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Chapter 82: Spirit Talismans, Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood
Chapter 82: Spirit Talismans, Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood
Chu Ning did not rush to craft talismans but instead began by meditating and cultivating the Spirit Refinement Art.
Since he intended to attempt the talisman-crafting technique from the Spirit Talisman Manual, it was only natural to ensure his spiritual sense was in optimal condition.
After all, continuous talisman-making could be quite taxing on one's spiritual sense.
Slowly opening his eyes, Chu Ning felt his spiritual sense was in excellent condition.
He took out a medium-grade talisman brush, ink, and paper from his storage bag.
After reviewing the technique for crafting the Yin Thunder Talisman in his mind, Chu Ning focused his spiritual sense and began to make his first strokes.
It had to be said that crafting these intermediate-grade talismans was indeed more challenging than the lower-grade ones.
Even with Chu Ning's extreme focus and the aid of his spiritual sense, his first attempt at crafting the talisman was not successful.
However, he remained unfazed by this failure.
If he could craft the Metal Sword Talisman, renowned as the top offensive intermediate-grade talisman, then this Yin Thunder Talisman would pose no problem.
After two attempts, Chu Ning successfully crafted the Yin Thunder Talisman on his third try.
Seizing the opportunity, he continued crafting without rest, using up 20 sheets of talisman paper.
"My success rate for crafting intermediate-grade talismans is only 40% now. As expected, the difficulty has increased.
Even with the aid of my spiritual sense, I'd be doing well to achieve a 30% success rate otherwise."
Chu Ning set aside the eight Yin Thunder Talismans and shook his head.
However, he was aware that continuous practice in crafting the same type of talisman would lead to a significant improvement in success rates.
Thus, Chu Ning promptly took out another 20 sheets of talisman paper and began the crafting process anew.
This time, his success rate improved slightly, resulting in nine successfully crafted talismans.
If he were still back at the sect, Chu Ning would have persevered until he achieved a success rate of at least 60%.
But now, he chose not to continue and instead started crafting a different type of talisman—the Cleansing Wind Talisman.
After all, he needed to have a variety of talismans in stock for the market opening in three days.
Chu Ning only stopped after using up 100 sheets of talisman paper and completing the crafting of both types of talismans.
By this point, his spiritual sense had been considerably depleted.
These intermediate-grade talismans consumed more spiritual sense compared to the lower-grade ones.
If they had been lower-grade talismans, he could have easily crafted 150 talismans in one go with his current spiritual sense.
Cultivate the Spirit Refinement Art.
Chu Ning wasn't about to pass up this opportunity to bolster his spiritual sense.
He eagerly took out the black sword and placed it on his knees, which were drawn up in a meditative pose.
Ever since discovering the black wooden sword's unique properties, Chu Ning had devoted all his energy to breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, leaving no time to experiment with the sword after crafting talismans and exhausting his spiritual sense.
Now, he wanted to try combining these two methods to enhance his spiritual sense and observe the results.
Closing his eyes, he began cultivating the Spirit Refinement Art, and the depleted spiritual sense in his Niwan Palace gradually recovered.
Soon enough, one drop of spiritual essence had been replenished.
At this moment, the vortex of spiritual energy surrounding him continued to swirl.
After an indeterminate amount of time, another portion of it transformed into a liquid state and merged with the drop of spiritual essence.
Chu Ning, with his eyes still tightly shut, suddenly opened them.
The first thing he did was check his cultivation progress.
[Greenwood Eternal Spring Art (Yellow Tier, Lower Grade): Layer 2 (505/900)]
[Nine Transformations Body Refinement Art: Volume 1, Unwithering Bones: 169/600]
[Spirit Refinement Art: Layer 1: 135/1000]
"It increased by one point! As expected, cultivating like this does speed up the progress of the Spirit Refinement Art."
Chu Ning was delighted to see the improvement in his proficiency with the Spirit Refinement Art.
Usually, he would need to cultivate using two different methods two or three times a day to gain a single point of proficiency.
Now, by combining talisman crafting to deplete his spiritual sense and then utilizing the black wooden sword, he had gained one point of proficiency in a single cultivation session.
Although this was partly due to the extended duration of his cultivation this time, it still filled Chu Ning with excitement.
It meant that his hypothesis was correct—combining these two methods could significantly enhance his progress in the Spirit Refinement Art.
"I'll continue doing this from now on!"
Chu Ning made up his mind. Anyway, crafting talismans was something he did daily to earn spirit stones.
Now, he could simultaneously strengthen his spiritual sense—a win-win situation!
At the same time, he was incredibly curious about the material used to create the black wooden sword.
Chu Ning took out the Spirit Plant Compendium jade slip that He Changyou had given him and began scrutinizing it carefully.
The compendium contained an extensive collection of spirit plants, numbering in the thousands.
Back at the sect, Chu Ning had only browsed through a small portion of it.
There was still much left to explore, and he wondered if he could find any clues about the sword's material within its pages.
As he perused the various spirit plants, his eyes suddenly lit up after examining the introduction of the 1,200th type of spirit plant.
Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood.
After only a brief glance at the introduction, Chu Ning immediately started reading it carefully.
A moment later, Chu Ning picked up the black wooden sword that was resting on his knees and channeled his Greenwood Eternal Spring Art, slowly infusing it with his spiritual power.
At the same time, he used his spiritual sense to perceive any changes in the sword.
Soon enough, an expression of realization appeared on Chu Ning's face, quickly followed by a mixture of joy and concern.
At this moment, he was almost certain that the black wooden sword in his hand was indeed crafted from Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood.
Old Sun had mentioned to Chu Ning that there was a simple talisman array engraved on the black wooden sword, which made it lighter when infused with spiritual power.
However, it wasn't the array that caused this effect.
Instead, the Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood naturally became lighter when it sensed wood-attributed spiritual power.
The array served a different purpose.
This brings us to the second unique characteristic of the Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood.
Once cut, this spirit plant would automatically release the essence it had accumulated over the years. Absorbing and refining this essence was said to greatly benefit one's spiritual sense.
As for the array on the sword, it served to seal in this essence and prevent it from leaking out.
When Chu Ning cultivated the Spirit Refinement Art, he activated the array and was able to absorb the essence to strengthen his spiritual sense.
Upon discovering these facts, Chu Ning felt a mix of joy and concern.
He was glad to finally know the origin of the black wooden sword.
He couldn't believe that the item he had bought from Old Sun for just ten spirit stones turned out to be something so extraordinary.
He wondered who the master craftsman was that created this sword and how it ended up in Old Sun's possession.
However, he also felt concerned as the jade slip mentioned that Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood didn't have a fixed location and there was no known method of cultivation.
This meant that it would be extremely difficult to find more of this wood under normal circumstances.
Moreover, once the essence within the wood was completely depleted, its ability to strengthen one's spiritual sense would be lost.
The jade slip also mentioned that as the essence was consumed, the color of the wood would gradually fade, and its toughness would decrease.
Eventually, when all the essence was dissipated, the wood would return to its original color and hardness, indistinguishable from ordinary wood.
Chu Ning carefully examined the sword and noticed a subtle change in color compared to when he had first obtained it.
The color difference was so slight that he hadn't paid attention to it before as he had no idea about the unique properties of the wood.
"I hope this Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood sword will last me a long time," Chu Ning muttered to himself as he carefully kept the jade slip and the sword, placing them back into his storage bag.
Before he knew its true value, he had treated it casually, even using it to practice his object manipulation technique.
Now that he knew it was a precious item, he was naturally more careful with it.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, even though it wasn't a market day, Chu Ning still woke up early as usual.
He went out to the courtyard and cast the Greenwood Eternal Spring Art on all the Green Spirit Fruits.
Seeing the vibrant vines, he nodded in satisfaction.
At this rate, he estimated that it would take about ten days for the vines to cover the entire courtyard.
This thought brought him a sense of peace as he was accustomed to the courtyard being covered in vines.
He hadn't forgotten how useful the Thorn Technique had been when facing Qi Chongmao.
After cultivating the Greenwood Eternal Spring Art, the Nine Transformations Body Refinement Art, crafting talismans, and practicing the Spirit Refinement Art, Chu Ning had his breakfast and then left for the spirit fields.
His Purple Spirit Bamboo had just been planted, and he hadn't cast the Greenwood Eternal Spring Art on it yesterday.
Additionally, he needed to plant the Golden Primeval Fruit seeds that Gu Xiaqing had given him to make good use of the vacant spirit field.
Everything was difficult at the beginning, and this held true for Chu Ning's new life in Yanji Fang.
He had a lot on his plate.
For the next two days, Chu Ning spent his time between the marketplace and the spirit fields.
He spent about half of each day in the spirit fields, tending to the Golden Primeval Fruit trees and nurturing the Purple Spirit Bamboo.
In the evenings, he returned to the marketplace, nurtured the Green Spirit Fruits, and then began his cultivation and talisman crafting.
Over these two days, Chu Ning crafted not only the Yin Thunder Talismans but also the Cleansing Wind Talismans, Metal Sword Talismans, Spirit Gathering Talismans, Earth Escape Talismans, and the Beast Trapping Talisman that Liao Yunming had requested.
There were quite a few beasts in the mountains near Yanji Fang, so the Beast Trapping Talisman would also be in demand.
As for the Metal Sword Talismans, Chu Ning only crafted a few and didn't plan to sell them just yet.
He had tested the one he made for Mu Ling in a secluded area and decided to save them for a crucial moment.
Each time he crafted talismans, Chu Ning made sure to deplete his spiritual sense to a significant degree, stopping only when he felt a hint of fatigue.
Then, he would use the Black Sky Iron Spirit Wood sword to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Art.
With this targeted approach to training, his proficiency in the Spirit Refinement Art improved rapidly.
His proficiency increased by more than two points every day.
Time flew by, and soon it was another market day in Yanji Fang, which occurred every three days.
This time, Chu Ning didn't go to other places to open his shop late, as he had done previously.
Instead, he opened his shop early and put up a sign.
Gu Xiaqing was the second to open her shop, and when she saw that Chu Ning's shop was already open, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
As her gaze fell on the sign he had put up, she paused for a moment, taking in the information.
"Various high-quality low and medium-grade talismans for sale.
Yin Thunder Talismans, Spirit Gathering Talismans, Cleansing Wind Talismans: five low-grade spirit stones each.
Beast Trapping Talismans, Earth Escape Talismans: six low-grade spirit stones each.
Metal Sword Talismans: seven low-grade spirit stones each."
(End of Chapter)
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