From a paper-making apprentice to a celestial master

Chapter 30 Small Settlement

He put down the talisman book and picked up the talisman pen instead.

The brush handle is made of ordinary wolf hair, but the tip is somewhat forked, indicating that it has been used many times.

The cinnabar was in a small porcelain dish, and it was already a bit dry and cracked, so it needed to be ground with some water. There was still quite a bit of yellow paper, which was neatly stacked in the corner of the drawer.

Qin Shuang moved all these things into her room.

There was no rush to draw the talisman.

Instead, he returned to the courtyard, sat in the shade with his master, and asked him some questions.

Soon, Liu Hu, the senior disciple, also finished his standing meditation. The three of them sat together in the courtyard, listening to their master recount some of his past experiences and insights.

One example involves a teenager who dreamt that he killed his uncle's family with his own hands. Because the dream was so realistic, with all sorts of details, he believed it. Before dawn the next day, he knelt in front of his parents and confessed to the crime. Then he left home alone and didn't return for twenty years.

It wasn't until three years after her mother's death that she met a fellow villager and learned that her uncle's family was all alive and well, which is why she ran back.

But everything has changed beyond recognition...

"So, is such a vivid dream something that will actually happen, or is it the work of ghosts?"

Liu Hu had never heard of such a case before, so he asked out of curiosity.

"have no idea.

But this should be true. That person was from Gangkou Village, and everyone in the village knew it. However, that person died a couple of years ago.

It's not really worth investigating further.

Liu Quan waved his hand and spoke.

As they spoke, the sky gradually darkened, the sunset faded, and in the countryside, there were no lights. Everyone had gone inside early.

Liu Hu's house was at the end of the village, about a ten-minute walk away. It was too dark to walk there, so he didn't stay long. Then Liu Quan invited Qin Shuang into the yard.

After rinsing herself briefly with cold water, Qin Shuang went straight back to her room and immediately saw the stack of yellow paper, cinnabar, and talisman brush.

He did not rush to start making talismans.

Instead, he first cut the yellow paper into the normal size of a talisman, then added a small amount of water to the cinnabar, and then found a small stone of suitable size to use as an inkstone to grind it carefully.

After completing these preparations, he stopped, took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and calmed his mind.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

He felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

In an instant, I entered a special state.

In this state, his thoughts were clear, as if washed by clean water, and his ideas were sharper than ever before.

I've entered a meditative state!

"Enter a meditative state while standing."

According to my master, this is called "minor meditation."

A thought flashed through Qin Shuang's mind.

But the details and images of the cheap master drawing talismans in my previous life had already resurfaced in my mind.

The beginning stroke, the force of the final stroke, the density of the cinnabar, and even the arc of the cheap master's wrist rotation when wielding the brush were all clearly imprinted in his mind.

Qin Shuang opened her eyes and her gaze fell on the laid-out yellow paper.

He didn't start writing immediately. Instead, he picked up the talisman brush and drew several times on the blank tabletop, feeling the rotation of his wrist and the direction of the brush tip.

"Using qi as the guide, and talismans as the medium..."

He silently recited the old Taoist priest's words, and the "qi" within his body moved accordingly, flowing slowly along his meridians to his fingertips.

After mastering the guiding technique, his control over this energy was far beyond what it used to be. Although he could not yet control it with the precision of an extension of his own arm, simple guiding was no longer a problem.

The energy flows to the fingertips, then into the pen shaft.

The talisman brush trembled slightly.

"fine.

Although there was a slight stagnation, the "qi" within the body was still able to be transmitted into the talisman brush and its bristles.

Qin Shuang breathed a sigh of relief, even though this was a huge waste of the 'qi' in his body.

Of the approximately 100% of the "qi," only 50% or 60% can be transmitted.

But at this point, he couldn't care less about anything else.

Then he dipped his brush in cinnabar until it was transferred to the yellow paper, and began to write.

The moment the pen tip touched the paper, he clearly felt a slight resistance, as if some invisible force was resisting his writing.

He felt a chill run down his spine, and dared not be distracted. He steadied his wrist and began to draw stroke by stroke.

The first stroke went relatively smoothly. He moved slowly, his internal energy flowing in continuously, without daring to interrupt it in the slightest.

The second stroke, the tip of the brush began to feel rough, and the marks left by the cinnabar on the yellow paper were intermittent, as if they were being blocked by something.

By the third stroke, Qin Shuang's forehead was already covered in sweat.

……

He gritted his teeth, desperately trying to calm himself, and poured his inner energy into the tip of the brush, forcibly pushing the strokes downwards.

A single talisman requires only a dozen or so strokes, but when he was halfway through drawing it, he felt as if a large part of his energy and spirit had been drained away. His mind was buzzing, and his hand holding the pen was trembling.

puff!

Then, black smoke flashed across the talisman.

The first talisman failed.

"Drawing talismans is indeed not that simple."

but.

This failure seems to be due to more than just uneven injection of 'qi'.

Another issue is that the quality of the yellow paper is poor.

Unable to withstand the pressure, the talisman was passively burned...

Qin Shuang frowned, summarizing the reasons for the failure of the first talisman.

But at this point, he had no choice.

These are all the materials he has; if he wants to choose better talisman paper, there's nowhere else for him to get it.

"Then reduce the amount of 'qi' injected into the talisman."

In addition, drawing talismans is also a mentally taxing task.

I have enough energy, but my spirit is somewhat lacking.

When one lacks focus, one is easily distracted and scattered, unable to control the direction of the talisman brush, let alone guide the input of 'qi'.

"Then let's also improve the meditation and mind cultivation method."

Qin Shuang's heart stirred, and she couldn't help but glance at the attribute panel.

Name: Qin Shuang

Guiding Technique: Minor Success (0/400)

Six Yang Stance Exercise: Minor Success (5/400)

Meditation and Meditation for Spirit Cultivation: Beginner (1/100) (Can be improved)

Psionic Points: 3.15

……

"promote!"

Qin Shuang's heart stirred, and she directly chose to upgrade the Meditation and Spirit Cultivation Method.

In an instant, the value of the psionic points blurred slightly, changing directly from 3.15 to 0.15.

"Buzz~"

Qin Shuang felt a soft buzzing sound deep in her mind, as if something had been broken.

Countless experiences and insights from practicing meditation and cultivating the spirit flooded into his consciousness like a tidal wave.

In a short while, it was as if he had practiced this method of refining the spirit hundreds or thousands of times. Every detail of the visualization, every wisp of divine thought, and every subtle understanding of entering meditation were clearly engraved in his mind, as if it were an innate instinct.

At the same time, he clearly felt that his "god" was growing rapidly.

It was a feeling that was extremely difficult to describe in words.

If his "god" was previously a candle flame flickering in the darkness, then at this moment the flame suddenly leaped higher, its light steady and bright, illuminating the entire spiritual platform with clarity and transparency.

He felt his five senses had become sharper than ever before. The chirping of crickets outside the window seemed to be right next to his ears, and he could even tell which corner of the yard the sound was coming from.

The speed at which thoughts turned was astonishing, and many things that were previously incomprehensible suddenly became clear in an instant.

"I have mastered the method of meditation for cultivating the mind."

Qin Shuang slowly opened her eyes, feeling a completely different sensation.