“What are the requirements for the peak-grade trial?” Cha Ming asked.
“Paint five unique talismans at peak grade,” the voices said. “Truths converge, and choices are limited. You must succeed in creating two and make sufficient headway on others.”
Cha Ming nodded and offered up the thirteen top-grade spirit stones. At this point, even he was feeling the pinch. He’d had a good haul on Jade Moon Planet, but his resources weren’t unlimited.
Concentrating qi took twice as much qi for each level of concentration, meaning that his qi usage was four times higher than normal. For his first work, he painted the peak-grade version of the Mount Tai Talisman, a gravity-based suppression talisman. It was ideal to use against qi cultivators, as their bodies weren’t as resilient as body cultivators. To him, it was doubly useful. If he used it against a qi cultivator, he could use it to increase gravity and still be fit to fight in its confines. It took a day to create it successfully.
He moved on to the peak-grade versions of the Inferno Dragon Talisman, which he failed miserably nine-tenths of the way in. Then he tried his hand at creating a withering talisman using wood qi. Unfortunately, till now, he hadn’t had time to think up more talismans from the Myriad Truths Diagram. He tried it despite his terrible mastery of wood and failed eight-tenths of the way through.
Cha Ming was feeling the pressure. He proceeded to paint the Blade Storm Talisman. His paintbrush was reminiscent of a sword, a sword that he used to cut through his exhaustion and strained qi pathways. Line after line, slice after slice, the golden talisman took shape. Then, only three strokes away from a complete product, he failed. He only had one chance remaining.
“Best for last,” he muttered aloud. His experience indicated that his odds of successfully crafting a top-grade talisman were roughly twenty-five percent. But that didn’t apply across the board. He’d succeeded with earth because of his high affinity with earth. He was betting everything on his success with a Stagnation Talisman.
His soul ached, and he wanted nothing more than to rest in the gentle embrace of crashing waves. Every stroke of his pen made him want to pause and take a break. He pushed through these negative thoughts and poured them into the brush. Where his soul and qi weren’t strong enough, he used the strength of his heart to push the lines into place.
If it were any other talisman, he would have failed. But this was stagnation, an emotion he was far too familiar with. He knew better than anyone else how the world sought to make him bow, to stop him from moving forward. And he’d overcome it every time, building unstoppable momentum in the process. Would a silly trial like this halt his journey? Would it prevent him from reaching immortality and seeking Yu Wen’s soul? Of course it wouldn’t.
He struggled every minute of the way, but this struggle only strengthened the talisman, strengthened its intent. Then, after twenty-four hours of hard work, he completed the final stroke. The talisman pulsed, and unlike the others, which had evaporated and returned to the illusory qi pool, this one solidified. It became real, and when Cha Ming touched it, he knew the tangible object was something he could take with him.
“Using emotion to supplement creation,” the voices said. “Admirable. Your performance before did not meet the minimum threshold, as you had failed too miserably on the other three attempts. But with this feat, you have exceeded expectations. My verdict… is a pass!”
Cha Ming sighed in relief. Even if he’d been allowed another attempt, he would have needed days to recover.
“Proceed to the next level trial for talisman artistry?” the voices asked. He declined and chose to leave the runic circle.
His surroundings faded, and he found himself walking out of the archway and collecting three gold elder emblems and one silver emblem. The spectators looked at him with slacked jaws. He had no idea how much time had passed outside the formation, but given that not a single person had left, it either hadn’t been very long, or his performance had impressed them.
After carefully observing the figures at the front, Cha Ming realized the reason for their expressions. All the elders, every one of them, were peak-core-formation cultivators. Moreover, most of them only had one golden badge, while he now had three.
“Congratulations, Elder Cha Ming,” Dai Yijun said. “As per our rules, you’ll be awarded with three voting quotas on the elder council and all other resources and stipends awarded to elders, including unlimited library access and a standard allocation of time-contraction medallions. Everyone, please give Elder Cha Ming a congratulatory bow.”
Everyone in the room bowed, whether due to fear or reverence. But Cha Ming only had eyes for one man: Zhou Li. The man who’d been taunting him earlier was now glaring daggers at him. Respect was one thing, but seeing the man he loathed looking at him like he’d swallowed a fly was priceless.
Chapter 5: Unfamiliar Home
Gold Leaf City was just like Wang Jun remembered. It was autumn, and every tree in the city was adorned with the very leaves it was named after: golden ones. Here and there, he spotted some with violet-gold edges. They were beautiful, and if not for the strict laws against picking them, he was sure they’d have made their way into someone’s collection.
“We don’t have all day, young master,” Elder Bai said, walking up beside him. The older man was trying hard to put up a strong front, despite being weary from their travels.
“I just missed the sight of them,” Wang Jun said, smiling. “To me, home is where golden leaves grow.”
Golden leaves, along with blood, death, and the brother who killed his sister. The city boiled his blood and chilled his heart, but unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that it was his home,
