The chilly morning mist wrapped around Qingshan Valley. Dew that had fallen overnight clung to the tips of the leaves, and faint sunlight seeped through it, dyeing the forest in shades of green.

  Li Xin draped a small cloth bundle over his shoulder. Inside were ten talismans he had painstakingly drawn from last night until dawn—Five Strength Talismans, five Lightness Talismans.

  After a day had passed, the effects of Qingming Spirit Grass had completely faded. The current Li Xin was in a state where he could not properly draw even a single talisman. The ink had dried up, and the blank paper was completely used. Even the brush had worn bristles, to the point of becoming limp and useless.

  To buy ink, he needed money, and to buy paper, he needed money again. To keep drawing talismans, he had to generate income no matter what. That was why Li Xin left his house early in the morning. His destination was Qingshan Market. It was the center of trade where countless cultivators gathered. Because it lay within an area monitored by the Qingshan Sect, outright theft or robbery was rare. Of course, if the target truly seemed to have no background and no power, that was a different story.

  “That only works if there’s something to take.”

  There was no reason to rob a poor talisman scribe. Even marauder cultivators were not stupid; they would not make a move if there was no clear profit.

  Li Xin’s home lay on the outskirts of Qingshan Valley, so the road to Qingshan Market was farther than expected. Tree branches brushed his shoulders along the narrow, winding path, and small pebbles rolled beneath his feet.

  The surroundings were quiet. Birdsong, the sound of wind, the murmur of a stream flowing in the distance, and occasionally, the presence of people—proof that he was drawing closer to his destination.

  As the path widened and the forest opened up, a place where people gathered like a small village came into view. Shabby tents, bundles of medicinal herbs stacked atop wooden crates, braziers with smoke rising, and all kinds of miscellaneous goods brought out by cultivators.

  “Ten-year-aged Spirit Herb! A miracle medicine for strengthening the dantian!”

  “Hand-drawn Focus Talismans! Training efficiency shoots right up!”

  Shouts erupted from all sides. Li Xin quietly cut through the clamor. Near a stone wall slightly removed from the center of the market. He settled into a spot where foot traffic was sparse.

  He spread out the cloth bundle he had brought and carefully took out the ten talismans. When the paper fluttered in the wind, he pressed down the corners with small stones to keep them in place.

  Strength Talismans that carried the weight of solid brushwork. Lightness Talismans drawn thin and sharp. They were talismans that looked unskilled to no one. They were not flashy, but in terms of effect, they were more than sufficient. Li Xin spoke in a low voice to those passing through the market.

  “I have beginner support talismans. Strength Talismans, Lightness Talismans, three jeon each.”

  Nearby gazes lingered briefly. Some glanced and passed by, while others slowed their steps only to move on again.

  “Thank you.”

  The five Strength Talismans sold out quickly. For those who lived by using their bodies, the Strength Talisman was a cheap blessing. Men with heavy, calloused hands approached one after another, paid without hesitation, and left with the talismans. Here, money was neither gold nor silver, nor lumps of stone.

  In the market, jeon (錢) itself was the currency. Jeon referred to blank paper of a quality suitable for drawing talismans. Paper with an even surface, consistent absorption, and a texture that prevented ink from bleeding. Only blank paper meeting those conditions was recognized as official jeon.

  The Lightness Talismans remained quietly on Li Xin’s cloth until late afternoon. Unlike the Strength Talisman, which simply increased power, the Lightness Talisman had narrower applications. Only herb gatherers climbing mountains or those who needed brief bursts of speed showed interest.

  By the time the sun tilted past his shoulder, the last customer arrived. Only then was Li Xin able to hold thirty jeon in his hand.

  After packing up, Li Xin headed deeper into the market. There, from an old woman at a shaded stall, he bought a lump of pitch-black ink. Common and cheap, but for a beginner, there was nothing better. Wrinkling his nose at the pungent smell rising from it, he moved on. Next was a brush made from badger hair. He bought it for five jeon. That left him with only fifteen jeon. Fifteen sheets of blank paper had to be turned back into talismans, so he could not waste them carelessly.

  If I draw Strength Talismans and Lightness Talismans again, I can at least break even.

  Anyone could draw a one-stroke talisman. The effects were weak, and the price was low. If the reward did not match the mental energy consumed, one would remain stuck in place for life. That was why the former Li Xin had recklessly stuffed Qingming Spirit Grass into his mouth and attempted a two-stroke talisman. The result was death from mental exhaustion. But the current Li Xin was different.

  “Every time I draw a talisman, I become stronger.”

  There was no reason to harbor reckless greed. The talisman methods Li Xin currently possessed were only three. The one-stroke Strength Talisman. The one-stroke Lightness Talisman. And the enhanced two-stroke Strength Talisman.

  They were the cheapest, most common, and simplest talismans. Yet Li Xin found that he liked that fact. The Strength Talisman had high demand. Construction laborers, porters, dockworkers, even traveling merchants crossing mountain paths. For anyone who needed strength, the Strength Talisman was a cheap blessing.

  On the other hand, the Lightness Talisman was rarely used. Unless one was chasing, fleeing, or required agility, there was no need to spend money on it.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “For now, I’ll focus on Strength Talismans. Strength is the foundation of everything.”

  As strength increased, the resistance felt while drawing talismans decreased. Stronger brushwork, more precise control. Above all, the stamina to attempt two-stroke talismans. Normally, no matter how many talismans one drew, the body would only grow tired. Mental energy was consumed, and physical strength was worn away. That was why talisman scribes had to train separately as well.

  Drawing talismans alone could never make one stronger, but Li Xin could become stronger simply by drawing talismans. That was the single difference unique to Li Xin in this world.

  The energy of heaven was finite, and good resources always belonged to those in power. No matter how much ordinary people struggled within that system, they would ultimately remain ordinary. If there was one exception within it?

  “There’s no need to rush.”

  There was no need to fight. He could avoid conflict altogether. As long as he slowly, quietly, grew stronger little by little. He could stand on far more advantageous ground than others. Of course, he could not let that specialness show in the process.

  The world hated exceptions. Those who stood out were noticed, and those who were noticed were inevitably dealt with.

  “A talisman scribe of average talent. Diligent, but untalented and poor.”

  That was the shell Li Xin had to show the outside world. Even if the inside was different, the outside had to be careful. A protruding stone gets struck by the chisel. And in this world, that chisel was not a hammer, but a blade.

  ***

  Li Xin quietly sat on the floor and opened an old book. The spine was tattered, and the title on the cover was almost completely worn away.

  《Introduction to Strength Talismans: Fundamentals of Inscription》

  It looked shabby, but Li Xin had likely read this book dozens of times. Though the contents lingered faintly in his memory, he wanted to review it once more before seriously drawing Strength Talismans again.

  As he slowly turned the pages, familiar sentences entered his eyes. This time, however, those sentences carried a different weight than before. When the Heavenly Dao Sect organized the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, talisman inscription became a skill anyone could learn. The ‘Stroke Inscription Method’ devised by the Heavenly Dao Sect broke down and simplified complex runic meanings.

  His gaze stopped on a single illustration. At its center was written the term Mother Stroke. The Mother Stroke was the core stroke that formed the foundation of a talisman. It determined the primary natural law or power the talisman sought to contain. The Strength Talisman embodied the concept of ‘power,’ and the Lightness Talisman the concept of ‘speed.’ The Mother Stroke acted as the skeleton of the talisman, and the scribe’s ‘understanding’ played the most crucial role here.

  Around it, thin lines extended in various directions. Those were the Child Strokes. They concretized the concept of the Mother Stroke and determined the talisman’s effects.

  “The Mother Stroke is a single concept. Power, speed, defense, perception, healing… But when Child Strokes are added atop it, that concept changes and becomes concrete.”

  Li Xin suddenly recalled the one-stroke Strength Talismans he had been drawing. A single Mother Stroke. A talisman that simply invoked the law of strength. Its effect was weak. But the Strength Talisman had never been such a simple talisman to begin with. If the Child Strokes of the Strength Talisman were combined with the ‘Extension’ category, the duration of the talisman increased greatly.

  A ‘Focus’ Child Stroke concentrated strength into one part of the body, while a ‘Surge’ Child Stroke drew out powerful strength for a short time. Child Strokes determined the nature of a talisman. By properly mastering them, one could create dozens, even hundreds, of derivative talismans from a single category.

  As the number of strokes increased, so did the possibilities. And when nine strokes gathered together, it finally became a ‘Character’. Stroke talismans were degraded goods. Simplified, broken down, and reduced in effect to suit market demand. A true talisman scribe created a one-character talisman. That is, one who could fully draw a character composed of nine strokes.

  “Right now, I’ve only learned how to swing a sword. I have no idea how to fight.”

  There was no helping it. This was a reality that applied not only to Li Xin, but to all unbacked wandering cultivators.

  Li Xin’s hand, turning the page, came to a stop. He had been certain that an explanation of talisman structure and principles would follow. But after the diagram of the Strength Talisman’s Mother Stroke, the next page was completely blank.

  Naturally, this book was the cheapest introductory text bought at the market. At best, it only included diagrams up to a two-stroke Strength Talisman. And even then, it introduced only the simplest expansion method called ‘Additional Stroke’.

  “Additional Stroke is a method of amplifying effects by overlapping identical strokes. It can be used easily without understanding Child Strokes, but it does not lead to the true path of a talisman scribe.”

  Child Strokes were advanced inscription methods. Unless one belonged to a sect or paid spirit stones worth over a hundred gold, they were difficult even to glimpse. An area a mere wandering cultivator could never reach in a lifetime. Most talisman scribes spent their entire lives knowing nothing of Child Strokes, learning only Additional Strokes.

  Still, Additional Strokes were not something to be dismissed. On the final page of the book. There, a single line was written with care. Though humble, Additional Strokes form the foundation of beginners. If one can draw the same line again with the same heart, that too is progress.

  “同劃(Overlapping the Same Stroke).”

  If the heart is true, the lines will overlap.

  Li Xin repeated the sentence dozens of times. Additional Stroke was not simply drawing the line one more time. It meant drawing a perfectly overlapping line with the same energy, the same flow, the same intent.

  Li Xin closed the book and picked up the brush. He spread out blank paper and steadied his breathing. The moment the brush tip touched the paper, the world fell silent.

  The first stroke, just a single line, but that line contained dozens of failures and hundreds of repetitions. What Li Xin drew every time was a one-stroke Strength Talisman. Simple, but the most fundamental talisman.

  [You have completed a 1-stroke Strength Talisman.]

  [Strength has slightly increased.]

  Words that had now become familiar. A weak but certain proof that he was growing.

  ***

  A week passed.

  After drawing talismans again today, Li Xin carefully rolled up the paper and put on his shabby outer robe. His destination was, as always, the market.

  The market was always noisy. Leaving the familiar clamor behind, he settled into a corner of the market. Now, a few people recognized Li Xin.

  “The Strength Talisman from last time worked well. Give me two.”

  Strength Talismans sold quickly. They were useful. From construction site laborers to wandering cultivators heading out to hunt demonic beasts—everyone wanted a little more strength. And so, thirty sheets of blank paper returned to his hands. One brush, one lump of pitch-black ink…

  Returning home, Li Xin once again spread out blank paper and picked up the brush. This time, more precise, more even, more clean. Outside the window, the cool night air rustled the paper, but Li Xin’s hand remained steady. It was by no means a grand life, but it was the only progress possible for someone of his status. In the way of a poor wandering cultivator, Li Xin was moving forward, step by step.