Chapter Forty: The Sprouting of the Dark Seed

Zhou Changwang spread a talisman paper flat on the table.
This talisman paper had long been cut to the proper size, half a foot in length and three inches wide.
Holding a talisman brush in one hand, Zhou Changwang gently stirred his spiritual power within, sensing it could flow smoothly into the brush. Only then did he move it to the side, dipping it into the blood-ink meant for talismans.
Once the tip was saturated and full, he hovered it poised above the talisman paper.
"Let’s begin."
Spiritual energy surged as Zhou Changwang made the first stroke. Power channeled through the brush, into the talisman ink, and then traced along the tip, sketching upon the paper.
This process demanded a high degree of control over his spiritual energy.
After all, it required conduction through the brush, application to the talisman paper, and a careful balance to ensure the structure of the spell remained intact, with no mishaps. Even though the Fireball Talisman was a technique Zhou Changwang was intimately familiar with—one he had already mastered—
The moment he drew the first rune structure—
Rip!
He punctured the paper sharply.
"The spiritual energy input was too strong.
And the rune structure wasn’t orderly, I didn’t account for the size of the paper. Even if I continued, it would surely fail..."
Upon seeing this, Zhou Changwang took a deep breath, silently summarizing his experience.
He knew well that crafting talismans was never a simple task and required continual practice and trial and error.
Practicing on blank paper was useless.
The rune structure could only be formed by spiritual energy; on blank paper, one could capture the form but not the essence—there was a world of difference.
No matter how closely it resembled the original, the two were never truly the same.
"Continue."
After the failure, Zhou Changwang was undeterred. His mindset was excellent, and he had long accepted he would not succeed on the first try.
Not only himself—even prodigies of the sect faced the same.
Success in one fell swoop was nothing but luck.
Talent?
It didn’t exist.
On the second attempt, Zhou Changwang didn’t even finish the first rune structure before declaring it a failure.
On the third, he managed one and a half.
On the fourth, he failed the moment the brush touched the paper, lacking control over his spiritual energy and causing the talisman ink to drip.
...
Zhou Changwang tried again and again, failing every time.
Even with his calm demeanor, patience, and psychological preparation, his mood gradually grew restless.
At last, he simply set aside the brush and stopped.
He knew he was no longer suited to continue drawing talismans today.

No wonder the rumors say some talisman crafters burn incense and pray before beginning, and even prepare elaborate rituals.
Such repeated failures—anyone would be unable to bear them.
Only through mystical aid could they persevere.
Zhou Changwang sighed, and it took him quite some time to quell his earlier agitation.
As for ‘mysticism’, he actually understood—it was spiritual auxiliary methods: the incense burned was of the calming kind, the restoring kind, or even the awakening kind to enhance mental activity; prayers were to the True Lord of Talismans; and the rituals might be certain ceremonial techniques or spells...
It wasn’t entirely baseless.
"In total, I drew seventeen talismans, not a single one succeeded.
It seems talisman crafting consumes quite a bit in the early stages."
Zhou Changwang ran a quick calculation, feeling a pang of pain.
He’d spent nine low-grade spirit stones on talisman brush and ink; his talisman paper, though obtained from his storage pouch, amounted to two stacks—about a hundred sheets.
Outside, a single stack of ordinary talisman paper cost one low-grade spirit stone.
So, for a lone cultivator to become a talisman craftsman—without considering the inherent value of talisman inheritance—they’d need at least ten low-grade spirit stones as a starting cost.
The price of low-grade talismans: one spirit stone could buy a stack, ten sheets...
"No wonder they say the cultivation life is hard.
Surviving here is truly not easy."
Zhou Changwang shook his head.
Feeling his spiritual power had recovered a bit, he took out three black seeds.
One by one, he cast the Sprouting Spell upon them.
Occasionally, he used the Reviving Deadwood technique.
Indeed, the Reviving Deadwood spell was remarkably useful—not only for healing, but also for cultivating spiritual plants.
His spiritual field had already shown the benefits; notably, his spirit rice had caught up with Old Xu’s crops and was fully mature.
Tomorrow would be harvest time in his field.
No longer could he delay.
The price of spirit rice kept falling.
Just days ago, one spirit stone bought thirteen pounds; tonight, he heard the price had dropped to fourteen pounds per stone.
If he didn’t sell soon, it might drop to fifteen pounds...
That would be a significant loss.
A Reviving Deadwood spell fell, scattering points of rosy light upon the three seeds; for a moment, it seemed endless spiritual radiance flickered within them.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
A stick of incense later,
The spiritual light faded, and the three seeds remained unchanged.
Just as before.

"Could these three really be dead seeds?"
Zhou Changwang couldn’t help but doubt.
So many Sprouting Spells cast—if they were truly deadwood, they should have sprouted by now.
Fortunately, from the start he’d only treated them as tools for practicing spells, so had little hope in them.
His mind calmed, he continued casting spells.
Sprouting Spells rained down upon the three seeds.
Ever since his cultivation had broken through to the third level of the Qi Refining stage, not only had his power grown deep, but the concentration of his spiritual energy had also increased greatly.
Thus, when his spiritual energy was full, he could cast far more Sprouting Spells than before.
Suddenly,
With another spell cast,
He felt his mind in that instant fill with countless experiences related to the Sprouting Spell,
As if he had practiced the spell hundreds of times in a single moment.
"The Sprouting Spell has reached mastery?"
Almost instantly, Zhou Changwang realized what had happened and quickly checked his attribute panel.
Sure enough, under the list of spells, he saw: Sprouting Spell (Mastery 1/800).
"It really has reached mastery."
Zhou Changwang was overjoyed.
This was the first spell he had truly mastered.
He could hardly wait to test it, to see what difference mastery brought.
With a thought,
In a mere moment, points of spiritual light gathered before him.
Instant casting!
Zhou Changwang was stunned.
Then quickly understood:
This must be the special trait of a mastered Sprouting Spell.
He could now cast it instantly.
He directed the spiritual light onto the black seeds.
Sss...
He watched as, from the previously lifeless black seed, a tender sprout stubbornly broke through the shell.
The seed had germinated.