Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World-Chapter 62 - Mock Exam
Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Mock Exam
Chapter 62 -62: Mock Exam
At this moment, the world before Zheng Fa’s eyes reminded him of a small pond outside the Zhao Family’s Manor.
Each spring and summer, the pond would teem with countless tiny fish.
Those fish were truly tiny; if you tried to scoop them up with your hands, they could slip away through the slightest gaps between your fingers.
As a child, Zheng Fa was a bit mischievous, occasionally tossing a stone into the pond just to watch the panicked scattering of the fish.
Now he felt that he was getting his comeuppance—
Because there were so many fish in front of him!
Looking around the small courtyard, he felt as though he had fallen into that little pond.
It seemed there were countless little fish swimming around him, their movements tracing bizarre patterns that closely resembled talismanic diagrams.
Or rather, they were probably the origin of talismanic diagrams.
The world before him seemed to be covered with layers of spiderwebs formed by these patterns, slicing the world into fragmented pieces.
The little fish swam in every corner, in the sky, on the walls, on the ground, on the grass at the corner of the wall.
On the bodies and heads of the young lady and Seventh Young Master in front of him, and even in the breath they inhaled and exhaled through their nostrils, one could see the silhouettes of these little fish.
“With this Spirit Eye Talisman, what you’re seeing is the world as seen by a Talisman Master while painting talismans,” Zhang’s voice reached them: “Talismanic diagrams, also called runes by some, what they truly are, is interpreted differently by each Talisman Master.”
“Some say they are manifestations of the Heavenly Dao, a form of writing,” continued Zhang: “But in my opinion, talismanic diagrams are the paths taken by flowing Spiritual Energy.
The world is composed of Spiritual Energy, so talismanic diagrams are the world itself!”
Zheng Fa was taken aback.
Were these little fish actually what they called Spiritual Energy?
“Regardless of what talismanic diagrams are, there is one universally acknowledged point: when we use Spiritual Power or Spirit Ink to outline these paths, a response from the universe is generated!”
After saying that, Zhang drew another very complicated talismanic diagram with her hand.
Zheng Fa saw that a portion of the “little fish” began to accelerate, congregating at Zhang’s fingertips, and gradually formed into a golden talismanic diagram at the tip of her finger as she moved it.
Moments later, the talismanic diagram rose to the sky and vanished.
A pale green cloud appeared over the small courtyard.
The ground was moistened by a gentle, fine rain.
The grass and plants in the corner of the wall began to grow wildly as if they had been fed a potent tonic.
“This is the Cloud Rain Talisman,” Zhang said to Seventh Young Master: “Did you see it clearly?
What were the previous paths of the Spiritual Energy that were drawn in?”
“They all correspond to the talismanic diagram of the Primordial Talisman for Cloud Rain!” the Seventh Young Master suddenly realized: “Is this what’s meant by the corresponding talismanic diagram?”
Zhang nodded: “Correct, when you paint a certain talismanic diagram, you can attract the Spiritual Energy that corresponds to that diagram.”
“So,” she drew another diagram with her hand, slightly more complicated than the previous one: “This is also a small cloud rain charm.”
“This one as well.” This time, even Zheng Fa could not clearly see the movements of her fingers.
Each time she finished painting, the little fish in the void would converge once more.
A green cloud would appear in the sky, a drizzle of rain would come, the grass and plants in the corner would get a boost of energy as if on steroids, nearly uprooting the Zhao Family’s courtyard wall.
“They all have the same effect, but only this one!” Zhang simply drew two overlapping circles: “Is the Primordial Talisman for the small cloud rain charm.
We Talisman Masters only paint this one.”
“If the effects are all the same, isn’t it fine to paint any one of them?” Seventh Young Master asked, confused.
“The Primordial Talisman is the essence of talismanic diagrams, the great way is simplest, how can it compare to other diagrams?” Zhang looked at seventh young master still frowning: “Don’t understand?”
Seventh Young Master shook his head.
The young lady whispered from the side: “My brother’s a bit slow, please be patient with him, Sister Zhang.”
“Because the Primordial Talisman requires the fewest brushstrokes, it’s the cheapest,” Zhang said after a pause.
“Ah?”
“To paint talismans, you need talisman paper, you need Spirit Ink.
And even if you can paint talismans in the void like I do, don’t you still use Spiritual Power?
Drawing those complicated patterns consumes a lot of paper and ink, and if your Spiritual Power is insufficient, you risk demonic backlash, so everyone only paints the Primordial Talisman.
Do you understand now?”
Seventh Young Master nodded vigorously.
Zheng Fa also silently nodded.
Plain language, who wouldn’t understand?
“A thousand years ago, you could paint whichever talismans you liked, but now that the Spiritual Energy is beginning to dwindle, and spiritual materials are hard to come by…” Zhang’s expression suddenly turned a bit ominous: “If you dare not to paint the Primordial Talisman and recklessly waste spiritual materials, you will be attacked by the Talisman Masters of the Hundred Immortals Alliance.”
Zheng Fa: “?”
Spiritual Energy is dwindling?
So even talisman painting has to be frugal with ink?
What a tragic downgrade in consumption…
He suddenly felt that the life of a disciple of the Immortal Sect wasn’t easy.
…
“Wouldn’t it be easier if I just learned to draw Primordial Talismans?
Primordial Talismans are so simple, why do I need to understand so many corresponding talismanic diagrams?” Seventh Young Master asked, practically grinding his teeth when he mentioned the word ‘talismanic diagrams’.
Zheng Fa looked at Seventh Young Master, who was tormented by the sheer number of diagrams, and understood his frustration.
If you just use the Primordial Talisman, there’s no need to remember the other diagrams at all.
“Because, for the Spiritual Energy to converge into your Primordial Talisman, you must recognize it…
it only recognizes you if you recognize it.”
Zheng Fa was stunned.
Did that mean to say Spiritual Energy was sentient?
But it seemed Zhang didn’t take much notice of this point, or perhaps this world didn’t bother pondering over it.
She just said, “The number of corresponding talismanic diagrams that you can identify while painting a talisman determines how much Spiritual Power you can attract, and this influences the power of the talisman you produce.
Of course, this is also dependent on your cultivation level; you can only see the diagrams that are within the range of your Divine Sense.”
“Do you understand now why I say the foundation of the talismanic Dao lies in the Primordial Talisman?”
Seventh Young Master nodded.
Zhang lightly tapped with her finger, and the world before Zheng Fa was restored to normal.
“Therefore, the talismanic talent assessment of the Immortal Item Conference is very straightforward.” Zhang beckoned lightly, and the scroll that was lying on the table flew in front of Seventh Young Master.
“It’s about your ability to find a specific Basic Primordial Talisman among a plethora of talismanic diagrams.”
Seventh Young Master’s eyes widened: “A sea of diagrams?”
“What sea?”
“Nothing…
never mind.”
Zhang didn’t dwell on it, and she drew a Basic Primordial Talisman in the air, “This is the Basic Primordial Talisman for the Fresh Wind Talisman.
Now, you need to find a similar Primordial Talisman among the diagrams that will appear on the scroll.
Touch the scroll with your hand when you think you’ve found the correct one.”
Zheng Fa nodded inwardly, a mock exam certainly was a brilliant way to test a student’s abilities.
Seventh Young Master took a deep breath, facing the scroll floating before him with a stern look.
Zheng saw the young miss tightening her fist slightly.
“Begin.”
The rune symbols on the scroll started to appear and vanish quickly; a few had passed in the blink of an eye.
Seventh Young Master was taken aback for a moment, took a few deep breaths, and then quickly tapped the scroll with his finger. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
“Stop.”
The rune symbols on the scroll slowly faded away, turning back into a blank slate.
Zhang looked at Seventh Young Master, her brow furrowed, her expression somewhat puzzled.
Seventh Young Master breathed heavily, looking at her with an expression full of anxiety.
“Try the Vajra Talisman.”
“Another one.”
“Let’s try this as well.”
With each Primordial Talisman assessed, Zhang’s brows furrowed further.
Her expression caused Seventh Young Master to sweat more profusely on his forehead, his expression growing increasingly despondent.
It also caused the young miss to clench her fists tighter, Zheng could even see the veins on her hands.
Finally, no more rune symbols appeared on the scroll, and Zhang remained silent, brow furrowed in thought.
“Zhang?” the young miss asked uneasily: “If my brother is unteachable and hopeless, I’ll just take you back home.”
“I really shouldn’t have come,” Zhang slowly nodded.
Seventh Young Master lowered his head, not daring to look at his sister, let alone Zheng Fa.
“His accuracy on these few Primordial Talismans is over thirty percent; if the accuracy for thirty-six Basic Primordial Talismans surpasses thirty percent, that’s enough to be considered a high-grade talent in talismanic magic, he wouldn’t need my teaching.”
“Ah?”
“Or has the standard for the Immortal Item Conference been raised in the past two sessions?” Zhang looked puzzledly at the young miss: “I haven’t heard about it.”
“…” Seventh Young Master suddenly raised his head: “High-grade?
I knew I was a talismanic magic genius!”
Thirty percent accuracy qualifies as high-grade talent in talismanic Dao?
Is high-grade so cheap?
Zheng Fa remembered the notebook that claimed an 80 to 90 percent accuracy rate.
…I should be nicer to Bai Yuanying in the future.
“Zhang, why don’t you test him again?” the young miss looked at her grinning foolishly, teeth-bared brother: “Does he look like a talismanic Dao genius to you?”
If Zheng Fa hadn’t seen the smile in her narrowed eyes, he might have believed the disdain in her tone.
