Chapter 57: Mountain-Moving Ants, Second-Tier Talisman Master

Bloodline reversion.

With his inheritance of beast-taming arts, Shen Lian instantly recognized the reason for Dahei’s transformation.

Humans had spiritual roots; demons had bloodlines. Ordinary snakes, insects, rats, ants, birds, and beasts, if they could demonize and embark on the path of cultivation, it meant there existed an inherited power in their veins.

Yet, for the vast majority of demon beasts, their bloodline was as useless as a wasted spiritual root in humans—enough to set foot on the road to immortality, but with the starting point also as the end.

Dahei was a creature Shen Lian had dug out from desolate mountains; by then, it had already begun to walk the path of demonization.

Shen Lian withdrew his divine sense, allowing Dahei to peacefully immerse itself in the process of bloodline transformation.

From his keen observation, he could tell that this bloodline reversion was not of a high degree—the fluctuations of that ball of blood-colored energy were too faint.

Whether anything substantial could be drawn from the bloodline now depended entirely on Dahei’s luck.

The Black-Horned Demon Ant had the bloodline of the Mountain-Moving Ant, but the demon race’s bloodlines were notoriously chaotic; perhaps there were traces from other ant clans mixed in.

It remained to be seen which category of demon ant Dahei was awakening to.

Shen Lian estimated the chances for the Mountain-Moving Ant bloodline to be relatively high.

By the time Dahei had fully absorbed the blood radiance from its head, three days had passed.

“Hiss, hiss.”

“Speak human words.”

“Master.”

After its first minor reversion, Dahei’s two small claws beneath its head began to transform into pincers.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before those pincer claws were larger than its head.

As Shen Lian expected, Dahei had awakened the bloodline of the Mountain-Moving Ant.

“Did you acquire any other information from your bloodline?”

Dahei rubbed its massive pincers together. “I can move mountains larger than myself.”

After some exchange, Shen Lian confirmed that although the effect of this reversion wasn’t significant, it wasn’t entirely fruitless either.

At the very least, Dahei had grown noticeably more intelligent.

“Good, guard the house well from now on.”

He stroked Dahei’s two large horns, comforting himself.

Obedience was enough—what more could he ask for?

Now, with the Spirit Beast Nourishment Pills, raising Black-Horned Demon Ants would be much faster, and he’d need to purchase a spirit beast bracelet soon.

That day, Shen Lian did not refine any more pills.

After adjusting his breath, he stood before the stone platform, brimming with energy, ready to attempt the creation of a second-grade low-tier talisman.

In the past year or so, though he’d spent most of his time cultivating, whenever inspiration struck, he had attempted to draw a second-grade talisman four times.

Each attempt ended in failure.

The violent aura of demon blood in the spiritual ink would suddenly erupt upon contact with the talisman paper, ruining all his efforts.

Yet, even in failure, Shen Lian made a major discovery about the Tranquil Progress panel.

He could actually gain proficiency.

Those four failed attempts at second-grade talisman drawing became valuable experience.

Eventually, Shen Lian understood.

For talismans inherited through the Tranquil Progress panel’s foolproof method, no matter how many he drew, there was no gain in proficiency.

By contrast, when he, as a first-grade high-tier talisman master, attempted to draw a second-grade low-tier talisman not covered by the panel’s inheritance, his experience increased.

On reflection, it made perfect sense.

Practicing what you already know is mere repetition; only learning what you don’t know brings progress.

He could have wept—the Tranquil Progress panel was so easy to grasp.

Shen Lian was working on the Heavenly Gang Thunderfire Talisman, which was the second-grade upgrade of the Thunderfire Talisman.

The complexity of spiritual patterns between these two was about the same; for second-grade talismans not included in the panel’s inheritance, he could draw them just as well.

He laid the pale blue talisman paper flat on the desk and dipped his talisman brush into the red spiritual ink.

Second-grade spiritual ink was prepared from the blood of second-grade demon beasts, blended with spiritual spring water and powdered herbs.

Though the violent aura in the demon blood had been neutralized, for a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage, it was still a challenge to control.

This was the main difficulty of drawing talismans above one’s grade.

He channeled his Five Qi of Origin and five-element spiritual power into his palm, then into the brush; the spiritual ink at the tip glowed red under the surge of energy.

Shen Lian steadied himself and focused all his attention on the drawing.

As the brush touched the paper, a halo of azure light was triggered, and the ink seeped in, tracing intricate lines.

The process was slow, but the ink’s path was smooth.

Drawing a second-grade low-tier talisman was taxing—Shen Lian’s arm soon felt numb.

Time passed gradually.

Finally, the last stroke was completed with a swift flourish.

“Buzz—”

In that instant, azure lightning flickered across the talisman paper, tracing the design; the blood-colored patterns transformed into flames, radiating with scorching spiritual pressure.

The second-grade low-tier Heavenly Gang Thunderfire Talisman was complete!

Moments later, its spiritual pressure dissipated and calm returned.

Examining his work, Shen Lian massaged his hand, nodding in satisfaction.

With his fifth attempt at drawing a second-grade low-tier talisman successful, it meant that even without inheritance, he could become a second-grade talisman master.

He simply lacked a variety of drawing techniques and the proficiency that came with direct inheritance.

With this talisman, the second-grade low-tier talisman formation disk he’d bought could finally unleash its true power.

Thus, his third method for dealing with Foundation Establishment cultivators was now in place.

Next, Shen Lian checked his energy reserves—he’d used a little over a third of his five-elemental power.

In theory, he could draw three such talismans in one go.

“A second-grade low-tier talisman is said to rival a strike from an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but in a real fight, a single talisman isn’t enough; Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t just stand there and let you hit them with talismans.”

“Besides, activating a talisman consumes even more spiritual power; I’ll have to rely on the formation disk.”

Sensing the restrained aura on the talisman, Shen Lian carefully stored it away, lest it be triggered accidentally.

Then he sat down to restore his spiritual energy.

After mastering the art of pill refinement, he now had nearly nine thousand insight points left. In two or three months at most, he could accumulate enough for a full ten thousand.

So now, he had to decide which craft to advance next with his insight points.

Talisman crafting.

The success of the Heavenly Gang Thunderfire Talisman meant he was already a second-grade talisman master without inheritance—what he lacked was more drawing methods and experience.

Pill refining.

He was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and his fire spiritual root would soon reach perfection before Foundation Establishment—a certainty.

By then, with the Five Qi of Origin stored in his organs, he’d have an eighty to ninety percent chance of breaking through without using a Foundation Establishment Pill.

So, becoming a second-grade pill master was not urgent.

Beast-taming was still at the middle of the first grade; controlling the Black-Horned Demon Ant swarm was sufficient.

Puppetry—he’d always wanted to learn, but hadn’t started yet.

No matter how proficient he became at talisman crafting or pill refining, he couldn’t openly sell second-grade talismans or pills—that would only attract unwanted attention.

One should act according to their realm and conceal themselves among the masses—that’s true mastery.

Of course, not selling them meant he could use them secretly to strengthen himself.

After much thought, Shen Lian shook his head, realizing he was overthinking.

He’d just reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and even if he wanted to establish his foundation, it wouldn’t happen in a year or two—three to five years would be considered fast.

He needed to condense more of the Five Qi of Origin in his organs to have the foundation to break through without a Foundation Establishment Pill.

In three to five years, even at the slowest pace, he could easily accumulate another ten or twenty thousand insight points.

So, he should focus on advancing talisman crafting to the second-grade low-tier level; the inherited second-grade talismans would undoubtedly offer more miraculous varieties to enhance his safety.

As for pill refining, being a first-grade high-tier master was enough for now.

First-grade high-tier pills were as profitable as second-grade low-tier talismans, more than enough to earn spirit stones for cultivation.

It was time to conceal his abilities as a second-grade talisman master.

He’d refine pills to earn spirit stones, buy all sorts of five-elemental spiritual items to condense the Five Qi of Origin, draw talismans for defense, and use beast-taming for scouting.

After a few years, once he’d saved up another ten thousand insight points, he could then advance in pill refining, beast-taming, or puppetry.

Who would suspect that a first-grade pill master was also a second-grade talisman master?

If anyone tried to rob him of his pills, he’d smash them with a second-grade talisman.

In the blink of an eye—

Three months later.

Within the cave dwelling.

[Shen Lian: Ninth Layer of Qi Refining]

[Second-Grade Low-Tier Talisman Master]

Shen Lian sat cross-legged on his mat, his mind once again connected to the Tranquil Progress panel. Varieties of talismans, drawing experiences, and techniques surged uncontrollably into his consciousness.