Li Yuan returned to his residence, walked over to his table, and spread out a sheet of talisman paper.
He took out the instructions for making a Warning Talisman that he had purchased, cross-referencing them with the knowledge from his talisman-crafting manual.
The Spirit Pattern structure of the Warning Talisman was slightly more complex than that of the Exorcism Talisman.
The core was a perception-type Spirit Pattern circuit. Once activated with an injection of Spiritual Power, the Warning Talisman would create a sensory field that lasted for a set duration. If external Spiritual Qi fluctuations exceeded a certain threshold, the field would be disturbed, and the Talisman would emit a faint Spiritual Light as a warning.
The difficulty lay in the fineness of the perception Spirit Pattern. Every arc in the Spirit Pattern circuit had to be uniform, with consistent thickness. The slightest deviation would cause uneven sensitivity—either too sensitive, where a gust of wind could trigger it, or too dull, failing to react even if a fight was happening outside.
Li Yuan picked up his brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and touched it to the first sheet of talisman paper.
Although it was harder than the Exorcism Talisman, Li Yuan had much more experience in talisman making than before. He successfully created a Warning Talisman on his seventh attempt.
The panel displayed:
[Detected equippable item: Warning Talisman (Complete)]
[Entry Preview: Danger Sense (Gray) — Slightly amplifies the perception of danger, allowing for earlier awareness as danger approaches.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Spend a cumulative total of six hours in a dangerous environnt (0/6) / Preemptively dodge one dangerous attack in a single battle (0/1). Completing either condition is sufficient.]
[Current equipnt slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
Li Yuan’s finger paused for a mont on the edge of the talisman paper.
’Just as I thought. The panel can detect, equip, and read the entries of Talismans I make myself.’
’It’s a Gray entry, so the effect isn’t strong—just a slight boost to danger perception. But during patrols on the periphery or missions into the mountains, even an extra half-breath of warning could be the difference between life and death.’
There were two options for the permanence condition, and completing either one would work: spend six hours in a dangerous environnt, or preemptively dodge a dangerous attack in battle.
The first condition wasn’t too harsh. His patrols on the periphery often took him into dangerous environnts; accumulating six hours was just a matter of ti.
The second condition was more direct, but it depended on the specific circumstances of a real battle.
’No need to equip it yet. My slots are full. I’ll swap it in when I need it.’
Li Yuan put the Warning Talisman away and picked up another sheet of talisman paper to make a second one.
The mont he finished the final stroke on another Warning Talisman, a slight numbness tingled at Li Yuan’s fingertips.
There was nothing visibly wrong with his fingers, but the sensation of holding the brush had changed.
Before, he had to ntally trace the path of the Spirit Pattern and calculate the output of Spiritual Power for every single stroke, only acting after thinking it through.
There had been a thin barrier between thought and action.
Now, that barrier was gone. It seed to have beco instinct, like using chopsticks to pick up food—you don’t have to think about how to use the chopsticks.
Moreover, his control over Spiritual Power had improved. The loss of power over the short distance from his fingertip to the brush tip was smaller now.
[Tier One Talisman Making Skill: Novice (3/200)]
[Warning Talisman: Uninitiated (18/100)]
[Talisman Making Insight (White) Permanence Progress: 19/50]
’I’ve reached the Novice level in Talisman Making Skill.’
Li Yuan separated the finished products from the failed attempts and tidied up his table.
After a short rest, Li Yuan left his residence and walked along East Street toward the stall area.
When he reached the stall that had been selling Warning Talismans and their creation instructions, Li Yuan stopped again.
The few Warning Talismans were still on the stall’s surface.
Li Yuan reached out, his finger resting on the topmost Warning Talisman.
The panel displayed a notification.
[Detected equippable item: Warning Talisman (Complete)]
[Item Entry Grade: Gray]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information cannot be viewed.]
Li Yuan’s steps faltered for a mont.
’There was no reaction when I touched it before, but now there is.’
Only one thing had changed: in the interim, he had made a few Warning Talismans himself.
’Before I made one, touching soone else’s got no reaction. After I made one, it did.’
Li Yuan pondered for a few seconds, forming a theory in his mind.
Li Yuan pulled his hand back from the Warning Talisman. Without buying anything, he turned and continued on his way.
Along the way, Li Yuan touched the Cleaning Talismans and Exorcism Talismans at the Loose Cultivator stalls, and they all triggered a reaction.
When he touched the Changqing Rice and White Jade Rice, the system panel reacted to most, but not all.
If the Changqing Rice and White Jade Rice could trigger the system panel, then all similar Spirit Grains at that stall would trigger it. If they couldn’t, none would.
He asked the Loose Cultivators. So said they grew it themselves, others said they bought it. Whether it triggered a reaction didn’t seem to depend on whether it was hogrown or purchased; there was no discernible pattern.
’Is it because I’ve crafted and equipped items, deepening my connection to them and making the panel easier to trigger?’
Li Yuan guessed as he walked.
’Perhaps triggering the panel previously required a threshold or condition I wasn’t aware of. Even for the sa type of item, each individual one seed to be different. But once I learned to make or equip an item, it seems I could lower that threshold or et the condition.’
But Li Yuan had no proof for now; he could only guess.
As he turned onto West Street and headed toward the garrison, a figure in a patrol uniform approached him.
It was Zhao Hu.
When Zhao Hu saw Li Yuan, he jogged over, cupped his hands, and said, "Vice-Captain, Captain Wang wants you to co to the garrison."
Li Yuan nodded and quickened his pace toward the garrison.
The door to the main house was open. Li Yuan knocked.
"Co in."
Li Yuan entered. Wang De’s tone was curt.
"The Array Master has arrived."
"The Wang family invited him. He’s at their estate now. In a couple of days, I need you to go up the mountain to guide him."
"Guide him?"
"The Array Master wants to inspect the traces of the Array you found north of the valley and on your way back last ti. You and He Shou are the ones who saw the locations of those traces with your own eyes, so go up and show him the way."
Wang De picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"It’s highly unlikely to be dangerous. The Wang family will send an escort, and the Array Master himself is quite powerful. Once you’re there, just point out the locations. You don’t need to worry about anything else."
Li Yuan agreed.
"The exact ti isn’t set, but you’ll be notified in advance."
Wang De waved his hand dismissively.
Li Yuan left the main house and walked along West Street toward his residence.
As he reached the intersection of East Street and North Alley, a few Loose Cultivators were squatting at the base of a wall, chatting. Their voices weren’t loud, but in the quiet alley entrance, they were easy to hear.
"...The Li family’s marketplace is expanding again. They’ve marked out a huge new plot of land to the east."
"Expanding? How many tis has it been now?" another Loose Cultivator scoffed.
"They can afford to be confident. Look around the Li family’s marketplace—there are hardly any Demon Beasts. And what about our side? We have problems every other day."
"That’s true. A friend of mine went over to check it out last month. Said it’s really peaceful over there. The outskirts of the marketplace are spotless; you rarely even see a Tier One Low Grade Demon Beast."
"It’s strange. We’re both near the Yuanheng Mountain Range, so how co they don’t have any Demon Beasts over there?"
"Who knows? Maybe the Li family has so thod for repelling beasts."
Li Yuan’s pace slowed. He recalled what Chen Qi had told him about two marketplaces fighting over a spirit vein. One side had hired a group of beast-taming Loose Cultivators to specifically drive Demon Beasts toward the other’s marketplace, sending them all toward their rival. The target was thrown into chaos, its Loose Cultivators fled, and it lost the spirit vein.
Li Yuan entered his residence, slid the bolt on the door, and sat down on the edge of his bed to organize the information he had gathered:
Zhao Wu scouting the marketplace’s defenses while carrying a Jade Pendant with a Blue entry.
The marauding cultivators from the Crow Claw Gang carrying breath-concealing Jade Pendants.
Soone in the marketplace concocting breath-concealing potions.
The guard patrol encountering different types of Demon Beasts in the sa location for three consecutive days on the northern route.
The migration path on the hillside trampled by various types of Demon Beasts.
The half-digested pill found in the stomach of a Demon Beast.
The Li family’s marketplace expanding, its surroundings kept clean.
Qinghe Marketplace facing an increasing number of Demon Beasts, causing Loose Cultivators and shops to leave.
’Viewed separately, each of these things could be explained away. But strung together, sothing feels wrong.’
’This is all just the intel I know. The Wang family must know much more than I do. The marketplace’s safety isn’t my concern, nor is it my place to worry about it.’
’But I have to watch my own back, lest the Wang family sell out one day.’
Li Yuan sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate.
Dusk settled outside the window, and only the sound of steady breathing filled the small wooden house.
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