Chapter 31

Three days later, following a flash of spiritual light from the tip of Song Qingming's brush, a series of very strange-looking talisman runes gradually appeared on a yellow talisman. These symbols were arranged neatly on the yellow talisman according to a certain pattern, and they shimmered with a layer of golden light.

As time passed, the spiritual light on the talisman paper slowly faded, and it was finally firmly imprinted onto the spirit talisman.

Song Qingming picked up this Jin Guang Talisman and looked at it carefully. Then, holding the newly made spirit talisman, he squeezed it gently. As a stream of spiritual power surged from his body into the spirit talisman, the talisman in his hand suddenly erupted with brilliant golden light. With a flick of his finger, it immediately transformed into a streak of golden light that shot out and exploded suddenly on a stone stool inside the room.

With a loud "Bang!!", a puff of white smoke drifted up. Song Qingming squinted his eyes and looked at the ground; the hundred-jin stone stool had instantly turned into a pile of rubble.

"The power is already equivalent to the all-out strike of a fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator. This Jin Guang Talisman is finally a success." Song Qingming muttered to himself.

Over the past few days, he had used dozens of portions of talisman-making materials, and after testing the effects of over a dozen finished spirit talismans, Song Qingming finally succeeded in drawing this mid-tier spirit talisman, the "Jin Guang Talisman," with qualified quality.

The "Jin Guang Talisman" was a relatively common mid-tier offensive spirit talisman of the Five Elements type in the marketplace. After testing its effects just now, Song Qingming was finally satisfied with the talisman's performance, and he could be considered to have successfully advanced to a mid-tier talisman master.

Half a month later, relying on a talisman-making speed four to five times faster than an ordinary person, Song Qingming finally increased the success rate of making the "Jin Guang Talisman" to twenty percent, barely becoming a qualified mid-tier talisman master.

The final finished product of over a dozen spirit talismans had also consumed over two hundred portions of mid-tier talisman-making materials. Overall, he had lost nearly thirty spirit stones.

However, this was unavoidable. To improve his talisman-making skills, this was a necessary investment. Only by becoming a true mid-tier talisman master could he slowly earn back all these invested spirit stones bit by bit.

On the market, a mid-tier spirit talisman like the "Jin Guang Talisman" could sell for about three spirit stones. As long as he could increase his success rate to over thirty percent, a single spirit talisman would yield a profit of at least one spirit stone. If materials were sufficient, he could draw three or four a day, resulting in an income of over a hundred spirit stones a month—a quite impressive profit.

Compared to when he made low-tier spirit talismans, where he already had a fifty to sixty percent success rate but an income of at most twenty or thirty spirit stones a month, this comparison made it clear that the spirit stones he needed to invest to improve his talisman-making skills were absolutely worth it.

Now, what he mainly lacked were still talisman-making materials. The several hundred portions of mid-tier materials he had brought from Guiyunfang were almost all used up. As long as he could collect another batch of mid-tier materials, he had the confidence to increase the success rate of the Jin Guang Talisman to over thirty percent. Touching his chest, Song Qingming thought to himself that this shouldn't be too far off.

The talisman-making materials in his hand were mostly used up, so Song Qingming had to stop his talisman-making progress; it was time to go out and get some materials.

Calculating the time, it was once again the time for the monthly Caolu Mountain gathering. He hadn't been to Caolu Mountain for several months, so it was just right to go there first to dispose of the Jin Guang Talismans he had refined, exchange them for some spirit stones, and then go to Qinghefang to purchase some mid-tier talisman-making materials.

Ever since the incident of intercepting the Huang family cultivators a few years ago, Qinghefang had been much more peaceful in recent years, and the family no longer stopped young people like them from going out to gain experience. Now that his cultivation had also reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining, going to Qinghefang was naturally no longer a problem.

He wondered if Gao Yuyao had come to Caolu Mountain to look for him in the past few months. Regarding this woman with whom he had a secret transaction, Song Qingming never dared to be negligent whenever he met her, for fear of cutting off a source of elixirs.

After greeting his Ninth Uncle, Song Qingming came to Caolu Mountain again after an interval of nearly three months. Looking at the familiar trees and plants on the mountain, Song Qingming felt as if the experiences of life and death he had touched upon in these three months were like a lifetime ago.

The path to immortality is long, and he had only just taken a step. Even if there were crises lurking ahead, whether it was a small character like himself scattered in every corner of the cultivation world, or those great mighty cultivators of the cultivation world, everyone was in the same position with no path of retreat.

Throwing out a token, the mist on Caolu Mountain slowly dispersed, and Song Qingming stepped forward firmly.

Having not come for several months, the twice-monthly gathering at Caolu Mountain was as lively as ever. Just as he arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, Song Qingming encountered an acquaintance.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Song. It's been several months, I didn't expect you to have broken through in your cultivation. Haha, I was wondering why I hadn't seen you here for these two months; so you had gone into closed-door cultivation."

This person was none other than the rogue cultivator who had originally acted as a go-between for Song Qingming to purchase elixirs, Qin Zhen.

It had been several months, and he didn't expect Song Qingming's cultivation to have already broken through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining, almost catching up to him, which also surprised him somewhat.

"This kid is only in his early twenties, yet his cultivation has already caught up to him, a cultivator who has been practicing for over forty years. It really makes people envious."

Qin Zhen thought to himself as he looked at Song Qingming. If this person wasn't a genius with three spiritual roots, then he must be a direct-line cultivator from a family that didn't lack cultivation resources. For such a young cultivator with a promising future in Qinghe County, he must definitely try to be on good terms with him.

"Fellow Daoist Song, you haven't come for these past few months, and it has truly made us miss the spirit talismans made by your family. Using talismans purchased from other families these past few months has felt quite unsatisfactory. In the end, I still feel your family's talismans are of better quality. Since you've come this time, I must buy more later, lest I have nowhere to buy them when you're not here."

"Not at all, not at all. It's just that with the family's support, my cultivation has made some progress. In the future, I will still have to rely on Brother Qin for your care."

Song Qingming came to the courtyard with ease. He hadn't been setting up his stall for long before Qin Zhen came over with a smile.

Looking at the pile of mid-tier spirit talismans on Song Qingming's stall that were more numerous than before, Qin Zhen asked curiously.

"Fellow Daoist Song, you've brought out so many mid-tier spirit talismans at once. Could it be that your talisman-making skills have already broken through to the mid-tier? Such a young mid-tier talisman master, you truly are a person of extraordinary talent."

"Brother Qin, you flatter me. Most of the spirit talismans here were entrusted to me by the elders in the clan to sell on their behalf. My own talisman-making level is still lacking. However, my family does indeed have some research into the path of talisman-making, and there are several top-tier talisman masters in the clan. Please rest assured, Brother Qin, regarding the quality of these spirit talismans."

Although the vast majority of these mid-tier spirit talismans came from Song Qingming's own hands, ever since he started learning talisman-making, in order to avoid the trouble caused by selling talismans at Caolu Mountain, he had always claimed that most of the talismans on his stall were made by elders in the clan. Otherwise, given the quantity of talismans he sold at Caolu Mountain each time, it would have inevitably aroused suspicion from others long ago.

Even though Song Qingming was now a mid-tier talisman master, he didn't want to expose his talisman-making skills too much in front of others. After all, if someone were to ask why his talisman-making skills had improved so quickly, it would be a troublesome matter to explain. Pushing it directly onto the elders in the clan made it easier for others to understand, and it saved him a lot of mental effort.

Hearing Song Qingming's explanation, Qin Zhen thought about it and felt it made sense, so he didn't think too much more about it. In his view, even if Song Qingming could become a mid-tier talisman master at this age, the spirit talismans on his stall couldn't all be drawn by him alone.

A talisman master, without affecting their own cultivation, could only draw seven or eight mid-tier spirit talismans within a month. Every time Song Qingming came here to set up a stall, the quantity of spirit talismans he brought out was so large that it was clear at a glance that it was impossible for him to have drawn them all by himself.

It was just that he couldn't have imagined that Song Qingming possessed a rare treasure like the remnant map. Under the several-fold acceleration of spiritual power recovery from the remnant map, his talisman-making speed was equivalent to four or five times that of an ordinary cultivator.

(End of chapter)