Past midnight, a young man sat at a wooden table, a brush held steady in his hand.
"Let's start with the easy one first the Cleaning Talisman. It's the most basic talisman for a talisman master."
He glanced at the worn manual beside him, part of the starter talisman kit he had purchased. The faded ink described the fundamentals, but true mastery lay in practice.
Before him lay a neat stack of yellow talisman papers, a small porcelain dish of cinnabar ink, and his First Rank Low-Tier talisman brush.
The dim lantern light flickered, casting long shadows across the table.
Lan Rui took a deep breath, steadying his mind.
Talisman-making required absolute focus a single mistake, a trembling stroke, or an imbalance of spiritual energy would render the talisman useless.
Dipping the brush into the cinnabar ink, he felt the faint spiritual essence contained within the mixture. Then, with precise, controlled movements, he began.
The first few strokes laid down the framework delicate yet firm. Each stroke wasn't mere ink on paper it carried his spiritual intent, guiding energy from his dantian, through his fingertips, and into the brush.
His breath slowed. Each stroke connected seamlessly to the next, forming a flowing script filled with latent power. A single break in the pattern would mean failure.
As time passed,about as long as it took to finish a cup of tea,he reached the final stroke.
With a decisive motion, he completed the talisman.
For a fleeting moment, the paper trembled then, with a soft hum, a faint golden glow spread across its surface before fading into the parchment.
Success.
Lan Rui exhaled, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"I really succeeded on my first try… Could the original owner of this body have been a talisman genius?"
Lan Rui's heart stirred with hope, but that hope was short-lived.
On his second attempt, the talisman paper sizzled and burned, crumbling to ashes before his eyes. His third try was no better—the strokes looked fine, but when he tried to activate it, nothing happened. A completely useless talisman.
He stared at the ruined parchment, a bitter smile forming on his lips.
"I was too naive... If the original owner was truly a genius, he wouldn't have been stuck making just two types of talismans, and still struggled to make a living."
Lan Rui sighed, rubbing his temples. Talisman-making wasn't as easy as he had thought.
At this rate...
His gaze drifted to the floating status panel in front of him.
That's when he noticed something different.
.....