**Chapter 34: Inspiration**

Jie Ming had prepared for failure, but what was this nonsense?!

The talisman seemed to have activated successfully, so why only a tiny flame?

Unwilling to give up, he tried several more times.

Soon, he identified a pattern: the flame’s size correlated with the amount of true essence he infused. More essence, bigger flame.

When he poured in most of his Third Layer true essence, the flame reached the power described in the texts.

But this made it utterly useless!

If the talisman’s power depended on his infused true essence, he might as well cast the spell barehanded—it was more flexible and didn’t require pre-making talismans!

Moreover, casting a spell directly used less true essence for the same effect, while the talisman consumed extra energy.

This was completely unlike the texts’ claim of “needing only a wisp of spiritual energy to activate”!

After several more attempts and summarizing his issues, Jie Ming immediately accessed the Great Dao Book Pavilion.

Spending half a month studying the Pavilion’s texts and advanced alchemy knowledge, he finally understood the fundamental difference between cultivation talismans and wizarding supernatural artifacts.

“The essence of a talisman isn’t simple energy storage or activation. It’s more like a precise ‘starter’ or ‘program.’” Jie Ming held a golden talisman, examining its patterns closely.

“The talisman’s seal is an ‘index’ and ‘command’ for spiritual energy. During activation, the talisman uses the user’s faint spiritual energy as a ‘key,’ with the seal as the ‘program,’ to draw, aggregate, and unleash vast environmental spiritual energy, releasing a complete, powerful spell.”

“Of course, if conditions allow, one could pre-store powerful energy for the talisman to directly call upon.”

“The cultivation world is rich in spiritual energy, pervasive in heaven and earth. Thus, a mere wisp of activation energy lets the talisman draw endless environmental energy, unleashing potent spells.”

“But the wizarding world lacks spiritual energy, so the talisman can’t draw environmental energy, rendering its ‘program’ incomplete. The flame’s size merely results from the infused true essence being temporarily aggregated and triggered within the talisman’s structure, not its intended power. It’s even weaker than a direct spell due to extra energy spent on non-functional ‘program’ parts.”

Jie Ming pulled out a scroll made of animal hide, similar in effect to a talisman, capable of releasing a flame spell with a bit of mental energy.

Though cheap at 10 credits per scroll, few bought them.

A magical artifact with the same effect cost at least 100 credits but could be recharged repeatedly.

“Wizarding supernatural artifacts, like spell scrolls, wands, or disposable sigils, operate on a completely different principle.”

Jie Ming activated the scroll against a training target, watching it turn to ash as it unleashed a fireball.

During this, the surrounding elemental energy remained unchanged.

“They store a complete spell, including all required energy, within the medium. A wizard only needs a faint mental energy as a ‘switch’ or ‘password’ to trigger the stored spell with fixed power.”

“This method’s advantage is reliability—unless in extreme conditions like artificial anti-magic zones, the artifact can unleash a complete spell anywhere, anytime, and be recharged for reuse.”

“The downside is that its power is tied to the creator’s skill, not the user’s strength. It’s also inflexible—a fireball scroll only casts a fireball, with no adjustments possible.”

Summarizing the technical differences, Jie Ming’s eyes suddenly lit up!

He had an idea to combine the strengths of both systems!

Cultivation talismans excelled in low activation costs and environmental energy reliance, while wizarding artifacts offered stability and consistent spell power in any environment.

The wizarding world’s environmental energy wasn’t “spiritual energy” but ubiquitous elemental energy.

What if… he applied the talisman’s principles, not storing the spell’s energy in the medium but inscribing the spell model and commands to draw wizarding world elemental energy onto the artifact?

This way, as long as the artifact wasn’t damaged and elemental energy was available, he could, like with talismans, use minimal mental energy as a “key” to repeatedly trigger the artifact, letting it draw environmental elemental energy to cast spells continuously!

Such artifacts, as long as elemental energy existed, would have no usage limits, requiring only faint mental energy to activate.

Similar concepts existed in both worlds, but wizards were less efficient at harnessing external energy compared to cultivators, who emphasized harmony with heaven and earth.

In low-energy settings, wizards preferred building elemental pools over drawing more external energy.

The cultivation world had jade talismans storing a “great figure’s strike” as life-saving measures, but they were costly and complex to make.

Jie Ming aimed to blend the talisman’s “low activation cost + environmental energy draw” with the wizarding “environmental elemental energy + stable activation” system.

By combining both systems’ strengths, he’d create his own unique power!

After the excitement, Jie Ming realized the challenge.

To achieve this, he couldn’t simply copy talisman seals.

He needed to fully understand each stroke’s underlying logic and function—which parts were the “starter,” “environmental energy index,” “spell model construction,” and “activation trigger”…

Then, using his knowledge of wizarding runes, energy structures, and spell models, he’d gradually replace these “functional modules” with wizarding equivalents—rune combinations, energy circuits, or even conceptual guides that interacted with elemental energy and mana to build spell models!

This required mastery of both wizarding runes and spell theory and a thorough understanding of the Great Dao Book Pavilion’s talisman principles.

“But… compared to this world’s native wizards, I already have a huge advantage.”

He had a clear direction and examples to “borrow,” unlike the clueless wizards of this world.

“Sigh, if I’d known this idea earlier, I’d have chosen a runic studies core rune for my fourth Truth Rune…”

Jie Ming felt a pang of regret. “Oh well, good thing my cultivation speed isn’t slow. I’ll take it step by step…”