Chapter 44: Chapter 44: The Ancestral Teaching Time
Xia Xin heard the words, but felt somewhat embarrassed, “Should, should I draw the talisman?”
“What, can’t do it?” Jiangli lifted her eyelids and sized him up, “Don’t tell me you can’t even draw a talisman.”
Xia Xin forced a dry laugh.
Jiangli: “……… Didn’t that old Taoist teach you anything?”
“He did teach me, but my talent isn’t up to it…” Xia Xin touched his nose.
With a moment of silence, she said, “Then you must learn. Go check on the situation, then bring a pen back here.”
Xia Xin dared not disobey and scuttled out with his tail between his legs.
It wasn’t long before Xia Xin came back with a brand new set of furry brushes, nervously sitting down beside Jiangli, and called out in a low voice, “Ancestor, I’m back…”
“Then draw the talisman.”
Jiangli passed over a stack of blank yellow ritual paper and placed it in front of Xia Xin.
There must be around a hundred sheets in that stack of yellow ritual paper, and Xia Xin’s face immediately turned grim, “Ancestor, this, this is too much…”
“This is a lot?” Jiangli flipped through them with her hand, “It’ll be finished in less than half an hour. Still a lot?”
“This, this many talisman papers can be drawn in one hour?!” His eyes widened, “Ancestor, are you joking…?”
He was about to ask if Jiangli was pulling his leg when he suddenly noticed that beside her, there was already a stack of drawn talismans.
The vermilion on them was still fresh.
One could imagine they were all drawn while he had just left to fetch the brushes.
How long had it been?
At most, just about ten minutes…
“Ancestor, did, did you draw all these?!” Xia Xin pointed at those talismans, mouth agape, nearly dislocating his jaw.
Jiangli raised her eyebrows, “If I didn’t draw them, could it be that you did?”
“… You drew so many so quickly?” Xia Xin’s cheeks twitched uncontrollably.
As Jiangli drew, she explained, “This is actually slow for me. I’ve just come out of seclusion, and haven’t held a brush for a long time. My speed has slowed down a bit. It’s passable, anyway.”
“This, this is considered passable?!”
Xia Xin was flabbergasted.
The ancestor probably doesn’t realize how fast the people in Xuanmen nowadays draw talismans!
“Ancestor, isn’t drawing talismans supposed to be very particular, requiring clean body and hands, plain clothes… and also, drawing talismans consumes a lot of spiritual power. Even when my master was alive, at most he could only draw three talismans a day…”
Xia Xin was slightly confused.
Drawing a talisman was no simple matter; it had so many requirements.
Moreover, the spiritual energy within the human body is not inexhaustible, hence the number of talismans one can draw in a day is limited.
Even the old Taoist, with his cultivation base, could barely manage three in a day.
Even if the ancestor is stronger, managing ten in a day would already be considered very difficult, right?
But, but he glanced over, and the talismans Jiangli had just casually produced were already numbering twenty or so.
And she said this was her being slow…
Then, if she were quick, what would that look like?
“Is this how your master taught you?” On hearing this, Jiangli finished the talisman in her hand, set the brush down, and frowned, “Isn’t that leading you astray?”
Xia Xin: “……… Eh? Isn’t it supposed to be like that?”
Jiangli spoke disdainfully, “Generally speaking, drawing a talisman requires a spark of spiritual light, to be done in one go. It’s about combining the spiritual energy with the state of mind. As long as the spiritual light flashes, even if you are unprepared and have neither talisman paper nor vermilion, you can still create a talisman.”
“… But, but we have always been taught this way…”
Xia Xin mumbled softly.
Jiangli gave him a dismissive look, “That’s just the useless deeds of useless people. If one’s cultivation base is high and one’s mind is clear, you can draw a talisman at any time and place without any tools. The more insufficient one’s ability, the more they rely on external forces to supplement it.”