Chapter 11

Another world, a forest.

Clear sky, a light breeze.

On a relatively flat spot stood a simple folding table, upon which lay a brush, an inkstone filled with cinnabar ink, and a stack of yellow paper.

Gu Zhao had just tested all the spells from the Daoist scriptures he had learned.

The Daoist tradition had endured over two thousand years, rising and falling, flourishing and perishing, splitting and merging—first the Southern Script Sect, then the Northern and Southern Internal Alchemy Schools, finally forming the two major branches: Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao, along with numerous offshoots.

Of course, over the centuries, Daoists had traveled, exchanged knowledge, and learned from one another; beyond their respective ancestral temples, they had long since become intertwined, each within the other.

For instance, the three Daoist scriptures his grandfather taught him clearly reflected this state.

The Supreme Pure Heart of Heaven Method.

The Divine Thunder Pivot Extermination and Judgment Five Thunder Great Art.

The Golden Gate Jade Lock Secret.

One was a Shangqing sect visualization method, cultivating qi and refining spirit, also recording various talisman techniques.

One was a Shenxiao sect thunder art, specialized for combat, recording various thunder incantations.

One was a Quanzhen sect internal alchemy method, solely teaching breath control and qi refinement to condense the Golden Core.

Thus, Gu Zhao could be said to have cultivated multiple Daoist scriptures and spells, uniting spirit and qi, possessing both body and method.

Of course, he had only cultivated for ten years, and still had to balance his studies, not devoting himself fully; thus his spiritual sense was weak, his magic power insufficient—even a Daoist prodigy could not leap to enlightenment overnight.

Indeed, in the earlier trials, he found he could actually perform very few spells.

The Supreme Pure Heart of Heaven Method was mostly talisman-based; its only combat spell was the Fire Shield, which Gu Zhao could only cast at limited range and power.

The Divine Thunder Pivot Extermination and Judgment Five Thunder Great Art was indeed a combat art, but he could not cast its more powerful spells—the Heavenly Thunder Lord Incantation, the Generating and Overcoming Thunder Incantations, and others; he could only use the Palm Thunder and Thunder Expulsion Incantations, simple spells.

The Golden Gate Jade Lock Secret was an internal alchemy method and contained no spells; however, according to the Internal Alchemy school, once the dantian qi was fully complete, supernatural abilities would naturally manifest.

Gu Zhao attempted—riding clouds and walking through mist, reducing distances to a single step, reversing aging and restoring youth, sending his yang spirit on journeys, becoming immune to water and fire, moving mountains and filling seas…

He could not do any of them!

Gu Zhao: ╮(╯▽╰)╭

With his current cultivation, he was merely physically strong and healthy, with keen hearing and sight, able to jump higher and run faster.

“Swish!”

Gu Zhao leapt onto a tree branch, tapped his foot, and landed on another tree’s limb.

“So I’ve learned lightness skill?”

Gu Zhao clicked his tongue, feeling that with the martial arts he’d learned from his grandfather, he was now a martial arts master at least—definitely capable of handling Ke Zhen’e.

“Now, let’s draw talismans!” Gu Zhao’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.

Martial arts were just the beginning; Daoist arts were the ultimate goal. He couldn’t cast the Five Thunder Incantation alone, but if he combined it with a Five Thunder Talisman, might he succeed?

Although the Supreme Pure Heart of Heaven Method contained more talismans, Gu Zhao still chose to start with the Five Thunder Talisman—who wouldn’t want the most impressive thunder art?

Gu Zhao stood before the table, pulled out a sheet of yellow paper, placed it flat, then dipped his premium wolf-hair brush into the inkstone, swirling it to soak it fully in thick cinnabar ink, before lightly wiping it along the edge and lifting it above the yellow paper.

He had tested this at home: cinnabar and yellow paper stored spiritual power far better than ordinary ink and paper; logically, the modern world had almost no spiritual energy—how had the ancients discovered this?

But regardless, it was a good thing—it meant the Daoist scriptures contained even more usable tools.

Gu Zhao cleared his mind, focused his gaze, straightened his spine, drew qi from his dantian, sent it down to his feet, then up to his right hand, channeling force to his fingertips, guiding spiritual energy through the wolf-hair brush.

Stroke!

Gu Zhao’s internal magic power flowed, merging into the cinnabar, beginning to draw the talisman on the yellow paper.

First, the Eastern Heavenly Thunder: nine dots; then the Southern Divine Thunder: stroke…

At the second stroke, Gu Zhao realized he could not continue.

Unlike the Five Thunder Talisman he’d drawn in Yuanfa Palace, this time he had infused magic power into the cinnabar from the start—and he discovered that each stroke of the Eastern Heavenly Thunder connected with the previous one.

In this connection, the cinnabar traces infused with magic power seemed like individual components, gradually assembling into a unified whole; during this process, his spiritual sense and magic power were rhythmically consumed.

In practical terms, this meant that with each stroke in drawing the Five Thunder Talisman, control became harder than the last.

He barely finished the first section—the Eastern Heavenly Thunder script—then failed shortly after beginning the Southern Divine Thunder.

One stroke, and the entire structure collapsed; the rhythm of magic power input broke, and the spiritual energy stored in the cinnabar instantly dissipated, leaving only a small residue.

“The Five Thunder Talisman is indeed hard!” Gu Zhao grumbled.

His internal magic power wasn’t exhausted, but he’d lost control; his body and spirit were both faintly weary.

In short, his cultivation base was still too low—the same reason he couldn’t cast the Heavenly Thunder Lord Incantation.

But Gu Zhao wasn’t disappointed; he had at least drawn the Eastern Heavenly Thunder, proving he could control at least one direction’s thunder—and the Divine Thunder Pivot Extermination and Judgment Five Thunder Great Art also contained individual thunder spells, not just the fused Five Thunder Talisman.

So Gu Zhao rested briefly, then decisively picked up his brush; after wasting two sheets of yellow paper, he finally drew his first talisman.

Wind-Thunder Talisman!

Wind and thunder from the east, element wood, the use of heavenly thunder.

Gu Zhao formed the Thunder Seal with his left hand, pinched the yellow talisman between his right fingers, shook it as his magic power flowed, chanting, “Wood Virtue, Morning Star, Spirit of the East. Follow my Nine Qi, expel evil spirits.”

A faint surge of magic power flowed into the talisman; the cinnabar instantly flashed, then spontaneously ignited.

The next moment, a gale erupted, thunder cracked.

A violent wind blasted outward from Gu Zhao in all directions, while a bolt of lightning condensed above his head, crackling as it surged along with the wind.

“Whoosh—”

The gale swept through, trees swayed, leaves flew; after the thunder raged, everything within ten meters of Gu Zhao was in chaos—had he not deliberately avoided the folding table, his experiment would have ended today.

After using it once, Gu Zhao understood: the Wind-Thunder Talisman acted like a repulsion aura, useful in combat to keep enemies at a distance.

Just like his earlier tested spells: Palm Thunder was single-target, Thunder Expulsion was area-of-effect, Fire Shield was slow, bind, and sustained damage.

Gu Zhao couldn’t help sighing, “It’s just like a video game—modern game designers are still copying the ancients’ homework; they’ve made zero progress.”

With that, Gu Zhao grew even more eager for future talismans—but at the same time, he suspected he’d soon run out of yellow paper.

Gu Zhao rubbed his chin. “Should I go back to Yuanfa Palace tomorrow and ‘borrow’ some more?”