A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 56: Chapter 55: High-Quality Talismans

After eating a delicious porridge of pork offal, Lü Zhong prepared to try making Talisman Paper.

Tanning, drying, stretching... He followed the steps from the *Seven Profound Talisman Scripture* one by one, doing his best to adhere to the standards for each. He was drenched in sweat from exhaustion.

He made a few mistakes along the way, ruining a piece of hide the size of a large bowl. Fortunately, since he was preparing to make Talisman Paper, it didn’t matter that parts of the hide were damaged.

”Whew, it’s finally done.” Lü Zhong wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked at the beast hide in his hand with a joyful expression, his heart swelling with a sense of accomplishment.

Next, it was time to split the beast hide into layers.

A full-thickness beast hide could be used for Artifact Refining or making clothes, but it couldn’t be used directly as Talisman Paper. The entire hide needed to be split into an upper and a lower layer. The upper layer was thin and pliable, so the Talisman Paper made from it was always of premium quality. The lower layer, however, was harder and less flexible.

Generally speaking, Talisman Paper was actually made from this upper layer.

The hides of Demon Beasts were extremely thick, so the lower layer could often be split into several more sub-layers, depending on the skill of the craftsman.

Limited by his poor skinning skills, Lü Zhong struggled for a long time and only managed to split the lower layer of the Steel-maned Boar hide into two sub-layers. This was a full two to three layers fewer than what master Skin Makers were rumored to be able to achieve.

This was also why Huang Shuyuan hadn’t suggested processing that Fear Bear Hide into Talisman Paper herself. If the number of layers split from the hide was less than expected, the resulting financial loss would have been too great for her to bear. It was much more practical and far less trouble to just sell the raw hide to a shop.

Though the waste pained him, Lü Zhong knew this was a craft he had to master for future use.

Once the hide was split into layers, it was time to cut the material.

Talismans in the Cultivation Realm came in standard sizes. The most common was the long Talisman Paper, two inches wide and eight and a half inches long. There were also short and large versions, as well as other shapes and sizes, but they were rarely used.

Now, Lü Zhong had to cut the hide into pieces matching the standard long Talisman Paper size. He had to follow the grain of the material while carefully avoiding natural scars and marks from blood vessels.

Compared to the previous steps, this one seemed simple, but it was what directly determined the final yield of Talisman Paper.

A good Skin Maker could utilize nearly the entire piece of hide, using their exquisite craftsmanship to cut out the maximum number of sheets of Talisman Paper.

Lü Zhong performed careful calculations and even drew several draft layouts before finally arriving at a satisfactory result.

From one of the lower-layer hides, he managed to produce 463 sheets of Talisman Paper.

He wasn’t satisfied with this, but there was nothing he could do.

After cutting up both lower-layer hides, he had a total of 920 sheets of Talisman Paper. At the current market price, that was worth ninety-two Spirit Stones.

When it was time for the top-layer hide, Lü Zhong calculated and recalculated, putting in every ounce of effort.

Yet, the number of Talisman Paper sheets he could cut was only three hundred and one.

This couldn’t be helped. The upper layer of a hide has more blemishes than the lower layers, so the yield of Talisman Paper is naturally lower. Even a veteran Skin Maker couldn’t avoid this.

Talisman Paper made from the top-layer hide was also called ”Spirit Talisman Paper.” The success rate for Talisman Making with it was considerably higher than with ordinary Talisman Paper.

As a result, Spirit Talisman Paper could sell for twenty talismanic coins per sheet—exactly double the price.

All told, the value of the Talisman Paper Lü Zhong had produced was just over one hundred fifty-two Spirit Stones.

This was quite a bit less than what he would have gotten for selling the raw Steel-maned Boar hide to a shop; the difference was about thirty to forty Spirit Stones.

He wasn’t dissatisfied with this, however.

Paying a small price for valuable hands-on experience was much better than just theorizing.

...

「Noon.」

Looking at the Evil Exorcism Talisman on the table, its glow slowly fading, Lü Zhong was practically blooming with joy.

He had only attempted to draw it three times and had already succeeded once. By his calculation, the success rate using the hide-based Talisman Paper was clearly five to ten percent higher than with the standard kind.

’This Talisman Paper really is something else! It actually increases the success rate of Talisman Making!’ Lü Zhong thought.

It was no wonder that High-Tier talismans were almost all made from this material; the use of simple paper was extremely rare.

’I wonder if the success rate for Talisman Making will be even higher using Spirit Talisman Paper?’

’Maybe... I should give it a try?’

Lü Zhong was eager to find out. Seeing it was a little past noon, still the time of day when Yang Qi was most abundant, he finally gave in to his curiosity and pulled out a sheet of Spirit Talisman Paper.

With a few fluid strokes of his brush, he actually succeeded in creating an Evil Exorcism Talisman on his first try.

He knew it was a fluke—the Spirit Talisman Paper couldn’t possibly boost the success rate that dramatically—but Lü Zhong was still astonished.

Once completed, the Evil Exorcism Talisman began to absorb the ambient Yang Qi from the world. Compared to the talismans he’d previously made with regular paper, the commotion it caused was much greater. It drew in a visibly larger amount of Yang Spiritual Qi, which was a sure sign that the talisman’s power would be enhanced.

From this perspective, the hide-based Talisman Paper was truly a grade above the regular kind.

Whether in terms of Spiritual Qi conductivity or the total amount of a talisman’s spiritual energy it could hold, the hide-based Talisman Paper surpassed the standard variety in almost every way.

’But now... how should I price these Evil Exorcism Talismans?’ Lü Zhong wondered, a little troubled.

Using the hide-based Talisman Paper would certainly increase the success rate and enhance the talisman’s power, but the cost was also several times higher than using the standard Talisman Paper.

’There’s no point in overthinking it. I should just go and ask around.’

Considering he was a Talisman Maker, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to go directly into a Talisman Shop and ask about prices. So, Lü Zhong had to spend about ten talismanic coins to hire someone to ask on his behalf.

When he got the results, he was both shocked and overjoyed!

He was shocked to learn that this type of enhanced Evil Exorcism Talisman, made with the hide-based paper, was being sold by the Black-Hearted Talisman Shops in the Workshop Market for two Spirit Stones a sheet.

This price completely exceeded his expectations. He had originally planned to just raise his price by twenty or thirty percent to cover the cost of the materials.

He never imagined those Talisman Shops had simply doubled the price.

’Excellent, just excellent!’ Lü Zhong almost laughed out loud.

Since the shops were selling them for two Spirit Stones a sheet, he could sell his for three Spirit Stones for two.

At that price, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about finding a market.

Loose Cultivators were always price-sensitive. They wouldn’t pass up a cheaper, identical Evil Exorcism Talisman just to buy the overpriced, black-hearted goods from the shops. They were known for being extremely frugal.

’As for the Evil Exorcism Talismans made with Spirit Talisman Paper, I’ll keep those for my own use.’

Lü Zhong decided to keep the best for himself. He planned to use the Spirit Talisman Paper to craft a special batch of powerful talismans for his upcoming trip to the Yanling Mountain Market.

The road from Qingliu Square to the Yanling Mountain Market was perilous, not to mention infested with large numbers of Evil Cultivators. Even though he had already arranged to travel with a merchant caravan, there was no guarantee he would arrive safely. He could run into all sorts of trouble on the way.

Therefore, it was essential to prepare some powerful talismans.