Zombie World: Starting as an apprentice of the Thunder King

Lin Bei followed Shi Shaojian, and the two entered the woods one after the other.

The light inside the forest was much dimmer than outside. The tree canopy blocked out the sun, with only a few rays of light filtering through. There was a damp, rotten smell in the air.

The golden light emanating from Shi Shaojian stood out starkly in the dim woods, like a moving human-shaped light bulb.

"No, you're using the Golden Light Mantra so early, are you sure you have enough power?"

"Don't worry, didn't Master say it's just a wandering spirit? It can hold out for about ten minutes!"

Lin Bei stopped talking, clutching the exorcism talisman, his eyes fixed on his surroundings.

"Waaah..."

Suddenly, a low whimper came from the depths of the forest. The sound was not loud, but it sent chills down one's spine.

Shi Shaojian stopped and glanced back at Lin Bei.

Lin Bei gestured to the left with his lip, indicating that the sound was coming from that direction.

The two walked a dozen steps to the left, and under an old pine tree, a cloud of gray mist rose from the ground.

The mist slowly condensed and formed a human shape. This wandering spirit was clearer than the one from Master Zhang's house last time. You could vaguely make out the appearance of an old woman, with a hunched back and two dark eye sockets on her face.

But it also means that this wandering soul is more powerful!

After sensing the presence of human presence, the wandering spirit suddenly opened its mouth, let out a piercing shriek, and pounced towards Shi Shaojian.

"court death!"

Shi Shaojian made a sword gesture and shot out a beam of white light, which struck the wandering soul in the abdomen. The wandering soul's body dented, but it quickly returned to normal.

"This one is sturdier than the last one," Shi Shaojian exclaimed.

"I'll do it!"

Lin Bei went around from the side, using the Yu Step technique, his steps were much more stable than last time.

The wandering spirit sensed his approach and turned to pounce on him.

Lin Bei slapped the exorcism talisman in his hand, and it landed on the wandering spirit's chest with a snap.

The runes shone brightly instantly, followed by a loud explosion. A wisp of green smoke rose from the wandering soul's chest, and then it let out an angry shriek, reaching out to grab Lin Bei.

Lin Bei used the Yu Step to barely dodge, but the hands swept past him, bringing with them a chilling gust of wind.

"Senior brother, this wandering spirit is indeed very tough. A single exorcism talisman only managed to injure it?"

Shi Shaojian fired another beam of white light, which struck the back of the wandering soul's head.

The wandering spirit staggered forward two steps, and Lin Bei took the opportunity to pull out two more exorcism talismans, leaped up, and slapped them on its forehead.

"I refuse to believe we can't kill this thing!"

The two talismans exploded simultaneously on the wandering spirit's head, causing the spirit to let out a shrill scream before its body began to tremble violently.

Lin Bei took two steps back, watching the wandering soul slowly dissipate under the attack of the two talismans.

Shi Shaojian leaned against the tree, panting. Lin Bei bent down and picked up the scattered ashes of the talisman paper on the ground, stuffing them into his sleeve. Shi Jian had said that the ashes of the talisman paper should not be thrown away carelessly, as it would pollute the earth's energy.

The two walked out of the woods, and the hunter stood at the door, his face still a little pale.

"Are you... all done?"

"All done." Lin Bei patted the dust off his hands.

Shi Jian stood in the hunter's yard, looking at them expressionlessly.

"You were a little faster this time, but still terrible," Shi Jian said. "Shao Jian's sword technique only deals effective damage when it hits the same spot. What's the point of you darting around like this?"

"And besides, I've taught you so many skills, but all you ever learn is this one trick?"

Shi Shaojian lowered his head and remained silent.

"And you too." Shi Jian looked at Lin Bei, "After you put on the exorcism talisman, you need to add a layer of magic power to activate it. You just put it on and then left it alone. It took three talismans to wear down the wandering soul."

"You used two talismans when one would have solved the problem. Do you really think the materials for drawing talismans are free?"

Lin Bei scratched his head: "Master, I don't have enough magic power to activate it."

"If your magic power isn't enough, then practice." Shi Jian turned and walked out. "Go back and practice more."

On the way back to Qingzhu Mountain, the three of them didn't talk much.

Lin Bei walked at the back, his mind replaying the battle. He genuinely didn't know that the exorcism talisman needed to be activated with additional magical power after being applied.

By the time we returned to the mountain gate, it was already completely dark.

Lin Bei skipped dinner and went straight into the main hall. He sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, opened the Maoshan Basic Talismans book, found the page with the exorcism talisman, and carefully read through the annotations.

After the talisman is drawn, a stream of magical power must be transferred into it the moment it is pasted on for the talisman to truly take effect. He only knew that magical power was needed when drawing the talisman, but he did not know that it was also needed when pasting it on.

Lin Bei closed the book, shut his eyes, and sat in meditation to restore his magical powers.

Before dawn the next day, he got up and drew talismans—exorcising talismans, corpse-suppressing talismans, and house-protecting talismans, one after another.

If you mess up a drawing, start over; if you succeed, keep it safe.

Shi Shaojian was woken up by him. He rubbed his eyes and came out. He was stunned when he saw the talismans scattered all over the courtyard.

"Are you crazy?"

"He's not crazy, he's practicing talisman making."

Shi Shaojian looked at him for a while, sighed, washed his face, and squatted on the other side of the courtyard to start drawing talismans.

Over the next few months, Lin Bei transformed into a cultivation fanatic, running in the mountains in the morning, practicing boxing after running, drawing talismans in the afternoon, and meditating and cultivating magic at night.

He only sleeps for three hours a day, spending the rest of his time cultivating.

Shi Shaojian, influenced by him, felt embarrassed to slack off and practiced with him. The two competed with each other, neither willing to fall behind.

Every day, Shi Jian would sit under the eaves drinking tea, watching his two apprentices practice in the courtyard, and occasionally offering a few pointers.

After three months, Lin Bei's success rate in drawing exorcism talismans has reached 100%. Not only that, he can also skillfully cast purification spells and golden light spells!

The Yu Step can also be performed steadily, and when combined with Tai Chi, it becomes extremely lethal.

Shi Shaojian's cultivation level has also increased, with his mana reaching over 180 strands, but he is still stuck at the mid-stage of Daoist Child, 20 strands short of perfection.

Every time Shi Shaojian saw Lin Bei meditating, he couldn't sit still and would meditate with him.

The two sat side by side in the main hall, neither speaking, focusing solely on their cultivation.

When Shi Jian passed by and saw this scene, a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes, but he quickly returned to his stern expression!

Another month passed, and one evening, Lin Bei was meditating in the main hall.

The mana in his dantian had reached 397 strands, just 3 strands away from the perfect middle stage of the Daoist novice realm.

He guided the magical power to circulate in his meridians, round and round, steadily and smoothly.

An hour later, his magical power had reached four hundred strands.

Lin Bei took a deep breath and guided the four hundred strands of magical power in his dantian to compress towards the center of his dantian.

Four hundred strands of magical power converged into one, and then a muffled sound came from the dantian.

The speed at which magical power circulated suddenly doubled, and the space in the dantian was expanded to accommodate more magical power.

Lin Bei slowly opened his eyes, and a burst of spiritual light shot out from them before slowly dissipating!

"Haha, I finally broke through!"

At this moment, he felt that he had more strength in his body than before, and even his five senses were more acute. He could clearly hear the chirping of insects in the bamboo forest outside the main hall.