A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 71: Chapter 70: Mirror Image Talisman

「An hour later.」

Lü Zhong walked out of the Dharma Robe shop, wearing a black Dharma Robe.

’This feels nice. It seems these two hundred Spirit Stones were well spent.’

He stroked the Dharma Robe. It had the thick, substantial feel of metallic thread, yet its smoothness rivaled that of silk. It wasn’t too heavy, either, weighing about the same as his previous Daoist Robe.

As a Lower-grade Dharma Robe, this Wind-Riding Robe only possessed two Divine Techniques: Dust Avoidance and Wind-Avoiding.

Dust Avoidance was self-explanatory. It was a basic function for a Dharma Robe, allowing it to remain perpetually clean and new.

As for the Wind-Avoiding ability, it didn’t work by simply reducing wind resistance.

When Spiritual Power was channeled into the robe to activate the Wind-Avoiding Divine Technique, it would form a spherical shield in front of the wearer. Compared to the human body, which created significant wind resistance, the shield’s shape allowed it to experience much less drag.

On the way back to his small courtyard in the bamboo forest, Lü Zhong decided to test it out.

He cast the Light Body Skill and broke into a full sprint, feeling that running was now considerably easier.

As for the exact degree of improvement, he would need to experiment outside the Workshop Market to get a precise answer.

...

Huang Shuyuan’s plight was also a reminder to Lü Zhong.

The income of an Independent Cultivator Talisman Maker was almost entirely dependent on Talisman Making.

A Talisman Maker who only specialized in one type of Talisman was extremely vulnerable to risk whenever the market experienced drastic fluctuations. If they were spendthrifts with no savings, they could find themselves knocked back to square one overnight.

Take himself, for example. Among Tier One Middle-Grade Talismans, he only knew how to make the bestselling Evil Exorcism Talisman.

If he really encountered an extreme situation—for example, if merchants gained complete control over the Fiery Sun Stone supply, or worse, if the Golden Rainbow Sect issued an order granting themselves a monopoly on Talismans, allowing only them to sell Talismans in the Yanling Mountain Market...

If any of that happened, Lü Zhong’s income would instantly plummet, possibly even to zero.

To prevent this, it was essential to prepare for a rainy day by either learning to make several different types of Talismans or by developing other sources of income.

As for developing a new source of revenue, he was pinning his hopes on the Spirit-Seeking Rat.

Once his Yellow Jade Rat underwent its Metamorphosis into a Spirit-Seeking Rat, he could use its Spirit-Seeking Talent to search for Spiritual Objects.

Spirit Medicine, Spirit Ores, spirit wood... these were all things a Spirit-Seeking Rat could find.

While this income would be highly unstable, it was better than having no safety net.

As for which Talisman to learn, Lü Zhong hadn’t decided yet.

Tier One Middle-Grade Talismans weren’t limited to just Dust Avoidance, Evil Exorcism, and Light Body types. There were also other types of offensive, defensive, and auxiliary talismans, as well as Secret Talismans derived from improving ordinary ones.

Given the chance, Lü Zhong would certainly choose to learn a Secret Talisman.

After all, the power of a Secret Talisman was usually greater than an ordinary one, as was its value.

The only Secret Talisman he currently knew was the Seven Profound Arrow Avoidance Talisman, which Li Dong had taught him. While it was considered somewhat rare in Qingliu Square, it was a dime a dozen in the Yanling Mountain Market, a Talisman that almost every Talisman Maker knew how to create.

At this thought, Lü Zhong understood the reason for Huang Shuyuan’s predicament.

From what he knew of her, besides the Cleaning Talisman, the one she was best at making was the ordinary Arrow Avoidance Talisman.

An ordinary Arrow Avoidance Talisman would have sold effortlessly in Qingliu Square.

But here in the Yanling Mountain Market, squeezed out by the sheer volume of Seven Profound Arrow Avoidance Talismans, her own Arrow Avoidance Talismans would have virtually zero sales unless she sold them at a low price.

Lowering her prices would slash her profits, leading to a cascade of other problems.

Whether Huang Shuyuan could overcome this difficulty depended entirely on her ability to learn how to make other Talismans before her savings ran out.

Pushing aside these extraneous thoughts, Lü Zhong returned to considering which Talisman he should learn.

Considering his purpose for learning was purely to mitigate risk, the primary factor in his choice of a new Talisman shouldn’t be its profit margin, but its practicality.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would likely only make them for his own use after learning how, not to sell.

A profitable, all-purpose talisman like the Evil Exorcism Talisman was unique among Tier One Middle-Grade Talismans. Others might offer higher profit margins, but they couldn’t compare in terms of income stability.

With these considerations in mind, Lü Zhong decided to learn the Mirror Image Talisman.

The Mirror Image Talisman was a Tier One Middle-Grade auxiliary talisman. When activated, it could conjure a mirror image of the user made of light and shadow. This image could mimic the user’s every move and even replicate the Spiritual Light that appeared on their body during Casting.

Ordinary sword and saber strikes were useless against the image of light and shadow; only a Magic Skill could destroy it.

Against a cultivator, this talisman’s effect was largely limited to creating a momentary distraction.

This was especially true against a cultivator who knew the Qi Observation Skill, as they could distinguish the real body from the image at a glance.

However, when used against Demon Beasts, it could be remarkably effective.

With their low Spiritual Wisdom, Demon Beasts were unable to distinguish the real body from the illusion.

As far as Lü Zhong knew, one method for hunting Demon Beasts involved first enraging the creature, then using the image from a Mirror Image Talisman to continuously harass it. The hunter would remain hidden until the maddened beast was completely exhausted before emerging to deliver the final blow.

This method made for an easy hunt.

...

Having decided to learn the Mirror Image Talisman, Lü Zhong went to a bookstore and bought a Talisman Making Book.

A Talisman Making Book that only detailed the method for a single Talisman wasn’t expensive. Even though this one contained the instructions for the Tier One Middle-Grade Mirror Image Talisman, the bookstore only charged Five Spirit Stones per copy.

The Talisman Making Book provided a detailed diagram of the Mirror Image Talisman, with especially clear illustrations of the Talisman Head and Talisman Core.

It showed how to draw every single stroke but gave no explanation as to why they had to be drawn that way.

This put the learner’s fundamental skills to the test. Only someone with specialized training and a foundation in Talisman Making could decipher the meaning behind each stroke and, through trial and error, discover the correct technique to successfully create a Mirror Image Talisman.

Otherwise, one could only resort to slavish imitation, which would drastically increase the difficulty of learning.

Without understanding the significance of each brushstroke, the only way to learn a new talisman from a Talisman Making Book was to invest a great deal more time—unless one was willing to pay a hefty price for a personal tutor.

...

He became engrossed in the Talisman Making Book, and three days passed in a flash.

After practicing constantly during that time, Lü Zhong finally succeeded in creating his first Mirror Image Talisman.

’Time to test its effect.’

He channeled Spiritual Power into the Talisman Paper and then flicked it away.

A moment later, the Mirror Image Talisman began to emit an iridescent glow. The light then converged, swirled, and finally solidified into a light-and-shadow image that looked exactly like Lü Zhong.

When he tried casting the Qingyang Fire Rain Technique, Lü Zhong found that the image could only mimic the Spiritual Light on his body during the Cast; it couldn’t replicate the Fireball Bullet itself. However, when he held his Green Frost Sword and activated its Cyan Frost Cold Qi, the image simulated the Spiritual Light on the blade so perfectly that it was nearly impossible to tell the difference with the naked eye.

A simple punch had no effect on the image of light and shadow, but a sweep of his Green Frost Sword, carrying its Cyan Frost Cold Qi, instantly and effortlessly destroyed it.

’Next, I just have to keep practicing Talisman Making to gradually improve my success rate.’

Lü Zhong planned to only practice making the Mirror Image Talisman occasionally to improve its success rate. He would still devote his main energy to drawing Evil Exorcism Talismans and practicing his Magic Skills and Cultivation Techniques.