Yang Bailao then drew a third talisman, the Sword Qi Talisman. It was somewhat like Xu Changshou’s Sharp Gold Talisman.
Both were offensive talismans that held a strand of sword qi.
The Sword Qi Talisman could unleash an attack as powerful as a full-strength blow from a ninth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator.
Xu Changshou’s Sharp Gold Talisman was far stronger: its sword qi matched the full-strength blow of a twelfth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator.
After seeing the three talismans, Xu Changshou was sure that those in his Bloodline Jade Talisman were more refined and complex, with better effects than Green Ink Peak’s.
For the fourth talisman, Yang Bailao drew another Windwalk Talisman.
Xu Changshou couldn’t help but frown. “Senior Brother Yang, are there no other talismans?”
Yang Bailao smiled awkwardly. “These are the only three I know.”
“How many kinds of talismans does Green Ink Peak have?” Xu Changshou asked.
Yang Bailao thought for a moment. “A dozen or so. Most aren’t very useful. The four we use most are the Fireball, Windwalk, Sword Qi, and Earth Shield Talismans. Drawing those is the main work of our Miscellaneous Disciples.”
“Senior Brother Yang, do you have any lightning-attribute talismans?” Xu Changshou asked.
“Lightning? Forgive my ignorance, but I’ve never seen a lightning-attribute talisman.”
“I see…”
Xu Changshou nodded, his mind turning over what he had learned.
From what he understood, lightning talismans had the greatest offensive power.
Lightning was the most violent and difficult attribute to control, and its attacks were the strongest.
Fire- and metal-attribute attacks could not compare with lightning.
Lightning was the king of attacks.
The Bloodline Jade Talisman held more than a hundred types of lightning-attribute offensive talismans.
The Double, Triple, and Quadruple Lightning Talismans each came in multiple forms.
There were ten varieties of five-element Double Lightning Talismans, fifteen varieties of Triple Lightning Talismans, and twenty varieties of Quadruple Lightning Talismans.
The more attributes a talisman combined, the stronger its attack. The Five Lightning Talisman was the most powerful of all.
It combined metal, wood, water, fire, earth, and lightning. When its six attributes erupted together, its power was tremendous.
A first-grade Five Lightning Talisman could even kill an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, provided the target did not defend with a magical artifact.
Green Ink Peak’s talismans could hardly compare.
The comparison made Xu Changshou understand just how valuable his own talismans were.
He also knew he could not reveal them lightly.
An entire morning slipped by.
Yang Bailao managed to draw a total of five talismans.
By the end of the morning, Yang Bailao’s face was deathly pale and he had used up eighty to ninety percent of his spiritual energy.
After the last talisman, he sat down heavily, swallowed a Qi Replenishing Pill, and meditated to recover.
“Junior Brother Xu, go back for now. Come again this afternoon.”
“You have worked hard, Senior Brother Yang. Farewell.”
Xu Changshou ate at the Spirit Dining Hall, returned to his courtyard to meditate for two hours, then went back to Yang Bailao’s residence.
Yang Bailao had recovered his spiritual energy, though his face was still pale.
His spiritual energy had returned, but his mental energy was not so easy to restore.
“Junior Brother, let us resume our work!”
“Senior Brother Yang, why not rest a little longer?” Xu Changshou asked, feeling sorry for him.
Yang Bailao shook his head. “If I rest, I won’t finish my quota. I can rest tonight. Don’t worry about me.”
That afternoon, after drawing five more talismans, Yang Bailao was nearly spent. He was pale, soaked in sweat, and utterly exhausted.
“Sorry you had to see me like this, Junior Brother Xu. Come back tomorrow.”
“Farewell, Senior Brother Yang.”
Xu Changshou left Yang Bailao’s residence with a heavy heart.
He began to wonder whether cultivating under such conditions was any better than being a mortal.
Such demanding work was a form of torment.
Thinking that Yang Bailao still had another fifty years of this before he could leave the sect made Xu Changshou’s skin crawl.
The sect exploited its Miscellaneous Disciples far more than he had imagined.
Becoming a Miscellaneous Disciple of the Green Immortal Sect now seemed like a terrible deception.
Over the next few days, Xu Changshou watched Yang Bailao draw talismans.
Ten days passed.
At that point, Yang Bailao began explaining the drawing method and its finer points.
Another five days slipped by.
Then Yang Bailao handed Xu Changshou a stack of Yellow Hemp Paper. “You’ve been with me for half a month and seen what I do. I’ve taught you what I know. Here are a thousand sheets. Take them back and practice. You have six months to learn to draw talismans, and you must succeed within that time.” Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Yang. I’ll work hard,” Xu Changshou said with a nod.
As Xu Changshou turned to leave, Yang Bailao caught his robe. “Junior Brother, whatever happens, you must learn within six months. Otherwise, the sect will punish you severely.”
Xu Changshou was startled. “What sort of punishment?”
“Don’t ask. Work hard at learning. You couldn’t bear the sect’s punishment,” Yang Bailao said gravely.
“Understood.”
Xu Changshou nodded.
The warning weighed on him. Yang Bailao had not said it outright, but Xu Changshou suspected the sect might kill him if he failed to learn within six months.
The sect would not support someone it considered useless.
Back at his courtyard, xu Changshou entered the talisman room, took out his spirit brush and Yellow Hemp Paper, and began to draw.
He knew a good deal about talismans in theory, but had no practical experience.
He did not know whether he could learn within six months, and the uncertainty put him under pressure.
He had memorized the hundreds of talismans in the Bloodline Jade Talisman over this period.
Those talismans were complex, so he decided to start with the three simpler ones Yang Bailao had shown him.
The Fireball Talisman.
Xu Changshou ran through its strokes in his mind and drew on the fire attribute within him.
A cultivator could only draw talismans that matched their attributes, no matter how high their cultivation.
Someone with only a water attribute could not draw a Fireball Talisman.
Xu Changshou held his spirit brush and sent spiritual energy into its tip.
He drew a horizontal stroke on the paper.
Bang!
Before he could finish the first stroke, the Yellow Hemp Paper burst apart beneath his brush.
Startled, Xu Changshou stepped back.
“Failed. Try again!”
He gritted his teeth, took another sheet of Yellow Hemp Paper, and tried again.
Bang!
The paper burst apart a second time.
Xu Changshou realized that drawing talismans was much harder than it looked.
Once spiritual energy entered the brush, it became difficult to control. A slight deviation in the stroke or uneven flow of energy would make the paper burst apart.