Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Red Sleeves Add Fragrance to the Night of Drawing Talismans
 

Wei Lian settled into Wang Chen’s home.

During the day, she stayed in the yard or kitchen, practicing martial arts and helping with household chores.

Feeding chickens, chopping wood, cleaning, doing laundry, brewing tea…

She didn’t step foot outside the house.

At night, she would rest in the underground chamber.

Wang Chen bought two curtains from the city and hung them at the entrances of the two small rooms connected to the chamber.

Each had their own bedroom, with the large chamber in between serving as a shared living space.

When they first started living together, Wei Lian was very cautious.

She revered Wang Chen while also holding a slight guard.

But after spending some time together, the constant circumspection and politeness from Wang Chen gradually put the girl at ease.

She began to reveal another side of herself.

“Immortal Master, please have some tea,”

Inside the chamber, Wei Lian served Wang Chen a cup of steaming, fragrant tea.

“Thank you,”

Wang Chen took it and had a sip. The tea’s fragrance was overwhelming and instantly refreshing; it was brewed just right.

The same Cloud Mist Spiritual Tea; somehow, it tasted much better when brewed by Wei Lian.

Beyond her mastery of the tea ceremony, Wei Lian also had beautiful handwriting.

And she knew quite a lot about painting.

When she was in the mortal world, she clearly was a well-cultured lady raised with great care!

But here, Wei Lian conscientiously acted as Wang Chen’s maidservant.

Lately, she had even been working hard to improve her cooking skills, hoping to take charge of his kitchen.

Honestly speaking, since Wei Lian’s arrival, despite some inconveniences, Wang Chen felt his quality of life had greatly improved.

The days of cultivation were no longer as monotonous and boring as before.

After finishing the Spiritual Tea, Wang Chen felt refreshed and clear-headed.

He immediately picked up the Talisman Pen, dipped it in the Talisman Ink, and the strokes on the Talisman Paper flowed like a dragon.

A three-character Talisman Script was completed in one go!

Over the past few months, while persistently practicing his cultivation technique, improving his skill proficiency, and excavating the underground fortress, Wang Chen also took every possible opportunity to study Talismans.

He had plans to take up a side job as a Talisman Maker. For this reason, he purchased the complete set of tools for learning, including “Basic Talismanic Script Deciphering,” and strived to step through the gates of Talisman Crafting.

Wang Chen’s main purpose in becoming a Talisman Maker wasn’t to make money.

The barrier to entry for making Talismans was low, and the initial investment costs were incomparable to Pill Concoction and Artifact Refining. Moreover, Talismans were high-demand consumables, making it the first side-job choice for many low-tier cultivators.

However, while it was easy to start with Talismans, mastering the craft was extremely difficult. Moreover, due to the influx of a large number of cultivators, the field was incredibly competitive, resulting in a generally low price for low-tier Talismans sold on the market.

Without some unique skills or excellent craftsmanship, it was nearly impossible to earn a few Spirit Stones by crafting Talismans.

Even if one had exceptional skills, if not attached to a certain power, one shouldn’t expect to take over another’s business within the doors of the sect.

Behind every profitable trade in Cloud Mountain City, there stood one or even several Purple Mansion Superiors!

So Wang Chen’s learning of Talismans was primarily with self-use in mind.

To save costs and enhance combat power!

“Basic Talismanic Script Deciphering” recorded a total of two hundred and thirty-seven Talismans, covering most of the Primary Tier Magical Talismans. If he could master just one-tenth of them, it would greatly enrich his combat methods.

For instance, the attack Magical Talismans such as Meteor Fire, Wind Blade, Ice Arrow, Earth Spike, Falling Thunder…

A Primary Tier Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator holding a Magical Talisman and causing a middle tier cultivator to roll around in pain was quite ordinary.

Compared to the expensive Magic Artifacts worth several hundred or even thousands of Spirit Stones, Talismans were undoubtedly the best choice for low-tier cultivators to increase their combat power.

In Wang Chen’s plan, if he encountered an unbeatable adversary like a high-tier cultivator or Demon Evil Wraith, and couldn’t match their power, he would bombard them with Talismans, using saturation attacks to overcome the strong with the weak.

Or to seize the chance to escape.

This tactic undoubtedly required a large number of Talismans, and it was too costly to purchase them with Spirit Stones.

Wang Chen had the Immortal Cultivation panel in his possession.

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If he could conjure high-level Talisman Crafting skills, that would undoubtedly be another trump card.

But the problem was, learning the basics of talisman scripts didn’t involve Cultivation Techniques or Spirit Light Law Seeds like spells did.

So how could they appear in the skill column of his panel?

Wang Chen started learning to make Talismans with an attitude of just giving it a try.

He found that Talisman Making was a very profound and extensive field of study.

Just like the physics, chemistry, and math of his previous life, one could spend a lifetime studying it and still only glimpse the tip of the iceberg.

The “Basic Talismanic Script Deciphering,” suitable only for Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage, contained illustrations of two hundred and thirty-seven Talismans and three hundred and nine True Seal Talisman Scripts.

The True Seal Talisman Script originated from ancient times, said to be created by the three saints of the Taoist Sect, vast and incomprehensible in its profoundness and mystery.

All Talismans, whether they were Magical Talismans, Spirit Talismans, Treasure Talismans, or even the most true Talismans of the Tao, were drawn with the True Seal Talisman Script.

The three hundred and nine True Seals within “Basic Talismanic Script Deciphering” were just a part of the scripts.

Different True Seal Scripts combined to form different Talismans, ranging from as few as three to five to as many as dozens; they interconnected with one another, and a single incorrect stroke could waste the entire Talisman!

At the beginning, Wang Chen dared not simply copy the scripts directly.

He spent two months repeatedly copying and practicing the examples of Talismans and True Seal Scripts.

Only when he could proficiently reproduce all the Talismans and scripts from “Basic Talismanic Script Deciphering” from memory did he begin to follow the Dharma Technique in this introductory classic on talisman scripts.

He began to try to draw real Talismans on the Talisman Paper!

A standard piece of Yellow Talisman Paper, half a foot long and three inches wide, was already filled with dark red True Seal Script.

There were no mistakes, broken strokes, or ink drops.

Spiritual Light shone faintly within each stroke.

This was the result of infusing Mana into the Talisman Ink during the drawing process, which resonated with the Spiritual Energy within the ink.

But this did not mean the Talisman was complete.

Wang Chen focused his mind and steadied his breath, holding the Talisman Pen and dabbing the ink on the exact center above the Talisman Paper.

This act called “dotting the true” was the final and most crucial stroke in Talisman Crafting.

In the past, Wang Chen’s many attempts at crafting Talismans had always stumbled at this point.

Causing him to fail when he was so close to success.

The wasted Talisman Paper already amounted to dozens.

But Wang Chen was not discouraged.

Failure didn’t matter; what was important was gaining valuable experience.

He believed that with his current Comprehension, mastering the basics was not an issue.

This time, when dotting the true, Wang Chen was especially confident!

As soon as the tip of the pen touched down, the Talisman Ink spread instantly on the paper, and the three character True Seal Scripts beneath suddenly lit up.

Spiritual Light burst forth!

[Junior Talisman Making · Experience +1]

The sudden appearance of the message in his field of view left Wang Chen stunned.

Had he succeeded?

“Ah.”

Before he could pull up the Immortal Cultivation panel to check, a soft exclamation suddenly came from beside him.

Wang Chen turned his head and saw Wei Lian standing next to his desk, holding a fire starter that had just lit a stick of sandalwood incense.

Her small mouth slightly open, her eyes filled with surprise and curiosity.

Wang Chen laughed heartily, his heart swelling with joy.

If he wasn’t mistaken, there should now be one more item in the skill section of his panel.

A new world had opened its gates to him!

———–

Here’s the second update for everyone, hoping for your recommendation votes.

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