Seeking a Talisman

“So they have come seeking a talisman!” Lu Jiangxian paused slightly, sending his divine sense leaping outward to envelop the entire Li family. By now, the range of his divine sense had expanded greatly, allowing him to clearly perceive even the neighboring Shanyue and the Lu family. To the people of the four towns, the sacrificial ceremony was a momentous affair. Even before the Li family rose to prominence, the four towns had maintained their own traditions of sacrifice, though at varying times. Under the Li family's rule, the timing had been unified and the sacrifices elevated to the utmost importance. Even the children by the roadside knew enough to chant: “The great affairs of state lie in sacrifice and warfare.” The townsfolk from each town brought out melons and fruits, erected wooden poles in their courtyards, and hung paper sky lanterns, awaiting the hour of sacrifice. Nowadays, life had grown prosperous for the residents of the four towns; even ordinary townspeople could set out several plates of candied melons and sugar cakes. Afterward, they would take the medicine dregs from prescriptions they had consumed over the past few years and burn them together outside their doors—a custom known as “Casting Off a Hundred Illnesses,” carrying auspicious hopes. At the foot of Mount Lijing, a sea of people surged. The townspeople craned their necks to look: the massive Qi Refinement stag was bound tightly with iron chains, kneeling upon a circular platform of bluestone. Bloodstains covered its body, presenting a truly frightful sight. “So this is that deer demon!” “How terrifying!” Though they said as much, the residents of the four towns were not genuinely afraid. Nearly forty years had passed since the spirit vein of Mount Dali began recovering, and countless Embryonic Breathing demon beasts had strayed into the towns. Most townsfolk had seen such creatures a time or two. Having grown accustomed to seeing demon beasts suppressed, they were not truly frightened. The circular platform was polished until it could reflect a man's face, its perimeter carved with fine patterns. The severed antlers, massive as coral branches, were wedged around the stag's neck. Li Tongya held it down with one hand, keeping it entirely immobile. At the place of honor stood several symbolic figurines of wood and clay. Behind Li Tongya stood the disciples of the Li family's Xuan and Jing generations; Li Xuanxuan stood a step behind Li Tongya, while Li Xuanfeng and Li Xuanling stood on the tier below the platform. “Offer blood in sacrifice, serve the divine to bring forth fortune.” Once the prayer of sacrifice was recited, the surrounding townspeople immediately fell to their knees en masse. The streets and the stone bridges were filled with people prostrated upon the ground, every single one of them reverently closing their eyes, until an eerie silence fell over the entire town. “So this is the Li family's sacrificial rite...” Wan Tianchou had witnessed the sacrifice more than once, yet each time stirred countless reflections within him. Bowing respectfully below the platform, the thick incense smoke surged constantly past his nose. The solemn atmosphere gripped him so profoundly that his limbs felt stiff, and he thought to himself: “How does this look like a cultivation family that has risen for barely forty years? It resembles a cultivation clan that has passed down its lineage for over four centuries!” Back when Wan Tianchou was with the Wan family, he had participated in ceremonies handed down through his clan, but none could compare to the solemn grandeur of the Li family's. And looking at the Li family's strict discipline over their disciples, Wan Tianchou sighed softly, thinking: “The Li family's rapid rise over these forty years is certainly not without cause...” On the platform, the sacrificial blade in Li Xuanxuan's hand drove straight into the brain of the stag at the platform's center. The demon beast let out a mournful wail, but Li Tongya pinned it ruthlessly against the stone, rendering it unable to move, and it died instantly. Under the guidance of Lu Jiangxian's divine sense, streams of vital essence gathered from the stag's body, coalescing with its dispersing deer-shaped soul. They gushed from the wound opened by the sacrificial blade like a beacon of smoke woven from primal qi. Streams of pale golden mist, imperceptible to ordinary eyes, flowed from every person below and swarmed in from the sky lanterns in every courtyard, converging into that beacon of smoke like swallows returning to their nests and tinting the plume with a faint gold. The smoke rose for a few breaths before dissolving into countless grey specks of light, invisible to the naked eye, that flowed toward Mount Lijing. Divine radiance immediately sparkled across the mirror's surface, and an invisible, formless ripple of light spread outward. The bodies of the people below felt lighter. Lu Jiangxian pinched a grey talisman between his fingers, glanced at it, and cast it toward Li Xuanfeng. The grey talisman circled once and flew into Li Xuanfeng's Shengyang Mansion. Lu Jiangxian's vision blurred for an instant as several lines of prominent characters surfaced before him. The topmost line was delineated in deep crimson strokes, radiating a ferocious, ominous aura that hit the senses directly: “Might of a Thousand Jun.” This thread of talisman qi was identical to the option that had appeared during Li Xiangping's sacrifice back then. It could elevate the recipient's physical constitution to an extraordinarily high level—vital energy billowing like smoke, strength rivaling a thousand jun, nearly on par with a demon beast. The second line was traced in light blue strokes, exuding an aura of ethereal lightness: “Chasing Clouds and Pursuing the Moon.” This thread of talisman qi granted the recipient the talent to ride clouds and mount the wind, allowing them to soar on the gale at several times their normal speed—a thoroughly practical gift. The final option, “Prolonging Years and Extending Life,” would bestow forty years of longevity upon the recipient. Lu Jiangxian discarded this one first. After all, the path of cultivation was fraught with peril, and Li Xuanfeng might not even live out his natural lifespan; if one could not survive, extending years and prolonging life was of no use. Wavering between “Might of a Thousand Jun” and “Chasing Clouds and Pursuing the Moon,” Lu Jiangxian could not make up his mind. With a light flick of his finger, he sent the speck of light sinking into Li Xuanfeng's spiritual sense. “I will let him choose for himself... Meanwhile, the population of the four towns has grown considerably. This incense qi was not only enough to condense one grey talisman, but nearly half of it remains.” Pondering for a few moments, Lu Jiangxian suddenly recalled a secret technique that had never been used since the mirror body was repaired. Now that this surplus of incense talisman qi was left over—not quite enough to condense another grey talisman—it happened to be just right for this purpose. Back then, Li Xiangping had slain an elderly Qi Refinement cultivator and obtained a jade pendant from him. That jade pendant had restored the mirror body's ability to condense talisman pills—combining surplus talisman qi with Taiyin moon essence to form a talisman pill. A cultivator could consume only one per major cultivation realm. It could break through bottlenecks and advance one's cultivation, its efficacy depending on how much talisman qi was contained within; with sufficient quantity, it could even work wonders for Foundation Establishment and Purple Palace cultivators. Consuming this pill would also covertly leave behind a talisman seal within the Shengyang Mansion, the dwelling of the divine soul, increasing the speed at which the host breathed in and absorbed spiritual qi. Once the host died, it would drain their essence to the dregs and convert it into talisman qi to repay the mirror body. Although talisman pills were not as efficient as the Xuan Bead and talisman beads, they could still reap twenty to thirty percent of the host's cultivation. It was only because the Li family had been weak back then that this secret art had gone unused until today. “It would be best if I could condense a few more of these talisman pills. They can greatly accelerate the accumulation of dharmic power. If they could circulate on the open market and be consumed by Foundation Establishment or even Purple Palace cultivators, only to be reclaimed after their deaths... wouldn't that be splendid!” After indulging in such pleasant reverie for a while, a doubt arose in Lu Jiangxian's heart upon second thought, and he murmured: “Yet I do not know if these talisman pills might be recognized by someone, bringing old enemies knocking on our door. That would mean tremendous trouble... Never mind, never mind. For now, I will use them on these Li family youngsters.” Forming the hand seal for the secret art, the mirror instantly shimmered with brilliant light. Radiance like moonlight gushed forth, swirling and spiraling above the stone platform. Gathering like mist and smoke, it coalesced into three glittering pills, covered in enigmatic, winding patterns that gave them a mesmerizing beauty. Having condensed the talisman pills, Lu Jiangxian settled back into the mirror to resume his study of shamanic sorcery.