Chapter 148 Talisman Soldier
Ji An arrived at the ant nest. Near the rock crevice, there were piles of slightly reddish fine sand-like things.
This is the excrement of fire crystal ants, containing extremely faint spiritual energy. It can be used to improve the soil and as fertilizer for fire-elemental spiritual plants.
However, the Fire Crystal Ants are currently too weak, and these fertilizers are too low-grade for the various fire-elemental spiritual plants growing on Crimson Flame Peak, having negligible effect.
These things will gradually come in handy when a large number of mid-stage Qi Refining Fire Crystal Ants appear in the ant colony.
Ji An extended his divine sense deep into the ant nest and discovered that the fire crystal ants had already dug out a well-developed network of tunnels.
At the very center of the nest is a perfectly spherical area, where the queen ant, now a fourth-level Qi Refining demon beast, resides.
The rock walls in this area are covered with countless white eggs, roughly estimated to be two or three thousand.
If all the ants hatch, the colony size will double.
As the number of fire crystal ants increases, they are able to find more food for the queen.
This pine forest contains a large number of top-grade first-tier Crimson Cloud Pines, which theoretically can be used to cultivate mid-Foundation Establishment level ant queens.
Once the Crimson Cloud Pine produces pine cones, the Fire Crystal Ant colony can enter a period of rapid development.
As the queen ant's cultivation level continues to improve, and the quality of her eggs reaches a certain level, the newly hatched fire crystal ants can directly reach the level of demon beasts.
The ecosystem in Crimson Flame Peak is relatively fragile. Fire-toothed rabbits and red-tailed squirrels have no natural predators, so their populations are multiplying very rapidly, which has already affected the ecological balance.
They couldn't possibly eat it all, so they had to hire cultivators to hunt for them on a regular basis to maintain a suitable number of animals.
Red-tailed squirrels live in pine forests, and the increasing number of high-level fire crystal ants should be able to curb the excessive growth of the red-tailed squirrel population.
Sensing the master's divine sense probing in, the queen ant's antennae twitched rapidly, conveying a joyful emotion, and she communicated with Ji An through the blood pact.
It is like a child, sharing the experiences of this time, the expansion of the population, and the conflicts with other creatures.
Ji An returned to the edge of the cold pool and gave the instructions:
"I'm going to draw the explosion talisman and prepare the ink."
He now lives a comfortable life, with many chores being done for him by others.
"immediately."
Xia Yuhan agreed and quickly went into the stone house. First, she lit a calming incense burner, then took out the talisman ink and stirred it to make the solution uniform.
Ji An sat down in a chair, closed his eyes to rest and adjust his state.
"Uncle-Master, we're ready."
Upon hearing the reminder, Ji An opened his eyes, rolled up the sleeves of his Taoist robe, and began to draw talismans.
He first took out a stack of talisman paper and drew the Explosion Talisman. After the paper gradually became hot to the touch, he began to draw the Burst Talisman.
The talisman brush pulsed with spiritual energy, its light shimmering, leaving orange-red patterns on the animal hide.
The talisman brush moved swiftly and smoothly across the animal hide, drawing an explosive talisman without any hesitation.
When the last node was completed, the rune's patterns flickered slightly for a moment, the flame-like patterns turning bright yellow, occasionally flashing with blue light.
"Great, a successful start."
Ji An nodded slightly; this was a good omen.
Seeing that he was in a good mood, Xia Yuhan complimented him:
"When my master made the talisman, his movements were fluid and graceful, and the talisman itself was a perfect creation. His skill must have improved significantly."
“I like hearing that. Please say more.”
Ji An laughed and continued drawing the explosion symbols.
Half a day passed, and he drew 10 explosive talismans, succeeding in drawing 4 of them. The success rate was barely satisfactory, just enough to hand over to the sect, so it was all for nothing.
The sect's task of drawing explosive talismans was not urgent, and in the afternoon, Ji An began to create explosive talisman plates.
It took him five or six days to successfully create two talisman plates, and the materials wasted far exceeded the value of the talisman plates themselves.
If it weren't for gaining experience and skills, this business would have been a complete loss.
Two talisman plates were enough, so Ji An stopped making more talisman plates and began drawing talisman soldiers instead.
Drawing talismanic weapons requires a high level of spiritual awareness, as it requires the most subtle control over magical power. If he were not confident in the strength of his spiritual awareness, he would have tried it after breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
Talisman soldiers are an important branch of talisman-making craftsmanship. They are spiritual soldiers formed by arranging runes and possessing simple intelligence, used to assist cultivators in combat.
The so-called Dao soldiers and puppets have similar functions, but puppets are driven by spirit stones and can be used indefinitely as long as the main body is not damaged. However, talisman soldiers are consumables and have a certain number of uses.
Generally, a talisman can only be used three times, but if the materials are good enough, the number of uses can be increased to four or five.
However, the quality of talisman soldiers can be improved through the nurturing of magical power. If the materials are good enough, the upper limit of nurturing talisman soldiers is even higher.
Lu Qingyang, the author of Qingyang Fu Lue, mentioned in the inheritance that he once crossed the realm to cultivate a talisman soldier that reached the Chaoyuan stage, which is the true charm of talisman soldiers.
Ji An took out the talisman paper and found a bottle of the most ordinary talisman ink. Using high-level materials during practice would be a waste.
The effect is not visible without using talisman ink; otherwise, he would have preferred to practice with plain water.
Although he was only drawing the most basic level of talisman soldiers, he did not slack off in the slightest.
He drew dense lines on the talisman paper, as if he were drawing a circuit board.
Similar to the requirements for talismans, the drawing of talismanic weapons cannot be interrupted, otherwise all previous efforts will be wasted, and the consumption of spiritual energy will be even greater.
After two days of hard work and nearly twenty failures, Ji An finally managed to draw the lowest-level bronze armor talisman.
The snow-white talisman paper was covered with pale gold patterns, and when he sensed it, he felt it was full of spiritual energy.
"It's really not easy."
Ji An smiled wryly, saying that according to the records in the Qingyang Talisman Manual, the strength of the bronze-armored talisman soldiers was only around the fourth level of Qi Refining.
He was already at the third level of Foundation Establishment, and it was already so difficult for him to draw. He wondered how difficult it would be when he started to draw Foundation Establishment stage talisman soldiers. He secretly guessed that Lü Qingyang must have practiced a secret method to increase divine sense.
"This is a talisman weapon that can help you in battle. Here you go."
These cheap talisman soldiers are useless in our hands, so it's better to give them to the maids, which is a way to improve their welfare and treatment.
"Thank you, Uncle-Master."
Xia Yuhan happily accepted the talisman. She had been by her uncle's side the whole time he was drawing it, and she knew how difficult it was.
Given my uncle's skill in making talismans, the fact that he spent so much time and effort on it must mean it's something good.
"This talisman can be used three times. Let's go outside, and you can input your magic power to see how powerful it is."
"yes."
The two stepped out of the stone house. Xia Yuhan channeled her magic into the talisman soldier, and a humanoid golden-armored guard, nearly ten feet tall, appeared beside her, looking exceptionally heroic.
As they were only the lowest-ranking talisman soldiers, the details of the armor and faces on the golden-armored guards were very blurry.
Ji An swiftly moved to the open space and stood still, saying:
“Order him to attack me.”
"Uncle-Master, please forgive me."
As Xia Yuhan's voice fell, the golden-armored guard took a few steps forward and roared, "Hey!"
Ji An grinned; the other party was someone who knew how to take the initiative.
The golden-armored guards, like body-refining cultivators, charged wildly, raising clouds of dust and creating a formidable spectacle.
Ji An was extremely fast; the talisman soldiers couldn't touch him at all.
After dodging for a while, he felt it was pointless. If the bronze armored soldiers only had this much skill, it was a bit of a disservice to the high level of difficulty in their production.
He unleashed a burst of fire to begin his attack, and then an anomaly occurred.
The golden-armored guard suddenly produced a large golden umbrella to defend against the incoming magical attacks.
As the giant umbrella formed, its aura dimmed somewhat.
After the spell was unleashed, the aura emanating from the golden-armored guard trembled violently, like a candle in the wind, but it stubbornly held on.
Ji An raised an eyebrow slightly. Although he only used three-tenths of his strength, the damage from the spell was still comparable to the full-force attack of a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator.
The fact that they failed to defeat the talisman soldiers in one fell swoop shows that their defensive capabilities are still commendable.
He unleashed the Explosive Flame spell again, and the golden-armored guard's body flashed with spiritual light before dissipating in the wind.
"not bad."
Ji An laughed and said, "The talisman soldiers can both attack and defend. They are quite a treasure for mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators."
However, talisman soldiers are difficult to forge, and thus cannot be mass-produced like talismans.
"Thank you for the treasure, Uncle-Master."
Xia Yuhan raised her eyebrows and smiled as she cupped her hands in greeting:
Ji An nodded slightly and said:
"Nourish it with magic for fifteen minutes every day, and there will be unexpected surprises later."
Wei Songnian took out a light wood-colored box from his storage bag and opened it. Inside was a piece of paper covered with writing and a dozen or so animal skin bags.
"Senior brother, here is ten catties of Star Sea Sinking Silver Powder, a top-grade first-tier material, which cost six thousand spirit stones."
There were also some related metal powders, which cost 2,200 spirit stones.
The two thousand high-grade Explosive Flame Talismans you gave me were sold for eight thousand spirit stones.
"I was lucky this time; I managed to buy one or two ounces of Xuanhuang soil for four hundred spirit stones."
He then took out a yellow jade box and said, "This is Xuanhuang soil."
Wei Songnian sighed inwardly. His senior brother hadn't changed at all; he was still as generous as ever when it came to spending spirit stones. He wondered when he would be able to be so extravagant.
Ji An examined the materials and then said to the maid behind him:
"Compare the weight of these spiritual items with the list."
It's best to do these things in front of the purchasing agent, so he never feels embarrassed.
Xia Yulian picked up the list, carefully weighed everything, and whispered:
"Reporting to my uncle, the weight is correct."
Ji An nodded slightly and smiled:
"Thank you for your hard work, junior brother."
With this batch of metal powder, he can push the Golden Jade Bone Body to the Silver Armor level.
Xuanhuang soil is a second-grade material used to refine the Apricot Yellow Banner, and he needs half a pound of it.
"It's no trouble at all; it's my honor to serve my senior brother. However..."
Wei Songnian changed the subject and said:
"After observing for a year, I found that the shops in the Immortal City have almost no stock of the spiritual items that my senior brother asked for, and very few cultivators are willing to trade them for spirit stones."
They preferred to barter, and if the senior brother wanted to collect these materials, he would need to go to a trade fair or auction.
Especially those mid-grade second-tier spiritual items, which are impossible to buy with spirit stones.
"I see."
Ji An nodded slightly. He had anticipated this situation and asked the other party to help him buy it with the idea of finding a bargain.
(End of this chapter)
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