Chapter 113 - 110: Passing the Talisman Hall Assessment
Chapter 113: Chapter 110: Passing the Talisman Hall Assessment
The Talisman Hall was larger than Li Yuan had imagined.
After following the stone path for about half a li, the trees began to thin, revealing a cluster of well-arranged courtyards ahead. With their gray bricks, black tiles, and upturned eaves, their architectural style was identical to the Wang family’s main complex, though on a much smaller scale.
Several stone paths wound between the courtyards, their surfaces swept clean. The air was filled with the faint smell of Spiritual Ink, mixed with the scents of cinnabar and animal hide.
Occasionally, he saw a few Cultivators in bluish-gray robes coming and going from the courtyards. Most held talisman paper or brushes, their steps unhurried, their expressions focused.
Li Yuan was stopped by a Cultivator on duty at the entrance to the courtyards.
"What are you here for?"
"To take the assessment."
The Cultivator on duty sized him up, then pointed to a small path to the east.
"The assessment is in the East Courtyard. Go in, turn left, and it’s the second stone house."
Li Yuan followed the path.
The East Courtyard was even quieter than the outer courtyards. The stone houses stood in a row, all their doors shut. Only the door to the second house was ajar, a dim yellow light spilling out from within.
Li Yuan walked to the door and knocked twice on the frame.
"Come in."
The room wasn’t large; a wide table took up most of the space. The table was covered with a thick piece of felt, on which sat more than a dozen stacks of various talisman papers, different types of Spiritual Ink, and a single talisman brush.
A man sat behind the table.
He was in his fifties, with a gaunt face and high cheekbones. His eyes weren’t large, but they were exceptionally bright, the wrinkles at their corners as sharp as if carved by a knife. His fingers were long and slender, their tips bearing the faint, familiar stains of cinnabar common to all long-time talisman makers.
He had the aura of a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, but it was so heavily suppressed that it was almost imperceptible unless one focused.
The examining Talisman Master glanced at Li Yuan, forgoing any pleasantries.
"Name."
"Li Yuan."
"Cultivation."
"Qi Refining Sixth Level."
"Which Talismans can you create?"
"Fireball Talisman, Cleaning Talisman, Exorcism Talisman, Warning Talisman, Vein-Expanding Talisman, Golden Armor Talisman, Replenishing Talisman, Rejuvenation Talisman, Vajra Talisman."
The examining Talisman Master’s gaze lingered on Li Yuan for an extra moment.
He pulled a few sheets of paper from the piles on the table and pushed them in front of Li Yuan.
"Draw one of each. Use the brush and ink on the table."
Li Yuan walked to the table and picked up the talisman brush.
The brush wasn’t his, and it felt different in his hand. The shaft was slightly thinner than the one he was used to, and the tip was a bit stiff. The quality wasn’t bad, however; Spiritual Power flowed through it smoothly.
Li Yuan dipped the brush in the ink, set it to the paper, and began to draw a Fireball Talisman.
This was the Talisman he was most practiced at creating. From the initial stroke to laying the patterns, layering them, and finishing the design, his movements were fluid and unbroken. His Expert Level technique was evident as he drew the six Spirit Patterns without a single pause. As he completed the Talisman Core, the Spiritual Power turned inward, and a deep, steady crimson glow rose to the surface of the paper.
The examining Talisman Master’s gaze was fixed on his hand the whole time.
Once the Fireball Talisman was complete, Li Yuan set it aside, took a new sheet of paper, and began to draw a Rejuvenation Talisman.
The dynamics of Wood Element Spirit Patterns were completely different from the Fire Element, but Li Yuan’s transition between the two was seamless, requiring no time to adjust. He laid out the Healing Pattern and drew in the nourishing pattern, and a faint green light began to glow at the Talisman Core.
However, he rushed the final strokes, and the talisman failed.
After attempting to draw all the Tier One Low Grade talismans, Li Yuan put the brush back on its stand.
Four were successful in the end: Fireball Talisman, Golden Armor Talisman, Vein-Expanding Talisman, and Replenishing Talisman.
The examining Talisman Master reached out and took the talismans—including the failed ones—and examined them one by one.
After looking them over, the examining Talisman Master nodded.
"You’ve passed."
The examining Talisman Master leaned back in his chair, his gaze shifting from the Talismans to Li Yuan’s face.
"Can you make a Concealing Breath Talisman?"
"No."
The examining Talisman Master took a scroll of animal hide from a drawer beneath the table, placed it on the surface, and pushed it toward Li Yuan.
"These are the instructions for the Concealing Breath Talisman."
Li Yuan glanced at him.
"Read it now, learn it now, and draw it now." The examining Talisman Master’s tone was unchanged, as if he were giving a perfectly ordinary instruction.
He pushed a few more sheets of talisman paper across the table toward him.
He paused, his gaze growing sharper.
"And a word of warning—don’t think you can bluff your way through this. I’ll be able to tell if this is your first time encountering this Talisman just by the way you make your first stroke."
Li Yuan said nothing, simply reaching out and unfurling the animal hide scroll.
The instructions for the Concealing Breath Talisman lay spread across the table, the diagram of the Spirit Pattern’s layout and the key instructions clear at a glance.
Li Yuan read through it from top to bottom.
’His first impression—it was completely different from the other Talismans.’
The Fireball Talisman was based on the Fire Element, the Vajra Talisman on the Earth and Metal Element, and the Rejuvenation Talisman on the Wood Element. The Cleaning and Exorcism Talismans also followed common channels of Spiritual Power.
The Concealing Breath Talisman, however, wasn’t based on any element.
Its Spirit Pattern was called the Concealment Pattern. The core principle wasn’t to output a certain kind of Spiritual Power effect, but to construct a barrier of Spiritual Power on the paper. This barrier would envelop the user’s Spiritual Qi fluctuations and aura, preventing them from leaking out.
’The entire concept was different.’
Li Yuan read the key instructions on the scroll again.
"The Concealment Pattern must draw Spiritual Power inward from the outside. The brushstroke’s movement is the reverse of conventional Spirit Patterns: begin heavy, end light. The Spiritual Power distribution should be thick on the outside and thin on the inside."
’Begin heavy, end light.’
’It’s the exact opposite of all my drawing habits.’
’A Fireball Talisman starts light and ends heavy, concentrating Spiritual Power toward the finish. A Vajra Talisman requires uniform pressure throughout. A Rejuvenation Talisman is kept light from start to finish.’
’The Concealing Breath Talisman requires the heaviest Spiritual Power at the initial stroke, which then must gradually decrease until it’s nearly zero by the final stroke.’
Li Yuan picked up the talisman brush, dipped it in Spiritual Ink, and spread out the first sheet of talisman paper.
The first Concealment Pattern.
He began the stroke, pressing the Spiritual Power down.
’Too heavy.’
’It wasn’t an issue of force, but of direction. All the Spirit Patterns I’ve drawn before are ’spread outwards,’ where the Spiritual Power flows from the brush tip and expands across the paper’s surface. The Concealing Breath Talisman requires the Spiritual Power to ’gather inwards,’ seeping from the surface into the paper’s interior.’
With Li Yuan’s first stroke, his Spiritual Power habitually flowed outward, spreading across a small patch of the paper.
The Concealment Pattern’s form immediately fell apart.
’A failure.’
Li Yuan peeled the ruined talisman off, set it aside, and laid out a second sheet.
This time, he consciously forced the Spiritual Power’s flow back. As he began the stroke, he rotated his wrist inward by a fraction and lowered the angle of the brush tip, trying to guide the Spiritual Power into the paper’s inner layers.
The Spiritual Power did seep inward a little, but not enough. It only penetrated the surface layer before stopping, with most of the power still pooling on top of the paper.
The first half of the Concealment Pattern barely took shape, but for the second half—where the Spiritual Power had to gradually decrease—Li Yuan’s wrist failed to control the pace of reduction. The flow of Spiritual Power broke midway, creating a noticeable gap in the pattern.
’Another failure.’
The examining Talisman Master sat opposite him, hands folded on the table, watching the whole time.
His gaze was not on the talisman paper, but was fixed on Li Yuan’s wrist.
The third sheet... the fourth... the fifth...
It wasn’t until the seventh sheet that Li Yuan finally succeeded.
A faint gray film appeared on the surface of the Concealing Breath Talisman. It wasn’t a glow, but rather the base color of the paper showing through after the Spiritual Power had been turned inward to its absolute limit. It was dull and contained, completely different from any talisman that released its power outward.
[Equippable item detected: Concealing Breath Talisman]
’It’s crude, but at least it’s a success.’
The examining Talisman Master looked at the talisman, his gaze lingering on its surface for a few moments.
He reached out and picked it up, flipped it to the back, and lightly pressed a finger on the paper’s surface.
Then he put it down.
"Passed."
A single, decisive word.
He placed the Concealing Breath Talisman on the corner of the table, stacking it with the previous talismans.
"The Talisman Hall’s induction process will take a day or two. You can stay here for now. There’s temporary lodging behind the East Courtyard. Go register with the Cultivator on duty."
Li Yuan nodded and rolled up the Concealing Breath Talisman instructions on the table.
"Take the instructions with you," the examining Talisman Master added. "They’re yours now."
Li Yuan tucked the animal hide scroll into his sleeve, gave a slight bow with cupped hands, and turned to leave the stone house.
As he left the East Courtyard, he ran into someone.
Yu Talisman Master.
He was carrying a cloth bag, as if he had just returned from procuring supplies, and was heading down a different path. When he saw Li Yuan emerge from the assessment room, he paused.
"Finished with your assessment?"
"Yes."
Yu Talisman Master sized him up.
"You passed?"
"I passed."
Yu Talisman Master froze for a moment.
He opened his mouth, then closed it. His lips twitched, and finally, he just shook his head.
"So they actually let you in."
His tone was full of surprise, not of disbelief, but more a sense of marvel at something completely unexpected.
He patted the cloth bag in his hand, said nothing more, gave Li Yuan a nod, and continued on his way.
Li Yuan watched his retreating figure, then turned and headed for the temporary lodging behind the East Courtyard.
The lodging was a small stone house, a bit more spacious than the squat huts at the mining camp. The table was also larger, big enough to accommodate a full set of talisman-making tools.
Li Yuan put his things away and sat down at the table.
He took the animal hide scroll with the Concealing Breath Talisman’s instructions from his sleeve and once again spread it out on the table.
’During the assessment, I drew seven and only one succeeded.’
’The success rate is too low.’
Li Yuan picked up the talisman brush, dipped it in Spiritual Ink, and spread out a new sheet of talisman paper.
Brush to paper.