Leo pinched a hand seal with his right hand, directing it towards the jade tiger in front of him. The spiritual energy within the jade tiger began to emanate, gradually condensing, and then floated towards Leo’s right hand.
Leo swiftly guided the spiritual energy into his body, then employed the Nine Heavens Star Chart for refinement, directing it into his body.
Time passed, second by second. Leo began to break through the barrier to the next level of Spiritual Master. During this time, the deep red glow on Leo’s body gradually shifted to orange.
When the red had completely transformed into orange, Leo suddenly shouted, and the orange halo shattered abruptly. The powerful aura created a gust of fierce wind in the surroundings.
Immediately after, the scarce spiritual energy in the vicinity began to converge onto the Heaven’s Extreme Stone. Leo recited the Nine Heavens Star Chart to as quickly as possible. Within his sea of consciousness, he could feel his body rapidly expanding.
Once everything had settled down, Leo abruptly opened his eyes. His deep, dark eyes were filled with joy.
Next-level Spiritual Master, he had finally succeeded!
Upon reaching the next level of Spiritual Master, Leo found that many things hidden in his mind had been unlocked. What delighted him the most was that he could not only perform minor spells but also craft talismans (Note: A talisman is an object with a pattern that has magic powers to protect people or bring luck).
With excitement, Leo formed a hand seal with his right hand and then channeled his spiritual power towards a point in front of him.
“Boom!”
A streak of lightning slashed across the sky, followed by a thunderous boom. This was a basic minor spell called Lightning Strike.
As Leo witnessed himself performing a skill that legends attributed to immortals, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. His mind was constantly filled with one thought – was he cultivating spiritually? Or was this some kind of superpower?
No matter how he looked at it, everything happening to him now was incredibly fantastical!
What had that strange and mysterious old man injected into his body three years ago? To understand all of this, he probably had to find that peculiar old man who had suddenly appeared in front of him on that rainy day.
After steadying his thoughts, Leo reached out to grab the jade tiger, then stood up from Heaven’s Extreme Stone.
Stretching his body lazily, Leo felt extremely comfortable. After successfully advancing to the next level of Spiritual Master, the first thing Leo wanted to do was craft talismans. With talismans in hand, his combat capabilities would receive a significant boost.
But to craft talismans, he needed to find a type of herb called Wind Spirit Grass.
The ancient texts in his mind recorded that Wind Spirit Grass typically grew in areas abundant with spiritual energy within vast mountains. He wondered if Cloud Dream Mountain had any.
Filled with anticipation, Leo jumped down from Heaven’s Extreme Stone and began searching for Wind Spirit Grass.
Perhaps he was exceptionally lucky, but after a careful search, he indeed found five clumps of Wind Spirit Grass at the mountain’s base.
The roots and stems of Wind Spirit Grass had a deep emerald hue, with fine leaves that displayed both yellow and green colors. Within the leaf veins, a sparkling milky-white sheen could be seen.
Wind Spirit Grass, also known as Sealing Spirit Grass, lived up to its name as it could seal spiritual energy. The longer years it grew, the more spiritual energy it contained.
By adding the juice from the roots and stems of Wind Spirit Grass into cinnabar, ordinary cinnabar could be transformed into cinnabar infused with spiritual power. In simple terms, having this substance resolved the primary issue when crafting talismans.
Although the juice from Wind Spirit Grass could only be used to craft low-level talismans, given Leo’s current cultivation level, creating mid or high-level talismans was impossible. Thus, low-level talismans were crucial.
With talismans in hand, Leo could unleash powerful long-range attack spells. Even if he encountered those folks from the Seven Stars Sword Sect again, he had the confidence to easily defeat them.
After leaving Cloud Dream Mountain, Leo went to the antique market and found a shop selling feng shui supplies. He purchased yellow paper, cinnabar, and a wolf hair brush.
With everything in place, Leo drove back home, then locked himself in his bedroom.
Next, he would begin crafting talismans.
The primary function of talismans was to seal Spiritual Power, which could be released for various purposes, such as offense or defense. Talismans were categorized into nine levels, from level one to three as low-level talismans, level four to six as mid-level talismans, and level seven to nine as high-level talismans.
Currently, Leo could only craft talismans of the lowest level: Level One.
He laid out the yellow paper, cinnabar, and the wolf hair brush on the table. Leo began by pricking his left index finger, releasing three drops of blood into the cinnabar. He then squeezed the juice from the roots and stems of the Wind Spirit Grass into the cinnabar and ground it evenly.
After preparing the cinnabar, Leo took the wolf hair brush and took a few deep breaths to calm his mind. Crafting talismans was an endeavor that allowed no room for error. Throughout the entire process, he needed to remain focused. The slightest distraction or mistake would reduce the talisman to ashes.
Once Leo had adjusted his mental state, his eyes deepened and grew even calmer.
He raised his left hand, palm facing upwards, and a sheet of yellow paper lifted from the table, hovering in the air in front of him.
From a distance, it looked as if the yellow paper was adhered to a transparent glass surface.
Next, Leo dipped the wolf hair brush into the cinnabar and activated his internal spiritual power while running the Nine Heavens Star Chart.
A golden point of light appeared at the tip of the wolf hair brush.
“Swift!”
Leo uttered a light shout as the brush, held in his right hand, touched the yellow paper. His movements were swift, with red lines adorned with golden highlights appearing on the paper, forming intricate patterns.
“Boom!”
Even though Leo had been meticulous, following the instructions for the Small Heaven Thunder Talisman in his mind, a slight tremor in his right hand caused a minor deviation. As a result, the yellow paper instantly combusted in mid-air.
In the blink of an eye, the paper turned into ashes.
The first talisman had ended in failure. However, Leo remained undaunted. This was his first attempt at crafting such miraculous talismans, and failures were expected.
After calming his mind, Leo once again raised his left hand, and another sheet of yellow paper floated up from the table, positioning itself in front of him, just like before.
Leo resumed using the wolf hair brush on the yellow paper, and this time, he felt more confident. However, when he was about to complete the sealing into a talisman, a small error occurred again. The second talisman ended in failure as well.