Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

He was mid-sentence when he suddenly got stuck.

His eyes widened as he stared intently at the ruined talisman.

The smooth lines, the intricate patterns.

The entire talisman was filled with spirit.

It had a marvelous charm to it.

Although it was just a discarded talisman, one could still see the deep foundation of its craftsmanship, as if it were created by some master’s hands.

Compared to what he had seen last autumn, the difference was like that between the clouds and the mud.

He couldn’t help but look at the other discarded talismans on the table.

The same style.

The same spirit.

The same charm.

Many were still emitting wisps of blue smoke, clearly freshly drawn.

For a moment, his mind started to drift.

What am I doing?

Why did I rush here so early in the morning?

Wait, I can’t lose face.

He hastily bit the tip of his tongue, and a sharp pain jolted his spirit.

He scrutinized the discarded talisman, inch by inch, trying to find a single flaw.

Even a thread.

However,

There was none!

There was none!

There was none!

...

He simply couldn’t find any.

The whole talisman had no obvious errors, and the other party had even completely surpassed his level, reaching a realm he could only look up to but never touch.

Moreover, he had never studied amulets in the first place.

"The talisman... this talisman..." Zhang Yan’s forehead oozed fine beads of sweat:

"Generally speaking, the leakage of spiritual power and the resulting scorching are due to a few reasons, one is the excessive output of spiritual power. Two is, the lines drawn are too close together, causing interference in the spiritual power, three is..."

He began to speak vaguely, the more he talked, the more he sweated on his forehead, the more he spoke, the more uneasy he felt.

Chen Li, however, was listening intently, pondering, and soon his eyes lit up.

Before Zhang Yan could finish.

He picked up the brush, dipped it in some blood ink, and rapidly drew the talisman.

Zhang Yan quickly stopped talking, instinctively held his breath, and watched closely with wide eyes.

Unfortunately, Chen Li’s strokes were incredibly fast.

His hand moved like the wind, the brush danced like a dragon or a snake.

It was all done in one go.

The talisman flashed with spiritual light, then gradually dimmed, and finally, the spiritual power was completely contained.

"Haha, done!" Chen Li put down the brush and laughed loudly, feeling enormously pleased, "Thanks to the pointers from my fellow daoist, you’ve been a great help. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have succeeded so quickly, saving me a lot of time!"

"Haha!" Zhang Yan joined in with a dry laugh, feeling his back drenched with sweat, "I just mentioned a few things, I dare not take credit... Ah, I almost forgot, there’s still meat stewing on the stove, I need to check on it, I’ll take my leave!"

Chen Li watched Zhang Yan’s hurried departure, feeling that something was a bit off.

He then chose not to dwell on it.

The three most popular talismans in the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Today, he had finally mastered them all.

He guessed there weren’t many who could say the same in the Green River District.

...

Zhang Yan returned home with a dejected expression, closed the courtyard door, entered the inner room, and collapsed into a chair with a sigh.

"Dad, why are you sighing again? Didn’t you go to Chen’s house? Why are you back so soon?" Zhang Shuniang came out upon hearing the noise and asked.

Zhang Yan ignored his annoying daughter and sighed once more.

His chest felt tight!

Uncomfortable.

He thought back to when he was twelve years old, apprenticed to a renowned master to study talisman crafting.

It has been thirty-three years.

Yet, he still couldn’t match someone who took up the art halfway through life, someone he had even advised.

Surpassed in just one short year.

"Dad, did Chen upset you again? You shouldn’t always compare yourself to Chen," Zhang Shuniang said earnestly, "Chen is almost at the late stage of Qi Cultivation and might build his Foundation in the future. If he hadn’t been delayed when he was young, he’d already be a great cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage now."

"Did Chen tell you that himself?" Zhang Yan half-opened his eyelids, giving her a sidelong glare.

"Ms. Zhou told me, and I think it’s true. Chen is very impressive, he’s good at everything! And he knows a lot of spells too; very profound spells that you don’t!" Zhang Shuniang paused, then added after a thought.

Zhang Yan suddenly didn’t want to speak anymore.

Sigh.

This daughter was raised in vain!

Brought into this world just to frustrate him.

He had gone through all the trouble of raising her from diapers.

Now she was starting to look down on him.

...

Another seven or eight days had passed.

In the quiet room,

Chen Li silently chanted incantations and quickly formed hand seals.

A second later,

he extended his hand and pointed.

A ghastly pale beam of light shot out from his fingertip, striking the mud wall opposite him.

"Crack..."

The moment the beam of light touched the mud wall, it turned into a burst of extremely cold light vapor, spreading rapidly in all directions.

Chen Li felt a chill hit him, and he stepped back repeatedly.

He only stopped when he backed into the wall.

In just a few short seconds, the wall in front of him had completely frozen over, and even though he stood ten meters away, it was as if he were in a frozen land of ice and snow, with even his eyebrows forming frost.

After waiting quietly for a while, Chen Li stepped forward.

He drew his sword and touched the wall with its tip, finding that the wall was as hard as steel and, moreover, ’sticky.’

Especially at the spot where the Ice Beam had hit; white vapor was still billowing from there, the cold piercing to the bone, and even the nearby water vapor had crystallized into fine ice, falling from the air like snowflakes.

Chen Li used a Spiritual Power bullet and shot it at the mud wall.

The result was just a hole the size of a wine cup.

"As expected of a first-rank seventh-level spell,"

The power... even ordinary first-rank demon beasts, if not directly frozen to death, would definitely have their ability to move affected.

If it were to hit a cultivator,

They would probably turn into an ice corpse on the spot.

"From now on, I won’t have to worry about keeping demon beast meat fresh," Chen Li thought to himself.

...

"Last night, someone went out to relieve themselves and encountered an evil wraith, nearly scared to death. They’ve been talking about it since early this morning..."

During dinner, Zhou Hong chatted and laughed about it.

At the mention of this, he paused in his actions, swallowed the meat, and asked, "On our street?"

"Yeah, not far from here," Zhou Hong said.

Chen Li was speechless.

In some respects, the natives of this world are incredibly bold.

Especially regarding evil wraiths.

You’d think they wouldn’t care, right?

But they still do, after all, Evil-Repelling Talismans have always sold well.

But to say they are very scared? That’s not really the case; despite so many recent incidents with evil wraiths, they haven’t shown much panic. Thinking that everyone here is a cultivator, it’s understandable.

Maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing.

He pondered whether he should try to encounter one, to see more of the world.

He had never actually seen a ghost, and fear often comes from the unknown. At first, he was even afraid of demon beasts, but now, he feels nothing towards first-rank demon beasts.

He had a fair amount of confidence in his own safety.

Whether it be Evil-Repelling Talismans, Scolding Skill, or Palm Thunder, all of them naturally suppress evil wraiths.

Deep in the night,

Chen Li took ten Evil-Repelling Talismans and secured them close to his body.

Then he quietly left his house.

Before leaving, he wondered if he would encounter a female or male ghost?

If it were a male ghost, he would simply kill it.

If it were a female ghost... if she looked pitiful, he would mercifully let her go.

If the visage was hideous, he would kill it directly.

However, after walking up and down the street several times, even brazenly visiting the small woods and all sorts of secluded places, apart from the Evil-Repelling Talismans heating up inexplicably a few times, he didn’t even see a single hair, let alone a pitiful female ghost.

He returned home disappointed.

...

Days went by, one after another.

After the arrival of autumn, the temperature dropped rapidly.

The few large trees on the street tried hard to keep their leaves, but they could not withstand the ravages of time and became barer with each passing day.

Just when Chen Li thought he would have to spend another cold winter here,

news suddenly spread through the streets.

The Yu Family, who had moved there in early spring, were leaving.

When Chen Li heard the news, he was first taken aback, then overwhelmed with joy.

Clearly, the turmoil outside had ended!

He could finally leave this gradually decaying place.

"Are we really leaving this time?"

That night,

afterwards!

When Chen Li spoke to Zhou Hong about this, she looked somewhat lost and began to feel anxious about the future.

"Of course it’s true. When the time comes, we’ll follow the Yu Family’s convoy, which will also ensure our safety," Chen Li said gently, stroking the hair of the beauty in his arms, "I suspect there will be quite a few people leaving this time."

"Mm, I’ll listen to you. Wherever you go, I’ll follow," Zhou Hong hugged him even tighter and was silent for a while, "Let’s have a child."