Chapter 28: Chapter 28: A Gift of Soul Devourer
Lu An pressed for more information, but they said no more, only that he would find out in the future.
Seeing this, Lu An had to give up on pressing further.
That day, Lu An finished drawing the talismans, handed part of them to Bai Sheng for sale, and then packed his things to head towards Ju Yuan Zhai.
He was preparing to go to Mangdang Mountain to hone his skills and solidify his foundation, following the example of Fang Ling, to avoid facing issues similar to hers when breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
Before that, he needed to handle some unfinished business.
The first stop was Ju Yuan Zhai.
He had already drawn the top-grade Clear Heart Talisman that Gu Chuanfei requested. However, due to the effort to achieve a one hundred percent completion rate, it had taken until now.
At Ju Yuan Zhai, Gu Yuer was idly watching the shop.
"Where is your grandfather? I've completed the talisman he wanted."
Gu Yuer's face brightened upon seeing Lu An. "Wait a moment, I'll go get him."
Soon, Gu Chuanfei came out from the inner hall, his face filled with excitement as he asked, "Did you really draw the top-grade Clear Heart Talisman?"
It was no wonder he was so excited. As he was about to enter closed-door cultivation to break through to the Core Formation stage, having a top-grade Clear Heart Talisman, even if it was first-tier, would likely improve his chances.
Lu An nodded and took out a talisman from his storage bag. "Have a look."
Gu Chuanfei took it and, upon inspection, his hands trembled.
"This… this is…"
Gu Yuer was puzzled, wondering why her grandfather, who had seen so many things, was displaying such a reaction. She stepped forward to examine the talisman and gasped.
"The edges of the talisman show a purple hue, a perfected talisman!"
"Heavens, how is this possible?"
Her mouth fell open in disbelief. To her, a perfected talisman was a legendary concept, and she had never heard of anyone drawing one before. Even if this talisman was only first-tier, the difficulty was immense and far beyond what ordinary people could achieve.
Of course, this didn't mean no one could do it, but perfecting a talisman required an enormous amount of time and was not as cost-effective as drawing other talismans.
Lu An had anticipated their reaction. When he was drawing this talisman, he realized how challenging it was to achieve perfection. Every stroke of the talisman's pattern had to reach its limit for the final talisman to have the sense of perfection.
Originally, with his level of skill, daily practice for another six months to a year might not have achieved it. However, after upgrading to cross-tier talisman drawing, his talisman skills improved greatly, and all previously unclear aspects became clear. Coupled with the Kumu Fengchun Diagram and his increasing spiritual consciousness, drawing it became more adept, leading to the creation of this talisman.
Gu Chuanfei's hands trembled with excitement. He had thought it was just an ordinary top-grade talisman, but this unexpected surprise was beyond his expectations.
The purple-patterned perfected Clear Heart Talisman was enough to increase his breakthrough chances by over ten percent. Even compared to a second-tier top-grade Peace of Mind Talisman, its effect was not much less.
As for third-tier talismans, even he had no channel to acquire them.
"Little friend Lu has really given me a difficult problem."
"With this, the gift I had prepared earlier seems inadequate."
He had originally prepared a medium-grade spirit sword for Lu An, thinking it would be ample for Lu An's Qi Refinement fourth-layer cultivation. However, given the substantial gift Lu An had just given, exchanging it with the spirit sword did not seem appropriate.
This put him in a difficult position. After thinking for a while, he had no clue.
Gu Yuer was also happy for her grandfather and said casually, "Grandpa, you previously received a top-grade sword embryo. Just give it to Lu An."
Gu Chuanfei frowned and scolded, "Don't talk nonsense. That sword embryo can devour the soul; it's very evil. Do you want to turn Lu Xiaoyou into a dried-up corpse?"
Gu Yuer stuck out her tongue and stopped talking.
Lu An, however, was intrigued and asked, "Oh? May I see this sword embryo?"
He was confident in his spiritual consciousness and needed a good weapon for his upcoming trials.
Gu Chuanfei glanced at him and sighed in resignation. "This sword embryo was obtained from an ancient relic. It is already a top-grade spiritual weapon even though it hasn't been fully refined yet, only a step away from becoming a magic weapon."
"But this sword absorbs a cultivator's soul. Although the absorption speed is not fast, over time, it will gradually weaken the holder, even drying up their spiritual consciousness."
"Forgive me for speaking frankly, but with Lu Xiaoyou's Qi Refinement fourth-layer cultivation, it may take only a few years before the sword absorbs all your soul."
Lu An pondered for a moment and then said decisively, "Please show it to me."
Gu Chuanfei, feeling helpless, shot a glare at Gu Yuer and could only take out a sword box from his storage bag.
Lu An extended his spiritual consciousness towards the sword box, but as soon as he made contact, he was repelled.
Gu Chuanfei was slightly startled. How did this Qi Refinement fourth-layer cultivator manage to project his spiritual consciousness? Was he one of those naturally gifted with strong spiritual consciousness?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. No wonder Lu An's talisman skills were so high; it must be due to his strong soul.
With that, it seemed possible that Lu An could indeed wield this sword.
Lu An, surprised by the spiritual consciousness repelling effect, opened the sword box slowly. Inside was a dark-colored long sword.
The sword was three feet long and had no trace of cold light. The blade was covered with strange patterns.
What astonished Lu An the most was that the sword did not reflect light at all; all the light approaching it was absorbed.
"A fine sword."
He showed a look of delight, reaching out to grasp the sword handle.
However, as soon as he touched it, a pulling force from the handle reduced his spiritual consciousness slightly.
He was familiar with this sensation, similar to when his spiritual consciousness was drawn out during talisman drawing.
He held the sword and carefully felt the rate at which his spiritual consciousness was draining.
After a while, a glint appeared in his eyes, and he smiled slightly.
The rate of spiritual consciousness loss, over time, would indeed have an effect on the cultivator, and the impact would only grow.
But Lu An was not worried. He had just discovered that the rate of spiritual consciousness loss was nearly equivalent to the rate of consumption caused by the Kumu Fengchun Diagram.
This meant that if he continuously drew talismans in his sea of consciousness, consuming spiritual consciousness and triggering the Kumu Fengchun Diagram, the two effects could balance each other out without damaging his spiritual foundation.
However, what Lu An was most interested in was whether this sword could be used for drawing talismans in the void since it absorbed spiritual consciousness, much like talisman drawing.
This was just a guess, and issues related to the materials needed for drawing talismans and talisman paper would need to be resolved, which he would have to explore in the future.
Lu An put down the long sword and asked, "Does this sword have a name?"
Gu Chuanfei shook his head and replied, "No, there was no record of it in the ancient relic."
Lu An nodded slightly and decided to name the sword "Soul Devourer" in his mind since it could devour souls.
He then turned to ask, "This sword suits me well. Could I trouble you, Senior, to part with it?"
Gu Chuanfei smiled slightly and reminded, "This sword's grade is too low; it is not even a magic weapon and is useless to me. You may take it if you want."
"But don't blame me if your spiritual consciousness suffers serious damage. It could affect your future cultivation. Be careful."
Lu An knew he meant well and nodded. "This black box is also a gift for you. It can shield the sword's effects. If one day you can't endure it, just put the sword back in the box."
Lu An took the black box, examined it briefly, and then handed it back.
"Senior Gu, I have one more request. Could you help me transform this box into a sword sheath?"
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