“No wonder cultivators in this realm are so skilled in the talismanic dao. From the very beginning of their journey on the path, they deal with divine talismans...”
The thought flickered through Qin Sang's mind, and he sighed inwardly.
A talismanic register was fundamentally carried by a divine talisman.
Different talismanic registers corresponded to different divine talismans. The one paired with the register Qin Sang had just received was called the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman!
This divine talisman was the very foundation of the register's existence, as well as the cornerstone for casting the altar.
After disciples of Thunder Left Manor received their registers, they would gradually comprehend this talisman as their cultivation grew, progressively perfecting their register altars.
The Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman was extraordinarily complex.
Complex divine talismans of this sort were assembled from multiple talismanic glyphs according to specific formulas. The component parts that made up such a divine talisman were known as dispersed forms.
Each dispersed form had its own unique patterns, divine scripts, structures, spiritual apertures, and incantations when drawn, leaving no margin for error.
Some dispersed forms were divine talismans in their own right.
Only when all the dispersed forms were united and merged into a coherent whole was the divine talisman complete. This step was known as aggregating the form or combining the form.
To learn talismans, one had to first understand how to read them: deconstructing each dispersed form from the overall talismanic structure, comprehending every single one thoroughly, and then recombining them into the intricate aggregate form. Only then was one's study complete.
The structural variations of divine talismans were numerous.
In simpler ones, a few dispersed forms were assembled on the same plane, making their layout easy to discern.
Yet the complex grand talismans were mostly formed by overlapping, layered coatings of dispersed forms, rendering individual components invisible. Cultivators had to spend immense mental effort to decipher them slowly, an achievement impossible without stubborn perseverance and profound mastery.
And that was merely the beginning. How to prune away complexity and wield the divine talisman at will was another vast discipline.
The Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman was precisely such a complex grand talisman, at least for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Fortunately, the talismanic register had already deconstructed the talismanic form with crystalline clarity. Otherwise, newly initiated disciples would not even have been able to isolate the dispersed forms, let alone cast an altar.
During altar-casting, the talismanic form could be regarded as the register altar's framework.
As long as a cultivator comprehended the first dispersed form of the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman, they could begin casting the altar.
It could be compared to building a house: the first dispersed form was equivalent to laying the foundation, followed by laying bricks and tiles layer by layer.
In this manner, a sturdy register altar was erected step by step.
Before this, Qin Sang had never devoted himself to talismanic arts and rarely had opportunities to draw talismans in person. Yet he had used plenty of spirit talismans and possessed a fair grasp of their essentials.
Moreover, the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman was not overwhelmingly profound; even had he known nothing about talismanic arts, understanding it would not have been difficult.
Without breaking a sweat, Qin Sang grasped the first dispersed form.
Opening his eyes, he pondered for a brief moment before raising a finger and tracing it lightly through the air. Spiritual light surged and waned at his fingertip, leaving behind a radiant trail in the void as the first dispersed form took shape.
Gazing at it, Qin Sang wore a contemplative expression.
The dispersed form hovered in midair, its spiritual radiance flowing like water, with faint traces of fine thunder flickering within, resembling an arcane talismanic character.
Drawing talismans naturally had its own rules and grammar. Just as mortals needed words to write essays, the talismanic dao had special talismanic characters.
Talismanic characters were the words, dispersed forms were the paragraphs, and the aggregate form was the essay.
A single dispersed form might consist of one special character, or of countless characters woven together.
Talismanic characters originated mostly from cultivators fathoming heaven and earth and observing myriad phenomena—capturing the movements of clouds and stars, imitating the tracks of insects and birds, and the like.
Based on differences in function and origin, talisman cultivators categorized them into divine mansion jade scripts, jasper palace spiritual scripts, cloud seal thunder patterns, dragon splendor phoenix scripts, and many more.
Such characters could form individual talismans on their own or be combined into various divine talismans bearing distinct powers.
The dispersed form before Qin Sang was composed of thunder patterns.
The High Shenxiao Register revered the Thunder Ancestor and practiced thunder arts, so the components of the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman were almost entirely thunder patterns.
Qin Sang shifted his gaze to a special node inside the dispersed form—another vital element of a divine talisman: the spiritual aperture!
As the common saying went:
“Draw a talisman blind to the aperture, and ghosts and gods will laugh at your folly.
Draw a talisman knowing the aperture, and ghosts and gods will shriek in dread!”
This aperture was no ordinary point; forged jointly by Qian and Kun, it was called the Divine Qi Aperture.
Much like a qi aperture in the human body, when one deployed qi into it, qi coursed through the talismanic form, heaven and earth communed, and divine intent converged—it was truly the gall of the talisman.
Aggregating dispersed forms was not a matter of simple stacking, either. Only by layering apertures to unify the form, linking spiritual apertures, and allowing intent and qi to cycle unimpeded could a true talisman emerge.
The more complex the divine talisman, the more spiritual apertures it contained.
The first dispersed form of the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman possessed only one spiritual aperture: the exact node Qin Sang was gazing upon.
Once the altar was cast, the talismanic register would reside within this spiritual aperture, and every subsequent layering of apertures and combining of forms would take this single aperture as its root.
With a slight shift of thought, several streaks of light flew out from Qin Sang's Qianjun Ring and hovered before him.
Among them were two bottles of golden blood—one dazzlingly bright, the other slightly duller.
There was also a piece of withered wood continuously sparking with azure thunder, and a stalk of spiritual herb whose leaves were covered in lightning-shaped patterns.
The withered wood was a Qingxiao tree root, while the spiritual herb was called Thunder-Responding Grass.
Both bottles of blood had been collected conveniently while Qin Sang was infiltrating the Thunder Hawk Demon Kingdom on business for Thunder Left Manor. Both contained the essence blood of Golden-Winged Thunder Hawks, one from the royal lineage and the other from an ordinary hawk.
All four spiritual items were prepared for altar-casting.
Between the Golden Seal Altar and the Soldier-and-Horse Altar, one was material and the other was ethereal.
A Soldier-and-Horse Altar required integrating and linking the qi mechanics of the troops under one's command to collectively bring the talismanic form into being. Once a cultivator reached higher realms, commanders and generals could even be stationed within the other spiritual apertures.
Casting a Golden Seal Altar, on the other hand, involved refining spiritual materials to construct the talismanic form.
The grade of spiritual items used in altar-casting would influence the register altar and the divine talisman to some extent, but higher grades were not always better.
For a mere first dispersed form, choosing an exceptionally high-grade spiritual item with excessive power might instead overwhelm the spiritual aperture and cause the talismanic form to collapse.
Qin Sang's gaze swept over the four spiritual items. He first extracted a drop of the royal Golden-Winged Thunder Hawk essence blood and attempted to use it, but as expected, the attempt failed.
Not one to force the issue, he took out the ordinary essence blood, drew out a single drop, and suspended it above his palm.
A novice register apprentice newly set on the path lacked the ability to refine spiritual items. As long as they could construct the register altar with impure essence blood or medicinal potency and keep it from collapsing, they could gradually refine it later.
Qin Sang, of course, had no need for such caution. Circulating his true essence slightly, he purged all impurities from the essence blood, preserving only the purest lineage power.
A single drop of essence blood was reduced to a trace of pure bloodline thunder power. Qin Sang then flicked his finger, merging it into the dispersed form.
Visible to the naked eye, a fleck of thunder light coursed through the dispersed form. Using the thunder power as ink, it traced the thunder patterns in a single, seamless breath!
The dispersed form transformed into a thunder talisman, its spiritual light pulsing in resonance with the spiritual aperture.
With a thought, Qin Sang sent the talismanic register shooting into the spiritual aperture.
In an instant, the altar was formed!
“So this is my register altar.”
Qin Sang gazed intently at the altar.
It was divided into three tiers, with four pillars symbolizing Heaven, Earth, the Sun, and the Moon, laid out across eight gates and ten directions, entirely consistent with the register altars he had seen before.
Because it was a Golden Seal Altar, it looked less towering and imposing than the Soldier-and-Horse Altars of Daoist Court officials.
Having completed only a single dispersed form, the register altar appeared as a translucent silhouette. Inside the silhouette, several threads of thunder interlaced, encircling the central spiritual aperture to form the altar's skeletal frame.
At this moment, a seal hovered inside that spiritual aperture.
The seal bore the inscription: High Shenxiao!
This seal was the true form of the talismanic register, none other than the Shenxiao Thunder Seal renowned across the Jushan Diocese!
Qin Sang stowed the register altar and examined his state carefully. Suddenly opening his palm, he saw a talismanic silhouette flash across his hand.
A sudden clap of thunder erupted from flat ground, and a bolt of lightning struck into the corner of the cave dwelling.
It was late at night, and the area outside the dwelling was exceptionally quiet.
Both the sound of thunder and the blast's power had been masked by Qin Sang's wards, causing no disturbance to the cultivators outside.
What he had just executed was precisely the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman from his register.
Thanks to the unique nature of talismanic registers, a cultivator needed only to construct the first dispersed form to unleash the corresponding divine talisman.
Naturally, its power was weak at the start and would only grow as the register altar was progressively built up.
Most importantly, executing this talisman felt just like using one's innate divine ability: form arose with a thought, and a wave of the hand unleashed the talisman's might.
The lightning Qin Sang had just discharged was produced by drawing the talisman with a mere point of his finger.
Spiritual aperture, dispersed forms, aggregate form—not a single misstep could be tolerated.
This showed that formidable though divine talismans were, drawing them was extraordinarily tedious. Complex grand talismans in particular could not be executed in an instant. If one had to draw them on the spot during battle, no opponent would simply stand by, and one would throw away critical tactical opportunities.
Cultivators therefore devised every conceivable method to cut down that time.
The most common approach was crafting talisman paper, talisman brushes, and cinnabar from special spiritual materials to prepare spirit talismans in advance, which could be cast directly during combat.
Others fashioned talismanic magic tools such as talisman plates—the very items Su Zinan and Old Wu had employed back then.
There were also uniquely gifted prodigies with deep insight into talismanic arts who understood a given talisman so thoroughly that they could layer the apertures and simplify the form to its absolute minimum, retaining only the true intent, thereby achieving the feat of forming talismans at the flick of a finger.
Such geniuses were few and far between. Moreover, most divine talismans served merely as combat techniques; expending immense effort to fathom them often yielded little practical return.
The prosperity of the talismanic dao in this realm stemmed not only from its intact heritage, but precisely because register altars allowed ordinary cultivators to form talismans at the flick of a finger.
Cultivators of the Thunder Jade Manor all practiced the High Shenxiao Register and knew the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman. It was their most commonly used and handy talisman because it could be triggered instantly.
To some extent, the Jade Clarity Thunder-Summoning Talisman could be considered their natal true talisman, and upgrading their registers would grant them even stronger ones.
Yet the functions of a register altar did not stop there.
For divine talismans other than the natal true talisman, the process of comprehending them gradually forged a divine talisman imprint stored within the altar.
When casting, one needed only to activate that imprint to manifest the talisman from thin air, saving a cultivator vast amounts of energy and time.
Even for talismans not yet fully mastered, leaning on the register altar could improve the success rate, shorten casting time, and reduce the consumption of divine sense and magic power.
In clashes between cultivators, victory and defeat could be decided in a fraction of an instant.
If the talisman belonged to the Thunder Department, it would further enjoy the altar's amplification, boosting its potency to an indescribable degree.
Thunder Jade Manor's thunder arts were second to none in the Jushan Diocese. They surely possessed the corresponding Thunder Department talismanic heritages, and comprehending them through the register altar would undoubtedly be much easier. Unfortunately, there was no way they would impart them to an outsider like him.
Qin Sang held little interest in those divine talismans anyway; his purpose in receiving a register was to restore his cultivation.
Next, Qin Sang began recalling the Chaozhen Jade Talisman Incantation, preparing to visualize the spirits.
“True decree of the True Shenxiao, vast mandate of the Nine Heavens. Granted unto me to receive, that I may behold the radiance... Ranked high in Shenxiao, taking refuge at the precious steps...”
Line after line of incantation surfaced in Qin Sang's mind.
According to the Daoist rituals for visualizing spirits, one had to first recite the Heart-Purifying Divine Incantation—the foremost of the Eight Great Divine Incantations—to cleanse body and mind, banish stray thoughts, and settle the spirit before visualization.
Qin Sang naturally had no need for so much ceremony, and this was far from his first time practicing inner visualization.
When he first cultivated Heavenly Demon Refining Form, visualizing the divine beast Azure Luan was also a form of visualization technique.
At this moment, he settled his mind into tranquility and channeled the Chaozhen Jade Talisman Incantation. What he visualized was not an icon of a celestial deity, but the gods within his own body.
Calm reflection anticipating truth; inward gazing upon form and shadow.
Preserving my spirit; visualizing my form.
Had he visualized a celestial deity, it might have taken days, but visualizing his inner true form yielded an immediate response.
Daoist legends spoke of thirty-six thousand gods residing within the human body.
In the obscure depths of his perception, Qin Sang felt a wisp of divine intent emerge from his heart aperture. It rose and fell with his thoughts, profoundly mystical and airy. As though drawn by an attraction, it flew toward the register altar of its own accord and took its seat within the register, using it as a vessel to reside in.
After an unknown stretch of time, Qin Sang slowly came to his senses and found that the wisp of divine intent remained intact, refusing to disperse even as his thoughts settled.
“Is this the Altar-Protecting Divine General?”
Qin Sang muttered to himself, finding the experience quite novel.
In truth, visualizing celestial deities never actually summoned gods down from the heavenly realm; what one visualized was merely an abstruse wisp of divine intent.
The so-called Altar-Protecting Divine General was simply divine intent hidden within the register, incapable of truly manifesting in the world. Otherwise, so many people would not question Daoist legends.
Even so, as a cultivator's cultivation advanced and they practiced visualization daily, they could feel that divine intent steadily growing stronger.
It was precisely this wisp of divine intent that safeguarded a cultivator's consciousness from descending into madness.
Qin Sang examined it carefully, focusing his senses inward. Though it was faint, he could detect a subtle ripple of the jade Buddha within it.
Just like his soul imprint, once imbued with the jade Buddha's power, its potency would surely be vastly different.
Qin Sang nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Without lingering any further, he repeated the altar-casting process countless times.
One dispersed form after another was layered into the register altar. Had anyone witnessed Qin Sang's speed in casting the altar, they would have been left dumbfounded.
Once the ordinary essence blood was exhausted, Qin Sang began using the royal essence blood. With the register altar approaching completion, it was barely stable enough to endure it.
Before long, the register altar was achieved in a single sustained effort!
At this moment, the presence radiating from the altar far exceeded its earlier state. Inside it, the Shenxiao Thunder Seal spun slowly.
The thunder seal appeared as though woven from pure lightning, crystal-clear throughout.
Bolts of lightning enveloped the seal, interlacing into an intricate electrical net. These bolts seemed alive, flashing with arcs of light. With the slightest thought from Qin Sang, thunder surged and lightning flared and dissolved.
Everything occurred in utter silence. These lightning bolts were merely the manifestations of talismanic forms and would never breach the altar's confines.
Cultivating the Supreme Orthodox Unity Lad Spiritual Official General Register to its utmost limit in one breath left Qin Sang feeling no fatigue whatsoever.
As for the divine intent within the register, it could not grow as rapidly; it required Qin Sang to maintain his visualization technique over time, though with his cultivation, that would not take very long.
Silently circulating his cultivation method, his qi sea churned as he breathed in the worldly yuanqi and refined it into his body, maintaining his true essence at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Without needing divine sense to suppress it, the true essence showed no signs of chaotic rebellion. Still, before he was conferred a higher-ranking register, both his total true essence and the speed at which he could absorb worldly yuanqi had reached their ceilings.
At the same time, Qin Sang discovered another powerful function of the register altar: it could assist in cultivation, accelerating training speed!
No wonder, he thought. Cultivators in this realm had to divide their attention from the very start of their path to comprehend talismanic forms and visualize celestial deities, tasks that demanded substantial time and energy.
Even with the rich worldly yuanqi of this world, the path would otherwise have been far too arduous. The register altar resolved cultivators' worries to a considerable extent.
After scheming so much just for the eligibility to receive a register, casting the altar had turned out to be remarkably simple.
Qin Sang gave a slight shake of his head, rose to his feet, and pushed the door open.
Dawn had yet to break outside. Glancing at the hour, he shifted his form and flew off in an escape light.
Next, it was time to seek out the Flowing Gold Fire Bell Register of Thunder Right Manor.
Shortly after leaving the island, Qin Sang guided his escape light toward Huzhong Island, intending to pay a visit to Master Qi first.
Chapter 1777