Chapter 45: Participation
Ji Yuan was slightly stunned at first, but after thinking it over, he realized it made sense.
After all, wasn’t the lakeside cabin he rented also considered his building by the Panel?
Yet the Panel still listed it as his own building.
Now, since he was drawing talismans for assessment in this exclusive small cubicle, how was this any different?
If he treated the assessment token in his hand as a key, then as long as he stayed here drawing talismans, this would be his exclusive 【Talisman Room】.
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but sigh in his heart… this Panel was really damn considerate.
As he was thinking about this, the voice of the on-duty cultivator from the Water Dragon Sect rang out.
“For this assessment, the talisman to be drawn is a first-grade mid-tier talisman—the Skylight Talisman.”
The moment Ji Yuan heard this, his brows furrowed instantly.
This Water Dragon Sect… really liked making things difficult.
If drawing talismans was like taking an exam, then assigning the Skylight Talisman was undoubtedly a tricky and unusual question.
Because this Skylight Talisman, although categorized as a mid-tier talisman, was extremely impractical.
As the name suggested, it functioned much like a light source.
However, its illumination was incredibly strong.
When used, it could brighten several miles around as if it were broad daylight, but the duration wasn’t very long.
It could only last for about half the time it took to burn half a stick of incense.
Spending nearly ten spirit stones just to enjoy a brief moment of brightness… therefore, ordinary talisman masters usually didn’t bother studying this talisman.
Ji Yuan was the same.
If it weren’t for the 【Comprehension Room】 enhancing his comprehension, he might not have even remembered the runes of the Skylight Talisman.
At that moment, he also understood why the pass rate for this assessment was so low.
Wasn’t this blatantly making things difficult?
Just as Ji Yuan was trying to recall the runes of the Skylight Talisman, he suddenly sensed a wave of spiritual energy from the side.
Immediately after, the watching cultivators let out voices of admiration.
“Young Master Wu is amazing!”
“Success on the first try. He’s definitely getting into the Water Dragon Sect this time.”
“……”
Ji Yuan channeled a bit of spiritual energy into the wooden token in his hand, and the noisy voices instantly disappeared… Cultivation really was damn convenient. This token had no other function except for a small sound-isolating restriction.
Once activated, it blocked out external disturbances, but still allowed others to see his actions to prevent cheating.
However, Wu Yan managing to draw the Skylight Talisman in one go did surprise Ji Yuan a little.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
As the legitimate son of Wu Wenbin, he had likely walked much further on the path of talisman-making than the average person.
They also had experience and understood the selection style of the Water Dragon Sect.
Always testing tricky and unusual talismans. Ji Yuan wondered if Wu Wenbin had bet on the right topic?
Maybe they even ran a pre-exam crash course to squeeze out a wave of spirit stones.
Ji Yuan quickly shook his head to dispel the distractions and focused on recalling the drawing method of the Skylight Talisman, using his hand to trace it repeatedly in the air.
Outside the cubicle, Wu Wenbin couldn’t help but stroke his beard and smile as he watched the performance of his disciples.
He had indeed bet on the Skylight Talisman.
A few days before the selection, he had specifically taught them how to draw this talisman and highlighted the key points.
Out of ten, even if just one or two succeeded, that would be enough.
By then, the number of his disciples in the Water Dragon Sect would increase once again.
If Wu Yan could get in… that would be ideal. After all, he had invested so much effort to get several disciples into the Water Dragon Sect. As long as Wu Yan entered, that investment would finally bear fruit.
By pooling the strength of several disciples, who knew if they might be able to nurture a pseudo-spiritual root at the Foundation Establishment stage?
If that were possible, then perhaps he himself could also…
Foundation Establishment—that was Wu Wenbin’s true goal.
Once he reached Foundation Establishment, not only would his strength increase significantly, but his lifespan could also extend to over two hundred years.
Especially since Wu Yan had succeeded on the first try, giving Wu Wenbin immense confidence.
He then turned to look at that kid named Ji Yuan. Although he didn’t like this person, he still maintained a smile on his face.
Judging by that anxious and flustered appearance, this kid probably had never drawn a Skylight Talisman before, right?
Still copying the runes on the spot, who knew if he had already memorized them incorrectly—how laughable.
Oh well, this kind of rootless, self-taught talisman master was like that.
Being able to draw a few Water Repelling Talismans to make a living was already decent.
This had always been Wu Wenbin’s view, but he never spoke it aloud, nor did he show it on his face.
No matter who he interacted with, he always maintained a kindly demeanor.
That was why over the years, the fishermen of Zengtou Market were willing to address him as Master Wu.
He turned to look at Wu Yan again.
After succeeding with the first talisman, the next two attempts ended in failure.
Wu Wenbin knew the reason—it was just his temperament.
Succeeding on the first try had given Wu Yan great confidence, but his confidence had always been somewhat excessive.
This made him an extremely arrogant and conceited person.
Wu Wenbin understood this well.
He also knew that Wu Yan’s personality was shaped by the way he had spoiled him since childhood.
The fourth attempt… failed again!
Wu Wenbin glanced over and had already predicted the outcome.
Wu Yan was done for this time.
Given his temperament, after several consecutive failures, he would become anxious, and the worst thing in talisman-making was impatience.
Once anxious, everything fell apart.
Sure enough, Wu Yan’s next few talismans all ended in failure.
On the contrary, another disciple named Mei Chen had already succeeded twice by the seventh attempt.
If he succeeded once more in the remaining three attempts, he would have a chance to join the Water Dragon Sect.
This surprised Wu Wenbin a little, since Mei Chen had always been low-key and never showed off.
Even in daily talisman-making practice, his success rate wasn’t particularly high or low.
Among Wu Wenbin’s many disciples, he was only considered average.
The only thing that left an impression on Wu Wenbin was Mei Chen’s meticulousness.
Whether it was his daily attire, the organization of his talisman-making tools on his desk, or even the talismans he drew, everything was neat and orderly.
As for Ji Yuan… Wu Wenbin glanced at him. By this point, Ji Yuan still hadn’t started. He must have been planning to give up.
One disciple after another had failed, including Wu Yan, who only managed to succeed again on his ninth attempt but failed the tenth.
Succeeding twice out of ten attempts naturally meant he had no chance of joining the Water Dragon Sect.
This result was already within Wu Wenbin’s expectations.
Frustrated, Wu Yan cursed under his breath, set down his talisman brush, and walked out of the cubicle.
In the cubicle next to his, Mei Chen, after succeeding on the seventh attempt, failed both the eighth and ninth attempts.
Wu Wenbin was beginning to think that none of his disciples would make it into the Water Dragon Sect this time.
He subconsciously thought of Lu Wan—if she were here, three Skylight Talismans would probably be a piece of cake for her.
What a pity… she couldn’t make it today.
But just then, there was a slight ripple of spiritual energy from one of the cubicles, and immediately after, a young man in white stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with joy.
The third Skylight Talisman… was a success!
Mei Chen, overjoyed, put down his talisman brush, grabbed his three Skylight Talismans, and ran out of the cubicle.
It wasn’t until Ji Yuan saw him that he realized quite some time had already passed.
He hurriedly picked up the standard talisman brush issued by the Water Dragon Sect, grabbed a sheet of standard talisman paper, took a deep breath, and glanced up.
【Talisman Room: lv1】
Recalling the opening runes of the Skylight Talisman, he dipped the brush in some talisman ink, and with one smooth motion, began drawing the talisman.
Seeing that he had succeeded on the first attempt, Ji Yuan was a little surprised himself.
He picked up the talisman paper and channeled spiritual energy into it.
With a flash of snow-white spiritual light—
The first Skylight Talisman… was a success.