25 First Level Talisman Master
Ordinarily, Zhen Yuan could draw a first-level talisman within ninety breaths.
However, Shen Xu had repeatedly warned him to gain attention while keeping a low profile.
Because of this, Zhen Yuan decided to draw a perfect-grade first-level talisman but prolong the drawing time to three-quarters of an hour.
In this way, he would show his talent without revealing too much of his true strength.
After deciding, Zhen Yuan sighed and stared at his talisman paper.
'What to do while I wait for the time to pass?' He wondered.
If he was the curious type, he would look around to see what the other assesses were drawing.
However, Zhen Yuan was not interested in people who weren't Shen Xu.
For lack of something better to do, he decided to chronologise everything he heard from Shen Xu about the book.
'When we arrive in the capital, it will almost be time for the Divine Rainbow Academy recruitment.' He started.
Soon after the recruitment, the main protagonist would retreat to advance to the middle stage of the foundation establishment realm.
This retreat would last three months.
After advancing, the main protagonist and his first wife would leave the Academy to train and look for opportunities.
'When training in the Black Turtle Ridge, they will discover a red-veined loquat fruit tree.' Zhen Yuan thought and subconsciously tapped the talisman paper.
Ordinary loquat trees produced hundreds, if not thousands of loquat fruits.
However, red-veined loquats were spiritual fruits.
Rather than grow in clusters, one fruit was the size of an apple, and each occupied an individual tree branch.
Because of this, a red-veined loquat fruit tree only produced twelve fruits.
When the main protagonist and his first wife found the red-veined loquat fruit tree, the fruits were about to ripen.
Unfortunately, the fruit tree was guarded by a peak-level two iron-haired squirrel.
A peak-level two monster was equivalent to a peak-level foundation establishment realm cultivator.
With his cultivation at the middle stage of the foundation establishment realm, a peak-level two monster was almost impossible to deal with.
However, Xiao Weimin was the main protagonist.
The heavens loved him and gave him a thick plot armour.
Without a doubt, he survived the ordeal and won the fruits, but the process was not easy.
From Shen Xu's description, Xiao Weimin was seriously injured and had to recuperate for more than ten days.
'The red-veined loquats are the opportunity for Xiao Weimin to advance to the late stage of the foundation establishment realm and his wife to break through to the middle stage.' Zhen Yuan thought with a gleam in his eyes.
Because Shen Xu didn't read the book carefully, Zhen Yuan didn't know when the loquats would ripen.
He only knew it was within the three years before the opening of the Demon Plants Forest secret realm.
'I need to narrow down the time.' He thought, and his eyebrows creased in focus.
After the main protagonist and his first wife got the red-veined loquats, they returned to the Academy.
This time, Xiao Weimin retreated for one year while the first wife retreated for eight months.
When the male protagonist left seclusion, Shen Xu had just exited the soul training tower and had become a third-level alchemist.
'If I infer, the main protagonist will find the red-veined loquats about one and a half to two years from now.' Zhen Yuan concluded.
Since he had an approximate timeline, he thought of countermeasures and planned to talk to Shen Xu when he left the assessment room.
'The only concern is the variables.' Zhen thought and frowned.
The first variable was himself.
According to Shen Xu, he was never part of the plot.
In that case, his involvement would undoubtedly produce changes.
However, whether the changes were good or bad was yet to be seen.
Other than him, there were Shen Xu and Bai Guo.
Like him, Bai Guo was never part of the original plot.
Unexpectedly, the person suddenly appeared and took the path of the original Shen Xu.
However, judging from the main protagonist's interest in Shen Xu, Bai Guo's existence didn't perfectly fit the role.
As for the transmigrated Shen Xu, his existence was even more complicated.
Not only did he escape the scripted relationship with the protagonist, but he was also related to the other two variables.
'We need to tread carefully to avoid accidents.' Zhen Yuan thought.
However, he was optimistic about his and Shen Xu's future.
Although everything in the world was scripted, Zhen Yuan believed they would live as they wished.
After all, Shen Xu had taken the first step and separated their life's trajectory from the original plot.
Halfway into the assessment, Zhen Yuan finally focused on his talisman paper.
'What talisman should I draw?' He wondered.
In the Canglan continent, the most common first-level talismans were the flame talisman, wind talisman, turtle shell talisman, and earth wall talisman.
The flame talisman was an offence-type talisman that could attack the enemy with flames.
Given the explosive nature of fire, flame talismans were very effective when dealing with enemies or monsters.
On the other hand, the turtle shell talisman and the earth wall talisman were defence-type talismans.
Compared to the earth wall talisman, the turtle shell talisman was weaker.
Correspondingly, the price of an earth wall talisman was higher than that of the turtle shell talisman.
Finally, the wind talisman was an auxiliary type talisman.
Ordinarily, cultivators attached the wind talismans to their shoes or flying equipment to increase their speed.
As such, the wind talisman was a must-have item for cultivators.
After all, at one time or another, all cultivators found themselves in a situation where they needed to escape at the fastest speed.
'Should I draw one of the four?' Zhen Yuan wondered.
However, he soon decided against it.
In the first assessment, his and Shen Xu's plan was to get the attention of the Talisman Association.
After revealing his talent, it wouldn't raise too much suspicion when Zhen Yuan later produced a new talisman map.
'I need to draw a useful talisman but one that doesn't infringe on major interests.' He thought and felt a headache.
Sixty breaths later, Zhen Yuan finally decided to draw the ice thorn talisman.
As the name suggested, the ice thorn talisman was an offence-type talisman of the ice element.
However, the ice thorn talisman was rare.
This was because the ice element was not among the five primary elements but a mutation of the water element.
For this reason, the ice thorn talisman was hard to draw, and few masters could do it.
Most importantly, the ice thorn talisman wasn't as easy to use as the flame talisman or other primary element talismans.
As a result, ordinary cultivators rarely chose to buy the ice thorn talisman despite its high attack power.
Fortunately, it still had a redeeming factor.
In the hands of ice element cultivators, the talisman was lethal.
It could produce twice the power without additional qi consumption.
By drawing the ice thorn talisman, Zhen Yuan would not affect other people's interests and would achieve his goal of hinting at his talent.
'It's decided.' He nodded and directly began to draw.
Ninety breaths later, he drew the last line, and a cold chill suddenly spread around the room.
Feeling the chill, several cultivators frowned and raised their heads to look at the source.
However, Zhen Yuan was not looking around.
Instead, he was gazing at the ice thorn talisman with a satisfied expression.
At the front of the room, several assessors looked at each other with shock-filed eyes.
[This…] One transmitted to the others.
[Mmmm.] Another nodded.
[It's a perfect-grade ice element talisman.] The last one said.
When a talisman was completed, it didn't produce an unnatural phenomenon.
Only a perfect-grade talisman was the exception.
The so-called perfect grade was higher than the peak grade.
Generally, even a peak-grade talisman was a little flawed.
However, a perfect-grade talisman was flawless.
It had no room for improvement, and its power was several times that of a peak-grade talisman of the same kind.
This time, without examining the talisman, the three assessors knew the grade and element of Zhen Yuan's talisman.
[He is a talented child.] One stated with barely concealed excitement.
[Do we want to inform the great elder?]
[Must. Drawing a perfect grade talisman is a matter of luck but also talent. Our association can't miss this child.]
[His identity should not be simple.] One of the assessors suddenly said and sighed.
When the unnatural manifestation first appeared, he tried to see through the boy's mask, but his efforts were useless.
No matter what he tried, he was blocked at every turn.
[He could be the young master of a big family.] Another assessor suggested.
[How can a family in Two Reeds town raise such a talent? I don't believe it.]
[I also don't believe it.]
[Don't forget the Divine Rainbow Academy is about to recruit new students. Maybe he is passing through Two Reeds town from another town.]
[Whatever the case, we must give him good conditions to join our talisman association.]
[It's best if he joins.]
[Let's assess his talisman. The cold air is affecting the others.] One of the assessors suggested, and the others quickly agreed.
A moment later, one of them walked over and whispered to Zhen Yuan.
Soon after, Zhen Yuan took his talisman and followed the assessor to the front.
"We will assess your talisman first." One of the three assessors said.
"Please go ahead." Zhen Yuan agreed.
Less than an incense stick later, the three ended their individual examination and nodded at each other.
In fact, examining the talisman was for their personal interest rather than necessity.
After all, Zhen Yuan automatically passed the assessment when he successfully drew a perfect-grade talisman.
"Fellow Daoist, you have passed the assessment." The old white-haired cultivator informed.
While speaking, he made a qi mark on the wooden square Zhen Yuan received when he registered.
"Take this to receive your first-level identity token." The old cultivator said.
"Thank you, fellow daoists." Zhen Yuan said, took the wooden square and prepared to leave.
However, before he left, one of the three assessors stopped him.
"Fellow Daoist, will you assess the second level?" He asked.
"That is my plan." Zhen Yuan replied.
