In the blink of an eye, half a month he had passed. During this time, Chen An never left his residence. Although Li Muchen came looking for him a few times, Chen An always used the excuse of being in the middle of cultivation and unable to go out.
These days, Chen An had lost count of how many times he had failed. The hundreds of spirit stones painstakingly accumulated in his storage pouch had been reduced by more than half. A thick layer of spirit stone dust now blanketed the ground.
Yet, despite it all, he never thought of giving up.
Because with each attempt, he could feel himself improving.
From barely managing the first stroke on the talisman paper to the second and third, he had now reached the point where he could almost complete most of the puppet talisman's inscriptions.
Chen An could feel it—success was within reach.
He was only missing one last breakthrough!
At this very moment, that breakthrough presented itself.
"Drip... drip…"
Sweat dripped from Chen An's resolute face, pooling into a small puddle beneath him. His body trembled violently as if wracked by fever.
Before him, the talisman brush hovered in midair. On the talisman paper, only one final stroke remained to complete the puppet talisman.
This single stroke had eluded him countless times, leading to repeated failures. Yet this time, success seemed so close he could almost grasp it. It felt like he was about to create his very first second-grade spirit talisman!
His teeth clenched audibly. Even though the spiritual energy in his dantian was nearly depleted, Chen An pressed on, determined to finish this last stroke. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, allowing him to watch as the talisman brush painstakingly left a crimson mark on the talisman paper.
The puppet talisman was about to be completed, but at that crucial moment, disaster struck.
Chen An's entire body was suddenly engulfed in an excruciating pain he had never experienced before. It felt as though thousands of needles pierced his body, each coated with salt. The torment reached deep into his soul, nearly driving him mad.
And this was only the beginning.
Blood began to flow from his eyes, followed by his ears, nose, and mouth. Soon, all seven orifices were bleeding.
Simultaneously, his body swelled several times its normal size. Countless wounds opened on his skin, resembling tiny mouths that oozed blood. In just a few breaths, Chen An had become a bloody mess.
Even so, the swelling did not stop. Chen An could feel that in just a few more breaths, he would explode.
"Remember, attempting to craft a second-grade talisman with your Qi Refining body is a death sentence. It's courting disaster and will end in self-destruction. I warned you not to play with fire."
The voice of the elder from the Scripture Hall echoed in his mind, a reprimand from his subconscious for ignoring the advice and walking into the firepit of his own accord.
The only way to avoid self-destruction now was to abandon the crafting process and let everything return to dust. But could Chen An give up?
He had poured sweat and effort into this, enduring sleepless nights and relentless struggles for over half a month.
How could he possibly give up now?
His eyes widened in resolve. Amid the blood streaming from them, a fierce determination burned brightly.
"I, Chen An, have lived a bitter and lonely life since childhood. Everything I've ever wanted, I've had to fight for with my own two hands. Yes, I've killed, plundered, and acted with cunning and deceit, but all I ever wanted was to survive—to live as an ordinary cultivator!"
"I have nothing but this life. If anyone wants to take it, I have only one answer—"
"Not!"
With a roar that seemed to come from the depths of his soul, Chen An ignited a fiery determination within himself. Faced with impending doom, he chose to press forward rather than retreat.
He grabbed the treasured gourd at his waist and took a large gulp of spiritual liquid.
The cool liquid coursed through his body, bringing an unprecedented sensation that spread to every limb.
Gradually, his swelling body began to stabilize. The countless wounds on his body quickly clotted, scabbed over, and peeled away in a matter of moments.
Chen An was miraculously restored, looking as if he had never been injured. His condition was better than before.
As the crisis passed, the final stroke of the puppet talisman was completed. Chen An's very first second-grade talisman was successfully crafted!
"Phew…"
He exhaled deeply, relieved that he had narrowly escaped death.
Moments ago, he had been a hair's breadth from death. Without the miraculous properties of the gourd's liquid, he would have surely died from self-destruction.
Shaking the gourd lightly, Chen An pondered his state. "By all logic, I shouldn't have been able to complete the puppet talisman in my previous condition."
"It seems the spiritual liquid not only saved my life but also helped me finish the talisman."
"Perhaps this so-called talent as a talisman master is nothing more than the effects of drinking too much of this spiritual liquid. In the end, I, Chen An, am just an ordinary person. No better than anyone else, destined to live an average life."
This brush with death gave Chen A newfound insight.
When he drank the liquid, it felt as though his mind was enlightened, allowing him to complete the talisman. It was undoubtedly an effect of the liquid, not his own ability.
In other words, Chen An's achievements were not due to talent but sheer luck—his chance encounter with the mysterious gourd in his youth.
Shaking his head with a wry smile, Chen An couldn't help but reflect that he had always considered himself ordinary. Now, it seemed his greatest effort had been to achieve the life of an ordinary person. In truth, he wasn't even that—merely lucky.
"But luck—isn't that a form of strength too?"
With a faint smile, Chen An quickly came to terms with his mediocrity. He knew better than anyone that even an ordinary person could carve out an extraordinary path.
"Now, let's see if you were worth all this effort."
Holding the freshly crafted puppet talisman, Chen An performed an incantation and infused it with spiritual energy. Before his eyes, a wooden chair transformed into his exact likeness.
Every scar, every expression, was perfectly replicated, to the point where Chen An momentarily couldn't tell which was the real him.
With a thought, the puppet began to move, pacing around the room and muttering to itself. Chen An even tested its combat abilities, finding them to be roughly 30-40% of his strength—practically negligible.
What displeased him most, however, was the puppet's lifeless expression. Its wooden demeanor made it seem dull and foolish, capable of only brief conversation.
This was unsurprising. A puppet was not a true clone, and some differences were to be expected.
But Chen An couldn't accept such an inferior creation.
He didn't expect his puppet to rival the lifelike corpses used in higher-level talisman crafting, but at the very least, it should be indistinguishable from a real person in appearance when not engaged in combat.
With this thought, Chen An's mind began to race. Since the gourd's liquid had unintentionally helped him craft the puppet talisman, could he rely on its power to refine the talisman further? Perhaps he could create a puppet indistinguishable from himself, yet fully under his control.