Li Xin drew Strength Talismans again today. On the desk, stacks of paper had piled up, and the tip of the brush was thoroughly soaked with black ink.

  The moment the brush touched the blank paper, there was not the slightest tremor at his fingertips. Even the word “draw” did not quite fit. His hand merely moved on its own, guided by long familiarity. But today, his concentration did not last long. Because a new Character appeared before his eyes.

  [You have completed a 1-stroke Strength Talisman.]

  [Strength increases slightly.]

  [The 1-stroke Strength Talisman has fully taken root in your body.]

  [No further increase in strength will occur.]

  “...As expected, even ability increases have their limits.”

  Had he already drawn over a hundred Strength Talismans? Only now did Li Xin realize that limit. Once a talisman’s effect was fully assimilated, no further efficacy appeared. Just as a faint sense of regret was about to pass through him, a single beam of light pierced into his vision. A line of text floated in midair.

  [You have completely assimilated the ‘1-stroke Strength Talisman’.]

  [Condition fulfilled.]

  [You comprehend the fist technique ‘Mountain-Shattering Fist’ from the talisman.]

  “...What?”

  Li Xin froze in place. And immediately after, beyond his consciousness, a colossal wave surged like a storm. A sensation beyond words. It felt as though someone’s hand was directly rummaging through his brain, implanting knowledge.

  “Ugh...!”

  Li Xin bent forward and drew in a sharp breath. His heart thundered. No—his entire body vibrated. His fingertips twitched, and scorching heat gathered at the ends of his fists. A shudder carved deep into his bones. Completely new sensations and theories, unknown just moments ago, settled firmly in his mind.

  [Shattering Mountain Fist (碎山拳)]

  Draw in and compress the flow of power connecting the heart and shoulders, then inject that power into the fist. It does not strike the surface, but shatters the inside. Even a beginner, with steady training, could crack stone. Li Xin quietly opened his eyes. He turned his body and looked at the pile of dry firewood outside the window.

  He approached without a word and clenched his fist. He steadied his breathing and pulled his shoulders back. The power born from his heart poured into the tip of his fist.

  The pile of firewood shattered into pieces. The surface remained intact, but the core had collapsed and crumbled away.

  Li Xin’s heart raced at the sight. The 1-stroke Strength Talisman. That had been nothing more than the beginning. When a talisman was fully assimilated, something corresponding always followed.

  At that moment, he became certain. That the road ahead might be far wider than he had thought. And that at the end of that road, infinite possibilities awaited. Li Xin quietly looked down at his own fist.

  “...But this is still far from enough.”

  Shattering Mountain Fist was certainly a useful fist technique. However, compared to the methods of true experts, it was nothing more than an imitation. Since it was a fist technique obtained from a 1-stroke talisman, it was only natural that this was its limit.

  But—what Li Xin focused on was not Shattering Mountain Fist itself. It was the method by which he had obtained it. Just a single talisman. By drawing it a hundred times and assimilating it, he had awakened a fist technique. Moreover, this was not something taught by others, nor learned through instruction. He had merely moved his own hand across paper.

  ...This is absurdly efficient.

  For ordinary practitioners, even learning a basic fist technique required repeating movements hundreds or thousands of times. Yet he had gained one simply because he drew talismans.

  Li Xin was fifteen years old. It was the age when those who entered sects began to show results. But his current realm was still First Stage, First Layer. Calling him a cultivator sounded nice, but in truth, he was little different from an ordinary person. His sensitivity was low, and his bones and muscles were weak.

  Naturally, his cultivation was slow. The only thing he possessed was manual dexterity. That was why he had chosen the path of a talisman master, but even that road was not easy. A talisman master was not merely someone who drew talismans. Now, he understood—the reason this body’s previous owner had died was not because of weak willpower, but because the body itself had been weak. To compensate for lacking strength, he had consumed that much more mental energy. Now that his strength somewhat supported him, his mind no longer grew hazy when drawing talismans.

  When the body grows strong, the mind is consumed less.

  Essence, Qi, and Spirit. The three pillars of a cultivator, and the foundation of all things. If one was lacking, the other two bore the burden. If Qi was insufficient, Essence was burned, and if Essence was lacking, Spirit was worn away.

  Li Xin had experienced this truth to the bone. He reflected on himself. His sensitivity was weak, and his bones and muscles fragile. But it was not a dead end.

  “Just as I increased strength with the Strength Talisman, I can compensate for everything else with talismans.”

  If Qi was lacking, he could draw a Yang Qi Talisman. If sensitivity was weak, he could draw talismans that heightened perception. Until now, he had drawn talismans to survive. But from now on, he would draw them not merely to live, but to move forward. Talismans produced entirely different results depending on who used them, and how.

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  ***

  In the past, before the Heavenly Dao Sect reorganized the cultivation world, cultivation methods had been slow and grueling. Skin tempering, muscle training, bone forging, organ strengthening, and Qi accumulation. It had been a method of building the body step by step.

  But the Heavenly Dao Sect overturned that approach entirely. Raise the realm first. Then reconstruct the body based on that power. This new method was called “Body Cleansing (洗身).”

  Cultivation no longer began with skin tempering. First, the realm was raised. Then Essence, Qi, and Spirit were reorganized accordingly. From this flow emerged the system known as “Stages.”

  What a First Stage cultivator had to do was clear—Accumulate. First and foremost, accumulate unconditionally. What mattered was not how it was used, but how much was accumulated.

  This was the direction proposed by the Heavenly Dao Sect, and the essence of modern cultivation.

  First Stage, Ninth Layer—the moment one reached that point, everything accumulated thus far was reorganized and reconstructed at once. During the Body Cleansing process, unbalanced Essence, Qi, and Spirit converged into one, and their total amount was aligned to an average value. Only then could one truly balance Essence, Qi, and Spirit and establish the foundation of a true cultivator.

  Li Xin looked not at the present, but at the future. Of course, he might still be weaker than others for now. Even with his strength slightly increased by the Strength Talisman, he was still at the very bottom among mountain cultivators. His control over Qi flow was clumsy, and his control over spiritual power immature.

  But that was only for now. What mattered was not raising combat power. The very first task was accumulation. Just one more talisman. Just one more line. He had to learn talismans of various attributes and purposes, and engrave them into his body and mind. That was the path Li Xin chose. For him, it was the most realistic and fastest path.

  ***

  After fully assimilating the 1-stroke Strength Talisman, Li Xin pondered for some time. If he wanted to grow stronger, he now had to draw other talismans.

  “Should I draw a Lightness Talisman?”

  But even in the market, few sought Lightness Talismans. If the time needed to sell increased, his growth rate would naturally slow.

  “For now, I’ll focus on the 2-stroke Strength Talisman. I can draw Lightness Talismans whenever I have spare time.”

  The 2-stroke talisman that had once caused death. But now, things were different. As the power of the Strength Talisman settled into his body, the fatigue from drawing talismans was reduced by half. The possibility was more than sufficient.

  Li Xin carefully opened a small box. Inside were fifty sheets of white paper, neatly folded. As the success rate of his talismans rose, stable profits had accumulated without him noticing.

  “With this... I can buy one stalk of Qingming Spirit Grass.”

  Qingming Spirit Grass. A spiritual herb he had already consumed once before, one that cleared the mind and aided recovery of mental strength. What Li Xin could afford now was only low-grade Qingming Spirit Grass, but it would still greatly help in drawing talismans.

  The market was as bustling as ever. Under wide-spread tents, cultivators of all kinds haggled loudly. Various talismans, old antiques, colorful medicinal herbs, and even cheap cultivation tools. Within it all, Li Xin moved quietly.

  At one corner of the market, an area suffused with a faint grassy scent. Among cultivators, this place was called the Herb Market. Here gathered those who cultivated and sold spiritual herbs. They were known as herb cultivators, those who made a living growing spiritual plants.

  Li Xin’s gaze fixed on a small plant—a plant with densely sprouted blue-green leaves. Without immediately asking the price, Li Xin first examined the condition of the Qingming Spirit Grass.

  The leaf tips were slightly yellow, but the stem was straight and the leaf texture uniform. If the price was right, it was just right. The herb cultivator was a middle-aged woman. She pursed her lips slightly, looked Li Xin over, and spoke.

  “50 jeon. This was harvested just yesterday. The fragrance is still alive.”

  “50 jeon is a bit much. You can see the end of the stem is drying. In three days, it’ll be hard to use.”

  The woman narrowed her eyes, clicked her tongue, and nodded.

  “You’ve got a sharp tongue. Fine, 48 jeon.”

  “Thank you.”

  Li Xin handed over 48 sheets of prepared white paper. After counting them, the woman nodded.

  “You know how to take it, right? Don’t eat it all at once. Brew it as tea and drink it in two portions.”

  “Yes, I understand.”

  Li Xin carefully placed the Qingming Spirit Grass wrapped in cloth into his chest. Just a few thousand years ago, spiritual herbs had been items only great sects or wealthy elites could touch. But after the Heavenly Dao Sect reformed the spiritual agriculture industry, things changed. Varieties were improved, and cultivation methods popularized. Thanks to that, even a lowly cultivator like him could easily obtain a stalk of Qingming Spirit Grass.

  As soon as he returned home, Li Xin moved at once. He carefully plucked the leaves of the Qingming Spirit Grass and placed them into a small teacup he had prepared. Then he poured in hot water. A bluish mist-like fragrance spread as if rising in vapor.

  Clear and transparent energy. A refreshing scent that tickled his nose seeped deep into his mind.

  He lifted the teacup and slowly moistened his lips.

  Qingming Spirit Grass—among spiritual herbs, it was the most basic, but it had the effect of clearing the mind and temporarily expanding divine perception.

  For talisman masters, there was no cheaper or better supplement. As several mouthfuls went down his throat, Li Xin’s gaze gradually calmed. Sensation awakened at his fingertips, and the clutter in his mind began to organize itself. It seemed far better in condition than the Qingming Spirit Grass he had consumed before.

  Now was the time. Li Xin immediately headed to his desk. He spread out the white paper and adjusted his grip on the brush. He wiped the sweat from his palms on his sleeve and sat in deep meditation.

  A deep breath, then immersion. The first stroke. It connected smoothly. A diagram he had repeated dozens, hundreds of times. It was no longer unfamiliar. And then, for the first time, he drew the second stroke.

  At that moment, his hand hesitated. It felt as though he was pressing the brush not against paper, but against a solid wall. An intangible resistance seized the tip of the brush.

  Is this... what an Additional Stroke is?

  The same line. The same texture. Yet the paper rejected it. A single simple line carried a burden heavy enough to drain him.

  His fingertips began to shake minutely. He had to follow the ink line. The stroke could not deviate. He steadied his breath and composed his mind, but—the ink line slipped slightly.

  Balance collapsed, and the talisman was ruined. Li Xin quietly set the brush down. It was a failure. But he did not lower his head. Instead, he slowly lifted it, sharpening his gaze. A clear realization surfaced in his mind.

  It’s not that I lack strength. My physical strength was sufficient, and the effect of Qingming Spirit Grass was clear....I simply lacked technique.

  An Additional Stroke was not merely redrawing the same line. One had to follow the existing flow of energy without dispersing it. The angle of the brush, the speed, the force, the amount of ink—all of it had to be perfectly tuned, without the slightest deviation—as though drawing the very first stroke again.

  Li Xin lifted the teacup once more. A sip of the slightly lukewarm tea cleared his mind yet again.