32: Draw talismans to slay the spirit beasts of the central region.

Li Yi saw Jiang Yan's expression and nodded with satisfaction.

For someone drawing a Talisman for the first time, the feeling of obstruction when controlling spiritual power is a necessary experience.

Holding a brush is different from holding a sword; a sword is a tool for slaughter, while a brush is a tool for literature.

Both seem to require the infusion of spiritual power, but if too much is infused into the brush, it will push back, naturally creating a sense of obstruction.

Wanting to control spiritual power at will seems simple, but it is actually very difficult because it differs from mobilizing spiritual power; it requires step-by-step exploration and long-term practice to truly reach the Realm of doing as one pleases.

Jiang Yan's hand was shaking violently right now because every time he called upon his spiritual power to Revered Master the brush, he felt a conflicting sense of obstruction.

"It seems you won't be able to draw a Talisman today." Li Yi's tone was relaxed, intentionally discouraging Jiang Yan.

"The outcome is not yet decided, and it's still early; I might just be a dark horse." Jiang Yan restrained his spiritual power output.

Fifteen minutes... thirty minutes... by now, the frequency of his hand's shaking had decreased significantly, but he still couldn't draw a Talisman.

'Damn it, I've killed so many Spirit Beasts with a sword, I refuse to believe I can't hold a brush!'

'Keep a level head, relax...'

"Clatter!"

Just as Jiang Yan's state of mind relaxed for a moment, the brush instantly slipped onto the Talisman paper.

"Holy crap!"

Jiang Yan cursed out loud; his mindset had completely collapsed.

"Steady your mind, I didn't tell you to just relax!" Li Yi reminded him flatly.

Jiang Yan nodded and picked up the brush again.

He knew very well that as long as he knew how to draw the Spirit Suppressing Talisman, he could hunt those weird entities.

To be able to hunt the weird and the wicked, his mindset seemed to shift quite a bit, and even his hand stopped trembling.

Li Yi was somewhat surprised to see this instantaneous change in Jiang Yan.

Although he didn't know what Jiang Yan was thinking, being able to adjust his mindset in such a short time showed that he had a persistent pursuit of something.

As the Spiritual Qi output stabilized, Jiang Yan gradually began to find the rhythm.

'Remember this feeling, adjust your breathing, control the spiritual power freely.'

Jiang Yan silently encouraged himself, gradually becoming familiar with the amount of spiritual power to infuse.

With one stroke, that sense of obstruction instantly vanished, followed by a feeling of smooth flow.

"Wrong!"

Just as Jiang Yan was triumphantly drawing the Talisman, Li Yi produced a willow branch from somewhere and struck Jiang Yan's arm directly.

"Ouch." Jiang Yan felt the pain, and the brush he had just steadied immediately fell.

"Recall carefully how I started the stroke and how I outlined it," Li Yi reminded him.

Jiang Yan nodded with a bitter face, picked up the brush, and slowly closed his eyes.

As the images played back in his mind, Jiang Yan could clearly see Li Yi's Talisman-drawing technique.

'So that's how it is; it's right then left.'

When he opened his eyes again, a flash of inspiration suddenly passed through him.

Dip the ink, drop the brush, press the brush, lift the brush, stop!

The moment he stopped the brush, the Cleaning Talisman on the table immediately had a spiritual power reaction.

[Talismanry LV1: 1/800]

"Haha, I succeeded!" Jiang Yan showed a triumphant smile.

Li Yi smiled and nodded with satisfaction: "Alright, finish drawing these three stacks of Talisman paper. I will head back first. When you leave, put the finished Talismans on the shelf, blow out the candle, and then you can leave the room."

"Yes, Revered Master." Jiang Yan respectfully saw Li Yi off.

With Li Yi's departure, Jiang Yan also began to seriously draw Talismans.

Once he mastered the knack and the skill of drawing Talismans, his technique and speed gradually improved.

If Li Yi were here to see Jiang Yan's Talisman-drawing methods now, he would surely be shocked, because at this moment, Jiang Yan was like a seasoned veteran, with none of the amateurishness of a beginner.

As one Cleaning Talisman after another was produced, Jiang Yan's Talismanry skill quickly rose to level two.

Just as he wanted to continue drawing Talismans to push his proficiency, the nine hundred and ninety-nine sheets of Talisman paper were all used up.

"Hah!"

Stretching his back, Jiang Yan followed Li Yi's instructions, placed the Talismans on the shelf, and blew out the candle. The Formation barrier in the room instantly vanished.

'This Cheap Master really knows a lot, even being able to set up a Formation in a room.'

After complaining internally, Jiang Yan hurried toward the Middle Zone of the Spirit Beasts; after all, he still had six hunting mission tokens for the Middle Zone Spirit Beasts.

Of course, there was no need to kill so many Middle Zone Spirit Beasts—only fifty to a hundred and twenty of each type.

These medium-sized Spirit Beast corpses were actually fodder for the large Spirit Beasts in the Upper Zone.

According to what Jiang Yan knew, there were only thirteen large Spirit Beasts in the Upper Zone, and Inner Sect Disciples were responsible for feeding them.

These large Spirit Beasts were basically the backbone of the Sect; once the Sect faced danger, these large Spirit Beasts would be deployed onto the battlefield.

[Killed Spotted Flower Spirit Snake, gained experience: 600, gained life span: 25 years, life span: 95 years]

[Current Experience: 2.37%]

[Plundered 0.1 essence from Spotted Flower Spirit Snake]

[Sword Weapons LV5 (18965/100000)]

'As expected, the experience bar has gone up a lot.'

'But being able to plunder essence is also pretty good!'

Having plundered essence, Jiang Yan was suddenly filled with motivation. Holding his longsword, he charged toward two nearby Spotted Flower Spirit Snakes.

These medium-sized Spirit Beasts were not beasts that would just take a beating; as long as an intruder approached their territory, they would actively attack.

Jiang Yan's longsword danced rapidly, bits of sword light turning into a Sword Rain Art.

In the Middle Zone, Jiang Yan didn't dare hold back any strength; whenever he encountered more than two medium-sized Spirit Beasts, he would use Martial Skills.

Meanwhile, Guan He and Ma Jun, standing outside the barrier, were filled with shock.

What were they seeing? Various Martial Skills and Spells were bombarding the Spirit Beasts!

"Say, what Rank do you think this Senior Brother Jiang could hold now?" Ma Jun asked in a low voice.

"Anyway, top ten is no problem, and if things go well, maybe even top three," Guan He said.

"Yeah." Ma Jun nodded in agreement. "I think so too; after all, those who can hunt Middle Zone Spirit Beasts alone are basically all Elite Disciples."

In their eyes, becoming an Outer Sect Disciple was already impressive, and being able to slay Middle Zone Spirit Beasts made one an even more formidable figure.

Of course, Outer Sect Disciples were also divided into different Ranks.

The Outer Sect Trial Jiang Yan participated in was only a condition for entering the Outer Sect.

But to truly gain a foothold in the Outer Sect, one had to become an Elite Disciple.

Any Disciple at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer or above could sign up, but whether they would be selected was a big question mark.

Although Zhuang Yu was strong, compared to the Elite Disciples now, he couldn't even compare to a leg hair, as he hadn't even reached the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

After becoming an Outer Sect Elite Disciple, there was also a Hundred Disciple Ranking.

Only by entering the Outer Sect top hundred could they hope to see the threshold of becoming an Inner Sect Disciple.

Of course, it wasn't to say that being in the Outer Sect top hundred meant you could enter the Inner Sect; first, your cultivation had to be acceptable, and then you had to successfully brave Lingdu Cliff and slay a Second Realm Yao Beast or eliminate a Second Realm wicked entity.

Those who could meet these conditions were basically favored children of heaven who had stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

And such Disciples would only emerge from the Outer Sect top ten.

Therefore, an Outer Sect Genius was only the threshold for seeing the Inner Sect.

[Killed Spotted Flower Spirit Snake, gained experience: 600, gained life span: 27 years, life span: 96 years]

[Current Experience: 101.11%]

[Level Up Successful]

[Current Experience: 1.11%]

[Sword Weapons LV5 (19581/100000)]

As the fiftieth Spotted Flower Spirit Snake was slain, Jiang Yan finally stopped his sword.

He didn't delay, and after clearing the corpses of the fifty Spotted Flower Spirit Snakes, he quickly ran out.

"Alright, you two push these back. Wait for me at the Rock-Earth Green Wolf area in a bit," Jiang Yan instructed.

"Yes, Senior Brother." Ma Jun and Guan He hurriedly obeyed.

As the two left, Jiang Yan quickly opened his character panel.

[Host: Jiang Yan]

[Talent: Heaven Rewards the Diligent, Life Span Plunder]

[Rank: 18]

[Experience: 1.11%]

[life span: 20/8991 years]

[life span: 24059 years (Available life span to strengthen Cultivation Technique, Spell, and Martial Skill proficiency)]

[essence: 27.6]

[Spirit: 16]

[Realm: Qi Refining Fifth Layer (Can freely call upon Spiritual Qi within 300 meters)]

[Dao: 0]

[Cultivation Technique: Qi Refining Technique Introductory Chapter (scratching the surface)]

[Spell: Thunderstorm Art (scratching the surface), Breath Concealment Technique (mastery), Tiger Roar Sound Wave [beginner]]

[Martial Skill: Sword Rain Art (scratching the surface), Sword Breaking Method (mastery), Sword Shadow Art (Minor Achievement)]

...'Damn it, I can finally compete in life span with those Soul Gathering Old Monsters!'

For someone like him who was afraid of Undergoing Tribulation, without being ten thousand percent sure, he wouldn't Core Formation even if he died—unless his life was at its very last moment; otherwise, he would just play it safe to the end.