Chapter 94

Zheng Fa felt that most people were distancing themselves from him.

Almost all those attending the lecture were new disciples; because of their experience on the ship, they had originally been quite close to Zheng Fa.

But since Zhuang Shixiong’s remarks, they had subtly begun to show signs of resentment—

Of course, Zhuang Shixiong’s attitude had influenced them.

But more than that, it was their dissatisfaction with the special treatment Zheng Fa received.

In these few days at Jiushan Sect, everyone had surely come to understand how precious spiritual materials were, and how valuable Zheng Fa’s extra resources were.

For instance, right now, most people had only three sheets of talisman paper on their low tables—meaning only three sheets were provided for free.

The entire room’s usage barely amounted to Zheng Fa’s monthly allotment.

It’s not poverty they fear, but inequality.

…

Zhuang Shixiong, however, seemed oblivious to the strange atmosphere.

He stood up and addressed the group: “Talisman paper is hard to come by; I hope you all cherish it. Do not pick up your brushes yet—I will finish speaking before you begin.”

As he spoke, he picked up his talisman brush and began drawing on the paper: “Pay attention to my posture and hand movements; release your spiritual sense and observe the changes in the talisman patterns in the void.”

“Drawing a talisman requires unity of hand, eye, and spirit—hand moves, eye follows, spirit follows! The brush must not pause; complete it in one continuous motion!”

As Zhuang Shixiong’s brush moved, some talisman patterns in the air began converging onto his paper.

A Golden Armor Talisman appeared beneath his brush.

“The difficulty in drawing talismans lies not in the drawing, but in recognizing the patterns!” Zhuang Shixiong set down his brush and said to them: “Talisman patterns and spiritual sense are the foundation of talisman arts!”

“Senior Brother, I heard talisman masters are ranked by grade—how is that determined?”

Others’ expressions also turned eager, seemingly more interested in this.

Zhuang Shixiong thought for a moment, then said: “Saying talisman masters are ranked by grade is inaccurate—it’s actually the grade of the talisman you draw that matters.”

“Then how is a talisman’s grade determined?”

Zhuang Shixiong pointed to the Golden Armor Talisman on his low table: “This one of mine is a Xuan-grade talisman.”

“A talisman is essentially storing a spell onto talisman paper,” he continued. “The talisman’s grade depends on its power—my Golden Armor Talisman can withstand a single full-force attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator; that makes it Xuan-grade.”

“Huang-grade talismans match the power of Qi Refining cultivators’ spells.”

“Xuan-grade corresponds to Foundation Establishment, Di-grade to Golden Core—this is the correspondence.”

“Then what about Tian-grade talismans?” someone asked curiously.

“I don’t know about Tian-grade talismans; almost all who can draw them are Nascent Soul cultivators,” Zhuang Shixiong paused, glancing at Zheng Fa. “I say ‘almost,’ because Sister Zhang can too.”

…

After a brief explanation, Zhuang Shixiong told them to begin trying to draw Golden Armor Talismans themselves.

“Don’t draw on talisman paper at first—practice a few times on plain paper,” he added, as if fearing they’d waste materials.

After speaking, he went down to the hall and began guiding each new disciple one by one in their postures.

When he reached Zheng Fa’s side, he showed no unusual behavior—merely adjusted Zheng Fa’s forearm angle before walking away.

Zheng Fa drew the Golden Armor Talisman pattern two or three times on paper, then suddenly realized—talismans were perfectly suited to him!

In Zheng Fa’s understanding, drawing a talisman was much like making a bomb.

Spiritual sense and understanding of the talisman pattern determined your “ammunition load”—the stronger your spiritual sense, the more patterns you could perceive; the more patterns you recognized, the more patterns you could attract.

As for spiritual power, it was roughly equivalent to your current stockpile of gunpowder.

Drawing one Golden Armor Talisman consumed nearly one-third of his internal spiritual power, but this did not affect the talisman’s power—only how many he could draw.

In other words, among Qi Refining cultivators, everyone could draw the same number of talismans per day, but Zheng Fa’s talismans would be more powerful than others’.

So, a better analogy might be physical strength and craftsmanship.

With the same physical strength, different craftsmanship produces different results.

After guiding everyone around, Zhuang Shixiong stepped out the door, seemingly leaving them to practice freely.

Han Qi walked over to Zheng Fa’s seat and whispered: “Today it’s Zhuang Shixiong… you’re really unlucky.”

Zheng Fa asked: “What’s wrong with Zhuang Shixiong?”

“This guy… how to put it—he belongs in the Discipline Hall, not the Talisman Pavilion,” Han Qi said with a strange expression. “He’s rigid about rules, utterly without compassion, and has offended countless people. But honestly, we all kind of like him.”

“Why?” Zheng Fa couldn’t understand.

“You know how the sect’s atmosphere has been lately—trying to cultivate prodigies, while us lower-tier disciples are getting harder and harder to survive,” Han Qi explained. “Zhuang Shixiong—he used to be some kind of imperial censor in the mortal world, I think. Had a terrible temper, didn’t get far. Then he joined the sect, kept that same temper, and it only got worse.”

Zheng Fa nodded: “So he hates prodigies?”

“Not at all. His view is: no merit, no reward—even a prodigy should be treated the same as the rest in terms of rewards,” Han Qi sighed. “He also says: the scarcer the spiritual materials, the more the upper echelons must avoid reckless distribution, or else hearts will be unsettled and the sect will be unstable.”

“...” Zheng Fa nodded, beginning to understand Zhuang Shixiong’s thinking.

“Come to think of it, if not for Sister Zhang, this man would’ve been in terrible shape inside the sect.”

“Sister Zhang?”

“His attitude offends people—especially powerful ones. In the past, when others tried to harass him, it was Sister Zhang who stepped in and protected him.”

Han Qi frowned again: “But there’s one strange thing—these past few months, the Talisman Day lectures shouldn’t be under Zhuang Shixiong’s responsibility.”

“...”

Zheng Fa glanced outside, wondering if Zhuang Shixiong held any ill will toward him.

But Zhuang Shixiong’s appearance today was likely arranged by someone who did.

Outside the door, Zhuang Shixiong saw a man approaching slowly and bowed slightly: “Senior Brother Li.”

His posture was humble, but his expression was flat, showing no warmth.

“Junior Brother Zhuang, though we belong to different branches, there’s no need to wear that cold face every day,” Senior Brother Li chuckled. “I heard a great Buddha arrived today.”

“...”

Zhuang Shixiong said nothing as Senior Brother Li continued: “The first in ten thousand years—walks in and gets the same ration as us. From now on, your branch’s spiritual materials will probably be hoarded for him first!”

“Senior Brother, why mimic a gossiping woman and sow discord here? That’s the conduct of a petty man.”

“Hm?”

“Would Senior Brother Li dare say this in front of Sister Zhang?” Zhuang Shixiong said coldly. “Since you know we belong to different branches, Zheng’s senior is Sister Zhang, and we below him offer guidance—there’s no place for you to speak.”

“You!”

…

“The senior brothers are debating talismans again!”

Han Qi exclaimed, pointing outside.

Zheng Fa saw Zhuang Shixiong, who had been so properly dressed moments ago, now rolling up his sleeves, swinging his arms rapidly, hurling multiple talismans as he fiercely brawled with another man.

“Wait—does the sect really call this ‘debating’?”