Starting as a Talisman Master

Lu Chi composed himself and, without the slightest hesitation, headed straight for the Miscellaneous Arts and Crafts section at the far right end of the main hall.

Compared to the bustling activity in the spellcasting area, this area was noticeably quieter.

His gaze swept quickly across the rows of ancient jade slips and animal skin scrolls, and soon he found the two jade slips that Uncle Qi had pointed out in the corner of the bookshelf—"Preliminary Explanation of the Hundred Herbs Elixir Record" and "Essentials of Spiritual Patterns".

He first probed the "Preliminary Explanation of the Hundred Herbs Elixir Record" with his divine sense.

Although this book contains the title "Initial Explanation," it is actually a compilation of the fundamental insights of alchemists throughout the Taiqing Palace.

Lu Chi swept his divine sense across the text, skipping over the herbs and pharmacology he already knew by heart, and went straight to the chapter on "condensing the color of the elixir".

After careful deduction, he suddenly felt enlightened.

It turns out that the reason why top-grade elixirs are so difficult to refine is not entirely due to the temperature and quality of the ingredients, but also to the "spirit-locking" method at the moment of elixir formation.

When pills are made in ordinary ways, a trace of their medicinal power will always dissipate along with the pill's energy.

As for the top-grade first-tier elixir, at the very moment it is produced, one must use one's divine sense as a guide, combined with the extremely exquisite Taiqing Palace pill-collecting technique, to firmly lock the wisp of pill energy that is about to dissipate into the pill aperture, so as to achieve a perfect and flawless result.

The reason he had failed time and again before was because he missed the key to locking in the elixir energy in the final step.

Having resolved his doubts about alchemy, Lu Chi then probed the scroll of "Essentials of Spiritual Patterns" with his divine sense.

This book solved his immediate problem.

The opening of the scroll clearly states that first-tier talismans depict form, borrowing the spiritual energy contained in cinnabar ink; while second-tier talismans depict the essence. To advance to the second tier, one must use divine sense as a needle and spiritual power as a thread to construct "spiritual pattern nodes" that are invisible to the naked eye within the talisman paper.

No wonder his previous attempts to forcefully deduce using the "Burning Thoughts" method yielded no results.

This is because he was completely unaware of the secret techniques for using divine sense to construct array nodes. He simply sketched the array on the surface of the paper, which was like building a tower with sand. As soon as spiritual energy was poured in and circulated, it would naturally collapse instantly.

"A true teaching can be contained in a single sentence, while false teachings fill countless volumes..."

Lu Chi felt a slight tremor in his heart, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the clear sky.

Once he understands this principle, with his nascent divine sense far surpassing others of his level, combined with his [Burning Thought] talent and second-tier talisman formula, drawing second-tier talismans will only be a matter of time.

Although he had already copied the contents in his mind, he still stood cautiously in the same spot for a long time.

Only after he had used up most of the quota for those two hours did he pretend to look tired and rub his temples, reluctantly putting the two jade slips back into the array's halo.

This trip yielded gains in cultivation techniques, alchemy, and talismanic arts, thus fulfilling its purpose. Lu Chi had no intention of lingering any longer in the Myriad Laws Pavilion, where spirit stones were consumed according to a set time.

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He turned around and retraced his steps. As he passed the jade table, he respectfully bowed to his senior brother Qi, who was still half-closing his eyes and playing with the bronze tripod. Then, he calmly stepped out of the Wanfa Pavilion and walked into the howling wind and snow.

Back at Courtyard No. 7, without a moment's rest, Lu Chi immediately activated all the isolation formations in the courtyard.

Entering the quiet room, he sat cross-legged on the futon, and with a flick of his sleeve, the ancient-colored "Qingchu Furnace" landed steadily in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, he took out several portions of the spiritual herbs he had on hand from his storage bag and arranged them neatly in the order of monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy.

This trip to Wanfa Pavilion allowed him to thoroughly understand the ins and outs of top-grade spiritual pills, and now he needed to strike while the iron was hot and verify his findings.

With a flick of his finger, a cluster of pure blue flames leaped from his fingertip into the bottom of the furnace, and the flames instantly rose.

Lu Chi skillfully added the spiritual herbs, refining and fusing them, all with effortless ease.

The moment the medicinal liquids mingled and the fragrance of the elixir began to appear, his gaze suddenly sharpened, and his nascent divine consciousness transformed into an invisible net, rushing towards the furnace, attempting to forcibly seal the dissipating elixir energy according to the spirit-locking method in "An Introduction to the Hundred Herbs Elixir Record".

"puff!"

A dull thud came from inside the oven; the heat was slightly off, and a burnt smell filled the air. The first batch, unsurprisingly, was a failure.

Lu Chi's expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of discouragement. If top-grade elixirs were so easy to refine, they would be commonplace in the cultivation world long ago. He cleaned up the waste, closed his eyes to regulate his breathing for a moment, and then once again activated the Xuan Fire, starting the second, third, and even fourth batches of refining.

For the last time, he refined his control over his divine sense to the extreme.

At the crucial moment of pill formation, he used his hands to form the Taiqing Pill-Collecting Technique, which moved like butterflies flitting among flowers. He then precisely inserted his divine sense into the pill, locking the wisp of primordial pill energy that was about to dissipate inside.

"Buzz!"

The Azure Start Furnace trembled slightly, and the lid was lifted. Instead of a rich, fragrant aroma, there was only a round... The pill, its surface shimmering with a faint glow, lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

The top-grade elixir is complete!

Although only one pill was produced from this batch, there is no doubt that with the help of the [Mysterious Fire] and the nascent divine consciousness, he has already crossed that threshold.

at the same time,

A slight ripple appeared in the void before them, and the familiar class panel emerged:

At the same time, ripples appeared slightly in the void before them, and a familiar class panel emerged:

[Alchemist Profession Experience +5]

A smile flashed in Lu Chi's eyes as he glanced at the panel. He was not far from upgrading his [Alchemist] profession again.

After carefully storing the precious top-grade elixir, Lu Chi used a hand seal to put away the Azure Start Furnace and the array, then pushed open the door and went straight to find Old Man Gu.

Upon arriving at Old Man Gu's residence, Lu Chi respectfully presented the green wooden token with both hands and thanked him again.

After returning the token, he hesitated for a moment before finally cupping his hands and saying, "Uncle-Master Gu, I have another request. Do you have any spare second-tier talismans? I would like to purchase one at market price for self-defense."

Second-tier talismans are something that ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivators would never possess. If he wanted to use [Burning Thought] and the newly learned "Essentials of Spiritual Runes" to reverse-engineer the Dao of second-tier talismans, he would need a ready-made second-tier talisman as a reference.

Upon hearing this, Old Man Gu put away the Green Wood Token, but shook his head: "You lad know how to pick your time, but I really don't have such an idle item on hand right now."

Seeing Lu Chi's puzzled expression, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and casually explained:

"Although this second-tier talisman is not considered an extremely rare item, it is quite uncommon in our Hundred Herbs Peak. Our Taiqing Palace is based on alchemy, but when it comes to the inheritance of talismanic arts, the Xuandu Sect is still the most prosperous."

"The Qi Refining disciples in the sect can earn spirit stones by drawing first-tier talismans on a regular basis. But when it comes to second-tier talismans, they must use the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator as a guide."

"We old bones of Hundred Herbs Peak, with that spare time and spiritual sense, wouldn't it be better to refine a couple more batches of pills for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators? Who would abandon the essential to obsess over the Dao of Talismans and needlessly delay their own cultivation? Therefore, I usually only carry pills and magical artifacts on me, and rarely carry those second-tier talismans."

At this point, Old Man Gu paused, looked at Lu Chi, and said, "Never mind, these things aren't hard to find. I'll ask the other senior uncles and elder brothers on the peak these next few days to see if any of them happen to have a spare one, and I'll spare one for you."

"Thank you very much, Senior Uncle Gu. I am deeply grateful." Lu Chi's face lit up with joy. After thanking him repeatedly, he tactfully took his leave.

He had a very clear plan in mind. If Old Man Gu could find one for him in the next few days, everyone would be happy. If he really couldn't find one on Hundred Herbs Peak, it wouldn't be a complete dead end.

Second-tier talismans are not rare, hard-to-buy items; disciples and stewards from various peaks often exchange them at the sect's "Spirit Ruins Market."

At worst, you can just take some spirit stones and go to the market to buy them. You'll have to pay some price to get them.

After bidding farewell to Old Man Gu, Lu Chi adjusted his sleeves and headed back along the snow-covered mountain path towards Courtyard No. 7.

Turning a corner of a cliff, we came face to face with a tall, thin young man walking through the snow.

This person had slightly protruding cheekbones and a somewhat gloomy face. He wore a neat gray outer robe and had several slightly worn spirit seed bags tied around his waist.

Lu Chi recognized the man; he was an outer disciple of Hundred Herbs Peak who had been there for several years, named Zhao Ya.

"Junior Brother Lu, you're in high spirits. In such heavy snow, you still go to visit your senior master."

Zhao Ya stopped on the narrow mountain path, gave a forced smile and greeted him, then slightly turned his body to block most of the way.

"Senior Brother Zhao." Lu Chi bowed respectfully with a calm expression. "I have some questions about the spirit field. I'll just ask my senior uncle for some guidance."

A hint of barely concealed jealousy flashed in Zhao Ya's eyes, and he gave a dismissive sneer.

"Junior brother is too modest. You have just entered the sect and you have already surpassed us fellow disciples who have endured many years of hardship. You have not only been exempted from the hard labor of first-grade spirit fields, but you have also directly monopolized the No. 7 courtyard of the Jia class and those two acres of second-grade spirit fields."

"Such amazing skills and 'expertise' are something we should learn from our junior brother."

He had spent more than ten years in the outer sect of Baicao Peak, and he thought that after the previous disciple of the No. 7 courtyard of the Jia class left the mountain, the lucrative position should be his turn based on his seniority.

Who would have thought that a rogue cultivator who had just arrived would intercept him halfway through. Having lost the abundant resources of a second-tier spirit field and the secluded quiet room brimming with spiritual energy, he was naturally filled with resentment.

Lu Chi took in the resentment in his eyes, his mind cleared, but he was too lazy to engage in pointless arguments.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents. In the world of cultivation, competition for resources is unavoidable. It's normal for Zhao Ya to feel resentful. If everyone could remain calm and undisturbed, that would be truly bizarre.

"The sect's arrangements are all decided by the elders; junior brother is merely following orders." Lu Chi's tone was completely calm as he slightly turned his body. "The snowstorm is getting worse, so I won't delay senior brother's duties."

Seeing that Lu Chi was so unyielding and didn't take his warning seriously, Zhao Ya's expression darkened slightly.

However, having spent many years working his way up in the sect, he knew the strict rules that forbade private fights, and he would never do something as brainless and foolish as acting recklessly in public.

"On the fifth day of next month, Master Yan will be giving a sermon, which, as is customary, will test the strength of us outer disciples. Since Junior Brother Lu has the best resources on Hundred Herbs Peak, his protective skills must be exceptional. I'll have to see them for myself at the Dharma Assembly."