Starting as a Talisman Master

Old Gu stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of approval.

However, after a moment, he seemed to realize that he had shown too much joy on his face and lost the dignity of an elder in charge. He immediately frowned, forcibly suppressed his smile, and snorted coldly:

"Hmph, so-so. At least you didn't waste this batch of second-tier spirit seeds of mine. But don't be too complacent."

As he spoke, he took out a green wooden token with rounded edges from his sleeve and casually tossed it into Lu Chi's arms.

Lu Chi subconsciously caught it, and saw that the token was warm to the touch, with only a simple and unadorned ancient character "Gu" engraved on it, exuding a fresh and natural fragrance.

"For the past six months, you've been holed up in this courtyard like a tortoise, never stepping outside!"

Old Gu, with his hands behind his back and a stern face, scolded, "Tending the spirit fields is certainly your job, but don't forget that you are ultimately a cultivator. Without some protective techniques, even if you grow immortal pills and divine medicines, you will be at the mercy of others and be a freeloader."

"Take this private order from me and go to the Myriad Laws Pavilion to find Uncle Qi, who guards the first floor. That old ghost owes me a few favors from years ago, so we have some old acquaintance. Give this to him and let him personally guide you in choosing a truly effective Daoist technique."

"If you're left to wander around aimlessly, with your limited perspective as a rogue cultivator, you'll most likely only pick out flashy but impractical junk, wasting the sect's merits."

Lu Chi held the Green Wood Token, his heart warmed, and he immediately understood.

The Myriad Laws Pavilion is vast and boundless; when lower-level disciples try to choose a cultivation method, it's often like the blind men touching an elephant.

This old man was known for his sharp tongue but kind heart. He scolded him fiercely, but in reality, seeing that the man had been well-behaved and diligent in farming for the past six months, he deliberately swallowed his pride and used his connections to pave a shortcut for him to select superior Taoist techniques.

Before Lu Chi could bow and express his gratitude, Old Man Gu gave him another disapproving look and added, "On the fifth day of next month, your Uncle Yan will finish his seclusion and will be giving a lecture at the summit. That old Taoist priest is rigid and strict by nature, and he values ​​his disciples' cultivation and practical combat skills the most."

"If you don't even have a decent Taoist technique to show for yourself, and you have such a weak and feeble demeanor, be careful that he will look down on you on the day of your sermon and kick you off the prayer mat in front of everyone! I can't afford to lose face like that, and I won't plead for you."

Having said that, Old Man Gu ignored Lu Chi's reaction, flicked his sleeves, and strode away without looking back, stepping on the remaining snow in the courtyard.

"Thank you very much for your guidance and mentorship, Senior Uncle Gu."

Lu Chi gripped the token tightly and bowed deeply.

Watching Old Man Gu's slightly thin figure disappear into the distance, a gentle smile appeared on his lips almost imperceptibly.

Although the Taiqing Palace is strictly governed, there is a rare sense of human warmth on Baicao Peak.

Only after Old Man Gu's figure had completely disappeared into the wind and snow did Lu Chi straighten up and turn around to look again at the vibrant spirit field within the formation.

The garden full of thriving second-tier spiritual herbs was already a stunning sight in Old Man Gu's eyes, but little did he know that it was just a smokescreen created by Lu Chi deliberately suppressing his abilities.

He usually tended to these spiritual plants by relying on [Listening to Plants] to discover their subtle habits, and then adding a little diluted [Dew] spiritual liquid to nourish them, which easily created such an outstanding quality.

But he had already secretly pocketed the real fortune.

Over the past six months, he has quietly poured his pure [Dew Condensation] talent into the complete ripening of two extremely rare second-tier spiritual herbs, and used the effect of [Azure Law] to nourish himself with the essence of the plants.

The two massive streams of life force entering his body not only saved him months of arduous cultivation, but also made his Qi Refining Level 7 magic power even more condensed and profound.

As for the two second-tier spiritual herbs that were forcibly raised to full maturity, they had long ago been carefully sealed in a jade box and hidden deep in the bottom of his storage bag.

"The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Laws..."

Lu Chi held the warm green wood token in his hand, his eyes slightly dark, his thoughts drifting into the distance.

For the past six months, he has been living in seclusion in Courtyard No. 7 of the Jiazi Building. Apart from farming, he has devoted all his remaining energy to secretly refining elixirs and drawing talismans.

The progress in alchemy has been steady and solid.

Thanks to his cultivation reaching the late stage of Qi Refining, the cluster of Xuan Fire within his body also rose accordingly, and his fire control technique became increasingly effortless.

He has mastered the art of using the high-grade pill formulas he obtained from Shen Yuanheng's storage bag, and his success rate in producing pills is quite impressive.

However, when he harbored ambitions and attempted to refine top-grade elixirs using increasingly refined Xuan fire, he seemed to have run into an invisible iron wall.

I thought that with my current cultivation level and skill, success would come naturally, but I never expected that after consuming so many spiritual materials, I still haven't succeeded in even one batch.

As for the talisman, it made him deeply realize that even a skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice.

His talisman-making skills have now reached the peak of the first tier, but he is still unable to cross the threshold of the second tier.

The reason for this was not that he lacked skill, but that he had never come into contact with any second-tier talisman inheritance methods.

Although the 【Burning Thoughts】 can temporarily deplete one's mind and focus one's attention on the brush, forcing the form when drawing difficult runes, the function of this talent is to "break through the barrier and drop the runes".

The prerequisite is that he must first have a second-tier talisman formula, know the direction of its spiritual energy and the veins of its array patterns, so that he can use [Burning Thought] to tough it out when he is outmatched.

If someone is completely clueless about how to draw a talisman, no matter how profound their [Burning Mind] talent is, they can't conjure up a second-tier talisman out of thin air.

It has long been rumored in the cultivation world that second-tier talismans cannot be drawn by anyone other than a Foundation Establishment cultivator, because their array patterns are complex and require the assistance of true "divine sense" to inscribe and guide them.

Although Lu Chi had not yet established his foundation, his soul was extraordinary, and he had already developed a rudimentary form of divine consciousness at a young age. Logically speaking, as long as he had the inheritance in hand, he should have been able to glimpse some of the secrets of the Dao with this rudimentary form of divine consciousness.

"The bottleneck in my alchemy and talisman-making skills is mostly due to my background as a rogue cultivator, which means I lack the secret techniques and high-level inheritance passed down orally within sects."

Lu Chi carefully put the Green Wood Token away from his body, braved the swirling snow, left the No. 7 Courtyard and walked all the way to the Wanfa Pavilion halfway up the main peak of Taiqing.

Built against the cliff, this pavilion is magnificent. Although the surrounding area is covered in ice and snow, the area outside the pavilion is filled with a spiritual glow, as warm as early spring.

Outer disciples came and went in an endless stream, clearly showing that even the wind and snow could not stop the lower-level cultivators from yearning for the Great Dao.

Lu Chi stepped into the pavilion and first went to the steward's table to verify his identity jade token.

The rules of the Myriad Laws Pavilion are strict. Outer disciples at the bottom level are only qualified to borrow books on the first floor, while those on the second floor must be inner disciples or Foundation Establishment stewards to set foot on the second floor.

Moreover, reading inside the pavilion requires paying spirit stones, and the fee is calculated by the hour, with each hour costing a full five low-grade spirit stones, which is extremely expensive for ordinary outer sect disciples.

The most stringent requirement is that all techniques and secret arts are protected by arrays, and copying or imitation is strictly prohibited. They must be memorized and understood on the spot based entirely on one's own comprehension.

Lu Chi casually pointed out ten spirit stones as a deposit for two hours before finally stepping into the main hall.

Looking around, the hall was extremely spacious, with rows of towering purple wooden bookshelves, on which thousands of jade slips and ancient books were neatly suspended, all shrouded in various colored auras of restriction.

Although these jade slips are divided into major categories such as "cultivation methods", "techniques", "unorthodox methods", and "miscellaneous records", finding a suitable lineage among them is like finding a needle in a haystack.

This is because the array's restrictions are quite ingenious. When a cultivator probes with their mind, they can only glimpse the name of the technique and a few dozen words of its opening outline. As for its specific power, cultivation threshold, and even whether it is incomplete or not, all of these are completely concealed by the array.

In addition, the predecessors in the cultivation world often had the habit of exaggerating. They called it "Burning Heaven Technique" or "Overturning Sea Seal", but when you peeled off the restrictions, it was mostly just a first-order fireball technique and water prison technique variant.

If you try to learn from each book by your own judgment, you will not only waste a huge amount of spirit stones, but you are also more likely to go astray.

Lu Chi wandered among the bookshelves for a moment before giving up on the idea of ​​trying his luck. He turned his gaze slightly and swept it toward a jade table deep in the main hall, which was marked out by array patterns.

Behind the jade table, leaning against the wall was a middle-aged Taoist priest dressed in a gray robe with a gaunt face.

This person's spiritual pressure was contained and unrevealed, as deep as an abyss. He was clearly the Foundation Establishment stage deacon who guarded the first floor, as mentioned by Old Man Gu.

At this moment, two outer disciples, their faces beaming with smiles, gathered around the table, seemingly wanting to ask about the merits and demerits of the cultivation technique.

Uncle Qi didn't even lift his eyelids, only focusing on playing with a small bronze tripod in his hand, his tone extremely indifferent: "Third row on the left, go and choose for yourself, don't make a fuss here."

The two disciples were rebuffed, but dared not retaliate, and could only retreat meekly.

Such neglect is not surprising.

The Wanfa Pavilion is bustling with people every day. Most of these outer disciples are ambitious but impractical. They don't have many spirit stones in their pockets, but they always hope to find a groundbreaking divine skill in the old books.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Master Qi had a precious lifespan and was naturally impatient to deal with these rootless, low-level Qi Refining disciples.

After the two disciples had gone far away, Lu Chi took two steps forward unhurriedly and respectfully performed a junior's salute: "Disciple Lu Chi of Baicao Peak greets Senior Uncle Qi."

Uncle Qi kept his eyelids lowered, his gaze fixed on the small bronze cauldron, and let out a cold snort from his nose: "If you want to find a cultivation method, go and see the classification yourself. The rules have already been explained by the steward. Don't bother me with those second-rate fragments."

Lu Chi's expression remained unchanged. He didn't waste any words, but simply stepped forward, took out the warm wooden token from his sleeve, and handed it over with both hands, gently placing it on the edge of the jade table.

"This disciple has come here on the orders of Senior Master Gu of Baicao Peak, to seek your guidance."

Upon hearing the words "Uncle Gu," Uncle Qi paused slightly in his hand as he played with the small tripod.

He slightly lifted his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over the wooden token engraved with the character "Gu," and a slight ripple finally appeared in his otherwise indifferent expression.

When she looked up at Lu Chi again, the cold indifference that kept people at a distance in his eyes had largely disappeared. Although he wasn't particularly warm, he had become more scrutinizing and serious.

"So it was one of Old Man Gu's men."

Uncle Qi casually tossed the wooden token back to Lu Chi, his tone revealing a hint of inexplicable emotion, "That old fellow is usually very stingy, yet he's willing to give you special treatment. It seems you, a junior, hold considerable weight in his heart."

Having said that, he picked up the spiritual tea on the table, took a sip, looked directly at Lu Chi, and said calmly, "Very well, the favor I owed him years ago will be settled with you today. Tell me, what is your spiritual root? What kind of magic do you cultivate? What kind of Dao technique are you seeking?"