Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"Great news, is it Deputy Captain looking for me?"

Zhang Jing turned around to close the door and followed Senior Brother Ding outside, while asking with some curiosity.

"Of course!"

Senior Brother Ding led the way ahead while explaining to Zhang Jing:

"Junior Brother may not know. After we settled down here yesterday, I went to visit Senior Brother Li as soon as possible."

"Then I suddenly remembered that Junior Brother, you can make talismans, a fact that even Junior Sister Tong Yao didn't know before. You may not be aware, but the Luodu squad highly values special cultivators such as Pill Masters, Artifact Refiners, and Talisman Masters."

"So I mentioned it to Senior Brother Li. When he heard about your talisman making talent, he wanted to meet you!"

Hearing this, Zhang Jing finally understood why and realized that Senior Brother Ding had been considering his interests all along.

"Thanks for taking care of me, Senior Brother," he gratefully replied.

"Haha, don't be formal, Junior Brother. When you produce middle-grade or even high-grade talismans in the future, if you can remember this favour and give a little discount to your Senior Brother, I would be very grateful!" Senior Brother Ding rubbed his hands and laughingly said.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother!"

During their conversation, the two crossed numerous streets and came directly to the prefecture in the city center of Langya County.

On both sides of the two large vermilion doors, two teams of guards were on duty, looking serious.

When these soldiers saw Senior Brother Ding and Zhang Jing, who were clad in blue robes, a hint of awe emerged in their eyes, and they competently opened the doors to the prefecture.

...

In a quiet courtyard.

As soon as Senior Brother Ding and Zhang Jingfu approached, the courtyard door opened automatically, and a booming voice suddenly sounded.

"Thank you Junior Brother Ding, is this Junior Brother Zhang? Please, come in!"

"Senior Brother Li, I've brought Junior Brother Zhang. I'll take my leave now," Senior Brother Ding said, cupping his hands towards the direction of the courtyard and excusing himself.

"Take care, Junior Brother Ding." The voice from inside responded.

Then Ding saw Senior Brother look towards Zhang Jing instructing:

"Junior Brother, I have some other matters to attend to, so I'm leaving first. You can just go in directly. Senior Brother Li is very easy-going, so there's no need to be reserved."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Senior Brother Ding left directly.

On the spot, Zhang Jing took a deep breath and walked slowly into the courtyard.

As soon as he entered, he saw a boy who looked only fifteen or sixteen, sitting on a stone bench and smiling at him.

Seeing this, Zhang Jing couldn't help being surprised.

Afterward, seeing Zhang Jing's usual look, he opened his mouth and said, "Zhang Jing has met Senior Brother Li."

"Brother, come and sit."

The boy called him.

After Zhang Jing sat down, Senior Brother Li started to explain in a soft voice:

"The way I look now is because of practicing a special dharma door. I'm afraid it may seem odd to Junior Brother."

Without waiting for Zhang Jing to reply, Li went straight to the point and asked with a clear voice: "I heard that Junior Brother can now produce lower-grade talismans?"

Zhang Jing nodded and said, "I won't lie to Senior Brother, indeed I can now produce lower-grade talismans."

"That's not all–"

Senior Brother Li dragged his voice, staring at Zhang Jing with an amused look, holding a Star Attraction Talisman in his hand, and exclaimed:

"Junior Brother, you are too modest."

"You've been in Dao Institute for just over a month and only engaged in cultivation for over two months. Yet, Junior Brother can already produce lower-grade talismans of excellent quality and in a considerable quantity. This level of talent is honestly quite exaggerating."

"Senior Brother, you flatter me," Zhang Jing said with a laugh.

"No, not a single word Brother said is untrue," he added seriously after pondering.

"Well, as a team perk, our squad will cover all the materials you need to make low-grade talismans. And whatever talismans you make, the squad will buy them all at market price," he said.

"Of course, you can choose not to sell to the squad."

"But once you officially start making middle-grade talismans, there will be a minimum quota you have to sell to the squad every month. But don't worry, we won't trouble our own."

He paused for a moment.

With a meaningful look, he gazed at Zhang Jing and admonished, "My Brother, there's no need to hide your skill. Go ahead and express it. The better your talent is displayed as a member of the Luodu squad, the more resources you will acquire."

"The Luodu squad have senior brothers from the academy and numerous Qi Refinement Cultivators. No one in the Dao Institute would dare come after you unless they want to be utterly obliterated!"

"Thank you, Brother. I understand," Zhang Jing said, rising to his feet with a solemn expression.

After hearing Senior Brother Li's words,

he realized that he had somehow fallen into a line of incorrect thinking.

Zhang Jing had been worrying about how to gradually reveal his unusually high success rate for making talismans, the predictably perfect success rate after having created the Origin Talisman, the machine-like speed of talisman making etc. to avoid suspicion.

But now, why bother to explain?

Don't ask! It's just talent!

Did those two Monster-tier Talents have cultivation talent? So why couldn't he, Zhang, possess exceptional Talisman Making talent?

Especially when Senior Brother Li said "No one would dare to mess with you in the Dao Institute unless they want to be obliterated" completely woke Zhang Jing up.

Meanwhile,

Noticing the subtle changes in Zhang Jing's expression, Senior Brother Li nodded almost imperceptibly, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

"Junior Brother, what's your success rate of making low-grade talismans as of now?" Senior Brother Li asked curiously.

"At present, my success rate of making low-grade talismans is about 40 percent, Brother."

Upon hearing this,

Senior Brother Li's expression slowed a bit.

Although he didn't master talisman making, he often dealt with talisman masters, and thus he understood exactly what this success rate meant.

"Junior Brother Zhang, what's the probability of turning out top-quality talismans?" Senior Brother Li further asked.

"Forty percent," Zhang Jing answered calmly.

Now that his previous concerns had vanished, there was no need for him to hide his expertise. Of course, that was the success rate before the appearance of the Red Divine Light.

Now, with the Red Divine Light assisting, he wasn't sure about his success rate in making low-grade talismans.

"So you're saying, all talismans made by you are top-quality?"

Zhang Jing nodded.

The air suddenly grew silent.

Then,

"Haha, Excellent," Senior Brother Li broke the silence with laughter, "Looks like our Luodu squad is about to churn out a great Talisman sage."

"Brother, please follow me."

With that, Senior Brother Li started leading Zhang Jing towards another direction.

"Brother, where are we going?" Zhang Jing asked.

"I'm taking you to meet other Talisman Masters of the Luodu squad here. And please demonstrate your Talisman Making, so that I can promote you to 'Senior Member'. "

"Senior Member?" Zhang Jing was puzzled.

"Yes. When a person reaches the Qi Refinement middle-stage in the Luodu Squad and has accomplished threefold missions, he will automatically be promoted to 'Senior Member'. Once this happens, the squad's resource depot is opened and senior members can exchange cultivation resources at 80% of the Thousand Law Pavilion's selling price."

Senior Brother Li explained:

"Junior Brother Ding who was with you just now, after this mission, could become a 'Senior Member'. But you, talisman masters, are different. As long as the success rate of making low-grade talismans exceeds 30%, and after confirmation, you can become a 'Senior Member'."

"That's the difference between the top ten squads and the ordinary squads."

"May I ask Brother, what is the resource depot?"

Zhang Jing suddenly discovered that the jade slip Junior Sister Tong Yao had given him earlier didn't include any of the things Senior Brother Li had just mentioned.

"You'll know when you return to Luodu Island. It contains all kinds of cultivation resources, such as Spirit Pills of various grades, special heavenly materials and earthly treasures, Magic Artifacts, talismans, and so on. In short, everything you see in the Thousand Law Pavilion, we have in our resource depot," Senior Brother Li explained.