Talisman Dao Sacred Body

"Hmm…"

Nain unfolded her status scroll and checked her condition.

Under Talent it listed Five Spirit Roots; under Constitution, Talisman Dao Sacred Body. She was cultivating three arts in total: the Severing Longevity Art for absorbing spiritual energy, the Talisman Dao Introductory Art covering talisman theory, and the Body Tempering Art for hardening the flesh. All of them were foundational techniques for any cultivator.

Nain's gaze drifted to the constitution entry.

"Talisman Dao Sacred Body…?"

It had been a strangely puzzling detail from the start. Originally, Nain had been the owner of a cursed body with no constitution to speak of. And now she had a constitution — and not just any constitution, but a Sacred Body, the absolute peak among them?

Constitutions had ranks as well. Humanity, a species that truly loved its classifications and systems, had even graded the talents of the body itself. There were complex, profound theories tangled up in all of that, but Nain knew none of those difficult academic details.

All she understood was that both constitutions and talents were divided into five tiers. Spirit Roots were simply Five Spirit Roots at the bottom. Likewise, constitutions began at the Five Dharma Body.

She knew the order for certain: Spirit, Dharma, True, Sacred, Immortal. Spirit Bodies were the lowest; Immortal Bodies the highest. Which meant the Talisman Dao Sacred Body was the second-highest constitution of all — a staggering talent treated on the same level as a Two Spirit Root.

Poke, poke.

Nain prodded herself here and there and grinned to herself. She could already guess why she had obtained the Talisman Dao Sacred Body. Spirit Roots were a talent bound to the soul and mind; constitution was limited strictly to the flesh. Setting aside the chest that so aggressively announced her presence, everything about her newly female body was exceptional.

Baseless confidence surged up, and she pictured herself as a Golden Core cultivator ruling the world. A wave of her hand splitting the seas. Tens of thousands falling silent just to hear her voice. Credits and spirit stones delivered by subordinates while she simply sat there. Standing at the apex of humanity and roaming free in eternal life.

"Hehe…"

The corners of her mouth went soft and dreamy. Ambition swelled — the will to do anything for the sake of cultivation.

She took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a low-grade spirit stone, pale and gleaming white, and sat in the center of the room. The cultivation chamber had a basic Spirit Gathering Formation laid into it. Ordinarily the formation ran on electricity alone, but feeding it a spirit stone doubled its effect.

She settled into a lotus position and set the low-grade spirit stone between her legs. Only — thanks to the swell of her chest, she couldn't see the stone at all.

I really can't get used to this.

Her chest was so large she couldn't see below it. But Nain was equipped with a positive mindset. She decided, rather fondly, that this was simply the dignity of a great cultivator.

She straightened her back and slowly closed her eyes. The real training was about to begin.

Hmmmmm…

In the cultivation chamber sunk in quiet darkness, a single girl sat in lotus position — white hair hanging low, features still soft with youth. Given time and good living she would grow into a beauty that left men crying, but for now she was only a young girl.

The low-grade spirit stone on the floor cast a faint light. As the stone gradually broke down, it dissolved into white points of radiance that scattered through the air.

Those white sparks — masses of spiritual energy — fed into the Spirit Gathering Formation, and the formation activated. Its function was to concentrate the spiritual energy in the air into a single place. Vast quantities of qi poured toward Nain, who sat at the chamber's heart with her eyes closed.

She recited the mantra of the Severing Longevity Art.

The Severing Longevity Art's entire mantra was those three lines. Its effect was simply to absorb spiritual energy and convert it into spiritual power. Short enough that a three-year-old could memorize it in a minute — but that did not mean it was lacking.

No record remained of who first obtained the Severing Longevity Art. Yet every human being who entered cultivation did so through it. Since the dawn of cultivation civilization, countless entry-level arts had been developed, and none of them surpassed the Severing Longevity Art.

The most supreme, the purest technique of all — that was the Severing Longevity Art.

Auspicious spiritual energy flowed down along the curves of her body. Having absorbed the qi like cotton candy, Nain's form glowed faintly. But her talent — Five Spirit Roots — seized her by the ankle. Of all the spiritual energy she absorbed, ninety-nine percent scattered uselessly through her meridians. The qi that truly became hers was a mere one percent.

Nain clung stubbornly to what remained and circulated it according to the Severing Longevity Art's formula. Spiritual energy moved along her meridians — starting from the heart at the body's center, through the lungs and liver, the pancreas and kidneys, and back to the heart again. The energy that completed a full minor circuit condensed once more into a single grain of spiritual power and settled in her heart.

"Haaah…"

Nain let out a soft breath and cracked her eyes open.

Flutter!

The scroll hovering beside her unfurled on its own and displayed her status.

Each ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠value had risen by one. Her realm, however, had not advanced so much as a fraction. She was still in the middle stage of training. Spiritual power had to gather in the lower dantian before her realm would progress.

Nain set a blank sheet of paper — the foundation for a talisman — directly in front of her knees, and neatly arranged the ink beside it. She carefully stretched out her right hand and took up the brush. It was the same worn brush she had always used, but the feel of it in a hand that had become small and soft was thoroughly unfamiliar and awkward.

She recalled what her mother had taught her as a child.

Cultivation was transcendence. But transcendence from what? To that koan the sages of humanity had asked without end, countless seekers had each offered their own answer. Casting off the mortal bones of flesh and blood. Severing the yoke of lifespan and achieving eternal immortality. Usurping and claiming the principles of Heaven itself.

A hundred people meant a hundred Daos. Ten thousand people meant ten thousand Daos. Each was their path, and each held their own answer. But the modern cultivation world had gathered those countless answers and established several great overarching Daos. Every child in the nurturing stage lived exposed to those Great Daos, and in the end walked one of them.

Nain was no different. The path she walked was the Great Dao of Talismans — the road of painting a world of one's own upon a scrap of paper. Every cornerstone of cultivation rested upon a Dao.

Nain drew a short breath and reached out. The brush tip, lightly laden with ink, slid smoothly across the blank paper.

Ordinarily she would have been sweating cold from this stage onward. With Five Spirit Roots, even channeling spiritual power from the heart to the tip of a brush had been a struggle.

"Heh. I knew it…"

Words thick with excitement slipped between Nain's lips. Spiritual power stretched straight through her meridians without the slightest obstruction — as if she had been trudging down an unpaved road and suddenly found herself racing along a perfectly paved highway. Not a shred of resistance. The fingertips holding the brush trembled with pleasure.

The texture of the paper, the density of the ink, even the minute angle of the brush hairs — every sensation registered with a vividness that raised goosebumps. It was as if she and the talisman had become one.

Savoring that feeling, Nain lowered her eyes and poured her focus into drawing. The brush in her hand moved as if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of its own will, drafting the talisman in a single fluid stroke. Black ink traced the talisman's pathways and formed the basic immortal characters that conferred its effect.

What emerged was a basic Might Talisman, which boosted physical ability. Completing one talisman took a mere five minutes. A talisman master at Early Qi Refinement needed fifteen minutes to draw a Might Talisman; Nain had cut that to a third.

Fwoosh!

The Might Talisman gave off a pale green light and lifted lightly into the air of its own accord. The mysterious glow illuminated Nain's slack-jawed face.

"A low-grade Might Talisman?!"

Until now Nain had only ever produced the lowest-grade talismans, dull and gray. The Talisman Dao Introductory Art recorded only the method for crafting those of the lowest grade. Breaking past that art's limits, she had created a low-grade talisman.

"Awawa…!"

Tremble…

A sense of accomplishment and anticipation spread from her fingertips through her whole body. Hope that had been as hazy as fog hardened into certainty. Nain could not even begin to measure how far her potential might reach.

The moment the talisman was complete, the contents of the scroll changed as well. The spiritual power used to create the talisman returned, settled as talisman-dao spiritual power in the lower dantian beneath her navel.

Shrrrk!

The scroll snapped shut, then opened again. At its edge, characters dark as an abyss exerted a strange pull and seized Nain's gaze.

The scroll's text rewrote itself in real time.

"Hwek, hwek!"

Excitement left her short of breath. Her whole body trembled, and her chest bounced along with it.

Gulp.

Don't get excited. Don't get excited.

Nain tried to steady her breathing and hold on to her composure. It wasn't going well.

"Iwawa!"

Grinning from ear to ear, Nain lifted her brush and began drawing another talisman.