Chapter 9: The Record of Personal Talismans (Part 1)

Luo Luo glanced awkwardly at Guo Shier and said with a wry smile, “Grandpa, I went on a mission, haha. I just finished it and came back. Shier, you’re here too.”
Luo Jie replied indifferently, “Oh, you finished the mission? Then go and take more missions.”
Luo Luo said, “Grandpa, I can’t take any more missions!”
Luo Jie took a sip of wine. He was still annoyed that Luo Luo had left Guo Shier under the pretext of going on a mission with his team. If Luo Luo weren’t his grandson, he would have expelled him long ago. He said expressionlessly, “Don’t tell me… you’re out of food!” Being an old and shrewd man, he immediately guessed why Luo Luo had come. Unless he was in a desperate situation, this kid would never return to see him.
Guo Shier also guessed that Luo Luo had come back because he was hungry. As a Talisman Martial Artist, he was at his peak eating capacity—only when he became a Grand Talisman Martial Artist would his appetite drop sharply. If he were an inner sect disciple, he might manage somehow, but since he was Luo Jie’s man and had left with his team under the pretext of taking missions, he had to fend for himself. He wasn’t as clever as Guo Shier and quickly ran out of food, forcing him to return for help.
“Grandpa!”
Luo Luo, being such a grown man, still used a whiny tone, which made Guo Shier’s skin prickle. He couldn’t help but say, “Brother Luo, don’t talk like that… I can’t stand it!”
Luo Jie couldn’t help but laugh heartily. He slapped Guo Shier on the shoulder and scolded, “Damn it, even the most serious matters get messed up by you!”
Luo Luo gave Guo Shier a grateful look and said, “Grandpa, I’ve been hungry for two days… Sigh.”
Luo Jie cursed, “It’s because you stubborn kid refused to come back! Do you expect me, an old man, to beg you to return? Go see Uncle Hu yourself—he’ll give you something. Useless brat! You’re not even as smart as Shier; everyone knows to stock up on food, but you’re clueless!”
Luo Luo was thoroughly scolded and looked embarrassed. “Yes, yes, Grandpa, I… I’m going!” With that, he turned and ran. Luo Jie shook his head and cursed, “Stupid kid, no brains at all.”
Guo Shier heard the concern in Luo Jie’s words.
“Master, if you’re worried about him, shall I go check on him?”
Luo Jie sighed, “No need. He’s so grown up yet still needs me, an old man, to worry… Shier, how’s your cultivation going lately?”

Guo Shier said, “There’s still one set of movements missing in the basic cultivation. I should be able to learn it soon. Once I’ve mastered everything, I’ll combine them and start practicing. The progress won’t be too slow. Don’t worry, master—I won’t get distracted by trivial matters.” Of course, he understood what Luo Jie was worried about.
Luo Jie nodded in relief. Talking to smart people was indeed easier. He said, “You need to reach the level of a Spellcaster as soon as possible. That way, you can start preparing your own life spell. Before creating your own life spell, the Spellcaster profession is quite weak.”
Guo Shier didn’t think Spellcasters were weak. Compared to his past lives, he felt much stronger, especially since the cultivation methods of Spellcasters allowed him to strengthen his soul—a thing he couldn’t do in his previous two lives. Through his cultivation in this life, he looked forward to his powerful soul playing a role in his next reincarnation.
He asked a few more questions about cultivation and stayed at master Luo Jie’s place for the night before leaving for home the next day.
Back home, Aunt Lan said excitedly, “Shier, you’re amazing! Yesterday, we sold a batch of meat and made over two hundred thousand Great Spell coins! Wow, our life will be much better from now on!”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Aunt Lan, you take care of the money. Keep selling the meat. Sell everything except what’s necessary—soon, meat won’t be worth much.”
Aunt Lan agreed excitedly and went out to ask the servants to continue selling it.
Guo Shier went to the underground laboratory, took out the Spellcrafting Master’s spellbooks, and opened them with a spell key. A stack of books appeared before him: Secret Records of Cultivation, Manuals for Crafting Hidden Spells, Offensive Spellcrafting, and Compendium of Plants—four types, eight books in total, all secret texts of the Spellcrafting sect. Guo Shier believed these spellbooks must have been obtained through killing and stealing.
Holding the eight books like precious treasures, he opened the manual for crafting hidden spells and began to read it carefully. One book after another, first skimming through them, it took him four days to finish the entire set. He closed his eyes and pondered for a long time, secretly delighted. This was a cultivation method based on plants. Its offensive power was relatively weak, but it offered unparalleled skills in cultivating and growing plants. Especially the technique of crafting hidden spells—if he could master it, it would be like having a botanical garden with him. In his past life, this had been unimaginable.

In this world, there are spells and magical concealment talismans. The so-called concealment talismans can shrink objects to create a peculiar space. According to his understanding, if used properly, they can even be used to create a mobile dwelling. The spellcasters of the Northern Talisman Sect do not place much emphasis on the functions of concealment talismans and have only developed small items such as concealment pouches, talisman belts, and wrist talismans. In contrast, the Planting Talisman Sect uses concealment talismans to create spaces for growing plants.

Of course, Guo Shier still does not have the ability to learn how to create such concealment talismans yet. What he needs to learn now are the unique spellcraft skills of the Northern Talisman Sect. Once he advances to the rank of spellcaster, he can try to learn some skills from the Planting Talisman Sect—only then will he begin to integrate different techniques.

Putting away the spellbook, Guo Shier started practicing. According to his daily training plan, he had to create eight offensive spells.

Now, Guo Shier had another task: using one-time attack spells to practice his attacking techniques. Having made a large sum of money recently, he had the financial means to spare no expense on these spells for practice. Of course, he did not use them recklessly; each time he launched an attack spell, he would plan carefully and prepare thoroughly, then reflect on it afterward.

As he practiced more often, his proficiency with attack spells improved, and the number of one-time attack spells he used decreased—this was indeed an expensive form of training.

……

Aunt Lan has been extremely excited these past few days. She never expected that these meats could fetch such high prices. Food prices soared rapidly, doubling in just a few days.

Apart from keeping enough for her own family, she sold all the remaining meat and earned over a million Black Talisman coins. That was a huge sum—she had counted the money until her hands grew sore. Looking at the piles of flour in her storage room, she knew she could make more money in the future, as flour was now much more expensive than meat, and no one was willing to sell it; there was supply but no demand in the market.

Less than a month later, rumors of people dying of starvation began to spread. Soon, the Northern Talisman Sect increased its meat supply. It was said that their farms could slaughter hundreds of thousands of animals per day to supply the market on a large scale. Meat prices dropped sharply, while flour prices continued to rise.

Stunned, Aunt Lan didn’t know what to say about Guo Shier’s remarkable foresight—it was simply amazing. From then on, she began to trust Guo Shier blindly, following whatever he suggested without hesitation.

Huo Bao and the other three also didn’t rest during this time. After seeing the wildlings of Ye Guan City, they began training frantically without any urging. Every ten days, they would ask Guo Shier to use Ming Fu for body training. Aside from Chen Hong, who had a female talismanist hired by Aunt Chen to assist with her training, all four saw their strength steadily increase.

Ming Fu body training is a very tedious and time-consuming process. Every apprentice talisman warrior must undergo 600 sessions of Ming Fu training to form 600 talisman patterns on their bodies. After advancing to talisman warrior status, more Ming Fu training is required, followed by Bone Fu training, after which they can almost advance again.

Ming Fu is not expensive, and most people can afford it. However, the training itself must be done by a talismanist, which incurs a significant cost. Those with followers don’t have to worry about these expenses. But there aren’t many people who pursue careers as talismanists or spellcasters. With so many apprentice talisman warriors who must earn their own money and find ways to train on their own, many remain at the talisman warrior level and fail to advance.

Guo Shier also makes Ming Fu, which he uses for Huo Bao and the others. He provides the Ming Fu needed by Chen Hong as well; Aunt Chen only needs to hire someone to train Chen Hong.

Guo Shier also places great importance on Dark Fu, which is used for his own training. Unlike Ming Fu, Dark Fu can only improve physical fitness but cannot create strong combat power. With Ming Fu training, the resulting talisman patterns can even form talisman armor on talisman warriors, offering protection stronger than steel armor.

Luo Zhan has returned as well. The wildlings surrounding the city have been driven away, but they cannot yet be completely eliminated. The North Talisman Sect is working hard to restore its supply lines. During the wildlings’ rampage, all supply stations were destroyed, and wildlings roamed everywhere along the routes. But now, there is no longer any danger of the city falling.

North Talisman City has been reborn. As long as the wildlings do not attack the city, the sect’s hunting teams can keep launching attacks. If the wildlings fail to coordinate their efforts, annihilation is their only fate, unless they retreat to the Extreme North Wasteland. Then, this spring’s battle will come to an end.

Although the Wildman Pass was breached, Ye Guancheng managed to hold his ground. This was thanks to those who retreated from the pass—they were all fighters from the Northern Talisman Gate, including many experts in professions such as Talisman Warriors and Spellcasters. Since most of the wildmen bypassed the city, only a small number attacked it, allowing them to eliminate many of the attackers and protect the ordinary people who couldn’t retreat in time. Those ordinary people were lucky to escape; if the wildmen had entered Ye Guancheng, none of them would have survived. Recently, the Northern Talisman Gate has begun planning to recapture the Wildman Pass, thereby blocking the wildmen’s route back to the Arctic Wasteland. Once trapped, the wildmen would have no chance of escaping, after which the Gate could send elite troops to wipe them out completely.