Chapter 7: The Advanced Golden Light Talisman
After bidding farewell to his senior sister, Lu You placed all four basic talismans into the Cauldron of Cornucopia as well.
He then cultivated for a while using the Minor Five Elements Qi-Nourishing Technique, complaining as he did so about how poor his spiritual root was and how painfully slow his cultivation progress remained.
After that, he took out the Golden Light Talisman and began studying it.
With the foundation of beginner-level talismans already laid, when he looked at this mid-grade Golden Light Talisman again, Lu You felt as though he could vaguely grasp the underlying principles within it.
He picked up the materials and began to draw.
As expected, more than a dozen attempts failed in succession.
However, the final failed product already matched the Golden Light Talisman perfectly in terms of stroke structure.
"I've already fully grasped the strokes. What's missing now is the spiritual-energy input pathway."
For ordinary cultivators, without books related to beginner Talisman crafting, this was exactly where they would get stuck.
But this problem was nothing to Lu You.
He had an inexhaustible supply of Golden Light Talismans.
Picking one up, Lu You attempted to inject spiritual energy into it to activate it.
The talisman transformed into a shell of spiritual energy, like an egg, enveloping Lu You completely, before rapidly dissipating.
"I input too much spiritual energy. It activated directly."
Lu You picked up another one, this time deliberately reducing the amount of spiritual energy he fed into it.
The result was still failure.
Then came the third, the fourth... all the way to the two-hundredth talisman.
Only then did Lu You stop, feeling that he might finally be onto something.
He laid out high-quality talisman-drawing materials once more.
Recalling his latest insights, he carefully copied the talisman stroke by stroke.
But just as he reached the final strokes, when success seemed imminent, Lu You suddenly stopped.
"Something still feels off. The more I draw, the more awkward it feels."
When a problem appeared, it had to be solved.
Lu You picked up the Golden Light Talisman again and resumed his research, one after another.
For an entire day and night, Lu You did nothing else—he stayed holed up in his room, repeatedly activating Golden Light Talismans.
At first, he kept a record of how many he had used, wanting to note how many activations it took to truly master the technique.
But once the number exceeded five thousand, he couldn't be bothered to keep count anymore.
After dismantling and activating what seemed like tens of thousands of talismans,instead of growing exhausted, Lu You felt increasingly energized.
At the beginning, activating a Golden Light Talisman would produce a layer of spiritual energy that protected his entire body.
Gradually, as he activated more and more of them, Lu You began to grasp the technique for controlling the power and scale of a talisman's release.
By the end, after activating a Golden Light Talisman and guiding it with his own spiritual energy, he could actually prevent it from covering his whole body and instead concentrate its protective power on a specific area he designated.
"Whether or not I can draw talismans successfully aside, at the very least, when it comes to using talismans, I should be unrivaled among Qi Refining cultivators... right?"
After concentrating the Golden Light Talisman's power onto a single point, its defensive strength increased dramatically.
Lu You applied the Golden Light Talisman to the large tree in his courtyard, then struck it with a Thunder Technique Talisman. To his surprise, a Thunder Technique Talisman comparable to a full-power strike from a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator only barely pierced the Golden Light Talisman's defense, leaving nothing more than a fingertip-sized black mark on the tree trunk.
He peeled back the scorched spot.
The bark beneath was completely unharmed.
"It can actually block even an attack on par with a full-strength seventh-level Qi Refining strike."
Lu You was extremely satisfied with the technique he had mastered.
After activating and releasing so many talismans, his understanding of the Golden Light Talisman had deepened severalfold. Brimming with confidence, Lu You returned to his room and, in one smooth, uninterrupted effort, finally succeeded in copying the Golden Light Talisman.
"All the materials I used were high-grade, several times more expensive than the Golden Light Talisman I bought. There's a good chance its power will increase two or even three times, just like the basic talismans I've already mastered."
Once again using the tree outside his door as a target, Lu You controlled the Golden Light Talisman to protect a single point, then struck it with a Thunder Technique Talisman.
This time, the tree didn't move at all.
The Golden Light Talisman's spiritual energy was still intact—after neutralizing the Thunder Technique Talisman, the Golden Light Talisman he had drawn with high-grade materials still had plenty of spiritual energy remaining.
After a moment's thought, Lu You drew another talisman and activated it, this time without deliberately controlling its coverage.
The new Golden Light Talisman enveloped the entire tree.
Lu You then threw out a Thunder Technique Talisman.
A bolt of violet lightning exploded against the golden light shielding the tree. When the collision ended, Lu You rushed over to inspect it.
The Golden Light Talisman and the Thunder Technique Talisman had perfectly neutralized each other.
A Golden Light Talisman enhanced once by high-grade materials could now comprehensively block a full-power strike from a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator.
"Next, I'll try to see if I can learn the Thunder Technique Talisman on my own and then upgrade it using high-grade materials as well."
Lu You's eyes burned with excitement.
He hadn't slept for two full days, yet he was still overflowing with energy.
However, copying offensive talismans was vastly different from studying defensive ones.
Without relevant books to explain and guide him, Lu You simply couldn't get started.
The talisman primer Han Tian had sold to Lu You only contained the drawing methods for non-ranked talismans.
If he wanted to continue drawing beginner talismans, he would have to purchase a beginner talisman manual.
"I just told Senior Sister I wouldn't go down the mountain—and now I'm immediately eating my own words."
Lu You paced back and forth inside the room for a long time before finally stomping his foot.
"If you don't have a trace of killing intent in your heart, you'll forever be nothing more than a fat lamb in everyone else's eyes."
That female clerk had nearly taken his life. How could he avoid her?
He should repay her—with interest.
And now, he possessed an upgraded Golden Light Talisman, coupled with his inexhaustible supply of Thunder Technique Talismans, Rain-Calling Talismans, Beginner Wind Talismans, Beginner Flame Talismans, and Sharp Metal Talismans, if he were to strike first, any cultivator at the Qi Refining realm would be forced to pay a heavy price.
"Still, this trip down the mountain means I should buy more talisman manuals as well," Lu You decided. "Otherwise, I'll just keep wasting time going back and forth."
Having made up his mind, he circulated the Minor Five Elements Qi-Nourishing Technique, then rested briefly. As dawn began to break, he changed into a set of cultivation robes.
The last time Lu You went down the mountain, he had deliberately dressed shabbily—and ended up getting set up by the shop clerk.
This time, he made a point of changing his clothes. He even tidied up his hair, letting a few strands of bangs fall across his forehead.
When he looked into the mirror, he actually carried a bit of the air of a refined young noble.
Compared to last time, his appearance was completely different.
Lu You felt confident that even if he ran into that clerk again, she wouldn't recognize him.
After finishing up, Lu You hurried over to Zeng Yan's residence.
"Senior Sister, are you heading out?"
He lightly knocked on the door. When there was no response from inside, he hesitated, then pressed his ear to the door to listen for any movement.
The door suddenly swung open.
Zeng Yan stood there, bleary-eyed, clearly just awakened, her voice still tinged with morning irritation.
"Tsk. Didn't you say you weren't going? How did you wake up even earlier than I did?"
Noticing Lu You's appearance, Zeng Yan clicked her tongue and bluntly exposed his thoughts.
"So timid. I already killed the bandit cultivator—are you really still afraid that shop clerk will recognize you?"
"...Senior Sister, seeing through things is fine, but you don't have to say it out loud."
Lu You scratched his head awkwardly.
"It's just that I've run out of materials. And I managed to successfully draw a few talismans, I need to exchange them for some spirit coins to refill my purse."
This was the explanation he had prepared in advance.
If he never bought materials, it would inevitably draw suspicion.
And if the Cauldron of Cornucopia were exposed, he would be guilty of possessing a priceless treasure.
Even if the cauldron was bound to him and couldn't be taken away, his fate wouldn't be any better—either killed outright, or imprisoned and treated as nothing more than a copying tool.
"Wait here for a moment."
With a bang, Zeng Yan shut the door.
When she said "wait a moment," it wasn't the kind of "moment" girls spoke of in his previous life—she really meant it.
In less than five minutes, Zeng Yan emerged, neat and efficient.
As cultivators, both skin and complexion were nourished by spiritual energy.
This time, Zeng Yan had also changed out of her plain robe and put on a pure white long dress, making her look ethereal and otherworldly.