Weeks passed as Muyu drew the talisman repeatedly.
The 1% proficiency he had relied on proved to be less useful, because even after a hundred draws, he hadn’t completed the talisman. But by then, his proficiency rose to 2%!
By the third week...
As the last drop of ink fell onto the talisman paper, spiritual light evenly spread across the talisman, and Yu saw—
[+0,1% Proficiency for ’Cleansing Talisman’]
[Successfully drew the Cleansing for the first time, +1% Proficiency!]
"Finally, and—the reward?!" he looked surprised at the second notification, when he suddenly felt a surge of information entering his mind.
Seconds passed until he woke up again, clarity washing over his eyes—
"I understand! That’s it! Because, because the spiritual power is even, it’s still failing a bit, it should be... uneven?!"
The insights that streamed into his mind seemed to overtake him for a second until he finally relaxed.
These insights, a whole percent, something he would have gained after a hundred failures, entered his mind on the spot and added a third to his already existing knowledge of the cleansing talisman.
It turned out, while it was good for the cleansing to be even on the surface, in reality, some places needed to be stronger while others could be weaker.
The rain directly falling on the person’s head should be stronger and there should be more, so that that rain can flow all over the person’s body and cleanse it in the process. Meanwhile, the rain falling to the side can be largely ignored, only some spiritual power should be put in to ensure the talisman worked fine, but it should not be a focus.
He breathed a sigh of relief—this was a core piece of insight!
While percent to percent seemed to be the same, in fact, some proficiency contained core insight, while others contained precision and expertise in the core insight. The 2% he gained prior only contained one core insight about the talisman, now he had a second at just over 3%!
"A talisman should only have a few core insights, maybe a dozen? This means usually, I’d only reach that stage after reaching 10 or 20%, but this time because of the reward, I basically have the same amount of insight as someone at the 20% hurdle!
Although the proficiency doesn’t automatically rise just because I have more insight, but...!"
As he thought of this, he didn’t hesitate at all and took out more than ten talisman papers.
His movements were slow and steady, extremely concentrated and directly using the insight he just gained.
[+0,01% Proficiency for ’Cleansing Talisman’]
[+0,01% Proficiency for ’Cleansing Talisman’]
[+0,01% Proficiency for ’Cleansing Talisman’]
He failed three times after another, but a weird smile spread on his face.
"It’s close, I can feel it!" he nearly shouted, but stopped himself and calmed down, meditating to recover his spiritual power.
After three hours, the brightness in his eyes hadn’t dimmed but he had become calmer.
The brush flowed freely across the paper, ink flowing like rivers—
[+0,1% Proficiency for ’Cleansing Talisman’]
"Success! Again!" he shouted.
He did it!
Proficiency increasing by one core insight might seem meaningless—but out of nowhere, his success rate rose!
"I get it now! Proficiency, why it’s so different from success rate. It turns out, the seemingly small ’increase insight’ is actually about improving in every way!
Looking at this talisman, although successful, it’s riddled with holes and probably countless more mistakes I don’t see—this is a low-quality talisman, a failed product, only able to produce 50% of the intended effect, and also priced at at most 50% of the normal price.
The normal price is a mid-quality product, a basic quality item, able to use 70-80% of the intended effect, with no price reduction.
And those higher qualities—high-quality, fine product, having 90-100% effect, 30% more expensive! Finally, top-quality, excellent product, 100-130% effect, 50-100% more expensive, the peak of talismans sold in the market!" he was shocked.
Because he finally understood. He truly did.
Proficiency wasn’t about succeeding, it was about the quality of talismans reaching a higher stage!
"When I reach 100%, I should have a guaranteed completion of the talisman, and the quality... will it be high grade or top grade? And... will there be another reward?!" he was shocked at his own guess, but he couldn’t help but dream.
What if?
His heart beat like it was about to explode. It took him a long time to calm down, but when he did, he was able to let go.
"It doesn’t matter if there’s a reward. As long as I can reach 100% proficiency, I will be able to earn spirit stones like candy!"
Although he didn’t know yet what it would look like, just thinking of how much he would earn, he couldn’t help but smile brightly.
After dreaming for some time, he remembered that he wanted to tell his mother the good news.
Standing up and looking at his robe, he saw that ink splattered on it, and his sleeves were nearly drenched in ink. He looked like a typical student staying up all night to learn. The smile on his face didn’t face, he simply patted off the dust before walking out of his room, deactivating the formation.
"Mother," he called out when he saw her sitting in the pavilion, drinking tea with a frown on her face.
"Yu’er!" her frown ceased when she saw him, "You came out, does this mean...?"
"I haven’t disappointed mother! I’ve successfully drawn a talisman in 300 attempts!" he smiled brightly as he handed over his talisman.
Looking at her son, just sixteen years old, painted with ink and having a dusty face, she felt a bit sad. Alas, how difficult cultivation was! But at the same time, she also felt proud. Talent wasn’t everything. Far from it, she had read in the clan records that starting from the third stage, talent meant little. Instead, temperament and dedication were more important.
She had seen all the young cultivators of her son’s age, and no one could compare in either of them. Although she would be biased as a mother, when she compared her own slightly impulsive youth to him, she felt that he was a lot more steady and responsible.
If they were mortals, she’d hope for him to be more youthful. But as cultivators? Being youthful meant causing trouble, and in a world where killing at the slightest trouble was the norm, she’d rather have a steady child than a youthful one.
"Mother, what are you thinking about?" Muyu asked her when she saw her engrossed in her thoughts.
"My son..." she sighed deeply, and explained.
"The Clan Head..."