Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

During the process of infusing spirits into talismans, each talisman master has a separate room to avoid mutual interference, as talismans are often exploded, making relatively loud noises.

Over the next few days, Supervisor Wang stayed in Liu Xing's workshop every day, teaching him step by step the techniques of infusing spirits and setting restrictions, correcting his movements and energy flow problems, and trying to help him succeed as soon as possible. In three days, he hadn't successfully drawn a single talisman, but he had used up more than a dozen talisman papers. Either the spirit energy wasn't injected delicately enough, causing the talisman to explode, or the restrictions weren't fitted well enough, or sometimes the fluctuations in his thoughts could also cause it to explode. Supervisor Wang kept comforting him, saying that this was normal, and that every talisman master started with a lot of raw materials. Liu Xing had been studying diligently. He loved learning, and he demanded the best of everything he did. He had such a strong drive. So no matter how many times he failed, his faith could not be shaken. He kept starting over, constantly summarizing his experience. Even when his clothes were torn and his face was covered in dust, he didn't care. Finally, on the fifth day, he created his first ice cone talisman, and he shouted happily, "I did it!"

The workers gathered around. Supervisor Wang activated the talisman and threw it at the test stone, sending small pieces of stone flying with the power of a fourth-level Qi training cultivator. "Congratulations, Liu Xing, on your first successful talisman creation! Reward: a low-level spirit stone!" Supervisor Wang led the applause, and the workers joined in the congratulations, creating a joyful atmosphere. Liu Xing was delighted to receive a surprise reward.

For the next three months, Liu Xing continued to cultivate his talismans with unwavering dedication, successfully crafting an average of one talisman per day. Whenever his magical energy ran low, he would meditate in his workshop to recover his spiritual energy. Once recovered, he would resume his talisman-making work, tirelessly working day and night. His fellow workers despised him, wondering how they would survive as a pervert and workaholic. However, Supervisor Wang, however, was filled with admiration and urged everyone to emulate Liu Xing. He gave him a month's leave, allowing him to return to practice his magic, enhancing its power and, in turn, the potency of his talismans.

Liu Xing returned to his quarters and fell asleep. He'd been so exhausted lately. He woke three days later, feeling refreshed and back to his best. He tidied his appearance, changed into clean clothes, and his mood instantly brightened. He took out his bamboo flute and gently stroked this old friend who had always been with him. Suddenly, a feeling struck him, and he tried to infuse it with spiritual energy.

The bamboo flute, which had been acting normally until then, suddenly experienced a powerful suction force, like a whale sucking up water, instantly draining Liu Xing of all his spiritual energy. This frightened him utterly, leaving him with no time to react or stop. He thought it was over. But a moment later, the bamboo flute expelled the spiritual energy back into Liu Xing's body. Fortunately, he hadn't been sucked dry. Liu Xing was overjoyed and reminded himself not to be so reckless in the future and to remain vigilant at all times.

Liu Xing hurriedly looked inward at his dantian and found that only one third of the spiritual energy was left. However, after practicing the exercises, he found that the spiritual power was much denser and the quality of the spiritual energy was three times that of before.

"The bamboo flute can help me concentrate spiritual energy and improve the quality of my spiritual power. It is indeed a good treasure." Liu Xing was pleasantly surprised.

Liu Xing once again began to explore the changes in the concentrated spiritual energy. He practiced it for a full week, very slowly and carefully sensing it. Indeed, he noticed some subtle changes. A pale yellow substance mingled with the spiritual energy, a very pale yellow that Liu Xing would have missed without repeated observation. He wondered if the color would deepen as his cultivation level increased. It was the presence of these special substances that allowed the spiritual energy to become so concentrated and dense. As he practiced, these substances slowly widened his meridians and dantian, nourishing his flesh, blood, and spirit. It was truly miraculous. He suspected that other people's spiritual energy, like his own before the transformation, would not have such miraculous effects.

Circulating this enhanced spiritual energy also increased his absorption rate, roughly tripling. This meant he absorbed spiritual energy at three times the original rate, compressing the spiritual energy he cultivated to one-third. At the time of consummation, his mana was three times as profound as that of a cultivator of the same realm. This was truly a surprise. By this calculation, his mana should rival that of a fellow cultivator two ranks higher, allowing him to challenge opponents of higher ranks. However, combat isn't solely determined by mana; it also relies heavily on spells, magical tools, and combat experience. He should conceal his profound mana to achieve the ultimate effect of surprise. Having experienced life and death, his combat awareness was highly developed, and he naturally devised the best strategy.

From then on, Liu Xing practiced his techniques, using the bamboo flute to purify the spiritual energy once it filled his dantian, continuously accumulating the content of the special pale yellow substance. This also gave him more confidence to go further on the path of cultivation, no longer frustrated by his poor spiritual roots.

Liu Xing was surprised but also calmed down. He knew that even if he was innocent, he would still be guilty of possessing a treasure. The secret of the bamboo flute must not be known to anyone. The bamboo flute itself didn't look flawed at all. Even if a powerful person seized it and investigated, they wouldn't be able to uncover anything. The treasure itself was clearly hiding a terrifying secret.

But the problem was his lack of talent, his rapid advancement in mana, and his profound skill. How could he conceal this? It seemed he must find a secret technique to conceal his mana. For now, he had to control his advancement speed and avoid breaking through to the eighth level within two years, as this would be too unnatural and easily exposed.

So from then on, he spent most of his time refining talismans and practicing spells. Manager Wang saw how hard he worked and praised him highly. He also gave him a storage bag to carry talisman paper and other things to improve efficiency. Ordinary storage bags are not very valuable, with a space of only about one cubic meter. They look very small in appearance. When worn around the waist, it is like hanging a sachet, which is very convenient. He was surprised to find that with concentrated spiritual power, his success rate in making talismans was much higher, and it would continue to improve over time. Now he can successfully make three talismans a day, which has reached the level of the old talisman masters in the workshop. He was really surprised and happy, and it was too shocking! He immediately realized the problem, so he stopped refining talismans and sat down to think about countermeasures.

The high success rate of my own talismans is due to the mutated spiritual energy. This involves the bamboo flute and the mutated spiritual energy, so I must be extremely cautious. I can conceal some of the finished products and submit them at the normal pace. Hiding the finished products is also a way to make money. If Supervisor Wang comes to inspect, I can pretend to make more talismans. Therefore, I can only increase the number and quality of talismans I submit slowly, so as not to let Supervisor Wang discover my trickery. Protecting myself well is the only way to go further.