This book was already an incomplete manual. After the sword art, only a few pages remained, recording two techniques.
One was called Bloodlight Barrier, and the other was Bloodlight Escape.
Bloodlight Escape was far too incomplete to practice; only a few fragmentary lines remained.
Bloodlight Barrier, on the other hand, was recorded in great detail. It was exactly the technique Meng Tianyi had used to block his talisman sneak attack.
After reading it, Su Twelve firmly committed its contents to memory.
He did not meet the minimum cultivation requirements for the sword art and could not practice it. Bloodlight Barrier, however, was well suited to him.
After taking stock of his gains, Su Twelve resumed his bitter cultivation.
This time, he did not focus on raising his cultivation base, but rather on practicing techniques.
Counting the manual he had purchased from the Trading Square, he now had four techniques to practice.
Bloodlight Barrier, Rain-Summoning Technique, Object Manipulation, and Heavenly Eye Technique.
In truth, aside from Bloodlight Barrier, the other three techniques could only be considered average in combat.
The Rain-Summoning Technique merely conjured a light drizzle. It was commonly used by ordinary menial disciples to water spirit fields.
Object Manipulation utilized True Essence to move items. Depending on the object’s weight and material, the True Essence consumption varied. This technique lacked offensive power and was primarily used to fetch things.
The Heavenly Eye Technique let him observe the flow of Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth, see through invisibility, and detect concealed auras.
The latter three techniques were clearly functional in nature. Very few people would waste their time cultivating them.
Su Twelve, however, had different ideas. At the very least, he felt the Heavenly Eye Technique would be useful during the trial.
He took every technique seriously. Though he had not mastered them to perfection, he had practiced each until he was highly proficient.
Two months later, less than four months remained until the Newcomer Trial.
Feeling that his techniques could hardly improve any further in the short term, Su Twelve took out the two incomplete introductory talisman manuals he had purchased and began to study them.
Talismans were wondrous tools: a technique could be sealed onto a small slip of paper and unleashed instantly with very little True Essence.
For Su Twelve, his low cultivation and insufficient True Essence were persistent problems. If he had enough talismans, he would have more life-saving methods.
But talismans were consumables. Although he could afford them, he did not dare keep using them so freely.
Two months ago, just for a single first-grade Top Grade Defense Talisman, he had not only been swindled but had nearly brought fatal disaster upon himself. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
That experience made Su Twelve even more determined to learn talisman crafting and master the skill himself.
There were two primary methods for crafting talismans. One used cinnabar and talisman paper as materials. The other used Demon Beast blood and beast hide. But regardless of the method, an indispensable tool was required—the Talisman Brush.
The Talisman Brush served as a crucial medium to connect the cultivator and the materials. A high-quality Talisman Brush could significantly increase the success rate of talisman crafting.
Fortunately, the manual contained detailed instructions for making a Talisman Brush. Furthermore, crafting first-grade talismans only required an ordinary Talisman Brush.
Over the past four years, Su Twelve had hunted an unknown number of Demon Beasts. Now that he wanted to practice talisman crafting, beast hide and beast blood naturally served as his materials.
In the days that followed, Su Twelve devoted himself entirely to practicing and crafting talismans.
Over four months, Su Twelve ruined twenty Talisman Brushes and damaged countless materials.
From repeated failures at the beginning, he eventually managed to succeed in creating a talisman or two on occasion.
His success rate was not high, but his sheer diligence made up for it. He managed to accumulate quite a few usable talismans of various types.
One morning.
“Clang! Clang! Clang…”
A bell tolled throughout the sect.
Its thunderous peal shook the heavens and stirred the entire Cloudsong Sect into action.
Hearing the commotion, Su Twelve scrambled out of bed and sprinted toward the summit of Luofu Peak.
At the summit of Luofu Peak, a grand plaza sat before a towering hall.
A sea of people crowded the plaza, totaling nearly a hundred. Shockingly, they were all menial disciples with cultivation bases at or below the sixth layer of Qi Condensation.
The age range was also incredibly vast. The young ones were sixteen or seventeen, just like him. Among the older crowd, there was no lack of menial disciples in their sixties or seventies, with hunched backs and faces full of wrinkles.
“This… the sect really is going all out to explore this Ancient Restricted Zone, aren’t they?!”
“I never imagined that Luofu Peak, where you can barely see a single soul on an ordinary day, would actually have so many menial disciples!”
Seeing this scene upon arriving at the summit, Su Twelve actually felt relieved.
In just five short years, he had cultivated to the fourth layer of Qi Condensation despite his mixed spirit roots. He had originally worried it would be hard to explain if the Peak Master saw him, but with so many people present, the chances of the Peak Master noticing him were extremely low. This story is hosted at g.com.
Taking a deep breath, he hurriedly blended into the crowd. He found an inconspicuous spot, shrank his neck, and restrained his aura as much as possible. At the same time, he activated the Heavenly Eye Technique, silently sizing up the others.
With the Heavenly Eye Technique, he could tell that a large portion of the older disciples had concealed their auras as thoroughly as possible.
Among the younger disciples, only a very few had intentionally restrained their auras.
“Senior Brother Twelve, I finally found you!” A voice called out at that moment.
Startled, Su Twelve hurriedly turned to look.
A medium-built, chubby youth was walking toward him with a smile. It was none other than the little fatty who had grown quite a bit over the years, Zhu Hanwei.
“You wanted to see me? What is it?” Su Twelve frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over Zhu Hanwei. Zhu Hanwei had already reached the second layer of Qi Condensation, which surprised Su Twelve a little.
It seemed that after taking the Essence-Nourishing Pill, he had awakened his spirit root.
Zhu Hanwei smiled and nodded. His eyes darted around as he quickly scanned their surroundings, then he whispered, “To think there are actually this many menial disciples participating in this Newcomer Trial.”
“We’ve only been in the sect for five years. Whether in cultivation or strength, we simply can’t compare to them!”
“I can’t say exactly why, but I have a feeling this Newcomer Trial will be dangerous. I think we should join forces so that, if anything goes wrong, we can handle it together.”
Su Twelve showed no reaction on the surface, but inwardly, he couldn’t help but regard this little fatty a bit more highly. He himself had obtained relatively complete information about this Newcomer Trial from Meng Tianyi.
Yet this little fatty had concluded there was danger merely from the sheer number of menial disciples present. This intuition could be considered quite sharp.
As for why Zhu Hanwei had sought him out, that was not hard to guess. With Zhu Hanwei’s cultivation, trying to win over menial disciples who had joined the sect earlier was practically impossible.
Therefore, a peer from the same intake with similarly poor spirit root aptitude—like himself—was undoubtedly the best candidate to approach.
Seeing Su Twelve remain silent, Zhu Hanwei grew somewhat anxious. After a brief thought, he quickly smiled and said,
“Senior Brother, if you’re worried that just the two of us won’t be enough, there’s absolutely no need!”
“I also called Chen Tie, Li Jingjing, and the others this time.”
Saying this, he beamed and waved toward a spot not far away.
Only then did Su Twelve notice three figures standing nearby. Two of them were precisely the others who had joined the sect alongside him four years ago.
The three stood together. They barely acknowledged Zhu Hanwei’s greeting, their chins slightly raised and their expressions somewhat arrogant.
Their cultivation bases—one at the third layer of Qi Condensation and two at the second layer of Qi Condensation—were not considered bad for newcomers.