A sword aura pierced the sky and split the saber-toothed tiger's head in two, the extremely foul smell of blood spreading in all directions.
how so?
Shang Moyun, who was watching everything from the sidelines, was filled with astonishment.
Those around cheered with joy at the sight of the monster being beheaded, having survived a calamity.
Only the person in question had his gaze drawn to the five-inch-long red talisman on the hilt of the longsword.
A hint of surprise appeared in Shang Yanting's usually calm eyes—he hadn't expected that the talisman given by the system could actually elevate the steel weapon to a whole new level!
He quietly removed the talisman, and the moment it left the sword hilt, the solidified talisman spontaneously combusted, and the longsword finally gave way and broke into several pieces.
Clearly, without a solidification rune, this longsword should have shattered long ago.
Shang Moyun, who was watching from the side, didn't see the talisman, but she caught a glimpse of a ball of fire that suddenly appeared in Shang Yanting's palm. Her somewhat gloomy eyes narrowed, suspecting that Shang Yanting was hiding a secret.
##
With the mission to behead the saber-toothed tiger complete, the exams at Holy Capital Academy continue.
Having completed his mission, Shang Yanting returned home and summoned several skilled painters who even had some knowledge of talismans.
A group of people stood around the small talisman on the table, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"The young master said that anyone who can draw a talisman exactly like the one on this paper will be rewarded with ten gold coins."
1 gold = 100 silver
This is enough for an average family to eat for many years.
Upon hearing this, a group of painters quickly spread out cinnabar paper, dipped it in the prepared ink, and began to copy the talisman drawn by Jia Xitong.
It's normal to want to copy something after discovering the usefulness of the solidification symbol.
Unfortunately, drawing a solidified talisman requires specific techniques, incantations, and brushstrokes; every stroke contains profound meaning. Jia Xitong drew over ten thousand talismans before successfully completing 100. It's not something an ordinary person can easily do.
Several artists locked themselves in the room for several days, and finally emerged with unshaven beards and dark eyes, none of them having succeeded.
Shang Yanting didn't react much to the result; he had expected this to be the case. However, it turned out that the "system" in his mind was irreplaceable.
As for Jia Xitong, she initially felt a strong sense of crisis regarding Shang Yanting's behavior. However, seeing the outcome, she was inexplicably comforted.
Turns out, a 1% success rate isn't so bad after all.
With her inner "liver king" rekindled, Jia Xitong threw herself back into her work. She also decided to be less generous to the male lead in the future, giving him only odd numbers of talismans if possible.
By now, the 10,000 talismans given by Shang Yanting are almost finished.
Just as she finished drawing the 100th incantation talisman, the talisman emitted a familiar light once again.
The third type of talisman in the book has been unlocked!
[Beginner Level - Chapter 3: Explosive Talisman]
[The method: Recite the incantation "The talisman spontaneously combusts," and the talisman paper will explode within a five-meter radius.]
Ink is made from cinnabar paper, flaming wolf blood mixed with powdered exploding tortoise shell.
The requirements this time are more numerous than before.
Jia Xitong looked at the male protagonist outside, "Dear host, hereby issue you the following task: Collect * sheets of cinnabar red paper, and 10 jin of ink made by grinding explosive tortoise shells into powder and mixing with the blood of blazing wolves."
Task completion reward: 1 Blessing Talisman
"Only one this time?"
The male protagonist is, after all, a human being, and he has all the flaws of everyone else in the world—it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
"Because the Zhuyou Talisman is more difficult to synthesize than the Solidification Talisman."
Jia Xitong controlled her voice, using a sweet tone to paint a rosy picture for him, "Once the system upgrades, it will be able to create more and better talismans for the host."
Current host trust value: 65/100.
The system will keep working hard!
Dear male lead, you also need to work hard yourself.
Unfortunately, this hint was not as effective as the last one.
The stingy male protagonist didn't add a single point of trust, just like a miserly version of Grandet from another world!
Fortunately, the liver emperor doesn't care about material possessions; now she's completely addicted to making talismans.
Many people hunt Flame Wolves now, and their blood is easy to find, but Exploding Turtle shells are not.
"ah?"
This is the first time the male lead hasn't had any readily available ingredients.
"The meat of the Bursting Turtle is scarce and sour, making it difficult to eat. Its entire body is unsuitable for medicinal or weapon-making purposes, and it grows in swampy and muddy areas, so no one would specifically keep its shell."
"Can you get it for me?" Jia Xitong asked.
"Isn't this about completing a mission?" Shang Yanting retorted. "How has it become helping you?"
"Ah, this..."
Jia Xitong paused for a moment, "Completing tasks allows the system to upgrade."
Shang Yanting: "Then what is a trust value?"
"Completing tasks and leveling up will unlock different types of talismans, and increasing your trust level will increase the number of rewards."
The male protagonist always manages to find loopholes in her words at some strange and unusual points.
Jia Xitong inexplicably added back her words, and her reasoning... was quite logical?
##
The entrance exams for Holy City Academy are not yet over.
There's still time to go to the nearby swamp to look for the Bursting Turtle.
Out of curiosity about what else the "system" could bring him, Shang Yanting would try his best to fulfill Jia Xitong's requests.
Blackwater Swamp is the largest swamp in Shangmou City.
This place is rarely visited by people, and there isn't even a proper road.
In the swamp, one-meter-long turtles with cracked shells slowly crawled around.
Aside from being inedible and unusable, the Bursting Turtle has thick, highly defensive skin. Although it only possesses the strength of a mid-stage Martial Apprentice, its shell is comparable to a fine steel weapon. So much so that legend has it that for every Bursting Turtle killed, an innocent fine steel sword is lost.
The most crucial point is that the shell of the Bursting Turtle cannot be processed after it dies; if it is processed, it turns into calcium.
If left unprocessed for a long time, it will turn into calcium oxide.
To be honest, the servants who came with Shang Yanting didn't quite understand why their young master was so irrational. They could only carefully protect their only iron-forging weapon and try to take the head of the ghost with their bare hands.
Soon, a large number of turtle shells were piled up around the swamp, enough to last even the most hardcore gamer a long time.
Just as they were packing up to head home, suddenly there was a "plop." One of the servants was swallowed by the swamp, the mud covering his head.
The servants around the man were immediately thrown into a panic, but luckily they had brought a rope with them.
The rope was thrown next to the man, and the servant grabbed it tightly and was pulled up. He lay on the grass, covered in mud and panting heavily.
The others washed most of the mud off him with water. A fist-sized lump of mud rolled off him as the water hit him.
After a little cleaning, it's a wooden carving in the shape of a human figure.
Having been buried in the mud for an unknown period of time, the wooden carving was unrecognizable and carried the distinctive stench of decay from the swamp. The servant who found it realized it wasn't a treasure and casually tossed it to the ground.
All of this was seen by Jia Xitong, who has a 360-degree ultra-wide-angle lens!
"Dear host, could you please pick up that wooden carving on the ground so I can take a look?"
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