5: Minor success in talisman crafting!

Back at the Chunfeng Small Courtyard, Lu Qiu immediately activated the defensive Formation, completely isolating the entire courtyard from the outside world.

He couldn't wait to take out that simple and ancient wooden box and place it on the table.

It was this unremarkable wooden box that actually hid a talisman treasure enough to make even Foundation Establishment Cultivators envious.

Lu Qiu extended his Divine Sense, cautiously touching the wooden box.

Buzz!

In the next moment, a powerful counter-shock force instantly transmitted. A layer of dense spiritual light runes appeared on the surface of the wooden box, mercilessly bouncing his Divine Sense away.

Refusing to give up, he mobilized all the spiritual energy in his body, poured it into his fingertips, and suddenly pointed towards the crack of the wooden box.

The spiritual energy of the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining was already close to the peak of the Qi Refinement Stage.

However, as soon as that spiritual energy touched the light screen on the surface of the wooden box, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, disappearing without a trace, failing to stir even a single ripple.

As expected from what the System intelligence said, this Restriction cannot be broken by anyone below the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Lu Qiu tried several times and finally had to give up helplessly.

It seemed he could only wait until the Foundation Establishment Stage to find a way to open it.

He solemnly stored the wooden box in the deepest part of his Storage Pouch.

Although he couldn't use it for the time being, Lu Qiu didn't feel much disappointment. Instead, an unprecedented fighting spirit surged within him.

The talisman treasure was right there; as long as he could Breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage, this lethal weapon would become his true trump card.

Foundation Establishment Stage.

Once upon a time, these three words were a mountain weighing on the original owner's heart, and even on the current Lu Qiu's heart—distant and despair-inducing.

But now, everything was different.

With the Daily Intelligence System, Foundation Establishment was no longer an extravagant hope for him!

A warm current surged in Lu Qiu's chest.

He not only wanted to reach Foundation Establishment, but he also wanted Core Formation, and even Nascent Soul Formation.

He wanted to step by step reach the peak of the Immortal Dao and achieve eternal life!

He wanted to see what kind of scenery awaited at the highest point of this world of immortal cultivation!

Of course, all of this was still very far away for the current Lu Qiu.

The urgent task was to improve his strength and accumulate capital.

Lu Qiu took out the Jade Slip recording the Talisman Dao Inheritance and the mysterious brush named "golden plume brush."

These were the foundation of his current survival.

In the following days, Lu Qiu completely immersed himself in the world of the Talisman Dao.

Holding the golden plume brush, he dipped it in cinnabar and sketched on the blank Talisman paper.

The silver bristles of the brush seemed to have a life of their own. Every stroke carried a strange rhythm, guiding Lu Qiu's spiritual energy to flow onto the Talisman paper in the most efficient and stable manner.

Those once obscure and difficult-to-understand runes became clear and easy to understand with the help of the Golden Core Senior's insights and the golden plume brush.

The first one, an Elementary Lower-Tier Fireball Talisman, was easily completed!

A spiritual light flashed on the Talisman paper, and a scorching breath radiated out. The runes drawn on it were more stable and full than any he had drawn in the past.

Lu Qiu was delighted, and his confidence greatly increased.

He drew tirelessly, from the most basic Fireball Talismans and Cleaning Talismans to the slightly more complex Ice Arrow Talismans and Light Body Talismans.

Time passed unknowingly.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Inside the master bedroom of the Chunfeng Small Courtyard, it was already a different scene.

A thick layer of failed Talisman papers was scattered on the floor, and the corners were piled with empty cinnabar boxes and beast blood bottles.

Amidst that mess, stacks of finished Talismans were neatly arranged on the table, emitting bursts of spiritual light.

From the Elementary Lower-Tier "Fire Bullet Technique" and "Ice Arrow Technique" to the Elementary Upper-Tier "Earth Wall Technique" and "Vajra Talisman," everything was there.

In these two weeks, Lu Qiu had almost exhausted all the Talisman-making Materials he had obtained from that Foundation Establishment Cultivator's Storage Pouch, but the harvest was also astonishing.

With the Legacy of a Golden Core Talisman Master and the help of a divine item like the golden plume brush, his Talisman-making skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Now, his success rate in drawing Elementary High-Tier Talismans had stabilized at over fifty percent!

It could be said that only at this moment did he truly step through the door of the Talisman Dao and become a genuine Talisman Master.

Later, Lu Qiu thought of something and looked at the intelligence panel that had been refreshed today.

[white information: Today at noon, Qi Refining Stage Cultivator Chen Tao and Qi Refining Stage Cultivator Lin Yun fought at Black Cloud Slope, seven miles outside the market, and ended up killing each other.]

[white information: Loose Cultivator Li Ni has been ambushed and killed; a hundred-year-old Spirit Medicine is hidden in his room.]

[white information: A Breath Concealment Secret Technique is hidden at Qi Refining Stage Cultivator Xu Bin's stall.]

Three more pieces of white information.

Lu Qiu shook his head slightly, feeling somewhat disappointed.

His current perspective was no longer what it used to be. Opportunities at the Qi Refining Stage level could hardly pique his interest anymore.

Over the past half month, the System hadn't failed to refresh good things.

Just a few days after obtaining the talisman treasure, a piece of silver information allowed him to find a top-tier defensive Magical Artifact called the "Golden Light Bell" from a hidden cave outside the market.

A few days later, another piece of silver information guided him to pick a seven-hundred-year-old "Blood Dragon Ginseng" at the bottom of a cliff. After selling it to the Ten Thousand Medicines Shop, he earned over a thousand Spirit Stones.

But after that, no more silver information appeared. The daily refreshes were all this kind of white information that was tasteless but a pity to discard.

Through his explorations during this time, Lu Qiu also roughly understood.

This intelligence System seemed to be closely related to his location, only able to scan for opportunities within a radius of a dozen or so miles centered on him.

Although the Yellow Maple Valley Market was not small, it was, after all, only a gathering place for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Cultivators, so good things were limited.

Valuable opportunities had probably already been hollowed out by his two silver information pieces.

"It seems it's time to leave this place."

This thought became increasingly clear in his mind.

He had to go to a wider world to maximize the value of his Golden Finger.

His gaze swept over the first two pieces of white information.

Two Cultivators killed each other; would the battle fluctuations have already attracted other Cultivators?

The risk was too high, the reward too low, not worth it.

Finally, his attention fell on the third piece of intelligence.

[white information: A Breath Concealment Secret Technique is hidden at Qi Refining Stage Cultivator Xu Bin's stall.]

Breath Concealment Secret Technique.

Lu Qiu's fingers tapped gently on the table.

This thing seemed more valuable to him now than a couple of Magical Artifacts or Spirit Medicines.

He now possessed thousands of Spirit Stones, top-tier Magical Artifacts, and heavy treasures like the talisman treasure. Once exposed, it would surely bring disaster.

If he could have a Breath Concealment technique to hide his cultivation and aura, it would undoubtedly be much safer.

Thinking of this, he stood up abruptly and pushed open the bedroom door.

Dazzling sunlight instantly filled the entire room.