Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 57: Chapter 55: Talisman Making

Ji An moved the table to the doorway, took out the 100 sheets of lower grade talisman paper he sold and borrowed back, and placed them on the table, then arranged the talisman brush and talisman ink.

Lighting a stick of incense, he picked up the talisman brush, dipped it in clean water, and began copying the Water Curtain Talisman on the table.

Without experience, he could only first practice the feel at hand, managing to copy the talisman drawing to ninety percent similarity at least.

He spent more than half a double hour, practicing and correcting mistakes over and over, finally able to copy the Water Curtain Talisman with great resemblance.

Ji An wiped away the water stains, prepared the talisman ink, and spread out the talisman paper.

He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling various techniques and precautions in drawing talismans, then suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze electrified.

He grabbed the talisman brush, and thin threads of magical power flickered at the tip, but the talisman drawing declared failure before it was even fully outlined.

Drawing talismans is equivalent to another form of spellcasting, but it’s also different; the output of magical power needs to synchronize with the talisman brush.

After all, it was the first time drawing a talisman, and he chose an Entry Level talisman to start with; it would be more surprising if it succeeded.

Ji An began to review, comparing with predecessors’ experiences, pondering what he didn’t do well, and what to do next.

After a while, he discarded the failed talisman and picked up the talisman brush again.

This time was much better, although stumbling, he managed to fully outline the talisman drawing on the talisman paper.

However, as the spiritual ink quickly solidified, the spiritual energy sealed within the talisman drawing rapidly dissipated, becoming a failed talisman once more.

“Not bad, though the feel is still stiff, there’s a lot of progress!”

Ji An cheered himself, reviewed again, and then continued to draw talismans with the brush.

After consecutively drawing five talismans, each ending in failure, he gradually found the balance point between his own magical power output and the talisman brush’s magical power flickering.

At this point, having used up half of the magical power within him, Ji An sat down cross-legged to rest for a moment, calming his spirit and clearing his mind.

Once his spirits were restored, he continued to draw talismans, this time exhausting his magical power entirely.

“Tsk tsk, not bad, for the first time drawing talismans, successfully making three out of twenty attempts, next all that’s needed is to deepen muscle memory.”

A Talisman Maker with a thirty percent success rate could earn crystal stones; his current success rate is fifteen percent, a few more practices and he will meet the mark.

Ji An took out a talisman to activate it, a pale blue water curtain emerged in front of him, he gauged the spell’s strength and found its defense power couldn’t reach the Perfection Level.

The spiritual power capacity of lower grade talisman paper is limited; once his talisman-making success rate improves, he could switch to middle grade talisman paper.

By then, the talisman drawing should achieve the strength of the Perfection Level Water Curtain Technique.

In the sunset, the leaves of Fire Cloud Ginseng in the small courtyard resembled burning flames, everything appeared vibrant with life.

Ji An suddenly noticed the Spirit-Seeking Rat dragging a wood carving outside the door, bumping against it from time to time, playing joyfully, time felt peaceful and beautiful.

In the following days, except for casting the Planting Technique in the Spirit Field and small courtyard, most of Ji An’s magical power was used for drawing talismans.

Due to continuous reviewing of gains and losses, his success rate in drawing the Water Curtain Talisman improved quickly.

After using up a hundred sheets of lower grade talisman paper, his talisman-making success rate reached forty percent, now holding thirty Water Curtain Talismans in hand.

Capable of casting the Water Curtain Technique at the Perfection Realm, coupled with a high intensity of Divine Sense, natural advantages exist in drawing talismans, which is also why he chose talisman-making as a craft.

The talisman brush completed its mission and has been honorably retired.

…

Ji An pointed his finger, emitting golden spirit light, piercing a hole in a wooden stake as thick as a thigh.

The wooden stake was riddled with tiny holes.

Though practicing Geng Metal Finger doesn’t require a target, Ji An found having a target improved the feeling.

When his internal magical power was half consumed, he cast the Wind Control Technique, moving through the small courtyard with the agility of a nimble monkey.

The Spirit-Seeking Rat and wood carving were lined up, watching his performance while nibbling on nuts it found nearby.

The Wind Control Technique could last for a quarter hour, as the spiritual qi dissipated, Ji An lay on the recliner, practicing the Object Control Technique.

The wood carving suddenly flew up, the Spirit-Seeking Rat put down its nut, and leaped to chase it, which was its favorite game.

Ji An teased the Spirit-Seeking Rat, only releasing the wood carving when his magical power was almost depleted.

He laughed and reclined on the rocking chair, his mind diving into the dantian.

[Master: Ji An]

[Dao Rhyme: 0]

[Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 96.6, Kun Spirit 237.8, Xun Spirit 168.8, Zhen Spirit 0.2]

[Spells: Small Cloud Rain Technique (Perfection 42%)

Thick Earth Technique (Perfection 32%)

Life and Death Technique (Great Success 88%)

Flame Fire Spell (Great Success 30%)

Sharp Gold Technique (Perfection 2%)

Object Control Technique (Great Success 12%)

Wind Control Technique (Mastery 35%)

Water Curtain Technique (Perfection 1%)

Geng Metal Finger (Minor Achievement 24%)]

Ji An had no intentions of learning more spells, these were enough for him.

He planned to accumulate a wave of Spiritual Mechanism, then advance the Small Cloud Rain Technique to Great Perfection to see if it would bring any changes.

The Small Cloud Rain Technique was one of the spells he used most often, naturally growing in understanding over time, and given that the Stone Turtle absorbed the most Kan Spirit daily, he chose to test with this spell.

A Perfection Level Small Cloud Rain Technique could accelerate the growth of Spirit Grain; he wondered what surprises a Great Perfection spell could bring.

“Haha, Junior Brother lives such a leisurely life, enviable indeed!”

Ji An opened his eyes to see Wei Songnian already riding a Talisman Bird above his small courtyard.

“Senior Brother’s presence brightens up my humble dwelling.”

“Haven’t visited the Junior Brother’s place for a long time, now it indeed needs a magic array for sealing.

Tsk tsk, twenty years later, Junior Brother will harvest a large sum of crystal stones.”

Wei Songnian praised, not to mention the Spirit Fruit Trees, once so many Fire Cloud Ginseng matured, they could sell for several hundred spirit stones.

“Ah, that’s also a matter far in the future, distant water doesn’t relieve present thirst.

Senior Brother, please come inside.”

The two entered the bamboo house, Wei Songnian took out a set of array discs, smiling as he said:

“Glad I didn’t fail you, the seller was eager to get rid of this set of Sealing Array, Junior Brother only needs to give me 18 spirit stones.”

He then handed over a white jade token and a jade slip:

“The jade slip contains the spell for controlling the magic array, and the jade token is the token for controlling the array, you need to carry the token to enter or exit once the array is activated.”

“Great, I’ll give it a try.”

Ji An placed the jade slip on his forehead, and perhaps because the array wasn’t large, the spell inside was relatively simple.

He set the jade slip aside, took four spirit stones from the Spirit Capturing Array, placed them into the array discs, then buried them at the four corners of the small courtyard.

After doing all this, he enacted the spell, and a faint white light rose up, enveloping the small courtyard before slowly fading away.

He cast the Object Control Technique to throw a small stone, the stone was stopped by a white light and fell on the fence edge.

Ji An unleashed the Geng Metal Finger, and the magic attack was also halted by the white light, he nodded in satisfaction.

“Junior Brother, using magic attacks will accelerate the consumption of crystal stones.”

“Haha, I understand.”

Ji An returned to the bamboo house, bringing out the talismans he had drawn, smiling as he said:

“Senior Brother, please sell these on consignment for me, let’s see what price they can fetch.”

Wei Songnian hesitated looking at the faintly glowing blue runes on the magic talisman and said:

“Junior Brother, I need to test this for the first time selling your talismans, it’s standard practice.”

“Senior Brother, please test it as you see fit.”

Wei Songnian activated the talisman, carefully gauging the spell strength and observing the spell duration, then smiled and said:

“Not bad quality, I’ll take them all.

If the Water Curtain Talismans are popular, next time I’ll pay the crystal stones upfront when taking the talismans.”

He quickly counted the quantity, exclaiming:

“Junior Brother’s talisman success rate is commendable, in time, crystal stones will come rolling in.”