Several women rolled their eyes. 'Such a lovesick fool!'
Thunderlight Pavilion didn't allow for credit. Ma Tian'Er deducted the contribution points from her Holy Order, only then realizing the Wind Cloud Talisman was still in her hand.
She looked outside, but he was already gone. The young lady's face suddenly flushed. 'Should I have given it to him?'
She gingerly felt the Talisman. Suddenly, Ma Tian'Er froze. She channeled her Elemental Power into it and was instantly stunned.
'How could this be???'
'Did I really make this?'
It was definitely a Wind Cloud Talisman. Although it was a Low-Level Talisman, a Technique Cultivator needed to reach the Tenth Layer of Life Mark to craft one. This was also the first type of Talisman she had ever mastered. As a Technique Cultivator, her sensitivity to Talismans was likely greater than her awareness of her own body, and this one was astonishingly perfect.
The Magic on this Wind Cloud Talisman was even more flawless than on a standard Talisman.
'How could this be?'
Ma Tian'Er came to a realization, especially after comparing it to the several failed Talismans she made afterward. She quickly found where the problem lay.
In cultivation, the methods are laid out for all to see, but how much one can comprehend, and to what depth, is up to the individual. The Elders only occasionally cleared up confusion, and Direct Disciples merely had a few more opportunities to ask questions. For the most part, one had to rely on oneself.
Sometimes she received guidance from her senior sisters, but frankly, the advice they could offer was quite limited given their own skill level.
After a good while, Ma Tian'Er finally came out of her meditative inspection of the Wind Cloud Talisman. 'It must have been a lucky fluke,' she thought. They say one's first success often brings an unexpected boon.
She had now found the right way to create the Wind Cloud Talisman and gained many new insights.
Having obtained the Spiritual Spring, Wang Meng didn't leave right away. Instead, he went to the mission area behind Thunderlight Hall.
It was reasonably crowded, but very few were accepting missions. Most were just onlookers.
Most of the missions near Thunderlight Hall had already been completed. They were safe and easy, and though the rewards were low, it was better than nothing.
Within the Holy Hall's sphere of influence, even the more dangerous Secret Realms were relatively safe. A Cultivator's greatest enemy was another Cultivator. While one might occasionally encounter Demon Cultivators and Evil Cultivators, the chances were low. The same applied to them. However, once you stepped outside this territory, it was easy to run into disciples of Demon and Evil Cultivators. Even if you defeated a Demon Beast, the spoils weren't guaranteed to be yours; you might even lose your own life in the process. Generally, no one below the Fifteenth Layer of Life Mark would leave the Holy Hall's territory. More conservative cultivators wouldn't even venture out before reaching Twenty Layers.
In a fight between those of the same level, Demon Cultivators and Evil Cultivators were generally more ruthless. The missions currently posted were either in dangerous places like the Thunder Pool or outside the Holy Hall's domain entirely.
A jade tablet, glowing with a faint luminescence, displayed the current mission completion rates for each Sub-Hall, indirectly reflecting their comparative strengths.
Topping the list was, without a doubt, Dao Guang Hall, followed closely by Immortal Fate Hall and Lingyin Hall.
The three Sub-Halls in the middle were Flying Phoenix Hall, Fire Cloud Hall, and Hengshan Hall. At the bottom were Beast Hall, Hundred Herbs Hall, and Thunderlight Hall.
Dao Guang Hall was filled with talent, and basically all outstanding Cultivators aspired to join it. Immortal Fate Hall had a deep foundation. And although Lingyin Hall was ranked third, its top-tier strength was likely the greatest of all.
Beast Hall, one of the bottom-ranked, focused on taming and using Demon Beasts, so the missions they accepted were quite limited. While it wasn't so exaggerated as to have Spirit Beasts roaming every street, Beast Hall's combat application of Spirit Beasts was unrivaled in the Holy Hall. Hundred Herbs Hall, meanwhile, was rich in Spiritual Qi and served as the Holy Hall's main base of operations. It was abundant with Immortal Grass and Spiritual Medicine, supplying the entire Holy Hall. As a result, disciples from Hundred Herbs Hall were welcome wherever they went, and they had no need to risk their lives competing for rankings.
...And then there was Thunderlight Hall... It had once been a top-three Sub-Hall. Back in the day, it had been renowned throughout the Holy Hall for the formidable power of its genius Body Cultivators. But after Thunderbolt ascended to the status of Ancestral Master, there was nothing Thunderlight Hall could do. Even with the Magic for Body Cultivators available, it seemed the talent pool for that path had collectively dried up.
Among all types of Cultivators, Sword Cultivators were the strongest. This wasn't to say that Sword Cultivators had an inherent advantage, but rather that the requirements were lower, making it easier to display one's power. It wasn't like other paths that had more objective requirements of a Cultivator. For example, with Body Cultivators, if you couldn't convert Elemental Power to temper your body, or if your conversion efficiency was low, no amount of training would prevent you from getting half the results for twice the effort.
Take Pill Cultivators, for instance. The comprehension needed for Alchemy was something that could only be understood, not taught. If you didn't have it, you didn't have it.
The same principle applied to Talisman crafting, Array Techniques, Artifact Refining, and so on. But with Sword Cultivators, no matter what, one could always start by practicing with the sword, gradually finding the feel for it and slowly gaining insight. In the beginning, there weren't any overly complex Sword Techniques.
Of course, to become an outstanding Sword Cultivator, one still needed a certain aptitude, but this would only become apparent much later on.
"Damn it, this mission requires a team too? Without a strong Sword Cultivator and a Body Cultivator, how the hell are we supposed to do this?!"
"High risk, low contribution points... Tsk tsk, there's no way to get by in Thunderlight Hall anymore. I have a friend in Immortal Fate Hall who just helps out his senior brothers and manages to scrape together a few Spirit Stones every month. That bastard used to be a whole layer weaker than me, and now he's two layers ahead. I feel like dying!"
a Bow Cultivator said, shaking his head.
"Who'd want people like us anyway? Remember that junior sister I liked in Beast Hall? I ran into her a while back, and she was leading a Spirit Beast. Shit, my Messenger is still just a Little Demon! I couldn't show my face. Before she could even say anything, I just broke up with her right then and there."
"Sigh, it's just our bad luck. Stop complaining. I'm already planning to go start a Spirit Field. At least I can harvest some Spirit Grain to exchange for contribution points, then save up for some Spirit Stones."
"Yeah, right. With the pathetic Elemental Qi in our Thunderlight Hall? The folks at Hundred Herbs Hall can plant stuff anywhere and it'll grow better than what we slave over day and night. Damn it!"
After Zhao Guang left, Thunderlight Hall was indeed in a state of unrest. Its members were already weak, and now they were utterly lazy.
It was clear that among Thunderlight Hall's four Elders, none besides Zhao Ya had any significant backing, so they couldn't secure more resources for the Hall. Although Zhao Ya was from the Zhao Family, their main power base was in other Sub-Halls. Sending her here was likely a move to expand their influence, but they discovered Thunderlight Hall was a lost cause. Resources were limited, and the Zhao Family were no fools.
"Have you guys heard? If this keeps up, I'm afraid even Elder Zhao will leave!"
This immediately sparked a flurry of hushed whispers among the disciples.
An Elder was also a vital resource for a Sub-Hall. What disciple didn't want a powerful backer? If Zhao Ya left too, then they would truly have no hope of ever making a name for themselves.
Listening from the side, Wang Meng couldn't help but shake his head. He compared this to his residual memories: back then, he had relied only on himself, using any means necessary to gain power. Now, it seemed everyone relied on others. Yet, a different feeling welled up inside him. 'This is the path of a Saint Cultivator.'
An Evil Cultivator seeks to defy the heavens alone, but a Saint Cultivator has a different, broader mindset of what it means to be strong.
Wang Meng felt a flicker of understanding. As a member of Thunderlight Hall, it seemed he should feel a sense of responsibility, not act like a mere bystander. He casually walked up to the second floor.