Chapter 7: Spell Power (Part 1)

Absolute silence ensued—no one spoke for as long as thirty seconds. Suddenly, Luo Jie burst into loud laughter, coughing repeatedly. The girl rushed forward to support him, patting his back nonstop with her small hands and cooing, “Grandpa… what’s so funny? You… you… Grandpa, is he really your disciple?”
Luo Jie smiled and said, “That’s right. He’s telling the truth. You should call him ‘uncle’!”
“Twelve, this is my granddaughter, Luo Weijie. Hehe, she also has potential for spells. Well, she’s almost at the next level, but she’s still an apprentice.”
Luo Weijie asked curiously, “Twelve? What a strange name!”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “It’s not strange at all. If you have seventeen siblings and your parents don’t want to spend time and effort choosing names, using numbers as a sequence is the best option.”
Luo Weijie exclaimed, “Grandpa, is he really only eight years old?”
Before Luo Jie could answer, Guo Shier retorted, “How old do you think I am?”
Luo Jie laughed and said, “Alright, this girl is crazy all day long… Twelve is indeed eight years old. There’s no need to lie.”
Luo Weijie said happily, “This kid is fun. He talks in such an adult way, hehe…” Then she walked over. Guo Shier suddenly realized she was about to attack! After all, he was only eight years old and not fully grown. If he argued with someone in their twenties, even a slight move from her would put him at a disadvantage. Before Luo Weijie could get close, he said, “Master, I’m leaving… Goodbye…” Without caring about his awkward appearance, he ran away.
“Ah, this kid is too sneaky!”
Luo Jie called out, “Xiaojie, come back! Be respectful!”
Chang Yeren and Chen Chunzhai said goodbye with smiles. Luo Luo also followed them out. He said to Guo Shier, “Young brother, in a few days, I’ll bring my team to your house.”
Guo Shier replied, “Brother Luo, you don’t need to stay at my house for now. Hehe, just come to pick us up every ten days. For the rest of the time, you can arrange things on your own.” Of course, he understood that Luo Luo didn’t want to come, but since the master had given the order, he couldn’t refuse. He had to give Luo Luo some freedom to arrange things on their own.
Sure enough, Luo Luo said happily, “Okay… uh…” Then he realized that if his grandpa found out, he’d be in trouble. Stammering, he said, “Let’s get to know each other first.”

Luo Luo couldn’t understand why the old man wanted his squad to follow an eight-year-old child. After all, Luo Luo’s squad was quite famous in the Northern Talisman Gate—a group of seven with strong abilities. It would be embarrassing if others found out they were following an apprentice.
Luo Luo was torn. He didn’t dare disobey the old man’s orders, nor did he want to, so he could only take things one step at a time. He didn’t even know how to explain it to his teammates when he returned.
Guo Shier didn’t care what Luo Luo was thinking. His focus was on strengthening his power and saving his own life so he could be reborn smoothly in the future—that was his ultimate goal.
By the time they returned to the courtyard, it was already noon. The sky remained overcast, with heavy snow falling. The white breath they exhaled quickly froze into ice crystals on their fur covering their mouths and noses. Aunt Lan and Aunt Xin had been waiting at the door. When they saw Guo Shier enter, they stepped forward immediately and said, “Shier, come inside quickly. Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Guo Shier enjoyed their concern and grew closer to them. He smiled and said, “Aunt Lan, let’s eat together.”
Aunt Xin said, “Shier, we got flour and meat today. Hehe, I didn’t expect there to be so much.”
Guo Shier casually asked, “How much?”
Aunt Xin replied excitedly, “Six hundred jin of flour, twelve hundred jin of meat, eight hundred jin of bones for soup, and a hundred large talisman coins! This is only enough for ten days!” As an ordinary person who lived outside, she rarely saw such large amounts of food, so she was a bit surprised. But actually, upon closer calculation, it wasn’t that much.
Now, with eleven people in the family, they had sixty jin of flour, one hundred and twenty jin of meat, and eighty jin of bones for soup per day. On average, each person got a little over five jin of flour, nearly twelve jin of meat, plus bone soup. After all, everyone here ate a lot—even a child like Guo Shier had a large appetite, not to mention those Talisman Warriors.
Guo Shier did a quick calculation in his mind and realized it wasn’t that much. But he didn’t want to dampen Aunt Xin’s excitement, so he smiled and said, “Then I’ll leave it to you, Aunt Xin.”
Aunt Xin was in charge of all household chores, while Aunt Lan took care of Guo Shier’s daily needs.
After dinner, Chen Chunzhai brought in a child.
In the living room, Guo Shier met his second follower: ten-year-old Chen Bing.
Guo Shier observed Chen Bing carefully. He was a cold-looking child, not very sturdy, with a slender build. His soft black hair fell over his shoulders, and his oval face gave him a delicate appearance. However, the corners of his eyes tilted upward, giving him a slightly fierce look. His lips were tightly pressed together as he sat there silently.

Chen Chunzhai felt a bit uneasy and couldn’t help saying, “Xiao Bing has been quiet since childhood; he’s a reserved person. But inside, he’s warm-hearted. He only talks to those he knows well. If someone isn’t familiar, he won’t say much.” Guo Shier had seen many children with such a temperament in his past life. There was no need to do anything special for them—just spend time with them and gradually get to know them. He said, “Grandpa Chen, don’t worry. Chen Bing lives here for now. He shouldn’t go home yet. Let him get to know everyone first. Baozi, take Chen Bing to pick out a house.” Chen Chunzhai thought to himself that Guo Shier seemed more like an elder brother, while Chen Bing was more like the younger brother. He said, “I’ll have my servants bring Xiao Bing’s rations and supplies.” After saying that, he stood up and added, “From now on, I leave Xiao Bing in Shier’s care. If there’s anything wrong with him, don’t worry about me. Just do what needs to be done!” This was the rule—since one was to follow their master, they must be prepared to die for them. It was determined by their profession, not because they were inferior. Followers were not slaves but family members, and Guo Shier was well aware of this. Normally, they were family, but in battle or when the master gave orders, followers couldn’t resist, even if it meant following a wrong decision. Therefore, it was very important for martial artists to choose the right master. Meeting a foolish master could lead to great misfortune, even death. Guo Shier said, “Grandpa Chen, I’ll take good care of Chen Bing. For now, let him get to know Huo Bao first, so they can build a rapport and develop affection.” Chen Chunzhai was satisfied with Guo Shier’s approach and left in peace. Guo Shier wasn’t afraid of crowds but preferred to be alone—a habit ingrained from his first life. Back then, he was a monk who often practiced alone, and staying alone for dozens of days was normal. Over time, he grew to love solitude, and this habit continued into this life. After seeing Chen Chunzhai off, he talked briefly with Huo Bao and Chen Bing, reminding Huo Bao to take good care of Chen Bing, then returned to the underground laboratory by himself to sort through the items he had received. His father had given him a money bag containing sixty black talisman coins and a hundred silver talisman coins. On the way to the Northern Talisman Gate, he spent over twenty black talisman coins. Later, Chen Chunzhai gave him another 160 black talisman coins, so he now had about 200 left—truly very poor. As an apprentice at the Northern Talisman Gate, he could receive 100 black talisman coins every ten days. This money was meant to cover the living expenses of everyone in the courtyard and couldn’t be used casually for personal purposes.

While on the ship, Chen Chunzhai gave him three books: Beast Examination, Secret Woods, and Records of Precious Jades. He also received a golden identity badge from the Inner Gate. The basic books obtained from the Spellcraft Hall were placed in the study above. The fragment of bone that his father had given to Chen Chunzhai was passed on to him as well.

Chang Yeren gave him a total of eight spellbooks: four books in a set titled “Refinement and Creation of Spell Foundations,” “Special Runes Catalog” in two volumes, and two books titled “Clarifications on Bone Spells” and “Creation of Black Spell Coins.” These were all books for spellcasters, specially given by his elder brother to please him.

When Guo Shier opened the spellbooks given by his master Luo Jie, he realized they were quite rare comprehensive spellbooks covering all the basic subjects of spellcraft, as well as “Comprehensive Catalog of Body Strengthening Spellbooks” for enhancing spell warriors. The most precious one was “The Power of Spells,” a book dedicated to describing the cultivation of spell power.

This book was clearly handwritten, not printed by ordinary woodblock methods, and its pages were filled with dense annotations and various illustrations—likely the work of the great spellmaster Luo Jie. After a brief glance, Guo Shier understood it was an extremely valuable manuscript, far from an ordinary book available on the market.

Once he developed his own spell power, he could begin learning material purification. Understanding the value of time, Guo Shier immediately started reading “The Power of Spells.”

He quickly became immersed in it. The book was about an inch thick, with little text describing the cultivation of spell power—most of it was detailed annotations explaining the cultivation techniques. This was why Luo Jie was confident enough to let Guo Shier study on his own.

Guo Shier read quickly, going through the book in just two hours before closing his eyes in deep thought. He wasn’t in a hurry to cultivate. As a child with an adult’s soul, he was inevitably different from ordinary children; he needed to digest and absorb the content of the book until he fully understood it. He planned to memorize it by heart.

After a while, he stopped thinking and began forcing himself to memorize it, as if reciting scriptures.

For five consecutive days, aside from eating, sleeping, and the necessary recitations at night, he devoted all his time to memorizing the book. Thanks to his powerful soul, he had an excellent memory. Although he couldn’t memorize everything at first glance, after reading it several times, he could recall it completely. Even so, he didn’t stop, continuing to read it over and over, as if trying to engrave its contents into his soul.

By repeating the recitation constantly, he firmly ingrained the cultivation methods in his mind. It was not until the fifth day that he carefully put away the books. Yet he still did not begin cultivating; instead, he kept pondering their meanings. Whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he would jot it down and keep reflecting and thinking about it.
Ten days passed quickly, and Guo Shier had developed his own understanding and views on the power of talismans. It happened to be the day to visit his master Luo Jie, so he boarded Luo Luo’s carriage.