Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Collect, collect! Bring on the fresh flowers in hand! The more you throw, the more there will be!
The Small Pavilion is quiet. The two brothers each have their own study, practicing calligraphy at their desks.
Li Hong placed his brush on the stand, picked up the paper he had just finished writing, and blew on it lightly, feeling quite satisfied. His large characters had improved significantly. When it comes to writing, as long as it is neat, the main thing is to recognize more characters. Cultivation is the most important; there is no need to spend time pursuing perfection in handwriting.
Having completed ten sheets of paper, his calligraphy practice for the day came to an end. He rinsed the brush in the water basin, shook off the excess water, and hung it up on the stand. He walked to the moon gate and looked across.
In the eastern study, Chuxiong's face was flushed and covered in beads of sweat. He sat up straight, his wrist stiff as he poked out with a small brush that felt like a thousand pounds in his hand, his posture awkward beyond belief. After finally finishing a character, a bead of sweat fell from his forehead onto the freshly written character with a plop, instantly smudging it. Chuxiong threw down the brush in frustration and clumsily tried to wipe it with his sleeve, only making it worse. In the end, a large area of white paper was stained, and even half of his sleeve was covered in ink. He was left dumbfounded.
Fuming, he crumpled up the soiled paper and tossed it on the ground before grabbing another sheet. He searched around but couldn't find the brush he had thrown down earlier. He shouted, "What kind of terrible characters am I practicing!" and rushed out to punch and kick a large tree outside. The poor tree swayed back and forth as leaves fell like rain.
Li Hong smiled and stepped forward to pull him back, saying, "Don't take it out on the tree. Let's eat dinner first; we can write after that."
Hearing about dinner made Chuxiong's eyes light up.
The two descended from the mountaintop, chatting and laughing as they approached the brilliant Forget-Me-Not Butterfly garden. Passing through the Crimson Flower Sea, they soon reached the Dining Hall.
The Dining Hall was large, with five rows of long wooden tables that could seat over a hundred people each. However, there were particularly few disciples dining today; not a single new disciple was present—most were likely busy practicing diligently. In such a spacious Dining Hall, only about ten people were scattered around. The senior brother Chuming and second senior brother Chu Qiu were also absent, but surprisingly, Fifth Senior Brother Chu Gang was sitting at the front table.
So far, Li Hong had seen Fifth Senior Brother no more than three times. Chu Gang was known for being a martial arts fanatic; he practiced diligently and often went to challenge disciples from other peaks for sparring matches. Second Senior Brother Chu Qiu had once sarcastically remarked that he was afraid of being caught up by new junior brothers. Although Li Hong had seen him rarely, he held a good impression of Chu Gang. Chu Gang was straightforward; he said what he thought without reservation—his face flushed red and standing over eight feet tall—he found common ground with Chuxiong who had gained quite a bit of weight since joining. Both were strong men; standing together made for quite an interesting sight.
Chu Gang jumped in front of Chuxiong and said, "Old Seven, I heard you've been improving quickly lately! How about having a spar with your senior brother?" Growing more eager by the second, he rolled up his sleeves and added, "Come on! Let’s do it now! Fight first then eat!"
Chuxiong immediately frowned in distress. "Can we skip the fight? I'm hungry."
"Hungry? Fight first!" Chu Gang exclaimed as he moved into action, shouting loudly: "Old Seven, watch out!" Without using any magical artifacts, he threw a right punch straight at Chuxiong's chest from several feet away. The punch moved swiftly, leaving behind a trail of fiery red shadows that looked like multiple punches were thrown simultaneously; in an instant it was right in front of Chuxiong.
Chuxiong did not dodge; instead he widened his stance to meet force with force and roared as he thrust out his right fist to counter Chu Gang's punch.
Just as their fists were about to collide, Chu Gang suddenly halted his movement by stepping back slightly while leaning back half an inch with his upper body; his right fist stopped just short of Chuxiong's fist as he clearly did not want to hurt him.
The force of their punches rebounded; Chu Gang felt a tightness in his chest as his movements slowed down just enough.
Seizing this opportunity, Chuxiong lowered himself and swept at Chu Gang's lower body with a Whirlwind kick.
However, Chu Gang had already reached early-stage Refining the Heart cultivation; within an instant he adjusted his internal energy and leaped five feet into the air. As he landed, he lightly tapped Chuxiong's other calf with his toes.
Chuxiong lost his balance and fell forward. Just as he was about to roll over and jump up, he heard Chu Gang shout, "Old Seven, be careful!" Grabbing the back of Chuxiong's shirt, he lifted him up and threw him toward the Dining Hall across the way.
Chuxiong flew over the long table like a cloud, crashing into the wall. In a moment of crisis, he twisted his waist and shouted, turning around just in time to brace himself against the wall like a gecko. With a loud thud, he fell to the ground and took a while to get back up.
Chu Gang chuckled and jumped over to Chuxiong's side, helping him up and brushing off the dust from his pants. He laughed heartily, "Not bad, not bad! You've really improved!"
Although Chuxiong wasn't injured, his hands and feet felt nearly dislocated, causing him to rub his wrists in pain and shout, "That's not fair! Just wait until I cultivate my magic tools; then I'll give you a real fight!"
"Sure! Once you've cultivated your magic tools, I'll challenge you every day," Chu Gang laughed loudly.
Li Hong watched this scene with a slight smile, thinking that Fifth Senior Brother was quite amusing and not a bad person at heart.
At that moment, Spirit Stone swaggered into the Dining Hall. He glanced around and took in the entire situation. Without saying much, he walked to the end of the long table and sat down casually. He called out to Li Hong, "Old Six, serve me some rice."
Li Hong nodded and went into the small hall.
Behind the small hall was a large kitchen. Inside was a long table filled with many large blue-and-white porcelain jars containing various dishes—colorful and diverse. At one end of the table was a large stack of clean white porcelain plates.
The food was self-served; everyone could take whatever they liked. The dishes prepared by Brother Chef varied daily and were quite delicious. Chuxiong quickly grew fond of the food here and rarely missed a meal. Li Hong felt the same way.
The steaming white rice had just been cooked—fine Jiangnan rice that was both sticky and fragrant. Li Hong filled a bowl with rice and added some dishes onto a white plate to bring to his master—Spirit Stone didn't eat much; often he just came to sit in the Dining Hall.
He himself unceremoniously shared a large basin of rice with Chuxiong, enjoying it alongside various dishes. Chuxiong's cheeks puffed out as he chewed noisily.
Chu Gang had already eaten but saw his two junior brothers enjoying their meal and decided to help them get more food. After sitting back down, he leaned forward toward Spirit Stone and whispered, "Master, these two junior brothers are progressing quickly; it must be thanks to the Fire Origin Pill?" He gulped enviously as he spoke.
Spirit Stone tapped Chu Gang on the forehead with his chopsticks and glared at him. "Are you thinking about pills again? Listen up, Fifth Brother: taking too many elixirs can actually destabilize your foundation; nothing compares to what you earn through hard work! From now on, stop asking me for elixirs; there won't be any!"
Chu Gang felt embarrassed but still glanced at Li Hong and Chuxiong with envy. Clearly, he didn't believe Spirit Stone's words.
Li Hong smiled wryly; aside from taking a Supplementary Spirit Pill before building his foundation, he had only consumed a Pill of Starvation while in the Li Fire Formation. He had never even heard of the Fire Origin Pill before. As for Chuxiong, he knew well that he had only taken one Foundation Pill during his own cultivation process; he hadn't taken any other elixirs.
It seemed that Fifth Senior Brother frequently asked Master for elixirs? There was something going on here.
From what he understood, Elders from each sect were quite strict about elixirs; aside from providing essential elixirs at certain stages for their disciples, they generally wouldn't give out elixirs casually to enhance their power. Spirit Stone likely followed this practice as well.
However, it was clear that Chu Gang wasn't ready to give up. He chuckled softly and said, "Master, I'm not asking you for elixirs. Don't be so anxious! But I do have some connections; how about you sponsor me with some Spirit Talismans? I promise I'll trade them for elixirs—whatever extra I get will go to my junior brothers." He patted his chest in assurance while keeping his voice low so others wouldn't overhear. However, he didn't hide it from Li Hong and Chuxiong; he shot them a glance as if to say not to worry—they would get their share too.
Spirit Stone looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "There won't be any trouble, right?"
Hearing his master's words, Chu Gang was overjoyed. He patted his chest loudly and whispered, "Don't worry, Master. I'll go down the mountain to handle it. Hehe, you might not know this, but the Spirit Talisman you personally drew has quite the reputation... Tsk tsk, every small sect and loose cultivator from the Immortal Sect wants to keep a few on hand to exchange for some Elixir. It's just a small matter. Anyway, I promise I won't bully the weak. Please put in more effort and draw some good ones, especially various Separation Fire Talismans and Gathering Spirit Talismans. The more, the better. Whatever I get, I'll share with my fellow disciples."
"This matter we will discuss privately; let's eat first." Spirit Stone clearly agreed but did not want to continue the conversation in front of Li Hong and Chuxiong.
Li Hong suddenly realized that the so-called Fifth Senior Brother loved going out to spar with disciples from other sects was not just for competition; he must also be engaging in some small business dealings on the side, or even going out to trade.
The reason the Nine Major Sects of the Immortal Sect remained strong was not only due to occupying the blessed lands of the Nine Great Celestial Realms and possessing unique secret techniques but also because each had its own specialties. Talismans were one of those specialties. Each sect excelled in drawing different types of Spirit Talismans. For example, the Nine Li Sect was best known for its fire-related talismans, which were very powerful.
Spirit Talismans are categorized into low-level, mid-level, and high-level. Low-level Spirit Talismans, like the Cautious Phase, can be drawn by disciples but have limited power. They can be used for friendly competitions among disciples of similar cultivation levels, but when facing enemies above the Golden Core Stage, it's like an egg hitting a rock—no amount of them will help. Therefore, the most practical and convenient are the mid-level Spirit Talismans drawn by cultivators at the Golden Core Stage. Not only can low-level disciples use them, but they also pack a decent punch. For instance, the Fire Shield, when activated with one's spiritual energy, creates a protective barrier of True Fire around the user that burns anyone who gets too close, including cultivators at the Golden Core Stage.
Looking across the entire Cultivation World, how many cultivators are there at the Golden Core Stage, let alone masters at the Nascent Soul Stage or Heavenly Fusion Stage! Thus, mid-level Spirit Talismans are perfect for low-level disciples' self-defense and are especially sought after among smaller sects.
Drawing a Spirit Talisman requires not only familiarity with symbols and patterns but also infusing spiritual energy into them. The higher the level of the Spirit Talisman, the more spiritual energy is needed. A complex Spirit Talisman demands significant mental focus and power from its creator; it's not something that can just be drawn casually. Recently reading a book titled "Introduction to Talismans", Li Hong began to understand more about Spirit Talismans. He realized that although Spirit Stone agreed to draw some mid-level Spirit Talismans for his descent down the mountain in exchange for some Elixir, it would likely take him several days of seclusion to complete them. Once these Spirit Talismans reach smaller sects, each one becomes a treasure. Exchanging them for some Elixir would still mean that Spirit Stone is at a loss.
Excitedly blushing, Chu Gang noticed Li Hong looking at him. He grinned widely and leaned closer to whisper, "I'll come find you once I return to the mountain." He twirled his fingers meaningfully.
Comment 0 Comment Count