Starting as a cowherd, he sought a way to cultivate immortality.

It wasn't until midnight that Chen Chi finally cleaned up Zhao Xia's studio.

He returned to the residence arranged for him by Zhao Lanxin, practiced the calming and tranquilizing mantra once, and the fatigue in his body was swept away.

Chen Chi lay in bed, planning to visit the Zhao family's library the next day to find a basic cultivation technique to practice.

Cultivation techniques can help cultivators improve their skills, and the characteristics of these techniques can even change a cultivator's physique and personality.

Only when you have the cultivation method can you truly begin cultivating immortality.

"I won't need to spend so much time tidying up the studio tomorrow; I should be able to go there in the afternoon," Chen Chi thought to himself.

The next day, he arrived at the studio early to grind ink for Zhao Xia.

Zhao Xia arrived on time, but still wore a sour face as she looked at the studio that Chen Chi had cleaned and renovated.

She walked to the jade table and asked:

"Where did you put those talismans on the ground?"

Chen Chi frowned slightly, wondering why Zhao Xia suddenly asked this.

"There was a wicker basket outside the painting room, and I put all the talismans into the basket."

Zhao Xia's face turned cold:

"Who gave you permission to act on your own?"

There are a few damaged talismans on the ground, but they can still function if infused with spiritual power. Find them all for me today.

Chen Chi looked at Zhao Xia.

Zhao Xia's expression was cold and indifferent, without a trace of pity.

"What, you don't want to?"

Chen Chi suppressed his anger and a smile appeared on his face.

"Master Zhao instructed Chen Chi to do as he was told and to find those defective talismans."

I just don't know exactly what a flawed talisman looks like.

Zhao Xia coldly replied, "As long as the writing on the talisman is intact, you can pick it out as you like."

After saying that, Zhao Xia ignored Chen Chi, picked up the brush in the inkstone, and began to write on the talisman paper.

Chen Chi stood beside the jade table, just like yesterday, and helped Zhao Xia take away the talisman she had drawn, silently placing it on the ground.

……

A day passed in the blink of an eye. Having finished making the talisman, Zhao Xia casually tossed the brush to the ground and said to Chen Chi:

"This brush is unusable. Go to the talisman hall's storeroom and get a few brushes for drawing talismans."

Chen Chi responded.

Just as Zhao Xia was about to leave the studio, she turned back and instructed Chen Chi not to forget about the defective talisman.

Chen Chi smiled as he saw Zhao Xia off, but after she left, his expression gradually darkened.

My trip to the library today will have to be postponed again.

Chen Chi handed the talisman to Zhao Lanxin and casually asked about the location of the storeroom.

Zhao Lanxin chuckled softly:

"In our Talisman Hall, the talisman master who goes through the most brushes is Zhao Xia."

If this continues, the Talisman Hall will collapse.

Chen Chi smiled, took his leave, and departed.

Following the directions given by Zhao Lanxin, he arrived at the storeroom in the northwest corner of the Talisman Hall.

When he placed the five calligraphy brushes on the warehouse guard's table, the guard looked up and gave him a look of sympathy.

"Are you new to be Zhao Xia's apprentice?"

Chen Chi's lips twitched; it seemed Zhao Xia was already quite famous.

He nodded, noticing the warehouse guard's increasingly pitying gaze.

Chen Chi was somewhat overwhelmed and quickly signed his name, then hurriedly fled from the storeroom with five calligraphy brushes in his arms.

Back in his studio, Chen Chi placed his brush on the jade table and dragged the rattan basket from outside into the studio.

Looking at the countless discarded talismans in the basket, Chen Chi's expression turned cold.

He will repay Zhao Xia a hundredfold for making things difficult for him in the future.

"Fortunately, I have divine sense to help me," Chen Chi pondered.

Zhao Yunzhong told him that one could only develop divine consciousness at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Having cultivated to the first level of Qi Refining, relying on the destiny of "accumulating strength for a sudden burst" to generate divine consciousness is already a violation of the common sense of cultivators.

Otherwise, Zhao Xia wouldn't have used this method to make things difficult for him.

Chen Chi emptied the talisman paper from the green vine basket, and covered the talisman paper on the ground with his divine sense. Before long, he found seven talisman papers with relatively intact handwriting.

Chen Chi placed the talisman on the jade table and began to study it carefully.

He had used the Swiftness Talisman before and knew that these talismans needed to be infused with spiritual energy; if the spiritual energy was insufficient, the talisman would not activate.

Chen Chi gathered a wisp of spiritual energy at his fingertips and slowly poured it into a talisman in front of him.

However, the talisman did not react at all.

Chen Chi's gaze shifted to another talisman, and he infused it with spiritual energy.

This time, a faint light flickered on the talisman.

This must be a defective talisman!

Chen Chi immediately stopped injecting spiritual energy to prevent the damaged talisman from being consumed by himself.

Next, he tried all the other talisman papers, and four of the seven talisman papers were defective.

"Would you like to take one?"

The idea was immediately rejected by Chen Chi.

Although Zhao Xia may seem carefree, she might actually know how many flawed talismans she has created, just waiting for Chen Chi to make a mistake.

As he pondered, Chen Chi's gaze fell upon the discarded talisman paper on the ground.

Many of the talismans were discarded by Zhao Xia simply because the brushstrokes had stopped.

If I were to learn how to draw talismans myself, I might be able to make some flawed talismans.

Chen Chi bent down, picked up some talismans that looked usable, and put them in his pocket.

Afterwards, he put the discarded talisman paper back into the vine basket, and carried the basket out of the studio.

The next day, Zhao Xia came to the studio and saw the seven talismans that Chen Chi had placed on the jade table. Her cold expression softened slightly.

She stepped forward, collected the four damaged talismans, and then casually flicked them, causing the three discarded talisman papers to fall to the ground.

"From now on, you must pick up any damaged talismans I throw away and hand them to me the next day," Zhao Xia coldly ordered.

She picked out a new calligraphy brush, dipped it in the ink that Chen Chi had already ground, and began to draw runes on the blank talisman paper.

Chen Chi watched intently, keeping his eyes glued to Zhao Xia's every move except when he was putting away the talisman she had drawn.

Zhao Xia glanced at Chen Chi sideways, a cold smile appearing on her lips:

"What, you want to learn?"

Without divine sense, no matter how much you observe, you will never learn to draw talismans!

Chen Chi looked away, ignoring the crazy woman.

……

After finishing his day of drawing talismans, Chen Chi finally had time to visit the Zhao family's library after helping Zhao Xia clean her studio.

The Sutra Repository was about the distance of an incense stick's worth of walking from the Talisman Hall. Chen Chi showed his identity token to the guard, indicating that he wanted to enter the first floor of the Sutra Repository.

All cultivators who join the Zhao family can come to the first floor to choose a basic cultivation technique.

"You're only at the first level of Qi Refining, so you can only read the techniques in the books. The techniques in those jade tubes require divine sense to access. You'll only have the opportunity to cultivate them once you break through to the middle level of Qi Refining," the guard of the Scripture Pavilion reminded him.

Chen Chi's heart stirred. He thanked the guard and stepped into the first floor of the Sutra Repository.

Upon closer inspection, the first floor was divided into two areas. On the left, bookshelves were filled with densely packed martial arts manuals, while on the other side were rows of jade slips.

Chen Chi first went to the bookshelf on the left to look for it.

The cultivation methods here are all unique; some emphasize offensive and killing techniques, some emphasize solid defense, and some focus on prolonging life.

Chen Chi had already planned it out. He possessed the destiny of "accumulating strength for a future breakthrough," and as long as he mastered the technique, he could unleash two or even several times its power.

Since it could enhance his power, he chose a domineering and aggressive technique that would allow him to suppress enemies with a mere wave of his hand.

Chen Chi quickly scanned the cultivation techniques recorded in these books.

"Green Wood Skill", "Turtle Breathing Method", "Withered Wood Scripture", "Thick Earth Technique", "Luoshui Heart Scripture", "Ice Soul Scripture"...

Chen Chi looked through all the cultivation manuals on the bookshelf, but he couldn't find a satisfactory one.

Chen Chi glanced at the guard outside and saw that the guard was slumped over and pretending to be asleep, so he quietly walked to the bookshelf on the right that was full of jade tubes.