Chapter 57: The Comprehensive Guide to Basic Talismans
Chapter 57: The Comprehensive Guide to Basic Talismans
Zhou Haiven tossed and turned restlessly in his bed, his mind abuzz with excitement. The thought of acquiring the method to cultivate perfect-grade spirit herbs had him wired, unable to find peace.
After Lu Xuan refused to teach him the secret to cultivating perfect spirit herbs, Zhou Haiven returned home, his anger and greed growing by the minute. Finally, he invited a fellow cultivator, offering spirit stones, with the intention of stealing the secret from Lu Xuan by force.
Although his refined cultivation technique had improved the quality of his spirit herbs, seeing Lu Xuan's results only made him more dissatisfied with his meager progress. He yearned to cultivate perfect-grade spirit herbs directly.
"It's been over an hour. He should be back soon."
Lying in bed, Zhou Haiven estimated the probable time of his friend's return.
Moments passed with still no sign of his companion.
"I hope nothing unexpected happened," Zhou Haiven frowned, a hint of worry creeping into his thoughts.
"Impossible. That kid is just a rogue cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refinement, and he doesn't have time to cultivate spiritual power or techniques. Even if I went myself, I'd be extremely confident. Not to mention a cultivator at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement with deeper cultivation and superior combat skills."
"He must be taking his time after finishing the job. After all, harvesting spirit herbs and dealing with the aftermath takes a while."
"I offered him spirit stones and promised to let him keep all the herbs. Since he's not a spirit herb master, he's unlikely to have memorized the cultivation methods. He shouldn't have any reason to keep the secrets to himself." Zhou Haiven, a middle-aged cultivator, analyzed the situation optimistically. He could already envision himself obtaining the cultivation method, growing perfect-grade spirit herbs, and gaining the attention of the Hundred Herb Hall or even the influential clans of the market town...
His future seemed bright.
As he daydreamed, his eyes lit up with anticipation.
Suddenly, a dazzling sword qi flashed into the room. With a swift twist, it changed direction, moving at incredible speed to hover above the middle-aged cultivator's head. It penetrated his skull and viciously twisted in his brain.
The last thing the middle-aged cultivator saw was the bright golden light brought on by the sword qi.
Lu Xuan, light as a swallow, glided into the room and took the storage bag from the cultivator's waist.
Then, he activated two top-grade Explosive Flame Talismans. The corpse of the cultivator and the furniture in the room instantly ignited in a raging inferno, obliterating the hole left by the sword qi in the crown of the head and any traces of Lu Xuan's presence.
Long before the fire attracted any unwanted attention, Lu Xuan had already vanished into the night.
He made his way home without incident and carefully reviewed the evening's events.
Upon reaching the spirit herb master's courtyard, he found it relatively easy to gain entry.
There was only a subpar defensive formation outside the courtyard, meant to ward off wild beasts and insects from the spirit herb fields. Lu Xuan broke through the formation with minimal effort.
With his actual cultivation at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, his near-Transcendent Realm mastery of the Metal-Gold Sword Technique, and the unexpected use of the Silver Splitter, he swiftly dispatched both the masked cultivator and the spirit herb master without a hitch, the whole affair smooth and uneventful.
He didn't harvest the spirit herbs in the middle-aged cultivator's fields. Firstly, they were all in the growth phase and couldn't be exchanged for spirit stones immediately. Secondly, harvesting would take time, and he wanted to avoid any unnecessary delays. So, he took the storage bag and left.
On the wooden table lay two storage bags and a pitch-black flying sword.
The flying sword was a top-grade spiritual artifact that had belonged to the masked cultivator.
First, Lu Xuan used his spiritual power to open the storage bag of the masked cultivator, who had a slightly higher cultivation level.
Inside were not many items: over a dozen top-grade talismans, two bottles of pills, one bottle of Pei Yuan Dan pills for quickly replenishing spiritual power, and one bottle of Huo Xue Dan pills for treating minor injuries.
In addition, there were also about eighty spirit stones, bringing Lu Xuan's total wealth to around three hundred and sixty spirit stones.
He emptied the contents of the masked cultivator's storage bag before turning his attention to the middle-aged spirit herb master's bag.
A first-rate array was only effective against Qi Refinement cultivators. Against a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, its protective capabilities were limited. If a cultivator were to use a second-rate array-breaking talisman, they could easily break through.
With over three hundred spirit stones in hand, he had more than enough to purchase a second-rate defensive array.
As dawn broke, Lu Chen decided to forgo rest and headed straight to his spirit field to check on his herbs.
Fortunately, the previous night's fight with the masked cultivator hadn't affected his spirit herbs.
After inspecting them, he found that they were all in good condition, especially the Dark Marrow Mushroom. Perhaps due to the special fertilizer he had added to the spirit soil, the dark red fungal threads seemed even more abundant.
On the Red Cloud Pine, nestled among the delicate red pine needles, were two fully mature pine cones.
Lu Chen plucked the first one; it was of superior quality, slightly better than the first cone he had harvested before.
A white light orb appeared where the cone had been.
Lu Chen absorbed it, and the light orb transformed into countless specks of light that surged into his body.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Harvested one Red Cloud Pine cone and received a copy of the 'Comprehensive Guide to Basic Talismans.'"
An overwhelming amount of knowledge about talismans flooded into Lu Chen's sea of consciousness, almost causing his brain to burst.
The guide contained the methods for creating dozens of common first-rate talismans, including the types of materials needed, how to process them, and how to draw the talisman arrays.
"The rewards from maturing first-rate spirit herbs are truly extraordinary," Lu Chen thought. "I recall that a perfectly-quality Spirit Glow Grass yielded the pill formula for the Pei Yuan Dan, while this Red Cloud Pine cone directly gave me a guide on how to create various first-rate talismans."
Comparing the two, Lu Chen eagerly turned his gaze to the other mature Red Cloud Pine cone, anticipating what reward it might bring.
(End of Chapter)
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