Mortal Cultivation: Starting from Hiding in the Cultivation Techniques Pavilion

Su Xiaoyuan sat by Jiang Yang's bedside without leaving and poured him a glass of water.

Jiang Yang took a breath and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Su... thank you very much for today."

"Why are you thanking me?" Su Xiaoyuan forced a smile. "We've been together for so many years, and you've helped me a lot. Besides, I'm not helping you, I'm helping our group."

Jiang Yang nodded, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly whispered, "I'm really not reconciled."

Su Xiaoyuan looked at him.

Jiang Yang stared blankly at the ceiling: "I want to cultivate too, I want to break through, I want to be like those people in the inner sect... but I just can't seem to progress. My spiritual roots aren't good enough, no matter how hard I try, it's useless. Tell me, did God never intend for people like us to have a chance in the first place?"

Su Xiaoyuan was silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder: "Don't think too much, just focus on healing your injury first."

Jiang Yang nodded and closed his eyes.

Su Xiaoyuan got up and went out, gently closing the door behind her.

Back in his room, he bolted the door and lit the oil lamp.

So much has happened these past two days that he's been so busy he even forgot it was his regular payday.

However, the allowance won't be lost if you leave it at the office; you can collect it tomorrow.

He sat down at the table and laid out all the things he had bought that day.

A few blank talisman papers, a small dish of cinnabar, a cheap talisman pen, and the drawing of the Frost Talisman brought back from Shanggong Hall.

The drawing was spread out, showing a complete talisman pattern, with notes in small print next to it on the precautions for each stroke and the key points for injecting spiritual energy.

Semi-transparent text pops up in front of you:

[Optimizable target detected: Frost Rune]

[Optimization potential assessment: 32%]

Su Xiaoyuan took out a piece of scrap paper, first traced the talisman, and then tried to modify it little by little.

Optimizing runes is relatively simple.

As long as you follow your feeling with the pen tip, continue drawing if the value in front of you increases, and return to a different direction to redraw if it decreases.

The value is increasing little by little: 44%...67%...

As the final stroke was corrected, a notification popped up:

[Current version optimization level assessment: 99%]

Then, the familiar darkness descended.

To trace back to the source.

It was a valley, the sky was overcast, and a cold wind was blowing all around.

A figure sat on a blue stone, holding a piece of burnt charcoal in his hand, with a tanned animal hide spread out in front of him.

The man stared at a piece of crystal-clear ice next to him, seemingly for a long time.

Through that person's eyes, Su Xiaoyuan saw the frost patterns that had formed on the ice, watching how those patterns spread, branched, and converged.

Then he moved.

The charcoal pencil moved across the animal hide in one continuous stroke without pausing.

Charcoal as the medium, animal hide as the carrier, and one's own spiritual energy as the guide...

Divine consciousness returns!

Su Xiaoyuan looked down at the piece of scrap paper in front of her, savoring the feeling of that moment just now.

Well, the runes have been corrected, and the mission is actually over here.

But Su Xiaoyuan wanted to verify it.

He took some spring water and poured the cinnabar into a bowl to grind it slowly.

Then he dipped the tip of the brush, letting the talisman brush soak up the cinnabar.

The spiritual energy was slowly poured in, and the tip of the brush moved across the talisman paper, starting and turning in one go!

The talisman flashed, and the spiritual energy that had been infused into it quickly dissipated into the air like water vapor.

The first attempt failed, unsurprisingly.

He was not discouraged. He put the failed talisman aside and spread out the second one.

He knew where the problem lay: the infusion of spiritual energy hadn't formed a closed loop during the finishing touches.

The rune itself was already perfect, but the flow of spiritual energy within it was unidirectional; it dissipated as soon as it was drawn and was not locked away.

The entire process should use form to convey spirit and patterns to guide energy.

Drawing talismans sounds simple, but to truly achieve accurate distribution of spiritual energy at every node, one must also infuse one's own essence, energy, and spirit into that final stroke.

It is impossible to succeed without thousands of practices and sufficient understanding.

No wonder talisman makers are a rare profession in the cultivation world; this really has a high barrier to entry.

But Su Xiaoyuan has the best teacher: the system!

Tracing back to the source allowed him to directly experience the process of success, which was equivalent to replicating the entire experience and feel of a master talisman maker and implanting it into his brain.

He can master what others have to figure out through countless failures with just one correct demonstration.

Even the most talented person can't compare to a cheater.

He calmed himself down, dipped his brush in vermilion again, and picked up his pen.

The brush tip traced perfect patterns on the talisman paper, flowing smoothly and naturally without any hesitation.

His spiritual energy was evenly poured into each stroke, neither hurried nor impatient, but just right.

As he finished the last stroke, he flicked his wrist slightly, leaving a faint hook on the talisman paper.

The talisman glowed faintly.

A faint blue light quickly spread from the center of the talisman to the entire talisman pattern!

As the light shimmered, a chill emanated from the talisman!

The light then quickly dimmed.

Become!

Su Xiaoyuan let out a long breath, put down the talisman brush, and picked up the finished ice talisman to examine it carefully.

The runes have smooth lines, the cinnabar is brightly colored, and the spiritual light is restrained. They look better than those sold on the first floor of Shanggongtang.

The only drawback was that all the materials he used were the cheapest available, and the poor quality resulted in the spiritual energy not being perfectly retained in the talisman paper, with a small amount still leaking out.

Okay! From now on, I can support myself even if I only draw talismans.

After finishing drawing this talisman, he felt that he had exhausted a lot of his mental energy, so he didn't have time to pack up anything else and went to bed to fall into a deep sleep.

The next morning, as soon as Su Xiaoyuan stepped out of her room, she saw that Jiang Yang next door had also gotten up.

Su Xiaoyuan frowned: "Jiang Yang, you were just injured, aren't you going to rest?"

Jiang Yang deliberately puffed out his chest, trying to appear as if nothing was wrong, but this aggravated his injury, causing him to hiss in pain.

"We cultivators aren't that delicate. I need to get to work. Yesterday, Zhao Rongcheng robbed me of my allowance. If I don't work harder this month, I won't even have the spirit stones to buy Qi Gathering Pills."

Qi Gathering Pill is an essential elixir for cultivation, especially for disciples with poor aptitude, as it can save time spent meditating.

Su Xiaoyuan stepped forward and took his arm: "Come on, let's go eat first."

When they arrived at the cafeteria, he found a seat for Jiang Yang to sit down first, and then went to get two breakfasts for himself.

Jiang Yang had a good appetite; he ate four vegetable buns and drank two bowls of porridge in one go, and his complexion improved.

Seeing that he could eat, Su Xiaoyuan felt a little more at ease.

After finishing their meal, the two parted ways at the entrance of the cafeteria.

Jiang Yang went to the Spirit Beast Valley to feed his poultry. Su Xiaoyuan watched him walk away before heading towards the Cultivation Techniques Pavilion.

Upon arriving at the proofreading room, he first opened the doors and windows to let in some fresh air, then took out the draft paper of the Qingfeng Jue from his pocket and checked it himself.

He deliberately held back a trick in this version of "Qingfeng Jue".

He memorized the perfect version he obtained after tracing back to the source, but the version he handed over only achieved about 80% optimization.

It's not that I'm hiding anything, it's that I dare not.

Although he believed that Liu Yiyi would keep her promise, after hearing the inner disciple explain the reason for the incomplete cultivation technique yesterday, he knew how much of a stir a perfectly optimized cultivation technique would cause.

What if Liu Yiyi accidentally leaks it? What if someone with ulterior motives finds out about him?

Keeping something in reserve might leave room for maneuver.

He just hoped this version wouldn't be too shocking.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Liu Yiyi appeared at the door.