Chapter 73

Finally, after thoroughly studying all the books in his possession, Qin Fengming chose a low-level talisman, the "Spirit Enhancing Talisman," from the "Comprehensive Guide to初级符咒" as his first experimental talisman to create. Baidu search www..com

Although the "Spirit Enhancing Talisman" had existed for a long time, it was not very useful. Its effect was merely to help a person quickly recover from mental fatigue, with no other benefits.

He mentally reviewed the "Spirit Enhancing Talisman" several times, then practiced drawing it on ordinary paper with a regular pen and ink, which took him several days.

Only after he could draw the "Spirit Enhancing Talisman" in one smooth motion did he use a talisman brush, dipped in cinnabar, and began to inscribe it on talisman paper, channeling his spiritual energy through the brush.

Despite his thorough preparation, at the beginning, the talisman brush would finish drawing the talisman on the paper, and although the talisman would glow and merge with the paper, it would instantly burst into flames and disappear.

Seeing this, he did not become discouraged and continued to draw.

His determination far exceeded that of ordinary low-level cultivators. He spent over a dozen hours drawing talismans, and in just two days, he used up hundreds of sheets of talisman paper.

After continuous attempts, he finally succeeded in refining the "Spirit Enhancing Talisman." Holding the talisman in his hand, he felt a surge of excitement. Although it was a useless talisman, the successful refinement gave him great confidence.

With the first success, he consecutively refined ten of these talismans, achieving a success rate of about 70-80%. This was something he had never dared to imagine. Without a natural talent for talisman making, it would be impossible to achieve such a high success rate.

Initially, at the Divine Talisman Hall, he had heard the old man say that without a natural talent, even after refining tens of thousands of times, one would not achieve such a high success rate.

In the following half year, Qin Fengming allocated two hours each day from his meditation practice to talisman making.

After half a year of practice, he became extremely proficient in several low-level talismans. His understanding of low-level talisman refinement was as deep as that of experienced talisman makers who had practiced for several years.

During this half year, he refined hundreds of various low-level talismans, including "Fireball Talisman," "Iceball Talisman," "Wind Blade Talisman," and "Spirit Recovery Talisman." However, he also used up over ten thousand sheets of ordinary talisman paper.

During this period, he left the sect three times to purchase talisman paper, talisman brushes, and cinnabar from the market. He also sought advice from the old man at the Divine Talisman Hall on some of the questions he encountered in talisman making. The old man's explanations greatly enlightened him, and he spent several hundred spirit stones at the Divine Talisman Hall.

After gaining a considerable understanding of low-level talismans, Qin Fengming began to study the refinement of mid-level talismans.

Due to his experience with low-level talismans, although he failed hundreds of times for each type of mid-level talisman, it was much better than the hundreds of failures he had when he first started making talismans.

Half a year passed in his cultivation and talisman making. The more than a thousand low-level spirit stones he had were almost depleted from the continuous experiments in refining mid-level talismans.

The cost was high, but the rewards were immense. He successfully refined hundreds of mid-level talismans, including "Falling Rock Talisman," "Quicksand Talisman," "Earth Wall Talisman," "Ice Spike Talisman," "Whirlwind Talisman," "Binding Talisman," and "Fire Snake Talisman."

With so many talismans in his possession, Qin Fengming felt very confident. He believed that even if he encountered a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Condensation stage, he could defeat them with just these talismans.

In the past year, Qin Fengming's own cultivation also made significant progress. He took a Huangjing Pill every three months, and under the influence of several pills, he smoothly broke through the seventh layer of the Qi Condensation stage and entered the eighth layer, reaching an upper-middle level among low-level disciples. In the Luoxia Sect, he was considered an elite disciple.

During this year, the Luoxia Sect held a grand recruitment event for all scattered cultivators in the entire Daliang Kingdom, admitting seventeen disciples above the eighth layer. They also recruited over sixty qualified nephews and cousins from various cultivation families, including several with excellent spiritual roots, which greatly pleased the higher-ups of the Luoxia Sect.

After breaking through to the eighth layer of the Qi Condensation stage and consolidating his realm, Qin Fengming began to think about how to earn some spirit stones, as talisman making was not something ordinary cultivators could afford.

He inventoried all the items in his storage ring. Apart from a lack of spirit stones, in terms of other items, even a direct descendant of a major cultivation family would not be as wealthy as he was.

His ring contained over a thousand talismans of various types, two top-grade magical artifacts, four high-grade magical artifacts, seven mid-grade magical artifacts, and dozens of types of refining materials. However, he only had about a hundred low-level spirit stones left.

He categorized all the talismans and properly stored the magical artifacts to ensure no mistakes when using them. Suddenly, an item he had not yet figured out the purpose of came to mind: the emerald gourd.

Since obtaining the small gourd, he had tried several methods to open its lid, but none had worked. After several years, the gourd remained unchanged, completely emerald green, smooth, and lustrous.

Holding the small gourd, he thought that his initial failure to open it might have been due to his lack of power. Now, with his magical energy and the sharpness of magical artifacts, he believed he could open it.

Although this might damage the gourd, it was better than not knowing what was inside. With this thought, he took out a mid-grade magical artifact without hesitation.

He placed the small gourd on the table and stood about ten feet away. With a flick of his finger, the magical artifact rose into the air, circled once, and then he pointed at the gourd's lid. The magical artifact shot out, emitting a half-yard-long beam of light toward the gourd.

Suddenly, an anomaly occurred. Just as the magical artifact was about to strike, the gourd's surface glowed with a layer of colorful light. A colored barrier suddenly appeared, and with a light "pop," the magical artifact was deflected.

The gourd remained motionless on the table. The light on its surface flickered a few times and then returned to normal.

Seeing this, Qin Fengming was greatly surprised. He knew very well the power of mid-level magical artifacts, which was several times that of a martial arts expert's full-strength attack.

He scanned his surroundings with his divine sense and found no one had noticed. He put away the magical artifact and approached the table to examine the gourd closely. Seeing no changes, he felt puzzled. Could the gourd have a self-defense mechanism?

To verify his idea, he again summoned the magical artifact and slashed at the gourd. The gourd's surface glowed with a layer of colorful light, deflecting the magical artifact just as before.

He picked up the gourd and examined it repeatedly but could not understand why. Holding it in his hand, he felt nothing unusual.