Chapter 94: Talisman Grades

Zheng Fa felt himself being ostracized by the majority.

Nearly all the disciples attending the lecture were newcomers; due to their shared ordeal on the boat, they had originally been quite friendly toward Zheng Fa.

But after Brother Zhuang's remarks, hints of resentment began to surface among them—

Of course, Brother Zhuang's attitude played a part in this.

Yet more significantly, it was the crowd's dissatisfaction with the special treatment Zheng Fa received.

After a few days at Jiushan Sect, everyone roughly understood the preciousness of spiritual materials, and thus clearly grasped the value of Zheng Fa's extra resources.

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 consumption did not even equal Zheng Fa's monthly allowance.

It was simply the fear of inequity, not scarcity.

……

Brother Zhuang, however, seemed indifferent to this strange atmosphere.

He stood up and addressed the crowd: "Talisman paper is hard to come by; I hope you all cherish it. Do not pick up your brushes yet; wait until I finish explaining before you begin."

As he spoke, he picked up a talisman brush and began drawing on the paper: "Watch my posture and hand movements. Release your divine sense and observe the changes of the talisman diagram in the void."

"Drawing a talisman requires the unity of hand, eye, and spirit: where the hand goes, the eye follows; where the eye goes, the spirit arrives! The brush must not stop; it must be done in one continuous breath!"

As Brother Zhuang's brush rose and fell, talisman diagrams from the surrounding space began to converge onto his paper.

A Jin Jiafu appeared beneath his brush.

"The difficulty in drawing talismans lies not in the drawing, but in recognizing the talisman!" Brother Zhuang put down his brush and told the crowd: "The talisman diagram and divine sense are the foundations of the Talisman Dao!"

"Senior Brother, I heard talisman masters are ranked by grade; what distinguishes them?"

The expressions of the others also turned expectant, seemingly even more interested in this topic.

Brother Zhuang thought for a moment and said: "Saying talisman masters are ranked by grade is actually inaccurate; fundamentally, it is the grade of the talisman you draw that matters."

"Then how is a talisman's grade determined?"

Brother Zhuang pointed to the Jin Jiafu on his low table: "This one of mine is a mystic-grade talisman."

"A talisman is essentially a spell stored within talisman paper," he continued. "The talisman's grade is determined by its power—for example, this Jin Jiafu of mine can block a full-power attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator once; that makes it a mystic-grade talisman."

"Yellow-grade talismans and incantations correspond to the spell power of a Qi Refining cultivator."

"Mystic-grade talismans correspond to Foundation Establishment, Earth-grade talismans correspond to the Jin Dan Stage, and so on."

"What about Heaven-grade talismans?" someone asked curiously.

"Heaven-grade talismans are beyond my knowledge; nearly everyone capable of drawing them is at the Nascent Soul stage." Brother Zhuang paused, glanced at Zheng Fa, and said: "I say 'nearly' because Sister Zhang can also do it."

……

After a brief explanation, Brother Zhuang let them begin attempting to draw the Jin Jiafu themselves.

"Do not draw on talisman paper at first; practice a few times on plain paper instead." Fearing they might waste materials, Brother Zhuang added this instruction.

Having said this, he walked down the hall and began guiding each new disciple's posture one by one.

When he reached Zheng Fa, he showed no unusual behavior, merely helping Zheng Fa adjust the angle of his forearm before walking away.

Zheng Fa drew the Yang Yuanfu of the Jin Jiafu once or twice on paper, then suddenly realized—the Talisman Dao was perfectly suited to him!

In Zheng Fa's understanding, drawing talismans was quite similar to making bombs.

Divine sense and comprehension of the talisman diagram determined your payload capacity—the stronger your divine sense, the more talisman diagrams you could see; the more diagrams you recognized, the more could be attracted to you.

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

Drawing a single Jin Jiafu consumed nearly one-third of the spiritual power within his body, but this did not affect the talisman's power, only the quantity Zheng Fa could produce.

In other words, although two Qi Refining cultivators could only draw the same number of talismans in a day, the talismans Zheng Fa produced would be more powerful than those of others.

Put this way, a more apt analogy would be physical strength and craftsmanship.

With the same physical strength, different craftsmanship still yields different works.

After circulating to guide everyone once, Brother Zhuang walked out of the room, seemingly leaving them to practice freely.

Han Qi walked over to Zheng Fa's seat and whispered: "It's actually Brother Zhuang today... you're a bit unlucky."

Zheng Fa asked: "What's wrong with Brother Zhuang?"

"Brother Zhuang... how should I put it? He belongs in the Jielutang, not the Talisman Method Pavilion," Han Qi said with a strange expression. "This man prioritizes rules over human feelings and has offended countless people. Yet, strangely enough, we quite like him."

"Why?" This, Zheng Fa could not understand.

"You know the recent atmosphere in the immortal sects; to nurture genius disciples, it has become increasingly difficult for us lower-level disciples," Han Qi explained. "As for Brother Zhuang, he seems to have served as an imperial inspector in the mortal world or something similar; anyway, he had a bad temper and didn't fare well there. After entering the immortal sect, he kept that temper, and it even became more explosive."

Zheng Fa nodded: "So he just hates geniuses?"

"Not exactly. His belief is that rewards cannot be given without merit; even for geniuses, the standards for bestowal should be the same as for the rest of us," Han Qi sighed. "He also says that the scarcer spiritual materials are, the more those in high positions must refrain from indiscriminate bestowal; otherwise, hearts will be unsettled, and the immortal sect will not be peaceful."

"..." Zheng Fa nodded, beginning to slightly understand Brother Zhuang's thinking.

"Come to think of it, if not for Sister Zhang, this man would likely be in a miserable state within the sect."

"Sister Zhang?"

"His attitude easily offends people, and mostly important figures at that. Previously, when someone tried to cause him trouble, it was Sister Zhang who stepped in to protect him."

Han Qi frowned again and said: "However, one thing is very strange; according to the schedule, today's talisman day should not have been Brother Zhuang's turn to lecture."

"..."

Zheng Fa glanced outside the door; he did not know whether Brother Zhuang held a grudge against him.

But Brother Zhuang's presence today was likely arranged by someone who bore a grudge against him.

Outside the door, Brother Zhuang watched as a man slowly approached; he cupped his fists and said, "Greetings, Li Shixiong."

Although his posture was humble, his expression was flat, showing no warmth.

"Junior Brother Zhuang, although we belong to different lineages, there is no need to keep a cold face every day," this Li Shixiong said with a chuckle. "I heard a great Buddha has arrived today."

"..."

Senior Brother Zhuang said nothing, only listening as this Li Shixiong continued, "First in ten thousand years, huh? The moment he entered the sect, he was given the same share as us. In the future, the spiritual materials of your lineage will probably all have to be prioritized for him!"

"Why must Senior Brother act like a gossipy woman, stirring up discord here? This is the conduct of a petty man."

"Hmm?"

"Does Li Shixiong dare to say these words before Zhang Shijie?" Senior Brother Zhuang said coldly, "Since you know we belong to two different lineages, Zheng Shidi has Zhang Shijie to teach him above and us to guide him below; it is not your turn to speak."

"You!"

"Senior Brothers are discussing talismans again!"

Han Qi let out a startled cry, pointing toward the door.

Zheng Fa saw that Senior Brother Zhuang, who had been dressed so neatly just moments ago, had rolled up his sleeves, his arms swinging wildly as he threw out several talismans, passionately brawling with another man.

"Wait, does the sect call this 'discussing'?"