Talisman

Lingxi Peak after sunset.

Gu Fan concentrated his mind and held the talisman brush, dipping it in ink and slowly pouring his magic power into it.

The talisman brush resembles a piece of green bamboo about the thickness of a little finger, radiating a faint spiritual light. The head of the brush is made from the soft and delicate hair of a wolf-like demon beast.

Gu Fan gradually increased the amount of mana he poured in until he felt a sense of stagnation. Only then did he realize that this was the upper limit of mana that this low-level talisman brush could withstand.

On the table, a five-inch-long, pale yellow talisman was laid out.

Gu Fan picked up his brush and began to write, the tip of the brush landing on the talisman paper, leaving behind a series of talismans.

A talisman consists of three parts: the head, the core, and the tail. It must be completed in one go; if it is interrupted, the entire talisman is rendered useless.

For his first time drawing a talisman, Gu Fan chose to create a fire shield talisman, which was of the first-tier, low-grade quality.

Gu Fan was already very familiar with how to draw the Fire Shield Talisman. At this moment, he held his breath and carefully controlled the talisman brush to write one talisman after another on the talisman paper.

As the runes were drawn, the spiritual energy in the surrounding space slowly gathered onto the talisman paper under the influence of magical power.

The talisman head was completed very smoothly, which made Gu Fan breathe a sigh of relief. But at this moment, the magic power injected into the talisman pen fluctuated slightly, and the entire talisman paper suddenly burst into flames.

Gu Fan hurriedly moved the talisman brush away, watched helplessly as the talisman paper turned to ashes, and shook his head.

The difficulty in drawing talismans lies in the subtle control of magical power; even the slightest mistake will lead to failure.

After shaking his head and sighing, Gu Fan was not discouraged. It was perfectly normal to make a mistake on the first drawing.

Gu Fan took out another talisman and placed it on the table, then began to draw it again.

Unlike before, this time Gu Fan had activated his Myriad Manifestations Eye.

As Gu Fan drew the symbols, the resulting talismans created pathways of spiritual energy.

If too much magic power is poured in, the circuit becomes too thick, exceeding the talisman's capacity and causing it to burst open instantly; if too little magic power is poured in, the circuit becomes too thin or even breaks down.

Thanks to his experience practicing the Flame Spirit Technique, Gu Fan is already quite skilled at manipulating magic power.

After wasting three more talismans, Gu Fan finally found a suitable intensity for his mana output.

The talisman brush moved slowly under steady control, leaving behind trails until the last stroke was completed. At that moment, the entire talisman paper flashed with a fiery red light, which then instantly disappeared.

Gu Fan put down the talisman brush, held the talisman in his palm, and felt a warmth, knowing that the talisman had been successfully drawn.

With the blessing of the All-Seeing Eye, the magical power infused into the talisman becomes a visualized process, rather than relying entirely on the perception of the maker.

This perception of magical power has another name in the cultivation world—talismanic talent.

Since there is no unified definition for the output intensity of magic power in the cultivation world, Gu Fan named it "Fu Yuan" according to his previous life's habits.

The magical power required to draw a first-tier low-grade talisman is one talisman element.

Putting the fire shield talisman in his palm into his storage bag, Gu Fan took out another talisman and began to draw the next talisman.

This time, however, the talisman being drawn was no longer the Fire Shield Talisman, but rather the Lightness Talisman, which was also a low-grade first-tier talisman.

With a light touch of the brush, Gu Fan focused his mind, maintaining his magical power at a single rune level, and quickly and continuously drew the runes.

No accidents occurred.

A white light flashed across the talisman paper, and a lightness talisman was completed.

Even so, Gu Fan did not stop. He took out another talisman and began to draw another first-grade low-level spirit talisman—the Wind Blade Talisman.

One after another, the talisman paper was consumed, turning into various spiritual talismans, until Gu Fan felt a moment of mental confusion. Affected by this, the spiritual talisman he was writing burst open with water vapor, wetting and soaking the talisman paper.

Gu Fan suddenly looked up and saw that a full moon had climbed above the treetops; it was already late at night.

After putting down the talisman brush, a wave of fatigue washed over him, making him feel slightly dizzy.

Looking at the dozen or so drawn talismans on the table, Gu Fan smiled with satisfaction and turned to walk towards the bed.

In one night, Gu Fan had drawn all the first-grade low-level spirit talismans in "Introduction to the Dao of Talismans".

The results were encouraging—as long as the mana strength of a single rune element was maintained, the drawing process never failed.

Fully clothed, Gu Fan lay down on the soft bed and fell asleep with a great sense of accomplishment.

......

In the early morning, I heard the cries of cranes outside the window.

Gu Fan was awakened by the crane's cry, and felt refreshed after opening his eyes.

Walking to the table, Gu Fan put the drawn talisman into his storage bag and then went to the courtyard.

Holding a lightness talisman in his hand, he infused it with a trace of magic power, and the talisman spontaneously combusted without fire.

Gu Fan felt his feet lighten, as if he were being supported by a gentle breeze. He pushed off with his feet and shot forward.

Feeling as light as a feather, as if running on the moon, Gu Fan experienced an exceptionally exhilarating sensation.

After hopping and playing around for a while, Gu Fan took out a talisman, patted it on his body, and a layer of light blue film appeared, protecting his body. It was the effect of the Water Shield Talisman.

Gu Fan had seen this light membrane before; it was the same light membrane that appeared on Chen Suzhen's body when the cloud whale crashed into her upon entering the sect.

The courtyard was not spacious enough for Gu Fan to try out various offensive talismans, so he had to give up with regret.

A stack of talismans contains thirty sheets, but last night, including the discarded ones, only ten sheets remained.

Gu Fan did not intend to use these ten talismans immediately. Instead, he planned to go to the Hall of Duty to check if there were any sect missions to purchase spirit talismans before drawing them.

As an important tool in combat, spirit talismans are carried by disciples of the Lingxiao Sect when they go out to hunt demons. Some sect missions even issue spirit talismans, so the demand is very high.

Through his experience of earning merit over the past year, Gu Fan has become familiar with the merit system within the Lingxiao Sect.

In short, sects strongly encourage their disciples to earn good deeds.

The resources within the sect, such as elixirs and magical artifacts, are much cheaper to obtain through merit points than to purchase them at the market. In fact, cultivation techniques and spells can only be acquired through merit point exchanges.

To prevent speculation, a monthly limit has been set on the amount of resources that can be exchanged.

In this way, commoner disciples like Gu Fan, who do not have the support of a family, although it takes a lot of time, finally have a path to continuously obtain cultivation resources, thus easing the gap with disciples from aristocratic families.

Even disciples of aristocratic families need to contribute to their sects and earn merit points in order to obtain cultivation techniques and spells.

However, most disciples of aristocratic families do not choose skills such as blacksmithing and talisman drawing. Instead, their families provide them with cultivation resources to improve their cultivation level and go out to sea to hunt demons.

The Lingxiao Sect is located next to the Cloud Mist Sea, where there are three floating islands, each guarded by a demon king in human form. Every few years, the Lingxiao Sect would engage in a great battle with the sea monsters of the three islands to compete for the resources in the sea.

The medicinal herbs, minerals, and even the monsters themselves in the sea are all valuable resources for cultivation.

With rewards come risks; it's not uncommon for disciples to perish in the bellies of monsters while hunting them.

Like the Bai family, when bad luck strikes, it's not uncommon for several disciples to be devoured by demonic beasts.