"Senior brother, see, this is the talisman made from the Talisman Diagram I showed eldest senior sister!" Fu Xian pointed to the Ancient Tree Bark Talisman.
"It’s these? A wood defensive spell? These are quite rare. What are its abilities?"
"Whatever you put it on, that person or object will grow an extremely hard bark skin. This bark is immune to all elements except for fire.
The only other way to destroy it is to use direct force. Even then, with enough water or wood spiritual power, the shield can simply be repaired. It’s an excellent weapon against Spiritual Cultivators and Beasts alike."
"Hmm..." Longbao thought for a moment, then replied, "Since I already told you of my vassal family, I can just tell you this.
That vassal family, like the other families in that county, specialises in transporting items from outside the dynasty into the dynasty. Their business especially requires strong ships that can survive strong streams and attacking beasts.
How long would you say this talisman lasts?"
Fu Xian looked weirdly at his senior brother, "Brother Longbao... have you never used top-grade talismans?"
Longbao was surprised at the question but shook his head, "No. Talismans of this grade aren’t available for purchase in the city. At least mass purchase is impossible without waiting in line for hundreds of years.
Even though I am on quite a few of these lists, I don’t see myself getting a chance to use them.
Since I am a merchant, I have bought several weapons to protect me."
"Oh..." Fu Xian nodded, understanding why this situation was like this.
"Senior brother, as you know, Talisman Diagrams are like weapons, tools so to say. They don’t get destroyed and have several effects.
Drawing a top-grade talisman requires such a diagram.
The reason for this is that, to become a top-grade talisman, several requirements have to be met.
Among these requirements, the most important has always been Permanence.
All top-grade talismans are made to last forever. They are like an enchantment that can be endlessly expanded.
Naturally, there are various things that reduce their livability: wear, damage, and spiritual power sparsity.
My talisman, for example, is a defensive talisman.
As long as you attach it to something, it will become the hidden core inside the bark.
You just need to continuously input spiritual power into this shield.
Its normal lifespan, according to my estimations, is a year.
This should be enough to cross the river, go up to the kingdoms, down to the empire, and then return to the county again, right?
Even if it gets damaged in this process, like I said, it only needs wood or water spiritual power to recover.
This is the special ability of wood element talismans and also the reason why, even though they lack the defensiveness of earth or the versatility of water, they are still used as defensive talismans."
"You mean to say, this is not a one-time talisman?"
"Exactly. Even after a year, theoretically, the hidden law of talismans wouldn’t dissipate. This hidden law is immortal as long as the material carrying it doesn’t get destroyed.
But such material is more expensive than simply drawing a new talisman. Even a hundred talismans would be cheaper.
By then, you might as well buy a Talisman Diagram and do various other things. But would that be worth it? I doubt it.
In the end, using talismans like this is a lot cheaper and you are more versatile. It’s not a big investment but a safety regulation for dangerous times."
"That’s good, very good even!" Longbao cupped his hand, "The Dao of Talismans is great! Truly great!"
He then sighed, "It’s such a pity I haven’t had the opportunity to get my hands on them before."
Fu Xian simply smiled.
Turning his head, he pointed at the other talisman, "This is my second talisman.
Haha, senior brother, I have just completed the Talisman Diagram over a month ago and hadn’t even told anyone. When you told me to draw talismans, I instantly decided to use this.
This is a talisman of a higher heritage than my Ancient Tree Bark Talisman. Maybe that’s why I never managed to draw it when I was at the second stage.
It’s called the Minor Lake Shield Talisman, based on the minor magic power Minor Lake Shield."
"Two?!" Longbao asked in shock.
"You haven’t even been an Origin Light cultivator for a year and already have two talismans?"
"Haha, senior brother, please don’t laugh. But when I reached the peak of Foundation Building, I had many years left.
Spending so many years, I was only able to barely work out the foundation for two minor magic powers!
With my higher cultivation and power, I estimate that I will take a year at least or three at most to create a new top-grade Talisman Diagram!"
"But that... isn’t that very fast?"
"Senior brother, you are thinking from a commercial perspective.
Drawing talismans takes at least half my focus, cultivating and replenishing my power would also take a lot.
If I were to actively draw talismans at all times, it would triple or even quintuple the time it would take to draw a single new top-grade talisman.
Because of this, I had long decided not to open any store until I got at least ten top-grade talismans.
As for those lower, I can basically create a new one per month. The difficulty is a lot lower."
"Is that so? Then this request of mine..."
"Brother doesn’t have to worry. I am talking about a scenario of drawing all the time for a year. Just drawing occasionally every few months is like a break for me. It all depends on how many I have to draw.
Let’s return to the talismans.
This Minor Lake Shield Talisman gathers spiritual power and converts it into spiritual water which is then contained within.
Only after charging it fully can it be used!
Upon use, a water shield is formed around the person or object.
Any attack towards it will be absorbed. It’s weak against wind attacks but strong against fire attacks.
As long as the spiritual water in the talisman isn’t exhausted, it can function fully the whole time."