Chapter 4: The Crazy Old Man (Part 2)

When Guo Shier finished casting his final spell, a hundred virtual talismans flew out from each of his fingers, delivering thousands of them at once onto the Ancient Ink Lotus. The last hundred thousand virtual talismans were cast in less than half a minute—on average, three thousand per second.

After finishing the spell, Guo Shier collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled from water. His hands were swollen like carrots, causing excruciating pain with every movement. Yet he was extremely satisfied. Just the speed at which he could cast virtual talismans was already many times faster than before.

Guo Shier said, “Elder Shuai, I’ll take a nap. No matter what happens, wait until I wake up.” He fell asleep immediately, snoring loudly. In such a short time, it felt as though he had gone through a brutal battle—truly exhausted both mentally and physically.

Half a day later, Guo Shier came down from upstairs and said, “I’ll eat something first, then go back up. Here’s a talisman diagram. Uncle Eagle Demon, Brother Zhang, Uncle Luo, I need your help to work on it. Be careful not to disturb the Ancient Xi Bi.”

Eagle Demon took the diagram, glanced at it briefly, then handed it to Zhang Yaojin and said, “No problem.”

Zhou Xiaoling brought hot soup and meat pies, which Guo Shier devoured eagerly. Xian Rudi asked, “Brother Shier, what happened to your hands? Why are they so swollen?”

Guo Shier replied, “If you were to cast millions of spells in a short time, your hands would end up the same way.”

Xian Rudi was shocked. She understood that casting numerous spells in a short period must require special techniques, and even then, it demanded extreme concentration and precise hand movements—a truly daunting task. She asked, “Are you refining something? Attacks usually don’t require that many virtual talismans.”

Guo Shier nodded. “This is just the first step. There’s still a lot to refine. We’ll need to stay here for a while. Once everything is ready, we can set up traps.” In truth, he knew that setting traps wasn’t easy either—it would depend on how Elder Shuai directed things.

After quickly finishing the meat pies and soup, Zhou Xiaoling brought over a basin of hot water and said, “Shier, wash your face.” Guo Shier washed his face hastily and said, “I’m going back up. If nothing important happens, don’t disturb us.”

The Ancient Ink Lotus still hovered on the second floor, and Guo Shier didn’t bring it down. Returning to the second floor, he asked, “What’s our next step?”

Elder Shuai calmly asked, “Are you proficient in refining talismans?”

Guo Shier was stunned and said, “I rarely craft talismans. I studied them for a while when I first started, but I haven’t made any since then.” He had been traveling around various secret realms and continents—where would he find the time to craft talismans?

Elder Shuai said, “That won’t do. At your level, you need to spend a lot of time crafting real talismans to prepare for creating virtual ones.”

Guo Shier asked in surprise, “Elder Shuai, wasn’t it about setting traps? What does that have to do with crafting talismans?”

Elder Shuai snapped, “You fool! How do you set traps? You still need real talismans to do it! If you can’t even craft real talismans, what kind of trash traps can you set?”

Guo Shier raised his hand and said, “Alright, alright. Let’s craft real talismans then.”

Elder Shuai muttered, “I don’t know how you managed to rise to the rank of a high-level Grand Sage—yet you don’t even have any experience in crafting real talismans. Sigh, my poor fate… having to teach this fool how to craft them… Well, since I’m idle anyway, I might as well give it a try.”

Guo Shier broke into cold sweat. He sat down obediently and said, “Elder Shuai, tell me—what do I need to do?”

Elder Shuai replied, “Give me access to all your material stores!”

Guo Shier had no choice but to share all his spirit-collecting talismans with Elder Shuai. After a moment, Elder Shuai finished checking them and said, “Poor! You’re really a pauper! What kind of things have you collected… so few. Sigh, at least I still have my own collection; otherwise, there would be really no way.”

“Your collection? Where did you get that?”

Elder Shuai replied irritably, “I’m not dead, so of course my collection is still here! If I completely lost my mind, then my collection would be gone forever.”

Guo Shier was secretly pleased and said, “I’m poor anyway. I’m only in my twenties and haven’t visited many secret realms or continents. It would be strange if I had collected many things.”

Elder Shuai said, “Never mind… Sigh, mine is yours, and yours is still yours… It sounds awkward just saying it.”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh but managed to hold back. He said seriously, “Elder Shuai, we’re like insects tied to the same string—neither of us can escape.”

Elder Shuai was stunned for a while before saying, “Yeah, we’re insects on the same string. If you’re done, I’m done too… Damn you, kid! You got lucky!”

Guo Shier smiled without any annoyance. He was starting to understand this guy—although he cursed a lot, he was still kind to him. He said, “Elder Shuai, we’re one. If I’m fine, you’re fine too, hehe.”

The handsome old man said, “Alright, let’s start crafting real talismans. I’m passing on this memory to you—study it. There’s not much time, so hurry up.” A memory was transmitted to him. Guo Shier read through it briefly and asked in confusion, “A concealment talisman?” The handsome old man replied, “Of course! We must first craft concealment talismans. Otherwise, you kids will all be exposed, waiting for Guxi Bi to kill you. With Guxi Bi’s current strength, he can kill one of you with just a few spirit-catching whiskers. Figure out how many those whiskers are.” Guo Shier said, “Okay, okay, let’s craft concealment talismans first.” He thought to himself, “I wonder why the handsome old man is so angry. Hmm, I should give him some medicine to calm his anger… No, he’s a soul entity—no medicine will work on him.” The handsome old man snapped, “Pay attention! What are you thinking?” Guo Shier jumped and said, “Nothing, nothing. I was waiting for you. How can I craft it without materials?” The handsome old man waved his hand, and a pre-cut talisman core was thrown at him. He said, “This is a talisman core made from an Shadow Dragon’s bone. Use this one to practice first.” Guo Shier was astonished. “A Shadow Dragon? Damn, a Shadow Dragon!” Shadow Dragons were among the most troublesome mutated talisman beasts, belonging to the dragon lineage. As their name suggested, they moved like shadows, moving so fast they were almost invisible. They were among the top mutated talisman beasts, and it was extremely difficult for professionals to hunt them. The handsome old man said, “Don’t make such a fuss.” There was a hint of pride in his soully aura. Guo Shier took the talisman core. It was a greenish-blue core, like a piece of jade, only the size of a palm. It had been perfectly processed, looking very beautiful and clean. Within the greenish-blue core, there were faint silver glimmers. Upon closer inspection, it was actually shimmering with light. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “What a beautiful talisman.” The handsome old man said, “Of course. It depends on who crafted it. I won’t interfere this time. Craft it by yourself. All the talismans you create will be passed to you. Use the hand gestures you used before. Remember, it must be done in one go—there are 180,000 virtual talismans in total. By the way, you should have purple talisman fire, right?” Guo Shier felt dizzy. 180,000 virtual talismans to insert at once? He took a deep breath and said, “Yes, I have purple talisman fire. But… inserting 180,000 hand gestures at once is a bit difficult.” The handsome old man said, “That’s why I said to just give it a try. It doesn’t matter if you fail. Just erase the virtual talismans. But for this real talisman… you’re allowed three failures. After three attempts, it will be ruined.”

Guo Shier tried to muster the courage and said, “I’ll do my best.” He examined the talisman pattern carefully, delved deep into his soul, and began to learn the teachings. An hour later, he opened his eyes and said, “I have a few questions.”

The handsome old man replied, “Hmm, go ahead and ask.” He admired this trait in Guo Shier—asking questions when in doubt. The worst thing was pretending to understand, as that could lead to serious mistakes.

Guo Shier asked several questions. This time, the handsome old man didn’t scold him but patiently explained each one. Soon, the entire process became clear. Guo Shier organized it in his mind briefly and said, “Alright, I’ll start the creation. If anything goes wrong, handsome old man, please point it out.”

The handsome old man shrugged and said, “It doesn’t matter if it fails.” He knew that creating a concealment talisman wasn’t easy; without proper insight and a resilient mindset, success was unlikely.

Guo Shier didn’t overthink it. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, then unleashed purple talisman fire. Using the power of the fire, he held the talisman pattern suspended in front of him. “I’m starting!” he said. He crossed his hands over his chest, and his fingers began to move slowly. A few seconds later, virtual talismans sprang out of his fingertips like a fountain and quickly landed on the talisman pattern.

The handsome old man reminded him, “The rhythm!”

Guo Shier remained silent, his mind filled with ancient runes. By then, his speed had increased to four thousand virtual talismans per second. His ten fingers turned into shadows, moving in coordination with his hand shapes and wrist movements. If anyone had been there, they would have been amazed—such speed was almost unbelievable.

In just fifty seconds, 180,000 virtual talismans were placed on the talisman pattern.

Guo Shier felt exhausted. The speed was too fast; he had to control not only his hand shapes but also the ancient runes in his mind. He pushed himself to the limit, releasing 180,000 virtual talismans at once while also keeping track of the rhythm and the placement of each talisman.

Even the handsome old man was surprised, as Guo Shier succeeded on the first try. He said, “You said… you said it wasn’t easy to create real talismans? Damn… success on the first try!” He even adopted Guo Shier’s catchphrase.

Guo Shier retracted the purple talisman fire, reached out to grab the successfully created concealment talisman, and exclaimed happily, “It worked?” He couldn’t believe it—he had succeeded in just one attempt.

The handsome old man was in a mess of thoughts, feeling quite strange. He had thought that Guo Shier would need to use at least two talismans, but to his surprise, he succeeded on the first try. He had originally planned to scold Guo Shier thoroughly when he failed, but now not only could he not scold him, he even had to praise him, which left him frustrated: Why doesn’t this kid give me a chance?
“Alright, alright, consider it a success. Keep going!”
Guo Shier took a talisman and said with a pained face, “Can I rest for a bit? It’s really tiring!”
The handsome old man finally seized the opportunity and scolded, “Rest? There’s no time for that… You need to craft eighteen concealment talismans—where’s the time for rest? Get to work, lazybones! How can a professional be lazy? Hurry up! Hurry up!” He felt great after scolding him.
Guo Shier went crazy instantly.