134: Chapter 134 Secluded Cultivation

Days passed by one after another.

Lin Xuan's life on Chenjiao Island soon fell into a fixed rhythm.

Every day before dawn, he would sit cross-legged in the main room right on time, circulating the "Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art."

Although the Spiritual Qi in the early morning was not very dense, it had the advantage of being fresh and pure, without the dry heat of the day or the dampness of the night.

He usually Cultivated for an hour, and only when the sun rose from the horizon, casting its golden-red rays through the window lattice, would he stop and rise.

Afterward, it was time for Talisman making.

The Quiet Room on the left had already been converted by him into a Talisman-making room.

A long table was placed against the wall, with a flat bluestone slab spread on top. The slab was lined with a thin layer of soft leather—scraps he had cut from Electric Eel skin, which were perfect for cushioning the Talisman paper.

Several items were also set on the table: a stack of purple-patterned paper, a jar of thunder-patterned cinnabar, two Talisman pens, and a small copper burner, in which calming incense was burning.

Thin wisps of smoke rose in curling spirals, filling the Quiet Room with a faint, refreshing fragrance.

Lin Xuan closed the door, lit the incense, spread out the paper, ground the cinnabar, and then began to draw the Talisman stroke by stroke.

The Thunder Shield Talisman was his main focus. He had drawn this Talisman hundreds, if not thousands, of times and could draw it with his eyes closed.

Every stroke, every turn, and every node of the Talisman pattern had already been etched into his muscle memory.

Thunder Spiritual Energy was injected from his fingertips into the Talisman pen, flowing down the tip onto the Talisman paper as smoothly as a stream entering a river, without the slightest hesitation.

One, two, three...

He drew quickly, but every stroke was steady. In less than half a day, ten Thunder Shield Talismans were neatly stacked at the corner of the table.

The Thunder Spear Talisman was more difficult.

The Talisman pattern for this one was much more complex than the Thunder Shield Talisman, requiring nearly fifty strokes, and it demanded extremely high speed and stability for the injection of Spiritual Qi—too fast wouldn't do, too slow wouldn't do, and fluctuating speed was even worse.

The slightest error would cause the Talisman paper to spontaneously ignite, wasting all his previous efforts.

Lin Xuan took a deep breath, picked up the Talisman pen, and began to draw.

The first stroke, steady.

The second stroke, steady.

When he reached the thirtieth stroke, his Spiritual Qi fluctuated—only a tiny bit, extremely subtle. But it was precisely this fluctuation that caused a crack to appear at the node of the Talisman pattern.

"Sss—"

A wisp of blue smoke emerged from the edge of the Talisman paper, and the entire sheet rapidly turned yellow, curled up, and finally turned into a pile of ash.

Lin Xuan did not change his expression; he brushed the ash aside and laid out a new piece of purple-patterned paper.

The second, success.

The third, success.

The fourth, failure.

He had drawn ten Thunder Spear Talismans and succeeded eight times. He was already very satisfied with this success rate.

When Talisman making was finished, Lin Xuan sorted and put away the Talismans, then stood up to stretch his muscles and bones.

The Quiet Room was filled with the mixed scent of cinnabar and calming incense, which smelled peaceful and soothing.

He pushed open the window, and the afternoon sunlight poured in, illuminating the entire room.

Outside the window, the shadow of that crooked tree was cast into the courtyard, like a distorted painting. The sea breeze blew from afar, making the leaves rustle.

In the afternoon, Lin Xuan would sometimes go for a walk by the sea or wander around the marketplace.

Going to the seaside was not for Cultivating, but purely to relax his body and mind.

He would walk slowly along the beach, stepping on the fine, soft white sand, listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

Sometimes he would encounter a few children picking up seashells on the beach; they would look at him curiously and then lower their heads to continue picking.

More often, he went to the marketplace.

The marketplace was the place with the most up-to-date information on the island.

Loose Cultivators coming and going traded, drank, and boasted here, and rumors from all directions gathered here.

Every time Lin Xuan went, he would sit in Shopkeeper Qian's shop for a while, drink a cup of tea, and listen to the idle chatter of the passing Loose Cultivators.

Shopkeeper Qian's shop was in the busiest part of the marketplace, with a few tables and chairs placed at the entrance for customers to rest their feet.

Every time Lin Xuan came, Shopkeeper Qian would brew a pot of tea and invite him to sit down.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, how many did you draw today?" Shopkeeper Qian asked casually while wiping the counter.

"Not many, just enough to make a living." Lin Xuan picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"You, everything about you is good, except that you are too modest." Shopkeeper Qian shook his head with a smile. "This amount you call 'just enough to make a living' is more than what others earn after working hard fishing at sea for a whole month."

Lin Xuan smiled but didn't respond.

After three rounds of tea, a few Loose Cultivators arrived at the shop.

The leader was a bald, burly man at Qi Refining Level 6, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a necklace made of Yao Beast teeth hanging around his neck, clinking as he walked.

"Shopkeeper Qian, bring two jars of good wine!" The bald man slammed his hand onto the counter, making the teapot on the table jump.

"Coming, coming." Shopkeeper Qian brought out two jars of wine from behind the counter and placed them on the table. "Boss Zhao, how was the harvest today?"

"Don't mention it." Boss Zhao gulped down a mouthful of wine and wiped his mouth. "I went out to sea for three days and only caught two Low Grade Tier 1 Iron-Bone Fish; it wasn't even enough to cover the boat fee."

"Then you lost out on this trip."

"Even if I lost, I accept it. It's still better than going to that ghost place in the southeast." Boss Zhao gulped down another mouthful of wine and lowered his voice.

"Let me tell you, the day before yesterday, someone saw a large whirlpool appear on the sea surface eighty miles away from that area. The whirlpool must have been several dozen zhang in diameter, with seawater swirling and pouring downward, making a sound as loud as thunder."

"Here we go again." A Thin Tall Man sitting nearby put down his wine cup and leaned in. "The version you're talking about is different from what I heard. I heard it wasn't a whirlpool, but a beam of light shooting out from the seabed, straight into the sky. It was very clear at night, and could be seen from two hundred miles away."

"A beam of light? What color?"

"Purple, with electric light. Some say it's the Formation of an ancient ruin operating, formed by leaking Spiritual Qi."

"Give me a break. Ancient ruins have been buried for so many years; the Formation should have broken long ago." Boss Zhao was dismissive. "I think it's a Yao Beast, a Tier 3 one. Think about it: thunder, whirlpools, beams of light—aren't these all signs of a Yao Beast Undergoing Tribulation?"

"A Tier 3 Demonic Beast Undergoing Tribulation? If it succeeds, can we still stay in this sea area?"

"That's why we should leave early. I plan to move to Bibo City next month; although the expenses there are high, at least it's safe."

"Bibo City? Do you have that many Spirit Stones?"

"I've saved up for so many years, it's just enough."

The few men spoke one after another, and the more they talked, the more outrageous it became.

Lin Xuan sat in the corner, holding his teacup, listening silently.

He did not interrupt, nor did he show any particular interest.

But in his heart, he recorded every piece of information—whirlpool, beam of light, purple, Undergoing Tribulation, ancient ruins.

Some of these rumors were absurd, while others seemed to have some logic.

But he could not judge the truth, because he had not seen the anomaly in that sea area with his own eyes.

All he could do was keep this information in his heart and wait to verify it in the future.