A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 82: Chapter 81: A Peculiar Problem

He arrived at Qingyang Square in the Sixth Ring.

Unlike the construction site it had been a few months prior, the buildings here were now mostly finished. Walking on the wide, smooth bluestone-paved road, he saw no one living in tents anymore.

The sounds of sighing and sobbing were gone, as if that time had passed completely.

After announcing his name, Lü Zhong met with the thin man from before.

When Lü Zhong explained the situation in detail, the man was shocked, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

”How is that possible? Feng Yuan’s character was well-known in the sect. There’s no way she would hold something back in the Talisman Making Book, causing you to be unable to master the Jade Talisman.”

The man was adamant, fully believing in the character of his senior.

If Feng Yuan hadn’t protected them with her life back then, their group would never have escaped the Five Spirits Sect’s ferocious pursuit and made it to Yanling Mountain Market. They would have likely all been hunted down and killed.

”It’s impossible. Something must have gone wrong somewhere...”

Just then, three more people walked in from outside.

Lü Zhong knew who they were—Talisman Makers hired by the Talisman Shop.

The one in the lead was an old man leaning on a Pigeon Staff. His cultivation was already at the Late-stage of Qi Refining. The other two were middle-aged men whose cultivation levels were similar to Lü Zhong’s, around the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refining.

All three of them wore angry expressions.

”What kind of business are you running, selling us a fake Talisman Making Book?”

”I’ve been studying this Talisman Making Book for over three months! I’ve successfully drawn the Talisman Head and Talisman Core multiple times, but I get stuck at the talisman foot every single time. Ling Kang, are you sure there’s nothing wrong with this book?”

”The way I see it, the problem is the talisman foot!” the old man with the Pigeon Staff declared.

As a type of Secret Talisman, the talisman foot of the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman was naturally designed for secrecy. If the talisman foot in the book was indeed wrong, it could certainly make completing the talisman impossible.

Hearing the three men speak, Lü Zhong also grew pensive.

’If one or two people couldn’t draw it, that could be chalked up to personal error. But now, all four of them who bought the Talisman Making Book were stuck at the talisman foot. He would never believe there wasn’t a problem.’

Ling Kang, who had been so resolute, now began to waver.

’Could it be that Feng Yuan...?’

’No, impossible!’

With this thought, he looked at Lü Zhong and the other three apologetically. ”Please, could I trouble the four of you to wait here for a moment? I know someone who can find out what the problem is.”

A short while later, Ling Kang returned, bringing with him a white-haired, middle-aged man in a wheelchair.

”Senior Brother Feng, if you could please take a look, they...” Ling Kang began, but he was rudely cut off by the white-haired man.

”I swore an oath that I would never make another talisman for as long as I live. Find someone else.”

After speaking, the man turned his head away.

Ling Kang had anticipated this. He first explained the whole situation, then said with deep anguish, ”Do you want to see Feng Yuan’s reputation ruined over this?”

At these words, the man’s body trembled.

After a period of silence, he lowered his voice and said, ”Have one of you demonstrate. Draw the talisman exactly as you have been, and let me see where the problem is.”

Lü Zhong and the other three looked at each other. Finally, the old man with the Pigeon Staff offered to do it.

Lü Zhong, for his part, had no objection.

He wanted to keep as low a profile as possible; fame only brought trouble.

The old man with the Pigeon Staff then took out a set of Talisman-Making Tools and began to draw the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman on the spot.

Lü Zhong watched intently, hoping to learn something from the process.

The old man drew the talisman with incredible speed. He was clearly a veteran Talisman Master with decades of experience. His proficiency was profound; every stroke landed in the exact right place.

The Talisman Head and Talisman Core were completed in one smooth motion. When he reached the talisman foot...

The same problem occurred again.

The nearly completed Jade Talisman suddenly erupted with a dazzling Spiritual Light.

Needless to say, the Talisman Making had failed again.

BOOM! A loud explosion rang out. The bluestone pavement outside was the unfortunate victim, a large crater blasted into it by the out-of-control Jade Talisman.

Seeing this result, Ling Kang’s resolve wavered once more.

At that moment, the middle-aged man, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

”There’s no need for more demonstrations. The problem is with the Spiritual Power!”

With this reminder, not only Lü Zhong but even the old man with the Pigeon Staff felt it was highly likely.

The purpose of the talisman foot was for encryption. If it had to be drawn with a specific type of Spiritual Power, that would certainly be a foolproof security measure.

”How do we solve it then? Don’t tell me we’re all supposed to switch to cultivating the Qingyang Jade Profound Technique?” one of the middle-aged Talisman Makers said, his expression turning sour.

Like Lü Zhong, he had already invested a great deal of time and Spirit Stones into this.

If this problem couldn’t be solved, wouldn’t his entire investment be for nothing?

Lü Zhong felt the same, his expression clouding over.

He currently cultivated the Four Spirits Technique, which was of immense benefit to him. Switching to the Qingyang Jade Profound Technique just to draw a Secret Talisman would be a case of the losses outweighing the gains.

Just then, the old man with the Pigeon Staff made a move.

He took out a bright yellow stone, ground some powder from it, and added it to the Talisman Ink he had been using.

Then, he started drawing again, all on his own.

Lü Zhong glanced at the bright yellow stone and noticed it looked somewhat similar to a Fiery Sun Stone.

Soon, the result of his Talisman Making was revealed.

Unexpectedly, the old man with the Pigeon Staff had actually succeeded!

”It seems I was right. One can use a clever trick to simulate...” The old man trailed off, glancing at the others in the room before saying no more.

His meaning was clear: he was wary of his four competitors in the room.

For him, now that he had solved the talisman foot problem, the fact that the Qingyang Body Protection Secret Talisman required special Spiritual Power was no longer a drawback. Instead, it had become an advantage that could keep his competitors at bay.

For that very reason, the old man with the Pigeon Staff would not voluntarily tell Lü Zhong and the others how he had just mixed the Talisman Ink. It was now his trade secret.

Lü Zhong quickly understood this, and his expression shifted.

But then he remembered his Gray Mist Space, and his heart quickly settled.

...

Back at his small courtyard in the bamboo grove, Lü Zhong placed the fifty Spirit Stones he had just received into his Storage Bag.

These Spirit Stones were compensation to settle the matter of the flawed Talisman Making Book.

With a turn of his hand, he produced a Fiery Sun Stone and crushed it into powder.

He then began to replay the scene, trying to estimate how much Fiery Sun Stone powder the old man had added to the Talisman Ink to simulate the Pure Yang Spiritual Power of the Qingyang Sect’s cultivation technique.

Lü Zhong replayed it until his head ached, but he still couldn’t determine the precise amount of Fiery Sun Stone powder, only managing a rough estimate.

’If only I could interact with objects...’

If he could, he would be able to pick up and weigh the Fiery Sun Stone during the scene replay, directly calculating how much powder needed to be added.

Resigned, Lü Zhong could only resort to trial and error.