focus back, reassessing the feasibility of talisman crafting and its implications.

With the tools at his disposal and a virtually limitless supply of raw materials, the greatest obstacle for most talisman masters—material consumption—was not even a problem for him. The only remaining constraint was learning mid-grade spells.

A talisman master must first be able to cast a spell before they can seal it into a talisman. Otherwise, there was no way to conjure the magic onto the paper. Talismans were simply a means of sealing spells in advance.

The thought of learning mid-grade spells gave Han Li a headache.

He had no idea if it was related to his impure spiritual roots, but he seemed to have almost no talent for elemental spellcasting. He could spend several times the effort and time of an ordinary cultivator and still make no progress, failing to grasp the essence of the art.

Since reaching Foundation Establishment, he had been able to learn low-grade spells with ease—and even cast most of them instantly. But with mid-grade spells, he was right back where he started. Han Li could only sigh in resignation.

Even if mid-grade spells were difficult to master, Han Li was confident he could grasp a few. Sealing those into talismans would be enough. He had no illusions about being able to seal every mid-grade spell.

With a large stock of mid-grade talismans, he would not only gain a significant edge in battle but could even sell them openly without attracting much attention.

This would free him from his spirit stone shortage. He no longer dared to trade spirit herbs for spirit stones—that was far too conspicuous.

There was another concern: if he truly had to disperse his cultivation and restart, that period would undoubtedly be his weakest. If an enemy or old grudge came knocking then, he would be in extreme danger. The cultivation world was hardly a safe place—anything could happen.

But with a generous supply of talismans in hand, he could maintain a certain level of combat power. Even if he could not defeat an enemy, he might still escape using talismans.

Although learning talisman crafting would slow his progress in mana cultivation, the benefits clearly outweighed the costs.

After pacing in his bedroom for several turns, Han Li decided to pursue both the Azure Origin Sword Art and talisman crafting simultaneously.

Having considered everything, Han Li began immediately.

In the first few days, he made two trips—one to the sect’s market and another to the Celestial Star Sect’s market—to gather alchemy ingredients and seeds or seedlings for talisman paper herbs.

The alchemy ingredients, being from ancient formulas, were naturally rare and valuable. Fortunately, Han Li had no requirement for the herbs’ age, and he managed to gather the ingredients for one of the two pills—the “Qi Refining Powder.” This delighted him greatly.

As for the talisman paper materials, since he would start with low-grade talismans, those were easy to obtain. Naturally, he also needed a large supply of cinnabar.

Three or four days later, Han Li activated all the restrictions on the formation outside his cave dwelling, sealed the entrance, and began his first closed-door cultivation session since reaching Foundation Establishment.

Time in cultivation passed without notice. Four years flew by in an instant. The entrance to the cave dwelling, hidden beneath the formation’s concealment, had not opened once since that day.

Until one day, a streak of blue light flew in from the distant horizon. It circled above the formation several times before transforming into a smiling Confucian scholar, holding a strangely shaped blue wooden board in his hand.

“So this is Junior Martial Brother’s cave dwelling! Why choose such an out-of-the-way place? And the spiritual qi here isn’t even abundant. If Uncle-Master Lei hadn’t pointed the way, this would have been truly hard to find!” the scholar murmured to himself with a hint of surprise.

Then he studied the formation outside the cave dwelling for a moment, a look of curiosity crossing his face.

“Uncle-Master Lei said this Junior Martial Brother’s defensive formation is extremely formidable—that even a Core Formation cultivator might not get the better of it. Is that really true? Can it really be that powerful? Should I give it a try?”

But after a moment of thought, he slumped his shoulders and muttered:

“Forget it. I mustn’t delay Master’s important business!”

With that, he took out a sound transmission talisman and tossed it into Han Li’s formation. The talisman transformed into a streak of fire, silently sinking into the barrier.

Then the scholar threw the wooden board in his hand into the air, mounted his artifact, and flew away.

Inside the cave dwelling, in the meditation chamber by the Spirit Eye Spring, Han Li sat with his eyes closed in deep cultivation.

His appearance had not changed at all in four years—not even the slightest difference. A faint layer of blue light flickered over his body, shimmering like smoke and dream, exquisitely beautiful.

But a glance around the room would leave one utterly speechless. Apart from the area where Han Li sat, the floor was covered in scattered talismans of every grade—from low-grade “Fireball Technique” and “Ice Arrow Technique” to low-grade high-tier “Earth Wall Technique” and “Cloud of Fire Technique.” It was like a talisman warehouse. Empty cinnabar boxes and blank talisman paper were mixed in among them, adding to the chaos.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li’s brow furrowed slightly, as if he had sensed something. He opened his eyes.

He sat in thought for a moment, then suddenly stood and walked out of the meditation chamber. As he rose, every talisman and item on the floor was silently swept into his storage pouch, leaving the room spotless.

Once outside the chamber, Han Li flipped his hand and produced a small yellow banner. He tossed it into the air, and it transformed into a beam of yellow light, shooting outward.

Within moments, before Han Li had even reached his bedroom, the yellow light returned, followed closely by a streak of fire.

Han Li, unhurried, waved his hand and the small banner flew back into his palm. With his other hand, he spread his five fingers, releasing a burst of blue light that swept the fire up before his eyes.