Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

Luodu Island, Spirit Crane Garden.

Zhang Jing controlled the Spirit Crane beneath him, slowly descending beside the Senior Brother from before.

"Senior Brother, I am returning the Spirit Crane unharmed. I will take my leave now," he said, handing over the bracelet in his hand to the other.

"Take care, Junior Brother,"

The Senior Brother said with a smile.

Watching Zhang Jing's gradually receding figure, he murmured to himself in a voice only he could hear, "The new junior brother in the Luodu squad? He has only been cultivating for a little over a month, and yet his Qi Refinement level two cultivation has been polished to such an extent?"

Elsewhere.

After leaving the Spirit Crane Garden, Zhang Jing went directly to the Merits Tower.

He remembered that he hadn't claimed his Purple Spirit Pill allocation for the month, and the bottle of Purple Spirit Pills that Senior Brother Yangchu had given him was almost used up.

He had just thought about going to the market while he still had the Spirit Crane.

Not to buy spirit pens and talisman-making materials, but to buy some Accumulative Spirit Pills … Zhang Jing discovered that his consumption of Spirit Pills was a bit too fast when cultivating with the aid of various skills.

A bottle of Purple Spirit Pills could only sustain his full-force cultivation for about ten days.

But after weighing his options, Zhang Jing eventually discarded that thought.

The spiritual energy in his cave dwelling was extremely abundant, and at this point, if he still used Accumulative Spirit Pills for cultivation, the impurities in the pills would actually limit his cultivation speed.

Zhang Jing had indeed considered going to the market to buy talisman-making materials before.

But the problem was that he simply didn't have enough Spirit Stones.

Moreover, judging from his last experience, the Magic Artifacts sold in the various shops of the market were mostly of inferior quality, a mix of new and old, with inconsistent quality. Let alone spirit pens.

While there were Spirit Ink and Spiritual Paper, they suffered from the same problem.

So, after considering all factors, he ultimately decided to purchase all the talisman-making materials and tools together in the Thousand Law Pavilion.

In the midst of his thoughts.

Zhang Jing had slowly reached the front of his cave dwelling.

He took out his Jade Key.

The spiritual light that enveloped the door of the cave dwelling instantly fluctuated for a moment.

...

In the cave dwelling.

After busying himself for half a day, Zhang Jing finally cleaned up a spiritual room deep in the dwelling, arranging it into a simple Talisman Making Room.

The Spirit Star Nine Changes stated that one must focus intently and not be disturbed during the talisman-making process.

This was a matter related to his cultivation advancement, so he had to be extra cautious.

With everything ready.

Zhang Jing took a deep breath, and then took out a piece of Spiritual Paper, carefully spreading it on the table.

Then he took out a large bottle of Spirit Ink and placed it on his right.

Unlike the Spiritual Paper, as soon as the Spirit Ink was opened, it stirred up a wave of intense spiritual power fluctuations, simultaneously emanating a faint smell of blood.

"Is there monstrous blood in the Spirit Ink? That explains why it's so expensive,"

Zhang Jing understood.

The Spirit Pen that he had already attuned on his way back appeared in his hand.

As he focused, his spiritual sense wrapped around his spiritual power and entered the Spirit Pen. A feeling of smoothness and fluidity instantly emerged, as if there was no resistance at all.

This was in contrast to the feeling he had when controlling his Flying Sword and Water Cloud Shield previously.

This Spirit Pen was indeed worth its price.

Talisman-making is delicate work that requires high control over spiritual power and spiritual sense. A good Spirit Pen can greatly increase the success rate of talisman-making. This is not an overstatement.

This was why Zhang Jing had gritted his teeth and bought a top-quality Middle-Grade Charm pen.

"To do good work, one must first sharpen the tools." And after all… the wool comes from the sheep's back. He will eventually recoup these cultivation merits from his senior brothers and sisters in the Dao Institute.

Thinking of this.

Zhang Jing slowly closed his eyes, with the various contents of the Spirit Star Nine Changes instantly flooding his mind.

He began to digest it bit by bit.

The talisman-making method in his legacy was called 'Spirit Star Nine Changes'.

The creator of this method observed the mysteries of the heavenly stars, imitated the movement of the Big Dipper's nine stars, and made seven turns and two hides with each stroke when making talismans, hence the name Nine Changes. It is said that using this method to make talismans can greatly enhance the quality of the talisman.

Time slowly passed.

The numerous mysteries of Spirit Star Nine Changes were all firmly remembered by Zhang Jing.

Subsequently, he turned his attention to the talismans in the legacy. It recorded twelve types of lower-grade talismans, seven types of middle-grade talismans, and four types of high-grade talismans. Among them were talismans for attack, defense, soul-binding from afar, trapping and countering spells, and all kinds of talismans.

Zhang Jing looked at each kind one by one, eventually choosing the Star Attraction Talisman, one of the numerous lower-grade talismans.

Once made, this talisman would naturally attract starlight and store it, activating a shield of starlight when used. This shield was said to be unbreachable by spells and magic artifacts, making the Star Attraction Talisman one of the strongest defensive lower-grade talismans.

Just from the description, the effect of the Star Attraction Talisman seemed quite powerful.

Of course, Zhang Jing didn't really care about this. He only knew that the Star Attraction Talisman was a defensive talisman. Hadn't he seen how among all of the lower-grade talismans available in the Thousand Law Pavilion, the defensive ones were the priciest?

He decided to make it first and consider the rest later!

Having made his choice...

Zhang Jing focused his entire attention on the intricate Dao patterns of the Star Attraction Talisman, as if seeking to engrave them deep within his heart.

At a certain instant...

He abruptly opened his eyes. His expression was serene.

His Spirit Pen lightly picked up some Spirit Ink and then slowly landed on the Spiritual Paper. The position was remarkably precise, not off by the slightest bit.

The very next instant, his Spiritual Sense guided his Spiritual Power to the tip of the pen, outlining the Dao pattern of the Star Attraction Talisman.

However...

The moment Zhang Jing lifted his Spirit Pen just a bit, the Spiritual Power began to fluctuate, effectively ruining the talisman.

Seeing this happen...

All movements of his hand instantly froze and his facial expression turned blank for an instant. Then, a hint of speechlessness filled his eyes.

He had declared failure right from the start.

Was the talisman-making technique showing a bit of disrespect to him?

The jade talisman in front of him slowly popped up, with a line of small text flashing out.

[Spirit Star Nine Changes Talisman Script: Not yet a beginner(1/70)]

"I still need sixty-nine more experience points, which means... I have to fail sixty-nine more times? This won't do, Spiritual Paper and Spirit Ink are not cheap!"

Zhang Jing frowned.

At that moment, a phantom third eye slowly opened.

He had just wanted to see how much progress he could make without resorting to using the third eye Dharma Seed. Given the current situation, it seemed Zhang Jing had overestimated his own financial capabilities.

When it came to learning how to make talismans, the third eye Dharma Seed was indeed more cost-effective.

Zhang Jing took out another piece of Spiritual Paper.

Nurtured by the state of the third eye, he tried with full confidence for the second time.

After several breaths...

He was seen staring at the failed talisman in front of him with a complex expression, seemingly understanding Senior Brother Liu's advice.

Talisman making was indeed difficult to get started with.

This time, Zhang Jing had managed to depict half of the Dao pattern of the Star Attraction Talisman before failing again.

Despite the drastic improvement, he was still unexpectedly unsuccessful even under the influence of the third eye. Nevertheless, there was a silver lining...

[Spirit Star Nine Changes Talisman Script: Not yet a beginner(7/70)]

Although he failed again, his experience increased by a whole 6 points.

If this was the norm, Zhang Jing was hopeful that he could upgrade the talisman-making technique to level one today and awaken a new skill characteristic in the process.

After regulating his breath for a moment...

He dove back in again.

Though it was deep night outside, bright light filled the cave dwelling.

At this time...

Zhang Jing was slumped in the chair, looking excitedly at the Star Attraction Talisman on the table, radiating intense fluctuations of Spiritual Power.

On his eleventh try, and just as his Spiritual Sense and Spiritual Power were about to run out, he finally succeeded in drawing the complete Dao pattern of the Star Attraction Talisman on the Spiritual Paper.

Each stroke was spot on, each flow of Spiritual Power flawless. The entire process was nothing short of perfect.

Moreover, the Spirit Star Nine Changes Talisman Script didn't deceive him. The Star Attraction Talisman he had crafted using the Spirit Star Nine Changes Method was of exceptionally high quality.

Zhang Jing was quite certain that he had not misperceived.

The Star Attraction Talisman in front of him was indeed a high-quality lower-grade talisman—the sort sold for two units of Tao Merits at the Thousand Law Pavilion!

He couldn't help but look at the phantom Jade Talisman.

[Spirit Star Nine Changes Talisman Script: Level One (1/150)]

Skill Characteristic: Talisman Source Accumulation (Mid-level)