014: The Batch of Talisman
The next day, Zemirah told Wendy to wait for the Town Lord's people to deliver the talisman materials while she went to a craftsman who makes furniture's from spiritual woods.
She wanted her newly exchanged uncommon-quality Grade 1 spiritual wood she bought from the auction yesterday to be crafted into furniture especially since it has been long overdue.
Entering a shop in a somewhat hidden alley in the Teal District, Zemirah saw the inside the shop full of busy craftsmen. Some look young, some old. They all wore the same set of clothing and were in front of different kinds of items like stones, wood, or metal.
Seeing the unfamiliar face, they glanced at her but didn't dare delay their work. Though a few more glances are inevitable.
A person who is not busy crafting came to Zemirah, she assumed that he is a staff responsible for entertaining the customers.
"Good day, my lady. Welcome to our Crafting Heart Shop. What can I do for you?" He wore the standard smile made especially for their customers.
Zemirah said her purpose, "I want to entrust a few Grade 1 Spiritual Wood to be crafted in an artifact furniture, maybe a bed and sofa."
The staff nodded, "I'll inform the spiritual craftsman of our shop. Please give me a moment."
The staff didn't leave Zemirah standing but led her to a private room where there was a seat and table filled with snacks before he left.
Zemirah quietly watched the crafted items around her. She was curious about the specialty of a spiritual craftsman who makes convenient items aside from weapons. Every people who make artifacts stem from Forgers, like blacksmith, weaver, and so on, spiritual craftsman included.
As a talisman master, Zemirah also saw the good points of other professions. Alchemist like Riya makes medicinal pills that have many magical effects on the body, and the Forgers make magical artifacts that she loves.
Talisman Masters also stem from one branch like Array Masters, she just didn't know the exact name. Everyone draws or engraves into something. Talisman Masters borders between writing and drawing characters, scripts, or symbols.
Array Master also draws enchantments but they use more materials since arrays are not one-time items like talismans.
Zemirah didn't wait long when the staff came back with an old man in tow. The Old Man is quite tall with long white hair. He didn't wear any fancy clothes and she could even see some wood shavings on his body.
The old man must be a devoted Spiritual Craftsman. She can feel a Peak-Stage Energy Refinement Realm aura on him.
His aura is different from David, the Array Master who is also in the Late-stage Energy Refinement realm.
David is younger and one can feel the surging potential on him. On the other hand, the Old Craftsman looks for someone whose potential is exhausted, and time makes marks not just on his body but also on his soul. Advancing to the Foundation Building Realm is nearly impossible.
The Old Man showed a kind smile at Zemirah, "I heard from my apprentice that you wanted furniture from a Grade 1 spiritual wood. Am I right, young lady?"
The Old Man has a higher realm than her besides being older, so his address to her as a junior is fine.
Zemirah also smiled, "That's right, Old Master. By the way, you can call me Mirah."
"Then Mirah, can you show me the spiritual wood so that I can have an estimate on the furniture you wanted."
Zemirah nodded and took out the three Uncommon-quality Grade 1 spiritual woods, the [Vermillion Bird Wood], [Azure Scale Wood], and [Cicada Shell Wood].
The Old Master examined each wood and nodded, "This [Cicada Shell Wood] is the biggest and has the effect of calming the nerves and mind. It can be made into a bed." He said as he patted the brown wood with the texture of Cicada's thin wings.
"This [Vermillion Bird Wood] and [Azure Scale Wood] are smaller, the [Vermillion Bird Wood] can be made into a pair of chairs and tables while the [Azure Scale Wood] will be made into a set of chaise lounge."
Zemirah agreed, "That's fine."
The Old Master nodded in satisfaction that she agreed with his opinion, "Then you talk to my disciple while I start on crafting." The Old Master left with the three spiritual woods.
The disciple on the Old Master's words, whom Zemirah once assumed as a staff, spoke, "My lady, let's talk about the payment. For my master's service and the miscellaneous items that will be needed on the crafting."
Zemirah nodded, "Let's talk."
In the end, Zemirah paid three Outstanding-Quality Late-Stage Grade 1 and five Outstanding-Quality Mid-Stage Grade 1 Defensive Talisman.
It was expensive since Zemirah especially requested to use the best materials. Of course, she won't be stingy on this thing. She'll also gift them to her disciple then she'll have her own Grade 2 furniture from Sia.
After that, Zemirah didn't have any other errands so she went home.
In the front yard, she saw her disciple practicing her swordsmanship. She can see that Wendy is nearing Lesser Mastery despite only practicing for less than a month.
Although the little girl is not a genius in cultivation, she's a genius in the way of the sword. People who cultivate the way of the sword rely on their sword intent and use sword qi. They also mostly relied on their comprehension and not their spiritual root in that aspect.
The spiritual root is the talent for cultivation, cultivation is different from swordsmanship.
Zemirah also appreciated the way of the sword after her talent increased. So when teaching her little disciple, she can not only get a reward for the swordsmanship experience but also deepen her understanding of swordsmanship with Wendy.
"Wendy, I'm back." She announced her presence.
The little girl who was absorbed in the sword practice snapped out when she heard her master's voice.
"Master!" She cheered. Her master left so early in the morning, that she's been practicing while waiting for her master to come back.
"How is your practice? I have been neglecting you these days." Zemirah sighed and was ashamed. She accepted her disciple with the intent of fully showing the system's potential. As for being a good master, she thought she'd done nothing but give her disciple gifts.
Wendy's eyes widened before disagreeing, "That's not true, Master. Your teaching and your care have greatly benefited me. Not only did I easily grasp the sword and practice breathing techniques, but you also gave me the best environment to cultivate."
Wendy said her words from the heart.
Zemirah smiled and touched Wendy's little head in appreciation.
"No matter, I will guide you while I make talismans these days. Now, where's the talisman materials from the Town Lord?"
Wendy pulled a space pouch from her waist and gave it to Zemirah, "They came early to give this, after seven days someone will come and get the talismans."
Zemirah took the space pouch and used her spiritual consciousness to check the items inside.
The paper and ink talismans are all Common-Quality but they are a lot. Zemirah has her own materials but she didn't want to use them.
After all, the materials being used can only increase the chance of making a higher quality talisman. With Zemirah's skill, she can make uncommon and outstanding-quality talismans with common-quality materials.
Zemirah thinks that if she can already make Celestial-Quality talismans, materials won't hinder her quality production of Grade 1 talismans. Supreme-Quality will be common at that time.
Of course, that will be in the future. For now, she could only make use of Common-Quality Grade 1 materials to make at most 2 times higher quality talisman from the materials used.
There are a total of 150 Talisman paper and 5 bottles of ink. She told the Town Lord that her success rate is 70%, which means she should at least send 100 Common-Quality talismans.
The truth is that she can already make talismans with a 95% success rate, but that is very high it looks like bragging. Zemirah just thought that the rest of the materials could be her additional service fee.
Anyway, this action is also a consensus in the industry. For alchemists, forgers, and other professions.
Besides, Zemirah can see that the Town Lord sought her for making talismans is that he wanted higher quality ones. The Town Lord is probably testing her skills too. She didn't believe that there are no other talisman master in the Town.
Zemirah tied the space pouch on her waist, "The materials are right."
She looked at her disciple and said, "You can go back to practicing while I stay on the pavilion to make talismans and watch you."
Wendy was happy as she nodded.
Besides learning more from her master, Wendy loves spending time together with Zemirah.
Zemirah sat on the pavilion that had a simple stone chair and table that overlooks the garden beside the pond that had nothing but water.
Looking at the bare front yard, she decided to list the spiritual plant she wanted to request the Town Lord.
Ten Common-Quality water-type spiritual plants, three Uncommon-Quality spiritual plants, and one Outstanding-Quality spiritual flower. All of them are Grade 1 spiritual plants.
She wanted to ask for a spiritual tree, preferably a Tea Tree, but she knew they were more valuable than spiritual plants.
Maybe when she goes to Wintea City where tea and wine are abundant, she can purchase some. Then she'll gift them to her disciple and close friends, and after that, Sia will give her a better one as a reward.
Looking at Wendy who immediately immersed herself in practicing, Zemirah went to her business.
This batch of talismans needed to be done before 7 days, so she planned to do at least 20 talismans a day.
She can make a talisman in a few minutes, depending on the quality of it. The longest time is 3 hours where she's been trying to make Supreme-Quality talisman that ended in being Rare-Quality.
Doing this business with the Town Lord can also be a practice for her talisman-making skill.
The Town Lord wanted her to make 2 types of talisman, the auxiliary-type Mid-Stage Grade 1 [Curse Cleaning Talisman] and defensive-type Mid-Stage Grade 1 [Earth Spirit Talisman]
She knew how to make both talismans, so she easily started. Zemirah was even waiting for the Town Lord to provide her with the making process of a new type of talisman that she didn't know when she accepted this business.
Picking up her Celestial-Quality Peak-Stage Grade 1 Talisman Brush Artifact, the [Onyx Eyed Wolf Talisman Brush]. She activated her spiritual energy that is refined from her Dantian, she dipped the talisman brush into the Ink and started drawing on the Talisman Paper.
The use of higher-stage artifacts isn't difficult for Zemirah, especially after refining them as her own artifacts. Only when using higher realm artifacts would she feel the burden.
The Talisman paper is Common-Quality so Zemirah didn't expect any additional increase in the quality, she just depends on her skill and her brush artifact.
Controlling her hand to stably draw, she measured every part of the ink to be perfect. The lines can't be too thin or too thick, it will affect the quality and success of the talisman-making.
When a talisman fails, it will instantly burn to dust. It was alright because she had heard that alchemy and forging failure would sometimes lead to an explosion.
Her mind was clear and only thought of the talisman she wanted to draw, the perfect outcome, and the power she anticipated it to release after.
With this passion in her heart burning hotly, she completely immersed herself in the world of talisman masters.
Zemirah may not notice it, but her love for talisman-making isn't superficial at all. She loves holding her brush, dipping it into the ink, and drawing lines on the talisman paper. The most wonderful feeling is seeing the golden light brushing every line that signaled its success.
Observing the final appearance of the Talisman, it was an Outstanding-Quality which is quite good for a start.
In Zemirah's view, the quality of Talismans is like the type of person who releases that skill. For example, a Common-Quality came from a normal cultivator who had early Lesser Mastery of the cultivation technique. That person can only release the basic form of the technique, which is average.
Then the Supreme-Quality, the highest in everyone's perception is also the Perfection Mastery of the skill. It's like a genius cultivator that releases the skill, it was more powerful and deserving of the title genius.
For Zemirah, the moment she grasped the ability to make Supreme-Quality talismans, her understanding of talisman-making deepened. Although not enough to make Celestial-Quality talismans, it has opened the path for her.
She deduced that Celestial talismans should be the Enlightenment Mastery of a skill, it was the level that only one in a million genius can reach.
Zemirah likes the feeling of having the ability to make a talisman that releases skills similar to the geniuses carefully cultivated by various forces. The biggest advantage of talismans is that they can be used by anyone in any realm.
An Energy Refinement Realm cultivator can use a Grade 5 talisman that can release the power of Nascent Soul Realm against an enemy of the same realm. Although it may only be one attack, it will be a crushing battle.
Medicinal Pills, Magical Artifacts, and others can only be used in the same realm. If someone ate a medicinal pill with a huge realm difference, they might explode from the excess energy that can't be refined or if it is a magical artifact, they may need to burn their lifeforce to activate the artifact to be used in that limited time.
So in Zemirah's view, talisman is the best.