Chapter Twelve: Talismans

  The two of them fell silent, Yu Xuanji had wanted to speak as usual, but that transcendent and detached feeling was gone. Looking at the hint of a smile on Xu Xian's lips, she felt embarrassed and didn't say another word.

  Xu Xian coughed lightly twice, hiding the smile on his face: "Alright, alright, I promise I won't do that again. Let me treat you to a big meal at noon today as an apology!"

  Then, Zhu'er took out the "Mohe Book", its yellowed leather cover, a thick book. Xu Xian took it and looked at it, they were all like characters but not characters, like paintings but not paintings. He said in surprise: "How do you use this?"

  Yu Xuanji gathered his emotions and explained: "It is divided into three parts. The upper part can drive away spirits and demons, the middle part can control the wind and hold thunder, and the lower part can dispel disasters and cure diseases. Take good yellow paper and cinnabar, circulate the energy on the symbol, write it down and it will be effective."

  "What's with the vermilion?"

  "This is not the case, it's just that these things have spirituality, and talismans are easier to succeed. There are also those who carve symbols on peach wood, which is the same principle. You must remember, talismans have no fixed form, they rely on energy to be effective. When you cultivate to a deep level, a casual stroke of the brush can become a talisman."

  Xu Xian vaguely remembered that in the story, a toad spirit disguised as a Taoist priest liked to use talismans. The most impressive time was when he summoned a certain Tianzun. It took Bai Suzhen a lot of thought to settle it down. The upper part is the talisman for communicating with these gods, but it's also unknown whether they will come or go. Just like the toad spirit also sought three divine talismans in front of the god statue.

  According to Xu Xian, this part is just a phone book. When you encounter trouble, make a call: So-and-so, come and help. Others will ask, who are you? Therefore, the talisman for summoning gods must be agreed upon by others first, and one must pray in front of the god's image before it can be done. You need to have such great authority. However, if you are summoning Huang Jin Li Shi or Jin Jia Shen Ren and other heavenly soldiers, the required authority is probably much lower, but there will definitely be some restrictions.

  Yu Xuanji said at this point: "The stars in the sea are extremely rare to enter the divine way, and it's probably not easy to achieve this." The practitioners of the Star Sea mostly cultivate themselves overseas, and some also temper themselves in the red dust, but they don't become gods. They are not affected by human incense or driven by humans, but rather are free and at ease.

  In the middle, there are those who manipulate the forces of nature, such as fire talismans, thunder talismans, and rain talismans, which have great power but do not guarantee success. They must rely on the actual environment. For example, using a fire talisman in an extremely cold place may only produce a small spark, while using a rain talisman in a desert with no clouds will definitely not bring down a single drop of rain. Unless you possess the power of water or fire yourself and store your own strength into the talisman as a trigger, success is guaranteed.

  The lower part is extremely complicated, some can cure diseases, some can dispel disasters, but the specific effects are all difficult to verify. However, Xu Xian did discover some useful talismans, among which there was a hidden body talisman that could make the user invisible for a period of time. There were also people-finding talismans, which when folded into paper cranes could help find people. Ridiculously, there was even a fish bone talisman, specifically for treating fish bones stuck in the throat. The others are too numerous to count, almost occupying the entire book.

  Xu Xian grasped the "Mohe Scripture" as if it were a treasure, and his own magical powers finally had a use. It's like an invisibility charm or something, don't be too evil, okay? If Taishang Laojun gets dizzy and grants him a spiritual symbol, what's there to fear about Fa Hai? Ask the Taoist ancestor to come out and say: "Get lost, kid." This Fa Hai will definitely get lost immediately. Of course, if he can invite out the Buddha, that's even better, we won't have anything to do with it, you two big shots can slowly discuss. We'll go to the side and continue practicing.

  This "Mohe Scripture" contains talismans that ordinary Taoist priests can't even know a part of, it's already incredible. This book is the result of the efforts of seniors in the Xing Su Hai, collecting all the circulating talismans and compiling them into a book, which can be considered an encyclopedia of the talisman world.

  Yu Xuanji couldn't stand his sly smile, "It's almost noon, why aren't you going to cook? This afternoon I'll teach you how to draw talismans."

  Xu Xian nodded repeatedly: "Good, good!" Usually, just cultivating feels like there's not much to it, but today, looking at it, the Taoist methods have so many interesting aspects, and he couldn't help but feel greatly surprised.

  Xu Xian stood in the kitchen of the Xuanyuan Pavilion, looking at the familiar yet strange cooking utensils, with a hint of "thinking of Gong Jin's past" meaning. His culinary skills were indeed inherited from his family, and his grandfather was the village's top chef. Whoever had a red and white event would not be without him, and Xu Xian also followed him to eat a lot of free meals. Although he didn't fully learn his grandfather's craftsmanship, he could still be considered a master in this field. However, after coming to this world, this skill really had no place to show off. When he was young, his sister wouldn't let him lift a hand, and when he grew up and started reading books, as soon as he entered the kitchen, she would scold him and tell him to focus on studying.

  Xu Xian's mouth corners curled up into a faint smile, which then turned into loud laughter, and finally into maniacal laughter: "Hahaha...". He said in a low voice: "If you dare to let me enter the kitchen, don't blame me."

  The bamboo shoots carefully lay on the edge of the door, watching Xu Xian go crazy and dance with joy. The leaping flames illuminated his wildly laughing face as if he had fallen into a demonic trance. "Master, you won't have gone mad from the fire entering your mind like Master Shu taught, will you?!"

  Yu Xuanji was also standing by the door. Hearing her words, she slapped herself on the head and said "Still not going to help?"

  "However, however, Master Shu is really scary now!" Facing the even scarier Master Shu than Master Fu, Zhu'er didn't dare to enter the kitchen after all.

  On a quiet afternoon in late autumn, there was still little chill in Jiangnan.

  Wild geese fly south, autumn is high and refreshing, clear sky for thousands of miles.

  Dish after dish was placed on the stone table, and the small courtyard was suddenly filled with fragrance. Until the table could no longer hold another plate, Xu Xian let out a slightly sighing tone and said: "It can only be this much." A good chef is able to judge how many dishes can fit on one table, and now it's already at its limit.

  "Master uncle, all our vegetables for half a month are gone!"

  Xu Xian said with a smile, "To repay my kindness, just finish all the dishes to thank me!" Xu Xian introduced the dishes to the two of them while urging, "Eat quickly!"

  Yu Xuanji was stunned for half a day and finally started to move his chopsticks. Just now, he was completely intimidated by the large table of dishes. He lightly picked up a piece of potato, and saw that it was cut as thin as a cicada's wing. When he picked it up, it trembled slightly, which is called "moon halo" in cutting techniques. He put it in his mouth and savored it for a bit. Then he praised, "Indeed, it's not bad!"

  Xu Xian chuckled: "It's been a long time since I've done it, I'm afraid I won't be able to compare to you!" He thought that his senior sister's pastries were so exquisite, her culinary skills must also be exceptional.

  Yu Xuanji's face turned red, and before he could say a few polite words, Zhu'er jumped up and gestured: "Master, you just cut the dish like this, then put it in the pot, and cook it, that's all! But Master Shu's cooking is still delicious!"

  Yu Xuanji's face turned red as she scolded, "If you speak again, you won't be allowed to eat!" Zhūn'r indeed didn't say another word and instead ate with all her might. In the end, she left Xu Xian staring in shock, unable to believe that such a delicate little girl could eat so much.

  Yu Xuanji explained, "Zhu'er isn't human! After eating this meal, you won't need to eat for the rest of the month!" Xu Xian finally realized. Zhu'er, busy as she was, still looked up and smiled at Xu Xian, her cheeks bulging out, with a few grains of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth. Xu Xian had deep feelings towards guests who could finish the dishes he made, if Yu Xuanji wasn't by his side, he would have hugged Zhu'er and shouted "Kawaii" earlier.

  It wasn't until the afternoon that Xu Xian realized that Fu Lu Shu was actually so difficult to learn, with such complex graphics and texts, which had to be completed in one stroke, and there were even time limits. The distribution of spiritual energy was not a problem for him, and he also had some experience in using spiritual power. But drawing talismans was something he just couldn't do well.

  Xu Xian was sweating profusely, his brush moving in bold strokes, drawing the stealth symbol he loved most, but several turns were like the five consecutive hairpin bends in "Initial D", with a difficulty that was not ordinary, and he clearly didn't know how to drift. As soon as his brush movement stagnated, his spiritual energy couldn't keep up, and what he had drawn before was all for nothing.

  He failed again, Xu Xian looked at the ghostly symbols scattered all over the ground, and put down his brush in despair. He had been studying for almost an hour, but he still hadn't managed to learn even one of them. What he didn't know was that he had already achieved something extremely difficult, relying on his own profound spiritual power to operate smoothly and quickly reach such a level. Ordinary people wouldn't even think about it, just using their brush to draw would make them proficient with practice, but to infuse spiritual energy into the symbols required a deep and powerful spiritual force.

  Yu Xuanji picked up the brush that Xu Xian had discarded, and with a casual stroke on the white paper beside him, he drew the invisibility symbol that Xu Xian wanted to learn. The spiritual energy was evenly distributed, not just a superficial appearance. Under the strict cultivation education system of the Star宿Sea, it was far beyond what Xu Xian, a half-baked cultivator, could compare to.

  Yu Xuanji comforted him, "This hidden symbol is relatively complex, let's start with Yun Zhuang first! Then I'll teach you the method of drawing seals, and then it will be easy to draw symbols." She was still very enthusiastic about being a master.

  Xu Xian sighed, his need for power was limited in time. He met Bai Suzhen on Qingming Festival, and who knows, by next spring, if he couldn't learn anything, he might be caught and made a monk. Even if this world didn't have Bai Suzhen, he absolutely did not want to become a monk. All he could do was ask: "Master sister, is there any shortcut?"