Chapter 38: Spiritual Talisman

Jiang Jie’s face was as pale as old gold, and his breathing was as faint as gossamer, devoid of even a trace of color in his lips. While the wound on his arm showed no obvious changes, a dark, deep purple-black line of blood ran beneath his skin, snaking up his arm, crossing his shoulder blade, and pressing directly toward his heart.

Fortunately, Rong Xianxian had broken through to the Pulse-Channel Realm. Spiritual energy coursing through her pulse channels not only flowed smoothly within her own twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary vessels, but could also be gathered into threads and channeled through golden needles into the human body. This brought legendary acupuncture techniques, such as sealing acupoints and fortifying meridians with golden needles, into reality.

Rong Xianxian handed the retrieved muscle-regenerating vine, toxin-expelling grass, and other supplementary herbs to Xia Kai, instructing him on how to decoct them, the compatibility of the medicinal materials, and the correct sequence of preparation.

Rong Xianxian brought out the elementary talisman-making manual. Previously, before entering the Pulse-Channel Realm, her spiritual energy could not be infused into talismans, resulting in talismans whose potency fell far short of her imagination. For instance, the previously crafted swiftness talisman only made her movement techniques slightly faster than usual.

Although using talisman paper could conserve her own spiritual energy, Rong Xianxian had always been cautious, and coupled with her abundant spiritual energy, she had somewhat looked down upon talisman paper.

It was only when she was using golden needles to seal Jiang Jie’s acupoints that she thought of injecting spiritual energy while crafting talismans. To her pleasant surprise, the talismans that used to turn out dull and ordinary instantly radiated light as if plugged into electricity, their effectiveness multiplying beyond comparison.

Only then did Rong Xianxian realize that what she had previously thought of as rapid progress was actually nothing more than shoddy work. But she could hardly be blamed; having lived a miserable life in her past incarnation, she had only ever heard tales of talisman arts being exceedingly rare and immensely powerful.

The talisman Rong Xianxian now set out to make was called the Dispelling Talisman. As the name suggested, its function was to eliminate abnormal substances within the body.

However, the Dispelling Talisman could not remove all the toxins in Jiang Jie’s body. Some poisons had already penetrated his blood and bones, requiring a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine.

Rong Xianxian had long since mastered drawing these basic talismans. With her solid foundation, abundant spiritual energy, and formidable mental strength, she quickly finished crafting the Dispelling Talisman.

When Rong Xianxian affixed the Dispelling Talisman to the wound on Jiang Jie’s arm, the pure white, glowing talisman paper rapidly turned black before vanishing into a puff of ash with a soft pop.

The swelling around Jiang Jie’s wound seemed to have subsided somewhat, and the blood line beneath his skin appeared thinner, its color shifting from black to a deep purple.

"It's working!" Everyone’s face lit up with joy.

Rong Xianxian crafted three more Dispelling Talismans in succession, and the spiritual energy within her body began to show signs of depletion.

Talisman-making consumed this much spiritual energy, and this was just for the simplest basic talismans. How much energy would those composite talismans, advanced talismans, and talisman arrays consume later on?

At the thought of talisman arrays, Rong Xianxian’s heart burned with fervor. Those were ultimate artifacts for area-of-effect attacks; with a talisman array in hand, a single person could take on an entire army!

By the time she reached the last of the three newly crafted talismans, the talisman paper only changed color slightly, and Rong Xianxian understood that the talisman’s efficacy had reached its limit.

Just in time, Xia Kai had finished decocting the medicine. Through external application and internal consumption, acupuncture and herbal baths, they tossed and turned until evening, when a trace of color finally returned to Jiang Jie’s face.

"The toxins in Ah Jie's body have been neutralized, and the remaining traces won't cause any trouble. However, his vitality has been severely damaged. Discuss among yourselves who will take care of him tonight." Rong Xianxian was utterly exhausted. The emptiness of her spiritual energy and the fatigue of her mental strength prompted her to tell them to sort out their own dinner. She simply cooked a bowl of noodles for the two children, dropped in poached eggs, and retreated to her room to meditate and regulate her breathing.

"The talisman Sister Rong made is so magical! It feels like ninety percent of the toxin was sucked away by the talisman," Wang Qirui said excitedly.

"That thing can't be easy to make. Look at how exhausted it made Sister Rong. Sister Rong's strength is unfathomable, and she has always preferred swift victories. In past battles, I've never even heard her pant, but today she actually broke out in a cold sweat on her forehead," Wang Lin said with a sigh of emotion.

"Alright, grab something to eat and all of you go get some rest! I'll take care of him tonight," Cui Lie said.

"How can you manage by yourself? I'll take shifts with you!" Wang Lin hurriedly replied.

"Judging by Ah Jie's condition, he should be fine. He might even wake up soon. I'll just pour him some water and keep watch; there's no need for all of you to stay up. We might have operations tomorrow," Cui Lie decided firmly.

The men didn't feel like cooking. Cui Lie and the others chewed on some biscuits, drank a can of eight-treasure porridge, and each went off to rest.

Early the next morning, when Rong Xianxian led the children out, Wang Qirui and the others were chattering away about something, looking extremely excited.

"Ah Jie, the talisman Sister Rong drew yesterday was truly miraculous! She slapped it right on your wound, *swish*, and guess what? All the toxins in your body were absorbed by the talisman!" Wang Qirui gestured wildly as he spoke, spittle flying everywhere.

Cui Lie, sitting directly opposite him, calmly shifted to the side.

"Ah Ruo, so excited? Do you want to study it again?" Rong Xianxian asked with a smiling expression from behind him.

"No, no, Sister Rong, please stop teasing me." Wang Qirui turned to look at Rong Xianxian, intentionally putting on a miserable expression.

Strangely enough, although everyone had agreed to share cultivation techniques and Rong Xianxian had previously brought out the elementary talisman-making manual for everyone to study, not a single person had succeeded in crafting a talisman.

As for the other skill books, after matching them to their respective weapons, Cui Lie primarily cultivated the Incinerating Annihilation Art, Jiang Jie the Shadowless Spear, Wang Lin the Frost Saber Technique, Xia Kai the Wind God Incantation, and Wang Qirui the Golden Thunder Art.

"Ah Jie, how are you feeling?" Rong Xianxian looked at Jiang Jie’s slightly pale complexion, knowing that his vital energy and blood had not yet fully recovered, but seeing his high spirits, he should be out of danger.

Jiang Jie stood up, straightened his posture, and solemnly gave Rong Xianxian a military salute. Rong Xianxian didn't have time to stop him, and seeing his solemn demeanor, a faint warmth stirred in her heart.

Influenced by this atmosphere, the others also instinctively stood up.

"Sister Rong, words cannot express my gratitude. For saving my life twice, Jiang Jie has no way to repay you." Tears shimmered in Jiang Jie's eyes as he spoke. Back when he was burning with fever and delirious, Sister Rong had said she would go find medicine for him. Over the past few days, exploring the outside world together with the others, he knew deep down how perilous the outside world was. Even when the five of them acted together as a team, he had still sustained a fatal injury.

Jiang Jie knew this time was different from the last; he had truly stood on the brink of death, his heart under siege by acute poison, and he had一度 thought he would never survive.

"Alright! We're all our own people. Life is precious—just stay alive, and you'll have plenty of chances to repay me." Rong Xianxian was made somewhat flustered by Jiang Jie’s solemn attitude. She waved her hand, acting as though such a trivial matter was not worth mentioning.

"Let me show you something." Rong Xianxian smiled mysteriously and slapped a talisman glowing with spiritual light onto the table.

"This is..." Xia Kai furrowed his brow in thought, feeling that this object must be of great importance.

"A Spirit-Storing Talisman," Cui Lie recognized the talisman he had glanced at a few extra times before.

"Exactly. With this, even a mortal weapon can become a spiritual artifact," Rong Xianxian said with a hint of pride.

She couldn't help it; spiritual artifacts were simply too rare. The two spiritual artifacts Rong Xianxian possessed, the Phoenix Umbrella and the Blazing Flame Bow, were prepared for the children. Her own primary weapons remained the narrow-edged curved blade and the Soul-Consuming Bell. Although the narrow-edged curved blade was sharp, it was still a mortal weapon. Even with the assistance of the Soul-Suppressing Bell, Rong Xianxian did not dare to recklessly confront monsters with high defense head-on.

"Let's witness the power of the Spirit-Storing Talisman!" Rong Xianxian affixed the Spirit-Storing Talisman to an ordinary dagger and beckoned everyone into the ice chamber.

Inside the ice chamber, the corpse of a monster the size of a calf was still stored. Rong Xianxian gently sliced across the monster's body with the dagger in her hand, and the creature's already stiff body split cleanly into two.