Hui collapsed beside the familiar hut on his Master’s peak, exhausted. He sighed and patted the hut’s walls. I’ve never been so happy to see this tiny place. Another day, another mob escaped!

I’ve got to do something about the whole mob issue. Right now, I can’t be seen in the sect with Li Xiang without getting attacked!

What can I do about it, though? Improve my reputation in the sect?

How am I supposed to do that? My reputation is in the garbage can!

Hui waved his hand, dismissing the problem for later. No, no, that’s for later. For now, I need to figure out how to defeat my next opponent as heart-rendingly as possible to prevent my fellow cultivators from ever wanting to attack me again!

Eh? Somehow, I feel like this and improving my reputation are opposites…

Oh well! Protecting this small cultivator’s precious life comes first!

He sat up and stretched, looking around. The hut sat atop the hill, as squat as ever, and the pill furnace sat to the side, awaiting him. He sighed. “Feels good to be home.”

Hui sent his consciousness into the storage ring and examined the talismans. A note sat atop the pile, so he called that out and examined it first, holding the new talismans loosely in one hand.

Weiheng Hui,

The first two talismans are to help diversify your spell set. The top talisman is an ice attack at the third stage, and the second is a wood-elemental utility spell at the second stage. Both have done me well.

The rear two talismans are fragments of formulae I found in a secret realm but never had the time to decode. They should be between the second and fourth stage, based on their aura. If you can repair them, consider those formulae your own.

I look forward to your growth as a talisman-maker,

Bai Luoren

Hui examined the talismans. As promised, the first one responded with ice, and the second with a wooden sensation. The back two were harder to interpret. The text atop them was cut off and obscured. The qi inside responded sluggishly, resisting his efforts to investigate them. One he got no feeling from at all, aside from a faint tingle of qi, and the other had a strange, flat feel. He inserted his qi again, furrowing his brows. Cold, but not ice. Flat. Hard. Is it… metal-elemental?

Mmm, first, let’s focus on copying the ones I have the whole formula for. Once I have enough for a good fight, I can worry about exploring the other two.

The Boulder-Cutting Wind, the fire talisman—Tiger’s Burning Maw, the barrier talisman, and now the ice and wood talismans. Of the five, the wind, fire, and barrier talismans were all initially higher-level talismans, meaning I should be able to create a third-stage version of them, and even a fourth-stage version of the barrier, when I hit that level. The wood talisman is the only one that’s initially a second-stage talisman, but it’s apparently a utility spell, so it shouldn’t need to be high-stage if it isn’t used in direct combat. The ice talisman is already a third-stage talisman.

Alright then! It’s time to copy the talismans!

Hui lifted his arm, then paused. Er. With what brush? What ink? What paper?

I’m almost out of gold. The Sect Master’s almost certainly stolen my stipend to pay back my debt, and with the mob outside the peak, I can’t go check, either.

Nothing for it. I’ll have to start from scratch!

He stored the talismans back in the ring and drew out the resources Bai Luoren had prepared for him. A few brushes, some ink, and a stack of fine paper awaited him. Enough for a hundred talismans, but not enough.

Stolen story; please report.

A hundred talismans will get me through this fight, but what about the next one, and the next? What if I face someone much stronger than me, and I have to throw talismans like I did in the lotus fight? No, no. I need more.

Hui stretched, then drew Gu Tian’s sword. He bolted through the grass, holding the sword out. Grass fell behind him. Over and over, he repeated it, until the grass laid thick in the field. Hui collected the grass bits into his pill cauldron and squatted down, putting a hand on either side of it. Now, pulp the grass with my qi!

Focusing, he sent his qi into the cauldron. The grass stirred around, but didn’t turn to pulp. He furrowed his brows. Harder. Sharper.

His qi pounded the grass, sending a great plume of it directly into Hui’s face. He backed away, wiping his face and spitting. Okay, that didn’t work. I need something else. I need…

He glanced at the well and smiled. Water!

Jogging over to the well, he dragged up a bucket of water and poured it in with the grass. The grass stirred around, floating on the water. This time, Hui put the lid on the furnace, then clasped one hand on top of it, holding it closed. I’ll pound it with my qi until it turns into pulp.

The sun passed through the sky. Hui focused, continuing to churn the grass. Eventually, the pulp thunked in the furnace, rattling against the walls, a solid mass.

Hmm… Now I put it in frames, right, and dry it? He reached in and drew out the ball of greenish pulp. Somewhere along the way, the pulp had whitened. A pale green, almost a white-green, the ball of pulp sat damply in his hand. He frowned at it. I guess the qi did that?

Frames… He looked around him, at a loss.

Zhubi lifted his head and hissed curiously.

“I need something to lay out pulp on so I can make paper,” Hui explained.

Zhubi wriggled free of Hui’s neck and jumped to the ground. As he fell, he grew larger and larger, until he stretched ten meters long.

“Zhubi, you got so big!” Hui exclaimed, patting the snake. “Good boy, good boy.”

He rolled over and presented his flat belly scales to Hui.

“Eh? Are you saying… put the pulp on your belly?” He patted Zhubi’s belly.

Zhubi hissed again and laid still.

“Thanks, Zhubi!” He spread the pulp over Zhubi’s belly, using qi to make it as flat as possible. Zhubi flicked his tail and yawned, settling to nap.

Mmm, I’ll make another batch later, now that I know how. But now I need more ink!

He looked around him. What could work for ink?

Red berries at the edge of the clearing caught his eye. He jogged over and held his hand over the bush, feeling its aura. Surprisingly, the berries burned with qi, moreso than the rest of the bush or the background vegetation. They’re spirit berries, wild spirit berries. Hui plucked a handful, scooping them into the pill furnace. He plucked the bush clean, moved onto the next, then the next, until the pill furnace was full.

Thumping the lid on the furnace, he again sent his qi inside, pounding at the berries. Ah, but don’t whiten them this time! he ordered the qi.

When he opened the pill furnace, a red mush greeted him. Hui poked it and licked his finger. Sweet. Ah! I wasn’t trying to make jam, though. Mmm… I guess I have to strain the mush if I want ink.

Strain, strain…

He looked at his hands, then touched his fingers together. Qi strung between his fingertips, forming five strings. Frowning, he focused. From the middle of the top string, a second string stretched, trembling, from one cross-string to the next, until it reached the fifth string. Again, and again, until the qi formed a net.

Hui breathed out, pleased with the results. It’s not great, but it’s better than nothing! Setting the bucket from the well at his feet, he tipped the cauldron with his foot and slopped the berry slop into his qi net. Red liquid collected in the bucket at his feet.

Hui hummed to himself, pleased with his work. I did it, I did it! Hui’s paper and ink company, here I come!

Glowing eyes appeared out of the forest. A low growl met Hui’s ears.

Hui jolted. “Wh—what?”

The wolf from before lumbered out of the forest and lowered its head, growling. Its eyes locked onto the berry mush in Hui’s makeshift qi strainer, and it lifted its lips in a snarl.

“You want the berries?” Hui asked, confused. Don’t wolves eat meat? I thought they were carnivores!

The wolf growled again.

Eh, well, it’s a spirit beast. It does what it wants, I guess. Hui glanced at the mush, then at the wolf, then smiled. “Ah, elder brother, would you mind waiting a few minutes? Once I finish straining it, you can have all the berries.”

The wolf considered, tipping its head. After a moment, it laid down, resting its head on its forepaws.

“Gluttonous wolf,” Hui muttered under his breath.

The wolf perked up. Its ears flew back, and it growled.

“Apologies! Apologies, this small disciple wasn’t thinking!” Hui cried, bowing as best he could with his hands occupied with the straining net.

With a huff, the wolf settled back down.

Hui sighed out. I have to watch my mouth better in the future! Otherwise, this small disciple might say something that ends his little life. I don’t want to die by being eaten… Ah, that nearly scared my soul out of my body!

Hui’s body slumped, going weak. Around him, the world faded to monochrome.

Not again!