DIV Chapter 4: Heavy Casualties

The inheritance was in hand!

Li Chang'an didn't dare linger outside too long and immediately returned to the market.

After returning to his house and closing the door, he finally felt at ease.

He began to carefully examine the contents contained within the jade slip.

"Spirit Shield Talisman, Cold Wind Talisman, Mad Blade Talisman..."

The low-grade talismans included in this inheritance were all the most common ones.

There would be no worry about finding buyers!

The more Li Chang'an looked, the more delighted he became.

"Phew..."

He took several deep breaths to calm his emotions, then sat cross-legged, planning to begin seriously studying the way of talismans.

But just then, a voice suddenly came from outside the house.

"Brother Li, are you home?"

It was Xu Fugui's voice, sounding somewhat weak.

Li Chang'an got up to open the door.

Outside, Xu Fugui's face was deathly pale, without a trace of color.

He looked disheveled all over, leaning on a crutch, with one leg apparently lame.

Seeing this, Li Chang'an immediately asked, "Fugui, what happened?"

"Brother Li, I shouldn't have disobeyed your words!"

Xu Fugui had a mournful expression as he recounted their group's experience in the cave dwelling.

Originally, everything had gone relatively smoothly.

Everyone had worked together to break through the already incomplete array formation and successfully entered the cave dwelling.

However, there were no treasures in the cave dwelling at all. Instead, there was a more concealed array formation.

They were completely unaware and all entered within the array formation.

Then, that array formation actually exploded directly!

Their group suffered heavy casualties!

Four died on the spot, and two more were so severely injured that they died on the way back.

Xu Fugui was relatively lucky.

He didn't lose his life, but his internal organs suffered some impact, and one of his legs was lamed.

"Brother Li, if only I had listened to you and not gone to that cave dwelling!"

Xu Fugui was filled with endless regret.

That cave dwelling wasn't any kind of opportunity at all, it was clearly a huge trap!

He was seriously injured.

Just thinking about the spirit stones needed for healing made his heart bleed.

Hearing this, Li Chang'an sighed and offered a few words of comfort.

"It's good that you're alive. Focus on recovering from your injuries."

After conversing for a moment, Xu Fugui left with a heart full of regret, limping away.

His miserable state made Li Chang'an even more determined to pursue stable cultivation.

"Unless absolutely necessary, I must never go exploring unknown cave dwellings, ancient sites, and the like."

Li Chang'an closed his door and calmed his mind.

He continued studying talismans.

At midnight that night, a new divination appeared.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Neutral]

[Today you will not have many gains, and no major events will occur within or outside the market]

"No events today."

Li Chang'an's mindset was very peaceful.

The gains from these past two times had already left him quite satisfied.

After all, he wasn't a child of destiny, so he couldn't expect to have great fortune every day.

"As long as it's not an ominous divination, that's good!"

Li Chang'an liked peaceful days.

For the following period, he immersed himself in the world of talismans, hardly leaving his house.

Each day's divination was "neutral," without any major disturbances.

In cultivation, time passes unnoticed.

A month went by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Li Chang'an sat focused at his desk, holding a talisman brush in his hand.

This talisman brush was purchased at the market. It was only first-tier low-grade, the cheapest talisman brush available, yet it still cost a full thirty spirit stones!

Without accepting Zheng Jinbao's spirit stones, he wouldn't have been able to afford this talisman brush.

The remaining spirit stones had been used to purchase talisman paper and spirit ink.

"Today I'll try to see if I can draw a complete talisman."

Li Chang'an concentrated intently and began attempting to create a talisman called the "Lightness Talisman."

The difficulty of drawing this talisman was relatively low among first-tier low-grade talismans, and its effect was extremely simple, it could make oneself more agile.

The delicate brush tip glided across the talisman paper, drawing graceful, flowing traces.

Before long, Li Chang'an's arm paused, and the talisman brush in his hand stopped as well.

The talisman on the desk was complete.

He picked up the talisman and infused it with a trace of spiritual energy to activate it.

"Buzz..."

The Lightness Talisman trembled slightly.

Li Chang'an felt his entire body become light, suddenly experiencing a sensation of floating like an immortal.

"Success!"

His face showed a smile.

He hadn't expected to succeed on his first attempt!

The entire process had been smooth and flowing, extremely fluid, without any hitches.

This meant Li Chang'an had officially become a talisman master!

"I should be considered talented in the way of talismans."

Li Chang'an was quite satisfied with his progress.

According to the descriptions in the inheritance, cultivators with good talent could successfully draw talismans within weeks or months.

While those with poor talent might struggle to even get started for years!

"Let me try some other talismans!"

Li Chang'an struck while the iron was hot and continued drawing.

Soon, he successfully drew two other first-tier low-grade talismans: the Spirit Shield Talisman and the Fireball Talisman.

When attempting to draw a new talisman, he made a careless error and failed.

"Not bad, the success rate isn't low!"

Li Chang'an was also satisfied with this success rate.

This was because it was his first time drawing talismans, so his technique was rather rusty.

After becoming proficient, his success rate would improve considerably.

"According to what's described in the inheritance, drawing talismans not only consumes magical power but also takes a significant toll on one's spirit."

Normally, a cultivator in the early-stage of Qi Refining would feel somewhat tired and mentally fatigued after drawing three low-grade talismans in succession.

However, Li Chang'an felt no drowsiness whatsoever at the moment.

He remained energetic and spirited.

Perhaps due to having lived two lives, his spiritual power was stronger than cultivators of the same realm.

He estimated that his spiritual power should be comparable to that of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Next, he drew more than ten talismans in a row.

Only then did he feel slightly fatigued.

"I haven't reached my limit yet, but I shouldn't overexert myself."

Li Chang'an put down the talisman brush in his hand and rubbed his temples.

After resting for a moment, he put away all the talismans and began his daily breathing cultivation.

...

That evening, Li Chang'an went out to a shop called "Hundred Treasures Pavilion."

This Hundred Treasures Pavilion was an old establishment in the market.

The shopkeeper's surname was Qian, he was kind-hearted and had a good reputation.

Li Chang'an entered the shop and took out a Fireball Talisman, handing it to Shopkeeper Qian behind the counter.

"Shopkeeper Qian, what price would you offer for this type of talisman?"

"Let me see."

Shopkeeper Qian picked up the talisman and examined it for a moment.

"First-tier low-grade, Fireball Talisman, quality is decent. As for the price... two spirit stones."

He calmly assessed it and offered a fairly reasonable price.

Li Chang'an wasn't new to the cultivation world and had a basic understanding of talisman prices, so he knew Shopkeeper Qian's price was very reasonable.

He then took out two more Fireball Talismans, three Wind Blade Talismans, and four Spirit Shield Talismans.

Making it ten talismans total.

He sold them all to Shopkeeper Qian.

"Twenty spirit stones in hand!"

Li Chang'an felt delighted.

After learning a skill, his speed of earning spirit stones far exceeded the past!

Of course, this was mainly because talismans were in high demand.

Among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, pills, talismans, weapons, and arrays ranked in the top four. The other skills could hardly match the speed of earning spirit stones compared to these four.

"Shopkeeper Qian, please give me two bottles of Qi Nurturing Pills."

Li Chang'an pointed to the pills displayed on the shelf behind.

Qi Nurturing Pills were one of the most suitable pills for early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, costing five spirit stones per bottle.

In the past, he couldn't bear to buy them.

Now he could finally try them!

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