Chapter 207: Making Talismans

"If Junior Brother becomes the top true disciple, and Uncle Zeng's batch of Foundation Establishment Pills succeeds, you should definitely get one."

Though Lu Jun didn't know why Chen Mobai was so confident, he believed that young people, given Chen Mobai's age, should indeed possess such sharp ambition.

"Please help me deliver these two jars of spiritual wine to Inspector Sun, Senior Brother Lu."

Sun Gaochang had gone to the Hall of Merit that day to fulfill his duties, reporting on the Spiritual Plant Department's spiritual stone expenditures for the year, so Chen Mobai didn't run into him.

After collecting his annual 100 spiritual stone stipend from the Spiritual Plant Department, Chen Mobai returned to Xiaoyang Ridge.

He finished harvesting the spiritual rice from the fields he had cultivated, then instructed the three Divine Wood Sect disciples he employed to spread it out to dry. The portion belonging to the sect had been harvested by Lu Jun and Teng Jie a few days prior, adding another 3100 contribution points to Chen Mobai's account. The increase from last year was due to an additional 20 dew-gathering grasses growing in the medicinal field. As a first-tier high-grade spiritual herb, dew-gathering grass could fetch 5 spiritual stones per plant on the market.

When Chen Mobai first cultivated it, he lacked experience, and the yield was average. This year, he specifically visited the Scripture Pavilion to review the Divine Wood Sect's knowledge on spiritual plant cultivation, learning about the growth habits and cultivation methods of dew-gathering grass. Additionally, he enrolled in an elective 'Spiritual Herb Cultivation' course at the Immortal Gate, which led to a nearly 20% increase in this year's dew-gathering grass harvest. The contribution points for dew-gathering grass were standard, but even without the ten-fold bonus of spiritual rice, a harvest of 80 plants from two mu still earned Chen Mobai an extra 400 sect contribution points. In terms of spiritual stones, the per-mu yield far exceeded that of spiritual rice.

If Chen Mobai hadn't already set his path on earning spiritual stones through brewing wine, such bountiful harvests of spiritual herbs and grasses might have led him to convert his spiritual fields into medicinal ones, like other Divine Wood Sect disciples, focusing solely on cultivating valuable medicinal herbs for a sudden windfall after fifteen or twenty years of growth.

"Senior Brother Chen, all the rice grains have been dried."

A plain-faced young man entered the wooden hut on Xiaoyang Ridge and respectfully reported to Chen Mobai, who was preparing to draw talismans.

"Thank you for your hard work, Junior Brother Liang. This is your payment for the year."

Outside the door were two other Divine Wood Sect disciples. These three were the people Chen Mobai had hired through the Spiritual Plant Department via the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Chen."

After accepting the 15 spiritual stone payment, Junior Brother Liang, who was leading them, hesitated for a moment but then bravely stated his intentions.

"Senior Brother, I don't plan on coming next year."

"Oh, why is that? Is it because the spiritual stones aren't enough? If Junior Brother Liang feels it's too little, it's not impossible to increase it."

Chen Mobai put down the green bamboo brush in his hand with some surprise upon hearing Liang Xinhuo's words. Compared to the other two Qi Cultivation Stage 2 disciples, who had pseudo-spiritual roots and no hope for further advancement, Liang Xinhuo, though possessing four spiritual roots, was still young and ambitious in his work. Over the past two years, it was precisely due to his diligent upkeep that Chen Mobai had spare time to study at the Dancing Weapon Daoist Academy, research talismans, and improve his cultivation realm. If it had been the other two who asked to leave, Chen Mobai would certainly not have hesitated to let them go quickly. But with Liang Xinhuo, he felt it was necessary to try and persuade him to stay.

Liang Xinhuo listened, then openly expressed his thoughts. "Senior Brother Chen, your spiritual root talent is exceptional; you are a favored son of the sect, with the potential to become a true disciple in a few years. You are also kind, and I have been very happy working under you. However, I feel that since I have the opportunity to join the Divine Wood Sect, even with my poor spiritual roots, I still hope to seize this immortal fortune. Working for you in farming, combined with the sect's subsidies, I earn 50 spiritual stones a year. After breaking through to the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation, these spiritual stones are no longer sufficient for daily cultivation. To progress further on the path of immortal cultivation, I've decided to join the sect's team for developing Yunmeng Marsh and try my luck."

Hearing this, Chen Mobai knew he certainly couldn't keep Liang Xinhuo. No matter how high a spiritual stone payment he offered, how could it surpass what O Yun and others could provide? Moreover, developing Yunmeng Marsh was a major strategic initiative of the sect over the past decade, endorsed by Golden Core grand-ancestors. The Hall of Merit's spiritual stone resources were primarily allocated to this group as a priority. Virtually all ambitious individuals within the Divine Wood Sect, led by the three newly established Foundation Establishment cultivators—Hong He, Zhou Wangshen, and O Yun—had flocked to Yunmeng Marsh. If Chen Mobai hadn't earned a large sum of spiritual stones by opening storage bags, he probably would have been tempted himself.

"In that case," Chen Mobai said, "I wish Junior Brother Liang a smooth journey. Please accept this talisman." As he spoke, he picked up a freshly drawn Blazing Sword Talisman from the table, crafted on 'silver-edged bamboo leaf' talisman paper.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Chen. If I return from this development project, I will surely offer my utmost service under you." Liang Xinhuo was also aware of the price of this first-tier high-grade talisman at the sect's Spiritual Treasure Pavilion; his annual farming income wouldn't even buy him two such talismans. Although it was drawn by Chen Mobai himself, he was still very excited.

After seeing off his effective farming assistant, Chen Mobai felt a bit troubled about having to recruit someone again next year. However, this matter could be considered later; the main focus now was the upcoming sect competition.

He picked up a bright red rectangular block of talisman ink and began to gently grind it. This was 'Crimson Zhu Talisman Ink,' unique to Giant Wood Ridge. Three years of 'Talisman Ink Pigment Extraction' coursework at the Dancing Weapon Daoist Academy, combined with various ink-making tools from the Immortal Gate, allowed Chen Mobai to perfectly prepare this 'Crimson Zhu Talisman Ink.' Almost the entire block of talisman ink was bright red, indicating its second-tier quality. Only the very bottom and top had thin layers of impurities or foam, which slightly affected its overall quality. However, if he were to sell this block of talisman ink in Divine Wood City, everyone would consider it second-tier, because even the most skilled ink-making cultivators could only produce such high-quality ink when their materials were in the most perfect state.

After grinding the ink, Chen Mobai raised the green bamboo brush in his right hand and dipped it in some talisman ink. Finally, he put brush to the silver-edged bamboo leaf on the table. It was as if a streak of crimson flame swept across, illuminating the entire leaf's veins, forming a complete talisman in one fluid motion.

Blazing Sword Talisman!

At Chen Mobai's level, equivalent to a second-tier talisman master in the Heavenly River Realm, crafting the Blazing Sword One-Strike Talisman and Two-Strike Talisman presented no difficulty. Only the Three-Strike Talisman, which was also of second-tier difficulty, consistently had a success rate of only fifty percent. Since he only had eight sheets of gold-edged bamboo leaf, he would only attempt to draw them when his mental state was at its peak.

As he was about to participate in the sect's Grand Competition for the second time, Chen Mobai decided to complete the drawing of all the accumulated bamboo leaf talisman papers in his possession to add some trump cards for himself. The Blazing Sword Talisman, being one of the Divine Wood Sect's signature items, would also serve to subtly reveal some of his talisman-crafting skill. Once he became a true disciple in the future, he could sell it, just like the Jade Bud Spiritual Wine, to earn spiritual stones.

Time flew by. He had used all twenty-six silver-edged bamboo leaves he had collected over the past two years to draw Blazing Sword Talismans. Of the eight sheets of gold-edged jade bamboo, he used half. Two of them were successfully drawn into Blazing Sword Three-Strike Talismans. Two failed, but using the Immortal Gate's techniques, he managed to preserve the power of a Blazing Sword Two-Strike Talisman.