novelraw Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33: The Art of Talismans
On the third day after arriving at Firecloud Grotto-Heaven, the Martial Academy’s “first lesson” finally began.
Early that morning, while Lin Bai was cultivating, he heard that familiar chime once again.
“Students are requested to arrive at the designated location within half a shichen.”
Because the jade token had set a time limit this time, Lin Bai moved quickly.
He soon finished tidying himself up and headed out. After thinking about it for a moment, he decided to see whether Wang Yu was there.
Through the formation around Wang Yu’s courtyard, he learned that she was still inside.
About five minutes later, the gate to Wang Yu’s courtyard opened, and the girl’s figure drifted out with graceful ease. The two looked at each other, perfectly in sync.
“Let’s go.”
They had left a little late, and by the time they arrived, quite a few people had already reached the place and taken good spots.
Ahead of them stood something like a three-tiered altar, and everyone had gathered below it.
“I wonder how this Martial Academy trains people.”
“Hard to say. Everyone’s Dao Path is different, and their strengths vary so much. It would be difficult to teach them all in the same way.”
“My guess is that it’ll be practical combat.”
The crowd buzzed with discussion, and the students of the Military Track were the most concerned of all.
Lin Bai and Wang Yu, on the other hand, had nothing to worry about. They were here to study talismans. Everything else was secondary.
Still, Lin Bai was now even more tempted to make full use of the Martial Academy’s free resources.
After everyone had arrived, the Spirit of the Space in this place appeared once more.
“Students of the Military Track, step forward.”
At those words, a little over twenty people stepped out of the crowd and onto the altar. The altar began to shine, and the next moment, all of them vanished.
After that came the Literary Track, and then the Artifact and Alchemy branches of the Auxiliary Dao.
“Disciples of Auxiliary Dao—Talismans, step forward.”
At last, it was Lin Bai’s “talisman class.” There were not many people in it. Including Lin Bai, there were only twelve in total.
Lin Bai stepped onto the altar, and in the next instant the surroundings shifted. He found himself in an entirely new environment.
It was an ancient wooden classroom. A lectern stood at the front, and below it were twelve neatly arranged individual worktables, set in three columns and four rows.
Looking outward, one could actually see enormous stars hanging there, each one so mysterious that a single glance at them made countless lines begin sketching themselves across the mind.
Lin Bai hurriedly looked away, lest something unpredictable happen.
Seeing the setting here, he actually felt as though he had returned to the drafting classroom from his university days in his previous life.
None of the twelve people in the talisman class were fools. They all took their positions of their own accord.
Lin Bai stood in the third position from the right, and Wang Yu ended up directly in front of him.
At that moment, a figure slowly condensed into shape upon the lectern. It was a middle-aged man in white robes, elegant in appearance and extraordinary in bearing.
“To all students studying the art of talismans, my name is Gudu Ke. You may address me as Instructor Gudu.”
The figure had form, but no true spirit. It was clearly nothing more than a replica created by Firecloud Grotto-Heaven.
The moment Lin Bai heard that name, it sounded strangely familiar.
Gudu Ke, Gudu Ke...
Then Lin Bai remembered.
When he had decided to study talismans as his Auxiliary Dao, he had carefully looked into the history of talismans.
The earliest talismans had been Heaven-and-Earth Runes, script belonging to the Heavenly Dao itself, possessing all manner of inconceivable power. Later, a sage had observed heaven and earth and created thirty-six basic runes, allowing the human race to wield that power as well.
That sage’s name had been Gudu Ke.
Clearly, Lin Bai was not the only one who had realized it. The expressions of everyone present changed, and some even let out involuntary gasps.
After creating the embryonic form of talisman arts, Gudu Ke had rendered a world-shaking service to the human race. He had received the support of immense destiny and a vast quantity of Human Order Merit, ascending straight into the Dao Ancestor realm.
They had come here to study talismans, but never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the one teaching them would be a legendary figure like Gudu Ke, even if what stood before them was only a replica.
Gudu Ke paid no mind to their emotions and spoke directly.
“To study the art of talismans, one must be proficient in the drawing of runes.”
“Students, who among you knows how many basic runes must first be learned at the beginning of talisman study? Anyone who wishes to answer may simply raise a hand.”
“In addition, those who answer will be rewarded with Merit Points. In the Martial Academy, those who dare to step forward first will naturally be rewarded.”
At the questioning of such a sage, everyone was eager to try. A boy raised his hand first and answered.
“Reporting to Instructor, there are thirty-six basic runes. All higher talismans in the future are formed through their interlocking fusion.”
“Correct.”
Gudu Ke gave a slight nod and immediately asked the next question.
“Then, does anyone know how these basic runes are categorized?”
This time, everyone raised their hands even more eagerly, and Wang Yu managed to be first.
“Reporting to Instructor, the basic runes can be divided into five major categories according to the Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. They are then further subdivided into the combinations of the Five Elements and the dual unions of Yin and Yang.”
After that, Wang Yu patiently explained what was meant by “the combinations of the Five Elements and the dual unions of Yin and Yang.”
The principle was not complicated. Taking the fire-element basic rune as an example, it could be subdivided into Fire-within-Fire, Fire-within-Metal, Fire-within-Wood, Fire-within-Water, Fire-within-Earth, Yang Fire, and Yin Fire.
The other elements followed the same pattern of combination.
An ordinary finished talisman would use nearly half of the Five Element basic runes. The only difference was which ones held the dominant role.
Of course, when counted in this way, with the combinations of the Five Elements and the dual unions of Yin and Yang, there were only thirty-five basic runes. The final rune was an attribute-less rune, or rather, an all-attribute rune.
“The attribute-less rune is the final basic rune that every talismanist must master.”
Wang Yu concluded her explanation.
“Higher talismans are formed through the layering of basic runes, and the attribute-less rune is the crucial ‘connection point’ among them, responsible for stabilizing the entire structure.”
The talismans of this world were somewhat like circuit synthesis from Lin Bai’s previous life.
Up in front, Wang Yu spoke with calm assurance. Behind her, Lin Bai listened with great interest.
He was not particularly familiar with this foundational knowledge either. After all, during the previous month, Lin Bai had been occupied with all sorts of other matters. How could he have found the time to study the fundamentals of talismans? Only before setting out had his elder sister Lin Su bought him a book on basic talisman knowledge for him to browse through.
At this moment, he listened with exceptional focus.
What was that saying again?
Ah, right.
“When your knowledge is lacking badly enough, you can even learn from the questions themselves.”
“Very good. Excellent.”
Gudu Ke expressed his approval of Wang Yu’s answer.
“Since everyone now has an understanding of rune classification, we will move directly into the practical portion: how to construct a qualified rune.”
“Knowing is easy; doing is hard. My first lesson will begin with an earth-aspect basic rune.”
As he spoke, Gudu Ke waved his hand, and a three-dimensional model appeared. It was cubic in shape and looked incomparably weighty and profound.
“The one in my hand is an enlarged Earth-within-Earth basic rune.”
Lin Bai listened with utmost seriousness, because this was the Auxiliary Dao art he would rely on in the future to earn resources and safeguard his Dao Path.
After Gudu Ke had roughly finished explaining how the nodes of the Earth-within-Earth basic rune were structured, he waved his hand again. An identical model appeared on the worktable before each of Lin Bai and the others for observation and study, while a stack of yellow paper appeared beside each desk.
“Now that I have finished explaining, all of you may try it yourselves. In the end, talisman arts must be learned through practice. The model in front of you is for comparison.”
“The first three to finish drawing it will be rewarded with Merit Points.”
The moment Lin Bai, Wang Yu, and the others heard there was a reward, they all reached out at once, took up the specially prepared Yellow Willow Talisman Paper in front of them, and began practicing.
That was because their cultivation was still far from the level at which they could inscribe talismans directly into the void with a single thought. At their current stage, they had to rely on special materials when drawing them.
The materials required by talismanists were exceedingly simple. So long as one had a carrier for the talisman, that was enough. The talismanist’s own self served as the blade and stylus with which it was inscribed.
The quality and power of a talisman depended primarily on the talismanist themself.
Take the simplest “Fireball Technique” talisman as an example. If drawn by a talisman apprentice, it might produce no more than a flame the size of a head. But if a talisman master were the one to act, its effect could rival a meteor descending from the heavens.
And this Yellow Willow Paper was one kind of carrier material for talismans.
At that moment, Lin Bai held the yellow paper and began to sense its interior. His heart gradually calmed, and his consciousness sank into a vague, dusky, seemingly infinite space. This space was the inner spiritual space of the Yellow Willow Paper.
His consciousness could extend and take shape within it. That was the effect of this Yellow Willow Talisman Paper.
“Begin.”
Lin Bai silently encouraged himself.
His consciousness became like a carving blade as it began inscribing one node after another of the Earth-within-Earth basic rune within that dusky space.
In talisman arts, the word “inscribe” truly came from this very act of carving.
Just as Lin Bai entered meditative absorption, Gudu Ke began sorting through the students of this year.
Too poor. Half of them still cannot enter meditative absorption within a quarter of an hour. If these people wish to study talismans, then without a great stroke of fortune or a profound enlightenment, they will almost certainly never step into the realm of a talisman master.
He was not being harsh. In the way of talismans, anyone who found it difficult to enter meditative absorption within a quarter of an hour was considered mediocre.
Talismans were Heaven-and-Earth Runes. What mattered was not merely the strength of one’s spirit, but also one’s connection to heaven and earth.
These people’s spiritual power was not weak. That meant their connection to heaven and earth was thin, and that was very difficult to make up for unless they broke through to the Rebirth Realm and re-anchored themselves within heaven and earth.
These people would soon be left behind by the true geniuses of the talisman path.
For an ordinary person attempting meditative absorption for the first time, taking half a day would be entirely normal. But this was the Martial Academy. Here, a quarter of an hour was the final lower limit for being called a genius.
He then turned his gaze toward the other half of the students.
“This student is not bad. Finished that quickly? Let me see... so they come from the Talisman Masters’ Association and have already studied under a master. Let’s keep watching.”
“Mm? This student named Lin Bai entered meditative absorption this quickly? Firecloud Grotto-Heaven’s records show that he has only been cultivating for a little over a month and has never before systematically studied any talisman knowledge.”