Inside Cave Dwelling No. 73 of the Xuan Character, the Moonlight Stone emitted a cool and soft light.
The Stone Chamber was fully equipped with one stone bed, one stone table, and two stone stools; other than that, there was nothing else. The stone door of the cave dwelling was tightly closed, completely isolating it from the noise of the outside marketplace. A faint halo of spiritual power shrouded the entire cave dwelling; this was the protective formation that came with the dwelling, and although it was not very advanced, it could still block the Divine Sense probing of a Cultivator at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.
Wéi Duōbǎo sat cross-legged in front of the stone table.
On the table, a piece of Talisman Paper lay flat. This paper was pale yellow with a uniform texture, and one could smell a faint, fresh wood scent upon getting close. This was a finished product he had just crafted with his own hands; whether in the distribution of its fibers or its capacity to hold Spirit Qi, it was far superior to the inferior goods mixed with impurities found on the market.
To his left sat a small inkstone containing dark red Cinnabar. He had ground and prepared this Cinnabar himself after purchasing raw materials with his last three Spirit Stones, removing most of the impurities and achieving a pure color.
Everything was ready.
Didn't immediately pick up the brush, Wéi Duōbǎo closed his eyes and began to circulate the Qi Guiding Formula. Within his Dantian, the tiny circulation formed by Five Elements Spiritual Power slowly rotated, and threads of spiritual power flowed along the Meridians, repairing the energy he had consumed during the crafting of the Talisman Paper.
Half an hour later, he opened his eyes, his spiritual energy and spirit completely restored to their peak.
He picked up the Talisman Brush. The handle was made of green bamboo, and the tip made of wolf hair was dipped into the Cinnabar inkstone, fully saturated with the dark red liquid. He suspended the tip over the Talisman Paper, his wrist steady and motionless.
This time, what he intended to draw was still a Fireball Talisman.
He was not in a hurry to make the first stroke. Guided by the method of the Primordial Spirit Thorn, he first constructed the familiar diagram of withered leaf veins in his mind. A main trunk, branching into several secondary veins, from which extended countless finer patterns, complex yet orderly.
He had practiced this process for months and knew it by heart.
The instant the structure of his Divine Sense was built, he guided a wisp of Five Elements Spiritual Power from his Dantian into this invisible network. Earth spiritual power served as the foundation, flowing steadily along the main trunk; Gold spiritual power served as the blade, condensing at the tips of the secondary veins; Water spiritual power provided lubrication, harmonizing the conflicts between different spiritual powers; Wood spiritual power offered continuity, providing a steady stream of vitality; and Fire spiritual power served as the core, gathering at the center of the veins.
Everything prepared, the brush tip finally descended.
"Sand..."
The tip touched the Talisman Paper with a faint, subtle friction. The Cinnabar left a smooth and fluid red line on the paper. Unlike the sluggish feeling he experienced when drawing on inferior Talisman Paper before, this time, the spiritual power flowed between the brush tip and the paper with almost zero obstruction.
This allowed him to control the spiritual power with greater precision.
His Divine Sense was highly concentrated, with the vein network diagram accurately draped over the Talisman Paper. Every movement of the brush tip strictly followed the trajectory of the veins. He was no longer simply 'drawing' a talisman with spiritual power; he was using his Divine Sense as a skeleton to 'construct' a tiny structure capable of stably bearing fire-style spells.
Earth spiritual power built the stable frame of the talisman, Gold spiritual power sharpened the form of the energy, Water spiritual power was responsible for cooling the Talisman Paper to prevent overload and spontaneous combustion, and Wood spiritual power repaired the tiny flaws that appeared during the drawing process.
Under the guidance of his Divine Sense, the five types of spiritual power performed their own duties, interfering with each other not at all, while simultaneously nurturing one another to compose a perfect whole.
The drawing process was smoother than ever before, but also more mentally exhausting than ever. Beads of sweat gradually seeped from his forehead.
When the final stroke was about to be completed, requiring all spiritual power to be gathered into the Talisman Core at the center of the talisman, Wéi Duōbǎo's movements paused for a fleeting moment.
This was the most critical step of the Fireball Talisman, and also the one with the highest failure rate. Nine out of ten inferior talismans on the market failed at this step, resulting in an unstable spiritual structure, significantly reduced power, or delayed activation.
He took a deep breath, his Divine Sense network suddenly constricted, and the spiritual power on all the branches converged toward the central main vein.
At the center of the Talisman Paper, the brush tip drew a small, vortex-shaped talismanic sigil in one breath.
"Hum..."
A slight humming sound emanated from the Talisman Paper. The entire talisman flashed with red light, all the sigils lighting up instantly before vanishing in the blink of an eye. A pure and condensed fluctuation of Fire spiritual power was firmly locked within this thin piece of Talisman Paper, without a single drop leaking out.
It was done.
Wéi Duōbǎo set down the Talisman Brush and picked up the Fireball Talisman. The paper felt warm and smooth, with the dark red sigils appearing branded into it, fused as one with the paper itself. He could clearly feel that the spiritual power contained within was at least thirty percent purer and more stable than the batch of talismans that Shí Měng had bought away.
This was a true First-tier Low-grade Talisman—a talisman that wasted nothing and pushed the utility of materials and spiritual power to their limit.
After finishing all this, a sense of deep exhaustion surged from the depths of his spirit. To draw this one talisman, he had consumed nearly half of his spiritual power, and his Divine Sense was almost completely depleted.
He looked at the perfect Fireball Talisman on the table, then at the pile of remaining raw materials beside it. He knew he had found the right path, but to continue on this road, a massive amount of resources would be required.
Without Spirit Stones, one could not take a single step forward.
Wéi Duōbǎo carefully put away the Fireball Talisman. He did not attempt to draw a second one, but instead sat cross-legged on the stone bed, palms upward, and began to circulate the Qi Guiding Formula once more, beginning to restore his consumed spiritual power and Divine Sense.