Chapter 20
The material talisman masters use most often is undoubtedly ink (墨).
Does that mean the other materials are useless? Of course not.
Ink is just one of the many materials used to draw talismans, but in the realm of cultivation, it has a special significance beyond that.
A talisman is a path for drawing one's own vast world on a tiny sheet of paper.
And the world, as a rule, ought to be elegant and beautiful.
That is why ink is the finest material for depicting heaven and earth.
Thump!
The Talisman Dao spiritual power flowing from Nine's wildly beating heart was the same.
It was black and viscous like ink, yet faintly gleamed with an auspicious light.
Talisman Dao spiritual power spread from Nine's heart, flowing through the blood vessels and throughout the body.
“Haaah….”
There was no pain this time.
Rather, the heavy spiritual power slowly pushed its way through, sweeping away impurities.
Far from pain, all Nine felt was a pleasant euphoria.
The circulating spiritual power split into two streams.
One was polluted spiritual power, carrying the body's impurities.
The other flowed through the meridians, thinly coating them with Talisman Dao spiritual power.
Nine's meridians widened from two-lane roads to four-lane highways.
The flow of spiritual power became at least twice as fast.
The smoothly flowing Talisman Dao spiritual power gathered in one place and headed back toward Nine's heart.
Her heart, on the verge of changing, throbbed.
It bounded at more than five times its normal speed.
Even so, Nine felt no pain, only comfort and joy.
Talisman Dao [符道]
At the center of Nine's heart, where only a single character had originally been inscribed, a new stroke was etched in with a dazzling light.
It had gone beyond Fu (符); this time, it was Dao (道).
Impurities flowed from the tip of Nine's right index finger and fell to the floor.
After completing its transformation, Nine's heart gradually settled and slowed.
A strange vibration traveled through Nine's body and spread to the extremities.
A sense of accomplishment and joy washed over Nine.
The level of life rises.
One becomes an existence of a higher order.
The mortal body sheds its shell and draws closer to becoming immortal (仙).
It was an utterly addictive sensation.
With a languid smile, Nine rested their head against the bed.
“As expected, cultivation is the best….”
Pou peeked its head out from the bed and looked down at Nine's unsightly expression.
Then, like a small animal gulping down its food, it suddenly covered Nine's face.
A smooth, slick sensation brushed along Nine's cheek.
“Pfft, pfft!”
Nine waved their arms in the air.
Their nose and mouth were firmly blocked, making it hard to breathe.
“Th-this!”
Nine grabbed Pou, which was covering their head, with both hands.
But no matter how hard Nine tried to pull it off, Pou wouldn't budge.
They flailed around for quite some time, rolling across the floor of the cultivation room.
“Hah… hah…!”
After finally managing to pry Pou off, Nine panted for breath and thought.
‘It's, it's certain. The more my cultivation rises, the stronger its spiritual nature becomes.’
Pou~!
The white scroll trembled in Nine's hand.
Though it was just a scrap of paper, it seemed overflowing with displeasure.
‘I'd heard that a Foundation Establishment cultivator's dharma treasure was no different from a human and could even take human form (化形)….’
“……Could this one, too?”
Flap, flap!
Nine let Pou go, which was huffing like an angry child.
Nine couldn't imagine it.
That thing, which loved warm places like a cat and liked to float blankly in the air?
‘Maybe it got mad because I plopped my head down on the bed while it was resting. Yes, that's definitely it.’
Sigh.
Nine let out a light sigh and shook their head.
What should Nine do with that thing?
It was a precious divine beast, after all, so Nine would have to live serving it.
“Pou~?”
Nine called out to Pou in a soft, lilting tone.
It was the gentlest voice Nine had ever used in their life.
Pou, which had been tucked away in a corner of the cultivation room, floated down.
‘Even if it's being temperamental, at least it knows its role.’
And so Nine tried to unfurl Pou.
Then a thought suddenly occurred, and Nine paused.
Pou?
The scroll tilted as it looked at its master, who wasn't unfurling it.
It waited hesitantly for a moment, then left Nine, who was still frozen in place, and fluttered back to the bed.
Nine had originally intended to check whether the Talisman Dao Sacred Body had safely advanced to Rank 2.
But there was no need.
The sensation beneath Nine's hand, resting on their chest, clearly proved that the Talisman Dao Sacred Body had reached Rank 2.
‘If my senses are fine, why bother checking?’
A cultivator shouldn't even doubt their own senses.
Checking on Pou too often, like checking a stock price, wasn't good practice either.
Nine nodded and sat cross-legged beside the bed again.
This time, they sat a little farther away from it.
‘I'm the owner, so is this really right?’
A little sadness welled up, but Nine endured it and closed their eyes.
‘My original goals were three.’
Promote the Talisman Dao Sacred Body to Rank 2.
Evolve the Five-Element Spiritual Roots.
And, finally, break through to the 2nd Star of Qi Refining.
The Talisman Dao Sacred Body, Nine's constitution, raised the grade of their Talisman Dao spiritual power.
If Nine's talent, the Five-Element Spiritual Roots, evolved into Four-Element Spiritual Roots, it would help increase their cultivation speed.
That was why it was better to do both first, then break through to the 2nd Star of Qi Refining.
Nine was a little tense.
They were about to do something completely unfamiliar: evolve their Spiritual Roots.
‘No one in the history of the cultivation world has ever evolved their Spiritual Roots.’
In the first place, Spiritual Roots were an innate talent.
Just as intelligence and muscle density were products of genes determined from birth, Spiritual Roots were a talent of the soul and mind.
The soul was a forbidden domain that only Nascent Soul cultivators could touch, so there was no point in going further.
“Hoo.”
Nine took a breath to steady themself.
Nine sank into the depths of their mind and gazed at the Five-Element Spiritual Roots embedded in their soul.
The Spiritual Roots glowed in five colors, but they were murky and tangled together, not a pretty sight.
‘These are my Spiritual Roots.’
Having faced their Spiritual Roots for the first time with Pou's power, Nine was overcome by a peculiar feeling.
No matter how shabby and ugly they were, they'd stayed by Nine's side for twenty years, like family.
Nine gazed at them fondly for a while, then, without the slightest hesitation, pushed through the breakthrough they'd been holding back.
‘Goodbye, Five-Element Spiritual Roots. Next time, let's meet again as prettier Four-Element Spiritual Roots.’
Grrrr….
Leaving behind the end of the Five-Element Spiritual Roots, which somehow looked sorrowful,
a violent tremor shook Nine's entire mental world, and a tearing crack rang out.
At the ominous aftershock of the collapse, Nine hurriedly pulled their consciousness back to reality.
Flash!
Nine's submerged consciousness returned to reality.
It felt unreal somehow, so Nine blinked.
By then, the evolution of the Spiritual Roots was already over.
“Hup.”
Nine instinctively drew in a breath and was startled.
Spiritual energy surged in like a tsunami, soaking Nine's meridians.
There was three times as much as before.
“Wow!”
Nine's body trembled as they played with the spiritual energy like a piece of glutinous rice cake.
Their control, sensitivity, and capacity to absorb energy were all on a completely different level.
It felt like being someone with such poor eyesight they couldn't see a thing, then putting on glasses for the first time and seeing the whole world become clear and vivid.
“This is what being a Four-Element Spiritual Roots cultivator is like…!”
Had the world always been this beautiful?
Nine looked around the cultivation room, now filled with spiritual energy, and pitied the Five-Element Spiritual Roots cultivators.
They would never be able to see this beautiful sight.
“I pity those mortals.”
Heehee.
Nine covered their mouth and laughed, then gathered their emotions.
There was so much to do today.
Nine immediately began absorbing spiritual energy, preparing to break through to the 2nd Star of Qi Refining.
The Five Elements—Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth—divided into yin and yang became the Ten Heavenly Stems (十天干).
The attribute of the first spirit star at Nine's center belonged to Yin Water (陰水), Gui Water (癸水).
While Yang Water (陽水) symbolized great rivers and oceans, Yin Water symbolized the delicacy of water.
There were eight remaining positions, excluding the center.
The Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art filled the eight directions clockwise.
So the first was the north.
With each breath, Nine guided the spiritual power filling their dantian upward.
As Nine focused and silently recited the cultivation art's incantation, the spiritual power began to gather on its own.
The core incantation of the Five-Element Spirit-Raising Enlightenment Art was a synergistic rise through mutual generation.
Taking Gui Water (癸水) as my core, I awaken the birth of all things.
In accordance with the principle of Water generating Wood, Nine's second star took on the attribute of Jia Wood (甲木).
A fresh, verdant light symbolizing life infused the spiritual power.
The black and blue spiritual power mingled together, forming a clear star.
But that wasn't the end of it.
[Current Realm: Qi Refining 1st Star 100% (+100% Spiritual Power Compression Limit)]
The spiritual power, compressed beyond its limit, surged into the completed Jia Wood star.
The northern star, smaller than the central Gui Water star, fed on spiritual power and grew larger.
In the end, the Jia Wood star's size was no less than that of the first star.
Flash!
The completed dark-blue Jia Wood star appeared in the north.
The central Gui Water star also revolved with a heavy presence, resonating alongside it.
The waves of resonating spiritual power wrapped heavily around Nine's dantian, mutually generating and evolving together.
Water moistened Nine's parched body, and wood took root above the river.
But Nine couldn't progress any further.
There weren't enough of the Five Elements.
Nine set aside their disappointment.
Excessive greed was worse than having nothing at all.
‘That's enough for today.’
Nine lifted their eyelids, heavy as lead.
Their consciousness, sunk deep inside their body, surged up and surveyed the surroundings.
Suddenly, a sneeze burst out against Nine's will.
“Cough, cough!”
At this point, Nine began to feel a sense of déjà vu.
No way, again?
The dust floating in the air tickled Nine's nose, and their dry, parched throat hurt.
Nine ignored it and hurriedly tapped the terminal on their wrist.
[Immortal Path Year 470 (AD 2500) / January 17 / 05 : 45]
“Ah, only two days have passed. What a relief.”
It hadn't been two weeks like last time.
Nine left the cultivation room, drank some water, and stretched their stiff body out.
Their shoulders and hips, stiff from sitting for so long, were especially sore.
‘By the way, my skin's glowing again.’
Nine looked at their entire body, whose skin was glowing of its own accord.
Last time it had glowed white, but this time it shone a faint dark blue.
Nine felt as if they'd turned into a blue-skinned alien.
‘Well, this will probably disappear after a while.’
It was a phenomenon where residual spiritual power left in the body after a realm advancement caused the body to glow.
Ordinary mortals might never hear of it in their lives, but geniuses with Three-Element Spiritual Roots or higher experienced it at least once: glow sickness.
It seemed to have come back again this time.
“Yaaawn…!”
It was five in the morning.
That was when Nine's favorite documentary aired.
Nine went to the living room and lay on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket.
Pou~
Just as Nine picked up the remote to watch the broadcast, Pou came out of the cultivation room.
It staggered as if still drowsy.
“Wait, scrolls sleep?”
After laughing at the absurdity, Nine picked Pou up.
It was time to check the results of their simultaneous advancements.
“I wonder how much it's changed?”
Flash!
Dark characters appeared on the white paper, inscribed like shadows.