CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: THE EVIL SPIRIT ATTACKS

A book of talisman inheritance of First Rank Mid-grade, an old talisman pen, a stack of talisman paper, and a bottle of spiritual ink.

Although the old talisman pen is a Lower Grade Magical Artifact, altogether only fifty-five Spirit Stones are required, which is practically a bargain.

Zhang Chenyu may have some quirks, but he is a decent person.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, how much do you know about talisman drawing?" Zhang Chenyu asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Not a clue." Xu Ping shook his head.

"Then let me tell you some of the most basic things about talisman drawing." Zhang Chenyu said.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhang." Xu Ping was overjoyed.

Having such a highly skilled Talisman Master he is willing to teach him is definitely much better than exploring alone.

"It’s nothing, just something to do while idle."

"First of all, drawing talismans require attention to the use of Spiritual Qi." Zhang Chenyu said seriously, "A talisman is not just a pattern; each stroke contains the power of Spiritual Qi..."

Xu Ping listened earnestly, silently noting the essentials in his heart.

"Let’s try drawing the simplest basic talisman, the Cleaning Talisman."

Zhang Chenyu said as he picked up the pen and began sketching the pattern on the paper.

His movements were smooth and confident, the pen tip lightly gliding on the paper, leaving clear lines behind.

"It must be completed in one breath, without interruption, otherwise it will fail." He patiently explained.

Xu Ping carefully observed from the side, secretly noting each step.

"You try!" Zhang Chenyu handed the paper to Xu Ping.

"The Cleaning Talisman is the most basic talisman, you can use ordinary yellow paper, but for rank-entering talismans, talisman paper is needed." He added.

"Understood."

Xu Ping took a deep breath, dipped the talisman making pen in spiritual ink.

Officially beginning his first talisman making attempt.

He held his breath, his gaze focused and serious, while softly and evenly transmitting Spiritual Power from his palm through the pen tip.

But suddenly!

"Bang!"

A ball of flame rose, the talisman paper ignited spontaneously.

Xu Ping was startled and slightly recoiled.

Fortunately, he quickly reacted and extinguished the flame with one hand.

"No worries, it’s normal for the first attempt to fail; when I first drew a talisman, I failed several times." Zhang Chenyu comforted.

"Continue, Fellow Daoist Xu should pay attention to keeping Spiritual Qi output stable." He reminded again.

"Okay." Xu Ping nodded and began the attempt again.

The first talisman drawing failure did not affect him at all.

Isn’t it just failure!

That’s quite normal!

In the ensuing time, Xu Ping constantly repeated between drawing talismans and failing.

Initially, Zhang Chenyu offered words of comfort, but later he became numb to it.

This was the most basic Cleaning Talisman, and drawing thirty-something of them all failed; this heavenly fate seemed somewhat powerful.

Several times he couldn’t help but consider saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu, maybe you should give up on talisman drawing, anything else might be better!"

But when he saw Xu Ping still exuberant in spirit, he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt.

Finally, when Xu Ping drew his forty-fifth talisman, the Cleaning Talisman succeeded!

Zhang Chenyu wanted to congratulate him, but upon opening his mouth couldn’t think of what to say, only manage to squeeze out a slight smile, "Xu...Fellow Daoist Xu, your potential for improvement is significant."

Xu Ping naturally understood his own poor talent for talisman drawing, but he didn’t care, having now achieved this milestone, the rest seemed simpler.

"Today has troubled Fellow Daoist Zhang greatly," Xu Ping thanked sincerely.

"Just a minor thing." Zhang Chenyu waved his hand, "Henceforth if Fellow Daoist Xu encounters any issues in talisman drawing, feel free to come to me."

"How could I dare..."

After some casual chatting, Xu Ping bid farewell and returned home.

Upon returning home, he resumed drawing the Cleaning Talisman.

With the panel’s enhancement, talisman drawing felt divinely assisted, with success rate soaring; each success brought forth new insights.

Leading him to become completely engrossed.

...

Midnight.

"Bang!"

The half-finished Cleaning Talisman quickly combusted, Xu Ping was unfazed, casually extinguishing it with one hand.

His Mana was mostly drained, with a faint throbbing headache.

"It’s time to rest." Xu Ping rubbed his forehead.

From returning home until now, he hadn’t taken a break, solely focused on talisman drawing, yielding impressive results.

Currently, his success rate in talisman drawing could maintain at sixty percent.

Xu Ping stretched, joints making subtle popping sounds, then using the Cleaning Talisman to cleanse his body, turned, and went underground to sleep.

...

As night deepened, everything fell silent.

Though the sky was clear, there was an unsettling tranquility.

Suddenly, a few cold raindrops broke the silence.

Although the rain quickly ceased, clouds resembled a giant black curtain, swiftly obscuring the moon, shrouding the earth in dense darkness.

Then the wind rose.

Rustling the sycamore leaves.

Bang!

At that instant, a bolt of lightning slashed through the sky like a sharp sword, illuminating the entire world.

In that fleeting light, a figure emerged, staggering as if learning to walk for the first time, each step appeared so arduous and uncoordinated.

In the night, the clouds silently receded, allowing the moon to reclaim the sky.

Silvery moonlight cast onto the earth, outlining the figure’s contours.

The shadow now stood at Bai Wu’s doorstep.

’Creak’ the door suddenly opened by itself.

The figure swayed in.

Under normal circumstances, Bai Wu wouldn’t be asleep at this hour.

But today he tried a demanding female cultivator physically, consuming energy and feeling mentally exhausted, thus retiring early.

At this moment in sleep, Bai Wu was roused by an urgent need to relieve himself.

For some reason, the longer he slept, the colder he felt, cold enough to make his extremities numb, and thus awakened by the urge.

He struggled to open his eyes, attempting to rise.

But his limbs were stiff as if frozen, unable to move.

Moreover, the surrounding cold intensified, his thoughts nearing complete frost.

Just then, he heard staggering footsteps, like an elderly person dragging heavy steps in the room.

Bai Wu strove to turn his head.

Only to see a muddied old man appearing at his bedside.

The old man’s face was deathly pale, veins bulging from his face, eyes eerily white glaring at him!

Every hair on Bai Wu’s body stood on end, an inexplicable dread swiftly brewing within him.

"Evil...presence!" Bai Wu managed to squeeze out some words through clenched teeth, voice trembling with fear.

"Why...didn’t lend...lend me...money!" The old man murmured haltingly, slowly moving closer, unexpectedly sprouting several tentacles.

"I... don’t... help..."

Fear engulfed him like tides, Bai Wu attempted to resist, struggling desperately to rise, but his body remained motionless, Mana within his meridians and Dantian felt frozen.

He could only stare helplessly as the tentacles from the old man approached relentlessly.