Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Luck Borrowing Talisman

Excess is as bad as deficiency!

Although this ‘water’ drip seemed simple, it was far too ‘turbid’; the more that fell, the greater the pollution, and the harder it would be to purify. His ‘spring’ was still small, after all, and its ‘purifying’ power limited; caution was, of course, necessary.

Only then did his gaze fall upon the soul pearl.

“After this round of absorption and cultivation, it hardly seems as if the power within the soul pearl has diminished at all. If I take ten ‘mouthfuls’ a day, it’ll likely take at least twenty more days to completely absorb and refine all the spiritual power inside.”

Naturally, Chen Yushu felt pleased about this. After all, the longer the soul pearl lasted, the greater his improvement would be.

Next, he began to sense the changes within himself. The most obvious was his spiritual power, which was fuller and stronger than before, with a sense of overflowing energy stretching outward. In such a state, whatever he did seemed to require half the effort for twice the result.

He then glanced at his attribute panel.

Immortal cultivation: One stick of incense (4/100)

“My incense path has increased by two points just like that. By this calculation, once I’ve finished absorbing the soul pearl, my incense path could rise to forty or fifty points?”

A surge of joy filled Chen Yushu. After all, his incense path was intimately tied to his strength: the higher the incense path, the greater the power. Only after perfecting the first stick of incense could he ignite the ‘earth fire’ and attain the rank of the second stick.

It took him a while to calm himself before his gaze fell upon his desk. Today, the reason he had come home near dusk was that he had made another trip to Old Fu’s Incense Shop to buy more talisman paper and other supplies. After his recent flurry of talisman drawing, the ten sets—one hundred sheets—he’d had were nearly depleted, so this time he bought thirty more sets; perhaps because he was a regular customer, he received an extra set for every ten he purchased.

For thirty taels of silver, he acquired thirty-three sets, totaling three hundred and thirty sheets of talisman paper.

After today’s battle, he was completely out of talismans, so replenishing his supply was essential. Once he had regained his composure, he swiftly entered a meditative state and began the work of drawing talismans.

He started with the Household Protection Talisman.

Although this talisman offered him little direct benefit, it was unexpectedly effective at dispelling malevolent energy.

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Though the matter of the haunting was resolved, the martial artists who had experienced the incident remained highly vigilant about such sinister influences; everyone wanted to keep at least one or two talismans on hand, just in case.

Earlier that day, he had overheard at least five martial artists placing orders for talismans from Shi Hao, each requesting at least three. And all the talismans in Shi Hao’s possession originated from him, so of course he needed to prepare more to earn this extra silver.

After producing ten talismans in a row, Chen Yushu’s face finally showed a trace of weariness.

“Indeed, after advancing in my incense path, both my efficiency and quantity in drawing talismans have improved. Before, I could only manage seven in a single sitting before exhaustion set in; now, I can produce ten at once and still have some energy left.”

He marveled at the improvement but did not continue drawing talismans. When mentally fatigued, efficiency plummeted and the risk of failure increased. Even if the attribute panel allowed him to inscribe talismans with a single, perfect stroke, it was still he, the person, who actually performed the work. People tire, and there are times when their condition falters. When mistakes are made, success is impossible.

After half an hour, he began drawing talismans a second time, successfully producing another twenty Household Protection Talismans.

He then turned to drawing Evil-Repelling Talismans.

These had proved indispensable in the recent battle against the vengeful ghost—useful both offensively and defensively—so he made sure to stock up.

He completed another ten Evil-Repelling Talismans, and before he knew it, midnight had arrived.

Yet even then, Chen Yushu was not ready to rest. His gaze moved to the fourth talisman in the Radiant Sun Talisman Arts.

The Fortune-Borrowing Talisman!

He decided to learn and master this new talisman.

“The description of the Fortune-Borrowing Talisman is rather succinct: ‘Borrow another’s luck for one’s own benefit. Yet the workings of karma are mysterious—use with utmost caution.’”

Chen Yushu read the description and wondered what kind of karmic consequences might ensue. Still, since this talisman was so prominently recorded in the Radiant Sun Talisman Arts, it must have its use.

He certainly had no reason to ignore it.

“The Fortune-Borrowing Talisman consists of eleven sigil structures—much more complex than the Evil-Repelling Talisman. Fortunately, my spiritual power has grown considerably, which will be a great help for drawing such intricate talismans.”

With these thoughts, Chen Yushu placed a sheet of talisman paper on the desk, anchoring it with the Soul-Severing Ruler.

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He then calmed his mind, entered a meditative state, picked up his talisman brush, and began to draw.

First came the initial sigil.

This sigil was relatively complex, resembling a mass of dough pressed together, making it difficult to discern the starting point. Fortunately, Chen Yushu’s calligraphic skills had reached the level of perfect imitation; the beginning and end of each stroke were clear to his eye. Coupled with his experience from drawing many talismans before—not yet truly rich, but far from a novice—he had a solid grasp of sigil structures.

As soon as he began, his spiritual power, talisman brush, ink, and paper seemed to merge into a seamless, finely tuned machine, moving swiftly in unison. A sigil gradually took shape under his brush, but just as he reached a certain structure, his hand hesitated.

“Failure.”

Chen Yushu frowned slightly.

Drawing talismans required a continuous flow. His pause had broken the connection between his spiritual power and the sigil on the paper, rendering it useless. Continuing would be pointless.

After a brief pause, he began anew beneath the failed sigil.

He knew that mastering a new talisman required countless failures. Talisman paper was expensive due to its special properties—one tael of silver per set, ten sheets per set—so he economized as much as possible during practice.

He kept at it, filling both sides of each sheet with failed attempts before setting it aside and moving on to the next, and the next…

Before long, he managed to complete the first sigil structure.

Then followed the second, the third, and so on…

From his previous experiences, he understood that each new talisman was a process of trial and error—a steady journey of repeated attempts. His mind remained calm; only every so often, after a stick of incense burned, would he break from meditation due to restlessness, adjust his mindset, reaffirm his resolve, and then reenter the meditative state to continue drawing.

So it went, again and again.

By the time dawn’s first light crept in and the discarded talisman paper at his side exceeded fifty sheets, he finally completed, in a single fluid motion, his very first Fortune-Borrowing Talisman.