Cultivating Immortality Through a Hundred Lifetimes: I Possess the Heavenly Book of Merit

The slap in the face came too quickly.

He had just been praising himself for his high comprehension, but the next moment he failed. However, since no one was around, Yu Yan didn't feel embarrassed. He simply shook his head and spread out another talisman.

The first failure was actually unexpected.

Every stroke was drawn exactly according to the runes on the original talisman paper, and the trajectory of the spiritual energy flow was exactly the same. Logically, it shouldn't have failed.

As he pondered, Yu Yan picked up the tassel fragment that had turned to ashes, his brow furrowed, and he fell into deep thought.

He placed the original talisman and the failed talisman side by side on his lap, closed his eyes, and carefully compared them with his divine sense.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

It turned out to be the case.

Although the original runes look rough, that roughness is intentional.

Each stroke, seemingly random, actually contains hidden secrets. Thicker strokes output more spiritual energy, while thinner strokes output less. This variation in thickness is itself part of the rune.

When Yu Yan was drawing, in pursuit of precision, he made every stroke even and delicate, resulting in an excessive output of spiritual energy that ordinary yellow paper could not withstand.

Most importantly, the original talisman was made of a special type of paper that could greatly mitigate the impact of spiritual energy. Ordinary yellow paper, on the other hand, does not have this effect, and if drawn according to the original talisman, it will naturally be ruined.

Once the root cause is found, things become much easier.

Yu Yan did not rush to write, but closed his eyes and mentally dissected and analyzed every stroke of the original symbol.

Those rough strokes gradually decomposed into countless tiny spiritual energy nodes in his eyes, and the strength, direction, and turning point of the spiritual energy in each node were clearly visible.

What he needed to do was not to simply copy the original talisman, but to improve it so that it could be successfully formed on ordinary yellow paper.

An hour passed.

Yu Yan opened his eyes and picked up the talisman brush.

Runes need to vary in intensity and speed.

A relentless pursuit of perfection may ultimately lead to more harm than good.

This talisman for dispelling miasma is the best example.

Spiritual energy flowed from the tip of the pen into the talisman paper, sometimes like a trickle, sometimes like a rushing river.

The runes gradually took shape.

As the last stroke was made, the talisman suddenly lit up, swirling with a blue light, before slowly receding.

Successful.

Yu Yan picked up the newly drawn talisman to dispel miasma and examined it carefully. Compared to the original talisman, the runes on this one were more refined, and the spiritual light was softer. Although it differed from the original talisman's rough style, its efficacy should be no less.

However, this is only a success on paper. Whether it can actually dispel the miasma remains to be seen.

Yu Yan stood up and glanced around.

The forest was silent, devoid of any living creatures other than birds, beasts, insects, and fish. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he turned and headed back the way he had come.

Before long, he returned carrying a gray hare.

He found the rabbit in the bushes using his divine sense. It was very plump and struggled desperately when it was caught, but it couldn't escape Yu Yan's grasp.

"Don't worry, you have to trust my talisman-drawing skills. It will definitely block the miasma. Help me try it. We've only met by chance, so let's be friends. If you die, I'll erect a monument for you."

Yu Yan muttered to himself, not caring whether the rabbit was willing or not, and simply activated the newly drawn talisman to dispel miasma.

The blue light spread, forming a three-foot square light shield. He used a thin vine to tie the talisman to the rabbit's hind leg, then picked up the rabbit and walked towards the miasma swamp.

As they approached the edge of the miasma, the pungent odor returned. Yu Yan held his breath, placed the rabbit on the ground, and pushed it forward.

The rabbit took off running, plunging headfirst into the gray-green mist.

Yu Yan took a few steps back, and his divine sense spread out.

The miasma had a certain obstructive effect on divine sense, but the rabbit hadn't run far and was still within the range of his divine sense.

He could clearly "see" the rabbit hopping around in the miasma. Although it was a little panicked at first, it quickly calmed down and occasionally lowered its head to nibble on the dry grass on the ground. It was lively and showed no signs of being poisoned.

Yes, it worked.

Yu Yan nodded, feeling slightly pleased with himself.

I easily improved this old-fashioned talisman from who-knows-when. Although it's still slightly flawed, it's not something anyone can do.

Time passed little by little.

The rabbit remained lively and energetic for about two hours in the miasma. Yu Yan sat cross-legged outside the miasma swamp, cultivating while keeping an eye on its movements.

Another hour passed, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

The rabbit's movements began to slow down, and its hopping became smaller and smaller.

It seemed to sense something, stopped, pricked up its ears, then suddenly turned around and ran wildly out of the miasma swamp.

Animals always have an instinct, a survival instinct, which allows them to sense something before danger arrives and react accordingly.

Humans originally possessed this instinct, but the development of civilization has gradually diminished it, making it difficult for ordinary people to exhibit it anymore.

During the cultivation process, cultivators will unconsciously reawaken these instincts, which is why Yu Yan was able to sense that someone was following him.

The pressure from the Foundation Establishment cultivator made him instinctively fearful and panicked...

Yu Yan stood up and watched as the rabbit burst out of the miasma and collapsed at his feet.

He bent down to pick up the rabbit and removed the talisman from its hind leg. The talisman's spiritual light was extremely dazzling, though it was grayish-green and looked somewhat eerie, but that was just the effect of the talisman.

Yes, you will receive a Poison Talisman.

Or it would be more appropriate to call it a miasma talisman.

Yu Yan probed the talisman with his spiritual power and sensed that only about 10% of the spiritual power remained.

He calculated the time; from activating the talisman to the point where the spiritual energy was about to be exhausted, approximately three hours had passed.

In other words, his improved miasma-repelling talisman can maintain its effect for three hours.

It is naturally much worse than the original talisman. Judging from the effect of the original talisman, it can last for at least three days.

However, three hours is not bad.

Yu Yan's lips curled up, feeling quite satisfied.

Although three hours is not a long time, he can keep drawing, and when he finishes one, he can switch to the next. It's not a big problem, and it's enough time for him to explore the miasma swamp.

As for the rabbit, Yu Yan checked it over and found it was just a little frightened but otherwise unharmed. He untied the thin vines, patted the rabbit's head, and put it back in the bushes.

"Brother Rabbit, I won't thank you enough. Please feel free to come to me if you need anything in the future."

The rabbit took off running and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

We may meet again someday, but never again!

Yu Yan shook his head, walked back to the bluestone, took out talisman paper from his storage bag, and began to draw talismans to dispel miasma in batches.

With the experience of the first success, the subsequent drawing went much more smoothly. One, two, three... An hour later, ten miasma-repelling talismans were neatly arranged in front of him.

Yes, that's fine.

That should be enough.

Anyway, there's plenty of cinnabar talisman paper.

Draw more if you need more.

Yu Yan put the talisman into his storage bag, stood up, and looked at the churning gray-green mist in front of him.

The map Gu Cheng gave me came to mind.

The miasma spread for hundreds of miles around, and in the middle there was a high ground where the spiritual energy was said to be the most concentrated.

Gu Cheng had tried to enter it years ago, but he couldn't go more than three miles before giving up. As for that high ground, he had only seen it from afar and had never actually reached it.

Yu Yan's target was that high ground.

He took out a miasma-repelling talisman from his storage bag and activated it. A blue light spread out, forming a three-foot-wide light shield around him. The pungent smell vanished instantly, replaced by a refreshing aura.

Yu Yan took a deep breath and stepped into the miasma.

The gray-green mist churned and swallowed his figure.