chapter 3 Make a living by magic charms

Early in the morning, Andrew Qi washed off the stench of sweat with well water. He had removed the Eye formation charm from the Spirit-attraction formation that his ancestors had placed in the peach orchard, and packed a bag of dried peach wood in a woven bag, ready to return to Jin Cheng City. Although the woven bag weighed dozens of pounds, Andrew Qi twisted it up effortlessly as if it contained cotton. He felt even lighter than when he had returned empty-handed the day before. After the body refining stage, he indeed felt quite different. Carrying a bag of "firewood," Andrew Qi took a passenger bus back to Jin Cheng City. He encountered a major traffic jam along the way, and by the time the bus arrived, it was already noon. However, he did not immediately return to school but went to the antique and calligraphy street in Jin Cheng City — Nineveil Street. After carefully selecting materials and tools for charm making, such as cinnabar, black ink, and brushes made from "seventy percent brownish rabbit hair and thirty percent sheep hair," Andrew Qi then returned to Southwest Associated University. However, because the materials that caught his eye were of higher quality, they were also quite expensive. Just the aged cinnabar alone cost ten yuan per gram. This trip had consumed most of Andrew Qi's living expenses for the school semester. It seemed the next step would be to find a way to earn money himself. Cultivation itself was an extremely costly endeavour, and Andrew Qi did not want to always reach out to his family for money, considering that Talisman Masters were one of the wealthiest professions in the cultivation world. For ordinary cultivators, making money without breaking the law could be difficult, but for a master of talisman, it was as easy as a hand’s turn because the demand for spirit charms was endless among both ordinary people and cultivators. Fortunately, it was time for class, and the entire freshman dormitory building was quite quiet. After all, Southwest Associated University was a prestigious institution with a strict academic atmosphere, hence, which freshman would dare to skip class without concern? Andrew Qi locked the dormitory door and prepared to start making charms. Charms were divided into four categories, magic charms, spirit charms, truthful charms, and fairy charms. In the ‘other’ Andrew Qi’s memory, he possessed the prestige of a grand Talisman Master, and his talent in talisman was unsurpassed, but at the moment, his cultivation was only at the body refining stage, so he could only make magic charms. Magic charms were usually one-time consumables that could release some superficial magical powers, but after all, they were real charms — capable of mobilizing the power of heaven and earth, even the sun, moon, and stars! They could be used both for earning money and for self-protection. Returning to his old home in Qingtai Mountain, Andrew Qi had come back with a full load. Not only had he completed the body refining stage, but he had also collected a truthful charm and obtained a lot of materials for making charms, especially the thousand-year-old peach wood branches. Previously, the Qi family had used them as "firewood," but they were actually top-grade materials for making charms. Some swindling Taoist priests and monks always used yellow paper to draw charms, but for real Talisman cultivators, many spiritual things in the world could be used to make charms. Not only peach wood but also animal bones, spirit stones, and even certain special tree barks and roots could be used. Of course, Andrew Qi's ancestor, Hannah Qi, had not planted ten acres of peach orchard on a whim, naturally, it had multiple uses. It could be used for formations and for making charms, and even descendants like Andrew Qi could benefit from them a lot, at least removing the worry about material shortage. Peach wood, known among the common folk as dragon-subduing wood or ghost-fearing wood, was enough to illustrate the efficacy of peach wood itself in exorcising evil spirits and ghosts. If one were to make magic charms out of carefully selected thousand-year-old peach wood, the effects would naturally be extraordinary. Seeing Andrew Qi preparing to make charms, even Ulysses, the dragon spirit, hurried over and joined in. This fellow knew that Andrew Qi had an impressive background. Although he was currently only at the body refining stage, he had the ability to impart the True Dragon Technique, giving it the opportunity to ascend to a true dragon, which was enough to make it worship him! Moreover, being a Talisman Master in the cultivation world was also considered an extraordinary profession. Ulysses now resides within the Dragon charm of Well Constellation, and if he could learn the ways of talisman-ship, it would be of great help to his cultivation. Andrew Qi knew that Ulysses's was spying on him making talismans, but he had no intention of keeping it a secret, generously showing Ulysses the process and even the essence of talisman-production. However, when Ulysses saw Andrew Qi's process of making talismans, he was greatly surprised — because Andrew Qi's method of making talismans was quite different from his ancestor Hannah Qi's! The talismans made by Andrew Qi were smaller and less complicated! Although Ulysses was not very familiar with talismans, he knew that a talisman generally consisted of five parts, the head, the main deity, the body, the gall, and the foot, and not one could be absent. Simply put, a talisman is like a prayer letter written to the gods and Buddhas, specifying which deity is being implored, what wish is being made, and which divine power is being borrowed, etc., so a talisman is definitely not just a casual drawing with ink or cinnabar that nobody recognizes. But Andrew Qi did not seem to adhere to the formalities and basic structures of talismans and appeared to be doodling casually, as if without much thought. Yet strangely, every stroke he made not only stimulated the operation of his own vital energy, showing signs of transitioning from the body refining stage to the qi cultivation stage, but also faintly brought sounds of wind and thunder, which clearly indicated that he was invoking the power of heaven and earth! Ulysses suddenly realized that Andrew Qi could actually cultivate through drawing talismans! This was utterly inconceivable, perhaps not even his ancestors could do it. Andrew Qi made dozens of talismans in one go, each one created in a single breath, and each on was unique, with movements fluid as flowing clouds and water, exuding the aura of a great master, even the dragon spirit was awed, and couldn't help but think that this young master was indeed a heavenly genius, both brilliant and valiant... "Master, someone is coming, they are women! And there are two of them!" Just at that moment, Ulysses, who acted as the protector, worried about Andrew Qi being disturbed, hurriedly warned, "Uh... they are coming for you, master, one of them has a large chest, and the other one has an even larger one! Theirs are much better developed than the girls from Tao Li village..." Andrew Qi immediately conjured up a scene in his mind, the village girls of Tao Li village bending over the well to draw water, and at the bottom of the well, a pair of dark eyes staring at the girls' chests, as if eager to reach out with its demonic claws... Tsk, this foolish dragon spirit was too lewd! "Ulysses! I asked you to check their identities, not to look at their chests!" Although dragons are naturally lustful, this one was being too blatant. "Heh... Master, it's always more exciting to be with you, the girls here have such developed bodies, and wear so little, unlike in the previous master's time, when women were wrapped up like rice dumplings — oh, they really are here to see you, one is called 'Professor Erica Hu', and the other is 'Counsellor Freda Qiu'." The dragon spirit Ulysses had already identified the visitors. Professor Hu in a V-neck? Freda Qiu of the Snow Ridge? Both were considered beautiful instructors in the literature department, but they were known to have difficult temperaments, especially when educating male students, possibly because their focus was always easily diverted by them. The two of them coming together must be to inquire about his absence from class today, Andrew Qi knew his life was full of hardships, so he directly placed a "Blinding Charm" on the door. A Blinding Charm, like a leaf blocking one's view of Mount Tai, could even "conceal" a mountain in front of one's eyes, making it unseen. Moments later, the crisp sound of heels echoed in the corridor, the two beautiful instructors getting closer and closer to room 403, and Andrew Qi could even hear their voices. "Aunt, you being an associate professor and still coming to educate a student with me, isn't that making a mountain out of a molehill?" This was the voice of Counsellor Freda Qiu, "Don't worry, I can scold him into submission all by myself!" "I doubt so!" Erica Hu said, "This kid was so arrogant in the classroom. You may not have seen him, which freshman dares to disrespect the teachers like him! Also, he dared to skip classes so recklessly at the start of the term. How can we not punish him severely!" "Alright, Aunt, don't worry. I am a top graduate in psychology!" Freda Qiu puffed out her chest outside the door and gently patted the tablet in her hand, "Moreover, I've done my homework thoroughly. I've discovered his parents’, grandparents’, and maternal grandparents’ contacts. Even if I can't educate him, can't his elders do it? Besides, I've even found the girl he has a childhood crush on and secretly adores, and I've talked to her. I'll call them one by one in front of him. I don't believe he won't admit his mistakes!" The conversation of these two women entered Andrew Qi's ears through Ulysses, and he couldn't help but say, "You're really vicious!" Not to mention, Andrew Qi's grandfather and father had both been in the military. If they knew Andrew Qi had talked back to a teacher, he was certainly in for a disaster. However, fortunately for him, these two beautiful teachers had no chance of meeting him. Footsteps sounded at the dormitory door, but they did not stop and continued to move away. "Did we walk past it? Have you seen room 403?" "No. Is it on the other side? When did they start arranging room numbers randomly?" "That's still not right. There isn't even a room 403 on this floor. Have I made a mistake? Is it not this building?" "Have we really gone to the wrong building? We've been back and forth several times. There's no room 403! My heels are killing me... Andrew Qi is dead meat!" "..." The footsteps faded away again, and Andrew Qi removed the charm that obscured vision from the door, then went downstairs and left the school to head for the old street called Nineveil Street.