Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

The next morning, Han Qing arrived.

The sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy stood at the courtyard gate, holding a cloth bag that contained his own talisman brush and a stack of Cyan Pattern Paper.

He had a delicate but gaunt face and narrow shoulders. He stood there a bit timidly, his gaze sweeping over the table and talisman papers in the courtyard before finally landing on Li Yuan.

"M-Master Li."

"Come in."

Han Qing walked into the courtyard, placed the cloth bag by the table, and took out his talisman brush and paper. He arranged them neatly, then stood properly by the table, waiting.

Li Yuan sat down across the table and glanced at the talisman brush Han Qing had brought.

It was an ordinary Spirit Wood talisman brush of average make. The bristles of the tip were a bit frayed, and the Spiritual Power conduction was not very smooth.

"Use mine."

Li Yuan pulled a spare talisman brush from his storage bag and handed it over. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was a cut above Han Qing’s own.

Han Qing took it, clutching it with both hands, his fingertips trembling slightly.

Li Yuan ignored his nervousness and got straight to the point.

"Draw a Fireball Talisman for me."

Han Qing spread out a sheet of talisman paper, dipped his brush in Spiritual Ink, and lowered it to make the first stroke.

Spiritual Power seeped from the brush tip, but went askew after traveling less than half an inch across the paper.

The initial angle of the Fire Gathering Pattern was off by nearly ten degrees. The Spiritual Power couldn’t spread across the paper, instead pooling at a single point and forming an ink blotch.

A failure.

Han Qing picked up the failed talisman and set it aside, his face flushing slightly as he spread out a new sheet.

The second attempt was a little better than the first. The initial angle of the Fire Gathering Pattern was barely correct, but the Spiritual Power dispersed midway through the stroke.

Also a failure.

After watching the two attempts, Li Yuan had a pretty good idea of the problem.

Han Qing’s problem wasn’t a lack of talent, but a weak foundation.

His grip was wrong, the path for Spiritual Power conduction was obstructed, and his control over the initial angle and force was all based on guesswork. He had never received systematic training.

He had previously studied under someone else for half a year, but had only learned fragmented techniques. His fundamentals were never properly established, making it harder and harder for him to draw talismans as he progressed.

"Stop for a moment."

Han Qing put down the talisman brush and looked at Li Yuan nervously.

"Grip the brush."

Li Yuan extended his right hand, his five fingers naturally open, and held the talisman brush.

"Index and middle fingers control the direction, the thumb stabilizes the shaft, and the ring and pinky fingers provide support from below. Relax your wrist; don’t clench it. When Spiritual Power flows from your Dantian down your arm, don’t let it stop at the wrist. Send it directly to your fingertips."

He held the posture for a few breaths, allowing Han Qing to clearly see the position of each finger and the distribution of force.

"You try."

Han Qing mimicked Li Yuan, adjusting his grip. The finger positions were correct, but his wrist was still tense.

"Loosen your wrist."

"When drawing a talisman, your wrist should be flexible, following the tip of the brush. If you keep it rigid, the Spiritual Power gets stuck at your wrist and can’t pass through."

Han Qing tried to relax his wrist, and the flow of Spiritual Power from his fingertips became a bit smoother than before.

"Begin the stroke."

Li Yuan pointed to the starting point of the Fire Gathering Pattern on the talisman paper.

"Apply the Spiritual Power lightly at first, then with more force. Don’t push hard from the very beginning, or the Spiritual Power won’t be able to spread."

Han Qing followed the instructions and put brush to paper.

This time, the initial angle was correct, and the Spiritual Power didn’t get stuck at his wrist. The first half of the Fire Gathering Pattern flowed much more smoothly than before.

Han Qing could feel the difference himself, and his eyes lit up.

Li Yuan continued to guide him, correcting him stroke by stroke.

The initial angle, the distribution of Spiritual Power, the degree of wrist rotation, the way each Spirit Pattern connected to the next.

Li Yuan himself had experienced all of this during his own journey with the Talisman Making Skill, from entry-level to Great Success. Every time his proficiency increased, he gained new insights.

Now, teaching Han Qing was like retracing his own path, organizing everything anew.

In the process of teaching, Li Yuan noticed something.

As he explained each technique, his own understanding of it became clearer in his mind.

It wasn’t that he was learning anything new, but that his existing knowledge was being reorganized.

It was like a storeroom filled with things. Normally, you know where everything is when you need to use it, but when it gets too crowded, some corners inevitably become fuzzy.

Now, in order to explain it to someone else, he had to take everything out, lay it on the table, and clearly state what it was, how to use it, and why it was used that way.

In the process of taking everything out, those fuzzy corners became clear.

After a morning of teaching, Han Qing’s progress wasn’t huge, but he was headed in the right direction. The fundamentals of grip and Spiritual Power conduction required repeated practice to build muscle memory; it wasn’t something that could be solved in a day or two.

After Han Qing left, Li Yuan sat at the table, spread out a sheet of talisman paper, and resumed drawing his own Talismans.

When he finished the first Fireball Talisman, the proficiency for his Talisman Making Skill on the panel jumped.

It had increased.

The increase was slightly larger than when he usually drew talismans on his own.

Li Yuan drew a second one.

It increased again. The amount was about the same as the first, nearly thirty percent higher than the increase from simply making talismans.

’The experience gained from teaching is faster than from making talismans myself.’

Li Yuan noted this discovery but didn’t dwell on the reason.

In the afternoon, Li Yuan closed the courtyard gate and sat cross-legged on his bed planks.

The Evil Qi he had brought back from the Ghost Mist Forest still remained in his body, its concentration not low. His Evil Qi Affinity allowed this Evil Qi to reside peacefully within him without causing any negative effects.

Li Yuan activated the Iron Bull Skill, releasing the stored Evil Qi and guiding it into his fascia and bones.

The Evil Qi Body Tempering and the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill operated simultaneously. Under the dual spiritual and blood-enhancing effect of the Blood Coagulation Pill, his Qi Blood circulated in sync with his Spiritual Power. These three forces washed over the depths of his muscles in alternating waves.

Once, twice, three times.

When the third cycle was complete, Li Yuan felt a change in his Iron Wall Body Refining Skill.