Late at night, the small cabin was brightly lit by candlelight.
Lü Zhong was hunched over a square table, holding a cracked Rat Hair Talisman Brush, completely engrossed in Talisman Making.
Spurred on by the day's events, his desire to increase his strength had reached an unprecedented high.
But improving his strength was impossible without a supply of various resources.
And to get cultivation resources, he needed Spirit Stones.
That was why he was staying up all night practicing Talisman Making.
Drawing upon the memory of the Cleaning Talisman demonstration in his mind, Lü Zhong's long hours of practice had greatly improved his mastery of it, to the point where he was nearly as proficient as the old man who had sold him the book.
He estimated that his success rate for creating Cleaning Talismans should have reached fifty percent.
This was the same level the old man had demonstrated, which meant the instructional memory of the Cleaning Talisman in his mind was now of no further reference value.
'Looks like if I want to increase my success rate any further, I'll have to rely on my own research and practice,' Lü Zhong thought, taking out a blank sheet of Talisman Paper to continue his Talisman Making.
His hand holding the Talisman Brush was incredibly steady. Each stroke was made with confidence, and the flow of Spiritual Power was smooth throughout. Without a single mishap, he finished the entire Talisman in one go.
Watching the Spiritual Light on the surface of the Cleaning Talisman gradually recede, Lü Zhong knew he had successfully created another one.
He was already used to this, so he simply took another sheet of blank Talisman Paper.
Talisman Making was a craft that consumed a great deal of time and energy. The process required a continuous infusion of Spiritual Power from one's body into the Talisman Paper, so every Talisman Maker had a limited output.
Lü Zhong was no exception. After two successes and two failures, his Dantian was completely empty.
Only then did he eat the Spirit Rice he had cooked in the pot, then began to circulate the Water and Wood Sword Mantra to refine it.
After his Cultivation Body completed one Minor Circulation, a portion of the Spiritual Qi contained in the Cyan Rice Spirit Rice was refined, becoming pure Spiritual Power within his body.
Because money was tight, Lü Zhong could only eat two measures of Spirit Rice per meal. The Spiritual Qi he ingested was quickly refined, forcing him to resort to absorbing nature's spiritual energy from his surroundings.
He completed more than ten Minor Circulations in a row, only stopping his cultivation when a faint, stinging pain emerged from his meridians.
Carefully sensing the changes within his body, Lü Zhong was pleasantly surprised to find that the total amount of Spiritual Power in his Dantian had increased by a sliver. Moreover, the impurities in his Spiritual Power had lessened, and it had clearly become purer.
'It seems there's a benefit to be gained each time I deplete my Spiritual Power and then restore it through cultivation.'
Although the increase in Spiritual Power was minuscule each time, every little bit added up to a significant amount.
Lacking the favorable conditions of a Sect Disciple, a Loose Cultivator could only hope to get ahead through relentless effort, just for the slightest chance of catching up.
Bolstering his spirits, Lü Zhong looked at the pale white of dawn outside his window and picked up his Talisman Brush once more.
...
In the afternoon, the streets were sparsely populated. Due to yesterday's incident, the atmosphere in Qingliu Ruins was somewhat tense.
Lü Zhong folded up the sheet he used for his stall, his face full of delight.
He had thought that since it wasn't an official market day for the Ruins Market, his Cleaning Talismans would be very difficult to sell.
He had even prepared himself to have the purchasing shops drive a hard bargain just to be able to sell the talismans at all.
Unexpectedly, he had the good fortune of running into a group of Loose Cultivators who were out making purchases.
As expected of people who made a living in the wilderness, the five of them bought all twenty-eight of his finished Cleaning Talismans without batting an eye.
Just like that, he had earned eighty-four talismanic coins.
Subtracting the sixty-two talismanic coins for the cost of the Talisman Paper, his profit was twenty-two talismanic coins.
Lü Zhong did the math and was instantly overjoyed.
At this rate, he could earn nearly seven Spirit Stones in a full month.
From what he understood, this level of income was already considered lower-middle class in Qingliu Ruins.
'The future is promising, truly promising!'
...
The days passed one by one, and Lü Zhong's life was simple yet fulfilling.
He relied on his persistent, daily Talisman Making, selling all his talismans whenever the Ruins Market was open.
Selling talismans brought in a respectable income, allowing him to cover his daily need for Spirit Rice and gradually build up a good amount of savings.
One day, half a year later, the night was as still as water.
Lü Zhong sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes shut tight, his forehead drenched in sweat.
At that moment, nature's spiritual energy in the surroundings suddenly grew agitated before surging frantically into his body.
He felt the True Qi inside him begin to boil like water, and then the total volume of his Spiritual Power began to increase rapidly, not stopping until it reached a new limit.
Lü Zhong's eyes flew open in pleasant surprise. 'After cultivating for so long, I've finally broken through to the Qi Refining Second Layer!' he thought.
Compared to the Qi Refining First Layer, the Spiritual Power in his body had tripled in volume.
"The more Spiritual Power I have, the higher my daily Talisman output will be, which also means an increase in Spirit Stone income."
At this thought, he was so excited he could have danced with joy.
Forcibly suppressing his excitement, Lü Zhong walked over to the square table that served as his Talisman Making workbench.
He picked up the somewhat balding Talisman Brush, dipped it in the talisman ink jar, and began to draw a Cleaning Talisman, his brush moving like a roaming dragon.
After his cultivation had advanced, he found that drawing Cleaning Talismans was much easier.
In terms of his success rate for making Cleaning Talismans, it was probably an increase of nearly five percent.
This small improvement shouldn't be underestimated; when it came to making and selling talismans, it translated into a considerable increase in profit.
'Since I've reached the Qi Refining Second Layer, it's about time I learned to draw a new talisman.'
Recently, Lü Zhong had found a Talisman Maker willing to teach him the Arrow Avoidance Talisman.
It was none other than the old man who had sold him the Talisman Making Book.
This old bookseller's name was Li Dong. Although he now only had a cultivation at the Qi Refining Third Layer, he had once been a moderately famous Talisman Maker in the Yanling Mountain Market, earning a double-digit number of Spirit Stones a month at his peak.
However, for reasons unknown to outsiders, the hands Li Dong relied on for Talisman Making had been crippled.
Judging by the current state of his hands, he had likely sought treatment later on, but unfortunately, they never returned to normal. He could only manage to draw one or two Talismans.
But even to learn from a crippled Talisman Maker like him, the price Lü Zhong had to pay was still staggering.
According to the terms they had agreed upon, he needed to make a one-time payment of twenty-five Spirit Stones—nearly four months of his income from making talismans—in exchange for a single instructional session from Li Dong on how to draw the Arrow Avoidance Talisman.
In fact, for such expensive instruction, the usual practice for a Talisman Maker was to practice beforehand. Only after gaining some understanding of the Arrow Avoidance Talisman would they bite the bullet and spend a huge sum of Spirit Stones to hire someone for guidance.
This was the only way to maximize the effectiveness of the instruction.
Lü Zhong, however, was confident in his Gray Mist Space. For him, one instructional session was equivalent to countless sessions.
...
The next morning, Lü Zhong left home early.
He crossed the main street of Qingliu Ruins and arrived at the head of the street.
On a corner where an alley met the street stood a brick-and-tile house made of blue bricks. This was the home of Talisman Maker Li Dong, where the Talisman Making instruction would take place.
Lü Zhong knocked gently on the door, and someone inside responded immediately.
CREAK... The solid wooden door swung open.
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged woman. She had no cultivation whatsoever and was clearly a mortal.
Seeing Lü Zhong at the door, the woman smiled and said, "Ah, it's Immortal Master Lü. Please, come in and have a seat. The master just stepped out for a moment, so you may have to wait a little while."
Lü Zhong was then shown into the reception hall.
A cup of hot tea was quickly served. He sipped his tea and began to wait patiently.
Four hours later, Li Dong finally returned, hurrying back with a young boy in tow.