Chapter 92: The Art of Drawing Talismans and Preserving Divine Power (4/5)

Cao Kong pondered it for a moment.

“It is indeed a fine idea. But traveling the world and trading with the demon clans and the strange spirits is no easy matter. The waters are far and the mountains high, the roads are full of tigers and wolves, and there are steep ridges and sheer cliffs besides, with venomous fiends and vicious monsters everywhere. I fear it will not be simple.”

“I used to be muddle-headed and aimless, wanting only to guard my own little patch of land. I could not even afford cotton clothes for the little goblins to wear through the winter. Now, having heard Brother Cao speak of the wonders of the Dragon Palace and seen the glittering treasures displayed at the treasure-exchange fair, I cannot help but long for it. And when I think of Brother Cao trading treasure for treasure, the profit in it makes my mouth water, while the novelty of it all entrances me, so I wish to try.”

As he spoke, the Yellow Lion Spirit laughed. “Brother Cao, I am not weak. Besides, if I really run into trouble, I am quite skilled at fleeing.”

Hearing this, Cao Kong considered the feasibility of the matter in earnest. It truly did seem workable.

The Yellow Lion himself was not weak; he also knew how to appraise treasures, so he would not be at a disadvantage, and he had the mind for trade besides.

If they were to organize a caravan and first open the surrounding trade routes, exchanging finished pills, spirit wines, and magical artifacts for the resources of the various mountains and waters, the prospects would indeed be bright.

So long as they could withstand the covetous eyes of demons and monsters.

“All right. Since Brother Yellow Lion has such intent, then from now on, whatever pills and spirit wines my brother and I refine beyond what we need for our own cultivation can be entrusted to Brother Yellow Lion for trade.”

At this, the Yellow Lion Spirit laughed, raised the cup in his hand to salute Cao Kong, and drained it in one swallow.

“You six,” he said, pointing at the six lions, “I am going to establish a merchant guild. Are you willing to work with me?”

He spoke without the slightest courtesy, but they were comrades who had survived life and death together, brothers in spirit if not in blood.

The six lions laughed and cursed him playfully. “You rascal, Yellow Lion, now you’re ordering us about. Fine, fine. Since you have the intention, brothers, we’ll keep you company and do it together.”

Cao Kong said loudly, “Come, let us toast to the seven lion brothers and wish you swift success. We shall—” He deliberately paused.

Beside him, Cao Xiang very naturally supplied, “All perish together!”

“Hahahaha!”

All the lions except the Yellow Lion Spirit burst into laughter and drank deeply.

The Yellow Lion felt his face grow hot, and in his heart he regretted having once showed off foolishly back when he was still uncultured.

...

After the seven lions departed, Cao Xiang left as well, to use the Growth-Furnace to call forth the Vermilion Bird spiritual fire, melt down ores, and forge the pestle that would belong to him alone.

As for Cao Kong, he began to brew the Five-Phase Spirit Dew Wine himself.

The greatest difference between spirit wine and medicinal pills was that spirit wine only grew mellower with age; the richer the spiritual essence, the better its effect.

Thus Cao Kong had to brew the wine as early as possible, then bury it underground, and after he had finished taking the Dragon-Tiger Great Elixir, take it out again.

Once everything was in place, Cao Kong did not neglect cultivation. He continued to draw in the energies of heaven and earth, practice swordsmanship, comprehend the Great Dao, and seek out the Yellow Lady.

Before he knew it, the ninth day of the month had arrived, and his mind once again drifted into the Clear, Brilliant, and Joyful Realm.

A single day in this realm was worth half a month in the mortal world, so Cao Kong made much use of this time to recite scriptures, read the Dao, broaden his understanding, and also experience mortal life.

This time, however, Cao Kong took out a book.

It was a volume of talismanic methods left behind earlier by Zhang Mingyi of the Orthodox Unity sect.

Because he had learned so much before and felt that too much could not be digested all at once, he had set this talismanic art aside again and again, memorizing it in private and copying it out by hand, but never studying it deeply.

Now that the Yellow Lion Spirit had the intention of founding a merchant guild and opening a road for trade, Cao Kong thought of this art of talismans.

The way of talismans was also one of the three hundred and sixty side paths. Cultivated to the deepest level, it could still lead to true attainment.

It could also store Dao techniques and divine powers, or command the strength of heaven, earth, ghosts, and gods.

So Cao Kong intended to study this method, both for his younger brother Cao Xiang and for the Yellow Lion Spirit and the others, so that it might serve as protection for them in the future.

And so, half a year passed in this manner.

That night, at the hour of midnight, when yin and yang met, it was the most suitable time for drawing talismans.

Within the Fold-Mountain Ring Cave, Cao Kong stood before the desk, calming his heart and centering his spirit, striving for a state with not a single stray thought.

On the table before him lay yellow paper soaked in ginger juice. Cao Kong held a writing brush in his hand, dipped in cinnabar.

Silently in his heart he recited the Taiyi Golden Radiance Mantra. During the past half year, as he experimented with drawing talismans, he discovered that if he infused them with the power of the Taiyi Golden Radiance Mantra, the talismans would become threefold more miraculous.

At this moment, Cao Kong brought the power of Taiyi Golden Radiance into motion. Mantra, heart, body, and Dao all became one. Using the Dao energy to guide the brush, he wrote in one breath and drew a talisman upon the yellow paper.

Once the talisman was complete, spiritual radiance seemed to gather within it, and it slowly floated up in the air. Cao Kong did not dare relax. He opened his mouth and blew out a breath of wind, a clear breeze.

This talisman was called the Wind Talisman. As the name implied, it could store wind-aspect Dao arts, or divine powers.

Cao Kong had actually been able to draw it months earlier, but the Eight Winds divine power was too overwhelming to be contained within it.

So over these days he had also used spirit wood to make the yellow paper and soaked the cinnabar in innate sweet dew to improve the quality of the materials.

As the wind entered the yellow talisman, the talisman trembled without cease. Cao Kong immediately used his own primordial spirit to sense it, visualizing the Bright Breeze while protecting the talisman with his own primal essence.

Buzz.

His primal essence and primordial spirit resonated against each other, wondrous power depending upon wondrous power upon wondrous power, until at last—

The Wind Talisman was complete.

Even with Cao Kong’s current cultivation, he could not help but sweat from his brow. Drawing this talisman consumed too much spirit and heart; it was like fighting a fierce battle with an enemy.

He let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and stroked the yellow talisman with his hand, feeling the heart-stopping power contained within it.

“This talisman should not be drawn too often. At most, one every seven days. It drains the primordial spirit and primal essence too much.”

So he said, yet his face still held a smile.

With this talisman, not only could he give it to Cao Xiang for protection, but it could also provide a measure of security for the Yellow Lion Spirit’s journeys and trade.

Thus, forty-nine days later, Cao Kong once again drew seven talismans.

A little while after that, the seven lions came to the Hidden Mist Mountain looking dust-covered and wretched, each in a different miserable state, with a few odds and ends piled beside them.

Beside them, Cao Xiang was laughing as he used the pestle to grind medicinal herbs, applying them to the seven lions.

When he saw Cao Kong come over, he chatted on and on, all of it the lions’ embarrassing misadventures.

It turned out that after the Yellow Lion Spirit and the others had helped forge the pestle for him three months earlier, they had begun going down the mountain on their own initiative, splitting into four directions east, south, west, and north to search for spirits and strange creatures of the mountains.

As it happened, the Yellow Lion Spirit found a swarm of bees and wanted to trade for some spirit honey. But the queen bee thought the Yellow Lion had come to wipe out her whole clan and her whole kind, and with one order she had him stung so badly that he ended up with a face full of swelling, despite not having any heart to kill.

Bai Ze ran into a band of demons. At first this sturdy fellow grinned foolishly and tried to trade for things, but the next moment the demons all drew their blades and swords, demanding that Bai Ze hand over his good goods.

So Bai Ze hefted his pair of hammers and turned what should have been a simple trade into a clean sweep, though he himself came away with plenty of injuries.

The other lions fared no better. Some were cheated, some were tricked, and it left them all somewhat dejected.

“Brother Cao, doing business is just too hard,” the Yellow Lion Spirit said with a pained expression.

At first, when the thought of trading first arose, he had believed he had found a broad and shining road. Only after truly putting it into practice did he realize how difficult it was.

The hardships and twists and turns were enough to make the Yellow Lion Spirit want to give up.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the seven talismans in Cao Kong’s hand.

“Brother Cao, what are those?”

A new chapter will be posted tomorrow at around eleven at night. I bow in heartfelt thanks to all the readers for your support. I can see the monthly votes are still rising, and the day after tomorrow I will keep striving as well. There will be one more chapter tonight.