Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Over two days, Li Yuan flipped through Fang He's booklet several times and memorized all its contents.

The steps were not complicated, and the key points of each step were clearly written in the booklet. Fang He added annotations next to several steps in crooked handwriting.

On the morning of his day off, Li Yuan went to find Fang He.

Fang He's place was slightly larger than Li Yuan's. In the corner of the yard, there was a simple wooden rack with several pieces of leather drying on it, emitting a pungent alkaline smell.

"You're here?" Fang He brought out a wooden basin from the house, in which a grayish-brown animal hide was soaking, wrinkled and curled up in the murky medicinal liquid.

"This was soaked the day before yesterday. It's the hide of a young Ironhorn Antelope. It's still far from being a low-grade first-tier animal, but it's perfect for practice."

"If it reaches the first-tier low-grade level, it can be used to make first-tier low-grade talismans. It would be a waste to use it for practice."

Li Yuan counted out twenty spirit stones from his pocket and placed them on the table.

Fang He glanced at it, then casually stuffed it into the bag without any hesitation.

"Watch me do it once first."

Fang He fished the animal hide out of the medicinal liquid, spread it on a wooden frame, and began scraping off the remaining fat and fascia from the hide with a blunt knife.

"This step is called degreasing. The knife should be flat, the pressure should be even, and you shouldn't stab downwards. The fat should be scraped clean."

Fang He scraped and talked, his hand movements seemingly casual, but the blade remained close to the leather surface at a very steady angle.

After scraping for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the grease on the surface of the animal hide was basically cleaned off, revealing the grayish-white fiber layer underneath.

Fang He flipped it over and pressed the thickness of the leather with his finger.

"Next is the pressing and unfolding."

He laid the animal hide on a flat stone slab, picked up a smooth, round wooden stick from the side, and began to repeatedly roll it.

"The force can't be too strong, otherwise the fibers will break and the resulting talisman will crack as soon as it's written on. It also can't be too weak, otherwise it won't be flattened, the texture will be uneven, and the spiritual energy will get blocked wherever it goes."

Fang He pounded the leather a few times, then stopped and let Li Yuan touch the surface.

It feels rough to the touch, much coarser than commercially available talisman paper, with clearly visible fiber textures.

Then Fang He peeled the pressed animal hide off the stone slab, pinched the edge with his thumb and forefinger, and compared the thickness.

"See? Even after pressing, it's still too thick. If you use it directly to draw talismans, the spiritual energy can't penetrate it."

He pulled a thin-bladed knife from the pile of tools; the blade was extremely narrow and the edge was polished to a shine.

This step is called layering.

Fang He laid the animal hide back flat on the stone slab, pressed the hide down with his left palm, and used his right hand to cut into the hide from the side, following the middle of the hide, and slowly pushed it forward.

The blade pierced between the layers of skin, like slicing fish meat, splitting the entire skin in two along the cross-section of the fibers.

"The hides of demonic beasts are much thicker than those of ordinary livestock. A first-grade low-level Ironhorned Antelope can be separated into at least three or four layers. It depends on the technique. My technique is not good enough, so I'll demonstrate by separating two layers for you first."

"The inner layer of skin is generally softer and more suitable for making delicate talismans, while the outer layer of skin is rougher and more suitable for making talismans with rapid spiritual energy flow."

"However, no matter how soft it is, it is still a little less refined than plant-based talisman paper."

Fang He cut a piece about a palm's width and stopped to let Li Yuan see the cut surface.

Fang He continued to push the knife forward, separating the entire hide into two layers.

"Turning a piece of leather into two or even three or four sheets of paper is what makes this craft truly profitable."

"My layering technology is really bad, and I can't bring down the cost."

After layering, Fang He ground the hide for a while until the thickness of the hide was roughly uniform before peeling it off the stone slab.

"Final trimming."

He used a leather cutter to cut the hide into dozens of similar-sized squares along the grain, trimming the edges neatly.

"Cut along the grain, not across the grain, because horizontally cut talismans tend to curl at the edges."

Fang He stacked the cut animal hide talismans together and handed two to Li Yuan.

"Touch the paper with the top side facing up; the smooth side is the front. Draw the talisman on this side."

Li Yuan took it and ran his fingertip across the leather surface. One side was slightly smooth, while the other side had a distinctly rough texture.

"That's about it. Some things aren't explained clearly in the booklet, but you'll probably understand if you watch me do it once."

"But what are you going to do with this skill?" Fang He leaned against the wooden frame and asked casually. "Are you learning to make talismans?"

"Um."

Fang He was not surprised and nodded slightly.

"That would come in handy. Animal hide talismans are cheap to make now, so using them for practice is much more cost-effective than buying ready-made ones."

Fang He thought for a moment, then added, "If you can make a finished talisman, I can help you collect it and see what kind of talismans you can make."

Li Yuan thought for a moment and then named the three types of talismans he knew.

After listening, Fang He nodded: "I can find channels to help you sell the cleaning talismans and warning talismans. It will save you time compared to setting up a stall yourself, and the price will be fair, but the quantity needs to be large."

"There aren't many talismans needed for protection against evil spirits."

"Take the remaining skins back and practice on your own. I still have some of the potion I used today, take that with you too. The recipe for the potion for soaking skins is in the booklet, the ingredients aren't expensive, you can make it yourself."

Li Yuan packed the animal hides, medicine, and tools and took them back to his residence.

Close the door and spread out the things.

Fang He gave him a large piece of animal hide that hadn't been processed yet. Following Fang He's demonstration, Li Yuan started soaking the hide himself.

The fat removal step took the longest.

When pushing the knife forward along the leather surface, if the force is slightly off, it will either not scrape cleanly, leaving an oily stain, or it will scrape too deep and damage the fiber layer. Li Yuan adjusted the angle several times before finding a relatively stable feel, but he still couldn't do it as smoothly as Fang He.

The pressing process was also unsuccessful. When the round wooden stick rolled over the leather surface, it was difficult to apply even pressure on both sides, resulting in a noticeable difference in the thickness of the leather surface after pressing, with the middle being thinner and the sides thicker.

Layering was fine; Li Yuan didn't divide it into too many parts, but instead divided it into two halves like Fang He, which made it much simpler.

Li Yuan wasn't in a hurry. He pressed it twice more, adjusting the direction of the force each time, and finally pressed out a barely even leather surface.

Cutting is actually the simplest—cut along the grain, and the leather will naturally split. Although the cut edges are not as neat as those cut by Fanghe, they do not affect its use.

The first homemade animal skin talisman was placed on the table.

[Talisman Making - Animal Hide Talisman Making - Beginner (0/100)]

It is grayish-white in color and has a rough texture, making it easily distinguishable from commercially available talisman paper. However, when I tapped the surface of the paper with my finger, it showed decent toughness and no cracks.

Li Yuan dipped his finger in cinnabar and drew a cleansing talisman on the animal skin talisman paper.

I felt the difference the moment I put pen to paper.

The resistance of the pen tip on the animal hide was much greater than that on ordinary talisman paper. When the spiritual energy followed the lines of the pen, it would deviate slightly whenever it passed through a rough part of the fiber, requiring extra attention to correct it.

After finishing drawing a cleansing talisman, Li Yuan looked at the patterns on the talisman and frowned slightly.

The lines are crooked and twisted, and the positions of several nodes deviate significantly from the standard runes.

However, unlike plant-based talismans, which become completely unusable at this level of deviation, animal hide talismans are more durable and can be activated with difficulty.

After the spiritual energy was injected, the surface of the talisman lit up briefly and then dimmed again. It was barely considered a success, but the effect would likely be greatly reduced.

Li Yuan put away his talisman-making tools and folded the finished animal hide talisman papers, placing them aside.

At noon, Li Yuan went to Lao Sun's stall.

Old Sun was brewing medicine. A small clay stove was set up in front of his stall, with a clay pot on top, bubbling and steaming, and the air was filled with a bitter herbal smell.

"Old Sun, is the talisman master you mentioned still around?"

"He should be here tonight." Old Sun looked up at Li Yuan and stirred the medicinal soup in the casserole with a bamboo skewer. "Come to my place after dinner, and I'll take you there."

"OK."

After nightfall, Li Yuan arrived at Lao Sun's stall on time.

Old Sun had already packed up his stall and was waiting on the street with his hands behind his back.

The two walked through several alleys and stopped in front of a secluded little house in the southeast corner of the market.

The door was half-open, and a dim light shone from inside.

Old Sun knocked on the door frame.

"Master Lu, I've brought some men with me."

A response came from inside, and the door opened from the inside.

The man who opened the door was in his early thirties. He was not tall, had a yellowish complexion, and long, thin fingers with faint red marks on the tips from years of contact with cinnabar.

The aura of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

"Come in and speak."

The room was small, with a table taking up most of the space. On the table were tools and materials for making talismans, and several bundles of uncut talisman paper were piled up in the corner.

"This is Li Yuan, the deputy captain of the patrol team," Old Sun gave a brief introduction, then looked at Li Yuan. "This is Lu Fushi, he came from the rogue cultivator market, his talisman-making skills are quite good."

Master Lu nodded, sat down behind the table, and didn't exchange pleasantries.

"Do you want to buy or exchange?"

"I want to exchange the crafting recipe for animal hide talisman paper for several low-grade first-tier talisman crafting recipes."

Li Yuan got straight to the point.

Lu Fushi glanced at Li Yuan, then pulled out a thin booklet and a scroll of bamboo slips from a wooden box under the table and placed them under his hand.

"The method of drawing the Fireball talisman, plus this first-tier fire spell, 'Fire Arrow.' Fire Arrow is one level weaker than Fireball, but it's faster and consumes less energy. Neither of these items is rare, but they're more than enough for beginners."

"Giving me two different methods for making first-grade low-level talismans won't work, but you'll be at a loss if you only give me one. So I've added a Fire Arrow Technique, but you'll have to pay some spirit stones."

Li Yuan looked at the booklet and bamboo slips, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"I have a supply channel. A talisman master who worked here for a few years has been using this channel to ensure a stable supply of materials for talisman making. The raw materials are cheap."

"You've only been here a short time, so you probably don't have any connections yet. How about we use this connection, along with the animal hide crafting technique, to exchange for your fireball talisman drawing method and fire arrow spell?"

Master Lu pondered for a moment. He tapped his fingers on the table twice more and glanced at Old Sun.

"OK."

He pushed the booklet and bamboo slips over.

Li Yuan took the items, wrote down the supplier information left by Lao Zhang on a piece of paper, and handed it over along with the booklet Fang He had given him earlier.

"There are some things that aren't explained clearly in this booklet. If you have time, I can demonstrate them for you. Of course, my own skills are also quite rough."

"No need. I've made quite a few talismans before, and animal hide talismans are pretty much the same. You just need to understand the principle; you'll have no problem with the practical application."

Back at his residence, Li Yuan closed the door and first opened the thin book that recorded the method of drawing fireball talismans.

Compared to the Cleansing Talisman, the Fireball Talisman's spiritual energy pathways are several times more complex. Not only are there numerous nodes, but it also requires the instantaneous convergence and burst of spiritual energy at several key turning points, demanding extremely high levels of pen control and micro-management of spiritual energy.

It's not easy to draw on ordinary grass and wood talisman paper; if you use rough animal skin talisman paper, the difficulty will double.

Having memorized the contents of the booklet, Li Yuan then unfolded the bamboo slip containing the Fire Arrow Technique.

The Fire Arrow Technique is much simpler than the Fireball Technique. The path of spiritual energy circulation is shorter, and the method of condensation is more direct—it does not condense into a ball, but compresses the fire-type spiritual energy into a slender arrow shape, which is characterized by speed.

He read it from beginning to end, closed the bamboo slip, placed it beside his pillow, and began his cultivation.

There's no rush for spells and talisman making; we can deal with them tomorrow during the day.