Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Initiation
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Six months passed in the blink of an eye.
Chen Jianghe held the talisman brush, his breath held in concentration. The brush moved as if guided by a divine hand, its strokes like a swimming dragon dancing across the talisman paper.
A flash of light.
A low-grade Water Arrow Talisman was successfully created.
*Poof~*
At that very moment, the bristles on the fairy's brush completely fell out, revealing the dark, cracked tip.
"Another success. Not bad."
Chen Jianghe withdrew his spiritual power, letting it return to his sea of qi. He set the now-bald peachwood brush aside and picked up the newly created Water Arrow Talisman.
The spiritual energy was evenly distributed, the strokes powerful, and the quality excellent.
In the past six months, he had used up twenty-seven sheets of talisman paper and successfully created four Water Arrow Talismans.
One was of poor quality, releasing a water arrow only two inches long.
The other three were fairly normal. He had tested one, and it could release a three-foot-long water arrow, comparable to a strike from a third-level Qi Refining cultivator.
Only after trying to create low-grade spirit talismans did Chen Jianghe realize he had been too naive.
Basic spirit talismans were the simplest, and unranked ones were also relatively easy. But the difficulty of low-grade spirit talismans was a sudden tenfold increase.
Not only did it take longer to draw them, but the mental strain was also several times greater.
Especially his spiritual power. With his fourth-level Qi Refining cultivation, he could only sustain the creation of three low-grade spirit talismans.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't mastered the technique for creating low-grade spirit talismans, but the consumption was still immense.
After each talisman-making session, he needed three to five days to recover his spiritual power.
Moreover, the increased time, additional steps, and greater difficulty all led to a higher consumption of materials.
The low-grade peachwood talisman brush had reached the end of its life.
He had seventeen sheets of talisman paper left and a little less than half a bottle of spiritual ink. At his novice rate of consumption, he estimated he could use them about ten more times.
In total, he had obtained nineteen talismans: ten Water Purification Talismans, seven Water Condensation Talismans, and two low-grade Water Arrow Talismans.
Therefore, if he wanted to continue making talismans, he would need to go to the market to buy a new brush.
In nearly seven months, he had successfully created one type of low-grade spirit talisman, which meant he had barely managed to get his foot in the door of talisman crafting.
Once he could create five types of low-grade spirit talismans, he would be considered a first-tier, low-grade Talisman Master.
Initially, he had successfully created Water Purification and Water Condensation Talismans in less than a month, with a success rate of over ninety percent.
He had thought his talent for talisman crafting was extremely high.
After all, he was self-taught, without any inherited knowledge. Normally, anyone who could teach themselves the basics within three months was considered a genius in the art.
Let alone someone like him, who had done it in less than a month.
But in reality, unranked spirit talismans and low-grade spirit talismans were two completely different things, with entirely different levels of difficulty.
So now, having taken nearly seven months to get initiated, his talent for talisman crafting was merely average.
Still, that wasn't bad.
At least he had gotten his foot in the door. As long as he kept grinding away at it, he would sooner or later become a low-grade Talisman Master.
With an extra source of income, he and Xiao Hei could afford more resources for their cultivation.
"I have two spirit stones and sixty-eight grains of spirit sand right now. With the two Water Arrow Talismans, it should be enough to buy a truly 'premium' second-hand talisman brush."
There were still over five months until he had to reward Xiao Hei with the Spirit Accumulating Pill, so he could definitely divert the spirit stones to talisman making for now.
After all, it was an investment with a return.
Besides, Xiao Hei was taking care of the little green fish. Aside from his daily three-hour meditation and cultivation sessions, he had nothing else to do.
Before, he would ponder over magical arts; now, he could draw talismans.
His mind made up, he stood up, left the cabin, and rowed his boat towards Port Number One to buy a talisman brush and some other materials.
After arriving at the port.
Chen Jianghe walked directly towards the market city, only to find many Fishery Farmers gathered in front of the decorative archway, whispering amongst themselves in small groups.
He slowed his pace and pricked up his ears to listen.
"Lan Tianxiang is dead! I heard he tried to snatch a low-quality Foundation Establishment Pill at an auction in Qinghe Market City and was killed on the spot by one of the city's Foundation Establishment Ancestors."
"That Lan Tianxiang you're talking about is a fake. Half a month ago, Lan Tianxiang broke into the White Clan's Qiyun Market, stole over a thousand spirit stones' worth of resources, and even summoned a hundred-foot water dragon that toppled the Qiyun Market's drum tower as he left."
"Fellow cultivator, your story doesn't sound very credible either. If I remember correctly, Lan Tianxiang cultivates the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon Art, which is a fire-element technique. How could he summon a hundred-foot water dragon?"
"What do you know? What if Lan Tianxiang cultivates both water and fire elements!"
"Nonsense! Have you ever heard of anyone cultivating both water and fire?"
"Ahem, all your stories are fake. The demonic cultivator who raided the Yun Clan's Qingyun Mine three days ago was the real Lan Tianxiang. He stole hundreds of spirit stones and killed or injured several mid-level Qi Refining disciples of the Yun Clan."
"Yours isn't credible either. The magical artifact doesn't match. Lan Tianxiang uses the Profound Heaven Dragon Pattern Rope, but that demonic cultivator you mentioned used a saber."
"..."
Listening to the drifting discussions, Chen Jianghe walked through the archway.
The news about Lan Tianxiang was getting more and more absurd.
Before, Lan Tianxiang had supposedly appeared in three places at once. Now, he was supposedly everywhere.
He was even said to have robbed Qinghe Market City.
Was Lan Tianxiang really that foolish?
Qinghe Market City was the largest market within a three-thousand-li radius, overseen by three Foundation Establishment Ancestors.
He wasn't interested in such news. He entered the market and went straight to the stall where he had bought his talisman-making materials last time.
He didn't waste any words.
He directly asked if they had any second-hand talisman brushes.
After a quarter of an hour of haggling, Chen Jianghe paid with two spirit stones, two Water Arrow Talismans, seven Water Condensation Talismans, and ten Water Purification Talismans.
The two Water Arrow Talismans were bought back at ninety percent of their market price, valued at one spirit stone and eighty grains of spirit sand.
The Water Condensation and Water Purification Talismans were valued at fifteen grains of spirit sand altogether.
Water Condensation Talismans sold for ten grains of spirit sand in the martial world, but that required finding a buyer yourself, and Chen Jianghe didn't have time for that.
Cultivators had no use for them anyway, so he sold them all for spirit sand.
Then, he left with twenty sheets of high-quality yellow paper, a box of spiritual ink, and a 'premium, fairy's first-hand' talisman brush.
That's right, the middle-aged stall owner only sold 'first-hand' brushes used by fairies.
This second-hand brush was in decent condition. The bristles weren't too worn, and it could probably be used about two hundred more times. He bought it for two spirit stones and fifty-five grains of spirit sand.
Afterward, he went to the open market to purchase some daily necessities before leaving the port.
Just as he returned to his cultivation waters, he heard the cry of an egret.
"Gaa~ Gaa~"
An egret landed on the bow of his boat, a message tube tied to its slender leg.
"What's this?"
Chen Jianghe noticed a small pouch hanging from the egret's neck. It was bulging. As he reached for the message tube, the egret lowered its head, and the pouch slid into his hand.
He took the pouch and the message tube back into his cabin.
He first opened the message tube. It was a letter from Yu Daniu.
The first thing he saw was Yu Daniu's greetings, followed by some smug boasting.
His fifth child had been born.
Another boy.
He hadn't been named yet; they would decide on New Year's Eve.
Chen Jianghe finished reading Yu Daniu's letter with a smile. While marveling at Yu Daniu's incredible luck, he also learned what was inside the pouch.
It turned out the pouch contained a jade slip, on which the Yun Clan had recorded basic knowledge about the cultivation world.
Chen Jianghe took out the jade slip. It was about the size of a thumb, made of pure white jade, small and exquisite.
One only needed to probe it with their divine sense to read the contents recorded within, making it extremely convenient.
However, jade slips were expensive and were mostly used by large cultivation clans. Therefore, Yu Daniu had mentioned in his letter that he should read it quickly, as it had to be returned by New Year's Eve.