You have successfully drawn an Exorcism Talisman. Symbol Making Art proficiency +1, Exorcism Talisman proficiency +1.
Half an hour later, Li Mu held a well-drawn Exorcism Talisman in his hand, his gaze fixed on a passage of text that popped up in the virtual log, confirming his success.
"Haha! I made it!"
Li Mu's face lit up with joy as he laughed heartily.
The cost of one Exorcism Talisman, including the talisman paper, spirit ink, and the consumption of spiritual power and the talisman brush, was about one shattered Spirit Stone. On the market, an Exorcism Talisman sold for three shattered Spirit Stones, nearly double the profit.
Considering the three-quarters of an hour it took to make one Exorcism Talisman, the chance of failure, and the labor cost of setting up a stall, the final profit of an Exorcism Talisman was not that high.
However, even so, Li Mu was very happy.
As the Symbol Making proficiency increased, and the Rank of Symbol Making Art went up, the efficiency and success rate of making talismans would improve. At that time, he would earn Spirit Stones, and then exchange for an Advanced Cultivation Technique, thus beginning a virtuous cycle.
Thinking of this, Li Mu was full of vigor and continued to refine the next Exorcism Talisman.
Next, Li Mu spent seven stable and peaceful days, tending to the spirit fields during the day and Cultivating and refining talismans at night.
Seven days later, in the morning, Li Mu took a stack of Exorcism Talismans to Qing'an Town to sell, and also to purchase daily necessities such as spirit rice and salt.
After paying a fragmented Spirit Stone as an entry fee, Li Mu arrived at the Loose Cultivator market in the small town again.
Li Mu walked directly towards a Spirit Talisman Shop.
"Are you buying spirit talismans, young man? We just received a batch of Body Protection Talismans and Light Body Talismans. Which kind do you want?" The Store Owner of the Spirit Talisman Shop warmly greeted Li Mu as he entered the shop.
"Does your shop buy spirit talismans?" Li Mu took out a stack of Exorcism Talismans from his embrace and asked.
"We do. Low Grade Exorcism Talismans, one shattered Spirit Stone each!" Shopkeeper Liu glanced at them, speaking with a hint of disdain.
"The market price for a Low Grade Exorcism Talisman isn't three shattered Spirit Stones! Can you raise the price a bit?" Li Mu's expression changed slightly as he pleaded.
"If you think the buying price is too low, sell it yourself! There are plenty of Loose Cultivators who draw Low Grade spirit talismans. This is the price, take it or leave it." Shopkeeper Liu of the Spirit Talisman Shop pouted, looking indifferent.
Li Mu was speechless. One talisman paper cost half a shattered Spirit Stone, plus the spirit ink, spiritual power, and human time consumption, it was almost one shattered Spirit Stone. At this price, he would definitely lose money. All that time was wasted, not to mention the spirit talisman paper wasted due to failures. He would lose a fortune.
Setting up a stall in the market also required paying a lower Spirit Stone for the stall fee. For just these dozen or so Exorcism Talismans, he probably wouldn't even sell them all in a morning, it wasn't worth it.
"Shopkeeper, I'll add one more lower Spirit Stone for two stacks of talisman paper and a bottle of spirit ink, can we do that?" Li Mu gritted his teeth and decided.
Shopkeeper Liu of the Spirit Talisman Shop looked at Li Mu and kindly advised him: "Fine, I'll exchange them for you. If you have any spirit talismans to sell in the future, remember to come find me."
"Thank you, Shopkeeper!" Li Mu gratefully thanked him and quickly completed the transaction.
Li Mu left the Spirit Talisman Shop with two stacks of talisman paper and a bottle of spirit ink. With his remaining two lower spirit stones and four shattered Spirit Stones, he purchased twenty catties of spirit rice and a few pieces of salt, ending this procurement in a difficult situation.
Hurrying away from Qing'an Town, Li Mu couldn't find a single Spirit Stone on him.
Fortunately, the spirit fields would be ready for harvest in seven or eight days. At that time, after paying the Sect's tenant rent and keeping some spirit rice for himself, the remaining spirit rice could be sold for a good amount of Spirit Stones.
Returning to his courtyard, Li Mu guarded the spirit fields, looking forward to the harvest season.
The White Jade Spirit Rice in the spirit fields all bowed their heads, swaying in the wind.
Under the effect of Heavenly Talent - Identifying Myriad Spirits, Li Mu could check the negative status of the spirit rice plants at any time, such as lack of water, lack of fertilizer, pest infestation, and other negative situations. He could discover and resolve them immediately.
Under Li Mu's meticulous care, the spirit rice plants in the spirit fields grew robustly, all bearing full and abundant fruits. The heavy rice ears bent the spirit rice plants.
During the day, Li Mu often sat by the fields, looking at the spirit fields, hoping and wishing to harvest the spirit rice early to replenish his depleted Spirit Stone bag.
Time flew by, and another seven days passed.
Li Mu had been eating spirit rice with salt every day, and just as the rice jar was about to be depleted, he finally welcomed the opportunity to harvest the spirit rice.
Li Mu happily took his sickle and went down to the spirit fields to begin harvesting the spirit rice plants.
Li Mu excitedly cut down a large bunch of spirit rice plants, then suddenly froze.
He saw a faint luminous mass at the break of the plant. This faint luminous mass seemed to be related to the Golden Finger - Character Interface.
Li Mu quickly put down his sickle and reached out to touch the light mass.
The next second, the faint luminous mass disappeared into Li Mu's palm.
However, Li Mu found a log message popping up in the attribute interface below the character panel.
Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption took effect. You absorbed a Plant Spirit. Cultivation +1.
Looking at this log message, Li Mu was stunned. He quickly checked the character interface and found that his Qi Refining second layer proficiency and Cultivation had indeed increased by one point.
Because the increase in Cultivation was too slight, Li Mu could not detect any increase in his Cultivation.
However, the virtual log's prompt would not be wrong!
Li Mu looked at the spirit fields, at the large expanse of heavy White Jade Spirit Rice. In his eyes, they were no longer individual Spirit Stones, but a large amount of Cultivation.
Li Mu's face beamed with joy. He picked up his sickle and began to harvest frantically.
Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption took effect. You absorbed a Plant Spirit. Cultivation +1.
Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption took effect. You absorbed a Plant Spirit. Cultivation +2.
Heavenly Talent - Plant Spirit Absorption took effect. You absorbed a Plant Spirit. Cultivation +1.
...
The Cultivation increase prompts popping out of the System log were like a data waterfall, pouring down.
Li Mu was overjoyed, his sickle flying. He would cut a batch of spirit rice plants, find a light mass, and after touching it, there would be Cultivation +1, occasionally Cultivation +2, ..., hundreds, thousands.
Li Mu harvested all the way, reaching out to touch repeatedly, bending over again and again, tired but happy.
Ding, your Cultivation has broken through to Qi Refining third layer.
Li Mu, who was frantically harvesting spirit plants, felt his body shake. A powerful Aura and Spiritual Pressure suddenly erupted from him. The Merdians checkpoints within his body were broken open by the vast spiritual power, and his Cultivation successfully entered the Qi Refining third layer. His Foundation was incredibly solid, no different from the spiritual power he had painstakingly Cultivated.
Li Mu wept with joy. This is great!
From now on, he only needed to farm. He could increase his Cultivation without even Cultivating. This was truly wonderful!
Looking at the more than half of the spirit rice plants yet to be harvested, Li Mu excitedly bent down and continued to harvest tirelessly.