Chapter 59: Spirit Gathering Talisman Array

After reminding Xu Ziyan a few times and giving her some encouragement, Xu Haobo left her residence with a very satisfied mood.

After seeing Xu Haobo off, Xu Ziyan was already very tired. She returned to her room, lay down on the bed, and let out a long sigh.

Closing her eyes, she pulled the blanket over herself. Soon, the bed became warm and cozy. A wave of comfortable drowsiness washed over Xu Ziyan, and she no longer wanted to open her eyes. She fell into a sweet sleep.

The next day, Xu Ziyan woke up, finished washing up, went to the clan’s dining hall to have some breakfast, and then walked out with Xu Qingxue and the others.

After hearing Xu Ziyan’s words yesterday, the New Disciples realized how important the basic books in the Library Pavilion were. They all said goodbye to Xu Ziyan and headed together to the Library Pavilion.

Watching Xu Qingxue’s back, Xu Ziyan couldn’t help but think. The first floor of the Library Pavilion no longer held any appeal for her. She urgently wanted to enter the Inner Hall and see the books on the second floor of the Library Pavilion. She could quickly raise her cultivation level, but before leaving the Outer Hall, she needed to find someone who could protect these New Disciples in the Outer Hall.

She looked up again at Xu Qingxue, who was gradually disappearing from view. Thinking carefully about Xu Qingxue’s past behavior, Xu Ziyan finally decided to trust Xu Qingxue and take her as a close aide. This way, after Xu Ziyan left the Outer Hall, Xu Qingxue could continue to look after these Outer Hall New Disciples for her, and in the future, she would have a loyal helper.

Having made this decision, Xu Ziyan felt much more relaxed. There were only six months left until the Grand Competition in Zhongdu City. Xu Ziyan was eager to improve her strength. No matter what the clan decided in the future, what could truly protect her was her own power.

She quickly returned to her residence and locked the door. She took out a Talisman Brush and Talisman Paper from her Storage Pouch and began to calm her mind.

Now at the Fourth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage, Xu Ziyan could create simple Talisman Arrays. What she was about to make was a low-grade Spirit Gathering Talisman Array. Spirit Gathering Talisman Arrays were divided into high, middle, and low grades. Those at the Qi Refining Stage could only create low-grade Spirit Gathering Talisman Arrays. To make a middle-grade one, Foundation Building Stage cultivation was required, and for a high-grade one, Core Formation Stage cultivation was needed. As for creating large-scale Transcendent Grade Talisman Arrays, Nascent Soul Stage cultivation was necessary.

Even the low-grade Spirit Gathering Talisman Array was divided into high, middle, and low levels. With Xu Ziyan’s current cultivation level, she could only make the lowest level of the low-grade Spirit Gathering Talisman Array. But even such an array could gather Spiritual Energy in one place, making the concentration twice as high as before.

The concentration of Spiritual Energy in the world was crucial for cultivators. Otherwise, why would Sects occupy places rich in Spiritual Energy? The larger the Sect, the more dense the Spiritual Energy inside. Because when cultivating, the denser the surrounding Spiritual Energy, the faster the progress.

After a full hour, Xu Ziyan finally finished making one Spirit Gathering Talisman Array. Seeing the flowing colors on it, she excitedly picked up the Talisman from the table. From today on, she was no longer just someone who could make single Talismans, but someone who could create Talisman Arrays. Xu Ziyan only knew that she had made a huge improvement in Talisman making. If she knew that currently, in the Northern Region, those who could create low-grade Talisman Arrays could be counted on one hand, she would probably laugh even in her sleep.

Xu Ziyan put everything back into her Storage Pouch, then walked to the door, opened it, and hung a “Closed-Door Cultivation” sign outside. This way, even the Clan Leader himself would not disturb her.

She returned to the room, sat cross-legged, and activated the Spirit Gathering Talisman Array. The Spiritual Energy around Xu Ziyan visibly began to thicken, increasing until it was twice as dense as before, then stabilized and maintained that level.

Xu Ziyan took out a Spirit Burst Pill. The effect of the Spirit Burst Pill was several times stronger than that of the Spirit Nurturing Pill. At her current cultivation level, taking Spirit Nurturing Pills was no longer useful, but the Spirit Burst Pill was different; it was the best Elixir for the Qi Refining Stage.

Sure enough, after taking one Spirit Burst Pill, a large amount of True Essence was generated inside Xu Ziyan. Plus, the surrounding Spiritual Energy was twice as dense as before. More importantly, Xu Ziyan now had a Water Spirit Body, and her speed of absorbing Spiritual Energy was incredibly fast!

Xu Ziyan took one Spirit Burst Pill every hour. The Spiritual Energy outside rushed into her body, and the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth continuously replenished the energy around her. The Spiritual Energy around Xu Ziyan flowed like a small stream, constantly fluctuating.

The doubled Spiritual Energy concentration, combined with taking one Spirit Burst Pill every hour, just barely matched the speed at which Xu Ziyan absorbed it. Xu Ziyan was very surprised. She didn’t know why this was happening. But she had no time to think about it now, because she clearly felt her cultivation level increasing at a much faster rate than before.

Xu Ziyan kept cultivating like this, treating the Spirit Burst Pills as regular food. During these days, the Outer Hall New Disciples also came to Xu Ziyan’s residence. After hearing Xu Ziyan’s advice and going to the Library Pavilion, they indeed found that the basic cultivation knowledge was very important to them, especially the cultivation notes left by Seniors.

However, there were still many things they didn’t understand, so they wanted to come to Xu Ziyan for guidance. When they saw the “Closed-Door Cultivation” sign on her door, they finally snapped out of their urgent desire for knowledge. After realizing the situation, they felt extremely ashamed. Each of them thought guiltily that they were too selfish. Xu Ziyan needed to cultivate too!

With Xu Ziyan’s current cultivation level, one could imagine how hard she worked. Now, Xu Ziyan was squeezing out her precious cultivation time to explain things to them. What a great favor that was! And they were still not satisfied, wanting to seek her guidance anytime. Wasn’t that ungrateful?

So, after the New Disciples saw that “Closed-Door Cultivation” sign, no one came to disturb Xu Ziyan again. Even when walking past her door every day, they lightened their footsteps, afraid of affecting Xu Ziyan’s cultivation. But they still came to Xu Ziyan’s door every day to check, because they were curious whether Xu Ziyan would break through after this period of Closed-Door Cultivation!

Seven days later.

Midnight.

The moonlight was like water, shining on the snow-covered ground. The Spiritual Energy around Xu Ziyan suddenly became restless…