"Let's worry about finding materials later. For now, let's purchase this high-quality Magical Weapon Symbol Pen. How much for this Symbol Pen?" Wang Hong asked.
"This Symbol Pen is called Golden Wolf Hair. The pen tip is made from a small tuft of hair taken from the back of the Golden Wolf King, and the pen shaft is refined with a three-hundred-year Bloodline Bamboo. It's priced at eight thousand Spirit Stone," the attendant explained.
A maid took out a Jade Box from the shelf, opened the lid, revealing a Symbol Pen over a foot long inside.
Wang Hong took the Symbol Pen in his hand. The cool touch of the Bloodline Bamboo shaft with its crimson patterns felt refreshing. The emerald green shaft was adorned with many blood-red lines, and the pen tip was a golden wolf hair, resilient and sharp.
"Alright! I'll take this one. Also, get me a bottle of Demonic Beast Essence Blood," Wang Hong decided on the Symbol Pen.
"Senior, what tier of Demonic Beast Essence Blood do you need?"
"Just give me a low-tier one."
"Is there anything else you need?" The maid handed a bottle of Demonic Beast Essence Blood to Wang Hong.
"That's all for now. Let's settle the bill."
"Senior, the Golden Wolf Hair costs eight thousand Spirit Stone, and a low-tier Demonic Beast Essence Blood is only five Spirit Stone. I'll take the liberty to gift the Demonic Beast Essence Blood to Senior. Just pay eight thousand Spirit Stone, and you're good."
Wang Hong paid the eight thousand Spirit Stone, pocketed the Golden Wolf Hair, and left the marketplace.
Back in his Cultivation Room, Wang Hong closed the door and began his inscription work.
Demonic Beast Essence Blood, used as ink for symbols, required refining before use. Wang Hong poured the blood into an inkstone and mixed it with auxiliary materials like Vermilion Spirit Sand.
This was a simple low-tier symbol ink, the only kind he knew for now. It could only be used for crafting low-grade Talismans and had to be prepared on the spot.
Experienced symbol craftsmen would carry various symbol inks for convenience. Wang Hong placed a piece of symbol paper on the table and secured it with a paperweight.
Dipping the Golden Wolf Hair into the thick ink, he started inscribing. Crafting a Talisman was different from a simple Rune; it involved arranging dozens of Runes in a specific way to form a new Rune combination.
While drawing the Talisman, Wang Hong had to continuously infuse Spiritual Power. The input had to be steady and adjusted according to the fluctuating Runes.
He was crafting a Fireball Symbol containing nine flame Runes. Connecting these Runes, Spiritual Energy flowed, creating a Magical Arts route similar to the Fireball Technique on the symbol paper.
The process mimicked how Spiritual Energy circulated in a person's body during the use of Magical Arts. Wang Hong successfully stored various Magical Arts in a single Talisman by using Rune imitations of Meridians' Spiritual Energy pathways on symbol paper.
Focusing, Wang Hong tightened his grip on the Symbol Pen and slowly drew the first Rune. Drawing a Talisman required continuous strokes without pauses. He proceeded downward, his arm tense, preventing any trembling.
However, the harder he tried, the more he felt his arm acting disobediently. It might just be an illusion, but he sensed a sluggishness in his hand, and his Spiritual Energy seemed a bit unstable.
By the time he reached the third Rune, he exerted a slightly higher amount of Spiritual Energy, causing all the Runes to instantly collapse. Flames erupted on the symbol paper, reducing it to ashes.
It seemed he had underestimated the task. Instead of persisting, he decided not to waste these relatively inexpensive symbol papers.
He gathered some regular paper, dipped the Golden Wolf Hair in ink without using Spiritual Energy, and practiced drawing Runes on the paper.
After three days of practice, feeling more confident, he resumed practicing symbol crafting on the symbol paper.
Despite consecutive failures, over twenty symbols to be exact, due to the lack of coordination between Spiritual Energy and brush technique, he remained patient. He heard that some novices needed to fail hundreds of times before succeeding.
On his twenty-eighth attempt, unexpectedly, he succeeded, much to his delight.
Even though this Fireball Symbol was only worth ten Spirit Stones, he could have picked a Spirit Herb leaf from his Space that was worth the same. But this was his personally crafted First Symbol, and he succeeded on the twenty-eighth try. If word got out, others might think he was a symbol-crafting genius.
However, he knew better. He wasn't a genius; everything he achieved was a result of his efforts, except for his possession of Space.
The reason for his swift success with the first symbol was his proficiency in the basic Yin and Yang Runes. While other cultivators learned symbol crafting by rote, he understood the underlying principles. This made success more elusive for them.
This was also why he dedicated considerable effort to mastering the basics of both Yin and Yang Runes.
His high-level Alchemy skills, the ability to create new Pill Recipes, stemmed from extensive study and mastery of Spiritual Herb fundamentals. He delved deep into herbology, understanding properties, characteristics, and variations of various Spiritual Herbs. This knowledge allowed him to modify Pill Recipes according to his needs.
Similarly, his other successes were the result of his diligent efforts. He personally tested the poison in Refinement after numerous formula adjustments.
His Poisonous Bees were cultivated through repeated trials using Spirit Bees.
In the Cultivation World, there were often legends of individuals accidentally obtaining incredible opportunities and ancient inheritances, achieving unparalleled Cultivation Techniques. However, Wang Hong wasn't particularly interested in such tales. Ancient cultivators were humans, just like present cultivators. The strength of the ancient cultivators was due to denser Spirit Qi and more natural treasures.
Present cultivators inherited much of the knowledge of their predecessors, standing on the shoulders of those who came before. Although some advanced Cultivation Techniques were lost, the foundational knowledge persisted. Over millions of years, present cultivators had managed to create techniques better suited for the current environment.
This distinguished humans from the demon tribes. Humans could continuously learn old knowledge and create new things. The Western Demon Tribe, despite developing for millions of years, still relied on bloodlines. If the bloodline was strong, the individual would be strong, and vice versa.
Wang Hong noticed his thoughts wandering and refocused.
Since the first one succeeded, he continued. Out of the remaining twenty-one symbol papers, he successfully crafted two more Fireball Symbols. He went on to produce hundreds of symbol papers, and after using them all, his success rate improved to six successful symbols for every ten attempts, a commendable success rate.
[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]