“Since your ancient script studies are good, drawing talismans suits you.” Jun Luo’s voice was cold, yet it carried a soothing quality. “Three months is enough. There is no need to worry.”
Having spent nearly a year together, Gu Ningyun understood her companions quite well.
Jun Luo always knew many things, so it was only natural that he had dabbled in the Talisman Dao.
Gu Ningyun asked, “I heard from Mu Chenze that getting started with arrays takes a long time. Did you learn it before?”
“Yes. Previously, I wanted to research sword arrays, so I studied the Dao of Arrays.”
Hearing this, Gu Ningyun’s footsteps faltered for a moment.
In her past life, there were those who would memorize an entire poem just for the sake of one line; now, there was someone who would study the entire Dao of Arrays just for a sword array.
Forget it. She didn’t understand the world of geniuses.
Jun Luo didn’t hear her speak and turned to look at her.
Seeing her watery eyes blinking repeatedly, he felt she was thinking about something strange.
He remained silent for a moment before saying, “Talismans and arrays share common ground. If you have time later, you can visit the Array Hall.”
Gu Ningyun’s drifting thoughts came to a halt.
Since that was the case, it would be good to research arrays in the future. Perhaps she could cross-reference the Talisman Dao and the Dao of Arrays to develop something interesting.
...
They arrived at the Talisman Hall as they spoke.
After saying goodbye to Jun Luo, Gu Ningyun went to Cultivation Chamber No. 888.
Unlike the empty cultivation chambers in the Technique Hall and the Sword Hall, the chamber in the Talisman Hall was furnished with a meditation mat and a low table.
This time, she heard a cold female voice. “Qi Refining level four middle stage. Capable of drawing yellow-rank talismans.”
Immediately after, a small stack of yellowed paper, brushes, ink, and blank paper appeared on the table.
Seeing this familiar setup, Gu Ningyun understood immediately.
When she performed ancient script translation tasks, she had translated ancient texts related to talismans.
Although that ancient talisman knowledge was not something she could put into practice at her current cultivation level, she vaguely sensed that talismans were closely related to the ancient script.
What Jun Luo had said earlier about talismans also confirmed this point.
The writing materials on the table were exactly the same as the setup she used for translating ancient script.
Gu Ningyun sat down on the meditation mat, and the female voice said, “Translate.”
Ancient script translation was already very familiar to Gu Ningyun.
As soon as the voice finished, she picked up the brush and paper to begin translating.
In only the time it took for an incense stick to burn, she had finished translating the ancient script fragments on the table.
After she wrote the final character, and before she could even put down the brush to check her work, a wave of spirit energy swept over, taking away the writing materials from the table.
A short while later, the female voice spoke again. “Translation time: one incense stick. Translation quality: Excellent. You may proceed directly to talisman learning.”
A spiritual light flashed across the table, and a stack of palm-sized yellow paper, a pen flowing with spiritual light, and a white jade bottle appeared.
“The so-called drawing of talismans is essentially using the ancient script as a medium, talisman paper and talisman ink as carriers, and a talisman pen as an aid to communicate with the spirit energy of heaven and earth, or even the energy of the world itself.
Drawing talismans is not limited by spirit roots, but it is recommended for beginners to start with the spirit energy they are most familiar with.”
A cyan jade slip appeared on the table. “Follow and learn: Swift-Walk Talisman.”
Gu Ningyun extended her divine sense into it. First, she saw a high-definition image of a talisman.
On the yellow talisman paper, a strange pattern was outlined in dark red talisman ink.
Gu Ningyun observed it closely and discovered it was the ancient script character for ‘walk,’ drawn in a single stroke that connected from start to finish.
The overall appearance of this ‘walk’ character somewhat resembled the fluctuation trajectory of wind spirit energy.
She only knew about spirit energy fluctuations because of the guidance from the 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》 cultivation technique.
Next, a cyan point of light appeared on the pattern. Gu Ningyun noticed the light point starting from the beginning of the ‘walk’ character and moving all the way to its end.
This was likely the drawing trajectory of the Swift-Walk Talisman rune.
Gu Ningyun memorized it after one look. The light point continued to loop; for the sake of caution, she followed the light point a few more times.
After five times, a golden silhouette of light holding a talisman pen appeared beside the talisman.
The silhouette loaded the talisman ink into the pen barrel. A cyan point of light started from the silhouette’s dantian, followed the established path through the fingers and into the talisman pen, until it reached the tip.
Immediately after, the silhouette held the pen with a suspended wrist and drew a ‘walk’ rune on the blank talisman paper.
This process looped ten times. Gu Ningyun first memorized the path of spirit energy circulation, then observed the silhouette’s brushwork.
She discovered that while drawing the rune, the spirit energy within the silhouette would pass through the pen tip and be sealed into the talisman paper by the action of the talisman ink.
During this process, neither the drawing path of the rune nor the method of spirit energy input was static; both possessed a wonderful fluctuation.
This fluctuation resonated at the same frequency as wind spirit energy.
When the pen first touched the paper, only the spirit energy drawn by the silhouette was fluctuating. Soon after, the wind spirit energy around the talisman was also stirred, vibrating in sync with the spirit energy sealed by the talisman ink.
As the drawing of the ‘walk’ character became more complete, the surrounding wind spirit energy seemed to be pulled by something, spiraling into the red rune.
Once the final point was drawn, the rune, connected from start to finish, flashed with a cyan spiritual light.
All the wind spirit energy that had entered the talisman paper was sealed within by the rune, flowing and circulating steadily along its path.
The spiritual light faded, and the talisman paper returned to stillness.
Then, a line of small golden characters appeared above the silhouette’s head: Swift-Walk Talisman, Success.
The rank of a talisman is related to the talisman cultivator’s cultivation, as well as their grasp of spirit energy and the ancient script.
The Swift-Walk Talisman belongs to the wind-attribute talismans. Those with wind spirit roots find it easiest to master.
During the Qi Refining stage, it can reach the yellow-rank top-grade at most. It is recommended to practice more until you reach the yellow-rank top-grade.
After patiently watching all ten loops, Gu Ningyun finally withdrew her divine sense.
After simulating the drawing of the Swift-Walk Talisman once in her mind, she reached out and took the jade bottle from the table.
Opening the stopper, she found a red liquid rich in spirit energy that had no scent.
Imitating the silhouette’s actions, she brought the pen barrel close to the bottle’s mouth, and the red talisman ink was quickly absorbed.
It stopped once the liquid in the bottle had dropped by a fifth.
Gu Ningyun capped the talisman ink and put it back in its place. She spread out a piece of talisman paper and began her attempt at drawing.
...
After ruining seven pieces of talisman paper, Gu Ningyun lifted the tip of her pen.
A faint cyan light flashed across the rune. The spirit energy was contained within the talisman paper, and finally, it did not shatter.
Gu Ningyun held her breath and waited for a moment. Once she was sure there were no abnormalities, she leaned in to observe.
The rune was identical to the one drawn by the silhouette, but the spirit energy fluctuations within were slightly different.
There wasn't much spirit energy inside the paper, and it was unevenly distributed, barely flowing along the rune’s trajectory.
Did this count as a yellow-rank low-grade Swift-Walk Talisman?
She glanced at the cultivation chamber, which was built of the same materials as those in the Sword Hall, and her hands itched.
Should she... test it out and see the effect?
Just as she pinched the Swift-Walk Talisman, feeling on the verge of acting, a purple jade slip suddenly emerged on the table.
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