Chapter 405 - 302 Industrialized Talisman Making_1
Chapter 405: Chapter 302 Industrialized Talisman Making_1
Actually, after giving it some thought, Chen Mobai felt that there were many things he could do.
In the Dance Tool Dao Academy, he was known as the best in talisman making, agricultural studies, sword training, and puppetry.
Yet in reality, his talisman making ability was merely at Rank-1, inferior to his contemporaries, Si Guanyu and Zhuang Jialan, who had both already obtained Rank-2 certificates.
His expertise in agricultural studies was solely due to the vast fields in the Tianhe Realm. It was only through extensive practical experience that he achieved such a level.
Being first in sword training was purely due to the Sword Rainbow Fission Realm bestowed upon him by the divine tree in the Divine Tree Secret Realm. He found this baffling himself.
His ranking as the top puppet master was indeed based on genuine skill, especially as a disciple of Che Yucheng, he really put his heart into this subject.
However, the main reason was the unpopularity of the Puppet Lines. The total number of students studying the subject across all ten grades in the entire academy was less than a hundred, and many of those were only taking the course to earn easy credits.
Chen Mobai’s accolade in puppetry was due to the fact that previous talented students like Chai Lun had graduated. As the saying goes, “In the absence of a tiger in the mountains, the monkey is king.”
Che Yucheng had no objections to this, believing that good learning is only possible when the driving force comes from the student themselves.
Therefore, whether Chen Mobai chose to study puppetry, or to put his efforts into other subjects, Che Yucheng would leave it up to him.
Given his current state of distracted and anxious mind, incapable of focusing for meditation or cultivation, Chen Mobai decided it was time to invest his time into the Hundred Arts of Cultivation Immortal.
First, he applied to sit for the Rank-2 Talisman Maker exam on the Immortal Gate website.
After uploading proof of his successful completion of the talisman course at Dance Tool Dao Academy for six consecutive years to the talisman department, ten Rank-2 talismans were immediately generated at the back-end, forming the examination questions for Chen Mobai’s Rank-2 Talisman Maker exam.
One year from today, he needed to head to any of the Immortal Gate’s exam centers in any city, where he would have two days and two nights to complete eight of the talismans.
If successful, he would receive the Rank-2 Talisman Maker certificate issued by the Immortal Gate.
Ice Crystal Talisman, Pale Flame Talisman, Rainbow Light Talisman, Immaculate Talisman, Water Mirror Talisman, Mysterious Fog Talisman, True Void Talisman, Heavenly Talisman, Light Return Talisman, Armor Transformation Talisman.
Looking at these talismans, Chen Mobai felt pressure, but also noticed that his scattered mental power seemed to be consolidating a bit.
Indeed, having something to do prevented his mind from wandering.
Rank-2 talismans were significantly different from Rank-1 talismans. To maximize their success rate, ideally, one should prepare talisman paper and ink, even a talisman brush, properly compatible with the talisman spell.
For example, the Pale Flame Talisman has a fire attribute. If heat-resistant rock paper and fire attribute cinnabar ink is used, even if a failure occurs, the talisman maker wouldn’t be injured by the spell’s outburst.
Correspondingly, water-attribute talisman spells are best scripted on golden paper, as gold generates water, hence increasing the power of the talisman when casting.
Despite this, the most commonly used talisman papers, in both the Tianhe Realm and the Immortal Gate, are made from various plants.
For thousands of years in the Immortal Gate, there has been a push for standardization of talismans to conserve resources, such as using one type of talisman paper and ink for all.
However, until now, they have only managed to standardize Rank-1 and some Rank-2 and Rank-3 talismans.
While it’s true that some special talismans can be successfully drawn using standard talisman paper and ink, the process is an extreme test of a talisman maker’s skill base.
For someone of Chen Mobai’s average level, it’s advised that he uses talisman paper and ink compatible with the talisman to get a grasp on the sensation of success at an early stage.
At this point, the advantage of owning a talisman factory became evident.
The equipment left to him by Wu Shangru was somewhat outdated but functional. The massive talisman paper machine could produce six standard types of talisman paper used by the Immortal Gate, given parameter adjustments.
However, the raw materials still needed to be purchased, such as gold refined by the spiritual power of a cultivator required for producing gold paper, or Ling Sha mixed with some spiritually-rich soil for rock paper.
Interestingly, Chen Mobai remembered Wu Shangru mentioning that rock paper made from crushed Spirit Stone was of the highest quality.
Ironically, he happened to have an abundance of this material.
Given that he was only making talisman paper for his own practice, he took out two bags of pre-crushed Spirit Stone fragments.
Although the factory director was astounded, he attributed it to his new boss’s vast magical abilities.
After all, his boss was the chief representative of the Dance Tool Dao Academy, one of the top geniuses in the Immortal Gate.
Following the boss’s orders, even though it was the end-of-year Spring Festival holiday, the factory director called back a few capable officers from the city, reactivated the machines, and began to diligently produce talisman paper and ink.
Chen Mobai also had a go at making talisman ink under the guidance of the factory director.
Having personally made talisman ink using traditional methods from the Tianhe Realm, although guided by the owner of the Wood Spiritual Talisman shop and with the aid of various small machines from the Immortal Gate, Chen Mobai wasn’t eager to endure the tedious and strenuous process again.
This was also why he hadn’t drawn many talismans in the past two years, as his supply of homemade talisman ink was almost depleted.
He had originally intended to pass this task onto his disciple, Zhuo Ming, once he had grown up.
But now that he had his own factory and equipment, there was no need to wait anymore.
Attempting to use the talisman ink machine for the first time, Chen Mobai didn’t choose to make anything difficult. Instead, he opted to produce the most common Rank-1 talisman ink of the Immortal Gate.
After successively adding Ling Sha, spiritual materials, and various industrial binding agents into the machine, a rectangular block of talisman ink – three fingers wide, one finger thick – emerged from the machine two hours later. Every time a hand’s length emerged, the machine would cut it off.