88: Chapter 88 Observation

The late autumn frost had draped a thin veil of white over Emerald Bamboo Peak overnight.

At the first glimmer of dawn, Lin Xuan pushed open his courtyard gate, the withered leaves beneath his feet crunching with a crisp sound.

Most of the bamboo leaves had turned yellow, falling with a rustle whenever the wind blew, piling up in a thick layer on the ground.

His breath condensed into white mist in the cold air, stretching out long in the dim morning light.

It had already been half a month since he was conscripted into the Hundred Talisman Hall.

His days were like clockwork, regulated to the point of rigidity: rising every day at the hour of the Dragon, he would unfailingly Cultivate the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art for half an hour, circulating the Spiritual Qi that had settled overnight until it flowed smoothly.

Then, he would cast the Wind Control Technique, skimming over the still-sleeping mountains to head toward Thousand Talisman Peak.

At three-quarters past the hour of the Dragon, he would step into cubicle number 73 of the Ding-Wei sector right on time.

Spreading paper, regulating his breath, and crafting Talismans.

Today was no different.

When Lin Xuan stepped onto the bluestone stairs of the Hundred Talisman Hall, the light barriers of sixty percent of the cubicles were already lit—a quarter of an hour earlier than the stipulated time.

In wartime, many Disciples arrived earlier than usual.

Although the contribution points for exceeding quotas were not much per Talisman, they added up, and for Disciples who needed to exchange for Medicinal Pills, Talismans, or even purchase life-saving supplies for relatives on the front lines, every point was precious.

He walked toward his cubicle.

When passing the neighboring cubicle number 72 of the Ding-Wei sector, Lin Xuan's footsteps slowed imperceptibly.

Through the transparent light barrier, he could clearly see that Senior Brother Zhou, who was at Qi Refining Stage 5, was burying his head in crafting Talismans.

On the table lay two finished Talismans; their pale red paper and complex cinnabar patterns indicated they were Fire Rain Talismans.

At this moment, Senior Brother Zhou was drawing the third one, the tip of his brush moving rapidly across the paper.

But Lin Xuan could see clearly that Senior Brother Zhou's complexion was very poor.

His face was sallow, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and fine beads of sweat were seeping from his forehead. His right hand, holding the brush, trembled ever so slightly at the moment of turning the stroke.

The Fire Rain Talisman was on the higher end of difficulty for first-grade Medium Grade Talismans.

It required Spiritual Qi to be evenly dispersed into dozens of points to form a covering attack, consuming a great amount of Divine Sense and demanding high precision in the control of Spiritual Qi.

Lin Xuan remembered that on the first day this Senior Brother Zhou had entered the hall, he could steadily produce five or six Fire Rain Talismans, and at that time, he had even been praised publicly by the duty deacon: "Technique is seasoned, output is stable."

But looking at his state now...

"Cough, cough, cough..."

A stifled cough came from the cubicle.

Senior Brother Zhou put down his brush, covered his mouth with his left hand, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

After a good while, he fished a small green jade bottle from his robes, pulled out the stopper, and poured out a pale green Medicinal Pill to swallow.

He closed his eyes to regulate his breath for about twenty breaths, and when he opened them again, his complexion had eased slightly, but the weariness in his eyes remained impossible to shake off.

He picked up the brush again, dipped it in cinnabar, and continued drawing.

Lin Xuan withdrew his gaze and walked into his own cubicle.

The light barrier closed behind him, the sound-proofing Restriction activated, and the sounds of the outside world were instantly cut off.

He set down his wooden box and took out his tools.

He spread out the purple-patterned paper and uncovered the jar of thunder-patterned cinnabar; the familiar scorched aroma mixed with the slight tingling sensation unique to Thunder Spiritual Energy permeated the air.

Today, he would continue drawing the Thunder Shield Talisman.

The tip of his brush was saturated with cinnabar, and Thunder Spiritual Energy flowed out through the Meridians of his arm, passing through the purple bamboo brush handle to merge with the cinnabar.

He began to draw.

The first arc extended across the Talisman paper, steady and fluid.

Lin Xuan's mind was calm, his hand moving with the grace of a dragon and the speed of a snake.

He had drawn the twenty-seven strokes of the Thunder Shield Talisman no fewer than two thousand times; every turn of the brush, every point of Spiritual Qi node compression, and every loop back to form a ring had become muscle memory.

When the fourth Talisman was completed, the time displayed on the jade tablet was just past three-quarters past the hour of the Horse.

Lin Xuan put down his brush and lined up the four finished Talismans on the table. The silver-purple patterns glowed faintly on the purple-patterned paper, their Spiritual Qi contained within, all of superior quality.

The quota was complete.

But he did not stop.

He spread out the fifth sheet of Talisman paper.

This time, Lin Xuan deliberately adjusted his breathing rhythm, letting his output of Spiritual Qi be a fraction faster than usual.

The brush tip traveled to the eighteenth stroke—that was a critical turn where he needed to compress the Thunder Spiritual Energy by thirty percent to complete the base point of the "shield-shaped structure."

At the very moment the brush tip turned, Lin Xuan's wrist trembled imperceptibly.

A little Thunder Spiritual Energy overflowed from the tip, creating a subtle conflict with the Spiritual Qi structure already built on the paper.

"Sss—"

Blue smoke rose from the edge of the Talisman paper, and it immediately burned through the center, turning into a small pinch of ash that fell onto the table.

The fifth one was ruined.

Lin Xuan's expression was calm as he swept the ash of the ruined Talisman into a special ceramic dish to the side.

He spread out the sixth sheet of Talisman paper.

This time, he drew with extra focus, his brush strokes as steady as a rock.

Half a cup of tea later, the Talisman was complete.

A silver-purple light shimmered as the Thunder Shield Talisman lay quietly on the table, of superior quality, indistinguishable from the previous four.

Five Thunder Shield Talismans: four for the quota, one exceeding it.

Lin Xuan put down his brush and glanced at the jade tablet—it was just past the beginning of the hour of the Sheep.

There was still over an hour left before they were to finish work at three-quarters past the hour of the Rooster.

He did not go to hand in the Talismans immediately, but instead sat cross-legged on the futon, activated the small Spirit-Gathering Array inside the cubicle, and regulated his breath to recover his Divine Sense.

At the same time, his gaze passed through the transparent light barrier, observing the situation in the surrounding cubicles.

Directly opposite, in cubicle number 41 of the Ding-Chou sector.

That female cultivator at Qi Refining Level 4 surnamed Su was currently drawing a Rejuvenation Talisman.

Senior Sister Su was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with delicate features and skilled techniques.

Her brush tip was dipped in cyan spirit liquid, outlining complex healing Talisman patterns on the pale green Talisman paper.

She was fast with her strokes, but every stroke was steady; she could complete one Talisman in less than a quarter of an hour, with an estimated success rate of over eighty percent.

But Lin Xuan knew that her profit margin was not high.

The main Materials for the Rejuvenation Talisman were Qinglin grass juice and Moon Essence Dew; the prices of these two Materials were not cheap before the war, and after the war started, they had risen by another thirty percent. The material cost for a single Talisman was around 20 contribution points.

And the wartime acquisition price for a Rejuvenation Talisman was 25 points.

For one Talisman, the net profit was 5 points.

Senior Sister Su's daily quota was also four Talismans; if she only completed the quota, after deducting the cost of Materials, her net income was only 20 points. If she wanted to earn more, she had to push for volume.

Although her expression was normal at this moment, Lin Xuan noticed that every time she finished a Talisman, she would close her eyes to regulate her breath for at least thirty breaths; the trace of weariness deep in her eyes could not escape the observation of an attentive person.

Diagonally opposite, in cubicle number 12 of the Bing-Wu sector.

"Ruined again!"

A low curse came through the light barrier—the sound-proofing Restriction could block most sounds, but if someone raised their volume unconsciously due to agitation, a few words would still leak through.

It was a young Disciple at Qi Refining Level 4, surnamed Zhao. At this moment, he was staring at a Talisman paper that was more than half burned, his face full of vexation.

Lin Xuan recognized him.

Three days ago, when Junior Brother Zhao was queuing at the exchange counter, he had excitedly told his companion that he wanted to switch to working on the Armor-Piercing Talisman—because the acquisition price for the Armor-Piercing Talisman was 28 points, higher than both the Golden Light Talisman and the Rejuvenation Talisman.

"I've calculated it; if I can draw two more Armor-Piercing Talismans every day, I can earn several hundred more points in a month!" Junior Brother Zhao's eyes had been shining at the time.

But the reason the Armor-Piercing Talisman was priced so high was precisely because of its difficulty.

It required the sharp characteristics of Metal-attribute Spiritual Qi to be compressed to the extreme, forming a single point of armor-breaking, penetrating power.

It demanded extremely high requirements for the control of Spiritual Qi; the slightest instability would cause a backlash, leading to the Talisman paper burning up.