69: Chapter 69 Perfect Talisman

Under the old man's roar, Su Jiuchuan felt as if a gong had been struck directly beside his ears. His mind went blank for a moment, and his hands involuntarily loosened. After a while, he finally regained his senses and looked around at the crowd, but everyone else seemed unaffected.

The sound-based attack just now seemed aimed solely at him. Su Jiuchuan felt a deep sense of wariness toward this old man in black and dared not say anything more.

Li De took the opportunity to leave, his head hung low, but a hint of triumph flashed in his eyes.

It turned out that as soon as Su Jiuchuan touched the cowhide, he noticed something wrong; there was a puddle of water stains left on it. Someone unfamiliar with talisman drawing might not have noticed the issue, but in his life simulations, Su Jiuchuan had practiced for fifteen years. He knew very well that the texture of water-soaked cowhide was completely different from that of dry cowhide.

The other party had been very clever; they had only splashed water on a few parts of the cowhide, keeping the rest dry. If you needed to draw a talisman, the strokes would inevitably cross both the wet and dry sections, making it much harder to maintain a consistent flow of True Qi through the strokes.

Of course, for those Great Masters of talisman making, this was nothing, but for those coming here to take the Talisman Department assessment, this slight difference would greatly affect the success rate.

Su Jiuchuan took a deep look at Li De's retreating back. He had just arrived at the academy and could not have offended anyone here, so it must have been someone he had offended in the past who had done this. Regardless, he had noted this grudge.

Seeing that no one dared to move in the hall, the old man in black nodded and said, "Since you are ready, watch carefully. I will only write it once."

He stood up tall, grabbed a large calligraphy brush, and swished it across the white wall behind him, drawing a talisman that consisted of exactly three strokes. Once the three strokes were completed, the entire talisman glowed faintly. It took a full cup of tea's time before it slowly dimmed.

Su Jiuchuan gasped inwardly. He remembered that with his current Realm, the talismans he drew would fade away after only a few breaths. The old man not only drew a larger talisman but it also glowed for much longer, clearly showing that his cultivation far exceeded his own.

Clang, clang, clang!!!

A servant struck an ancient bronze bell in the hall, which meant the assessment had begun.

Su Jiuchuan composed himself and carefully examined the three pieces of cowhide. The parts with water stains were uneven and scattered in different places. He picked up one piece of cowhide and channeled his energy. His palms immediately became hot, and the water stains on the cowhide slowly evaporated, drying up after a short while.

However, upon closer inspection, the dried-out parts of the cowhide were even worse, curling up slightly, making the whole piece look even more uneven.

He sighed; it seemed he would have to do this the hard way.

Su Jiuchuan carefully ground the ink and then began to write. With over a decade of memory, his brushwork was steady. He completed the first stroke and followed through, successfully avoiding the water stains from earlier. However, the final stroke could not be avoided, and he had to place it on the spot that had just been dried.

"Pfft!"

A splash of ink burst from the tip of the brush, and the entire piece of cowhide was splattered with a large ink stain.

Su Jiuchuan sighed. He had failed; it seemed the method of drying the cowhide did not work.

He looked up at the examination hall. Five or six others had also failed. Wen Shuyu and Wen Qiye had not yet begun writing; they were holding their brushes, eyes closed and minds focused, seemingly using some kind of secret technique.

Su Jiuchuan ignored the others, threw the cowhide aside, and picked up another piece.

Since drying it didn't work, why not try wetting the entire piece of cowhide? He acted on the thought, channeling his energy until sweat poured down his arms like rain. In a short while, the cowhide before him was thoroughly soaked.

He raised his brush again, focused his mind, and began to draw.

"Pfft!"

The ink at the tip of the brush burst again, and he failed once more.

Su Jiuchuan sighed. It was still not quite right. He looked up and found that five people had already finished, and their cowhide was emitting a faint glow. Wen Qiye was one of the five who had completed it.

Wen Qiye scanned his surroundings, glanced at Wen Shuyu to the side, and a cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth. Then, seeing the two discarded cowhides of Su Jiuchuan, he showed a look of disdain.

The cowhide in front of Wen Shuyu was also stained and had been casually tossed aside. She held her brush, but hesitated to write, sweat already forming on her forehead.

Li De, standing in the corner of the hall, had been watching this side. Seeing that Su Jiuchuan had ruined two pieces of cowhide in a row, a triumphant smile could not help but appear on his lips.

Su Jiuchuan felt quite depressed at this moment. He had been too careless. He had thought that since he had mastered this Three-Stroke Talisman in his life simulations, passing this assessment would be no problem. He had not expected such an accident to occur at the last minute.

Now, he only had one last chance left. If he failed, he would have no opportunity to enter the Talisman Department. After that, he would have to face Young Master Lin Yanyi and the Innate Martial Artist behind the Lin family directly.

He shook his head, casting these distracting thoughts aside. Since he could master this talisman in fifteen years during his life simulations, training to practice on various materials should not be a problem.

[At eighteen, you become a Half-Step Innate. You head to the Yunlin Secret Realm, hiding away to focus on cultivating talisman drawing.]

[You practice drawing talismans on sandy ground, on rock walls, and on grass...]

[Thirty years later, your mastery of this Three-Stroke Talisman reaches a Major Achievement.]

...

The simulation ended. Su Jiuchuan sighed inwardly. He had simulated this single Three-Stroke Talisman for forty-five years in total. Judging by this trend, there would be even more complex talismans in the future; he truly did not know how much longer it would take.

He looked up and saw that more than a dozen people in the hall had already finished. Wen Shuyu had also succeeded; she wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked over toward him.

The giant hourglass placed in the center of the hall had less than a quarter of its sand remaining.

Su Jiuchuan picked up the last piece of cowhide, dipped the brush in ink, and completed the task in one go. Afterward, the talisman on the cowhide actually emitted a faint blue glow.

"This is..." The old man in black, who had been sitting upright in the front, was stunned by this scene and hurriedly stood up, walking over quickly.

He grabbed Su Jiuchuan's cowhide and examined it carefully. After a long while, he muttered, "It is actually a Perfect Talisman."

A so-called Perfect Talisman refers to one where the structure between the strokes reaches the most perfect degree, allowing the True Qi to maintain the maximum state of connectivity as it flows through. Even for a Great Master of talisman making like him, there was only an occasional chance to draw a Perfect Talisman.

Even though the talisman before him was the simplest Three-Stroke Talisman, the fact that such a young person could draw it showed that this was a person with talent.

However, he looked at the two discarded cowhides on the table and became suspicious again. Could someone capable of drawing a Perfect Talisman fail twice in a row? It seemed this time was just a stroke of luck.