Chapter 239: Making Talismans

Han Li carefully put away the two golden pages again, then focused his mind on future plans.

Since he intended to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art and the Three Revolutions Heavy Yuan Skill, the green liquid from the mysterious small bottle would certainly need to be fully utilized. Therefore, he had to quickly gather the alchemical ingredients listed in the two ancient formulas. Anything he already possessed would be quickly cultivated or accelerated. For ingredients he lacked, he would need to find them elsewhere, collecting or purchasing whatever was available, leaving no stone unturned.

He reflected that, aside from spiritual energy, the other components within the green liquid remained mysterious to him. He was certain that spiritual energy alone could not produce its miraculous effect of accelerating plant growth.

After entering Yellow Maple Valley, he had conducted several more experiments. The result was always the same: no matter how much the liquid was diluted, any experimental animal that drank even a tiny amount of water containing the green liquid would explode. It seemed the issue wasn't the dilution of the green liquid itself, but rather the unknown components at work.

After getting the same results multiple times, Han Li had to give up, albeit reluctantly.

However, using the small bottle's miraculous effects solely for alchemy seemed too narrow an application. Han Li felt that its ability to accelerate plant growth surely had other significant uses; otherwise, it would be a waste.

After careful consideration, Han Li concluded that in Foundation Establishment stage combat, apart from magical artifacts and cultivation techniques, mid-grade talismans and above would be indispensable. These mid-grade talismans were incredibly expensive, often costing dozens of spirit stones for a single one, which made Han Li shake his head repeatedly in disbelief.

Nevertheless, many mid-grade and higher Five Elements spells were indeed extremely powerful and vital life-saving techniques.

However, because these spells were of such high rank, even Foundation Establishment cultivators required considerable spiritual power and time to cast them. Therefore, purchasing a few talismans for life-saving purposes became a necessary and unavoidable measure.

Han Li thus decided to focus on talisman crafting, specifically mid-grade talismans.

Blank talisman paper, whether low-grade or mid-grade, was refined from spiritual herbs of a certain age. This was precisely where the bottle's miraculous effects could be fully utilized by Han Li.

High-grade talisman paper, however, could not be made this way. It required the spiritual hides of specific demonic beasts, which were beyond Han Li's current reach.

As for cinnabar used in talisman crafting, there was nothing particular to worry about. It was refined from the blood of spiritual beasts, mostly drawn from farmed ones, and was very inexpensive.

The talisman brush used in crafting was somewhat specialized, but Han Li still possessed a Golden Bamboo Brush. It should be sufficient.

Thinking of the Golden Bamboo Brush naturally brought to mind the easily embarrassed young girl, Han Yunzhi. He couldn't help but smile faintly, wondering if she was still at Spirit Beast Mountain.

In a flash, however, Han Li drew his thoughts back and reconsidered the feasibility of talisman crafting and its implications.

With the necessary tools and an inexhaustible supply of raw materials, the biggest limitation for talisman masters—material consumption—was no longer an issue for him. The only remaining restriction was the cultivation of mid-grade and higher-level Daoist spells.

This was because a talisman master needed to be able to cast a specific spell themselves before they could create a talisman for it. Otherwise, it would be impossible to conjure a spell onto talisman paper from thin air. After all, talismans were merely a means of pre-sealing spells.

The thought of cultivating mid-grade spells immediately gave Han Li a headache.

He wondered if it was truly related to the overly mixed nature of his spiritual roots, as he seemed to possess very little talent for cultivating Five Elements Daoist spells. Even when he spent several times the effort and time of an ordinary cultivator, he often gained nothing, unable to grasp the core essence.

However, since he entered the Foundation Establishment stage, he could easily learn low-grade spells, and most could even be cast instantly. Yet, when it came to mid-grade spells, he was back to square one, leaving Han Li with nothing but a sigh to the heavens.

No matter how difficult mid-grade spells were to cultivate, Han Li believed he could still master a few and seal them into talismans. He didn't dream of being able to create talismans for all mid-grade spells for casual use.

Possessing a large number of mid-grade talismans would not only give him a significant advantage in combat but also allow him to openly sell them without attracting too much attention.

This way, Han Li could escape his predicament of lacking spirit stones. He no longer dared to exchange spiritual herbs for spirit stones; it was far too conspicuous.

Furthermore, Han Li had another thought: if he were to truly abandon his cultivation and re-cultivate in the future, then during the period of re-cultivating his spiritual power, he would undoubtedly be at his weakest. If enemies or old adversaries were to come knocking during that time, wouldn't he be in extreme danger? After all, the cultivation world was not a place where everything was orderly; anything could happen.

However, with a large supply of talismans, he could maintain a certain level of strength. Even if he couldn't defeat an enemy, escaping with the help of talismans would be highly probable.

Although concurrently practicing talisman crafting would undoubtedly slow down his spiritual power progression, no matter how he looked at it, dedicating this time would bring more benefits than drawbacks.

After pacing around his bedroom several times, Han Li decided to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art and practice talisman crafting simultaneously. Having considered everything thoroughly, Han Li immediately began to act.

In the preceding days, he first made two trips: one to his sect's market and another to the Heavenly Star Sect's market. His goal was to gather alchemical ingredients and the seeds and saplings of spiritual herbs for refining talisman paper.

Since these alchemical ingredients were listed in ancient formulas, they were naturally valuable and exceedingly rare. Fortunately, Han Li had no specific requirements regarding the age of these herbs, and by sheer luck, he managed to collect enough ingredients for one type of elixir, the "Qi Refining Powder," which delighted him immensely.

As for the raw materials for talisman paper, since he would start by refining low-grade talismans, they were naturally easy to acquire. Of course, a large quantity of cinnabar was also essential.

Three or four days later, Han Li activated all the protective formations and restrictions outside his immortal's cave, sealing it shut. Then, he began his first closed-door cultivation session since reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Time flew by in cultivation; four years passed in the blink of an eye. The entrance to his immortal's cave, hidden by formations, remained closed since the day he sealed it.

Until one day, a blue light suddenly flew from the distant horizon. After circling the formation outside the cave several times, it transformed into a smiling scholar, holding a uniquely shaped blue wooden board in his hand.

"So this is Little Junior Brother's immortal's cave!" the scholar muttered, looking surprised. "Why choose such a remote place with insufficient spiritual energy? If it weren't for Senior Uncle Lei's guidance, it would have been truly difficult to find!"

Afterward, the scholar eyed the large formation outside the cave, and a hint of eagerness suddenly appeared on his face.

"Senior Uncle Lei said this Junior Brother's protective formation is incredibly powerful, so much so that even Golden Core stage cultivators wouldn't necessarily fare well against it. Is that true or false? Can it really be that formidable? Should I give it a try?"

But after a brief consideration, the scholar sighed dejectedly to himself:

"Forget it. Wouldn't want to delay Master's important business!"

With that, he pulled out a communication talisman and tossed it towards Han Li's grand formation. The talisman instantly transformed into a streak of fire and silently infiltrated the formation.

Then, the scholar immediately tossed the wooden board in his hand into the air and flew away on his artifact.

Inside the immortal's cave at this moment, within the closed-door cultivation room by the Spirit Eye Spring, Han Li was meditating with his eyes closed.

His appearance remained exactly the same as four years prior, without the slightest change. A faint, shimmering azure light enveloped his body, beautiful and ethereal, like a dream or smoke.

However, a glance around the room would immediately leave one speechless. Apart from the area where Han Li meditated, the rest of the space was strewn with talismans of various grades, from low-grade "Fireball Art" and "Ice Arrow Art" to high-grade "Earth Wall Art" and "Fire Cloud Art"—it was as if the room were a massive talisman warehouse. Additionally, empty cinnabar boxes and numerous blank talisman papers were scattered among them, making the place exceptionally messy.

After an unknown period, Han Li frowned, seemingly sensing something, and then opened his eyes.

After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly stood up and walked out of the cultivation room. The instant he rose, all the talismans and other items on the floor were silently swept into his storage pouch, leaving the room instantly spotless.

As soon as he stepped out of the cultivation room, Han Li flipped his hand, and a small yellow flag appeared. He tossed it, and the flag transformed into a yellow beam of light, shooting outwards.

In just a moment, before Han Li even reached his bedroom, the yellow light from the flag flew back, leading a streak of fire right behind it.

Seeing this, Han Li calmly beckoned, and the small flag flew back into his hand. With his other hand, he splayed his five fingers, and a burst of green light instantly erupted from his palm, sweeping the streak of fire directly before him.