Chapter 109 - 106: Getting Started with the Vajra Talisman
Chapter 109: Chapter 106: Getting Started with the Vajra Talisman
The next morning, He Qing arrived.
He stood by the stone railing outside the herb garden, looking even thinner than he had a few days ago.
The dark circles under his eyes now reached his cheekbones, and his lips were dry and peeling. But when he spoke, his tone was calmer than before.
It was as if he had figured something out.
"You know what happened last night."
Li Yuan nodded.
He Qing didn’t beat around the bush.
"The Jade Essence Flowers are gone, and more than half of the southern herb garden is ruined. These past few days, problems have been popping up everywhere for the family. The He family can’t hold out on its own."
He looked at Li Yuan.
"I’d like to ask you to move from the herb garden to the main compound. The main compound is centrally located, so no matter which direction trouble comes from, you can get there the fastest."
"And the extra compensation?"
"An extra three Spirit Stones per day,"
He Qing held up three fingers. "The rewards for killing Demon Beasts and Cultivators will be calculated separately, as before."
Li Yuan didn’t hesitate.
"Deal."
He Qing breathed a sigh of relief and beckoned to someone behind him, ordering them to prepare a room for Li Yuan.
Li Yuan packed up his belongings in the stone house, put them in his storage pouch, and walked along the mountain path toward the He family’s main compound.
The He family’s main compound was much larger than the herb garden. It was enclosed by a stone wall with two entrances, one north and one south. The buildings inside were arranged along the base of the wall. To the east were the storehouses and an apothecary, and to the west was the assembly hall.
The quarters arranged for Li Yuan were a stone house slightly east of the center of the courtyard. It had a wide enough table, and its window faced the central open space.
After putting his things away and closing the door, Li Yuan sat down at the table.
He unfolded the beast hide containing the method for creating the Vajra Talisman and spread it on the tabletop.
He had acquired this method several days ago but had been busy drawing Fireball Talismans and Rejuvenation Talismans, never finding a solid block of time to study it. Now that he had moved to the main compound, his time outside of daily guard duty was more concentrated. It was the perfect time to start.
The Spirit Pattern arrangement of the Vajra Talisman was very different from that of the Fireball Talisman.
The Fireball Talisman was Fire Element, with Spirit Patterns mainly consisting of the Fire Gathering Pattern and the Detonation Pattern. Its core principle was to compress Spiritual Power and then release it. The Vajra Talisman was Earth Element with a Gold Attribute affinity. Its Spirit Patterns were the Armor Condensation Pattern and the Solid Pattern, and its core principle was to spread Spiritual Power into a uniform, dense film.
The two approaches were complete opposites. The Fireball Talisman was about explosion; the Vajra Talisman was about containment.
Li Yuan dipped his brush in Spiritual Ink and attempted to draw the first Armor Condensation Pattern on a piece of ordinary yellow paper.
A problem arose as soon as he laid down the Spirit Pattern. The Armor Condensation Pattern required a uniform and dense spread of Spiritual Power. If he applied too much force, the Spiritual Power would build up in the middle of the pattern, while the edges would become thin. The Spirit Pattern on the paper bulged in the center, and the Spiritual Power at the edges dissipated completely.
A failure.
Li Yuan lifted the paper, set it aside, and laid out a second sheet.
His wrist paused at a connection point, failing to contain the Spiritual Power, which leaked out from the gap.
Another failure.
On the third sheet, he deliberately paused for half a breath at the connection, first using a sliver of Spiritual Power to seal the edge of the previous pattern before starting the next one. The first half of the Solid Pattern went smoothly, but he ran into trouble again at a turn.
The Vajra Talisman’s Spirit Patterns had several near-right-angle turns, unlike the Fireball Talisman, which mostly consisted of curves. The flow of Spiritual Power from the brush tip was prone to breaking at these corners, and once it broke, the pattern would dissipate.
The third sheet, a failure.
Li Yuan didn’t grow impatient. He put down his talisman brush and reread the description of the turns in the creation method.
"At the corners, one must slow down in advance to gather power. At the moment of the turn, the Spiritual Power must remain unbroken and the brush tip must not stop."
He picked up the brush and practiced the turns by themselves on a blank sheet of paper.
Not drawing the full Spirit Pattern, only practicing the corners.
The first time, the Spiritual Power broke at the corner.
The second time, the Spiritual Power didn’t break, but the brush tip paused, leaving a small burr in the pattern.
By the sixth or seventh try, the turn was finally clean.
Li Yuan spread out a sheet of Cyan Pattern Paper once more.
He began the Armor Condensation Pattern, controlling his force to be about twenty percent lighter than for a Fireball Talisman, and paused for half a breath at the connection to seal the edge. When the brush reached the corner, he slowed down, gathered power, and turned. The Spiritual Power didn’t break.
The moment the Spiritual Power converged at the Talisman Core, all six Spirit Patterns lit up simultaneously.
The light contracted inward layer by layer, coalescing into a tiny, bright point at the Talisman Core before sinking into the paper.
A very faint, earthy-yellow luster appeared on the surface of the talisman paper. It was much more subdued than the crimson of a Fireball Talisman, resembling a thin, compressed sheet of iron.
Success.
Li Yuan picked up the Vajra Talisman and turned it over to the front.
The arrangement of Spirit Patterns was nearly twice as dense as a Fireball Talisman’s. The six patterns were layered one on top of the other without interfering, and the seals at the connections were clean and sharp. Its quality couldn’t compare to an Expert Level Fireball Talisman—some edges still had burrs—but for a first successful attempt, it was good enough.
Li Yuan placed the Vajra Talisman on the desk and rested his fingertip on it.
The panel popped up.
[Detected equippable item: Vajra Talisman (Complete)]
[Entry Preview: Iron Film Body (White) — Increases skin and membrane defense, while also increasing meridian toughness]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Consume the blood of nine different Tier One Low Grade or higher Demon Beasts (0/9)]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
A white entry. Iron Film Body.
Li Yuan’s gaze lingered on the entry’s information for an extra breath.
Skin and membrane defense, and meridian toughness. A dual enhancement.
The condition for permanence was to consume the blood of nine *different* Demon Beasts. Not nine portions, but nine types—drinking more blood from the same type of Demon Beast would only count as one.
Li Yuan didn’t stop. He spread out another sheet of talisman paper, dipped his brush in ink, and began to draw.
A second Vajra Talisman.
He started faster than the first time. The first four Spirit Patterns were laid down smoothly, and the seals at the connections were even cleaner. The fifth pattern was still a bit unsteady, but it didn’t fall apart, and he barely managed to make it to the sixth.
The final convergence.
The Spiritual Power slowly gathered at the Talisman Core—and then it loosened.
A failure.
Li Yuan didn’t stop, immediately laying out a third sheet.
...
Two days later, Li Yuan set down his talisman brush, and the panel appeared.
[Talisman: Vajra Talisman - Novice (0/200)]
’I’ve reached the Novice level.’
Li Yuan flexed his wrist and neatly stacked the finished products and failures separately.
Three finished Vajra Talismans sat on the corner of the table. He picked one up, touched it with his fingertip, and the panel popped up again—it was the same as before, a white entry, Iron Film Body.
’Nine types of Demon Beast blood.’
Demon Beast blood itself was a common auxiliary material in talisman crafting. When mixing cinnabar for ink, a small amount of Demon Beast blood was often added to enhance the Spiritual Ink’s spiritual conductivity. Different types of blood were suited for talismans of different attributes.
It was needed for talisman crafting and for permanence. The means of collection were readily available.
Li Yuan put away the Vajra Talismans and walked to the window.
In the courtyard outside the window, a few He family Cultivators were carrying wooden planks to repair a section of the stone wall that had been knocked crooked by a Demon Beast the day before. A young clansman was squatting at the base of the wall, stuffing rubble into the cracks. His movements were clumsy, and his hands were wrapped in gauze.
From the direction of a distant mountain hollow, the faint low roars of one or two Demon Beasts could be heard.
Li Yuan turned back to his desk, took out two Evil Essence Pills from his storage pouch, and consumed them.
After the Evil Qi entered his body, it was rapidly converted by the Evil Qi Body Tempering entry, washing over his muscles and bones before being depleted. His muscles felt a bit firmer.
He then sat down cross-legged and began to circulate the Nourishing Essence Skill.
With the aid of his Pure Spiritual Power and unobstructed meridians, his Qi Blood began to circulate rapidly along the Cultivation Technique’s path.
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles.
Another burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard.
Li Yuan opened his eyes, stood up, and pushed the door open.