Chapter Ten: Refining Talismans

  That sound should be from an old man's mouth, like a Buddhist chant, making people feel calm and peaceful after listening to it. Compared to the copper bell in front of the Water Cloud Pavilion that was cast with clear sound spells, I don't know how many times more comfortable it is.

  A string of sounds floated into Zhang Chong's mind, and at the same time, in front of him, a narrow strip of paper slowly unfolded, and a golden large pen danced vigorously, writing stroke by stroke on the paper.

  Thick ink on paper leaves a trail of marks, the pen moves like a dragon and snake, writing with ease and fluency, carefree and unmatched.

  As the golden brush finished its final stroke, the paper also emitted a faint golden light. As this light flashed, the paper scattered like flying dust, and the smoke enveloped Zhang Chong's entire body, making his whole body feel warm and cozy, as if he had been bathed in spring breeze. In an instant, all fatigue disappeared without a trace.

  "Wow, this is really a good thing." Zhang Da opened his mouth and looked at all of this. He also suddenly thought that the one just now should be enough.

  And these steps written in this stroke, should be the refining of the talisman. And then the scattered smoke and dust, is it the effect after using the talisman?

  It turned out that Yu Fu was actually like this. Zhang Chong had never seen Yu Fu's appearance before, and in his eyes, a kind of naive enthusiasm flashed by.

  And then, as soon as the thought flashed through his mind, he would hear the sound of Sanskrit chanting again, and the scene of refining talismans would flash before his eyes until he felt like vomiting.

  And at this time, he also saw the paper and pen that he had seen before, which made his heart clear. The style in front of him, wasn't it just to let him draw a few pictures by tracing?

  As he thought of this, he began to walk over, cut the paper into the size he had just seen, and then picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and licked it with the tip of his tongue before drawing on the paper.

  Just finished drawing it, but it only took a dozen or so strokes, and after finishing, it was just a breath of time.

  But Zhang Zhong had a hard time, and it was much more difficult than he thought. His hand trembled as he held the pen, and with great difficulty, he finally drew a curved line on the paper that looked like a tadpole, which was far from the strong and powerful strokes he had seen earlier.

  Fortunately, after having read it countless times just now, this character was already deeply ingrained in his mind.

  It was not easy for Zhang Chong to finish drawing a talisman, and he was already panting heavily like a dog. However, looking at the completed talisman, there was no connection between it and the talismans Zhang Chong had seen before, not even a single dot or stroke.

  Zhang Chong looked at his finished work, also speechless.

  After resting for a while, the thought flashed again, and he took another look at the cultivation process of this symbol. This scene once again motivated his heart, and his body also recovered from fatigue under the effect of using the symbol.

  This allowed him to once again throw himself into the great work of refining his talismans with renewed vigor.

  One by one, the paper slips flew about, Zhang Chong's expression was solemn and serious. He wielded his brush with flair, writing ceaselessly on the paper. What he wrote was much better than the first sheet, but compared to the characters he had seen, it was still far from good enough.

  Unbeknownst to him, the paper had been used up by more than half. It was only then that Zhang Chong realized that these papers would not turn back into blank paper once they were used up, but instead become waste paper. Moreover, there was no new paper appearing before his eyes.

  "Alas, my brother is really too poor, even in his dreams, he's so stingy." Zhang Chong sighed and looked down at the clean paper, which was not much. He could only use it sparingly, so he practiced on previously used paper, only using new paper when he felt exceptionally good.

  Just as he was exhausted to death, he could summon the symbol with his mind and make his whole body relax, just like after a massage, and regain his vitality.

  So he also spared no effort in his physical strength, but wrote it big and special, that stubborn spirit is now on his face.

  "Brother must refine this talisman." He brought with him a belly full of ambition, and without stopping, he wielded his brush to splatter ink.

  Hard work pays off for those who are diligent, and finally, when the paper was used up, he also refined four somewhat decent talismans.

  "This dream is really long." Zhang Chong lay on the ground, although the front and back symbols kept washing away his fatigue, but the physical exhaustion was not so relaxed that it could be completely smoothed out.

  Zhang Chong could clearly feel that his physical strength had a feeling of being almost exhausted.

  "It's really tiring," Zhang let out a long sigh, the process of refining talismans was a fresh and exciting thing for him, which made him completely forget about the passage of time. At this moment, he heard a "gurgling" sound coming from his belly, and at the same time, a feeling of hunger surged up, and when he reached out to touch it, his stomach was already empty.

  "It's strange, can you get hungry in a dream too? But thinking about it, this dream is actually quite long, and I don't know how long I've been here. Why haven't I woken up yet?"

  Just as Zhang Chong thought of this sentence, all the scenes in front of him suddenly disappeared. He opened his eyes to see the thatched roof of his hut.

  "He woke up." Zhang Chongruo woke up, but had a sense of loss and emptiness. The feeling in the dream was too clear, so that he didn't even know if he could go back to that dream again.

  And that refining talisman's technique, he also remembered extremely clearly. He didn't know if this technique could really allow him to refine the talisman in reality.

  Zhang Chong thought about these things and slowly sat up. When he looked around, however, he was suddenly shocked and stunned.

  The pile of paper and ink bought from the corner of the wall, messy and piled up there, the ink is empty, while the paper, all show a used look.

  "How could this be?" Zhang Chong stared at the unbelievable scene, his mind suddenly exploding with a loud bang, leaving him at a loss for what to do. Could it be that what he had done was not just a dream, but reality? But the process of refining the talisman was clearly something that could only happen in a dream.

  Could it be said that dreams and reality have merged together?

  All of this has already exceeded Zhang Chong's ability to explain, he is lying on the bed, constantly flashing thoughts, and the process of refining symbols no longer appears. However, that pile of used paper is clearly placed in front of his eyes.

  Zhang Chong ran over and after a selection, he found the four talismans that he thought were well-made. All of this was exactly the same as the scene in his dream.

  However, looking at these four symbols, although they are refined to be extremely good, but on the surface, they are ordinary and have no golden light. Does it really have any use?

  At the time of utter confusion, Zhang Chong thought of Wang Daozhong again.

  But this time, Wang Daozhong had changed his mind and readily agreed to help him. This was not because of the goodness of human nature, but because after a painful weighing of pros and cons, Wang felt that Zhang Chong not only couldn't afford to offend him, but also that he was his only hope for returning to Shu Mountain. Now that things had come to this pass, since he couldn't regain the initiative, he could only do his best to perform well and wait and see what would happen next.

  But Zhang Chong explained hastily for half a day, and Wang Daozhong still didn't understand what he was saying. In the end, both of them were anxious and sweating, but there was no solution.

  Zhang Chong looked at the symbol and the pale green ring, and couldn't help but think.

  "If this works and I can get into the ring, that would be great."

  Just as he was thinking about this, the four symbols suddenly disappeared under Zhang Chong's eyelids.

  "What's going on? Where are they going?" Zhang Chong shouted out in surprise.

  At this time, a soft cry of "hmm" came from inside the ring.