Banshee Family Training Record

Page 16

"Breaking through from the third to the fourth level of Qi Refining is a very crucial, even dangerous, juncture. A slight mistake could even endanger your life. Your situation is different from Qi Qiao's; your internal organs are still alive, so you must be extremely careful and absolutely cannot attempt to break through casually, understand?"

Yun Chuan said, "Understood!"

"I hope this time you truly understand." Zhu Yunqing glanced at him and continued, "Come here, I'll teach you how to make talismans."

As she spoke, she walked ahead, with Yun Chu'an following behind. After taking two steps, she suddenly stopped and said, "Too slow. Pay attention later and remember the way."

Before he could react, the spider demon suddenly reached out, grabbed his shoulder, and leaped away—

Yun Chu'an felt a blur before his eyes, and then he realized that his fourth sister was using the "shrinking the earth to an inch" supernatural power.

The green mountains on both sides of him kept receding, and the distance of a hundred feet was shrunken to only an inch under their feet. Zhu Yunqing could cross it with a slight step. He was just walking forward as if in a leisurely stroll, but in a few breaths, he had already covered several miles!

He dared not say a word for a moment, and even held his breath, observing both sides of the mountain as she instructed, and memorizing the path he had just taken.

A moment later, they arrived at the entrance to a huge cave. The light inside was not very clear, but by the dim light from the cave entrance, he could see huge spider webs crisscrossing the cave, and huge spider cocoons hanging in the air, wondering what was inside.

Looking at those enormous cocoons, Yun Chu'an felt a chill run down her spine. She glanced at Zhu Yunqing beside her and thought to herself, "Could this fourth sister actually be a cannibal?"

However, Zhu Yunqing had no intention of explaining to him, and continued to ask, "You memorized that stretch of road just now?"

Yun Chu'an cupped his hands in greeting: "I've remembered."

“That’s good,” she said. “The tutorial on making talismans can’t be learned in a day. From now on, you won’t need to go to that spirit-gathering stone array during the day anymore. Come to my cave here, and I will teach you how to draw and make talismans, creating disposable consumable talismans.”

As she spoke, she reached into her sleeve and took out a long, narrow strip of yellow talisman paper, about the size of a palm. It was covered with densely packed symbols in red paint, which dazzled Yun Chu'an.

She handed him the talisman and said, "Infuse it with spiritual power, then aim it at the stone over there."

She pointed to a huge blue stone ten meters away. Yun Chu'an took the talisman and did as she was told. In an instant, the talisman in his hand suddenly emitted a bright flame, struck the blue stone, and then exploded with a deafening roar!

boom--

Countless pebbles flew everywhere, and the talisman in his hand was also burned by the flames.

Yun Chu'an was startled and took a half step back, quickly asking, "Fourth Sister, what is this?"

He looked at the power with lingering fear. Although he could also unleash such an attack, it would consume a massive amount of spiritual energy, and his fist would be worn out for a while afterward.

After all, he didn't understand the true martial arts techniques of a cultivator, so he could only fight blindly.

The talisman in his hand only consumed less than one percent of his spiritual power, yet it unleashed a power comparable to his full strength. How could he not be alarmed?

Zhu Yunqing said, "This kind of talisman is called an 'explosive talisman.' As you can see, its power is about the same as a full-force attack from a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining. Moreover, it consumes very little energy, has a long range, and is very safe to use."

"Almost all Qi Refining stage cultivators carry such talismans as a supplement to their combat power. Famous sects and noble families also specially purchase some such talismans for their disciples and younger generations to use for self-defense."

Yun Chu'an understood. So all along, the business her fourth sister had been talking about for earning spirit stones was actually manufacturing and selling weapons!

Yes, it is indeed a lucrative business.

He chuckled inwardly, then heard Zhu Yunqing continue, "Of course, detonating talismans are very basic and easy to learn; almost anyone can make them, so there's not much profit margin. But no matter what, it's still more profitable than you painstakingly charging spirit stones in the spirit-gathering stone array."

Yun Chu'an asked expectantly, "How much can this one sell for?"

Zhu Yunqing said, "The general market price is thirty to fifty spirit stones per talisman. Depending on the quality and the market, it may fluctuate a little. After you learn it, producing ten talismans a day will not be a problem."

Fifty spirit stones?

That means, under ideal circumstances, a day's output could be worth five hundred spirit stones.

Wow, this is so much faster than working hard in the Spirit Gathering Stone Array by myself!

His heart burned with excitement, though he knew this was only the ideal scenario. No one can maintain peak performance and efficiency all day; quality will inevitably vary, market conditions will fluctuate, and the specific buyers will differ. Five hundred spirit stones a day was truly an overly optimistic notion.

Even so, it was still much higher than the income he earned in the Spirit Gathering Stone Array, where he and Qi Qiao took turns working day and night and only earned a little over a hundred spirit stones a day.

He composed himself and nodded earnestly: "Yes, I will definitely study hard."

Seeing his earnest attitude, Zhu Yunqing was quite satisfied. She nodded slightly and continued, "The first step in making talismans is to prepare the ink. Don't underestimate this step; if the proportions are even slightly off, all the subsequent work will be much less efficient, and you might even lose much of your progress..."

She patiently recounted her story, and then took out an inkstone, ink, cinnabar, black dog blood, bitter grass juice, and a series of other items from her sleeve.

Yun Chuan suspected that her clothes were some kind of magic weapon, so that her wide cuffs were not sleeves at all, but a more convenient storage bag with a hidden compartment inside, which allowed her to take out so many things at once.

“The ink and even the paper required for each type of talisman are very particular. Fortunately, as the most basic talisman, the material requirements for the 'explosive talisman' are simple and easy to understand…”

As Zhu Yunqing spoke, she personally ground the ink and mixed the ink for him. After concealing her own actions, she gestured for him to come and do the work as well.

In his previous life, Yun Chuan was a test-taker from a small town. He may not have any other skills, but he had done chemistry experiments more than 800 times, if not a thousand, in order to get high scores.

Now that he has become a cultivator, he has the ability to remember everything he sees. He can learn these things at a glance and quickly prepared a batch, which was even better than the batch prepared by Zhu Yunqing.

Under her surprised gaze, Yun Chu'an showed her his ink: "Fourth Sister, do you see, is this alright?"

Zhu Yunqing looked at him approvingly, thinking to herself that it was no wonder he was able to break through to the third level of Qi Refining so quickly; he was indeed clever and quick-witted.

A sense of appreciation arose in her heart, and she continued, "Very good, well done. However, this is only the first step. There is still much more for you to learn."

"First, you need to understand what these incantations on the talisman mean. Although the 'explosive talisman' is just the most basic talisman, there is a lot of knowledge involved..."

Chapter 29: Conquering the Fourth Sister

Zhu Yunqing began to explain the more core knowledge, and Yun Chuan listened carefully. Sure enough, the content gradually became more difficult at this point, with many parts being obscure and hard to understand. He couldn't comprehend it for the time being and could only make notes for the time being.

After a morning, he only half understood what he was learning. Seeing that the cramming method had reached a bottleneck, the spider demon gave him a booklet and told him to go back and digest the material on his own. She also left him some paper to practice and consolidate what he had learned that day.

So in the afternoon, Yun Chuan went back to his spirit-gathering stone array.

Here, he activated the system's automatic production, leaving the machine running to produce spirit stones, while his attention drifted elsewhere, constantly reflecting on what he had learned that morning and what his fourth sister had taught him.

After an afternoon, he had already reached the third level of Qi Refining and had earned thirty spirit stones. He had also figured out many of the difficulties he had encountered in the morning, and had made a great harvest.

When they met again the next day, Zhu Yunqing checked the results of his learning from the previous day, and he was able to answer all of them fluently, which made her very satisfied.

Compared to Hua Caiyan, who was unwilling to learn these things, and Liu Mengshen, who could never learn them no matter how hard she tried, this man seemed so pleasing to the eye.

The spider demon couldn't help but feel a fondness for the man, especially since he always obeyed her and behaved very obediently, making her find him more and more pleasing to the eye.

She experienced the joy of teaching a good student, and became increasingly happy as she taught him. She made him come to her cave to study every day, and taught him personally, which made his learning progress incredibly fast.

The most crucial and difficult step in creating a talisman is controlling the liquid spiritual energy within one's dantian, guiding a single drop of it completely out of the body, gathering it on the tip of the brush, and finally sealing it into the talisman along with the ink.

However, because of this, it is almost impossible for a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator with only a drop of liquid spiritual energy in their dantian to make this thing; only a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator can do it.

Inscribing talismans is a highly technical and energy-consuming task. The better the skill, the more perfect the seal, the less damage, the stronger the talisman, and the longer its shelf life.

Conversely, even the slightest mistake can greatly reduce its power and shorten its shelf life. It might even be drawn today and burned by the spiritual energy tomorrow, becoming ineffective on its own and possibly causing a fire, leading to even greater chain losses.

Therefore, this requires long-term, repeated practice. Zhu Yunqing gave him a large amount of prepared ink and yellow paper for him to practice with. These things were not valuable; what limited the speed of practice for beginners was their own cultivation level.

A cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining often only has eight drops of liquid spiritual energy. If they make a slight mistake during practice, it is equivalent to wasting a whole drop of liquid spiritual energy, and they simply cannot withstand the strain.

But is this a big deal for Yun Chuan?

It's nothing!

After obtaining the "Mysterious Willow Wood Body", as long as it is daytime and he is bathed in the sun's spirit that shines on the earth, his spiritual power recovery speed is several times, or even more than ten times, that of ordinary cultivators!

An ordinary cultivator might need to meditate for seven or eight hours to fully recover their depleted spiritual energy, but he only needs to meditate for an hour, or even just a few tens of minutes, while basking in the midday sun to fully recover!

While others might only be able to practice a dozen or twenty times a day, he could practice nearly a hundred times, making his learning efficiency unmatched by anyone else.

Therefore, seven days later, under Zhu Yunqing's appreciative gaze, Yun Chuan, holding a wolf-hair brush, spent an hour drawing the first detonation tag of his life all by himself.

He respectfully handed the talisman to the spider demon, who took it, examined its quality, and immediately expressed her delight: "Not bad, you can graduate now."

As she spoke, she shifted her gaze from the talisman to Yun Chu'an, her eyes revealing tenderness.

What a diligent and studious child! Much better than Hua Caiyan and Liu Mengshen.

In this way, I will have someone to share the burden of various family expenses.

As she thought this, her attitude towards him changed more and more, and her gaze towards him became increasingly gentle.

This change in mindset stirred Yun Chu'an's soul. He suddenly looked up and met her gentle, watery gaze, and immediately realized what was happening.

At that very moment, the system notification sounded: [Ding, Zhu Yunqing's trust level towards you has increased to 'favorable'.]

[Ding! Clues to family member favorability detected, triggering the quest "Win over Zhu Yunqing".]

The system notification sounded, and a pale blue screen, visible only to him, appeared in front of him.

[Guide to Zhu Yunqing]

[Task Description: Your fourth sister, the Spider Demon Zhu Yunqing, who manages the family finances, finds you not only intelligent and studious but also diligent and reliable, thus developing a liking for you. Continue to prove your worth to her; she will become another powerful and reliable companion on your future cultivation journey.]

[Mission Objective: Raise Zhu Yunqing's trust level to "Admiration".]

[Quest Reward: Spell 'Dragon-Binding Tassel']

Hearing that Zhu Yunqing had feelings for him, Yun Chuan was overjoyed, but when he saw the mission, he was immediately shocked.

What the heck is this?

How did I, a mere Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivator, end up trying to seduce a Foundation Establishment Stage female demon?

System, is this the task I should accept now?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the system notification sounded: [Abandon the mission 'Conquer Zhu Yunqing'?]

This sound immediately made Yun Chu'an even angrier.

Give up? Your system is incredibly insensitive!

My fourth sister has been so good to me, taking care of me, guiding me, and helping me all along. Now that I finally know how to make her happy, wouldn't it be too heartless of me to give up?

As a person, you can lack many things, but you must have a conscience!

So even though this task isn't suitable right now, I, Yun Chu'an, will accept it!

No sooner said than done, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Yun Chu'an quickly browsed through the new system tasks, a smile of excitement playing on his lips.

Zhu Yunqing was completely unaware of what had happened to him and assumed he was also happy because of his academic achievements. She continued, "From now on, you don't need to come here anymore."

These words sounded somewhat melancholic, but the spider demon meant nothing by them. She took a storage bag from her sleeve, handed it to him, and said, "Inside is the complete set of tools needed to make explosive tags. Take it back with you, and you will be in charge of this matter from now on. Try to make as many as possible."

Yun Chu'an accepted it, thanked her, and was about to leave when suddenly the woman spoke again: "Recently, there has been a great demand for such items in the market. If you work hard, you might be able to make a small fortune."

"Try to prepare. I'll come to see you in seven days."

She seemed to be just making empty promises, but Yun Chu'an paused in his tracks upon hearing this.

He mentally summoned the system, gazing at another interface beyond the task interface, his heart burning with excitement.

Will I make a small fortune?

It is known that if I focus on making talismans, I will definitely earn more than if I simply make spirit stones.

If we calculate it this way...

He pursed his lips, then suddenly had a bold idea: "Well, Fourth Sister, I have a favor to ask, but I don't know if I should say it..."

Zhu Yunqing frowned slightly: "Speak freely. There's no need for so much politeness and probing between you and me."

Yun Chu'an immediately said, "Then, I would like to borrow three thousand spirit stones from Fourth Sister."

Upon hearing this, the latter was immediately puzzled: "What do you need so many spirit stones for?"

Yun Chu'an pursed his lips, his heart pounding: "These past few days, I've been trying to make talismans, and I've come up with a lot of ideas that might help me improve my efficiency and make more talismans."

"However, this may require a lot of spirit stones, which I don't have. So I need to borrow some from Fourth Sister first, and I will pay you back once I have made enough talismans."

Zhu Yunqing raised an eyebrow: "Are you trying to quickly break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, thinking that this will give you a higher cultivation level and allow you to create items faster?"

Yun Chu'an lowered his head: "I have absolutely no such intention. I am well aware of the dangers of breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, so I do not plan to attempt it in the short term."

The woman's tone turned serious: "Good to know. The most important thing in making talismans is the proficiency of the technique."

"Even if you are at the ninth level of Qi Refining, if your skills are not proficient, what's the point of producing a hundred sheets a day if every single one is a waste?"

"Be more composed and down-to-earth, and you'll go further, understand?"

Chapter 30 System Architecture: The Printing Room!

Yun Chu'an honestly agreed. Zhu Yunqing wanted to continue saying that it was better to be honest about this matter and not always think about taking shortcuts. In this vast world, if there really was such a good method, someone else would have figured it out long ago. Why would it be your turn?

But then she thought again, young people are bound to have all sorts of strange ideas, especially since his cultivation has been going smoothly and he has broken through so quickly. Although he is humble on the surface, he is probably bursting with confidence in his heart.

If we don't let him try, he probably won't give up easily. Three thousand spirit stones might be a huge sum for him, but for me, it's just a small amount. It's good for him to make mistakes, suffer losses, and lose confidence so that he'll be more willing to listen to me in the future.

Thinking this way, she stopped caring and said to him, "Give me your spirit stone bag."

Yun Chu'an was overjoyed and handed over her bag. She put the bag into her sleeve, silently recited a spell, and then gave it back to him: "Take it, remember to use it sparingly and don't waste it."