Breathe in. Breathe out.
Lem’s simulated self shifted his focus and tried to sense the spiritual energy outside his body. So far, he had found little success in even differentiating the spiritual energy from the general sensations on his skin, much less stirring it.
Unfortunately, this time it was more of the same.
He continued to move his awareness around different parts of his body, thinking that there could be a difference depending on where he focused.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
After many successive failures, he finally began to focus on his hand, and the skin that was touching the spiritual crystal.
Huh?
Lem noticed that there was a unique sensation. It went beyond the general pleasant feeling of spiritual energy.
It was more granular and minute.
It was different, but why? What exactly was he feeling?
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Lem’s simulated self moved his focus a few centimeters to a part of his hand that was not touching the crystal.
The sensations went back to normal.
He moved his awareness back to the crystal.
The difference was still too vague for him to clearly distinguish.
Lem felt a strain in his simulated self, as his simulated self focused as intently on the visualization diagram as he could.
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What part of the sensation was different?
He remembered the feeling of galvanizing the spiritual energy within him. Where were the similarities?
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Lem’s simulated self tried to nudge the spiritual energy.
Nothing happened.
[You find more success with galvanizing the spiritual energy inside of your body. You can vaguely sense the spiritual energy within the crystal but you still cannot differentiate it.]
Lem’s simulated self gave up on the pursuit, and returned his focus to the spiritual energy within his body.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
The spiritual energy stirred.
Breathe in. Breathe out…
[You continue until you feel fatigue from holding the visualization diagram in your head…
You stop cultivating and decide to study the jade slips in your possession…]
Lem felt excited. From the simulation screen, he could see that his simulated self was finally going to take a look at the unknown jade slips.
It was about time!
Lem did not want to try and predict their contents, but he could not help but hope that at least one of them would have something useful.
[Remembering your first experience, you put the jade slip on your forehead, and focus intently. The text appears in your mind. It describes the [Spirit Hand Talisman Method].]
Lem’s mind was flooded with information about talismans. Some of it was basic, but most of it was far beyond his comprehension and impossible to memorize.
He retained a rough map of the information, while he tried to digest the complexities.
Fundamentally, talisman creation was the use of intent to create a spiritual structure within a base material.
The base material was typically talisman paper, a thick, yellow parchment that had high spiritual conductivity.
The method to deliver the intent was the [Spirit Hand Talisman Method], which used a talisman brush to trace metallic ink into the paper.
If the materials were correct, the intent well-formed, and the brushing method proper, then a structure was created within the talisman paper that could channel spiritual energy and galvanize the world operation to produce an effect.
After a period of time passed, Lem emerged from his stupor, filled with excitement.
His simulated self had already finished digesting the information from the jade slip before him and he shared in the enthusiasm.
Apparently they had made the same observation!