Chapter 395: Talisman Master Challenge

Zhou Yanyu sneered.

She began cultivating on her sixth birthday and drew qi the next day.

Several months later, she became a level-two qi-refining realm cultivator and could begin learning an art.

Since her family was a talisman clan, she naturally began studying talismans.

However, no one expected that her talent was so good that she drew her first talisman only a few days after learning it.

Looking at Zhen Yuan, she felt that the man was overestimating himself.

’Shen Xu may have won the two previous challenges, but Zhen Yuan has no chance of beating me in drawing talismans.’ She thought and subconsciously raised her chin in pride.

“Junior Zhen, are you sure you want to cripple your cultivation for ten thousand years?” She asked in a teasing voice.

However, Zhen Yuan didn’t answer and instead raised his left hand to make the vow.

Instantaneously, the sky rumbled, and Zhen Yuan sensed that the way of heaven didn’t dare to accept his oath.

“It’s okay.” He muttered, and the heavens immediately stopped rumbling.

That said, Zhen Yuan didn’t sense any looming shackles on his cultivation and instinctively knew that even if he lost the wager, his cultivation would progress unimpeded.

Soon after Zhen Yuan made the oath, Zhou Yanyu also made hers, but her situation was different, and she immediately felt the looming shackles.

“Disciples, making the oath is easy, but nullifying it is difficult.” Yang Zitao said in a concerned voice.

He originally planned to stop them from making the oath.

Unfortunately, the two were too fast, and the oath was made before Yang Zitao could react.

“Elder Yang doesn’t need to worry.” Zhou Yanyu said and quickly continued.

“We are fully aware of the consequences.” She said, and Zhen Yuan nodded.

“In that case…” Yang Zitao sighed, glanced at the two with complicated eyes, and continued.

“The third challenge is drawing a level seven, lightning-element aura water talisman.” The man said, and Zhen Yuan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Water vapour existed naturally in the atmosphere.

However, because of spiritual aura, the water vapour occasionally transformed into a treasure called aura water.

Ordinary aura water was inferior to spiritual water. Most importantly, it was difficult to extract; hence, few cultivators bothered to collect it.

However, element-type aura water was superior to spiritual water, but it was even more difficult to collect than ordinary aura water.

That said, Zhen Yuan was very familiar with the element-type aura water talisman.

After all, he often drew them to collect element-type aura water for Shen Xu to use in alchemy, weapon refining, wine brewing, and cooking.

’What a miscalculation?!’ Zhen Yuan thought as he looked at his opponent, who appeared pleased with herself.

“The assessment has three criteria.” Yang Zitao said and quickly continued.

“The first is the grade of the talisman, the second is the amount of lightning-element aura water collected, and the third is the quality of the aura water. The first criterion carries five points, the second has two, and the third has three.”

After saying that, Yang Zitao glanced at the two and began announcing the restrictions.

“The conditions for the third challenge are simple.” He began.

“First, only level seven talisman paper and talisman liquid can be used for the challenge. That said, you can use your own paper and liquid.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yanyu tilted her head before speaking.

“Elder Yang, can we use our own talisman brushes?” She asked, and Yang Zitao nodded.

“You can use your usual brush regardless of level.”

Zhen Yuan was relieved when he heard this.

After all, he was used to using his law scripting brush, and he didn’t want to switch to another.

“You have one hour to draw the talisman and another hour to collect the lightning element aura water.” Yang Zitao said, but Zhou Yanyu frowned.

“Can I begin collecting the aura water if I finish drawing the talisman ahead of time?” She asked, but Yang Zitao didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he turned to the judges and waited for their decision.

“You can begin collecting, but that will forfeit your remaining talisman-drawing time. You will still have only one hour to collect the lightning element aura water.” One of the judges answered.

Zhen Yuan nodded when he heard this.

Considering his usual talisman-drawing speed, he expected to save at least three-quarters of an hour in the first half of the challenge. That way, he could use the extra time to replenish his qi and adjust to peak condition.

Seeing that they understood the challenge details, Yang Zitao activated the hourglass and signalled the two to begin working.

After settling at his work table, Zhen Yuan took out one level seven rune paper, a bottle of level seven rune liquid, his law scripting brush, and a purple jade bowl.

At a glance, none of his items looked flashy or valuable. However, each was either a treasure or pricey.

Although the rune paper looked ordinary, it was refined from the stalk of the red-disk golden sunflower and was more flexible than ordinary talisman paper.

As for the rune liquid, it was refined from carefully selected monster blood and wood.

Needless to say, the law scripting brush was a priceless treasure, while the purple bowl was an inscribed item refined from lightning jade, specifically for preserving lightning-element aura water.

After adjusting his condition, Zhen Yuan picked up his brush, dipped it in rune liquid, and began drawing.

On a scale of one to ten, the difficulty level of drawing a lightning element aura water talisman was seven.

However, Zhen Yuan was used to it and drawing the talisman was no more than following the correct strokes.

A cup of tea later, the surrounding lightning-element aura began to stir and soon drilled into the talisman. At the same time, the talisman crackled with lightning and continuously released sparks.

However, the sparks looked dangerous, but they neither burned nor left marks on the rune paper.

Seeing this, Zhen Yuan smiled with a satisfied expression.

’As expected of me! I drew a perfect-grade lightning element aura water talisman on the first try.’ He thought, but soon smiled in amusement when he realised he had picked up Shen Xu’s habit of praising himself.

While Zhen Yuan was praising himself, Zhou Yanyu, the judges, and the spectators were horrified.

“Did I see that right?” A spectator whispered in a shocked voice.

“How is this possible? How can anyone draw a level seven perfect-grade talisman in less than a cup of tea?” Another asked.

“Senior sister Zhou is going to suffer a miserable loss in this challenge.” Someone observed, and the surrounding cultivators turned to look at Zhou Yanyu.

At the moment, Zhou Yanyu was still holding her brush above her talisman paper, but her hand was shaking.

Having cultivated to the Mahayana realm, she had encountered many things, but none had disturbed her state as the scene of the completion of the perfect-grade talisman.

On one hand, she realised there were heavens above heavens and people beyond people and on the other, she faced the reality of the wager.

She was a genius.

If nothing happened, she would advance to the tribulation transcending realm and later ascend to the immortal realm.

However, the wager seriously complicated her cultivation.

Although ten thousand years was not a lot, it would still have an impact on her, and most importantly, she would lag behind her fellow disciples.

“How can this happen?” She muttered.

After all, she was just beginning to draw the talisman, but her opponent had directly achieved the perfect grade.

In her heart, Zhou Yanyu could not accept that there was such a big gap between herself and Zhen Yuan.

’Even my master can’t draw a high-grade, let alone perfect-grade, level seven lightning-element aura water talisman in a cup of tea.’ She thought, and a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes.

In fact, Zhen Yuan was naturally indifferent, but he tried not to be cruel.

Because of this, he usually toned down his talent when competing with others so as not to disturb their heart and mental states.

However, from the moment Zhou Yanyu insulted Shen Xu, Zhen Yuan no longer cared for her state of mind and even deliberately did his best to attack her.

Now, looking at the woman, his lips curled, and a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes.

’Take the next ten thousand years as your punishment but also your learning opportunity.’ He thought.

In the end, Zhou Yanyu’s state of mind was so disturbed that she couldn’t draw the talisman and naturally, couldn’t collect the lightning element aura water.

As a result, Zhen Yuan won in a landslide and rushed back to receive Shen Xu’s praise.

However, the square was strangely subdued, and everyone seemed to have something on their mind.

Even Luo Jianfeng looked at a loss and didn’t approach the couple to praise or encourage them. Instead, he drank from a gourd and narrowed his eyes with a thoughtful expression.

’Monsters.’ He thought.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep