Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 58

“If you wait a little longer, my brother will bring the item.”

“It’s no problem. What’s a little waiting when getting a good item?” Han-lip replied casually as the girl spoke apologetically. As time passed, Han-lip and the girl fell into an awkward silence. It had been a while since he had felt this kind of tension, so he took a slow breath, noticing a subtle fragrance wafting from her. The girl was looking down, so he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but her neck was slightly flushed.

“Maemae!”

A loud shout shattered the quiet atmosphere. Han-lip was about to glare at the source, but he was surprised when he saw who it was. A giant, similar in size to Gok-hon, was running towards them, bumping into several cultivators and sending them sprawling. They were about to get angry, but when they saw the giant’s enormous size, they hesitated and missed their chance to vent their frustration.

The girl’s head ached at the giant’s behavior. If he ran around like that, he would inevitably draw the ire of the other cultivators.

“Here, Maemae! I brought the item!” The giant approached like a whirlwind and thrust a wooden box into the girl’s hand. The girl, instead of scolding the giant’s rough behavior, gestured for Han-lip to take the box and examine it. Only after Han-lip made eye contact with her did he open the box. Inside, a golden-yellow brush with a subtle golden glow emanating from the tip to the handle was revealed.

“This brush is made of Walgeumchuk [a type of bamboo], the brush hair is from the neck of a second-grade monster, the Golden-Eyed Ape, and the handle is a mixture of gold and black iron. It was crafted by a cultivator who reached the Foundation Establishment stage, using the Munmuhwa [a refining technique] for three days and nights.”

The girl explained quietly, her eyes full of regret as she looked at the Walgeumchuk. Han-lip didn’t understand everything she said, but it was clear that it was a valuable item. Moreover, it seemed to have a story behind it, so he was surprised that she was giving it away so easily.

‘Could it be for the pills?’

“Miss, are you really going to exchange this brush for pills? It’s a rare treasure.”

Han-lip stroked the letters ‘Geumchuk’ engraved on the smooth end with his finger, confirming the girl’s intentions. When she seemed hesitant, the girl decided to tell the truth. She was worried that he might hesitate to trade if he doubted the item’s history.

“This brush has been passed down in our family, and I heard that it was used by a talisman artisan. Unfortunately, my brother and I don’t have the talent for making talismans, so we were letting a good item go to waste. Moreover, my brother is participating in this Ascension Tournament, but his cultivation progress is stuck, and he desperately needs elixirs. That’s why we decided to exchange the Walgeumchuk for your pills.”

The girl looked regretful.

‘Another person whose cultivation progress is stuck, is this a coincidence?’

Han-lip was puzzled, but it was a pointless thought. Usually, those who risked their lives to participate in the Ascension Tournament were mostly those whose cultivation had stagnated.

Moreover, with the Ascension Tournament just around the corner, everyone wanted to increase their magical power even a little. For this reason, the value of pills soared before the tournament.

* * *

Han-lip gave three bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills and four bottles of Golden Turtle Pills, and in return, he received this treasure and a bag containing the seeds of the Seven Star Grass from the girl. He also bought some cinnabar at another shop and, excited to try making talismans, hurried back to his pavilion.

* * *

He deactivated the formation around the small pavilion and entered, finding the young monk still meditating. He immediately went up to the second floor, placed the talisman bundles and cinnabar separately on the table, and carefully took out the Walgeumchuk brush to begin making a spirit talisman.

He slowly channeled spiritual energy into the brush handle, following the method described in the Spirit Art. Then, he dipped the brush hair in cinnabar and drew the spell on the talisman. After an hour, Han-lip stretched his stiff body and yawned. He felt a surge of excitement when he saw the spirit talisman gleaming with silver light on the table.

Outwardly, this talisman was identical to the one used by Master Mun. Although the spiritual energy was a bit weaker, it was qualitatively different from what Han-lip had practiced before. He was about to activate the Spirit Art with this satisfying result, but before he could even chant the incantation, the talisman’s spiritual energy suddenly became unstable and showed signs of exploding.

‘Pshhh’

Startled, Han-lip immediately threw the talisman away, and it turned into a small fireball in the air and burned away completely. Han-lip stared blankly at the sight and sighed. It was a failure. Although his heart ached a little, he didn’t lose his confidence. The talisman he had just made was definitely not bad, so if he tried a little harder, he would surely succeed. He spent half a day drawing spirit talismans and failing repeatedly.

The failed spirit talismans either self-combusted or created small explosions, and some lost their spiritual energy as soon as the spell was fully drawn. After seeing the last completed talisman tear to shreds with a small bang, even he, who had always been calm, couldn’t help but shout.

“Is this thing playing with me? I should have succeeded at least once after all that!”

After speaking, his frustrated heart felt a little lighter. He looked at the remaining cinnabar and the Walgeumchuk on the desk. There was nothing wrong with them. Spiritual power flowed smoothly into the brush handle, and the cinnabar also emitted spiritual energy when drawn on the talisman.

Since he couldn’t find the cause even after thinking about it, he decided to go back to the monk. At this time, Han-lip realized that the help and guidance of a master or senior was essential in the path of cultivation, and he developed a desire to have a true master.

When he told the monk about his failure in drawing talismans, the monk looked at Han-lip as if he was listening to a strange story. Han-lip, feeling a little uncomfortable under that gaze, wondered if there was anything wrong with what he had just said, when the High Monk spoke.

“It seems that Disciple Han has a very low understanding of talisman making.”

“High Monk is right. It’s my first time trying it.”

“Most cultivators do not make talismans themselves, but rather obtain the necessary spirit talismans by trading for them at various shops. Even people from large families do so.”

“Why is that?”

It was a surprising revelation.

“The reason is simple. There is a severe shortage of experienced talisman makers. And the cost of training a qualified talisman maker is so high that only a few cultivation sects can afford to train them.”

The monk smiled as he answered Han-lip’s reaction.

“Disciple Han, you must be upset that you failed more than ten talismans in a row?”

“Yes, the amount of money I wasted on materials would have been enough to buy a few spirit talismans.”

He had no choice but to admit it with a pained expression.

“But Disciple Han, to learn how to make talismans, it is common to fail more than a hundred times at first. If your talent is a little lacking, it wouldn’t be strange to practice hundreds of times. You need to practice more than a thousand times to gradually increase your success rate, and this is only when making the same type of talisman.

If you want to make a different talisman, you have to repeat this process again. So, to become a proper talisman maker, it is impossible without making tens of thousands of talismans. But what individual can afford such enormous materials and costs? Not to mention cultivation families, even cultivation sects only have low-level talisman makers and cannot afford to train mid-level or higher ones. To make higher-grade talismans, the materials also become more expensive.”

Han-lip’s eyes widened as he listened to the monk’s words.

“Then why do the stalls sell cinnabar and talisman paper?”

“Haha! Those cinnabar and talisman papers are sold for those who practice talisman techniques.”

“Talisman techniques?”

“Like the Spirit Talisman you are learning, it refers to techniques that require a talisman to be made before they can be used. Unlike spirit talismans that already contain the technique and are easy to use, you have to chant the spell and use the technique.

Those who practice talisman techniques need the same type of talisman continuously, so it is difficult to keep buying them. Therefore, they learn to make talismans that are suitable for their commonly used talisman techniques. In this case, the variety is limited, so even if the cost of learning to make talismans is high, it is somewhat manageable. So, if Disciple Han uses the Spirit Art often, you should practice making talismans, but if not, it is better to buy a few and use them.”

The monk gave a detailed explanation and even offered advice for Han-lip.

“I am deeply grateful for High Monk’s wise teachings.”

“Disciple, you are too polite.”

When Han-lip bowed deeply, the monk quickly bowed his head as well.

‘Hmm, I should continue to seek his guidance whenever I have questions in the future.’

On his way back to his room, Han-lip made a decision. It seemed difficult to learn how to make talismans professionally right now. It seemed that it was time to trade for spirit talismans to get past this stagnant period and reach the 9th level.

By the time Han-lip opened his door, all his plans were set. During the day, Han-lip would go into his room, eat a handful of elixirs, and practice the Evergreen Technique. In the evening, he would go out to a secluded place outside the valley and practice the new techniques he had learned.

The new techniques were divided into Flowing Sand Technique, Freezing Technique, Levitation Technique, Entangling Technique, Sound Transmission Technique, Concealment Technique, Spark Technique, and the most difficult, Earth Spike Technique.

After more than ten days of hard training, Han-lip succeeded in reaching the 9th level of the Evergreen Technique a few days before the end of the Tae-nam Gathering. O Guji and the others were amazed, and Song Mun-dojang repeatedly praised Han-lip as a genius among cultivators.

However, Han-lip knew well that it would have been impossible without nearly ten bottles of pills in his stomach. Moreover, he was running out of pills, so he had to start cultivating them again.

* * *

The newly learned Concealment Technique and Sound Transmission Technique were auxiliary techniques like the Heavenly Eye Technique, which anyone who knew magical power could easily learn.

Among them, the Sound Transmission Technique, as Han-lip had seen several times, was a talisman technique that required a Sound Transmission Talisman to be used, and the Concealment Technique was a defensive technique that helped the body absorb the surrounding colors by covering the body with spiritual power.

This technique was close to useless because anyone with the Heavenly Eye Technique could see through it, so it was difficult to avoid the eyes of other cultivators.

The Flowing Sand Technique and Freezing Technique were regional techniques. The former could turn the ground touched by magical power into sand, and the latter could turn the water touched by magical power into ice.

The power of these techniques depended entirely on the user’s magical power, so a true master could turn fertile land into a desert in an instant or freeze a large river solid.

The reason why these techniques were classified as low-level techniques was simply because they were relatively easy to learn and could be used by low-level cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. However, due to the limitations of magical power, the range of their effectiveness was extremely narrow.

Han-lip also had a hard time learning these two types of techniques at first, but when he reached the 9th level, his magical power doubled compared to before, and he could freely use the techniques. Now, he could turn a space the size of a table into sand or ice at any time.

The other techniques were beyond his understanding for now, so he planned to study them slowly. The Tae-nam Gathering was about to end, and the number of young cultivators who had come here had reached its peak.

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