Chapter 123 - 119: Aura Concealment
Chapter 123: Chapter 119: Aura Concealment
For the next few days, Li Yuan’s life revolved around talisman making.
The Fireball Talismans were his main output, with a stable production of about ten finished pieces each day. He interspersed this with drawing Rejuvenation Talismans and Vajra Talismans, and also made a batch of Detoxification Talismans. Switching back and forth between different types, his overall proficiency in Talisman Making Skill continued to rise.
At the same time, Li Yuan was also practicing the Heart-lock Talisman whenever he could squeeze in the time.
The Heart-lock Talisman’s Sealing Pattern and its solidifying pattern followed a path of tightening layer by layer from the outside in. The Spiritual Power had to coil around like a rope, each loop tighter than the last. It was similar to the Vajra Talisman, but the required precision was much higher—the Vajra Talisman spread Spiritual Power into a uniform film, while the Heart-lock Talisman twisted Spiritual Power into a series of nested locks.
His first few attempts were all failures. He couldn’t grasp the rhythm for tightening the Sealing Pattern; it was either too loose to hold or so tight that it snapped.
But Li Yuan wasn’t anxious. He only drew two or three Heart-lock Talismans a day, dedicating the rest of his time to Fireball Talismans and other talismans he had already mastered.
This particular afternoon, Li Yuan was sitting in his stone house, drawing a Rejuvenation Talisman.
It was his fourth one of the day. The Healing Pattern spread out, followed by the nourishing pattern, as Wood Spiritual Power slowly permeated the talisman paper.
Reaching the final stroke, Li Yuan’s wrist turned slightly, drawing the last line of the nourishing pattern into the Talisman Core.
The instant the Spiritual Power settled into the Talisman Core, Li Yuan’s hand froze.
It wasn’t that something had gone wrong. Quite the opposite—it had gone too smoothly.
From his fingertip to the brush tip to the paper’s surface, he felt the state of every link in the entire conductive chain. He didn’t just roughly sense it; he felt it precisely, without any ambiguity.
How much Spiritual Power gathered at the brush tip, how much dispersed as it was laid on the paper, how much settled into the Talisman Core—every minute detail was as clear as a physical object right before his eyes.
Previously when he drew talismans, he could perceive most of this information, but there were always a few steps he navigated by experience, as if looking through a thin fog.
Now, the fog had lifted.
Li Yuan set down his talisman brush and raised his right hand, turning it over.
With a slight twitch of his fingers, a wisp of Spiritual Power flowed from his fingertip. He stared at it, and with a thought, the form of the Spiritual Power changed accordingly.
Elongating, flattening, splitting, and rejoining—every transformation was so precise that whatever he thought, the Spiritual Power did, with no delay or deviation.
Spiritual Power control, at the micro-level.
The panel appeared.
Li Yuan ignored the change in his Talisman Making Skill proficiency on the panel, instead turning his attention elsewhere.
He took out a Concealing Breath Talisman he had made earlier from the depths of his storage pouch. With a thought, he unequipped the Soul Mirror and then equipped the talisman.
[Condition for permanent "Breath Concealment (White)" has been met]
[Permanize?]
A thought crossed Li Yuan’s mind.
’Yes.’
[Permanization successful]
["Breath Concealment (White)" has become a permanent entry]
[Equipment consumed]
The Concealing Breath Talisman in his fingers dissolved into a faint, dark gray light and flowed into his body.
The change came quickly.
Li Yuan felt the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi emanating from his body being wrapped in an invisible layer. They weren’t disappearing; they were being suppressed. It was as if a shell had been placed over his Spiritual Qi, catching any that leaked out and pushing it back in.
With a thought, he tried to adjust the level of suppression.
His aura dropped a notch.
Lower.
It dropped another notch.
Li Yuan stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it halfway open. In the courtyard, several Cultivators from the guard squad were moving about in an open area, the closest one less than a hundred feet from his stone house.
The person glanced in Li Yuan’s direction, but their gaze didn’t linger, and they walked straight past.
With Li Yuan’s Cultivation at the Qi Refining Sixth Level, any Cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage within a hundred feet should have been able to sense the strength of his aura. But the man’s reaction indicated that the aura he sensed was far below what a Qi Refining Sixth Level should have.
Li Yuan looked down, sensing the current level of his projected aura.
It was at about the level of the Qi Refining Fourth or Fifth Level.
He tried to suppress it further. His aura dropped a little more. Pushing it down any further became difficult; thirty percent seemed to be his current limit.
Suppressing thirty percent of his Qi Refining Sixth Level cultivation meant his apparent aura was roughly between the early Qi Refining Fourth Level and the Fifth Level.
And it didn’t consume any Spiritual Power.
After the entry was permanized, Breath Concealment became a bodily instinct. It didn’t require any extra effort to maintain; he could turn it on or off at will.
Li Yuan closed the window and returned to his desk.
That evening, Li Yuan left the guard post and headed toward the market’s East Street.
Old Sun had said that Tier One Top Grade Evil Qi required two types of Tier One Top Grade Mutually Repulsive Herbs. Old Sun had mentioned a few names, which Li Yuan remembered clearly.
He went to the stall area on East Street and the apothecary shops in North Alley, asking at each one.
But none of them had it.
On his way back to the post, a sudden commotion erupted from the direction of the market’s west side.
Several Cultivators from the guard squad ran out of an alley, Magical Artifacts in hand, rushing toward the West Gate. Li Yuan slowed his pace for a moment as a passing Inspector General hurriedly shouted.
"Someone’s causing trouble on the west side again! Three or four Cultivators casting Magic outside the walls."
After the voice faded into the distance, the clamor in the market gradually returned to normal.
This sort of thing had been happening a lot recently. People from the Li family or unidentified Cultivators would harass the market’s perimeter every few days. The scale was small; they’d strike and then run, making it feel more like probing and attrition.
Li Yuan didn’t go over, continuing instead toward the post.
It had little to do with him. The guard squad would handle it.
After returning to his stone house, Li Yuan sat at his desk and spread out a new sheet of talisman paper.
Heart-lock Talisman.
He dipped his brush in Spiritual Ink and began to draw.
The first loop of the Sealing Pattern spread out, the Spiritual Power tightening from the outside in. The second loop followed, twenty percent tighter than the first. The third—Li Yuan’s control over the tightening rhythm was much steadier than in previous days. The Spiritual Power coiled like a rope, loop after loop, nesting layer upon layer.
When he reached the solidifying pattern, the Spiritual Power’s function shifted from tightening to solidifying. This step required locking the previous Sealing Patterns in their current state, preventing them from loosening or dissipating.
Li Yuan’s wrist paused for a moment. Spiritual Power gathered at the brush tip for a breath, and then he brought the brush down.
The solidifying pattern and the Sealing Pattern converged at the Talisman Core, the layers of Spiritual Power locking into place.
A very faint, pale bluish-white luster floated on the talisman’s surface—reserved and steady, unlike the crimson of a Fireball Talisman, the pale green of a Rejuvenation Talisman, or the earthy yellow of a Vajra Talisman.
’Success.’
[Talisman: Heart-lock Talisman - Novice (0/200)]
Li Yuan placed the Heart-lock Talisman on the desk and touched it with his fingertip.
[Equippable item detected: Heart-lock Talisman (Intact)]
[Entry Preview: Spiritual Power Mending (White) — Enhances the restorative effect of Spiritual Power on injuries, and allows active consumption of Spiritual Power to heal injuries]
[Permanization Condition Preview: Cultivate a healing Magic to the point of mastery]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
A White entry. Spiritual Power Mending.
A dual effect—a passive boost to the efficiency of Spiritual Power in repairing injuries, and an active ability to consume Spiritual Power to heal them.
The permanization condition was to cultivate a healing Magic to mastery.
Li Yuan currently didn’t have any healing Magic.
He put away the Heart-lock Talisman and continued drawing. He succeeded twice and failed once. His success rate at the novice stage wasn’t high, but it was enough.
Early the next morning, Li Yuan organized the talismans he had accumulated over the past two days, sorted them into several stacks, and carried them to the wooden shed in the courtyard.
He Shou was in the shed, checking a supply list. Seeing Li Yuan approach with a stack of talismans, he stood up and took them.
"Thirty-two Fireball Talismans, ten Rejuvenation Talismans, six Vajra Talismans, four Detoxification Talismans, and three Heart-lock Talismans," Li Yuan reported the count.
He Shou flipped through the stacks of talismans, his gaze lingering on the Heart-lock Talismans for a few extra moments.
"So this is the Heart-lock Talisman?"
"Yes. Placed on a wound, it can suppress the injury and prevent it from worsening. It lasts for about two hours."
He Shou nodded and set the Heart-lock Talismans aside separately.
"We have to carry these on patrol. I’ll assign one to each squad later."
He sorted the rest of the talismans and put them into a wooden crate.
Just then, Fang He walked over from the courtyard gate. His arm was wrapped in a fresh bandage; it looked like he had gotten injured again on patrol a couple of days ago.
Seeing the stacks of talismans on the table, Fang He leaned in for a look.
"You drew all these?"
"Yes."
Fang He picked up a Fireball Talisman, examined it, his gaze pausing on the Spirit Pattern for a breath before he put it back.
"Much better than the ones you buy outside."
He leaned against a wooden pillar, watching He Shou divide the talismans into shares for each squad.
"Old He, give my squad a couple extra Fireball Talismans, will you? Last time we were on patrol, we ran into two Tier One Middle Grade Iron-Spine Hyenas. We ran out of talismans before we could finish them off. We had to take them down in close combat, and we almost lost a man."
He Shou didn’t even look up.
"If you get more, others get less. This is all we have. We’ll split them evenly."
Fang He grunted and turned to Li Yuan.
"Li Yuan, you’re the Talisman Master here. Do you decide how these are distributed, or does Old He?"
"Captain He is in charge of distribution," Li Yuan said. "I just make them."
Fang He pursed his lips but said nothing more.
He Shou placed the last stack of talismans into the crate, stood up, and clapped his hands.
"Can you keep up this level of production?" he asked, looking at Li Yuan.
"I can produce about ten Fireball Talismans per day. Fewer Rejuvenation and Vajra Talismans, around three or four of each daily. I’m just a novice with the Heart-lock Talisman, so the success rate isn’t stable yet—one or two a day for now."
He Shou did a quick mental calculation.
"It’s not enough."
He said it bluntly.
"Three patrol squads go out every day. On average, each squad uses five to eight Combat Talismans, not counting the healing ones. We need at least fifteen Fireball Talismans a day alone. You’re making ten, so there’s still a big gap."
He glanced at Li Yuan.
"But it’s much better than before. We didn’t have a resident Talisman Master, so we had to requisition talismans from the Talisman Hall. A new batch only came once every half-month. With you making them on-site, at least we have a steady supply."
Fang He chimed in from the side.
"How about this, Li Yuan? Make more Fireball and Heart-lock Talismans, and fewer Rejuvenation and Vajra Talismans. We use up Fireball Talismans the fastest, and the Heart-lock Talismans are lifesavers. We should prioritize those two."
He Shou thought for a moment and nodded.
"Alright, let’s do that. Prioritize Fireball and Heart-lock Talismans."
He turned to Li Yuan.
"What do you think?"
"I can do that."
With that, the three of them went their separate ways. He Shou went to organize the patrol squads, and Fang He went to change his bandage.
Li Yuan walked back to the stone house, closed the door, and sat at his desk.
A half-finished talisman paper still lay on the desk, a small dot of Spiritual Ink congealed on it.
Li Yuan lifted the ruined talisman, set it aside, laid out a fresh sheet, dipped his brush in ink, and began to draw.
Fireball Talismans.
One after another.