Chapter 31: Improving Talisman-Making Skills

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

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

Song Qingming picked up this Golden Light Talisman and looked at it carefully. Then, holding the newly made spiritual talisman, he squeezed it gently. With a surge of spiritual power from his body into the spiritual talisman, the spiritual talisman in his hand suddenly burst into golden light. Then, with a flick of his finger, it immediately turned into a golden light and shot out, suddenly exploding on a stone stool in the room.

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

"The power is already equivalent to the full-strength strike of a fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator. This Golden Light Talisman is finally a success." Song Qingming muttered to himself.

In these few days, he had used dozens of sets of talisman-making materials, and after more than a dozen consecutive tests of the effects of the finished spiritual talismans, Song Qingming finally successfully drew this mid-grade spiritual talisman, the "Golden Light Talisman," with qualified quality.

The "Golden Light Talisman" was a common mid-grade attack spiritual talisman of the five elements in the market. After the test of the effect just now, Song Qingming was finally satisfied with the effect of this spiritual talisman, and he could be considered to have successfully advanced to a mid-grade talisman master.

Half a month later, relying on a talisman-making speed four or five times faster than ordinary people, Song Qingming finally increased the success rate of making the "Golden Light Talisman" to 20%, barely becoming a qualified mid-grade talisman master.

The final finished product of more than a dozen spiritual talismans also consumed more than two hundred sets of mid-grade talisman-making materials. Overall, he lost nearly thirty spirit stones.

However, this was also a matter of no choice. If he wanted to improve his talisman-making skills, this was a necessary investment. Only by becoming a true mid-grade talisman master could he slowly earn back all these invested spirit stones bit by bit.

A mid-grade spiritual talisman like the "Golden Light Talisman" on the market could sell for about three spirit stones. As long as he could increase the success rate of talisman-making to more than 30%, a spiritual talisman would have a profit of at least one spirit stone. If the materials were sufficient, he could draw three or four talismans a day, and he could have an income of more than a hundred spirit stones a month, which was quite considerable.

Compared to his production of low-grade spiritual talismans, although he already had a 50-60% success rate, his monthly income was at most twenty or thirty spirit stones. This comparison shows that the spirit stones he needed to invest to improve his talisman-making skills were definitely worth it.

Now, what he mainly lacked was still talisman-making materials. The hundreds of sets of mid-grade talisman-making materials brought from Guiyun Market had almost all been used up. As long as he could collect another batch of mid-grade talisman-making materials, he would have the confidence to increase the success rate of the Golden Light Talisman to more than 30%. Touching his chest, Song Qingming thought that this should not be too far away.

The talisman-making materials in his hand were almost used up, so Song Qingming could only stop his talisman-making steps. It was time to go out and get some talisman-making materials.

Calculating the time, it was time for the monthly gathering on Caolu Mountain again. He hadn't been to Caolu Mountain for several months. It just so happened that he could go to Caolu Mountain first to deal with the Golden Light Talismans he had refined, exchange them for some spirit stones, and then go to Qinghe Market to purchase some mid-grade talisman-making materials.

Since the incident of intercepting and killing the Huang family cultivators a few years ago, Qinghe Market had been much more peaceful in recent years, and the family had not stopped them young people from going out to train. Now his cultivation base had also been raised to the fifth level of Qi Refining, so going to Qinghe Market was naturally not a problem.

I don't know if Gao Yuyao had come to Caolu Mountain to find him in the past few months. For this woman who had a secret deal with him, Song Qingming always dared not neglect her every time he met her, for fear of cutting off a source of elixirs.

After greeting Ninth Uncle, Song Qingming came to Caolu Mountain again after nearly three months. Looking at the familiar grass and trees on the mountain, in these three months, Song Qingming's experience of touching life and death felt like a lifetime ago.

The path to immortality is long, and he had only just taken a step now. Even if there were crises ahead, whether it was a small character like him who was scattered in every corner of the cultivation world, or those powerful cultivators in the cultivation world, no one had a way back.

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 on Caolu Mountain was as lively as ever. Just as he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Song Qingming met an acquaintance.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Song. I haven't seen you for several months. I didn't expect you to have broken through your cultivation base. Haha, I was wondering why I hadn't seen you here for the past two months. So you went into seclusion to cultivate."

This person was Qin Zhen, the loose cultivator who had originally bridged the gap for Song Qingming to buy elixirs.

Not having seen him for several months, he didn't expect Song Qingming's cultivation base to have broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, almost catching up to him, which also surprised him.

"This kid is only in his early twenties, and his cultivation base has already caught up to a cultivator like him who has cultivated for more than forty years, which is really enviable."

Qin Zhen thought while looking at Song Qingming. If this person was not a genius with a Three-Spirit Root, it seemed that he was a direct descendant cultivator who did not lack cultivation resources in his family. For such a young cultivator with a promising future in Qinghe County, he must make friends with him.

"Fellow Daoist Song, you haven't come for these few months, which really made us miss the spiritual talismans made by your family. In these few months, I used spiritual talismans purchased from other families and really felt a bit uncomfortable. In the end, I still think your family's spiritual talismans are of better quality. Since you are here this time, I will definitely buy more later, so as not to have nowhere to buy them when you are not here."

"Where, where, it's just that the family's support has led to some improvement in cultivation. In the future, I will have to ask Brother Qin to take care of me."

Song Qingming came to the courtyard with ease. Not long after he set up the stall, Qin Zhen came over with a smile.

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

"Fellow Daoist Song, you took out so many mid-grade spiritual talismans at once. Could it be that your talisman-making skills have long since broken through to mid-grade? Such a young mid-grade talisman master, you are really a person with extraordinary talent."

"Brother Qin, you are over-praising me. Most of the spiritual talismans here are entrusted to me by the elders in the clan to sell on their behalf. My talisman-making level is still a bit lacking. However, my family does have some research on the talisman-making path, and there are several high-grade talisman masters in the family. These spiritual talismans are also from their hands. Please rest assured about the quality, Brother Qin."

Although most of these mid-grade spiritual talismans were made by Song Qingming, since he started learning talisman-making, in order to avoid the trouble caused by selling talismans on Caolu Mountain, he always claimed that most of the spiritual talismans on his stall were made by elders in the family. Otherwise, judging by the number of spiritual talismans he sold on Caolu Mountain every time, it would inevitably have aroused suspicion from others long ago.

Even though Song Qingming was now a mid-grade talisman master, he didn't want to expose his talisman-making skills too much in front of others. After all, if someone asked why his talisman-making skills improved so quickly, it would be a troublesome thing to explain. Pushing it directly to the elders in the family would make it easier for others to understand, and he would save a lot of thought.

After listening to Song Qingming's explanation, Qin Zhen thought about it and felt it was right, so he didn't think much more. In his view, even if Song Qingming could become a mid-grade talisman master at this age, the spiritual talismans on his stall could not all be drawn by him alone.

A talisman master, without affecting his own cultivation, could only draw seven or eight mid-grade spiritual talismans in a month. Every time Song Qingming came here to set up a stall, the number of spiritual talismans he took out was large, and it was obvious that it was impossible for him to draw them all by himself.

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

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 32 =====