Chapter 6: Refining the Talisman (Part 1)

  "Asheng, let's just forget it! Lin Wanyu was somewhat embarrassed. She couldn't sense the power of thought yet wanted to learn about talisman medicine. Wasn't this a joke? Talisman doctors were highly respected, but not anyone could do it."

  "No! Wang Bo, what are the conditions for learning from Master Physician?" Shi Sheng said with a firm expression, not looking like he was joking at all.

  After a moment's thought, Wang Bo slowly shook his head and sighed: "Shi Sheng, do you know where Dr. Fu came from?"

  "If the patient has a painful sensation, the thought of relieving pain is infused into the talisman, which is given to the patient to take or wear. This talisman will produce the power to relieve pain. Such a person is called a talisman doctor!" Shi Sheng replaced the term "talisman doctor" with the phrase "according to the old immortal's transmission of special functions".

  "Hehe, your description is not bad. To be honest with you, we symbol doctors are actually cultivators of the second layer 'Ling Spirit Realm', but our talent is too low to cultivate to the third layer. Fortunately, the second layer Ling Spirit Realm can detach from the body with intention, so we can only be a symbol doctor among ordinary people."

  You meditate and sense the power of thought, but to reach the first level of 'enlightenment', you must take a spiritual medicine called 'open thought pill', which allows practitioners to open up their minds and store their thoughts.

  "In my younger years, I also obtained it by chance. This kind of elixir is extremely rare. You haven't taken the Open Mind Elixir and can't cultivate, let alone reach the second layer of Spiritual Ascension's mental detachment, so you're unable to learn Symbol Medicine." Wang Bo sighed.

  "Not taking Dan medicine means you can't cultivate? But I've already sensed the power of mind, and after my leg injury, it was me who healed myself." Shi Sheng was somewhat perplexed.

  At first, Lao Shen didn't mention any elixirs, and he hadn't taken any himself, yet he still cultivated his mind to leave his body. It seems that the cultivation methods of this world are quite different from those of other worlds. This world should have a complete set of cultivation systems.

  "Not bad, don't be discouraged. Since you can sense the spiritual power and even self-heal your injuries, your foundation is not bad. Next time when our sect recruits disciples again, you can try to join. However, I'm quite curious - it's said that ten years ago, after testing, you didn't have the foundation to learn spiritual power, so how did you suddenly sense the spiritual power on your own?" Wang Bo said with some puzzlement.

  Upon hearing this, Shi Sheng's mind quickly turned and thought of a countermeasure. A moment later, Shi Sheng smiled and said: "Ah, since that time I was eliminated, I vowed to break this legend, and started secretly meditating in stillness, don't believe my foundation is not good."

  Perhaps it's because heaven doesn't abandon those with a strong will, I finally sensed the power of mind, but I've been hiding it all along. It wasn't until this time when bandits invaded our village and left me severely injured that I completely awakened to my true potential, and my cultivation of mind power reached a new level.

  "Heaven does not disappoint those who have a heart? This sentence is very interesting, haha." Wang Bo savored this sentence carefully, feeling that it contained profound and famous sayings.

  "Master Wang, please teach me the art of drawing talismans quickly. I want to learn how to draw them myself so that when someone gets sick, I can use the right talisman and make some money without having to work too hard."

  "Haha, draw talismans? You think anyone can do it? You sense the power of thought is nothing special, but without reaching the second level of detached thought, you can't even begin to draw talismans. You haven't even taken any elixirs, how can you condense your thoughts and draw talismans?" Wang Bo laughed heartily as if he had heard a joke, not because he was mocking him, but because he felt that Shi Sheng was just like a child, speaking without reserve.

  "Wang Bo, your beard!" Shi Sheng said, concentrating his mind and moving his spiritual power. Wang Bo's white beard suddenly moved slightly, although Lin Wan'er didn't notice it, but Wang Bo stood up with a "zhā" sound, looking at Shi Sheng like he was a monster. Wang Bo could indeed sense the fluctuations in his spiritual power.

  "You, you, have detached your spiritual power? How did you manage to do that? You really haven't taken any Mind-Opening Pills?" Wang Bo said with a serious gaze, no longer as casual as before.

  "Years ago, I picked up a dan medicine and swallowed it without knowing what it was. Hey, Wang Bo, can you really teach me how to draw talismans?" Shi Sheng felt somewhat helpless, if not, it seemed he could only go find someone else.

  After a long silence, Wang Bo's facial expression changed constantly, and finally he narrowed his eyes and said: "Good, I'll see what level your mental power has reached!"

  Wang Bo finished speaking and lowered his head to search for something, while Lin Wan'er remained in a state of confusion.

  A moment later, Wang Bo suddenly took out a pen, ink, paper and inkstone. One was a yellow paper of unknown material, about the size of a palm, empty and blank. Another yellow paper with similar texture had nine symbols of different shapes and strange styles drawn on it, which should be a well-drawn talisman.

  Ink is not black, but silver, the brush looks a bit old and should have been used for some years. Wang Bo took out an ordinary yellow paper and handed it to Shi Sheng, then he tapped on the well-painted talisman again.

  "This is the Shi Sheng Fu, one of the simplest and most commonly used talismans for alleviating pain. It has nine characters on it. When drawing the talisman, you need to infuse your intention into it, similar to making a wish. Draw the nine characters on paper, thinking that the patient's pain will be alleviated, and the intention to alleviate pain will be infused into the talisman." Wang Bo said with a serious expression.

  "Is that all?" Shi Sheng asked.

  "Of course it's not possible, this is just the first step. If the incantation infusion is successful and the talisman is correct, after drawing the talisman, it will evoke the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The nine talismans are all different, representing different powers."

  The nine talismans will each absorb different heavenly and earthly spiritual energies. After each talisman is fully saturated with energy, it will emit a fleeting silver aura that vanishes in an instant.

  When drawing talismans, the three aspects of intention, thought and action must be unified, that is to say, the mind, thought power and actions should be highly coordinated. The mind refers to consciousness, in a flash of insight, when the intention reaches the fingertips, the thought also reaches the fingertips at the same time, and the hand moves to point at the bright symbol, absorbing the power inside the talisman and sealing it within.

  Many people fail at this step, and if the seal is applied too early, it will absorb insufficient power. If it's delayed for a moment, the power inside the seal will overflow, causing the spiritual energy to become disordered, ultimately leading to failure of the painting.

  "After all, the nine talismans lit up at different times without any rules, and the fleeting silver aura was only a flash in the pan. Beginners generally can't achieve unity of intention, thought, and action, it's indeed very difficult to grasp the opportunity."

  "Intention, thought and action are united as one? This is indeed too difficult, without long-term repeated practice to become familiar with it, it's fundamentally impossible to achieve!" Shi Sheng felt somewhat depressed.

  "Heh heh, no matter, I'm not trying to make you succeed, but rather see how far your willpower can reach, so that I know which step you should cultivate from!" Wang Bo said, gesturing for Shi Sheng to practice drawing the talismanic symbols on ordinary paper, and see if there were any mistakes.

  "Asheng, you can do it!" Lin Wan'er said with an inexplicable surge of confidence, and Wang Bo smiled but didn't respond.

  "Alright, I'll give it a try!" Shi Sheng first picked up the well-drawn talisman, carefully examining it for a long time. Although some of the symbol marks were a bit strange, they weren't difficult to draw - after all, Shi Sheng had learned how to paint in school.

  A moment later, Shi Sheng closed his eyes and recalled the style of several talismans in his mind. Feeling that there was no problem, he picked up the brush, which felt a bit heavy and cold to the touch. He dipped it in some silver-colored ink made from unknown materials and began to draw several strange talismans on the paper.

  The first symbol was simple, with a dot in the middle and a wavy line on either side, and at the bottom there was something resembling an inverted question mark. After Shi Sheng finished drawing, Wang Bo looked somewhat surprised and nodded his head in satisfaction.

  After a while, Shi Zong finally finished drawing the nine talismans. Wang Bo clapped his hands and smiled: "Not bad, without any foundation, you were able to draw all nine talismans perfectly on your first try. Although they're not very neat, it's still considered average talent."

  "Ah, not bad!" Lin Wan'er smiled and Shi Sheng secretly sighed in his heart. In fact, he had a foundation in painting, and it wasn't difficult to paint these nine talismans. It was just a bit awkward.

  "After practicing a few times, if you feel that there is no problem, you can use it to draw talismans. Note that when drawing talismans, you must infuse them with your mind power!" Wang Bo said and then pointed to the talisman paper.

  "Good!" Shi Sheng responded, and continued to practice for several times, spending almost half a day. Finally, he became proficient, picked up the yellow paper of unknown material, dipped his brush in silver ink, gazed at the yellow paper with both eyes, and his expression turned solemn. Wang Bo and Lin Wan'er didn't disturb him either.

  A moment later, Shi Sheng's mind stirred, and he slowly poured his energy into the pen tip, thinking that this talisman would alleviate the patient's pain. He began to draw on the yellow paper, and in a short while, nine talismans were drawn.

  Shi Sheng hastily put down his brush, feeling that the nine talismans had undergone some changes, but he couldn't quite put it into words. He poured his spiritual energy into his fingertips and stared intently at the nine talismans, ready to strike the moment a glimmer of silver light appeared.

  Whoosh!

  Suddenly, Shi Sheng discovered that the first symbol was emitting a faint silver glow, but Lin Wan'er couldn't see anything unusual. Shi Sheng hastily moved his arm and accurately pointed to the symbol that had just lit up.

  "Hmm, it's not that hard..." Shi Sheng hadn't finished speaking when the silver light of the symbol at the bottom right corner flashed suddenly. Shi Sheng's mental energy hadn't had time to infuse into his fingertips, and he felt anxious in his heart. Although his finger was pointing at it, it was just a matter of intention and action, but his mental energy didn't reach.

  In an instant, a silver light burst forth from the center of the talisman, and Shi Meng's mental energy had just been infused into his fingertips. However, by the time he was about to make contact, that flash of silver light had already vanished without a trace. This time, it seemed that his intention and thoughts were there, but his actions hadn't caught up yet, and he was a step too late.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Next, several silver lights lit up one after another. Shi Sheng felt a bit nervous and finally, with a flurry of hands and feet, he managed to seal the power of two talismans, but still failed to draw the talisman successfully. Even if only one talisman's power was not sealed, it would be considered a failure.

  "Heh heh, not bad. You were able to seal two rune powers for the first time, that's considered mid-to-low level!" Wang Bo looked at Shi Sheng and nodded with a smile.

  "This is too difficult, that Silver Spark is indeed called Instant Silver Spark, the staying time is too short, I always worry about not being able to keep up, this one lights up, and then I worry about another one lighting up, completely can't keep up!" Shi Sheng frowned and said.

  "Not bad, with more practice, you'll definitely achieve something. Later on, you can come here to practice." A glint of sharpness flashed in Wang Bo's eyes.

  "Huh? That's right, I was too nervous just now and only thought about the mysterious talisman. I have a way, Wang Bo, let me try again!" Shi Sheng suddenly thought of something and revealed a hint of a mysterious smile, looking very confident.

  "Let it go for today, this talisman paper and silver ink are not to be wasted casually!" Wang Bo smiled.

  "Brother Wang, I failed. I'll give you the money for the text. Let me try again!" Shi Sheng's face was resolute, and Brother Wang looked at him seriously before finally nodding in agreement.

  "Ah Sheng, I believe in you!" Lin Wan'er said firmly.

  "Ah!" Shi Sheng finished speaking, took a deep breath, and immediately began to draw nine talismans with a serious expression. However, after completing the talismans, his serious expression disappeared, replaced by a relaxed demeanor. He stretched out two fingers, focusing intently on the nine talismans. This scene caused Wang Bo to pause in surprise - how could a mere beginner attempt to multitask? (End of chapter, next chapter will be even more exciting.)

  (PS. Everyone guess what Shi Sheng thought of a good way to draw symbols? First ask for collection, ask for recommendation!!!)