Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

He held his breath, channeled a wisp of spiritual energy from his dantian, and slowly gathered it at the tip of the talisman brush.

Dipping the brush tip in the shimmering spiritual ink, he meticulously applied it to the pristine white talisman paper, beginning to outline the runes of the Qi-inducing talisman.

It went smoothly at first. The rune lines were fluid, and the aura was stable.

But when he was about 40% done, his control over the output of spiritual energy showed a slight, almost imperceptible deviation—the spiritual light at the tip of his brush rippled slightly.

When it reaches 70%, due to unstable spiritual energy, the rune lines begin to twist and deform, the spiritual light flickers erratically, and it completely loses its order.

Lin Zhao insisted on finishing drawing the remaining runes.

The final stroke was made with great difficulty.

The spiritual energy on the talisman instantly went out of control, twisting violently and transforming into a fist-sized, extremely unstable energy ball that emitted a dangerous hissing sound.

Before the energy sphere could explode, the protective array around the workbench flickered slightly. An invisible force instantly enveloped and compressed it, ultimately annihilating it silently, leaving only a small pile of ashes.

Lin Zhao was not surprised by this failure.

The gap between theory and practice needs to be bridged through countless practices.

Lin's father watched quietly from the side without saying a word.

Lin Zhao closed his eyes and carefully reviewed each step in his mind, searching for the point and reason for the loss of control of his spiritual power.

After an incense stick had burned, he opened his eyes again, his gaze now calm and collected.

He took the second blank sheet of paper and picked up his pen again.

This time, he was even more careful to control the stability and evenness of his spiritual energy output. The tip of his brush shimmered with spiritual light, and the runes were completed in one fluid motion.

He only experienced a slight disturbance in his spiritual energy when he had completed about 80% of the drawing. He steadied himself and persevered to finish the last stroke.

This time, the talisman didn't explode directly.

Lin Zhao dared not delay, and quickly formed a sealing spell with both hands. Streams of light entered the talisman.

The talisman hovered in mid-air, trembling slightly. Just as the seal was about to complete, its spiritual light surged dramatically—

Immediately, like air leaking out, the spiritual energy rapidly dissipated.

The last glimmer of light vanished, the talisman lost its luster, and floated down lightly.

It failed again.

Lin Zhao did not remain in thought for long.

The lessons of failure are now clearly etched in my mind.

He took the third talisman directly, focused his mind, and wrote with flowing strokes.

The spiritual energy flowed smoothly and seamlessly from the tip of the brush, perfectly synchronized with the outlining of the runes.

With the final stroke, a brilliance shines forth, flowing endlessly.

His hands flew, and he precisely cast the spirit-sealing spell. A barely perceptible spiritual rune disappeared into the talisman.

A faint light flashed on the surface of the talisman, and then all the radiance was contained within, firmly locked by an invisible restriction.

Only when touched by fingertips can one feel the peaceful and stable spiritual energy fluctuations contained within.

It became.

Lin Zhao handed the successfully sealed spirit talisman to her father.

Lin's father took it, his fingertips gently tracing the evenly flowing light on the talisman, and examined it for a long time.

A barely perceptible hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes as he slowly said:

"Very good. The spiritual energy is contained within, and the seal is stable. You have completely mastered this Qi-guiding talisman."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Next, we can start learning other low-grade first-tier talismans."

---

From then on, Lin Zhao began three months of intensive study with her father.

For the past three months, he has hardly left his house, devoting all his energy to talismans and spiritual ink.

He mastered the drawing of more than ten kinds of first-tier low-grade talismans, and his progress was far faster than that of ordinary people.

Now, he can independently complete the production of most low-grade talismans.

Between the control of spiritual power and the outlining of runes, there is a hint of composure, which makes him worthy of the title "Lin Rune Master".

However, when he began to try to draw more complex first-tier mid-grade talismans, he unsurprisingly encountered a series of failures.

Lin's father examined the fragments of talismans that had disintegrated halfway through their creation and commented:

"It's not that my spiritual power is insufficient. It's that my proficiency is insufficient, and my understanding and control over higher-level rune structures are still shallow."

The rune structure of a mid-grade first-tier talisman is far more complex and sophisticated than that of a low-grade one.

It's no longer possible to simulate drawing on ordinary paper; each attempt requires real talisman paper—a considerable cost.

Each time Lin Zhao finished drawing, her spiritual energy became unstable, making it difficult to continue.

During these three months, he also officially began taking the [Gathering Essence Pill] to assist in his cultivation.

The pills his father gave him, plus the ones he had accumulated over the years, were all used up.

For subsequent cultivation, every resource must be purchased with spirit stones earned from drawing talismans.

"No wonder everyone says that alchemists are the most valuable," Lin Zhao thought to himself.

First-grade low-level talismans are inexpensive, and their main customers are early-stage Qi Refining cultivators with meager incomes who mostly use Spirit Shards for payment, so the market is limited.

In addition, there are quite a few low-grade talisman masters in the market—although they don't have the talent of Lin Zhao becoming a talisman master in three months, there are many who have accumulated over ten years of experience and are highly skilled, making the competition fierce.

Conversely, if one can become a mid-grade first-tier talisman master, the situation will be very different.

Mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators are the backbone of the cultivation world and have a great demand for mid-grade talismans.

In particular, the demon-hunting teams, who constantly walk on the edge of life and death, are major buyers.

A high-quality Vajra Talisman or Swift Travel Talisman can be a second life in a critical moment.

---

That day, Lin Zhao failed to draw a mid-grade [Flowing Fire Talisman] again. Somewhat annoyed, he pushed open the door and let out a long sigh of stale air.

Over the past three months, he has become very adept at drawing first-grade low-level talismans.

However, once they try to use a mid-grade talisman, the spiritual power always gets out of control and dissipates halfway through.

His father asserted that he would need at least a year to reflect before he could hope to cross this threshold.

Lin Zhao felt that she clearly had the ability, but she didn't know why she was stuck.

He also knew that a year was a very short time for advancing in the Dao of Talismans—his father had spent three years grinding his way up from the lower first rank to the middle rank.

Yet an invisible sense of urgency still lingered in his mind.

Over the past three months, he has been asking around about Liu Yifeng's situation.

All that was known was that they were members of the Golden Feather Demon Hunting Team, but no other information could be obtained, as if shrouded in mystery.

What troubled him even more was that the conflict between the Liu family and Master Feiyu not only did not subside after the last gathering, but instead intensified.

My uncle hasn't gone out to hunt demons for the past few months; he's been dealing with this matter the whole time, and he's even temporarily put aside his control over Lin Xuan.

Previously, the outer market only had petty theft, but recently there have been rumors of robbers and thieves infiltrating it. The law enforcement team's attitude is rather ambiguous.

All signs indicate that the market is becoming less safe.

His desire to improve his cultivation and master stronger techniques became increasingly urgent.

"My spiritual sense is comparable to the sixth level of Qi Refining, and I've even experienced the state of 'unity of heaven and man.' I'm confident in my ability to control spiritual power... so why am I stuck with a mere mid-grade talisman?"

Lin Zhao turned and went back into the house, his gaze sweeping over the fragments of failed talismans on the workbench.

The traces of disordered spiritual energy on it are clearly visible.

To earn spirit stones, we must also break through the bottlenecks. If we can't find the problem, we might not be able to finish the painting even after another year.

He might need to find a faster way.