As Lem’s simulated self picked up the spirit brush, he felt a small thrill run through his body.

It was heavier than it looked, with a line of the small mysterious symbols running down the midpoint.

Lem’s simulated self sat and began to trace it across the ground according to what he remembered of the [Spirit Hand Talisman Method]. Each arc of the brush was purposeful, but they felt disconnected from one to the next.

Lem knew that eventually it should become like a dance, with every motion inextricably linked together, such that they were indistinguishable within the whole. Obviously, it would take a significant amount of effort to get to that level, but there was no reason to believe that it was impossible with enough practice.

There was a more substantive problem.

Apart from the disconnected feeling, his movements had a curious sensation of hollowness to them, like they were lacking in spirit.

There was no intent!

It was rote memorization, and Lem instinctively knew that it was impossible to produce a functional talisman with such a technique, even if the motions were smoothed out.

Gaining proficiency in the strict technical elements was important, but it was more important to understand the heart of the technique.

[You practice drawing into the ground with the spirit brush, but you can tell that you are lacking intent in your motions.]

Lem’s simulated self continued to practice.

With every stroke of the spirit brush he tried to summon the intent of the technique, but it was too difficult.

At least with the [Mountain Sitting Technique], he was given a roadmap to producing the intent with the visualization diagram.

With the [Spirit Hand Talisman Method] there was no obvious way of understanding it.

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It had to be summoned from within the motions through intuition and enlightenment, similar to how he broke through with the [Nine Bull Fist].

After a time, Lem’s simulated self began to grow frustrated, before he quit altogether, deciding to find the intent another time.

[You stop practicing the [Spirit Hand Talisman Method] and decide to return to cultivation. Briefly, you look up, and see that there are still several hours of daylight left.

You bite off another petal of the spiritual water lily, and you feel the improvement in energy and spirituality, rejuvenating your spirits…

You return to cultivation, as you attempt to stir the spiritual energy within you…

You feel as though you are seeing small improvements in your control over the breathing method…

You enter a trance-like state…]

Lem watched with fascination as his simulated self lost track of the time.

He saw that the spiritual energy inside of his body was beginning to respond. It was moving in larger and larger bursts, seemingly one step away from fully circulating.

Lem played along, focusing on the visualization diagram while he observed the changes in his body.

Eventually, the sky began to grow dark.

With the sudden change in his surroundings, Lem’s simulated self was aroused into consciousness.

[You are broken out of your trance-like state as night begins to fall, and you feel pleased when you notice the improvement in your ability to connect with the spiritual energy within you.

You decide not to eat, as your hunger is mostly satiated from consuming the spiritual lily, but you drink from a waterskin…

You wonder whether the meat will go bad, as it is not dried or preserved in any detectable manner, and you begin to think about the special containers that Master Brightflame used.

You think that it is possible that they have the ability to keep their contents fresh, but you are not willing to stake the safety of your rations on it, so you decide to cook all of the meat on the following day and dry it to increase its longevity.

You wonder if the spiritual lily will eventually spoil. When you look at it, it does not seem wilted at all, making you think that the ability to keep ingredients from degrading is another potential benefit of spirituality…

You fall asleep…]

As his simulated self closed his eyes, Lem began to meditate on the visualization diagram of the [Mountain Sitting Technique]. He tried to ignore his recent string of failures, as he hoped to achieve a moment of enlightenment on mountain intent.

Every night represented the passing of another opportunity to improve his comprehension ahead of his return to his real body.