Time flowed like water, and Xiao Yu had been in this world for two years now.
In these two years, his cultivation had broken through to the fifth level of Qi Transformation, converting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his own spiritual power.
With spiritual power, he could unleash the might of spells. At this stage, his spiritual power was limited, so he could only start with the talismans that consumed the least.
After a year or two of practice, he had mastered the drawing of runes. With the assistance of the Inner World, his understanding and analysis of runes had deepened significantly.
Now, when practicing drawing talismans, he needed to infuse the runes with spiritual power without interruption, completing it in one go.
"Master has passed down twelve talismans. The offensive ones are: Evil Slaying Talisman, Fire Summoning Talisman, Thunder Summoning Talisman.
The others are: Evil Warding Talisman, Ghost Expelling Talisman, Corpse Settling Talisman, Insect Expelling Talisman, Peace Talisman, Pain Relief Talisman, Hemostatic Talisman, etc.
The offensive talismans are difficult and consume a lot of spiritual power. Let's start with the easier ones and draw a Peace Talisman."
Xiao Yu prepared everything and began drawing the spirit talisman.
After wasting several sheets of talisman paper, he finally succeeded in drawing a spirit talisman.
Xiao Yu picked up the talisman paper and activated it with spiritual power, causing the talisman to glow with spiritual light.
"Not bad. I'll draw a few more. Once I'm proficient, I'll continue with other talismans."
Xiao Yu continued practicing drawing talismans until his spiritual power was depleted, then stopped.
"Junior brother is drawing talismans."
At this moment, Jia Le walked in, saw more than ten talismans on the table, picked one up, and noticed a faint glow, indicating it was a spirit talisman infused with spiritual power.
"Junior brother, you've drawn a spirit talisman." Jia Le looked surprised.
"Yes, senior brother. Since I cultivated spiritual power, I've been practicing drawing spirit talismans, and today I finally succeeded."
Xiao Yu was quite proud.
"Congratulations, junior brother, you can draw spirit talismans now."
"I'm still at the fourth level of Qi Refining, without spiritual power."
Jia Le sincerely congratulated Xiao Yu but also showed a worried expression.
"Senior brother, don't be too anxious."
"How about this, senior brother, let's go to the mountain to find some medicinal ingredients. I'll prepare a formula as Master taught, to aid your cultivation. I think it won't be long before you break through too."
Xiao Yu decided to lend a hand. The medicinal ingredients containing spiritual energy in the Inner World would surely help Jia Le break through his realm.
"Thank you, junior brother. Let's go now."
Jia Le happily went to get the tools.
The two wandered in the mountains, dug up a lot of medicinal ingredients, and returned home as night fell.
Jia Le went to cook, while Xiao Yu cleaned the medicinal ingredients and prepared the formula, secretly replacing them with ingredients from the Inner World.
After Jia Le finished cooking, Xiao Yu took the ingredients to the kitchen to brew.
After dinner, Jia Le added firewood to brew the medicine until night.
"Senior brother, the brewing time is enough. You can take out the medicinal juice now."
Seeing that the time was about right, Xiao Yu instructed Jia Le to take out the medicinal juice and pour it into a large barrel to cool down.
"Senior brother, you can go in now, then operate the Qi Refining Technique to absorb the medicinal potency to aid your cultivation."
Xiao Yu tested the water temperature and nodded.
Upon hearing this, Jia Le immediately took off his shirt and soaked in the barrel.
"So comfortable soaking in here," Jia Le said happily.
"Senior brother, start cultivating. Once you've absorbed all the medicinal potency, you can come out."
After saying this, Xiao Yu walked away to meditate and cultivate.
***
After more than half a month of intermittent medicinal baths, Jia Le broke through to the fifth level, making him overjoyed.
"Junior brother, I've also broken through and now have spiritual power." Jia Le beamed with joy.
"That's great. Now you can learn to draw talismans, senior brother."
Xiao Yu smiled, feeling that the efforts of these days had not been in vain.
"Alright, let me give it a try."
Jia Le was eager to draw a spirit talisman.
However, after wasting a lot of talisman paper, he still couldn't successfully draw a spirit talisman and seemed a bit frustrated.
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"Senior brother, you can't rush drawing talismans. I think you should practice your drawing technique more; your skills are a bit unstable."
Xiao Yu observed the process and identified the reason for the failure, giving Jia Le some advice.
"Okay, I'll practice my drawing technique more."
Jia Le solemnly agreed, not wanting to fall behind with Xiao Yu as a comparison.
Afterward, they continued their uneventful cultivation.
Xiao Yu's cultivation broke through to the sixth level of Qi Refining, significantly increasing his total spiritual power.
***
One evening, Taoist Priest Simu returned, bringing a group of clients with him.
Xiao Yu helped settle the clients, and Jia Le went to prepare the meal.
Soon, Jia Le finished cooking, and the three of them sat down to eat.
During the meal, Taoist Priest Simu asked:
"How's your cultivation going? Have you been slacking off?"
Jia Le proudly replied:
"We haven't been slacking, Master. I've broken through and now have spiritual power."
Upon hearing this, Taoist Priest Simu reached out to press on Jia Le, activating spiritual power to check.
"Good, good. You've worked hard."
Then Taoist Priest Simu looked at Xiao Yu.
"Master, I've broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refining."
Xiao Yu was also full of pride.
"Good, Xiao Yu, you have excellent cultivation aptitude, but don't become complacent, understand?"
Taoist Priest Simu worried that Xiao Yu might become arrogant and complacent, so he earnestly advised him.
"Yes, Master, I will remember your teachings."
"Master, I've been cultivating at home for so long, I'd like to go out and move around. How about I go with you to escort the clients?"
Xiao Yu, feeling restless from staying here for so long, wanted to go out for a walk.
"Are you sure about this?"
Taoist Priest Simu looked at Xiao Yu, thinking; it's good that he wants to help his master with worries, good, good.
"Yes."
Xiao Yu nodded affirmatively.
"Junior brother is going out too, leaving me alone at home, how boring."
Jia Le immediately felt downcast.
"Alright, in a couple of days, you can go out with me to escort the clients."
Taoist Priest Simu confirmed the matter.
"Weren't you alone at home before? What's the problem?"
Taoist Priest Simu then turned to glare at Jia Le.
"No, no problem."
Jia Le wilted under the glare.
***
Two days later.
Xiao Yu went out with Taoist Priest Simu, while Jia Le stood outside the door, watching them go further and further away, feeling downcast.
Escorting corpses was indeed quite boring, traveling by night and crossing mountains, always looking for places with fewer people.
Xiao Yu followed his master along the way, occasionally getting the chance to visit towns to buy food and materials like cinnabar.
This was also Xiao Yu's first time witnessing the era's style, seemingly from the Republic of China period.
Late at night.
In a deep forest, Xiao Yu and his master were on the road.
"Xiao Yu, be careful, something's not right."
Taoist Priest Simu suddenly issued a warning.
"What's wrong, Master?"
Xiao Yu nervously took out a stack of talismans.
Seeing the stack of talismans, Taoist Priest Simu was momentarily speechless.
"There's a dense yin energy ahead, heading our way. Be careful."
Taoist Priest Simu stared ahead.
Before long, three ghostly figures appeared, rushing toward them.
"Ha, such bold ghosts, they must not have experienced the methods of a Taoist priest. Seeing this display, they still dare to provoke us."
Taoist Priest Simu was visibly displeased, then charged forward with his sword, engaging in battle with the ghosts and monsters.
Xiao Yu watched the fight cautiously, staying on guard.
Suddenly, a ghostly figure lunged at Xiao Yu, and Taoist Priest Simu quickly returned to assist.
Seeing the ghostly figure approaching, Xiao Yu activated the spiritual power in his talisman, striking directly at the ghostly figure.
The ghostly figure let out a piercing scream.
Xiao Yu thought the effect was good, then unleashed various Evil Warding Talismans and Ghost Expelling Talismans, bombarding the ghostly figure.
At this moment, Taoist Priest Simu arrived, vanquishing it with a single sword strike, then turned to face the other two pursuing ghostly figures, engaging in battle once more.
Xiao Yu stood by, waiting for an opportunity.
Then, seeing a chance for a sneak attack, he unleashed various talismans at one of the ghostly figures.
With Xiao Yu restraining one ghostly figure, and the other being suppressed by Taoist Priest Simu, they could soon be eliminated.
At this moment, Xiao Yu had a sudden idea. What if he absorbed the ghostly figure with the Inner World?
He continued to approach, persistently attacking with spirit talismans. When the time was right, he immediately used the Inner World to absorb the ghostly figure.
Meanwhile, Taoist Priest Simu had also resolved his side, quickly walking over to Xiao Yu.
"Xiao Yu, are you alright?
To think you could independently take down a ghostly figure, not bad, not bad."
Seeing that his disciple was unharmed, Taoist Priest Simu couldn't help but praise him.
"Master, I'm fine."
This was Xiao Yu's first battle with the supernatural, and he performed quite well.
Taoist Priest Simu, having seen many big scenes, continued on the road without any issues.
As they traveled, Xiao Yu focused on sensing the Inner World, observing the ghostly figure suppressed in a corner, unable to move.
He then let the Inner World absorb and analyze the ghostly figure's soul body, extracting its memories, some memories from its life, as well as yin energy and soul energy.
After reviewing the memory information, Xiao Yu found nothing of value.
The yin energy could supplement the yin attribute of the current Inner World, but it would cause an imbalance between yin and yang. Without finding a way to supplement yang energy to balance it, it was of no use to the current Inner World.
As for the soul energy, Xiao Yu could absorb it, but he decided against it, choosing instead to merge it into the Inner World's land.
One day, when the land's energy is abundant, it might be able to nurture and grow spiritual and intelligent medicinal ingredients, like a ginseng doll.
***
Several days later.
Taoist Priest Simu had escorted all the clients home without encountering any more ghosts or monsters, and the journey was peaceful.
Xiao Yu and Taoist Priest Simu traveled east and west, occasionally encountering people who had encountered evil, were frightened by ghosts, or were troubled by yin energy. As Taoists, they naturally stepped in to resolve these issues.
During this time, Xiao Yu's cultivation also broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.
Seeing this, Taoist Priest Simu decided to return home, allowing Xiao Yu to focus on his cultivation.
"Xiao Yu, we've been traveling for almost two months. Once we get home, stay there and consolidate your cultivation."
"Yes, Master."
After all the traveling, Xiao Yu also felt tired and wanted to rest for a while.
Half a month later, the master and disciple returned to their small mountain home.
"Master, junior brother, you're back."
Hearing the commotion, Jia Le immediately came out to greet them.
Xiao Yu smiled and said, "Yes, senior brother, we're back."
"Finally back. I was bored to death being home alone."
With company, Jia Le was overjoyed.
"Master told me not to go out this time, to stay home and cultivate."
Xiao Yu shared the good news.
"That's great."
Jia Le was even happier to hear this.
Taoist Priest Simu said grumpily:
"Just thinking about playing, huh? How's your cultivation progress? Have you drawn any spirit talismans?"
"Still at the fifth level, and the spirit talisman, um, not yet."
Jia Le lowered his head guiltily.
"Then you should work harder, not just think about playing," Taoist Priest Simu said sternly.
"Oh, I understand, Master."
Jia Le replied, feeling wronged.
A few days later, Taoist Priest Simu went out again.
Xiao Yu and Jia Le continued their cultivation life. During this time, Xiao Yu prepared medicinal baths for Jia Le's cultivation, and Jia Le humbly sought advice on drawing talismans. With Xiao Yu's help, Jia Le successfully drew a spirit talisman, which made him very happy.
Xiao Yu also attempted to draw advanced offensive talismans, but unexpectedly, his spiritual power was completely depleted, and the interruption of spiritual power prevented success.
Xiao Yu thought for a moment, realizing his spiritual power was insufficient, so he considered drawing talismans in the Inner World.
In the Inner World, with the aid of transforming spiritual energy into spiritual power, he successfully drew advanced offensive talismans.
In a burst of enthusiasm, he drew over a dozen Evil Slaying Talismans, Thunder Summoning Talismans, and Fire Summoning Talismans, as well as a considerable number of other talismans, storing them in the Inner World for future use.
In other aspects of cultivation, he continued to practice the Demon Slaying Formula step by step.
Xiao Yu also became interested in his master's magical artifact refining and delved into the study of Dharma tools.
By studying his master's notes and books, he learned that the key to Dharma tools lies in their spiritual power conduction. Firstly, metal Dharma tools require rare metals with spiritual power conduction properties, making the refined Dharma tools top-tier.
Ordinary metals lack this attribute and have no value in refining.
Secondly, peach wood naturally has a yang attribute and can conduct spiritual power. The older the wood, the better the material.
Even more so, lightning-struck wood possesses a thunder attribute, but it's rare and hard to find.
Peach wood swords are the choice of most cultivators now.
Thirdly, placing Dharma tools in Taoist temples, shrines, or ancestral halls to nurture their spirituality with incense offerings.
After deeply studying and understanding this, Xiao Yu thought of the various cultivation methods and artifact refining methods described in novels he had read before.
Since he had crossed over, those worlds depicted in novels might not be untrue, with runes engraved on Dharma tools for enchantment, and formations integrated into Dharma tools.
With his current conditions, he decided to engrave talismans onto Dharma tools.
With this idea in mind, Xiao Yu entered the Inner World to assist in simulating and understanding artifact refining methods.
After confirming his idea, he began refining Dharma tools with the assistance of the Inner World.
Xiao Yu engraved talisman patterns on a bronze sword, then drew the same talisman on the engraved patterns.
Testing the effect in his hand, the function was there, but during use, it couldn't receive spiritual power transmission, and the talisman's spiritual power was continuously consumed until it was depleted and lost its effect.
Moreover, it had to be a talisman that triggered upon encountering yin energy, like a Ghost Expelling Talisman or Evil Warding Talisman.
Offensive talismans required spiritual power to activate the talisman's power, but this artifact had the advantage that even someone without spiritual power could use it.
After organizing his thoughts, Xiao Yu continued refining Dharma tools capable of conducting spiritual power.
Similarly, he engraved an Evil Slaying Talisman pattern on the sword, but this time, several lines extended from the Evil Slaying Talisman to the sword's hilt, forming spiritual power conduction lines.
After drawing the talisman and applying cinnabar to the spiritual power conduction lines, the refining was complete. Testing the function, he activated his spiritual power, which conducted from the hilt along the lines to the Evil Slaying Talisman, causing it to glow brightly. After several tests, the artifact refining was successful.
After successfully refining artifacts, Xiao Yu began researching the chain reactions between talismans and their combinations.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan